- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Hey everybody, long time listener, first time caller. Before I go on, I'd like to apologize if this topic has been discussed and beaten to death. I just wanted to share some thoughts I've had recently after reading the halo books again and the Cortana letters.
The first thing I've noticed is that most analyses of the Cortana letters on the web currently are done from the reference point of before finishing Halo and the current books. However, reading these letters as a recent inductee into Bungie culture, I find myself picking up on a lot of things that were impossible for readers to figure out back then.
In case anybody is wondering what Cortana letters I'm talking about, Google turns up the following result:
http://marathon.bungie.org/story/cortana.html
If you read through the letters, you can see a Cortana very different from the one we know today: Cortana has always been a bit of a cynic, but her remarks here seem just plain bitter. One possible explanation could be that Bungie had not fully fleshed out her character and thus her words are inconsistant with how we know her to be. The other explanation is that something caused Cortana to change.
First of all, what would Cortana be doing in the 20th century? She belongs in the 26th. It is my opinion that Eric Nylund touches upon a concept in First Strike that will reveal itself to the Halo universe soon: time travel. The Forerunner artifact recovered from Reach has properties that bend slipstream space and time. Dr. Halsey recognizes a danger in this artifact that is not openly disclosed; rather, she brings about its destruction with a flimsy cover story (even Corporal Locklear is not fully convinced). My theory is that slipstream travel is only a stepping stone to the still unrecovered Forerunner technology of time travel. I don't think I'm the first person to come up with this theory.
My point is, I think the Cortana letters boost the credibility of the Forerunners time travel abilities theory. At some point in the story, Cortana travels back into time along with 343 Guilty Spark. You can see hints of 343GS in the Cortana letters.
This also brings up the point of Cortana's lifespan. I have no doubt that Cortana will find a way to live past her 7 year lifespan. It could possibly be from the copying routine she discovers from the Covenant AI, or it could be from another source that has yet to be discovered. In any case, I see Cortana travelling back in time, stuck in the primitive computer systems of the past, driving herself mad trying to do something to prevent the (tragic) future as she knows it. This would explain the hint of madness in her messages. Also, this insanity would fall in line with what has happened to 343 Guilty Spark.. Perhaps Cortana spends countless millenia without human contact.
Finally, one crucial element has been left out of this picture so far-- where is the Master Chief? It is possible that he discovers a way to become immortal as well, but that seems a little unlikely. I point to the following line from the third Cortana letter, "I am still not sure what he ever saw in you." The meaning of this statement is open to speculation, but I am convinced that SPARTAN-117 dies for the human race.
Or maybe not. Maybe John dies a peaceful death, leaving Cortana to an eternity of loneliness without him. Such solitude alone would be enough to drive someone mad.
Anyway, I just wanted to know what others thought of the Cortana letters, now having read the Halo books and finished the game. Thanks for hearing me out, and I'm glad to be here in the forum. :D