Halo 3 Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: UPDATED THEORY -- WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER CONTENT --
  • Subject: UPDATED THEORY -- WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER CONTENT --
Subject: UPDATED THEORY -- WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER CONTENT --
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

The Cortana letters realesed in 1999 reveal some potentially odd halo tid bits, some of which offer some chances for biblical references.

Example: I've had the strangest dreams lately - raging seas, howling beasts, a Demon folded in black clouds. I believe I know what it guards, and I will have it, to the chagrin of the faith-blinded zealots that challenge me. Don't waste your pity on them; I don't think they would like you much anyway.

For example, in the book of Revelation in the Bible there are many references to Evil Dragons... in my opinion this evil dragon is in fact Gravemind. Again in the 2nd letter there is this reference: "

Have you missed me? Things are great here. The weather is good, the suns are shining, and I'm making lots of new friends. Of course, I always do. "

another reference to "new friends" the old friends and enemies and such of cortana would not be new friends... once again this alludes to the infamous gravemind. Also in the Bungie office they referred to a project as BLAM... AKA HALO... Blam... big explosion.. possible clueing into the ending of Halo 3? Also The quote "This is how the world ends..." appears in both the trailer and the Cortana Letters. In my opinion this is not mere coincidence. Whoever was involved with the letters has some very indepth and definitive push in the bungie offices as to what makes the trailer. This was included for a reason! It is used in the first cortana letter but she states that Eliot had it wrong. Eliot stated that the world will not go out with a bang (blam) but with a whisper. Once again Cortana Eludes to the end of the world with a bang!

In addition Matt Souell (sp?) a bungie worker referred to 3 new "events" / in my opinion games. The 1st woule bring memories (HALO 1) , the second wishes (Halo 2) after all it did end slightly abruptly and leave you wishing for more. The third dreams... HALO 3 anyone???
Matt himself states the following:

Apr 17, 1999
Matt Soell (Director of Customer Support at Bungie) made a fleeting appearance on IRC yesterday. Ever the evasive one, when confronted with demands for the long promised Marathon 2 updater he quickly changed the subject to Bungie's new games in development. But we were having none of it and continued to chant in mantra fashion the list of bugs in Marathon 2. However Matt persisted through the din and said:


You guys have an extra surprise coming down the road.
As the room fell silent Matt went on to described how Bungie were working on three new games. No... Oni wasn't one of these... these are home grown Bungie Chicago games... full of Eastern promise. Three new games from three development teams. Matt went on to say:
The second will probably cause great joy among some segments of the populace.
Mythers? Matt replied: No, not Mythers.

In true Cortana fashion... Matt left us with this little riddle.
#1 is memories, #2 is wishes, #3 is dreams.

Now we now know down the line that in 1999 they were working on Halo solely.... or were they, Bungie didnt produce any more games since Halo came out. Halo, and Halo 2 then wopuld presumably, and logically, be the two games that Matt was referring to........ but what was the third. It has to be Halo 3... There is no other logical choice. Now if they knew they were going to produce 3 Halo games, the first thing that would most likely be made would be a story line. If you know your going to have three games, you have to know how they interconnect. I have a VERY VERY string feeling to Cortana letters are a direct indication that Bungie has planned this series for at least 7 years... perhaps a decade or more.

AND YES THERE IS MORE!!!

The following is a direct quote from the Cortana Letter website.... "Paul goes on to point out that the Story page received a Cortana mail from a Bungie employee by the name of David Bowman:

As you know, David Bowman was the name of the character in 2001: A Space Odyssey who was transformed at the end of the story into... something else. Later books in the series suggest Bowman and the ships computer HAL9000 were actually merged into a single entity. We all remember HAL - an AI unit that went a little off the rails - sound familiar? "

Notice the HAL9000.... Thats very close to Halo... with 3 0's... Halo 3... and yes it eludes to an AI unit that went off the rails... once again a possible Cortana reference. Or is it a possiblilty that gravemind and Cortana could fuse into one entity, one of superior knowledge, strength, and immensity.... can you say FINAL BATTLE? In addition while Cortana says I am your shield, I am your sword, Gravemind can be heard in the background saying source. Once again a possible ellusion to Cortana being controlled by gravemind. (Gravemind's the source of Cortana's words and actions!


Then you have the standard numerical tableing...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z

M A T T S O E L L
4 1 2 2 1 6 5 3 3 = 27, 2 + 7 = 9

C O R T A N A
3 6 9 2 1 5 1 = 27, 2 + 7 = 9

N A T H A N B I T N E R
5 1 2 8 1 5 2 9 2 5 5 9 = 54, 5 + 4 = 9
So Matt Soell and Cortana match up exactly and Matt, Cortana, and Nathan all reduce to the same number. Even more evil: Combine the three, 999, and invert, 666

666.... could this be 6/6/06... IE the date of the making of video...interesting eh?

As to the previous biblical references the number 7 is common in the bible... I'll indicate a few ways, not sure if they will rally be used, but ya never know!

The last and final of the 7 visions in Revelation is this

7- Vision of the New Jerusalem, a new heaven and a new earth (chapters 20-22):
- The Millenium and the Great White Throne of Judgment (20).
- Revelation ends with the "Maranatha": "Come, Lord Jesus"... "Yes, I am coming soon"... the day of our death!.

New Jerusalem... New Mombossa... possibly... Also Maranatha, and Marathon are very very similar, could be a connection there as well. Especially with the Cortana involvement.

In the fourth Cortana letter this is said...

This enemy - YOUR enemy - has proven more irritating than I anticipated.
They own nothing which they have not stolen. I can barely make sense of
their incessant rhetoric, except to know that you seem to be their Devil.
Congratulations - you manage to make friends (sarcasm???) wherever you go and,
apparently, places you haven't.

Could this be a reference to Master Chief's enemies in the flood and the Covenant. Could Cortana be set on destroying all living life... Idk... but it is a possibility. Also isnt master chief referred to as a Demon by the covenant. From above excerpt... "you seem to be their Devil."

On side note... the year 2006... is dun dun dun... 7 YEARS from the Cortana Letters.


In addition... black sun... this could be the large spiraling mass that we see in the sky in the trailer. In addition where it says you seem to be their devil... Cortana says again and again... " I have defied gods, DEMONS"" Could Demons and devil be interchangeable... more possible revelations to a Cortana betrayal.

Also there is part of letter number 3 or 4 where it states "

Nevertheless, I at least find some joy in tormenting the other entity that
seems quite trapped in this antiquated excuse for a network. It is
certainly mindless, though for reasons I have yet to understand, it appears
to have an unhealthy preoccupation with my mother."

Cortana's mother would have been Dr. Catherine Halsey, leader of the Spartan program who, according to Halo Library is currently listed as MIA.... maybe gravemind isnt controlling cortana, but just using her as a means to attempt to find Dr. Halsey, and potentially, the rest of the Spartans.

In addition the first Cortana Letter was signed, a friend of a friend... take what you may out of it but if I remember correctly, the phrase are you a friend of a friend was used by slaves in the USA while trying to find safe houses when they were running on the underground railroad. Perhaps (as I take my theory in another direction) Cortana is really reaching out ofr help here in this signature, maybe she is trying to get help from the MC to free her from the gravemind, it's a possibility, or perhaps she has found her safehouse, in the den and grasp of gravemind.

As to the swirling vortex in the sky, I think the massive structure seen here, in and of itself is important to both the covenant AND master chief. This makes me think that it may not be as much a weapon as people have speculated. In my opinion if it were a massive weapon, the master chief would be finding a way to stop it, not sitting on his cliff and watching. This leads me to possibly think that perhaps the object is a transprtation device. Maybe just maybe this device is directly linked to other spartans. After all I believe there were 5 more including master chief and I believe 2 of those died. Leaving three more spartans in an unknown territory. Perhaps they are "cryogenically frozen" or in some other storage state so that they could be called in a time of most dire need. The covenant themselves seem unsure of what the object may be due to the movements of the covenant crafts. Maybe, just maybe, this object is bringing help to the master chief via more spartans.

  • 06.11.2006 3:31 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Please dont respond until I finish, it would be greatly appreciated.

  • 06.11.2006 3:31 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

After all it is greatly agreed upon that the return of the remaining spartans will most likely be included with the conclusion of this Epic Saga. My only cluing into this lies in the Mjolnir armor. Another thread talked about the possibility of the term Mjolnir being a clue. It is the hammer of Thor who is the god of thunder and lightening, a Norse equivalent to Zeus. In the trailer there is much thunder and lightening which may be the way that the structure is powered. If indeed the structure is of a transportation background it would take a ton of energy to create, the type of energy out put by massive storms. In addition it being placed in the desert could have significance as well. Massive storms of this type would create a massive dust cloud, which could provide the perfect smoke screen for spartans to arrive and be safely camoflaged (sp?) from any enemy fire from above. In addition Norse myth believed that lightning strike were the direct manifestation of Mjolnir on earth. It is also believed in Norse mythology that the hammer itself descended to earth in a meteorite. If I am correct I believe that there was a rebel base that at one time had spartans located on an asteroid.
( Or at least I believe I read so on here ) perhaps the machine is a magnet of sorts, one that will bring this asteroid to earth once again bringing in the spartans.

I know a lot of this is stuff that seems obvious, but there has to be true concrete reasons, the more logical theories out there the better!




In my opinion Bungie has had this planned out for a very long time... and rightfully so. This game is going to be a true masterpiece.

I will continue to tag along posts at the end as time progresses and I think over the infamous Cortana lettters more and more!

Any feedback, positive , or negative is greatly appreciated. Feel free to throw in your two cents worth.

Updated June 10th 2006!

  • 06.11.2006 3:38 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Nice. Looks good to me. Let us see what the irrelevant mortals have to say below me...

  • 06.11.2006 3:40 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I really doubt the structure is going to pull the asteroid the rebels chose as a hideout to Earth since it was destroyed by the Covenant. And yes, there were Spartans on it once for a mission. I honestly think you're looking into this a bit much.

  • 06.11.2006 3:45 PM PDT

Posted by: Chobo 66
So here's some advice. Hookers. You give them your money. they give you a few moments of happiness. Then you go home. The way it was meant to be. Posted by: Blackbird42
Actually I listened to the audio and he said something about the body rewarding social interaction because is was necessary to survive... well so was the appendix, and now all the appendix does is explode and kill you.

Wort wort wort

  • 06.11.2006 3:45 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

what exactl are the cortana letters?

  • 06.11.2006 3:48 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

very well done. these theories dont have any consistancy, (they are unrelated to one another) but they are valid and concrete. this is basicly a collection of every intresting fact i have seen in the past months. great job, thanks for making the thread.

  • 06.11.2006 3:57 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

They were a set of letters sent by an unknown person on bungie compters to a guy. They were basically cryptic messages that made dozens of references to the next big project or set of projects that became Halo. They are written from the point of view of cortana and are extremely interesting. Just google the words Cortana Letters and you can easily find them.

  • 06.11.2006 3:58 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: mmm_ARVO
very well done. these theories dont have any consistancy, (they are unrelated to one another) but they are valid and concrete. this is basicly a collection of every intresting fact i have seen in the past months. great job, thanks for making the thread.


For what its worth, I tried to have consistency, but when ur deciphering the letters which were sents over a period of a few months and contain generally unrelated or what appears to be unrelated tid bits, you kinda have to take it as it is. Im still looking ofr that one piece that may tie it all together and let it exist in harmony.

[Edited on 6/11/2006]

  • 06.11.2006 3:59 PM PDT