- Atomsk A33
- |
- Exalted Legendary Member
Want to play Bungie games old and new? For Carnage Apply Within
"Don't mistake your rank and number for superiority.
The oldest child may learn from the youngest."
Well this was a failed thread.
Don't feel bad. No one reads anything longer than a headline these days. People were probably scared off by the amount of text.
The idea of Cortana going insane as she slowly degrades is something I really wish they'd gotten into about four Halo games ago. Personally, I think something like an insane Cortana trying to keep the MC from firing the Halo rings and defeating the flood because she didn't want to see him killed when the rings were activated would have made for a much more interesting story than what actually took place in Halo 2 and 3. In Halo 3, there was a lot of build up to Cortana being crazy, but when you rescue her, she is no different than when you meet her in Halo 1. Always kinda bummed me out.
Since that didn't happen, maybe we'll get something akin to it in Halo 4. Like you, I do hope Cortana is the real antagonist and that the Covenant and Forunners are more or less just used by her. Having her work against you at times could be a lot more interesting than the "buddy cop/ winked at romance" we've gotten so far.
Combine this with impending rampancy...
Rampancy isn't exactly the same as what is happening to Cortana. Rampancy happens when an AI becomes self aware and is dealing with the new sense of true freedom. As you said, Cortana was copied from Dr. Halsey's brain, so she was pretty much self aware when she was created. From what I can tell, Cortana's possible problems will stem from her mind slowly degrading, so it is more like Hal from 2001 than Durandal or Tycho from Marathon.
If that was hard to follow, think about it this way....with Rampancy, there is a stable state that an AI can eventually reach if they have time and space to grow. Cortana's mind/ processing ability is slowly degrading. She can't grow and is limited by her design. Maybe she'll find some systems on whatever Forrunner planet or construct Halo 4 takes place on that will allow her to grow normally and prevent her madness, but if not, she will eventually die.