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  • Subject: Why Halo 3's Legendary Planet is NOT Reach/Onyx/Marathon
Subject: Why Halo 3's Legendary Planet is NOT Reach/Onyx/Marathon

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Hi all,

So this place has seen enough of these ridiculous theories being thrown around like animal droppings. Here's my take on the whole thing and beware of a wall of text.



I'd like to begin by saying that the rear section of the Dawn, containing John & Cortana, DID manage to make it through the Portal. Listen to the lines!

"I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed."

If they didn't make it through the Portal, then they would be dead...Simply put...

*

Why Halo 3's Legendary Planet is NOT Reach:

Let us begin by talking about the suns... Reach has a single crimson star which is seen on the left side of the planet during the trailer. The Legendary Planet's is clearly artificial in nature and what's more...It's blue!

Which brings me to my next point...

Glassing, or Cleansing, is a method used by the Covenant on defeated planets. It tears away at the surface and burns the atmosphere. The surface then becomes a mineral called lechatelierite which is very similar to glass.
The planet we see at the end of Halo 3 is clearly metallic, not glass and to further this we don't even see any trace of the Epsilon Eridani around. Where as, in the Reach trailer, it is clearly visible.

Image of Legendary Planet
Reach being Glassed

Reach, in the trailer, does a full turn. So we see the whole of the planet really, on half is Glassed whilst the other is still fine.
The Legendary Planet shows no traces of such landscape and there is no visible Marathon Symbol in the trailer either.

That's Reach done...

Why Halo 3's Legendary Planet is NOT Onyx:

During the events of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, it is made clear that the planet shell itself is destroyed by Kurt who detonates the FENRIS warheads.
The shell broke apart and the planet revealed itself to be trillions of Sentinels, they left behind a Micro Dyson Sphere housing:
-Doctor Halsey
-Mendez
-Blue Team
-Team Katana
-Team Saber

When Onyx was obliterated, there was a Slipspace Field around which isn't seen during the Legendary Ending sequence.
Also, I believe I am correct in saying that the whole place exists in Slipspace anyway. When the rear section of the Dawn is seen it is clear that the surroundings are not in Slipspace.

Onyx's location is in the Zeta Doradus System which houses many uninhabitable words very close to Onyx. Here is a clear picture of a very large planet behind Onyx which isn't present at all during the LE sequence.

So it can't really be Onyx...

Why Halo 3's Legendary Planet is NOT related to Marathon:

Many people seem to think that the events of Marathon tie in with the Halo timeline somehow. That John and Cortana are now in a different universe.
Not true...

The planet in question is thought to be Tau Ceti IV, here's the picture of Tau Ceti IV and there is NO resemblence what-so-ever!

Halo's universe and Marathon's universe contradict each other in many ways:
- The UESC Marathon left Sol in 2472 and arrived at Tau Ceti in 2773, but by 2552, in the Halo Universe, the UNSC already had a presence in the Tau Ceti system and a large number of other worlds, while in Marathon, it was the first planet to be colonized by Humans.

- Marathon's protagonist was in cryo for over 300 years and was born on Mars. John was born on Eridanus II and was born in the year 2511.

-The Pfhor in Marathon are said to be the first aliens ever encountered by Humanity. In the Halo universe it is the Covenant races.

In addition, Bungie have always said the two universes would never collide. So we're not gonna be seeing Marathon in Halo...Any time soon...

My take:

"Atonement.
And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions.
But I would have my masters know that I have changed.
And you shall be my example."
- Mendicant Bias

This message is seen in the final Terminal in Halo 3 on Legendary. It details Mendicant Bias hoping for redemption for his past sins and wants to keep John safe.

As we know, Bias is the one who is responcible for a number of events in Halo. He joined the Gravemind and betrayed the Forerunners, he commanded the Flood offensive and killed billions of Forerunners etc etc.
Now he realises the folly of his ways and wants to prove to his Masters that he's changed.

The Didact, a Forerunner, states that he wishes to: "Follow in Their footsteps."
"Their" obviously means the Precursors, the only race ever to reach Technology Tier 0 on the scale. The Precursors were Trans-sentient beings who mysteriously disappeared and passed down the Mantle to the Forerunners.

Now with the Didact vanishing after the initial activation, similar to John's fate, perhaps he found the Precursor Rainbow World. And when Bias held the Portal open long enough for the rear section of the Dawn to make it through, perhaps he sent them to the Didact's final destination as to prove his atonement.


This is all just theory and explanation, that's all we have to go on. Perhaps this is just the cliff-hanger to keep us wondering of events to come that can never be.
However, many people aren't backing up theories with solid evidence so I set out to prove my theory.

Thanks for reading.

  • 07.04.2009 4:22 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: nick south
We all know its forerunner.


Evidence?

I never said it is Forerunner, read properly!

  • 07.04.2009 4:24 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: nick south
I Know you never said that.
The planet has forerunner symbols


But Forerunner symbols and Glyphs all came from the Precursors. Don't instantly judge it by saying it's Forerunner.

  • 07.04.2009 4:31 AM PDT
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Without a doubt the planet that John and Dr Halsey's AI arrived at will have a story behind it and will probably have a new threat to human existence, making the Halo series have somewhere to go after all of the backstory of John and the SPARTAN-II (and if there is one, SPARTAN-I) program has been told/been made playable. Microsoft has it's mature content answer to Nintendo's Mario series here and won't let it die without making every dollar they can from it.

  • 07.04.2009 4:38 AM PDT

Haters are going to hate.
Praisers are going to praise.

The Bungie Forums are what keeps my mind sharp and my fingers active, between writing my own movie scripts, drawing, and studying industrial design. At the moment I'm working on miniatures for a short movie that I'll hopefully be able to film once I've saved up for a camera... That's me, with the mug, trying to have a conversation with Konoko.

Exept Onyx wasn't destroyed... (I wrote following on another thread, and since I dont wish to rewrite my entire explenation, I'll just copy/paste it).

Btw, why do poeple continuously repeat that Onyx was destroyed/suddenly broke up into trillions of sentinels? As far as I know Onyx was buildt up by trillions of sentinels from the begining, and as for it exploding, it only says that the planets surface exploded, removing layers of rock and metal. It did so because of the sentinels combined firepower. Not a single sentence about the planetoid being destroyed. You mustn't forget that the story at this point is told from the UNCS prowler Dusk's perspective. A ship that was hiding from the Covenant armada behind one of Onyx's moons, and all their info from what was happening on Onyx came from their "Black Widow" satelites which triangulated images around the moon. But when the sentinels beams hit the moon they were destroyed, so the the Dawn "dumpheated everything" into the reactor and got the hell out of there before the moon (!) exploded. The portal in the "light room" however, was destroyed.

Note: Im not saying that Onyx is the "thing" in the Legendary ending.


[Edited on 07.04.2009 4:47 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 4:39 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

I know what you mean there, I guess I may not have worded it like that in my description.

  • 07.04.2009 4:42 AM PDT

Awesomeness will Ensue

I wish people would stop making there assumptions about things they don't know about. I think there is a possibility that it's another shield world, or it could be the precursors in another galaxy.
Again I'm on putting ideas out there, I doubt any of it is true.

  • 07.04.2009 4:54 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: Dathomsta
I wish people would stop making there assumptions about things they don't know about. I think there is a possibility that it's another shield world, or it could be the precursors in another galaxy.
Again I'm on putting ideas out there, I doubt any of it is true.


I'm sick of seeing time-travel theories too. It's ridiculous.

  • 07.04.2009 5:01 AM PDT
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I wouldn't discount the idea of time travel in a potential future for the human race that juniors us by 500 years, but I doubt that the team in charge of Halo lore would potentially damage the franchise by changing events that have already occurred.

  • 07.04.2009 5:19 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

The only supposed event of time travel was in the case of the AI Mellisa who was sent to 2004. No significant time travel events in Halo will happen...Never say never but it's very unlikely.

  • 07.04.2009 5:27 AM PDT
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Not to get into the sciences involved, but I think that a transfer of energy (the AI) through time is more likely than a transfer of matter, lol.

  • 07.04.2009 5:31 AM PDT
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I have been out of the Halo Universe loop for quite some time. I have read Fall of Reach, The Flood, First Strike, Onyx and Harvest many times over but after that my knowledge is limited. Before I make any speculation regarding your theory, I need to know where you got the information regarding the lower three paragraphs. Is it strictly from the Halo 3 terminals or is it mentioned in a book I have yet to read?

  • 07.04.2009 6:13 AM PDT

Old School

Posted by: ajw34307
The only supposed event of time travel was in the case of the AI Mellisa who was sent to 2004. No significant time travel events in Halo will happen...Never say never but it's very unlikely.


Time travel is silly, the only slight references we get in the halo universe is time dilations when entering slipspace. That's it.
However, i think that if Bias did infact help John and Coratana get through, then i reckon Gravemind was the overseer. i bet the gravemind wanted to get through to the precursors.

  • 07.04.2009 7:23 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

All information is in the games, Terminals and books. The last 3 paragraphs are all in the Terminals.

I think that's a great idea actually, but I think Mendicant actually does want to atone.

[Edited on 07.04.2009 8:08 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 8:08 AM PDT

Posted by: Duardo
I'd love to be a 10 year old and tell my mom I'm going on an adventure out into the world catching Pokemon, with her full support. Never mind the fact that there are rapists, criminals, and murders out there, or the fact that I may get killed by a Pokemon.

Luckily I have Pikachu.

Posted by: ajw34307
I'd like to begin by saying that the rear section of the Dawn, containing John & Cortana, DID manage to make it through the Portal. Listen to the lines!

"I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed."

If they didn't make it through the Portal, then they would be dead...Simply put...
Actually they didn't make it, she stated the following....

"Well... some of us made it"

Which confirms that The Arbiter made it through the portal, but the otherside of the ship (with them in it) didn't make it.

[Edited on 07.04.2009 9:01 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 8:57 AM PDT
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Very good read. Hopefully this will settle down the blind speculation a little bit. However, the Planet in the Legendary ending could be a planet LIKE Onyx, just remember Forerunner left all sorts of things left behind. It's got more of a chance being Forerunner than anything because the thing lights up when the ship gets closer, doesn't look like a natural sphere at all.

  • 07.04.2009 9:00 AM PDT
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Your friendly and eccentric Sangheili forum-poster. :)

Posted by: The BS Police
Posted by: ajw34307
I'd like to begin by saying that the rear section of the Dawn, containing John & Cortana, DID manage to make it through the Portal. Listen to the lines!

"I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed."

If they didn't make it through the Portal, then they would be dead...Simply put...
Actually they didn't make it, she stated the following....

"Well... some of us made it"

Which confirms that The Arbiter made it through the portal, but the otherside of the ship didn't make it.

Master Chief and Cortana did make it through the portal, but because their side didn't make it properly it's taken them to a completely different place. Halo would've killed them if they were in the same area. Well, it would've killed Master Chief anyway.

  • 07.04.2009 9:02 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: The BS Police
Posted by: ajw34307
I'd like to begin by saying that the rear section of the Dawn, containing John & Cortana, DID manage to make it through the Portal. Listen to the lines!

"I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed."

If they didn't make it through the Portal, then they would be dead...Simply put...
Actually they didn't make it, she stated the following....

"Well... some of us made it"

Which confirms that The Arbiter made it through the portal, but the otherside of the ship (with them in it) didn't make it.


Perhaps Cortana is referring to Mendicant Bias there as she has had interactions with him before in Halo 2.
Also, there were still humans on the Ark.

If they didn't make it through the Portal then John and Cortana would have died, Installation 04's premature firing would have obliterated the Dawn.

Skip to 3: 25 and there's your proof.

  • 07.04.2009 9:06 AM PDT

Posted by: Duardo
I'd love to be a 10 year old and tell my mom I'm going on an adventure out into the world catching Pokemon, with her full support. Never mind the fact that there are rapists, criminals, and murders out there, or the fact that I may get killed by a Pokemon.

Luckily I have Pikachu.

Posted by: ajw34307
Perhaps Cortana is referring to Mendicant Bias there as she has had interactions with him before in Halo 2.
Also, there were still humans on the Ark.


1. Mendicant Bias really had no interaction with Cortana since the Forerunner Dreadnaught launched from High Charity in Hao 2.

2. All the remaining UNSC and Elite forces (besides Johnson and The Arbiter) left through the portal with Rtas 'Vadum.

If they didn't make it through the Portal then John and Cortana would have died, Installation 04's premature firing would have obliterated the Dawn.
That doesn't prove your point. She clearly states that some of us made it, which clearly wasn't them. There also isn't any sure way of knowing the overall size of the explosion, and if your recall from the novels and from the games opening scene, John 117 always has alot of luck.



[Edited on 07.04.2009 9:15 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 9:14 AM PDT
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Alright I think we can all agree on one simple truth and that is that Cortana and the Master Chief both made it through the portal seeing as how they were not obliterated by the the new Halo. However the portal was in fact collapsing when they were entering it so it is entirely possible that they went into the portal but did not make it all the way to Earth and ended up at maybe a halfway point. Also remember that normal slipspace laws do not apply seeing as how this is a forerunner portal which is more advanced than both Human and Covenant slipspace technology.

[Edited on 07.04.2009 9:17 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 9:15 AM PDT

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Great post... but I just wanted to point one thing out. They made it in to the portal, but they didn't make it through the portal. Wormholes connect two points in space (Earth and the Ark) with a "tunnel" connecting the two points.

The ship entered the Ark-side portal into the slipspace "tunnel," the front of the ship exited through the Earth-side portal, and then Halo activated and the portal collapsed, trapping the back half of the ship in the tunnel, and sending the front to Earth. Without an operational slipspace engine, the rear half would have rapidly decelerated into "real space" (like the Chief did in First Strike by the Unyielding Heirophant) somewhere between the Ark and Earth.

  • 07.04.2009 9:20 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: The BS Police
Posted by: ajw34307
Perhaps Cortana is referring to Mendicant Bias there as she has had interactions with him before in Halo 2.
Also, there were still humans on the Ark.


1. Mendicant Bias really had no interaction with Cortana since the Forerunner Dreadnaught launched from High Charity in Hao 2.

2. All the remaining UNSC and Elite forces (besides Johnson and The Arbiter) left through the portal with Rtas 'Vadum.

If they didn't make it through the Portal then John and Cortana would have died, Installation 04's premature firing would have obliterated the Dawn.
That doesn't prove your point. She clearly states that some of us made it, which clearly wasn't them. There also isn't any sure way of knowing the overall size of the explosion, and if your recall from the novels and from the games opening scene, John 117 always has alot of luck.



It just occured to me that Cortana is talking of Johnson. And, of course, the other Humans who fell on the Ark.

"Well, some of us made it."

I don't get how this means that they didn't make it through the Portal, each Halo installation has a firing radius of "1.2 trillion simulated in one-actual".
How is it clearly not them?

Exactly, so he'd be lucky to get through the Portal. As Cortana said "just as it collapsed".
You can't deny what is because she says they made it just in time, that's John's luck for you!

Great post... but I just wanted to point one thing out. They made it in to the portal, but they didn't make it through the portal. Wormholes connect two points in space (Earth and the Ark) with a "tunnel" connecting the two points.

The ship entered the Ark-side portal into the slipspace "tunnel," the front of the ship exited through the Earth-side portal, and then Halo activated and the portal collapsed, trapping the back half of the ship in the tunnel, and sending the front to Earth. Without an operational slipspace engine, the rear half would have rapidly decelerated into "real space" (like the Chief did in First Strike by the Unyielding Heirophant) somewhere between the Ark and Earth.


It probably links to other destinations too. Because other than Cortana's message there is no record of High Charity heading for Earth.

[Edited on 07.04.2009 9:24 AM PDT]

  • 07.04.2009 9:22 AM PDT