Halo 5: Restored

 What initially started my reason to write blogposts was all the times I had recounted the information we had PRIOR the release of Halo 5: Guardians. Allow me the chance to possibly explore what ‘might have been’ the original story to what Halo 5 was, the second instalment of the Forerunner Saga and a true sequel to Halo 4

Now this isn’t a manuscript of a fan-fic I can assure you, over the years I’ve collected pieces of information that gives me a clearer insight to the possible story of what might have been. I’m fully aware and understand we could simply ask the writers but as far as I can tell, NDA’s are a thing and might be in placed. Once Halo 5: Guardians released I followed closely to try and understand why we had something different to what was set up in Halo 4, Spartan Ops, Greg Bears Forerunner Trilogy and Karen Travis’s’ Kilo Five Trilogy. It was that story that had made me fallen deeper in love with this Franchise, it wasn’t “why didn’t we get what the marketing team had focused on” I wasn’t interested originally in Hunt The Truth. But that tagline now has a connection to the ‘Solder, not a machine’ theme we had in Halo 4. I’m getting ahead of myself, so with that I’ll start: 

I’m fully aware of a writers room existing, but I’ll use Josh Holmes (Halo 4) and Brian Reed(Halo 5) as the heads of their respective teams. Josh Holmes had given us Halo 4 and the narratives for the foundation of the Forerunner Saga. Brian Reed’s work started with Spartan Ops as far as I’m aware working amongst a team. Halo 4 had given us the controversial Prometheans as a new faction of enemy’s, Requiem as its setting and the Didact as the Forerunner Sagas main antagonist. We also see longtime fan favourite character Cortana’s onscreen death. Spartan Ops was a new story driven narrative to help ‘bridge us’ between main instalments, lasting only 2 seasons and leaving us with eager questions for the next instalment. The story loosely follows Spartan Throne as the protagonist but you play as your very own multiplayer Spartan to help with the immersive experience. It also follows the now disgraced(Kilo-Five) Dr Halsey and the Janus Key for the Absolut Record, a civilisation changing weapons cache that belonged to the Forerunners. With these things we leave Halo 4 and begin the wait for the next instalment Halo: 5

During the course of the wait for Halo 5 we are treated to a seemingly different tonal narrative. We see a teaser for Halo 5 showing us a Guardian awakening and the infamous ‘Poncho Chief’. In interviews early on we were told to expect a darker narrative to be told in Halo 5 and were quickly treated to a podcast call Hunt the Truth. Based on Benjamin Girauds experience as a photographer, claiming that ONI is putting up a front and mislabeling cheif as a traitor to humanity after going AWOL and seemingly awakening Guardians all over smaller colony's, killing millions. But Giraud leads us on that ONI are hiding many more things. Now I’ll take a slight detour and lead us back to the narrative but potentially through a different lense. 

What Greg Bears Forerunner Trilogy meant to Halo 4, I truely believe Karen Traviss Kilo-Five was suppose to have closer connections to Halo 5. Besides many fans disliking her take on Halsey, I think it was done purposely. Besides Halsey being a now disgraced scientist. Nothing else of the book has much connection to Halo 4. Jul Mdama was in Spartan Ops, but his backstory was in Kilo-Five and he appeared, nameless in Halo 4 as a random Elite yelling out ‘Didact’ when the Didact reawakens. Jul Mdama has no meaningful presence in Halo 4 itself. Even thought he the now leader of the newly formed ‘Storm Covenant’. We learn all about Jul Mdama, his rise, his motivation and reasoning in the Kilo-Five Trilogy, notably ‘The Thursday War’. I think the original plan was to have Spartan Ops as a prelude to Jul Mdama’s story, an introduction. Halo 5, would see him become the Main Antagonist. 

This reimagining of Halo 5 would’ve seen the Master Chief being reunited with Blue Team after the loss of Cortana, under the guise of finding his humanity. After all, one of the most important and crucial parts of being Human, is having a family. Argent Moons mission would’ve played out the same, besides the Cortana visions and riveting dialogue of “Negative Infinity, I don’t like it”. Blue Team would have been recalled to Infinity and debriefed on an update on the Jul Mdama situation, thus learning Dr Halsey is now a traitor to humanity and the events of Spartan Ops. Upon learning this John 117 wishes to have the mission go to Blue Team, but are stood down due to Blue Team’s connection with Halsey. Instead, a team of Spartans Called Fireteam Osiris in then put in charge the mission with each member not having any ties to Halsey. Spartans Vale, Tanaka, Thorne and former ONI agent, turned ONI’s own personal Grim Reaper Spartan: Jameson Locke. Once Blue hears that Dr Halsey is to be Assassinated. They can all collective “Negative Infinity, I don’t like it” the situation, thus leading them to go AWOL and so begin their personal journey to Hunt the Truth, as to why Dr Halsey has betrayed Humanity. 

Enter the Orisis missions of following Blue Team, and begins the smear campaign of the Master Chief and Blue Team by ONI. In the other side of the coin we learn that Dr Halsey, vengeful and bitter, still in possession of one of the Janus Keys, begins a plan with Mdama to retrieve the other half of the key, which they do. (If your wondering about Halo: Escalation, I’ll go through that at the end) Once in possession of the other key they make their way to the Absolut Record and begin to discover a weapon so unbelievably powerful: The Guardians, and start to reawaken them. 

In the meantime, we discover how Fireteam Osiris have been working, battling Storm Covenant and Prometheans alike, who joined together in Halo 4. Getting no where, Vale suggests to talk with the Arbiter to get a better view on how the Master Chief operates. Thorne plays a part in getting under Lockes skin, by questioning the mission with Halsey after Halsey herself throw half the key to Thorne, and also playing into the fact that Locke was and for the most part, still is ONI. Thorne would begin to plant seeds of doubt in Lockes mind. Once helping the Arbiter at his keep and deals with the Storm Covenant/ Prometheans. The Arbiter begins to notice the cracks in Locke, and slowly takes him under his wing. Locke is interested in chief but The Arbiter sows those seeds of doubt by sharing with Locke, his own personal Journey of Blindly following orders to those who manipulate. He tries to open Lockes eyes to ONI and compares it to the his own experience within the Covenant. Thus beginning Lockes own journey in hunting the truth on weather all this is infact ONI’s doing. The Blue team mission would be treated to a few Cortana visions similar to Chiefs in Halo 3

The final act would see Blue Team beating Osirus to Halsey. Here is where everything comes to light about how Kilo-Five connects to Halo 5. ONI had used the news of Halsey’s actions during the Spartan II program to subvert what they had been secretly doing and that is to try and start a civil war within the Sangheli (Suppling Avu Med Telcam with weapons, killing Juls wife) what they(ONI) deem is for the greater good. Osiris manage to catch up with the rest of them and Chief pleads with Locke to stand down and help him with ONI, to not be a machine that blindly following orders, but to help Humanity the right way. (Mind you we’re are in the Reclaimer Saga where the endgame would have been to obtain and uphold the Mantle) Locke listens to reason and agrees to help rescue Halsey and expose ONI. However Jul Mdama, had still been conspiring with the Didact (he is the Didacts Hand after all) and still wants the Guardians and the rest of the weapons cache at the Absolut Record. Osiris and Blue Team team up and defeat Mdama. 

Here at the end we see that Humanity itself has dissolved into Civil War, between ONI and the UNSC at it head to head after ONI has been exposed. Humanity has dealt a massive blow and are no longer the leading force in the galaxy. In the Epilogue we would’ve seen what was causing all those Cortana visions which was The Didact. Now in charge of the Guardians, he is almost finished rebuilding his Promethean army and now inherited the Storm Covenant. The legendary ending would’ve seen him find the final puzzle piece to his newly rebuilt empire. A Halo! 

I’m Afraid we will never find out the true reason behind why the story had changed, Brian Reed has seemingly fallen off the face of the earth and I no doubt suspect NDAs are in place about his time at 343 before being let go. But I do know in interviews he has said the story he wanted to tell didn’t involve the Didact later in development. So the choice to create Escalation was made to solve an abundance of issues. He wanted to put the Didact in the ‘fridge’ so we could come back to him at a later time, killing Black Team in the process and having Halsey hack one of the most powerful forerunner monitors to exist! I can’t say I’m sad to see Reed leave, but the man didn’t understand Halo sadly.