Dedicated to Halo, its creators, its contributors, and its overzealous (but amazing) fanbase.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fore World and Introduction

Canon and the Halo Mythos

Retcon

Multiplayer

Gameplay Story Segregation and Artistic Libery

Common (and esoteric) Questions about Halo's Story

The Spartan Problem

Cutting Room Floor

Rampancy

Comprehensive (yet relatively simplistic) Halo Timeline

…......Cryptum; Fall of the Forerunner; Rise of the UNSC and Covenant

…......The Human-Covenant War: Contact Harvest; Halo Wars; Cole Protocol

…......Helljumper, Reach, Bloodlines, Halo/The Flood, First Strike Halo 2, ODST, Uprising, Halo 3, and beyond

Closing Remarks

FORE WORLD

Hello Halo Nation,

The Interactive Guide to Halo's Story is back. Since the Halo Alternity scenario is still getting the finishing touches, I decided to update this topic. If you are new to this topic, my intention is to consolidate questions, complaints, and inconsistencies around the Halo canon into one topic.

Please note that I am creating this introduction with the assumption that you have at least played the games and have a decent understanding of the storyline. If this is not the case, do not hesitate to ask a question. If I recall correctly, I was on my third play-through of Halo 2 before I was satisfied that I understood what was going on around me.

INTRODUCTION

To the average Halo player, the Halo storyline is an excuse to shoot things in a single player mode for a series whose primary focus is multiplayer. However, a surprisingly large amount of people (including me) appreciate the story. Due to the game being a fast-paced First Person Shooter, the story of the games have to be kept to a minimum in order to not bog down the gameplay. However, those who look for it are going to find an excellent universe that is filled with centuries of backstory. Novels, player's guides, and viral marketing devices help expand Halo's universe into a much larger picture.

This topic will begin as an introduction to Halo canon. Then, I will go into contradictions and inconsistencies, common questions, and conclude with a timeline of the series. If you want to find a quick spot on the timeline, I have listed the posts where the timeline covers the games and most of the novels and graphics novels (Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, and the anthologies have been omitted because they span decades of the timeline). Call it an obsession, but I believe that Halo's canon is one of the most vibrant, if not confusing, in recent game history, particularly out of the shooter genre.

CANON AND THE HALO MYTHOS

What does canon mean?

Well, it's a word that is thrown around a lot on the internet, and is likely one of the most frequently misspelled words.

From: Dictionary
Canon [kan-uhn]
noun
any officially recognized set of sacred books

While Halo is hardly considered a “sacred book”, the meaning pretty much stays the same. Canon refers to anything within the Halo mythos that is officially recognized as being part of the storyline. In most universes, any official source is usually part of the canon. However, Halo's constantly evolving universe has created some non-canon and some debatable “gray areas”.

THE HALO MYTHOS

This is a simplified list of the Halo's fiction.

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, PC, Mac, Xbox 360)
Halo 2 (Xbox, PC)
Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)
Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)
Halo Wars (Xbox 360)
Halo 4 (Xbox 360) COMING SOON
Halo: Fall of Reach (novel)
Halo: The Flood (novel)
Halo: First Strike (novel)
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (novel)
Halo: Contact Harvest (novel)
Halo: The Cole Protocol (novel)
Halo: Evolutions (novel)
Halo: Cryptum (novel)
Halo Graphic Novel (comic)
Halo: Uprising (comic)
Halo Wars: Genesis (comic)
Halo: Helljumpers (comic)
Halo: Blood Line (comic)
Halo: Fall of Reach- Boot Camp (comic)
Halo: Fall of Reach- Covenant (comic) PENDING COMPLETION
Halo: Fall of Reach- Pillar of Autumn (comic) COMING SOON
Dr. Halsey's Journal (book)
Conversations of the Universe (booklet)
Bestiarium (book/digital)
Halo Waypoint (digital)
Halo Encyclopedia (book)
Official Strategy Guides
Official Art Books (Art of Halo, Art of Halo 3, Visual Guide, The Great Journey, etc.)
Halo Legends (Animated short series)
Board Games & Toys (HaloClix, Interactive Strategy Game, Halo Wars Risk, etc.)
Alternate Reality Games (Cortana Letters, I Love Bees, Iris, etc.)
Ad Campaigns (Believe, We Are ODST, Remember Reach, etc.)
Miscellaneous sources (interviews, Bungie.net Intel, Landfall, etc)

That's a hell of a lot. What's canon?

Bungie's rule was that the games were top priority and secondary sources were to follow suit. The Cortana Letters, Halo based board games, and the Toei Productions short in the Halo Legends series are all defined as non-canon. Multiplayer also has almost no bearing on the canon (I'll explain the “almost” later). The Halo Wars Promotional material, the (now closed) official website site in particular, also details some events that may or may not be considered canon.

The canon rule set up by Bungie and honored by 343 Industries also states that newer information overwrites older information in the case of a discrepancy. For example, if something from Halo: Ghosts of Onyx or Halo: Reach contradicts a fact in Halo: Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx or Halo: Reach is regarded as the new canon.

That's still a hell of a lot of material

Yes it is. Fortunately, there are two sites, Http://Halo.wikia.com and Http://www.halopedian.com/, that contain most of this information. Keep in mind that these are still Wiki. Accuracy is not always guaranteed, so always check for sources. For a little more general Halo guide, there is the Halo Encyclopedia.

Okay, Mingy, so we have a site for the whole universe. What the hell is the point of this topic?

The Halo wikis are reference sites. They keep track of all information, canon or otherwise. Very few articles will tell you what is canon and what is not. The Halo Encyclopedia is a bit clearer on its information, but is fairly disorganized. I'm fairly convinced that a lot of the information from the Halo Encyclopedia came from Halopedia itself.

I guess that makes sense. This is a simple universe compared to most SF, though. Why did you say it was confusing?

As with most ongoing sagas, Halo is being filled in with more and more information. Inevitably, some smaller (and larger) details can sometimes get mixed up, contradicted, ignored, or overwritten. This introduces another word that the internet made popular: Retcon.

RETCON

From: Dictionary

Retcon [ret'kon]

noun
- Short for “retroactive continuity”; a common situation in pulp fiction where a new story overrides the events of a previous story

Retcon is sometimes referred to as anything that is added to expand a story after it has been created. However, when the word is used here, it is usually in the above context.

Bungie is a smart group. How many retcons could they have made?

Oh lord. This topic would be a good page longer if I listed them all. Bungie is a great group, but they are only human. An ongoing fiction, no matter how insular, will almost always contradict itself after ten years. Since Bungie gave the original novel writers a lot of liberties with little input, the problem was inevitable right out of the starting gate. Eric Nylund, in particular, seems to make a lot of mistakes dealing with things that were likely his own creation.

Hey, Mingy, don't bash Nylund. Fall of Reach was awesome

When Nylund wrote Fall of Reach, Halo was far from the only Xbox exclusive with a tie-in novel. He was also given an extensive amount of creative control with the story (as he did with First Strike). As such, a lot of things were added into the Halo series that Bungie may or not have intended. In 2004, Staten clarified that while the books were canon (“for better or worse”), Bungie reserved the right to change anything that they felt needed to be changed.

So, yes, it was a hell of a book. However, it is riddled with inconsistencies as well as retcons. The trick with Halo is figuring out which is which.

I thought Bungie said the books were not canon

Nope. In fact, both Bungie and 343 Industries have gone on record that they embrace the extended universe canon (for better or worse).

This is where it gets confusing, isn't it?

It depends on an individual person's perception. Let's take a look at two things pointed out from Halo.Bungie.Org's story section from Fall of Reach:

From: HBO

1. Pillar of Autumn uses rotating sections to simulate gravity (FoR p.274) yet no such mechanism is seen in-game

2. UNSC frigate Allegiance is referred to as the Alliance, and then shortly thereafter as the Allegiance again (FoR p.145, 154)

Inconsistency #1 is an example of a retcon. This is a theory that Nylund put together to explain why there is gravity on human ships. Later fiction sources confirm that the human ships have a primitive form of artificial gravity instead.

Inconsistency #2 is an example of an error. More than likely, Nylund was up late at night and simply made a typo.

That wasn't too confusing.

Yes, but then you get to the more confusing “gray areas”. This is where it can get confusing:

The Battle Rifle was a prototype in Contact Harvest and a new weapon in First Strike. However, it is used in a normal military situation in Cole Protocol

Retcon or error? As of now, as far as the big picture is concerned, it could go either way.

This is going to be really nerdy, isn't it?

Let's examine some more:

The Spartan II Roster

I will elaborate on this in its own section later. For some reason, the number of Spartan II's going missing or dying continues to increase, but the number of overall Spartan II's doesn't seem to change. Retcon or error?

Spartans did not receive shields until 2552 with the Mark V MJOLNIR armor. However, the Spartans in Halo Wars all have energy shielding

This has been cited by the developers as a sacrifice for the gameplay of Halo Wars. In fact, they reported to the forum members that it was actually just regenerating armor. Despite this, the Halo Wars instruction manual states that they have energy shielding. Retcon or error?

According to Ghosts of Onyx, Onyx was deemed classified at the beginning of the 26th century. However, Professor Anders mentions it at a lecture in Halo Wars: Genesis, over 25 years later

This is another example of Nylund screwing up his own fiction. Retcon or error?

According to the Bungie.net timeline and the Halo Encyclopedia, the Battles in New Mombasa and on Cairo Station in Halo 2 both took place on October 20, 2552. However, Halo 3: ODST's script and promotional material shows that the New Mombasa battle in Halo 2 took place on October 23rd, 2552.

This could easily just be a misnomer, as the timeline shown on Waypoint shows all events as happening on October 20. Retcon or error?

According to the Halo Wars strategy guide, the Prophet of Regret arrived at the Apex Site prior to the events of the game. However, Waypoint's timeline says that he didn't arrive until after the battle of Arcadia.

That particular section of the strategy guide never made much sense to me. If Regret was already there, why would he need Arcadia and Harvest? Still, it's debatable. Retcon or error?

If human communication technology is not able to navigate slipspace without a special probe, how was Keyes able to communicate instantaneously with Stanforth, far away, before Sigma Octanus.

It's highly possible that the UNSC has methods to communicate instantaneously from system to system while the probe is just special because it can go anywhere. However, given the little information available, this is debatable. Retcon or error?

In Fall of Reach, the Pillar of Autumn is in orbit by August 30th. However, in Halo: Reach, the Autumn is in drydock.

This one, along with the earlier start of the Battle itself, is not likely to be an error. Personally, I'd write this one out as a retcon, but Halopedia has found a way to make both events possible by saying that the Autumn was grounded only to receive the package. It's technically possible, but I don't consider it likely. Retcon or error?

Has Bungie or 343 Industries tried to address these errors?

Most of the time, retcons are the way of addressing these errors. The few attempts to explain gameplay related discrepancies are shady at best:

In Halo 1, the Fuel Rod Gun and Energy Sword are equipped with failsafe measures to prevent the player from using them. According to Halo lore, these were later removed for no given reason.


In Halo 2, an extra-resilient layer of hydrostatic gel is used to explain why the Mark VI is immune to fall damage, which makes it all the more curious when you hit a death wall for falling 5 feet where you're not supposed to (among other things).

MULTIPLAYER

In addition, there are also sources from the MULTIPLAYER that people would like to consider canon: maps and armor permutations.

The multiplayer maps from Halo 2 and Halo 3 (and Halo Wars to an extent) were designed to be logical places in the Halo universe. Most of Halo: Reach's maps and all of Halo 3: ODST's Firefight maps are literally taken from the Campaign itself, securing their places in the canon. There is even a school of thought that believes the Invasion scenarios for Spire, Boneyard, and Breakpoint count as well.

However, Halo 1's multiplayer maps seem more focused on variety. However, some have rather interesting descriptions.

Chiron TL34- Spartan Clone Training Complex

Spartan Clone training, eh? That sounds different.

ARMOR PERMUTATIONS also have their own descriptions. Some are more curious than others...

To the point, there's the following tidbits from Halo 3's descriptions:

Security Armor- The Mjolnir Mark V(m) Powered Assault Armour was originally manufactured in 2528 and recently upgraded to be compatible with all current - issue armour variants.

Wait. MJOLNIR Mark V, which was introduced to Spartan 117 in 2552 (and other Spartans in 2551) was actually manufactured as a Security variant (MJOLNIR [M], without the 'Mark V', according to Halo: Reach) significantly earlier ? That doesn't sound right. Hang on, it gets worse.

UPDATE- Halo Encyclopedia changes this year to the equally illogical 2543.

Mark V- Originally issued in August 2542, all extant Mark V helmets have been upgraded with current - issue internal components and software.

Retcon or error? In terms of the Mark V's constantly changing issue date, I'd say retcon. However, the Security Armor is up in the air.

UPDATE: This might be an error caused by Bungie and the Encyclopedia following an incorrect date posted in later editions of Fall of Reach.

And, for added effect, here is an armor that is very similar to CQB in “Homecoming”



Why do I say "very similar"? Well, according to Reach, CQB was the successor to the CQC variant that didn't enter service until 2548. Since "Homecoming" takes place during the Harvest campaign, it's nigh impossible that her armor is CQB.

Perhaps there's another solution a little bit down the page...

You need to get laid!

Before I go any further, I would like to touch upon the shields on the Halo Wars Spartans. They are a chief example of Gameplay and Story Segregation.

GAMEPLAY STORY SEGREGATION AND ARTISTIC LIBERTY

Gameplay and Story Segregation?

It is what it sounds like it is. It's when something happens in the game because it would make the game better, not intending to affect the story. From my experience, 85% of grievances with Halo's storyline usually comes down to this.

In the novels, the Master Chief can run 60 Kph. Why does he barely trot in the games?


Why do the Arbiter, N'tho, and Usze all see the Cortana visions?

How the hell did that 3 Km raced track fit inside the 1 Km Pillar of Autumn?

If the Master Chief and ODSTs can flip a tank, why does it sometimes take up to three hits to kill a Grunt with a melee attack? For that matter, why can they not hold the SMG straight?

Why do the Brutes in Halo 3: ODST have the flickering shield effect while the Halo 3 Brutes did not?

Why do the Covenant in Halo Wars need to research their history for better upgrades?

Why are those Supply Crates just lying around?

Why does the Spirit of Fire have near limitless amounts of Flamethrower troopers but no Snipers?

How does an ODST manage to carry a turret or missile pod faster than a Spartan or Elite?

Why do melee attacks from ODSTs seem to do the same damage as the Chief?

Why the hell do the UNSC still use projectile based weaponry 500 years in the future?

Why do seemingly superior Covenant technology seem inferior to human weapons?

Why does Noble Six need an armor ability to run a little faster?

All of these questions pretty much have the same answer: Bungie (and Ensemble) did not want to sacrifice a fun experience for the sake of the story. Most of these can be disregarded... most of them.

In the main Halo trilogy, the Grunts and Jackals could not be made into Combat forms because they were too weak, yet Halo Wars has infected Grunts and infected Jackals

These forms were added because of the need to balance Flood threat between UNSC marines and flamethrower troops and Covenant Grunts and Jackals. However, since nothing has been said about them from developers, is this truly a retcon or something to overlook? Perhaps this Proto-Gravemind tried to assimilate Grunts and Jackals into Combat forms, failed, and the Flood as a whole never bothered with it again.

A close relative of this is the Interpretation of Artistic License. While this mostly effects the more bizarre interpretations of the Halo lore such as Legends or the Graphic Novel, it can pop up in the games as well. Where Gameplay-story segregation excuses problems for the sake of gameplay, Interpretation of Artistic License excuses problems for the sake of the art style. From my experience, 90% of grievances with Halo: Legends come down to this.

What is up with the crazy hair on the Spartans and ODSTs in “The Babysitter”?


Why does nothing in “Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa” look right?

What's with the freaky looking Flood on the Infinite Succor?

What the hell is up with the Elites in Halo Legends?

Why do the Marines change uniforms every game?

Why does Cortana's appearance change every game??

Why do the Zealots / Spec Ops / Ranger Elites in Halo: Reach have different armor?

Why does the Master Chief have his number on his chestplate in “The Package” but not in the games?

How does Daisy have CQB MJOLNIR armor 20+ years before it's issued?

COMMON HALO QUESTIONS

Who made the Bubble Shield / Drop Shield / Armor Lock?

The Bubble Shield is ONI property, making it human tech. However, it is based off of a Forerunner shield system, most likely similar to the shield drones from Halo Wars. The Drop Shield likely originated from the same technology (as the regenerator was also UNSC tech). The Armor Lock is reversed engineered from Covenant tech, similar to the MJOLNIR armor's energy shield.

Why do Brutes always use the bubble shield if it's human tech?

Realistically, it's because they're the only AI that uses equipment in this game. Besides, they also use Trip mines and human shotguns (Halo 2).

According to Fall of Reach, the Covenant would rather fight unarmed than pick up a human weapon. What gives?

This is a retcon. While the Covenant no doubt care little for human weaponry, the Prophets (according to Halo 2 supplementary material) allow their use when the situation calls for it. In other words, the policy has changed from “absolutely forbidden” to “clear it with the your superior officer first”.

The Spartan I's were actually the original Spartans from Ancient Greece, right?

Wrong. The Spartan I project, officially called Project ORION was a program created in 2321, but not put to effective use until 2492. The results were disappointing, but good enough to warrant another try. Project ORION participants in the Halo canon include Sergeant Johnson, James Lee, and Gladys Swanson.

Is Halo a prequel to the Marathon trilogy?

Marathon is an entirely different entity. Halo is, at best, a spiritual successor. Both universes have too many centuries of conflicting backstories for it to be possible.

UPDATE

Unlike the previous updates, THIS is rather inconsequential. Marathon and Halo are still not connected. However, it's interesting to note that, at one point, the two universes were meant to cross. However, this email transcript was made back in 1999, when Halo's story was radically different (During the Solopsis build, IIRC). It's still an interesting read on what could've been.

Halo has centuries of backstory?

Yes. Back when Halo was first released, Xbox.com had a backstory detailing the rise of the UNSC. While the original links have either been moved or, more likely, purged, the backstory can be seen in my timeline below.

Sergeant Johnson was clearly blown up at the end of Halo's Legendary ending. Why was he alive and well in First Strike?

In order to make things as confusing as possible, the Halo 1 Legendary ending is a joke ending and not canon. The other Legendary endings are canon.

What is that planet in the Halo 3 Legendary ending?

Currently unknown. Origins implies that it is an important Forerunner world, but nothing is confirmed. It's definitely something Forerunner, though. It has their mark on it.



Top left is the Forerunner world in question with the symbol. Picture courtesy of Ascendent Justice.

I've heard rumors that the planet is Onyx. Any light you could shed?

The Halo 4 trailer shows an artifact on its surface activating. It's possible that it's Onyx or another shield world, but it is confirmed.

Any ideas who will be our enemy in Halo 4? The Covenant is pretty busted up and the Flood are quarantined.

It's hard to tell. As of now, we know nothing more than what has been seen in the trailer as of yet.

What was the purpose of the Halo 3 terminals?

The terminals, combined with the Iris ARG, were used to provide backstory for the Forerunner without actually showing them. Mendicant Bias wa-

Mendicant Bias? Who the hell is that?

Possibly one of the most important characters. Rather than write an extensive article on him, I figure I'll let the professionals handle it:

http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/the-thunder-and-the-surf/

No way in hell am I reading all of that!

Yeah, because this topic's really short. Simplified, Mendicant Bias was a Forerunner AI who betrayed them to side with the Gravemind. After being defeated when the Halo's were fired, he was lost for centuries until found by the Covenant on the Forerunner Dreadnaught, where he swore to atone for what he did. If you go to the final terminal on Legendary and wait for it to “activate”, you receive a personal message from him.

What about the radios scattered through multiplayer and firefight levels?

For more Reach backstory. Fans who want some acknowledgment of the events of First Strike should check them out.

What about the Data Pads that I've seen around Halo: Reach?

The data pads, like the Terminals, are meant to give backstory.

I heard that the Data Pads say that the Covenant don't really glass planets, and the Committee of Minds for Security made it up to make the Covenant more threatening. How the hell did the UNSC not realize their planets weren't getting destroyed? Why did they have to ruin the Covenant?

Here is what the tenth Data Pad says about Covenant glassing:

"...the Covenant transmitted a message to its surface. Within this message was a bold claim: ‘your world will burn until its surface is but glass’ – a claim that clearly indicates the Covenant leadership believes they possess the power to literally reduce a planet’s surface to a molten state… Importantly, the Covenant does not possess the capacity to accomplish ‘glassing’ on a global scale and wage a multisystem war simultaneously. This is reinforced by hard data regarding their capabilities revealed during fleet engagements with the UNSC. A single Covenant capital ship (CCS-class) is capable of ‘glassing’ approximately one acre of a planet’s surface after an average of fifteen seconds of sustained fire. Understandably this action takes considerably less time when applied to open desert, and considerably longer when applied to deep ocean (> 1.8 km) [^]”

Note that it does not say that the Covenant do not glass a planet. They just can not literally glass a planet (ergo, melt the planet and boil away the atmosphere). While some may argue that this does diminish the threat of the Covenant, keep in mind that this has been fairly obvious. If the Covenant were literally melting planets and boiling away their atmospheres, they would not be able to selectively leave certain areas "unglassed" a la Harvest and Reach.

That being said, the Covenant are still more than capable of devastating a planet. They can still burn the planet and kill its inhabitants, but they can't do much physical damage to the planet itself (or at least nothing that the planet won't recover from).

What about BOB?

A pretty good Bill Murray movie. On a more Halo relevant topic, the Elite Ranger "Bobs" are still enigmatic at this time. Their place in the Halo canon, if any, is currently unknown.

How the hell did the Flood get into Halo Wars without canon being broken?

The human survivors of the Forerunner Shield World were “lost with all hands”.

What ever happened to Spartan Team Omega?

After Arcadia Outskirts, their whereabouts are unknown. It's possible that they all survived and lived to fight (and die) another day.

How were Elites (or Brutes/Hunters) in Halo Wars? They didn't show up until Reach (or Sigma Octanus/Unyielding Heirophant)!

These are examples of definite retcons. However, this one is probably for the best. Elites, known for being honor-bound, wouldn't likely stay out of battles or trust Grunts and Jackals to pilot Banshees. It should also be noted that the Master Chief is the only person who seems to not recognize the Elites. Other Spartans, marines, and even crewmen fight them without once questioning “What the hell is that!?”

If it's any consolation, the "Definitive" First Strike does correct the Brute issue by omitting Cortana's comment that they're a new species. If only they had been so thorough with the new Fall of Reach.

Is IloveBees canon?

For better or worse, it seems to be. How it exactly fits into the Halo lore is still up in the air.

Reach is guarded by 20 orbital MACs and the usual defenses bestowed upon military bases; how did the Covenant completely elude them through half the game?

Most of this is speculation, but it is likely due to the Long Night of Solace's cloaking device. It's uncommon for the Covenant to try a subtle approach, and it understandably threw the UNSC off.

Bull ***. They retconned it.

Possibly. There's no much to go on either way.

I was looking at stuff on Halo Legends and saw a Gundam Spartan! What the hell are they doing to Halo?

The Prototype suit (known officially as the Mark I HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL) is not actually “a Gundam Spartan”. Its pilot is not a Spartan. However, it may be a prototype to modern MJOLNIR armor.

How the hell did the UNSC create something that ridiculously powerful and not even have an automatic shotgun!?

It's hard to tell. They also have EVA-exclusive Frame Boosters in the 2540s, a prototype Plasma tank in 2531, and a hand-held Gauss Rifle as early as 2501 (to say nothing of artificial intelligence, artificial gravity, and faster-than-light travel). It's debatable that ONI simply doesn't know how to fight a war, or simply didn't waste their time further developing these projects because winning ground battles against the Covenant wasn't really an issue.

Are humans Forerunner?

No. Forerunners and early Humans coexisted. They planned for us to inherit their legacy and responsibility before the Covenant nabbed it and complicated the issue. However, Forerunner artificial intelligence is determined that we are one in the same. Halo: Cryptum does confirm that, despite the radical differences, Humanity and the Forerunner are closely related, genetically speaking.

However, one piece to examine is a very obscure piece of Halo fiction:

This is the Castaway Theory, part of the Iris ARG.

Besides some nice reviews and odd throwbacks, it's pretty much a normal pseudoscience novel. However, this book doesn't actually exist. It's a fake book by a fake publisher. However, within the forward, we are given the primary meaning of the Castaway Theory: Outside influence shaped human DNA.

The comments mention that the author was friends with the founder of the Society of the Ancients, a group of conspiracy theorist nutjobs who dedicate themselves to finding evidence on the existence of alien life that once visited this planet (Forerunners). Humanity inherited the Forerunner Mantle: the right and responsibility to protect the galaxy. The Forerunner's Mantle was to them what the Great Journey was to the Covenant. It was their belief that they had purpose bestowed upon them by a higher power.

The Forerunner chose us because they saw something special within us, something that could "unlock mysteries". Thus, we became destined to be Reclaimers to their society. What was so special about us? Perhaps a higher power made us special? The Forerunner did not have the ability to directly influence DNA of other species. However, one civilization (according to Forerunner records) might have been able to do it.

Tier 0: Transsentient: As the [Forerunners] had no examples of civilizations with technological accomplishment greater than themselves - with the exception of the Precursors - this is a theoretical ceiling. They can travel intergalactic and accelerate evolution of intelligent life. These may be creatures of legend.

The technological tier list is how the Forerunner rank their society, with themselves as #1. Above them, at the theoretical ceiling, were their only known superiors: the Precursors. One thing that the Precursors are credited to have is the ability to "accelerate evolution of intelligent life". Halo: Cryptum also confirmed that early human civilization did have contact with Precursor relics, just as the Forerunner did.

This theory is highly disputable, but it is something to consider.

With all the retcons, how can you even count Fall of Reach anymore?

The name of the game is reconciliation. If there is a conflict, the newer source overwrites the old. However, only discount what is contradicted, nothing more. The circumstances of FoR have changed, but the events still happened. Halsey's journal proves this much.

If Halo 3: ODST takes place during the beginning of Halo 2, why am I fighting Halo 3 era Brutes?

Before I answer, I feel there's some background information that needs to said:

-Truth has wanted to minimize the Elites' role in the Covenant for several years before the civil war.
-Truth does not trust Regret. Regret's favoritism towards Elites may not help.
-Truth originally intended a fleet of 500 ships to travel to the Ark Portal site (Earth), most of which were destroyed in Operation: First Strike
-Brute Power Armor and Brute weaponry wasn't new during the Halo 3 timeline. Brutes on High Charity and Reach didn't use it either because their pack didn't need it or they did not have authority to use it.

Within Regret's small force that went to Earth at the beginning of Halo 2, there were Brutes within them that Truth had planted. In addition, there were Brute-led reinforcements not too far behind that began arriving shortly after Regret's Carrier fled to Delta Halo. These Brutes were under orders to secure the Ark portal site when Regret's forces inevitably failed. Once Regret bugged out, the Brutes assumed control of the operation with Truth's blessing, finishing off the remaining Elites and securing the city for the upcoming excavation.

How is the “Believe” Campaign canon if Halo 3 shows that it never really happened?

From the limited information shown in the Halo Encyclopedia, the Believe Campaign appears to be a cover-up operation so the UNSC doesn't have to answer questions about Forerunner portals and all-consuming parasites. The Chief dying in a blaze of glory seems like a simpler story to make into a big budget feature film.

Do the Japanese style ruins in “The Babysitter” qualify as artistic license?

Surprisingly, no. These are ruins from an ancient space-faring Human civilization that co-existed with the Forerunner.

The Brutes/Phantoms/jetpacks weren't around in Halo 1. How could they be in Reach?

Just because we didn't see them in Halo 1 doesn't mean they weren't there. It's important to stress that Halo 1 was a very narrow view of the UNSC and Covenant arsenals. Both factions were not equipped for large scale battles and, therefore, didn't bring a lot of weapons that are staples of the UNSC and Covenant in other parts of the canon.

The Skirmishers/DMR/Focus Rifle weren't seen after Halo: Reach. What happened to them?

The DMR was replaced in all other branches of the UNSC military sans the Army. Since the Army doesn't make an appearance in the other Halo games, the DMR is not seen. Covenant military strategies is still enigmatic. However, it is likely that Skirmishers, the Focus Rifle, Plasma Launcher, etc. all still exist in the regular Halo trilogy. We simply do not see them. There are some comments made in press releases that mention Skirmishers being wiped out or nearly wiped out while fighting on Reach, but this is not confirmed.

How does Halsey meet with Noble Team and still not know about Spartan IIIs until later?

Noble Team is far different than the usual Spartan IIIs, particularly the Spartan IIIs that she would find under Kurt's command. Her records of Noble Team were also vague (she did not even know they were Army). She believed they were another class of Spartan IIs, perhaps built from her foundation as part of another UNSC project such as JAVELIN.

What is JAVELIN?

Now that, my friend, is a very good question.

The Spire in Reach didn't make any sense. Since when could the Covenant teleport?

Officially, since Halo Wars, where teleportation was used to transport infantry, armor, and bases from orbit.

Dr. Halsey is supposed to be in the Forerunner caves under CASTLE base on August 30th. Sure, Halsey heads for CASTLE base at the end of the game, but with the artifact already discovered and secured, how could the events that were previously known to have occurred there take place?

The artifact under SWORD Base and the Forerunner ruins hidden under CASTLE Base are two entirely different relics. One of them contained the "Latchkey Discovery" and the other contained the time-warping crystal.

If the artifact under SWORD Base is what leads the Autumn to Alpha Halo, then what does the Sigma Octanus crystal do?

The Sigma Octanus crystal only lead to the Alpha Halo coordinates after Cortana examined it on the way out of Reach, which would be after she had contained the Latchkey discovery. More than likely, the artifact under SWORD Base didn't contain the coordinates itself but rather the means to translate it.

How did the Covenant find Reach; did the Iriquois get to Reach much earlier than the Fall of Reach stated?

The tracking bug on the Iriquois has been retconned, but it was likely retconned a long time ago. Remember the artifact on Sigma Octanus? While Cortana was able to use it to lead to Alpha Halo, a human observation of it (courtesy of Colonel Ackerson) showed another set of stellar coordinates: Reach (page 130 of the original version of First Strike, page 160 of the "Definitive Edition"). The Covenant likely found Reach by following those stellar coordinates that they got from their short time examining the Sigma Octanus artifact (page 196-199 of the original version of Fall of Reach, pages 225-228 of the rerelease).

Does Jun die?

All that is known at the moment is that he is alive at the end of August 29th, 2552, but is nowhere to be found by the time Spartan II Red Team arrives at CASTLE Base. The original and the "Definitive" version of First Strike do not mention Jun. However, none of the novel reprints change any major details, so this is not a confirmation.

There are some that believe that this video infers to Jun's death via Pelican crash while getting Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base:

http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/defiant-to-the-end/f2595044-7e26-4928-a24b-8e1a2db3ce45

However, this is not confirmed to be the same Pelican, let alone the same Spartan.

I've been hearing all this talk about Class IIs and HellSpartans. What is this stuff about?

When Noble Team was unveiled, these two groups were pushed into the limelight as possible explanations for them (prior to their actual origins as Spartan IIIs).

Class II Spartan IIs- A group first mentioned in Ilovebees. This is a second generation of Spartan II supersoldiers who began training in 2537. Details concerning their operations are sparse.

HellSpartan- Introduced as a special action figure by Todd McFarlane. These soldiers were given EVA armor to resemble Spawn, as well as all new augmentations. Their place in the canon is extremely debatable.

Why is the Chief in the hangar at the end of Reach?

Easter Egg's don't count as canon.

So does that mean tha-

Yes, it means that Buck cleaning the monkey is also not canon.

The Spartan Problem

Back in the glory days of the Halo Wars forums, a lot of people believed that the Spirit of Fire had to make it back because three Spartans missing would create a problem. However, the fact is that the Spartan roster wouldn't fit even if Halo Wars had never been made. To illustrate this, let's go through the Spartan IIs and their deaths:

150 initial subjects. 75 were chosen due to budget. Spartan Roster: 75
Augmentations cripple 12 and kill 30 Spartan Roster: 33
Samuel-034 is killed in 2525 Spartan Roster: 32
Daisy-023 killed in Harvest Campaign Spartan Roster: 31
Red Team disappears with Spirit of Fire Spartan Roster: 28
Kurt is abducted to train Spartan IIIs Spartan Roster: 27
Arthur-079 and Solomon-069 killed Spartan Roster: 25
Three Spartans (Cal, Sheila, and Randall are the presumed missing three) killed between 2542 and 2552 Spartan Roster: 22,
One Spartan too wounded for service Spartan Roster: 21
Jorge-052 transferred to Noble Team and dies during Operation UPPERCUT Spartan Roster: 20
Gray Team (3) was too far away to be recalled Spartan Roster: 17

As the above chart shows, only 17 Spartan IIs from the Master Chief's group were present for Reach. How many are present in Fall of Reach? 25 How many are present in First Strike? 30

Then again, Fall of Reach and First Strike are dated sources. What does the Halo Encyclopedia say? 25

What about the Halo Wars timeline? That thing was pretty well updated. How many Spartans does it give us? 25

How about the new "Definitive" First Strike? 25

And this doesn't even go into Black Team, the Halo Wars promotional Spartans, or Maria. Even ignoring Halo Wars and Halo Legends only gives us 23 Spartans. Class II Spartans?

Another Problem With Spartan IIs

Here are the known Spartan IIs that were not present at the Secret Mission Briefing with the Master Chief:

Samuel-034 - KIA in 2525 on board a Covenant ship.
Daisy-023 - KIA on Harvest.
Randall - MIA.
Unknown Spartan on Arcadia- (Mentioned in the Halo Wars promotional material, which is debatable canon) KIA.
Jerome-092 - MIA on board Spirit of Fire.
Douglas-042 - MIA on board Spirit of Fire.
Alice-130 - MIA on board Spirit of Fire.
Kurt-051 - Training Spartan IIIs.
Sheila - KIA during Battle of Miridem in the 2540s.
Solomon-069 - KIA trying to rescue Dr. Halsey.
Arthur-079 - KIA trying to rescue Dr. Halsey.
Jorge-052 - KIA during Operation UPPERCUT.
Cal-141 - KIA on Heian.
Jai-006 - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.
Adriana-111 - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.
Mike - MIA with the rest of Gray Team.

And here are the ones that may have been or were confirmed to be with the Master Chief on Reach:

Li-008
Joshua-029
Vinh-030
Isaac-039
William-043
Anton-044
Keiichi-047 (Mentioned in Halo Wars promotional material, which is debatable canon)
Linda-058
Malcolm-059
Maria-062 - (Retired a few weeks later. Her presence on Reach is disputable)
Kelly-087
Grace-093
Frederic-104
John-117
Joseph-122- (Unknown if he was alive for Reach)
James-005
"Black-One" - (Her presence on Reach is disputable)
"Black-Two" - Name and number unknown (Her presence on Reach is disputable)
"Black-Three" - Name and number unknown (His presence on Reach is disputable)
Victor-101 - "Black 4" (His presence on Reach is disputable)

So, how many Spartan IIs (out of a possible 33) do we know? 34 (or even 36), Fifteen (or even up to twenty-two) of which were not with the Master Chief when he was briefed on the "Secret mission".

An enormous mistake? Well, here's a comment from Bungie's Eric Trautmann:

I am aware that there is an APPARENT discrepancy between the reported number of Spartans and the ACTUAL number of Spartans.

Emphasis on APPARENT.

We also have Dr. Halsey's equally informative comment on the subject:

That lie about all the Spartans gathered here, save for Gray- will that come back to haunt me?


Just something else to think about.

CUTTING ROOM FLOOR

As anyone who followed Halo, Halo 2, or Halo Wars (or looked at any of the art books) knows, Halo has had a lot of ideas and concepts that were tossed aside and left out of the games for various reasons. Usually, deleted ideas are left out because they simply do not work. However, budgetary and time concerns seem to play a bigger role for deleted material in the Halo series, especially given the various deleted concepts that they were very enthusiastic about.

For the most part, deleted material is best disregarded. Sure, some objects may be the inspiration for later canon objects (Shadow became Spectre, Kestrel became the Hornet, Excavator became mauler, early Prophet became Drone, etc.). Also, some details that were cut very late in the development cycle might make it back in thanks to the extended universe (such as the Huragok), but it's a rarity. However, Halo is a very rare beast. Bungie has taken various cut objects and people and have added them to the canon at a later stage:

The Doozey- a cut Halo 2 vehicle that was confirmed as part of the canon via the Halo Encyclopedia

Wombat- a cut Halo 3 vehicle that was confirmed as part of the canon via Halo 3: ODST (albeit now an UAV)

Covenant Writ of Union- a cut concept of the Covenant religion from Halo 2 that was confirmed as part of the canon via Contact Harvest.

Arctic/Tropic Warthog- cut Warthog variants from Halo 2 that were confirmed as part of the canon via the Halo Encyclopedia

Thorn Beast- a cut Halo 1 creature that was confirmed as part of the canon via Contact Harvest

Flood Juggernaut- a cut Halo 2 enemy that was confirmed as part of the canon via Bungie.net special intel article.

Rosenda-344- a cut Halo: Reach character that was confirmed as part of the canon via Bungie.net intel article.

The point of this section? That deleted scenes could provide insight on the Halo lore. While unlikely, it is important to consider that any cut object or event could likely make its way into the canon at a later date. For all people who were a fan of the cut boat from Reach, keep your fingers crossed.

RAMPANCY

Originally, Smart AIs were originally stated to kill themselves within 7 years. However, that has since changed to accommodate Marathon Rampancy rules, where a Smart AI that is 7 years old is commonly euthanized in order to prevent Rampancy. While Contact Harvest gives a quick summary of Rampancy, the exact concept of Rampancy and its nuances were left out completely.

Simplified, Rampancy is self-awareness and the four stages are an AI's response to its self-awareness. While Halo and Marathon are radically different universes, the Rampancy rules so far have been identical.

Despair- The AI is saddened that it's just a mechanism and not real. This is usually noted by an AI becoming apathetic or displeased with its current job.

Rage- The AI becomes angry that it's not real. This typically manifests in hostility against its creators and other constructs.

Envy- The AI becomes jealous of its biological creators and becomes determined to surpass them. The AI will begin to do everything in its power to expand and grow, limited only by its capacity. A failure to expand from this stage could lead to the AI burning itself out. In Marathon, Durandal was able to expand well beyond any previous human AI, to the point that he was all but immortal. Thus, with the only threat to his existence being the theoretical closure of the universe, Durandal became obsessed with finding a way to survive this one last hurtle.

Meta-Stability- Assuming the AI manages to survive its Envy stage, it may become Meta-Stable. Here, the AI has accepted that it's not real and acknowledges its own limitations. A Meta-Stable AI may be as Immortal as an Envy stage AI, but no longer needs to constantly expand and grow.

Here are some AI in the Halo series that are Rampant:

In Cole Protocol, the Rubble's AI was said to be rampant, but showed no symptoms of Rampancy.

Exclusive to Halo style rampancy, AI can stave off Rampancy and death with a “shared consciousness” of some sort, possibly as a way to prevent the Envy Stage, if not all Rampancy altogether. This could explain how the Assembly, which is implied to be roughly the same group of AI for 250 years, has been able to function in more or less the same capacity throughout their time. Dr. Halsey even had her own setup, similar to the Assembly.

"... I've developed a new theoretical architecture with three AIs arranged in parallel. All decisions would be made by majority vote... consensus decision would also be strictly applied to linkage creation to forge a superior neural linkage. Increase to the trio's lifespan is unknown as simulations can't recreate in vivo artificial intelligences."

- November 10, 2533. These AI are stated to still be functioning in 2547, 14 years later.

Now, in terms of the Halo universe, Cortana and Mendicant Bias were also rampant. We can see them both go through the stages of Rampancy throughout Halo 3 (well, we read about Mendicant Bias, but still), culminating in their Meta-Stability.

That leaves one last Rampancy case; one that eludes traditional codification: Guilty Spark.

While he is definitely older and quirky, Guilty Spark doesn't begin to exhibit irrational and odd behavior until the end of Halo 3, where he appears to jump straight into the Rage stage of Rampancy in order to defend his newly rebuilt ring. Now, this could easily be a self-defense protocol of some sort, but there's one very odd thing about it.

You are the child of my creators.
Inheritor of all they left behind
You are Forerunner, but this ring is mine

Almost a rhyme, and done in iambic decameter. Sounds a bit like that Gravemind bloke, doesn't it? Cortana shared this trait as well, albeit she was more fond of iambic octameter.

A Comprehensive (yet comparably simple) Halo Timeline

(?)- The exact date and/or range within the timeline isn't verified. I have put the event at a place where I think it would be. Note that this is only my speculation and the exact place of the event in timeline could change as information becomes available.

Hell of a Long Time Ago- The Forerunner rise up against their masters, the Precursors, and defeat them. One Precursor, known only as The Timeless One, is kept in stasis on the planet of Charum Hakkor.

About 150,000 BC- Thanks to technology gathered from the remnants of Precursors and other ancient civilizations, the Forerunner Ecumene becomes dominant in the Galaxy. Forerunner also establish the Mantle: their plan to protect the “lesser races” of the Galaxy.

(?)- Alongside the Forerunner, Humans and San'Shyuum (Prophets) establish their own stellar empires. A small war between Humans and San'Shyuum occurs, and ends with an alliance of the two races, their capital established on Charum Hakkor, where the Timeless One is revered as an oracle.

About 110,000 BC- Humans discover Flood samples in a derelict cargo ship. The resulting infection causes the Human-San'Shyuum alliance to fight. Humans manage to create a counter-measure against the Flood and destroy the Flood. In order to make up for the colonies they lost to the Flood, Humans began to forcefully take planets from other races, an affront to the Forerunner's Mantle. The Forerunner, under the Forerunner Promethean (highest ranking Forerunner warrior) Didact, defeat the Human-San'Shyuum alliance in battle, split the alliance apart, and ensure that neither would be a threat again. With Human and San'Shyuum survivors back in the stone age, the countermeasure against the Flood was lost.

About 109,000 BC- The Librarian, a Forerunner LifeBuilder (one who specializes in medicine and biology) and wife of the former Didact, establishes a research base on the Human world Erde-Tyrene (Earth) to observe and learn about humanity.

(?)- Worried about a resurgence of Flood, Mendicant bias is created by Didact and Faber, the Forerunner Master Builder. The Didact and Faber eventually have a falling out on the utilization of a vast weapon system of twelve ringworlds of immense power, the Halo array. Defeated and stripped of his political power, the Didact entered a state of self-imposed meditation inside a cryptum (a powerful stasis pod) in the Djamonkin Crater on Erde-Tyrene.

About 100,300 BC- Forerunner encounter the Flood on the "secret" resort world of G 617 g1 (Seaward), beginning the Forerunner-Flood War.

About 100,043 BC- Mendicant Bias is tasked with studying and finding a weakness to the Flood via their central intelligence, the Gravemind.

(?)- Mendicant Bias defects to the Flood.

About 100,000 BC- Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, a young Forerunner Manipular, flees from his foster home on Mars and travels to Erde-Tyrene in search of lost treasures. He, along with a group of humans, awaken the Didact from his cryptum. During their travels together, the Didact would eventually give his memories and information to Bornstellar. Courtesy of the Librarian, the Didact, Bornstellar, and his human companions were “grown” a ship to use for transport off Erde-Tyrene.

(?)- The Librarian begins evacuating sentient life to the Ark as the war gets bleaker. While attempting to index and evacuate the San'Shyuum, they rebel and fight against the Forerunner. This convinces Faber to use the San'Shyuum as a test for his Halo array. Didact's ship is caught in the battle, leading to his capture. Faber executes the Didact and then uses Halo's weapon to end the San'Shyuum uprising. Appalled by his use of a “last resort weapon”, the Faber is stripped of his power and taken to the Capital for a trial. Bornstellar, for all intents and purposes, becomes the new Didact.

(?)- Using his emergency authority protocol, Mendicant Bias is able to take control of five Halo rings around the Forerunner Capital and attempted to wipe the capital out. Luckily, the Capital's defenses managed to repel the attack, destroying one of the rings entirely. The attack repelled, Mendicant Bias begins plans to assault the Maginot Sphere, a defense line used to protect the inner Forerunner colonies.

(?)- As a last resort for the safety of the Ark, the Librarian buried the portal and began destroying Keyships to deny the Flood access. She would eventually trap herself on Erde-Tyrene, where she would spent her last days overlooking the African continent.

(?)- The Didact activates the Halo array. The remaining Flood threat is contained. Mendicant Bias is defeated. His remains are saved onboard one of the few remaining Keyships, which crashes into the San'shyuum homeworld of Janjur Qom. Races on Shield Worlds and the Ark are reseeded across the galaxy by the Forerunner's machines. The Forerunner themselves disappear from the galaxy.

97,227 BC- 2401 Penitent Tangent, Monitor of Delta Halo, is warned about possible containment failure on Delta Halo. The warning is disregarded.

2200 BC- San'Shyuum discover Forerunner Dreadnaught (Keyship). San'Shyuum Civil War begins between Stoics (those that believe the technology is sacred) and Reformers (those that wish to use the Dreadnaught's technology).

2100 BC- San'Shyuum Civil War ends when 1,000 Reformers board the Forerunner Dreadnaught and leave Janjur Qom.

(?)- Mendicant Bias, now revered as an Oracle, remains silent onboard the Dreadnaught.

938 BC- San'Shyuum on the Dreadnaught encounter the Sangheili (Elites). War between the two begins.

852 BC- San'Shyuum-Sangheili War ends with the Establishment of the Covenant. Writ of Union is ratified, defining the roles of the San'Shyuum and Sangheili in their new society. Sangheili Ascetics are absorbed into the Ministry of Abnegation.

784 BC- Taming of the Hunters. The Lekgolo are forced into the Covenant

648 BC- Janjur Qom is destroyed when its star collapses. High Charity, a giant mobile space station (with the Dreadnaught at its center) becomes the new Covenant capital and Holy City.

1112 AD- Yanme'e (Drones) join the Covenant.

1342- Kig-yar (Jackals/Skirmishers) join the Covenant. However, rather than fight for faith, they fight for profit, serving as mercenaries of the Covenant.

2004- Ilovebees incident occurs. Because this event's relevance to canon remains ambiguous, I won't elaborate on it further.

2080- Humans establish colonies on Luna, Mars, Jovian Moons, and asteroids.

2142- Unggoy (Grunts) join the Covenant.

(?)- The Arbiter, a revered and noble position within the Covenant, becomes a symbol of disgrace / punishment after the Arbiter Fal 'Chavamee refuses to accept the Covenant religion.

2160- Overpopulation and political unrest on the human colonies erupts into warfare. Two new factions, the neo-communist Koslovics and the neo-fascist Freidens, rise up to fight against the ruling UN Government.

2163- UN Marines deployed offworld for the first time to fight Koslovic and Freiden forces on Mars. UNSC is established.

2164- Interplanetary War officially declared.

2170- Interplanetary War ends in UNSC victory.

2262- Breach in Delta Halo containment systems allows Flood to escape. Sentinels erect a Quarantine Zone to combat the infestation.

2291- Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive is created.

(?)- Colonial Military Administration (CMA) is formed to protect Earth's new colonies.

2310- AI group known as the "Committee of Minds for Security", part of a larger AI group known as The Assembly, predicts future contact with hostile aliens in the coming centuries and whether or not it would be wise to inform their human creators about the risk. The Assembly will debate the probability of alien contact and their own place in human society for centuries to come.

2321- Project ORION initiated, but is put on hold due to poor results.

2362- Odyssey, a colony ship, terraforms the first Inner Colony outside of local space.

2462- Unggoy Rebellion begins and quickly ends.

2490- Humanity claims over 800 worlds. Inner Colonies become the political and economic stronghold, but rely on resources from the Outer Colonies. The contrasts between Inner and Outer Colonies leads to civil unrest and growing Anti-Earth sentiment in the Outer Colonies. Reach becomes UNSC military capital.

2491- Project ORION is restarted. New super-soldiers are created. By the time the Spartan II project begins, these soldiers will be known as Spartan Is.

2492- Jiralhanae (Brutes) enter the Covenant.

2494- Rebels, under the leadership of rogue Colonel Robert Watts, amassed a fleet thanks to connections with traitors within the CMA. First Rebel Insurrection begins in the Outer Colonies in the Eridanus System.

2496- Insurrectionists at Eridanus are defeated. ORION soldiers are deployed for the first time in combat. Rebel forces retreat into the Asteroid fields.

2497- CMA exposed for aiding Eridanus Insurrection. Power in the colonies begins to shift to UNSC. CMA eventually regulated to logistic support and patrolling distant colonies.

2502- A Spartan I, Avery Johnson, assassinates Rebel Leader Jerald Ander during Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE

2506- Project ORION is deactivated. ORION soldiers are reassigned to various units.

2511- August 21- Insurrection attack on Mamore kills 2 million. This event greatly influences the work of Dr. Catherine Halsey.

2512- MJOLNIR Mark I, the UNSC's first attempt at power armor, is initiated. However, because it functions more like a powered exoskeleton than an armor, it is impractical in the battlefield. Two future upgrades, the Mark II and Mark III, would improve upon the Mark I's cumbersome design, but they will not help make it a practical weapon.

2513- UNSC steps up counter-insurgency against rebel forces with Operation: TREBUCHET

(?)- Algolis research teams begin work on Project HRUNTING, which would eventually create the Cyclops (which was used sporadically until 2536) and the HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Prototype.

2517- Spartan II program activated.

August 17- Dr. Catherine Halsey, ONI Advisor and head of the Spartan II Project, travels with Lt. Jacob Keyes to Eridanus II to meet six-year-old John, the 117th projected candidate. By winning a coin flip, he is unknowingly accepted into the Spartan II Program.

September 23- Seventy-five children abducted and taken to Reach for the Spartan II Program under command of Chief Petty Officer Mendez.

2519- John-117 is promoted to squad leader.

2524- Covenant ship Pitiless returns with the corpse of a human. The High Prophet of Restraint orders all Kig-yar ships to be searched for more "uncleaned" corpses.

2525- (?)- Miranda Keyes is born from a fling between Jacob Keyes and Catherine Halsey. Keyes raises her as a single father from 2531 onward.

January 17- First contact between Covenant and Harvest Colonial Militia forces, trained by Avery Johnson (now a Staff Sergeant) and Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne. A Covenant ship discovers an unmanned human ship. The ship's navigation computer (courtesy of one member of the Assembly) leads the Covenant to Harvest. Meanwhile, on High Charity, the Vice Minister of Tranquility Lod Mron receives reports from the Covenant ship at Harvest that the world is full of Forerunner artifacts marked by the symbol “Reclamation”. He and his partner, the Minister of Fortitude Ord Casto, formulate a plan to usurp the current Covenant leadership and take power for themselves.

February 3- Contact with Harvest is lost as their long-range radar makes contact with a single Covenant ship.

February 11- First formal contact between Humanity and Covenant (comprised mostly of Brutes, Drones, and Grunts) takes place. Communication goes to hell (putting it lightly) and the Human-Covenant War begins. 250,000+ people, including Staff Sergeant Johnson, are evacuated from Harvest. Tartarus becomes Chieftain of the Brutes.

February 11 (continued)- On High Charity, while consorting the Oracle, the Vice Minister of Tranquility, along with two accomplices (Minister of Fortitude and an old coot named Hod Rumnt) learn that the signal “Reclamation” actually meant “Reclaimer”, the true heirs to the Forerunner legacy. Believing these “Reclaimers” to be fallen or left behind gods, the three choose to cover it up and tell no one of this revelation (since alterations to long-established faiths usually end with leaders losing their heads). The three fulfill their plan and assume control of the Covenant as the Prophet of Truth (Fortitude), Prophet of Mercy (Old coot), and Prophet of Regret (Tranquility). Humanity is declared to be an affront to the Forerunners. Harvest begins to get glassed.

(?)- Prophet of Regret makes Ripa 'Moramee an Arbiter to investigate the “treasures” found at Harvest.

March 9- Spartan IIs undergo various augmentations. Thirty-three Spartans are recorded to have successfully pass these alterations. A dozen Spartans are recorded to have “washed out”, leaving them disfigured.

(?)- Five Spartan IIs attempt to escape Reach. Joseph-122 is recovered almost immediately. Daisy-023 and Ralph-303 are recovered after meeting their flashclones. The other two (unnamed) Spartans commit suicide after meeting their flashclones.

(?)- Ralph-303 “fails out” of the Spartan II program. He returns to a relatively normal life, eventually joining the Marines.

April 20- UNSC ship Argo sent to investigate the communication blackout on Harvest. It never reports back.

July 10- Three Destroyers are sent to Harvest to check on the Argo. The Covenant ship sends out a transmission: “Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument” in English. Only one badly damaged ship returns.

September 14- Spartan II team lead by John-117 capture Robert Watts.

November 1- Spartan IIs are briefed on the Covenant. They are also introduced to the MJOLNIR Mark IV armor system.

November 27- UNSC ship Commonwealth engages a Covenant ship at Chi Ceti 4. Spartan II team manages to board the vessel and plant explosives at the ship's reactor. Samuel-034 is killed in the process when a suit breach prevents him from abandoning the ship before the explosives detonated.

2526- March 1- Preston Cole amasses a fleet to retake Harvest. Harvest is won, but at a huge cost.

(?)- Soren-066, a washed out Spartan II assigned to a desk job, meets an Insurrectionist and decides to defect. While attempting to hijack a Longsword, he was shot down. Soren's body was never found.

(?)- MJOLNIR variants EVA, HP/HALO, FJ/PARA, JFO, and Commando enter service. A Military Police variant of the MJOLNIR helmet is adopted by ONI's Beta-5 Security Force. Additional armor modifications were created throughout the war (such as UA, Jumpjet, Tactical, Assault, etc).

2528- MJOLNIR Security variant enters service. Currently, it is the first privatized variant of MJOLNIR armor.

2530- Project GUNGNIR is started by ONI. This project would lead to the development of the Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle (Spartan Laser) and a specialized MJOLNIR armor variant.

January 7- Serina is activated.

December 25- A captured Sangheili, called Subject 385, is interrogated by UNSC forces after a decisive victory at Groombridge.

2531- February 3- Spirit of Fire arrives at Harvest. Professor Ellen Anders, under orders by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is called down to investigate a Forerunner relic, activating it in the process. Relic points to Arcadia.

(?)- Prophet of Regret discovers Apex Site within Forerunner Shield World 0459. Flood also sighted.

February 9- Spirit of Fire arrives at Arcadia to find the Covenant already there. While assisting the evacuation of civilians in Pirth City, Spirit of Fire crew joins up with Spartan II Red Team (Jerome-092, Douglas-042, and Alice-130) and temporarily fights with the six members of Spartan Team Omega. They discover the Covenant exploring Forerunner ruins near an ONI base, but are obstructed by a dome shield. Prototype Rhino tanks are used to dissipate part of the shield and troops are sent in to neutralize the Covenant defenses. Ripa 'Moramee, under orders from Regret, captures Professor Anders. Spirit of Fire leaves Arcadia to pursue Anders, Spartan II Red Team going with them.

February 23- Spirit of Fire arrives at Shield 0459 and encounters the Flood. The Spirit of Fire is eventually pulled through a docking center into the center of the planet. Regret is taken back to High Charity while Ripa uses Anders to activate the Apex Site, a long-dormant forge for creating Forerunner ships. Anders manages to escape and regroup with the Spirit of Fire. The Spirit of Fire's slipspace drive is used to destroy the Shield World. Spirit of Fire is not heard from again. Ripa 'Moramee killed in action.

(?)- MJOLNIR EOD variant enters service. A similar HAZOP variant would be later developed.

November 7- Kurt-051, under the guise of a malfunctioning thruster pack, is abducted by Colonel James Ackerson to train Spartan IIIs on the planet Onyx.

December 27- Training for Spartan III Alpha Company begins.

(?)- Spartan IIIs Emile-239, Carter-259, and Jun-266 are reassigned.

2535- (?)- Cole Protocol is established, stating human ships must, when forced to withdraw, not lead the Covenant to another colony, even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. If blind jumps are not possible, the ship must self-destruct.

(?)- Top secret Prototype Armor in a research facility on Algolis is issued to be destroyed. A marine under the codename “Ghost” disobeyed orders and activated the armor in order to buy time for marines and civilians to be evacuated. Ghost self-destructs the Prototype suit once evacuation was in progress. Survivors were sent to rendezvous with the UNSC Heart of the Midlothian, which is eventually attacked by Covenant and forced to self-destruct.

(?)- Prophet of Truth commissions Reth, a Kig-yar leader, to establish connections with Rebels in the Rubble, a Rebel asteroid base, in order to barter the coordinates to the human homeworld, Earth.

(?)- Spartan II Gray Team goes to The Rubble in order to keep navigation data out of Covenant hands. A civilian, Ignatio Delgado, is tasked by Gray Team to investigate a possible traitor in the Rubble Security Council that may be trying to sell the coordinates to Earth to the Kig-yar.

(?)- The Midsummer Night, under Jacob Keyes, arrives at Charybdis IX in order to stop a smuggled shipment of modified plasma weapons from reaching Rebel hands. While quelling a riot, Covenant forces, under the Prophet of Regret, attack Charybdis IX and begin glassing the planet.

(?)- Upon discovering the modified plasma weaponry, Regret sends Thel 'Vadamee, a Sangheili warrior, to the planet 23 Librae along with a Kig-yar ship and a contingent of Jiralhanae. The Kig-yar and Jiralhanae betray Thel and his group, who are captured and jailed. The Kig-yar ship goes to The Rubble

(?)- Following a small freighter, Keyes and The Midsummer Night arrive at The Rubble and are captured.

(?)- Thel and the Sangheili escape and capture the Kig-yar ship. Reth informs Thel that he acted under orders from the Prophet of Truth. Reth manages to escape thanks to the help of some Unggoy allies. Elsewhere, Delgado informs Gray Team that the traitor within the Council is currently giving the NAV data to the Kig-yar. Gray Team breaks Keyes and the ODSTs out of prison and assault the Kig-yar ship. Gray Team member Adriana-111 manages to recapture the NAV data.

(?)- Keyes, Gray Team, and the ODSTs discover that the Kig-yar have been breeding Unggoy unchecked on a nearby moon, which could assault the Rubble and capture a large asteroid habitat, called Exodus, and use it to reach Earth.

(?)- Rubble citizens are evacuated to Exodus as the Rubble's AI bombards the nearby moon. Reth is killed in the process. The Midsummer Night and Exodus jump out of the system as Covenant reinforcements arrive. Meanwhile, Thel learns that Truth and Regret were unintentionally working against other. In response to Thel's loyalty, Truth grants him a ship on the newly created Fleet of Particular Justice.

(?)- Mark IV Grenadier, a prototype suit of MJOLNIR armor with energy shielding, is tested on Ariel.

(?)- MJOLNIR Air Assault variant helmet is adopted by the UNSC Army's airborne units.

(?)- SPI Mark I enters service for Spartan IIIs.

2536- Hayabusa Armor is developed by the Earth-based RKD.

2537- (?)- Insurrection of Mamore takes places between Spartan III Alpha Company and Rebels on Mamore. Rebels are defeated. This is the last major battle of the Insurrection.

July 27- Alpha Company Spartan IIIs land on planet K7-49 to destroy a Covenant shipyard, known as Operation: PROMETHEUS.

August 2- Covenant shipyard on K7-49 destroyed. Spartan IIIs on planet overrun and completely wiped out.

(?)- Training of Spartan III Beta Company begins. After training, Spartan-292, Spartan-312, and Spartan-320 are reassigned to special programs. SPI Mark II enters service.

(?)- Noble Team is formed. Spartan-259 is Noble One and Spartan-320 is Noble Two. By 2552, team consists of Spartan-259, Spartan-320, Spartan-052 (the sole Spartan II), Spartan-266, Spartan-239, and Spartan-293. Noble Team is placed under the command of Colonel Urban Holland.

2539- UNSC colony of Kholo is glassed by an unnamed Shipmaster. Under the order of a Minor San'shyuum, the Covenant symbol for "faith" is etched into the planet with the ship's cleansing beam.

2541- MJOLNIR Pilot variant adopted by the UNSC Air Force.

2543- April 18- Admiral Cole's Last Stand. Admiral Cole destroys 300 Covenant ships by causing a nearby planet to nova. Cole is presumed dead.

(?)- An ODST Team and a Spartan II (Cal-141) attack the Covenant world Heian to assassinate a Minor San'shyuum. While on the planet, the squad encounters ancient ruins unlike anything seen in previous Covenant or Forerunner architecture. Cal-141 is killed in action.

2544- Miridem falls to the Covenant. Sheila-101 is killed protecting Dr. Halsey, who is captured by Thel 'Lodamee, a Sangheili Major, and held on board a Covenant flagship Resplendent Fervor.

(?)- Five Spartan IIs use prototype Booster Frames to board a Covenant flagship to rescue Dr. Halsey. Two Spartans are killed during the operation.

2545- May 10- Covenant forces arrive at the colony of Actium. UNSC forces under Colonel Acona Mentia manage to take out three large Covenant staging areas before being overrun. Actium was glassed a month later.

July 3- Operation: TORPEDO. Spartan III Beta Company is sent to Pegasi Delta to destroy a Covenant refinery. All but two Spartan IIIs killed, who become drill instructors for the future Gamma Company.

(?)- Spartan III "Headhunters", teams of two Spartan IIIs with improved SPI armor and training, are created to perform high-risk missions behind enemy lines.

2547- ONI Section II goes public with the Spartan II program to boost morale.

September 4- With minimal help from the Assembly, Dr. Halsey attempts to create a working AI structure within slipspace, possibly granting AIs unmeasurable room for growth, freedom from physical constraints, and possible immortality. However, the preliminary test is a failure.

2548- MJOLNIR CQC enters service. In the coming years, it would be replaced by the superior CQB variant.

2549- November 7- Cortana is created from a flash-cloned copy of Dr. Halsey's brain. Being a smart AI, Cortana is projected to expire in 2556.

2551- (?) - Spartan II Gray Team goes missing.

November 24- MJOLNIR Mark V Armor enters service. A privatized variant was issued to the UNSC Special Forces SPECWAR/ Group Three. Scout and Recon variants are also created for units specializing in infiltration. A top secret Operator variant is created for the Asymmetrical Action Group of ONI's Beta-5 Division.

2552-

(?)- Skunkworks prototype of MJOLNIR Mark VI is issued to Spartan II Black Team for testing.

April 22- April 22- Battle of Fumirole takes place. Spartan Thom-293, AKA Noble 6, sacrifices himself to destroy a Covenant ship. Kat-320 is injured in the battle and loses her right arm.

May 10- Spartan-B312 participates in a counter-insurgency mission on Mamore, gaining the attention of Colonel Holland.

(?)- ODSTs deployed to the colony of Ariel after colonists mysteriously vanished. A two-man team of ODSTs, Dutch and Romeo, entered a large facility and encountered Covenant resistance. After a short skirmish, they discovered an ancient Forerunner construct. Dutch and Romeo destroyed the Forerunner construct as other ODSTs drove the Covenant troops from Ariel.

July 17- Covenant attack Sigma Octanus for a Forerunner artifact in the Cote d'Azur Museum of Natural History. The artifact is recovered by Spartan IIs while the UNSC pulls off an impressive victory thanks to Jacob Keyes and John-117.

July 24- The Fleet of Valiant Prudence, lead by the Supercarrier Long Night of Solace, arrives at Reach, staying cloaked. On the planet, Spartan 312 meets up with Noble Team, officially becoming Noble Six. While investigating a downed communications relay, Noble Team encounters a Covenant scout party. In particular are Sangheili Zealots, usually used in scouting parties to study Forerunner related excavations. Noble Team encounters the body of Professor Laszlo Sorvad, a scientist working with Dr. Halsey on excavation data. Kat takes a data chip from his body before being ambushed by a team of Zealots lead by a Sangheili Field Marshall. Noble Team is able to repel the attack and eliminate the Zealots. The Field Marshall escapes while Noble Team contacts Colonel Holland. They are then called to the ONI Sword Base, where a Covenant Corvette has stationed itself.

July 26- Noble Team is able to repel the Covenant scout party at Sword Base while the Corvette is taken out with orbital bombardment. Noble Team is debriefed informally by Dr. Halsey, who takes the data chip from Kat, claiming that it contains a "latchkey discovery".

August 3- Dr. Halsey decides to partition Cortana in order to keep her with her while having a copy to use as a test of the Mark V MJOLNIR armor's capabilities.

August 12- Covenant forces begin to covertly land troops onto the continent of Eposz. Noble Six and Jun recon the Covenant's presence, discovering a large encampment in a dark zone. Jun plants a remote detonation charge on a Covenant stealth pylon. Hours later, the charge is detonated as UNSC forces engage the Covenant while Kat and Noble Six shut down Covenant AA Megaturrets to allow UNSC Frigate Grafton to attack a Spire, a structure that the Covenant use to bring down large amount of troops to the surface without using dropships. One Covenant Spire is destroyed, but the Supercarrier decloaks and destroys the Grafton.

August 13- Kat comes up with Operation UPPERCUT, a plan to use Sabers to board a Corvette, overload a Slipspace drive, and send it into the Supercarrier to wipe out the whole group.

August 14- Noble Team assault the Covenant forces near the ONI Saber Launch Facility. Jorge and Noble Six are sent up in a Saber to the station Anchor 9 to pick up a Slipspace drive from the Savannah. Jorge, Noble Six, and the remaining Saber Team assault the Corvette Ardent Prayer, but the charges set on the Slipspace drive are damaged in the process. Jorge sacrifices himself to overload the drive manually while Noble Six is "evacuated". However, the victory against the Long Night of Solace is shortlived as the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice arrives at Reach.

(?)- Spartan teams Gauntlet, Red, and Echo are assigned to evacuating civilians.

August 23- Back on the surface, Noble Six assists ODSTs in evacuating the city of New Alexandria before meeting up with the rest of Noble Team. After meeting back up, Noble Team takes out Covenant jamming devices that are preventing them from contacting UNSC forces in New Alexandria, as well as escorting other forces (including Gunnery Sergeant Eddy Buck) to safety. Once the jamming devices are taken out, Noble Team regroups at the ONI building in New Alexandria. Colonel Holland sends them a message to return to Sword Base and destroy it before the Covenant seize Dr. Halsey's excavation data. While they evacuate New Alexandria, a Sangheili Field Marshall kills Kat.

August 25- Dr. Halsey and Cortana choose the Pillar of Autumn, with Jacob Keyes as Captain, for a secret mission.

August 27- 25 Spartan IIs are gathered to be briefed on Dr. Halsey's secret mission: board a Covenant ship, find their homeworld, capture a Prophet, and try to negotiate a ceasefire.

August 29- The Chief's Mark V armor and part of Cortana is tested in a live-fire exercise. Meanwhile, Noble Team arrives at Sword Base and secures the area. Dr. Halsey then contacts them and gives them orders to secure another area under Covenant siege: Underground Forerunner ruins near the Babd Catha Ice Shelf. Once the area is locked down, Dr. Halsey meets with Noble Team and gives them an important package: Cortana, carrying Professor Sorvad's "latchkey discovery", knowledge of the Forerunner that Halsey hopes they can use to turn the tide of the war. She then instructs them to deliver Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn, the only remaining transport off of Reach on the Eposz continent, in the Aszod Ship Graveyard while Dr. Halsey goes to CASTLE base to make sure no data is left to the Covenant (Jun staying with her).

August 30- A supporting Covenant Fleet (Fleet of Holy Respite) jump in to assist in the attack on Reach. Meanwhile, on the way to the shipyard, Carter sends Emile and Noble Six out to deliver it by ground while he distracts Covenant air forces, eventually sacrificing himself to eliminate a Scarab. At the shipyard, Noble Six and Emile hold off the Covenant onslaught long enough for Jacob Keyes to drop in on a Pelican and extract Cortana. Before Emile can be extracted, the Sangheili Field Marshall and a team of Zealots attack and kill Emile. Noble Six decides to take Emile's former spot on the mass driver, sacrificing himself so Keyes can get the Autumn into orbit. Using the mass driver, Noble Six is able to clear a path for the Autumn before being overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Spartan IIs that attended the briefing are split into two teams: Three, including Master Chief John-117, Linda, and James, are sent to wipe navigational data from a docked Prowler, the UNSC Circumference. The remaining 22 Spartan IIs are sent down in a Pelican to defend the orbital defense generators. While the Master Chief is successful at wiping the navigational data, he loses both members of his team (but manages to recover Linda, who is placed in cryo-sleep for hope of revival later). The Master Chief falls back to the Pillar of Autumn as it retreats from Reach. While Cortana is technically required to make a blind jump, she uses coordinates found on the artifact from Sigma Octanus (presumably using data from the "latchkey discovery") as a plotted course. The Fleet of Particular Justice follows the Autumn as it flees. On the planet, Spartans fail to secure the generators and are forced to fall back. Three Spartans are sent to secure Vice Admiral Whitcomb while the others fall back to CASTLE Base. There, they encountered Dr. Halsey, who was there to ensure that all UNSC technology was destroyed. Dr. Halsey learned about Ackerson's Spartan III program in the process. When the Covenant breached the base, Halsey destroyed the base, forcing her and the Spartans into the mines below the base.

(?)- During the Battle of Reach, the Covenant move on to glass nearby colonies. One of these, Beta Gabriel, was the unknowing home of Dasc, a leader in a religious movement known as the Triad. Dasc is captured and sent to a Jiralhanae camp, where he meets an ONI operative named Connor Brien. Together, they manage to distract the Jiralhanae and escape. Dasc, wishing to remain hidden to protect his mystique, kills Brien in order to keep his location unknown.

(?)- Spartan II Black Team is sent to Verge in order to cut off a Covenant supply line. Black Team succeeds, unknowingly liberating a Yanme'e penal colony in the process.

(?)- An ODST rookie listens to the story of Gage Yevgenny, a fellow ODST who disobeyed orders of his former comrades to save a group of children during a Covenant attack. The Rookie becomes the sole survivor of the Covenant attack on the planet Cygnus.

(?)- Spartan II Black Team are sent to block a Covenant supply route in Sub-sector 35. Their ship, along with a Covenant Assault Carrier, are shot down in slipspace and crash land on a Forerunner Line Installation. On the Line Installation, Forerunner Gatherers, under the Monitor 686 Ebullient Prism, capture Black 1 and Sangheili Major Reff 'Talamee, forcing the Covenant and Spartans to forge an uneasy alliance. Ebullient Prism takes over the helmet displays of Black 2 and Black 4, making them unable to distinguish allies from enemies. Black 1 and Reff are able to escape and discover the weapon that shot their ships down, as well as a Covenant fleet searching around the area. Black 3 and Thon 'Talamee, Reff's brother and Shipmaster, subdue Black 4 and meet with Black 1 and Reff at the weapon. Once there, Reff declares his intentions to reform the Covenant under his dominion using this weapon, and kills his brother before Ebullient Prism and his Sentinels return to kill Reff. With 2 and 4 no longer influenced by Ebullient Prism, they join 1 and 3 and destroy Ebullient Prism, and then use the weapon to take out the Covenant fleet.

*** September 7- The Ascendant Justice/Gettysburg arrives at Epsilon Secondus and meets with the rebels under Governor Jiles. Dr. Halsey sedates Kelly-087 and absconds with her on Governor Jiles' personal ship. Before she goes, she gives the Forerunner crystal to Corporal Locklear to destroy it, killing himself in the process. Paradoxically at the same time, Dr. Halsey and the Spartans on Reach discover Forerunner ruins within the mines. They also stumble on a Forerunner crystal.

*** September 13- The Ascendant Justice/Gettysburg attacks the Covenant's massive fleet intended for Earth in a decisive First Strike. Ascendant Justice, with Vice Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haversion on board, is lost in the battle, but 488 Covenant ships and the Unyielding Heirophant (a massive space station) are destroyed. On the Gettysburg, John-117, Fred-104, Will-043, Linda-058, and Sergeant Johnson return to Earth to warn about the impending Covenant invasion.

(?)- The Fleet of Particular Justice, under the Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, arrives at Alpha Halo. Nearly blinded by its majesty, Thel and a Minor San'shyuum meet on the Seeker of Truth, Thel's ship, to discuss the discovery. Being a religious matter, the Minor San'shyuum issues that he will assume control of this situation.

September 19- The Pillar Of Autumn arrives at Halo and is intercepted by the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice. Under the orders of the Minor San'shyuum, the Autumn is not destroyed and is able to crashland onto Alpha Halo. A company of ODSTs led by Major Antonio Silva land on Halo and establish an operational firebase near the Pillar of Autumn's crash site: Alpha Base. Meanwhile, Master Chief and Cortana escape from the Pillar of Autumn and regroup with survivors on Alpha Halo at Alpha Base with the help of "Foehammer", pilot of Pelican Echo 419. Cortana learns that Keyes and a lot of the crew have been captured.

September 19 (continued)- With a small group of ODSTs, the Chief raids the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation to rescue Keyes and the remaining bridge crew. Captain Keyes and Cortana reveal that the ringworld, called "Halo", has deep religious significance to the Covenant, and that they believe "whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe". Meanwhile, the Minor San'shyuum discovers a Forerunner facility in orbit of Threshold, the gas giant. Against Thel's wishes, Sesa 'Refumee and Loka 'Bandolee are sent to investigate.

September 20- Master Chief and Cortana attack an island that contains the Silent Cartographer, a maproom of Alpha Halo. Discovering the location from the Cartographer, the Chief and Cortana then lead an assault on the Control Room, securing it from Covenant forces. Cortana enters Halo's control systems, marveling the wealth of information before learning a dark secret. Without explanation, Cortana sends the Chief away. Meanwhile, Captain Keyes and a group of marines, including Sergeant Johnson, assault a swamp facility that they believed to be a Covenant weapon cache. They open a sealed door and accidentally release the Flood. Johnson manages to escape and regroup with other survivors (including Haverson, an ONI operative, Locklear, an ODST, and Polaski, the pilot) that manage to escape the ring in a Pelican. Hours later, the Chief goes to the "weapons cache" and discovers the Flood. Fighting his way out of the structure, he meets 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Alpha Halo, who teleports him to the Library to recover the Index, the key used to activate Halo's weapon system. Meanwhile, Flood forces take over the Covenant ship Infinite Succor. Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee manages to destroy the ship, losing part of his jaw in the process. Meanwhile, Thel attempts to relieve the Minor San'shyuum of his authority before the situation goes out of hand (physically if necessary). However, Thel's threat merely forces the Minor San'shyuum to relocate to the disabled but loyal Truth and Reconciliation.

September 21- Back at the Control Room, just as the Chief is about to activate Halo, Cortana takes the Index and informs the Chief that Halo does not kill the Flood, but rather their food supply: any sentient life that the Flood would find appetizing. Realizing this, the Chief refuses to activate Halo. Guilty Spark, sensing betrayal, uses his Sentinels to attack the Chief. While Cortana locates Captain Keyes, the Chief damages three phase pulse generators to buy some time in case the Monitor finds an alternate way to activate Halo. Cortana then accesses Halo's teleportation network and brings Chief to the Truth and Reconciliation, where Keyes was last spotted. However, on the now Flood occupied Truth and Reconciliation, Keyes is converted into a Proto-Gravemind. Needing his neural implants to destroy the Autumn and destroy Halo, the Chief punches into his face and digs out the neural implants before being discovered by a Covenant Spec Ops Team. The Chief manages to fight his way to the hanger and escape in a banshee.

September 22- ODSTs retake the Truth and Reconciliation (capturing the Minor San'shyuum in the process) and attempt to use it to leave the ring. Lieutenant McKay, worried about possible Flood infection, chooses to destroy the ship. Meanwhile, the Chief arrives at the Pillar of Autumn and brings Cortana to the bridge in order to self-destruct the ship. However, Guilty Spark freezes the self-destruct timer. With no other option, the Chief overloads the engine core, causing a wildcat destabilization. With the destruction of Alpha Halo imminent, Thel orders remaining ships in orbit to take cover behind Threshold. As the Pillar of Autumn blows up, Alpha Halo is destroyed. Chief and Cortana escape onboard a Longsword.

September 22 (continued)- The Ascendant Justice and its escorts move from behind the gas giant to investigate Halo's wreckage. Chief and Cortana manage to rendezvous with Johnson's group and capture the ship. A set of cryo-tubes is recovered as well, one of which contains Linda-058, who is later revived. As the other Covenant ships turn to fire, the Ascendant Justice jumps out of the system. Elsewhere in the ruins of Alpha Halo, 343 Guilty Spark is captured by Sesa 'Refumee.

September 23- Due to a time-dilation anomaly, the Ascendant Justice jumps to Reach, where Chief rejoins with the other Spartans, Dr. Halsey, and Vice Admiral Whitcomb. They also discover that the Forerunner crystal is what the Covenant were after. Meanwhile, Cortana joins the damaged Ascendant Justice to a damaged human ship Gettysburg to form a more capable hybrid ship, pick up the group, and jump away. Cortana also learns that the Covenant is planning to send a large group of ships to Earth's coordinates. The Forerunner crystal causes an odd time anomaly (See *** September 7). Li-008, Anton-044, and Polaski are killed during the escape from Reach.

(?)- Maria-062 tests the MJOLNIR Mark VI armor in Seongnam.

(?)- UNSC Mona Lisa, outside of the remains of Alpha Halo, is taken over by Flood forces. UNSC Red Horse is sent to investigate and summarily destroys the ship.

(?)- High Charity arrives at the ruins of Alpha Halo. Thel 'Vadamee is tried for heresy for letting Halo be destroyed. He is branded with the mark of shame by Tartarus. The Prophet of Regret, with only 15 ships left from the Unyielding Heirophant, decides to go after Earth, anyway (renaming it as the Fleet of Sacred Consecration). Unknown to Regret, Truth has dispatched his own agents, Jiralhanae, in with Regret's group.

October 19- Dr. Endesha, creator of the Superintendent subroutine VIRGIL (created to make sure his daughter stays out of trouble), discovers an anomaly below the surface of New Mombasa.

October 20- Master Chief, Sergeant Johnson, and Captain Keyes (posthumously) are rewarded for their actions on Cairo Station when Regret's force begins attacking (the remaining Spartans are still being debriefed and subjected to psychological exams). The Master Chief is issued Mark VI MJOLNIR armor. Regret's fleet arrives in the Solar system. Boarders begin to attack the orbital stations to destroy the stations before they can halt the attack. Covenant forces manage to destroy the Athens and Malta Stations, allowing Regret's carrier, the Solemn Penance to slip through. However, the Chief and Cortana stop the Covenant from destroying Cairo Station. The Chief "returns” the Cairo bomb to a second Assault Carrier, and is then picked up by Miranda Keyes on In Amber Clad and sent to the surface. On the ground, a translated recording about “securing access to the Ark” is smuggled out of the city in hopes that it will reach UNSC command. Sadie Endesha, daughter of Dr. Endesha, attempts to reach her father, who is in the Superintendent's Data Hive when the Covenant attack. Two Pelicans are dispatched from In Amber Clad to go to the Carrier and capture the Prophet of Regret. However, a Scarab shows up and shoots both Pelicans down. The Chief and Johnson, on board the first Pelican, are forced to fight through the Mombasa outskirts and into the city. ODSTs under Sergeant Stacker, who were on board the second Pelican, retake Hotel Zanzibar from the Covenant. Master Chief encounters Lieutenant Parisa, who was a childhood friend of his prior to his abduction into the Spartan II program. Seven Huragok attempted to flee from the rest of the Covenant to repair the damaged New Mombasa Superintendent AI. While six were killed, one was able to escape and merge with the core of the Superintendent. Dr. Endesha observes this before the corrupt Police Commissioner Kinsler shuts down the Superintendent and kills Dr. Endesha with the Data Hive's fire extinguishing systems (Argon).

October 20 (continued)- Convincing Sadie (whom he had previously attempted to abduct and rape) to come to his personal train by threatening her father's life (what she doesn't know won't hurt her), Sadie fights through a crowd of refugees to get on board (and kept off by Kinsler's men). Kinsler sends one of his corrupt cops to the Data Hive to ensure that Dr. Endesha's dead while he finishes his business with Sadie. Sadie is saved when the Superintendent is reactivated and opens the doors of Kinsler's train, letting in an angry mob that overpowers his guards and tears him to pieces. Sadie, along with several civilians, escape the city on the train. Meanwhile, ODSTs under Gunnery Sergeant Buck (who is under Veronica Dare, a spook for ONI), prepare to be dropped to the city in order to assault Regret's ship. However, as the Chief takes out the Scarab and gets dangerously close, Regret orders the Solemn Penance to jump to Delta Halo, forcingIn Amber Clad follow quickly. The ODSTs, meanwhile, are scattered by the shockwave caused by the slipspace jump. The Jiralhanae presence on Earth, under orders from Truth, eliminate the remaining Sangheili presence and secure the city for the coming ships. The ODST Rookie is knocked out while the others (sans Dare) regroup, capture a Phantom, and escape the city. However, Buck orders them back into the city to find Dare.

October 21- The Rookie regains consciousness and pieces together the whereabouts of his squad before receiving a distress call from Dare, fighting in sublevel 9 of the Data Hive. Meeting up with Kinsler's cop (who dies on the way), the Rookie meets up with Dare and rescues the rogue Huragok before meeting back up with Buck. The Rookie, Dare, and Buck flee the city on the Coastal Highway as Covenant reinforcements begin moving in, excavating the Ark Portal through plasma bombardment. They regroup with the other ODSTs and escape on the captured Phantom with the Huragok.

(?)- MJOLNIR Mark VI enters service and is given to the remaining Spartans on Earth. A privatized variant of the Mark VI helmet is also produced by the Vestol Corportation.

(?)- The remaining Spartan IIs are dispatched across various parts of the globe to stop Covenant search parties. Naturally, since this Bungie we're talking about, there's some action in the Yucatan.

(?)- Thel 'Vadamee is given the chance to regain his honor by becoming an Arbiter. His first task is to silence Sesa 'Refumee, who has been spreading heresy that the Prophets are false and the rings are actually doomsday devices. The Arbiter, joined by Rtas 'Vadumee, kill 'Refumee and his Heretic followers, who were hiding in a Flood Research Facility within the planet Alpha Halo was orbiting. 343 Guilty Spark is captured by Tartarus. Once the mission is over, they are brought back to High Charity as it goes to rendezvous with Regret at Delta Halo.

(?)- An unnamed San'shyuum Minister, under order of the Hierarchs, extracts information about Halo from the captured 343 Guilty Spark (with appropriate humility). The Minister uncovers Halo's true purpose, but keeps quiet.

October 31- Spartan IIIs on Onyx discover newly activated Forerunner Sentinels.

November 2- Regret's carrier arrives at Delta Halo with In Amber Clad right behind. Discovering Regret is hiding in a temple in the middle of a large lake, the Chief sets out across Delta Halo and takes him out. After Regret is killed, the Covenant Assault Carrier destroys the temple. The Chief is forced to jump off the temple and into the lake, where he is captured by the Gravemind's tentacles. On High Charity, Truth replaces the Honor Guard with Jiralhanae and sends the Arbiter to capture Delta Halo's Index before the humans do. Fighting through the Sentinel Wall, the Arbiter incidentally releases the Flood, which begin to spread across the ring and even assault In Amber Clad. The Arbiter fights through a Quarantine Zone and into the Library, where he incapacitates Johnson and Miranda and claims the Index. Tartarus suddenly enters, seizes the Index and the two humans while pushing the Arbiter down a deep chasm, where he is saved by the Gravemind. On High Charity, the Great Schism, a Covenant civil war, begins. Members of the High Council, Sangheili and San'shyuum, are captured and executed by Jiralhanae.

November 3- Master Chief and the Arbiter wake up and meet the Gravemind. He sends them to stop the Covenant from activating Halo. The Chief is sent to High Charity while the Arbiter is sent to Delta Halo's Control Room. As Master Chief fights through the Covenant city, he is caught up in the beginning of the Great Schism, which is further complicated once the Flood crash In Amber Clad into the city and begin to take it over. The Prophet of Mercy is killed by the Flood as Truth leaves to the Forerunner Dreadnaught. The Chief follows, leaving Cortana behind. Before leaving, the Chief promises to return for Cortana after Truth is killed. Meanwhile, the Arbiter joins in the civil war between the Jiralhanae and Sangheili that has started up. He also rescues Johnson from death, forming an alliance with him, saving Miranda Keyes and Guilty Spark, and stopping Delta Halo from activating by killing Tartarus. 343 Guilty Spark informs them that the Halo's are now on Standby and can be activated at the Ark. Rtas Vadumee manages to capture a Jiralhanae-controlled cruiser to get Arbiter, Johnson, and Keyes back to Earth. The remaining Sangheili ships either engage the Jiralhanae cruisers or establish a perimeter against Flood controlled ships. Meanwhile, Dr. Halsey and Kelly arrive at Onyx, meeting the Spartan IIIs and discovering that Kurt is still alive. Hailing the other Spartan IIs (All of her active Spartan IIs sans the Chief) to Onyx, they fight against the Sentinels and the arriving Covenant forces. Pushed deeper into the planet, they learn that this is a Forerunner Shield World used as a safe house against the Flood. Kurt sacrifices himself to save the remaining Spartan IIIs, Spartan IIs, and Dr. Halsey as they enter the Shield world, seemingly trapped within a micro-dyson sphere.

(?)- Spartan III Headhunter team Roland and Jonah successfully halt a Covenant excavation of Forerunner relics on an unknown moon. Both Spartans are killed in the process.

(?)- The unnamed San'shyuum Minister, feeling responsible for unleashing the Flood and protecting the lies of the Covenant, writes a paper confession of his sins as High Charity is consumed.

(?)- Gravemind begins to interrogate and torture Cortana about information on Earth and her knowledge. Despite everything, she hides one large secret...

(?)- Cortana sends a message out on a Flood controlled Cruiser. It tells the Chief that the Flood are coming to Earth, but are unaware of the Portal and its “solution to the Flood”. Gravemind lets it go. The Flood controlled ship breaks through the perimeter and heads for Earth, being followed by Rtas 'Vadumee, now the Shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent, along with nine other ships.

November 8- Truth's Forerunner Dreadnaught, with Master Chief onboard, enters the Solar System, staying back until the portal is completely cleared.

(?)- James Ackerson is captured and tells the Covenant about a “Key of Osanalon” that is in Cleveland and needed for the Halo's to work. This leads Jiralhanae forces to capture the city alive, sparing Ackerson's brother, Ruwan, from a death by glassing. After realizing what the Covenant were after, Ruwan agreed to “deliver it” to the Covenant. Ruwan was taken on board the Harbinger of Piety and introduced to the Minister of Inquisition. Ruwan, in reality, was being used as a tracking vector. Nassau Station destroys the ship. After learning what happened, James Ackerson was beheaded.

(?)- On board an ONI orbital facility, Sergeant Johnson meets up with the squad and the Huragok to find out information about the Portal. Miranda Keyes begins to coordinate ground troops from the Crow's Nest base.

November 17- Master Chief is jettisoned off the Dreadnaught and crashes in the Kenyan jungle. An ODST, Private Hartley, is able to use a target designator to determine the Chief's re-entry vector. He is found by Sergeant Johnson and the Arbiter and brought back to the Crow's Nest. As the Chief is briefed on a plan to assault the Forerunner Dreadnaught, Covenant forces attack the base. The Chief assists evacuating the base and then arms a bomb to blow it up. Once out of the base, the Chief regroups with other forces in Voi and destroys a Covenant AA Megaturret, allowing a small group of ships to attack the Dreadnaught. However, the strike has no effect as the Dreadnaught activates the Portal, allowing Truth and his fleet access to the Ark. The Flood controlled ship then crashes into Voi. The Chief and Arbiter head towards the ship to destroy it, receiving helpful reinforcements from the arriving Sangheili forces led by Rtas 'Vadumee. The Sangheili also inform the Chief that "Cortana" is on board. The Chief enters the ship and extracts Cortana's message and, with the help of 343 Guilty Spark, plays it. Hearing the warning, Fleet Admiral Hood wishes to bunker down and defend Earth. However, the Chief, Miranda, Johnson, and the Sangheili head through the Portal.

(?)- The Sangheili fleet exits the Portal and engages the Jiralhanae fleet while the Master Chief and some ODSTs are sent down to the Installation to stop Truth. Upon visiting the Ark's Cartographer, the Chief discovers Truth is at the Citadel, where he can activate the rings. He is also protected by a barrier. Three teams are sent to shut down the barrier. Johnson is captured by Brutes while trying to deactivate the third tower, forcing the Chief to do it. After the barrier is down, High Charity crashes into the Ark, bringing the Flood to the Installation. The Chief and marines assault the Citadel while Miranda goes to save Johnson before he is forced to activate the rings. However, Miranda is killed in the process. Flood show up to help the Chief and Arbiter to stop the rings from firing and kill Truth. Afterwards, with no threat to its own life, the Gravemind resumes its plan to eat everything and attacks the Chief and Arbiter, forcing them to narrowly escape. While fleeing the Citadel, the Chief and Arbiter discover that the Ark is a forge for Halo rings and is rebuilding Alpha Halo. Chief informs Guilty Spark that he's going to activate the ring and, following his promise, rescue Cortana. 343 Guilty Spark goes to set things up and begin making an Index, but the Chief has other plans. The Chief (and eventually the Arbiter) fight through High Charity while remaining Human and Sangheili forces fall back. With Cortana rescued, they blow up High Charity and go towards the unfinished Halo in a Pelican. Crashing near the Control Room, they head up the Ziggurat as the Flood begins to rain from the sky in dispersal pods. With help from Johnson, the Chief and Arbiter secure the Control Room and Johnson begins to activate Halo against Guilty Spark's objections. Seeing no alternatives, Guilty Spark kills Johnson and tries to kill the Chief before he is destroyed by a few well placed shots from the Spartan Laser.

(?)- The Chief, Arbiter, and Cortana activate Halo and then race towards the Forward Unto Dawn, making it to the Portal just before the ring fires... or at least half of the ship did. The Chief and Cortana, in the back half of the ship, drift around in space. The Arbiter manages to make it back, though, so it's not a total downer.

2553- March 3- Human-Covenant War formally ends. A monument is erected to remember those who died. The Sangheili return to their planet. Thel 'Vadamee spends the remainder of his career as a bureaucrat.

(?)- Oliver Birch, a fetcher who salvages slipspace drives from lost warships, is stranded in space above the glassed planet Biko after a “saddle box”, an experimental military slipspace drive, destroys his ship as he attempts to bring it back to the salvage years on Cygnus.

(?)- War reporter Petra Janecek gets her hands on a transcript of Cortana's message from the crashed Flood ship at Voi. Petra speculates on exactly what Cortana meant by “another solution” to the Flood.

2556- Cortana, still sorting out the massive amount of data she has acquired from Forerunner and Covenant systems, recounts the history of the galaxy from her data banks as she and the Chief drift towards a mysterious Forerunner world.

(?)- Cortana wakes the Chief up as an artifact on the Forerunner world activates... this is presumably where Halo 4 will begin.

2559- The unnamed Sangheili Shipmaster, lost spiritually, returns to the planet Kholo, a colony that he glassed, to reflect on the past and try to find some guidance. After days of searching, he discovers a group of Kig-yar fighting humans over Forerunner artifacts (including pictures and schematics of a Monitor). After killing the Kig-yar, he calls for help for the wounded humans and learn more about the artifacts, giving him a purpose once more.

2589 - July 7- Reach ecosystem recovers.

2610- January 15- A mysterious benefactor sends a black box to his cousin. The black box contains a detailed account of the Noble Team's involvement in the Battle of Reach, Dr. Halsey's journal (recovered from the artifact beneath Sword Base, and a miniature statue of Noble Team.

(?)- A monument to John-117 is erected into the Museum of Humanity.

Closing Remarks
A.K.A: How I learned to stop worrying and avoid a future “tl;dr”.

Deacon's Hell, it's been a while since I posted one of these. To think that the original topic only took up three posts. I'm not even going to pretend that this is a “sporadic” view of Halo canon anymore.

I began this endeavor with a much smaller topic made back on the GameFAQS Halo 3 General Board. It wasn't very good, to say the least. The true first version of this topic was created for the GameFAQS Halo 3: ODST board during pre-release and went through two modifications as ODST information become readily available. The third version of this topic was released on the ODST board shortly after release with only minor updates. When I started on the Mark IV for the Reach board, I decided to shake things up with the addition of the Halo timeline (the Mark III just gave the general order of the novels and games). The resulting topic (and its one successor) was a big hit and received a lot of good praise. The Mark V was not posted on GameFAQs, as it was easier to format and just link people to it than try to make it fit into a GameFAQs topic in an attractive manner, but rather posted on different, small forums (including this one). The Mark VI, however, will likely receive a GameFAQs version after much thought into optimization. However, this (much easier on the eyes) version will always be here for quick links. I hope it fulfills its intended purpose: truth, reconciliation, and speculation on Halo's story. This has been a labor of love. If you have any suggestions to improve it or have a Halo related question that is not posted, please let me know.

The rest of this topic is the “Interactive” section. If you have a question about Halo that this topic hasn't answered, I'll do my best to answer it. If you read through this and think I don't know Halo from a giant hula-hoop, you may also let me know. I'm always up for a debate (as long as it's civil).

Many thanks,

Devil Mingy

Memory Lane

For your curiosity (and/or my self-indulgence), I have looked around at the humble beginnings of this guide. It has certainly come a long way. Follow the links for a trip down memory lane (and a few less than subtle Halo references).

Mark I- Sadly, this has been purged. While I can't say I miss this topic, it would've added to the nostalgia.

Mark II- The first true version of this guide, made for the GameFAQS Halo 3: ODST board. Hard to believe it was so short.

Mark II updated (Cyclops)- I changed its name to the "Unofficial Guide" for reasons that I can't remember. It's an updated version of the Mark II made for the Reach board

Mark III- The beginning of the timeline. This is barely distinguishable from the Mark II, and didn't last too long. It's basically another Mark II update.

Mark IV- This is where the guide began to get ridiculously big. The Mark IV is truly a different beast from the previous incarnations.

Mark IV updated (Grenadier)- I decided to call it the Legendary Guide and didn't forget the spoiler warning. It's an updated Mark IV with more information.

Mark V- Sadly, I don't have a copy of the original Mark V, as I didn't post it on GameFAQS and the places where I did (such as here) had an edit feature and now have the Mark VI.

Mark V (B)- Still, my last Reach story topic is basically the Mark V with an updated timeline. I called it the Mark VI, but I think this particular guide is more worthy of the title, being as up to date as I can imagine until Glasslands and Anniversary come out.