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This topic has moved here: Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
  • Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
Subject: Enkidu - Cortana Letters Revisted?
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Yay! My first post. ^_^

I was driven raving mad before dear Dot bounced off the cushioned walls.

I believe this is a reference to the old Pong clone that Bungie made way back in the day, called Gnop. There was something about it in Frankie's first weekly update, if memory serves.

  • 04.26.2004 4:05 AM PDT
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Please read the entire thread before posting, it stops people from saying the same thing over and over.

  • 04.26.2004 4:20 AM PDT
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Posted by: Kane Dawnseer
Please read the entire thread before posting, it stops people from saying the same thing over and over.


Relax, I'm not trying to steal your thunder. I just missed that part is all.

  • 04.26.2004 4:34 AM PDT
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No thunder involved, I just see people do this all over the board and I felt like saying something. After reading a little while its get annoying seeing "Hey I think blah blah blah...." then two posts down someone says the same thing. Agitating is all

  • 04.26.2004 4:46 AM PDT

Come on, people, let's keep discussion on what the poem is about. The Halo story has just got interesting, and nobody on this forum seems to care at all! For once I don't consider Halo as somehow below

Edit: Just so you know now, the second screen of the first terminal now says "Additional terminals pending.
Please wait." Oh yeah!

- Reiginko

[Edited on 4/26/2004 5:41:01 AM]

  • 04.26.2004 4:57 AM PDT
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"The facepalm required to respond to this would be so gargantuan that I fear it would destroy me." -Urk

-Kane Dawnster - : I think your right there. Its probaly someone who has been working for bungie forever. It might not even mean anything towards Halo and cortana...

  • 04.26.2004 1:24 PM PDT
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"The facepalm required to respond to this would be so gargantuan that I fear it would destroy me." -Urk

Man, I never noticed that the poem was shaped as 343GS, it is! I was wondring why there was that thing in the middle!! Hey! the header says " Do I have to draw you a picture" Well he or whoever did draw one! :P //// Notice the pattern of the poem too, and also first verse thats with "O" and last aslo and the rest ALL start with "I". Excpet the odd "T" and "A".

[Edited on 4/26/2004 1:44:21 PM]

  • 04.26.2004 1:33 PM PDT
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"The facepalm required to respond to this would be so gargantuan that I fear it would destroy me." -Urk

Also, this seems to prove that it is an AI , look closely : FF512:/AI/PROCESS/2.718.282/LOGFILE

  • 04.26.2004 1:35 PM PDT
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I hadn't noticed that it looked like 343 GS. With that piece of information, I see the meaning of the whole poem in a different light!

  • 04.26.2004 3:01 PM PDT
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I looked at the properties of the symbol above the U.N.S.C. Lebanon and it's a GIF image titled "marathon" , I'm new to the Bungie world, so somebody help me with that one.

  • 04.26.2004 3:07 PM PDT
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Has anyone looked at the HTML code for these pages?
This is the code for the first page:

meta name="keywords" content="Marathon, Halo, Bungie, Enkidu, rampant AI, index, site map, cryptic messages, read em and weep"

And this is in the code for the second page:

meta name="keywords" content="Marathon, Halo, Bungie, Enkidu, fanfic, rampant AI, awakening, dysphoria, epic poetry, Gilgamesh, ASCII art, embedded allegory, eye spy"

The reference to ASCII art and eye spy makes me think that the resemblence to 343 GS is intentional, but the word "fanfic" makes me think that there is a good chance that whoever created this has no affiliation with Bungie.

  • 04.26.2004 3:17 PM PDT
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Wonder what they meant by dysphoria? Usually means being restless or uneasy. I hope this isn't just someone's fan fiction like you suggest Golanx4.

  • 04.26.2004 3:23 PM PDT
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Marathon was a trilogy of FPS games made by Bungie for Mac about, oh, 10 yrs ago. It has cyborgs, AI's named after swords, dual wielding of shotguns and pistols, a double-barreled rocket launcher with SPNKR, wtiten on it, and the Marathon symbol, and all of these things appear in Halo. Halo is sort of like a spiritual sequel to these games, but it is possible that they are related by more than just that, and that they could share a common story line, if only the dates could be made to mesh. You'll have to ask someone else for a more detailed description of te games storyline, though. Since I never owned a Mac, I never got to play them, so everything I know I learned from the Marathon story page on www.bunige.org.

  • 04.26.2004 3:30 PM PDT
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There is an IP address on the page, has anyone compaired this to the IP address on the original Cortana Letters to see if it matchs, or comes "coincidentally" close?

  • 04.26.2004 5:10 PM PDT
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Jason Jones = Gilgamesh

Alex Seropian = Enkidu

  • 04.26.2004 5:35 PM PDT
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earlier in the thread someone mentioned that the shape of the new enkidu letter looked like 343 guilty spark and it does.

So whats so interesting about it? Well, when I went to bookmaark the page, (I'm on a mac and using Sarfari as my browser) it automatically titled the bookmark as "do I have to draw you a picture?" mmmm? Prof that the shape is 343 Guilty Spark?

  • 04.26.2004 6:10 PM PDT
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Posted by: Kane Dawnseer
There is an IP address on the page, has anyone compaired this to the IP address on the original Cortana Letters to see if it matchs, or comes "coincidentally" close?


where did you see the IP address on the new Enkidu letter? I don't see it. The old address for the cortana letters were 209.125.9.49.

209.125.9. is the domain at bungie. 49 (7x7) was the terminal or computer it was sent from.

  • 04.26.2004 6:19 PM PDT
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"The facepalm required to respond to this would be so gargantuan that I fear it would destroy me." -Urk

Yeah I noticed the source code too. Kinda makes ya think, maybe it is just a stupid but well made FanFic sorta thing. Hmmmm.

  • 04.26.2004 7:18 PM PDT
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Ok its not exactly an IP address, but on the page "Please Allow me to Introduce Myself" it gives a port number.

Cryobay B Terminal Access <Port 3.141.5.93>

  • 04.26.2004 7:27 PM PDT
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a port number? I have no idea about that. I was reading around though and it kinda looks like this has ties to Alex Seropian leaving bungie to start up a new company, "wideload". appearently he has taken a few other guys from bungie with him. I found this info at Rampancy.net and the HBO site. Does nyone know about this? If this is true then it has nothing to do with bungie or Halo 2. It also makes you think about how things are going to change at Bungie if people who started Bungie leave.

Anyways the connection that has been drawn between the two events is because of the interpretation of the lines. As someone earlier stated in this thread, each line of the Enkidu letter refers to a Bungie game and as you read you go back into the past of Bungie. Is it all true? Is it just a PR thing to grab all of our Halo 2 attention? what gives man? Whats happening?

  • 04.26.2004 7:46 PM PDT

The War will wage forever; though with it's fury comes a peace that you will never know here.

Yes, that's right. That's Sumerian mythology. Enkidu, as I recall, had a dream about the equivalent of Sumerian Hell, and how the kings of the earth had to serve the gods, and eat ash for eternity, or something like that.

I cant remember the giants name, although I think it was Urshanabi.

I'm more familiar with the Egyptian pantheon, myself. I did a research paper on it recently.

  • 04.26.2004 7:50 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.

Alex Seropian left Bungie in 2002. None of the people joining Wideload currently work for Bungie. Also in an interview on HBO Alex stated he was not smart enough to leave clues like this about his new company.

  • 04.26.2004 7:52 PM PDT
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I just came back and realized on the CNN article that he left in 2002. However it does look like he is going to take some of the veterans from Bungie with him. If you read the interview at HBO he doesn't give names instead he gives numbers. Her is the interview:

CE: So the latest article (CNN's Money) said there were 6 ex-Bungie employees with you... any chance of names?

AS: I will give you clues to names - you need to do the math - here goes:
At wideload, are bungie employees #1, #3, #5, #6 (the accuracy of this depends a little on how you count). All six would be considered grizzled ancients. Let's see if you can figure that out. (Our mascot is a big clue too.)

Grizzled Ancients? Go to Bungie.net > inside bungie > The Team and you'll see the grizzled ancients. Go ahead and count to see who is 1, 3, 5 and 6 (depends on how you count who they are). It sounds like some people are leaving.

Edit - you are also right that he did deny that the Enkidu letter did have nothing to do with his new company. I kinda want to believe that but who knows.

[Edited on 4/26/2004 8:03:14 PM]

  • 04.26.2004 8:01 PM PDT
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I'm sorry if this was already discussed and I missed it, but where was this letter found?

  • 04.26.2004 8:05 PM PDT
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It was sent to the HBO site (halo.bungie.org). Its pretty popular with the halo community. Probably the most popular site concerning halo facts and such.

Are you also familar with the Cortana Letters sent to Hamish before the release of Halo? Everyone and most content remaining on the web made huge comparisions to Marathon's story based on the content of the letters. Its funny to read them now and see how well most peole predicted their meanings just by using Marathon. what someone needs to do though now is go back and re nterprete the Cortana Letters now that we have a game and three books full of halo info. I know that there are alot of similarities between the two games and possibly even a connection, but i'd kinda like to see an interpretation that is independent of any other game.

  • 04.26.2004 8:13 PM PDT