- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Either this idea is new, or totally underrepresented, and it's not going to get noticed in other threads, so please don't lock this thread, Jim. Oh, and, read the whole thing to see if it's new please.
Here's the idea, in several parts.
Part I:
The Ark is not an Ark in the sense of Noah's Ark. See, look at the names: Ark. Covenant.......It's the Ark of the Covenant! Like from Indiana Jones! So it's not about saving people like with Noah's Ark, it's about killing those who are greedy and stupid enough to look for it and think they can tame it (that is, the Covenant).
Part II:
In Halo 1, we all remember how Cortana really got a sweet high off of all the knowledge that she got from the Halo ring, when she was stuck in the control center. For those of us who read the books, we all remember in the last one (Between games 1 and 2, I forget the title) how she temporarily fought against a Covie AI that had made a crapload of copies of iteself, and was all degraded with time and poor copying skills.
Part III:
At the end of Halo 2, as we all remember, Cortana is facing the Gravemind.
Part IV:
Frankie mentioned that we will see Cortana "in some form or another."
Part V:
Here's where it all comes together. Cortana knows what the Ark is (and that'll kill those who open it, just like in Indiana Jones). Not only that, but Cortana has beefed herself up with data and copies, and has actually become part of Halo Delta (and possibly all of the Halos). This would give her both the ability to talk to Chief despite the great distance between them, and the knowledge of the Ark, and that that thing on Earth will kill everyone.
Also, her comment that "I have defied Gods and Demons" points to more religious allegory, thus reinforcing the theory that the Ark is that same Ark of the Covenant. It also builds the idea that she has become super-powerful, powerful enough to control the Halos, or see the future (as she so boldy claims)....
The Ark of the Covenant then truly lives up to its name by annihilating.............The Covenant. And no one else.
How? Cortana. She uses the thing both to eliminate the excavation fleet that is in immediate proximity to the Ark, and then, using her weaponizing brilliance (that we saw in the last book, where she focused Covenant plasma weaponry to entirely new levels of precision and power), she uses it to annhilate the hostile Covenant fleet.
Thus, the trailer shows the Ark opening up, but this theory of Cortana as Halo-weilding being of godlike power provides a way for the creators to get around the fact that it woud kill the Chief and all other humans in the galaxy.