Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: Johnson and the Flood
  • Subject: Johnson and the Flood
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
  • of 2
Subject: Johnson and the Flood
  • gamertag: opog
  • user homepage:

Posted by: Zarnaab Khan
Sargent Johnson was not a spartan.


Yes, he was:

In order to deal with increasing civil turmoil the Colonial Military Administration had secretly launched Project ORION back in 2491. The purpose of the program was to develop super soldiers codenamed "Spartans," who would receive special training and physical augmentation.

The Initial effort was successful, and in 2517 a new group of Spartans , the II-series, had been selected as the new generation of supersoldier.


"48789-20114-AJ," She said, pulling a COM-pad from her purse and reading from it's screen. "That is your serial number, correct?"

Avery's eyes refocused. "Yes ma'am." Suddenly her smile didn't seem so sweet.

"Team leader, ORION detachment, NavSpecWar division?"

"With respect, ma'am. That's classified."

"I know"


A few seconds later Avery's service record appeared on the pad. The lieutenants eyes widened as a long list of meritorious citations and battlefield commendations cascaded down the monochromatic screen. ORION, KALEIDOSCOPE, TANGLEWOOD, TREBUCHET. Dozens of programs and operations, most of which downs had never eve heard of.


[Edited on 12.24.2010 8:38 PM PST]

  • 12.24.2010 8:38 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

“To say more would spoil be it’s overall its a game that needs to be played.” - Aristotle

Count opog to remember when I've gone and forgotten.

Yes, Boren's Syndrome was a spoof. I forgot that Bungie didn't like the immunity idea and retconned it so as to make Johnson immune via... well, never having come into contact with one of them.

  • 12.24.2010 9:47 PM PDT


Posted by: Lord Snakie
Count opog to remember when I've gone and forgotten.

Yes, Boren's Syndrome was a spoof. I forgot that Bungie didn't like the immunity idea and retconned it so as to make Johnson immune via... well, never having come into contact with one of them.


I'm just curious, where did they hint at, or say that, they wanted to retcon Johnson was immune, I want to see it for myself.

And if they did change it so that an infection attempt was never made I think that wouldn't really make sense, considering the sheer number of Flood coming at them, it seems incredibly improbable, and almost impossible, for Johnson to have not been attacked and an infection attempt made.

  • 12.26.2010 7:07 PM PDT

He's immune to it because of the Spartab 1 augmentations done to him, and Boren's Syndrome is just a cover.

  • 12.26.2010 9:01 PM PDT
  • gamertag: opog
  • user homepage:

Posted by: OrderedComa

Posted by: Lord Snakie
Count opog to remember when I've gone and forgotten.

Yes, Boren's Syndrome was a spoof. I forgot that Bungie didn't like the immunity idea and retconned it so as to make Johnson immune via... well, never having come into contact with one of them.


I'm just curious, where did they hint at, or say that, they wanted to retcon Johnson was immune, I want to see it for myself.


The first indication was in an interview with the Halo Story Page at HBO in October of 2004:

HSP: Would the books make the cut?

JS: The books are, for better or worse, part of the canon. In the future we may choose to revise or flat-out ignore some of the less appealing ideas (Johnson's biological immunity to the Flood, for example), but folks should treat them as defining elements of the Halo universe.


Then in an interview with IGN, Brian Jarrard says this

IGN Comics: "Breaking Quarantine" answers one of the questions Halo fans have been asking for the past two years. For those who don't know anything about this story, can you tell us what it's about? Was it important for this story to be told in some form?

Jarrard: This is essentially the story of Sergeant Johnson's escape from the first Halo. When the first game concluded, we were led to believe that the Sarge was overcome by the Flood. Yet, when Halo 2 opens, we see him again back at Earth doing just fine.


Everyone has speculated about what really happened down there in the depths of Halo and this was something we were interested in exploring further. Now, people who have read the Halo novels are going to be quick to point out that an explanation was already given (something along the lines of a genetic condition that made his body undesirable as a Flood host). We struggled with this a lot internally...while we're all big fans of Eric Nylund's Halo novels, we felt that the circumstances surrounding Sarge's survival was something we wanted to re-tell in a slightly different way. One of our goals for the book was to not only expand the fiction into new areas but make a small adjustment to existing lore.



  • 12.27.2010 5:39 PM PDT


Posted by: opogjijijp
Posted by: OrderedComa

Posted by: Lord Snakie
Count opog to remember when I've gone and forgotten.

Yes, Boren's Syndrome was a spoof. I forgot that Bungie didn't like the immunity idea and retconned it so as to make Johnson immune via... well, never having come into contact with one of them.


I'm just curious, where did they hint at, or say that, they wanted to retcon Johnson was immune, I want to see it for myself.


The first indication was in an interview with the Halo Story Page at HBO in October of 2004:

HSP: Would the books make the cut?

JS: The books are, for better or worse, part of the canon. In the future we may choose to revise or flat-out ignore some of the less appealing ideas (Johnson's biological immunity to the Flood, for example), but folks should treat them as defining elements of the Halo universe.


Then in an interview with IGN, Brian Jarrard says this

IGN Comics: "Breaking Quarantine" answers one of the questions Halo fans have been asking for the past two years. For those who don't know anything about this story, can you tell us what it's about? Was it important for this story to be told in some form?

Jarrard: This is essentially the story of Sergeant Johnson's escape from the first Halo. When the first game concluded, we were led to believe that the Sarge was overcome by the Flood. Yet, when Halo 2 opens, we see him again back at Earth doing just fine.


Everyone has speculated about what really happened down there in the depths of Halo and this was something we were interested in exploring further. Now, people who have read the Halo novels are going to be quick to point out that an explanation was already given (something along the lines of a genetic condition that made his body undesirable as a Flood host). We struggled with this a lot internally...while we're all big fans of Eric Nylund's Halo novels, we felt that the circumstances surrounding Sarge's survival was something we wanted to re-tell in a slightly different way. One of our goals for the book was to not only expand the fiction into new areas but make a small adjustment to existing lore.





Thanks Opog, that was more enlightening. I've read Breaking Quarantine, it didn't really seem to me that they had changed him getting "bit" at all, it was rather vague to me.

And also seeing those little unrelated bits to the story about the two guys talking, it sounded to me like what they changed was how Johnson was immune, making the Boren's Syndrome Johnson had a cover-up for his SI past. I could be totally wrong though. I'd imagine it'd be almost impossible for him to have escaped without any attempted infections, so I think he's still immune, they just scrapped the Boren's Syndrome part of his immunity.

  • 12.27.2010 6:02 PM PDT

  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
  • of 2