- HappyMeals
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- Exalted Legendary Member
I don't like Marathon, but here's Sardonic's explanation.
Posted by: Sardonic13
However a closer inspection of both the Marathon and Halo timelines will reveal precise contradictions which clearly illustrate that both stories cannot simultaneously coexist in one universe. The two most common and most damning contradictions are found in technologies unique to each universe.
Faster Than Light Travel
The first contradiction involves the technology of faster than light (FTL) travel. Everyone knows that in Halo, FTL travel is possible by using Slipspace. According to the Halo timeline, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was created in 2291. By 2310 FTL travel was being used to start colonies. By 2390, colonization of the Inner Colonies was fully underway. By 2468, Outer Colonies were being settled. By 2490, the colonization boom was well underway and human space encompassed more than 800 worlds.
A quick study of Marathon's timeline will reveal a very different story. The conversion of Mars' moon Deimos into the Colony Ship Marathon began in 2408. It was completed 64 years later in 2472. It took the Marathon 300 years to travel from Sol to Tau Ceti (a distance of 12 light years). Obviously the Marathon was not equipped with FTL travel capability.
It is unconscionable that a colony ship would be built without FTL travel capability 117 years after the discovery of the FTL travel engine and during the golden age of FTL travel driven space exploration and colonization. Therefore it is not possible that the Halo and Marathon stories exist in the same universe.
Teleportation Technology
According to the Marathon timeline, teleporters began to be used in Sol as early as 2319. The Marathon, which was constructed from 2408 - 2472 was equipped with teleportation technology.
In the Halo universe teleportation technology was still unknown to humanity in 2552, 233 years after it was being used in Sol in the Marathon universe.
FTL travel and teleportation technologies are both unique to their respective universes and of primary importance in the telling of each story. These technological contradictions are irreconcilable, and therefore prove that the Marathon and Halo universes cannot be one in the same.
The desire to connect Marathon and Halo is something every fan of both games has to deal with at some point. While the two universes may seem consistent, a detailed investigation will reveal irreconcilable contradictions. I just wish more people were interested in exploring and discussing the similarities and contradictions rather than simply spouting the "because Bungie said so. /thread" mantra, which by itself is far from convincing and does not encourage further discussion.