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Subject: Master Chief: Walking Dead
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In keeping with the overriding epic themes of the franchise, with Spartan 117 being the lone savior of humanity, wouldn't the most dramatic story element to seal his heroic nature be his death? I can't think of any ending (or pre-ending) to Halo 3 that would be more powerful. Now, if he somehow transcended physical form as a result of the activation of some Forerunner technology, it'd be icing on the cake.

But could true closure of the Halo story arc be acheived without the finalization of the MC's labor? Personally, I don't think so. Could John eventually grow old? The Arbiter could conceivably survive and go on to be a political force among the remnants of the Covenant, but I don't exactly see how Bungie could manage such a thing with the MC.

The events surrounding his death, obviously, would have to be well-orchestrated. At or near the ending of the campaign the player could reach a point where he is surrounded by enemy forces, or running to reach some objective, and there is absolutely no way to meet it. Health would quickly drain, and the MC's death would trigger a cinematic. Or, the entire sequence could be scripted, with the MC going down in either a blaze of glory or in a desperate attempt to activate some Forerunner tech or even after completing his objective and finally succombing to his injuries. Or, he could just get hit by a Warthog.

It has to be done well, of course, because otherwise it'll be just as laughable as seeing a Spartan get nailed by a sniper round in multiplayer or creamed like in RedVsBlue.

However it goes down (and I don't claim to know), I think there will be some important elements/impressions left with the player.

1.) We never get to see John's face, and after his death, we are left with profound disappointment that we weren't able to know him in this way. It's hard to imagine Bungie allowing players to foster their own mental impressions of what his face would be like, to suddenly dash them in Halo 3. The MC is an almost unknown savior, not Darth Vader waiting to be revealed.

2.) The MC is resurrected in some way. Not in a way to be exactly as he was before, but possibly in a form that transcends the physical. The "Cloistered Expectancy" referred to in the Halo soundtracks might concern the Forerunners. Cloistering, of course, refers to an ancient practice of Japanese samurai emperors (and other medieval rulers) to retire from public rule and sequester themselves within monastery-like structures far away from civilization. Some of the greater ones still exerted influence over public affairs even from this position. I believe that the Forerunners have now cloistered themselves, somehow, and aren't truly all wiped out as has been implied. The MC, in death, could possibly meet the Forerunners, and eventually understand the "big picture," whatever that may be.

3.) The theme of sacrifice will be hammered home to the player, and create a bitter-sweet lense through which to view the MC's actions over the course of the previous games.

I don't know. Just from my own personal examination of the themes prevalent in the Halo story arc, I think the death of Spartan 117 would be a natural conclusion of sorts. Anyway, do you think he should be bumped off, and if so, how?

[Edited on 6/25/2006]

  • 06.25.2006 11:22 AM PDT
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You, sir, are a genius. That was probably one of the most well thought out and described personal feeling on what Halo 3 what might have in store for us. *Applause*

  • 06.25.2006 11:32 AM PDT
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His death would be very predictable, and we all know that bungie allways suprise it's fans, but however, me and a friend, at the time of Halo CE thought that someday, MC will meet his end, Heroic it will be, must be. many are "emotinaly" attatched to the cheif if we say so, many will cry, others might get shocked, some will only be gamers and say, "uhu"

But I belive that he won't die, the one that might die is Johnson, after saving MC:s life, like jumping infront of something deadly, then there is some sad music, after MC kills the shooter, and he goes down and looks if johnson is ok, then johnson will spit some blood, cough and say, something in the stule of "Cheif, I've done my work now, go do yours and do it for humanity" then he coughs some more and dies, then there would be that Halo 2 announcment trailer feeling, Chief is back to kick so much, hard and gruesome ass, so that you can feel it in the end of your hair.

But chief won't die, it's to predictable, something unexpected will happen to him

  • 06.25.2006 11:37 AM PDT
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Your coming to my funeral, i'll pay you a grunts ahead to come

  • 06.25.2006 11:37 AM PDT
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Spartans never die, they are meant to be MIA, maybe he looses touch with humanity, maybe that trailer was made when humanity is gone, chief is the only human left, and he's taking out his revenge..

  • 06.25.2006 11:39 AM PDT
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The death of a Spartan is during a mission, let him activate halo or something thus killing everyone off...that way his life would be spent not wasted as CPO mendez would say

  • 06.25.2006 11:43 AM PDT
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Spartans arent invincible.They are none missing.Thjeir all listed OFFICIALY as MIA but their really dead.ONI just says their missing to boost moral.

  • 06.25.2006 11:48 AM PDT
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[quote]The below stament is false.
The above stament is true.
Either way your mama.Bow chicka bow wow![/quote}

WTF??

You are brilliant(The creator of this thread, that is). Best thought out ending ive heard so far. Good Job.

  • 06.25.2006 11:55 AM PDT
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THERES ALOT OF THREADS OUT THERE ABOUT THIS SAME TOPIC PLEASE STOP SPAMMING PEOPLE

  • 06.25.2006 12:11 PM PDT
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I really like the flashback idea. I have no clue as to Cortana's fate. She really doesn't meet any conventional themes I can think of off hand. But her somehow being made aware of the MC's death (maybe the willing or unwilling instigator of it?) and suddenly zipping through all of her experiences of the Chief, coupled with her newfound Forerunner knowledge/indwelling, represented visually onscreen, would be moving. That's an awesome idea. I hope someone at Bungie thought of that. >.>

  • 06.25.2006 12:27 PM PDT
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Of course, I don't get the impression that the Master Chief is the revenge type. If no one were left for him to defend, would he continue to fight? Also, one big part about the trailer is obviously that none of the Covenant air/spacecraft are firing on the Chief, and he certainly isn't making any attempts at evasion. So either the ships are really, really concerned about the Forerunner artifact, or some sort of ceasefire has been arranged.

You know, if the artifact shown in the trailer were named "the Tomb," it would fit in wonderfully with the events described in the first Cortana letter and alluded to by Cortana's garbled speech.

But I digress. Should, in your opinion, the MC die, and if so, how would be the best way?

  • 06.25.2006 1:25 PM PDT
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i agree with this guy. like the creators idea is like a sad movie and really thought out. but killing of mc would piss a lot of people off. mia could lead to a "halo 4" but thats doubtfull. im thinking that the end will be life, co-existing with covanant, peacefull, and the end scene will be mc taking off his armor, it will come to the head, add suspense and then do one of the out the window shots where you see everything but his head. mc having a face could let a lot of people down... just my opinion tho. everyone elses is well thought out but killing mc is taking it too far. maybe he would find other spartans and for runners? and learn that history is repeating itself? covanent=forrunner//// humans= spartans fates? i dont know im just hoping theres no death for mc. haha


  • 06.25.2006 1:28 PM PDT
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I guess you gotta wonder which would be worse: Having the MC die heroically and ticking a ton of happy-ending-loving gamers off, or have the MC go off to some vague future adventures after the main story arc and leave the player with no sense of life closure.

Maybe middle ground could be obtained with the transcendence thing.

[Edited on 6/25/2006]

  • 06.25.2006 5:39 PM PDT
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Posted by: SpartanCom
In keeping with the overriding epic themes of the franchise, with Spartan 117 being the lone savior of humanity, wouldn't the most dramatic story element to seal his heroic nature be his death? I can't think of any ending (or pre-ending) to Halo 3 that would be more powerful. Now, if he somehow transcended physical form as a result of the activation of some Forerunner technology, it'd be icing on the cake.

But could true closure of the Halo story arc be acheived without the finalization of the MC's labor? Personally, I don't think so. Could John eventually grow old? The Arbiter could conceivably survive and go on to be a political force among the remnants of the Covenant, but I don't exactly see how Bungie could manage such a thing with the MC.

The events surrounding his death, obviously, would have to be well-orchestrated. At or near the ending of the campaign the player could reach a point where he is surrounded by enemy forces, or running to reach some objective, and there is absolutely no way to meet it. Health would quickly drain, and the MC's death would trigger a cinematic. Or, the entire sequence could be scripted, with the MC going down in either a blaze of glory or in a desperate attempt to activate some Forerunner tech or even after completing his objective and finally succombing to his injuries. Or, he could just get hit by a Warthog.

It has to be done well, of course, because otherwise it'll be just as laughable as seeing a Spartan get nailed by a sniper round in multiplayer or creamed like in RedVsBlue.

However it goes down (and I don't claim to know), I think there will be some important elements/impressions left with the player.

1.) We never get to see John's face, and after his death, we are left with profound disappointment that we weren't able to know him in this way. It's hard to imagine Bungie allowing players to foster their own mental impressions of what his face would be like, to suddenly dash them in Halo 3. The MC is an almost unknown savior, not Darth Vader waiting to be revealed.

2.) The MC is resurrected in some way. Not in a way to be exactly as he was before, but possibly in a form that transcends the physical. The "Cloistered Expectancy" referred to in the Halo soundtracks might concern the Forerunners. Cloistering, of course, refers to an ancient practice of Japanese samurai emperors (and other medieval rulers) to retire from public rule and sequester themselves within monastery-like structures far away from civilization. Some of the greater ones still exerted influence over public affairs even from this position. I believe that the Forerunners have now cloistered themselves, somehow, and aren't truly all wiped out as has been implied. The MC, in death, could possibly meet the Forerunners, and eventually understand the "big picture," whatever that may be.

3.) The theme of sacrifice will be hammered home to the player, and create a bitter-sweet lense through which to view the MC's actions over the course of the previous games.

I don't know. Just from my own personal examination of the themes prevalent in the Halo story arc, I think the death of Spartan 117 would be a natural conclusion of sorts. Anyway, do you think he should be bumped off, and if so, how?

That was amazing! and true! i cant think of any way to end the story without the Chief dieing *sob sob sob* in one last blast of heroism. the end cut scene could be like the button mashing dodges in Resident evil 4 (but just a cut scene, no button combos) where the Chief is desperately trying to dodge something or get to something but he gets hit worse and worse each time until he finally dies about 3 inches from his objective. there could be dramatic music the whole time and have someone watching, like a restored cortana maybe

  • 06.25.2006 6:54 PM PDT
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Even if there is a happy ending, I always wondered if people are actually prepared to see his face. I mean most people think of him as a futuristic ass-kicking machine. Then again what SpartanCom said is actually pretty cool.

  • 06.25.2006 7:04 PM PDT
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I've got it!!!

The Prophet of Truth is a Vampire, and the only thing that can kill him is a werewolf. So, seeing as there is inadiquate time to tell the Master Chief what he must do, The Arbiter allows himself to be bitten by a werewolf so he can kill Truth. So, the Arbiter becomes a werewolf, kills the Prophet or Truth, but the Master Chief was fighting with Truth at the same time and he gets killed by The Arbiter accidentally. Then, The Arbiter and 343 Guilty Spark stand around a fire on a cliff as Johnson paddles away on a little raft since the Flood finally took him over and he looks like a freak. Then, the Arbiter looks up and sees the Master Chief's face in the clouds. The Arbiter starts to cry and says "I'm such a frickin -blam!-."

-The End-

[Edited on 6/25/2006]

  • 06.25.2006 7:09 PM PDT
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-.-

  • 06.25.2006 7:11 PM PDT
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I remember on the level "Keyes" when there was that one part when you were supposed to fall through the gaping hole, I kept reverting to saved because I thought I was supposed to make it across. The same might happen if the MC were to die while you were playing. But if he died in a cinematic, then it wouldn't matter as much.

  • 06.25.2006 7:54 PM PDT
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Heh, vampires would be cool.

Although, I don't know for sure which would be better: Chief completing his mission and dying, or falling just short of it, leaving the "torch," if you will, to be passed onto another. If so, who's the other? Or do things actually fall apart, and end up working themselves out in some positive way?

After all, "This is the way the world ends" line does seem to refer to T.S. Eliot's the Hollow Man. And what happens in the poem? The dude kicks the bucket.

  • 06.25.2006 7:59 PM PDT
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halo_player9672, exactly. Scripted or non-scripted, I can't decide which is cooler.

  • 06.25.2006 8:01 PM PDT
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Posted by: SpartanCom
Heh, vampires would be cool.

Although, I don't know for sure which would be better: Chief completing his mission and dying, or falling just short of it, leaving the "torch," if you will, to be passed onto another. If so, who's the other? Or do things actually fall apart, and end up working themselves out in some positive way?

After all, "This is the way the world ends" line does seem to refer to T.S. Eliot's the Hollow Man. And what happens in the poem? The dude kicks the bucket.


What I said was the ending to Van Hellsing but with the Halo people and a g.ay Arbiter.

  • 06.25.2006 8:02 PM PDT

My first kill on xbox live: madman reegz

This cheater needs a life

I dont want him to die

  • 06.25.2006 8:06 PM PDT

War is a game that is played with a smile, if you cant smile, grin, if you cant grin, comeback when you can

i bet he gets grunt owned like he gets careless and cocky and a grunt goes behind and woop! he gets poped in the head with a sticky 'nade...and then the grunt goes and t-bags him....

  • 06.25.2006 8:19 PM PDT

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