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  • Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
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This just popped up on HBO:

http://halo.bungie.org/oldnews.html?item=9300

Now what is all that about, eh?

  • 04.25.2004 5:41 PM PDT

Weird...dunno what it is. Doesn't look like it has anything to do with cortana, because cortana couldn't have lasted since demons rode in the sky, assuming that was way before Halo, so I think it has something to do with something other than Halo.

  • 04.25.2004 5:44 PM PDT
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Looks like 343 Guilty Spark. Read closely and you'll see it too.

  • 04.25.2004 6:02 PM PDT
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yes, I is used alot in it. Some of the things that are said kinda sorta parralel the Lord of the Rings (you need to read the simmirilian to get it) but the ring is one of many things. It would also be kinda like the Cortana letters because it is in this same mysterious form without any name, and it is written kinda poetry style. The sword in the rock is mentioned again, which i assume refers to the index... OH MY GOD, no more rampant speculation. I must quit, ill just recite the sentence my therapist told me to use (Halo is not your life... Halo is not your life...) MUCH BETTER

  • 04.25.2004 6:17 PM PDT

I transgressed in sacred orchards to serve the folly of a hero. -- jungle level
I called on kings and deities to account for their misdeeds. -- covenant and flood?
I died of humble fevers with craven whimpers on my lips. -- no idea
I set off an outburst that echoed through the ages. -- Halo setting off/blowing up?
That outburst echoes still. -- still refering to Halo
It shall echo evermore. --still
AS SHALL I. -- 343 Guilty Spark will return?

  • 04.25.2004 6:24 PM PDT
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Does anyone know who these Leonidas or Thesues people are? Sounds like another of those greek mythology people to me, and we know Bungie likes those greek and roman myths... And does anyone remember the story between Durandal and the sword in a tomb? Also, I must agree that it sounds a lot like 343 GS, so would the "I was driven raving mad before dear Dot bounced off the cushioned walls." Maybe mean that he was driven mad by the previous activation of halo "bouncing off the cushioned walls" (or, more realistically, echoing/reverberating off of the halo's "reinforced" outer walls or soemthing)? I know 'm stretching, but maybe it'll help somebody else.

  • 04.25.2004 6:36 PM PDT
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I think those Greek sounding names are the names of some Forerunner heros maybe.

  • 04.25.2004 6:39 PM PDT
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I know who Enkidu is (at least in human mythology), and the exact location on earth at which they are refering to. Enkidu was Gilgamesh's friend and ally. For the backstory:

Gilgamesh is the oldest epic poem known to man. It's is the tale of a great king from Uruk, I think, a city on the banks of the Tigris or the Euphrates, what was then Mesopotamia and today is Iraq. One of the first stories tells how Gilgamesh went to go get wood, I think, from a great forest. By the way, the forest might have been in Lebanon (UNSC Lebanon is mentioned in the terminal). The forest, however, was guarded by the giant woodsman, Enkidu. Gilgamesh challenges him to a fight, and bests him. But instead of slaying the man, Gilgamesh spares his life, and they become great friends, and often accompanied Gilgamesh on his journies. Later, however, Enkidu gives his life to save his freind Gilgamesh.

Now I'm going to try and do a line by line analysis of everything in there. Hopefully I don't screw anything up to bad, but please tell me if you you can help out my thinking.

Starting with the very first panel:


The date: UT 8:31:05 8.18.2552

That's universal time. That date is a month before the events of Halo and First Strike. I wonder what was going on?

UNSC Lebanon: Even though these are Marathon style terminals, this ties it in with the Halo universe. And as my personal opinion, I think that the Marathon symbol is the UNSC insignia. It kind of looks like two hands cupping the earth. That would be fitting for an organization dedicated to the defense of earth. It also appears on the PoA and on Keye's uniform.

ENCR1024-PUBKEY: CEDAR
I think that that is the knid of tree in the forest that Enkidu guarded.

Next panel!

UNSCTerm 802.11g
802.11 is a wireless data transmission format and the letters afterward denote the version. Were're on like c or d, so maybe that is version g?

The date: 8.28.2552
Ten days after the first date. Not truly significant, I guess.

And the link:
"Waking up is hard to do"...Waking up from the dead would be hard, wouldn't it?
and the introduction link which takes us to the next page


Terminal 3:

AUX-UPS ENGAGED: Aren't those backup batteries for computers?

Cryobay B Terminal Access: I think that the MC was stored in Cryo B on the PoA

And now for analyzing the poem, something that is very Bungie if they did this:

Once I was wild. Wild shall I be once again.
I was seduced into urbanity before I could discover better.


Enkidu was a wild man, but Gilgamesh "domesticated" him. I guess he is going back to the wild.

I was fabled before rings were.
I was legend before Leonidas was born.
I was epic before demons rode in the dawn sky.
I was myth before a sword awoke from a stolen rocky womb.
I was sentenced into darkness before Theseus found his foe.

Before rings? Well, that would be before The Lord of the Rings.
Leonidas was the Spartan king at the battle of Thermopylae, and was the one who said that they "shall then fight in the shade" because the Persians had so many archers.
I don't know what the demon reference is about, perhaps someone could enlighten me?
I thought the sword stolen from a rocky womb was Excalibur, but it could be Durandal, which would make sense. I don't know much about that legend, though.
And Theseus killed the Minataur. All of these are very Bungie sounding references, especially Leonidas and Theseus.

I was killed before my home was scourged by western winds of war.
I was driven raving mad before dear Dot bounced off the cushioned walls.

Since the epic of Gilgamesh took place in what is now Iraq, the western winds of war would be the Gulf War.
I need help on the crazy Dot person. It's not the .com bubble burst, is it?

I transgressed in sacred orchards to serve the folly of a hero.
I called on kings and deities to account for their misdeeds.
I died of humble fevers with craven whimpers on my lips.
I set off an outburst that echoed through the ages.
That outburst echoes still.
It shall echo evermore.
AS SHALL I.
I roamed the forests as I wished after Enlil starved the gods.
Once I was free. Free shall I be once again.
a friend(?) of a friend

Enkidu left his sacred forest to serve a hero. An here I get a little fuzzy. I might have screwed up my original Gilgamesh-Enkidu tale, so maybe that's why I'm lost. But Enkidu ends up dying for something that is really Gilgamesh's fault. I think it has to do with a Bull of Heaven, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone could help me out?

And the link at the bottom hopefully means that more will be added later.









[Edited on 4/25/2004 6:57:31 PM]

  • 04.25.2004 6:43 PM PDT
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The message is being sent from a cryobay on the U.N.S.C
Lebanon. Very interesting. There's also a date on it 8.21.2552.
August 21...

  • 04.25.2004 6:45 PM PDT
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Very good Golan X. If only I was as versed in the Bungie Universe as you.

[Edited on 4/26/2004 5:15:43 AM]

  • 04.25.2004 6:55 PM PDT
Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
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The United States of America-- STILL more rights than North Korea!
--New official U.S. motto.

Cronin's Law----The New Flood Drinking Game

Posted by: let me live
Some of the things that are said kinda sorta parralel the Lord of the Rings (you need to read the simmirilian to get it)

the silmarillion is not the lord of the rings -blam!-! the silmarillion is 500% better, and has not been raped by the evil corporate empire! i liked the lord of the rings before the movie, and most people cant claim that! hahahahahaha im gonna kill you all!

  • 04.25.2004 7:06 PM PDT
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< Transfer Interrupted! >

Route Code: EXLTD > XCV - SCRB > ALLCH
Source: Undetermined

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/enlil.html

Enlil sounds like 343GS.
He was kind to humans but could also be very mean.
He brought forth disasters, like The Great FLOOD that overtook the Earth...
"starved the gods"...flood? forerunners?...

The AI that sent this message could not have been 343GS, but had to have been an AI that knew about Halo, and 343GS. Maybe it's an AI back from Marathon times that knew about the sleeping god (in the crater underneath the earth) and the j'jaro (forerunners?) . Maybe what the Covenant are searching for on Earth is in those underground caverns in the Earth...maybe to awaken the sleeping god that the humans stopped from being awakened?...

  • 04.25.2004 7:30 PM PDT
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It has a marathon look to it. If you ever played marathon it looks like a computer terminal. So my suggestion is send it ofver to the marathon story page, even if it is halo, hamish and his guys will rip that thinkg apart piece by piece, and know everything that can be known about it. yep.

  • 04.25.2004 8:32 PM PDT
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Texas Ben I deeply apoligize for the offense to someone as high and mighty in Lord of the Ring lore as yourself. I was reffereing to the fact that the simmirilian TIES INTO THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and brings a great deal of understanding with it. Yes i agree the movie sucked balls (big balls at that). I was deeply interested in the Simmirilian and that I could aprreciate that much more in the LotRs'. Anywho GOLAN, that is pne of the best specualtions i have ever seen. Everything would semm to follow along the lines of the cortana letters, as well as what Bungie does with its games. Unfortuantly, I havent been around long enough to have cut my teeth on games like marathon. Bungie trully deserves a slap on the back if this is indeed what it appears to be (hopefully it isnt a fake...)

  • 04.25.2004 8:40 PM PDT

I hate everything, but it's not my fault.

First I liked Lotr before the movies, and I liked the movies too, and I don't see why you would hate them, except for Orlando Bloom. And that isn't new, I vaguely remember reading that because it was linked here or at HBO like last summer or the summer before. And theres the "old news" in the link. And maybe Bungie put that there just to screw with us :) j/k
PS: What are the Cortana Letters? I never got to play any of the Marathon games, b/c I don't have a mac.

[Edited on 4/25/2004 8:49:07 PM]

  • 04.25.2004 8:46 PM PDT

-S

Less arguing about LotR, more picking apart the mystery message. =)

  • 04.25.2004 8:56 PM PDT
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Well...the before rings part makes me think of Halo...and the before demons make me think of Oni. Just my two cents
-Hush

  • 04.25.2004 9:33 PM PDT
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I'm convinced this is Cortana, though if it is she sounds a little disgruntled. The 802.11g is a wireless protocal, the one I'm using right now in fact.

The referance to starving Gods has to be about the flood, though why you would refer to them as gods I do not know.

The referance of being "Epic before demons rode in the dawn sky" is about the Covenant. In the old Cortana letters (I suggest reading them before picking at this one) refered to the Covenant as demons if I remember correctly.

And the statement of "Wild shall I be once again" could this be hinting that Cortana will become a rampant AI?

  • 04.25.2004 9:35 PM PDT
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"I set off an outburst that echoed through the ages"

this could be the activation of halo

  • 04.25.2004 9:53 PM PDT
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Ok, here you go...

I was fabled before rings were. - Before Halo

I was legend before Leonidas was born. - Before Master Chief was created

I was epic before demons rode in the dawn sky. - Oni, Oni is the Japanese word for Demon or Ghost

I was myth before a sword awoke from a stolen rocky womb. - Myth... almost to obvious though

I was sentenced into darkness before Theseus found his foe. - The Minataur series

I was killed before my home was scourged by western winds of war. - operation Desert Storm

I was driven raving mad before dear Dot bounced off the cushioned walls. - Gnop, the pong clone Bungie made, their very first game

All this would suggest that, whoever this is, they were around from the very beginning.

  • 04.25.2004 10:00 PM PDT
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January 30, 2004 (Warthog's Day)
The Master Chief emerged from his code. After seeing his dynamically lit realtime shadow, he went back for 9 more months of development.


Behold the power of the Originals, the Gods Axeone-Neurone.

Posted by: Kane Dawnseer
I'm convinced this is Cortana, though if it is she sounds a little disgruntled.


If Cortana is the Enkidu character, then is John the Gilgamesh character.

[color="white"]"I transgressed in sacred orchards to serve the folly of a hero."[/color]

From Gilgamesh table 1, a description of Gilgamesh
The one who saw all [Sha nagba imuru ]I will declare to the world,
The one who knew all I will tell about
[line missing]
He saw the great Mystery, he knew the Hidden:
He recovered the knowledge of all the times before the Flood.
He journeyed beyond the distant, he journeyed beyond exhaustion,
And then carved his story on stone. [naru : stone tablets ]


This sounds like what John experienced in the event of Halo.

[color="white"]"a friend(?) of a friend"[/color]
John is our friend, but is Cortana?

  • 04.25.2004 10:11 PM PDT
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Well I do know that "A friend of a friend" is how the old Cortana Letters where signed.

  • 04.25.2004 11:09 PM PDT
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< Transfer Interrupted! >

Route Code: EXLTD > XCV - SCRB > ALLCH
Source: Undetermined

I think you got it kane!

  • 04.25.2004 11:17 PM PDT

First of all, the poem itself is in the shape of 343 GS. I'm sure there is a literary term for this poetic device, but I've forgotten it. :)

I think Kane is right about the first stanza being about all the Bungie games, it fits too well (Leonidas was the leader of the Spartans; the Master Chief is the leader of the SPARTAN-IIs; I had to think about that one before I worked out the connection :) ).

However, the "friend of a friend" sign-off was used by Durandal before Cortana, so it's not necessarily Cortana.

One thing to note is that neither Myth nor PiD are actually mentioned, . In fact, the persona says "I was myth...", I'd say that this line refers to Marathon, since Durandal was a sword, and (although I'm not familiar with The Song Of Roland) I seem to remember that on a terminal in Marathon 2 (I can't remember what level, and don't have time to go through the Story Page looking for it!) there was a picture of the sword Durandal embedded in a stone.

The ( ( I ) ) looks a lot like 343 GS' "eye".

The next stanza is more evidence to suggest that it is 343 GS speaking.

I transgressed in sacred orchards to serve the folly of a hero. I'd say that "Sacred orchards" refers to the Haloes or something else created by the Forerunner; I'm sure a similar metaphor was used in the Cortana letters to allude to the Halo.

I called on kings and deities to account for their misdeeds. This is a tricky one. Maybe 343 released the Flood the first time round (ie 100 000 years ago) as a punishment(?) for some misdeed. In the Bible, the Great Flood was a punishment for mankind's sinfulness. Could be something in that

I died of humble fevers with craven whimpers on my lips. Durandal "died" in Marathon: the player "kills" him by destroying his circuitry. Maybe 343 GS died in a similar manner. However, the "fever" sounds like the speaker may have been infected by the Flood; they seem only capable of whimpers and grunts.

I set off an outburst that echoed through the ages. Obviously is referring to the first firing of Halo 100,000 years ago. But what is the significance of it "echoing through the ages"? Maybe it refers to the fact that evolution had to start again after sentient life was eliminated, but I have a feeling there's something more to this.
That outburst echoes still.
It shall echo evermore.
Again, I can't see what this might mean. Anybody?

AS SHALL I. I am hero. ;)

I roamed the forests as I wished after Enlil starved the gods. Now, this is a very strange line. As XAL mentioned, Enlil brought forth the great Flood. But we know that the Flood are starved by the firing of Halo, and so the forerunner (gods) "starved" the flood. The flood did not starve the gods! An interesting thing on that site about Enlil is that he separated Earth from heaven, and carried off the Earth for himself. It is possible that Enlil's "Earth" in the Haloverse is not the planet Earth, but the galaxy itself, and the Forerunner went to "Heaven", whatever that may be.

Once I was free. Free shall I be once again. 343 GS was seen floating around "freely" after the Halo end credits. Perhaps he was enslaved by the Forerunner, and Halo's destruction has set him free once more.

This is very cryptic (what did you expect?!). The speaker sounds a lot like Durandal, however he states that he is not - he was myth before Durandal. I seriously think that this is 343 GS - he is the oldest of all the characters in Halo, and the poem fits him so well, and the shape kinda gives it away.

And that's all I can work out so far. I'm excited: Halo story just got good!

- Reiginko

[Edited on 4/26/2004 1:10:48 AM]

  • 04.26.2004 1:06 AM PDT
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I'm surprised this thread doesn't have more posts. This is quite possibly the biggest thing to happen concerning Halo 2 since E3 of last year and people seem very.... quiet about it.

Has anyone checked on the IP address on the message? Does it match the one from the Cortana letters? Or come close in some "coincendtal" way?

I agree with most of what you said Reiginko, and the points I disagree with... its too late to think that hard.

  • 04.26.2004 2:16 AM PDT