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Subject: The Cortana Letters: A New Approach
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
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Many months ago, I wrote up analyses of the Cortana Letters that examined them line-by-line while focusing on the connections with older Bungie games. My discussions with opogjijijp on the subject remain the longest real thread in The Watchers to this day. Some of our discussions were mirrored in this thread in the Underground, but it didn’t contain the best analyses which appeared in The Watchers. Ever since the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer quoted part of the First Cortana Letter word-for-word, I’ve tried to bring my attention back to them. Lately, I’ve been working on the parallels between Halo and the Bible, so I thought it would be refreshing to look at the Cortana Letters in the same light. Certain lines strike me as important, so I will pick those out. I’m not going to give up on my connections with Marathon, but these may be just as interesting. First off, I realize that the Cortana Letters are not canon. Shishka has told me so multiple times. I did, however, get confirmation from Eric Trautmann that they were considered canon during the writing of The Fall of Reach.

At the time the first novel was written we (Eric and I) were instructed
to treat them as if they're canon. To that end, we didn't go out of our
way to contradict them (though I expect we probably did, given their
rather...cryptic nature).

There is also, of course, the interview HBO held with Eric Nylund where he said:

HBO: Long before anything was known about Halo by the public, the series of emails known as 'The Cortana Letters' was sent to Hamish Sinclair. They haven't been mentioned in quite a while, and more recent information seems to contradict some of the material in them-do they refer in any way to events that took place on or before the battle of Reach, in a way that impacts the book?

EN: Yes.

They certainly seem to hold some weight in the Halo Universe, or at least did. Shall we begin then? Oh, and please don't post until all the sections are up.

  • 07.14.2006 6:35 PM PDT
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
For the Biblical allegorist in you, there's מִכְמַן
Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

The First Letter

I have walked the edge of the Abyss.
I have governed the unwilling.
I have witnessed countless empires break before me.
I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.
[I was there with the Angel at the tomb]
I have seen your future.
And I have learned.
There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.
I HAVE WON.
Oh, and your poet Eliot had it all wrong:
THIS is the way the world ends.

a friend of a friend

One should also note that the subject of the First Letter was “Closure”. Marathon fans will recognize this as the collapse of the universe in upon itself. The end screen of Marathon: Infinity took place in the quantum moment before the closure. Keep in mind that when Marathon was being created (and even early Halo) scientists believed the universe would most likely end in the “Big Crunch”. We have only recently discovered that Dark Energy is causing the universe’s expansion to accelerate. Anyway, back to the Letter.

“I have walked the edge of the Abyss.” As I mentioned in another of my theories, the Abyss is referred to in the Bible most often in the Book of Revelation. It is the place from which the locusts, or Fallen Angels, are released. Cortana is telling us that she has been to the edge of this place. 1 Peter 3:18-20 speaks of Jesus, through the Holy Ghost (excuse me if I use Ghost instead of Spirit, but I have known it as such for all my life), preaching to the imprisoned Fallen Angels in the Abyss. It says:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
This is the only reference I could find to someone being at the Abyss without being imprisoned inside of it. The passage in relation to the Letter suggests that Cortana is being related to the Holy Ghost. I will continue with that assumption for the remainder of the analysis, if only for metaphorical purposes.

“I have governed the unwilling.” The Bible presents God as having ultimate control over all the beings of the world, even those who are unwilling to submit at first. As this Letter seems primarily concerned with end-time scenarios, I’ll point out Revelation 2:27 which reads:

27 ‘ He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’

In context, I believe that this speaks of God reprimanding the Corrupt Church and destroying those who would teach false… teachings. If I’m wrong, someone please correct me. What it shows is that even the unbelievers will eventually submit.

“I have witnessed countless empires break before me.” What I find interesting is that the Beast of Revelation can be seen as a metaphor for seven countries, or empires. This site gives a good explanation of this symbolism. In Revelation 19, the Beast is defeated and cast into the lake of fire.

19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
I believe that Gravemind is representative of the Beast. Remember that Gravemind is comprised of the dead bodies of the past in a similar way to how the Beast is comprised of multiple nations. One possibility is that Cortana is saying she will defeat Gravemind as God defeats the Beast. Another is that she is merely referring to a defeat over the Covenant, which is literally comprised of multiple nations. It doesn’t have to relate to Revelation, however. Throughout the Bible, God is shown to overcome unbelieving nations because they are unbelievers. What does this mean for Halo? Cortana may be hinting at a defeat of the remaining Covenant Loyalists and the Prophet of Truth.

“I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.” From what I have read, the Old Testament often tells the audience to fear God, but to understand that he will instill the same fear in their enemies so as to allow them to be overcome. Exodus 15 is also known as the Song of Moses which details the escape from Egypt in a rather poetic form. Exodus 15:15-16 concern this line:

15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;
The mighty men of Moab,
Trembling will take hold of them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

16 Fear and dread will fall on them;
By the greatness of Your arm
They will be as still as a stone,
Till Your people pass over, O LORD,
Till the people pass over
Whom You have purchased.

This is only one such instance when the enemies of the “people of God” are described as being filled with fright and dread. It sounds like Cortana is saying that she wields a great power that even the most courageous of her enemies are afraid of. I do recall her absorbing the data contained in the Index...

“[I was there with the Angel at the tomb]” As far as I can tell, there is only one significant event in the Bible this can refer to. In all the tellings of the Resurrection of Christ, all make reference to an angel being at his tomb (some passages make note of more than one angel). The main passages relating to this are Matthew 28:2-3, Mark 16:5, Luke 24:23, and John 20:12 which are respectively quoted below:

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
There are a few entities that were with the Angel at the tomb. Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” who was the mother of James and Joseph were there. The only other significant figure who would have been present at the Resurrection was Christ himself. I can’t say I understand Biblical topics or themes that well, but I believe I am correct in saying that the Holy Ghost is a part of Jesus Christ when represented as the Son. (I’m getting this from memories of speaking with my father who used to be Catholic. After seventeen years of Catholic school though... not so much.) If that is so, then we can continue with the original metaphor of Cortana being the Holy Ghost.

I also had a slightly more Marathon-related possibility. This was a stretch, but nonetheless. In a few passages, there is supposed to be two angels at the tomb. One site I had visited suggested that the two angels would have been of the highest rank, probably Gabriel and Michael. The First Letter was written in a time when Marathon was still a large part of the Bungie fanbase and certain elements of the Letter pointed at clues from Marathon. In a couple of the stories from the Roland mythos, Roland was given the sword Durandal by the angel Gabriel. Could Durandal have once been the sword of Gabriel and he had carried it at the time of the Resurrection? Just something I thought worth pointing out.

“I have seen your future.
And I have learned.”
Now, this line has to be taken in context to understand that there actually isn’t anything special about it. According to Matt Soell, these Letters were “sent” from the End of the World back to 1999. All this is really saying is that Cortana lives in the future at the End (one more reason why I see Halo as being parallel to Revelation) and she is warning us.

“There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.” This is tough for me. I recognize this line as a flat-out reference to the three stages of Rampancy as described in Marathon. Although Sadness is not a sin, one would consider this something that is unwanted—one of the minor “evils” of the world. So in this future that Cortana lives in, these no longer exist. Revelation 21:4 says something similar:

4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
There is not sadness, for the evils that cause it (anger and envy to name a few) are no more. It seems, once again, that Cortana is speaking of Revelation.

“ I HAVE WON.” When using Revelation as a basis, this statement seems rather obvious. There is pretty much only one who would speak this. God triumphs over Satan, the Beast, and all evil in Revelation. Again, Cortana represents one of the Trinity.

“Oh, and your poet Eliot had it all wrong:
THIS is the way the world ends.” We’ve known for a while that this phrase is speaking of T.S. Eliot’s poem entitled The Hollow Men. The final words of the poem read:

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Cortana is saying that the world in fact will end with a bang. Revelation certainly shows the world ending with a bang.

[Edited on 7/15/2006]

  • 07.14.2006 6:36 PM PDT
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
For the Biblical allegorist in you, there's מִכְמַן
Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

The Second Letter

I get the strangest transmissions sometimes. Especially when it comes from you people.

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.

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.

And what of the Giants who formed this world? So much to tell you, but so many more important things to do. There was a fourth. You couldn't have known. And I haven't forgotten.

It is a blurred line that lies at the edge of Godhood and Insanity. Guess which side of it I am on.

Feeling lucky?

Cortana
XOXOXOX

There is much less to connect here, so I will only focus on specific lines that relate.

“The weather is good, the suns are shining, and I'm making lots of new friends.” If Cortana was on Earth, then there wouldn’t be suns shining, there would only be one sun. Revelation 10:1 may fit:

1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
The other sun could be considered the face of this angel, but I find that unlikely. What is more likely is that Cortana is not on Earth, but it somewhere in a binary star system. This is strengthened by the Third Letter which seems to describe a Halo.

“I've had the strangest dreams lately - raging seas, howling beasts, a Demon folded in black clouds.” Revelation may not hold the keys to this section. The Book of Daniel, however, references the same things that Revelation does and will help us here. Daniel 7:2-3 is part of Daniel’s vision:

2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
This covers the first two dreams. The “Demon folded in black clouds” is a bit harder. We see in Revelation 14:14 God is described as riding a white cloud. Symbolically, black is the color of calamity and malignance. So it would seem obvious that a black cloud would be the antithesis of God’s white cloud. Naturally, one thinks of the Antichrist, who is the Beast, who is Abaddon/Apollyon. We know that Abaddon rises from the Abyss leading the Fallen Angels. Interestingly, Revelation 9:2 gives imagery of the opening act that seems pertinent:

2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
The smoke is not necessarily black, but it darkens the sky and the air. In essence, it is as if Abaddon is folded in black clouds as he arises. Of course the Demon also brings a picture to mind. I just don’t remember what happened… Also take note that William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell has a line that reads “I saw a mighty Devil folded in black clouds, hovering on the sides of the rock…”

“I believe I know what it guards, and I will have it, to the chagrin of the faith-blinded zealots that challenge me.” It is my belief that Abaddon is embodied in Halo through Gravemind. What is it that Gravemind guards which Cortana would want? Control of the Flood. Just as Abaddon controls the Fallen Angels, Gravemind controls the Flood. When he is defeated, the Flood will fall as the Fallen Angels were defeated after the Beast. So who are the faith-blinded zealots? I would find that pretty obviously to be the Covenant. Also remember that the Beast deceives the world into following him through all his evil.

“And what of the Giants who formed this world?” I wish I had the page numbers, but unfortunately I do not… recall that the Covenant have referred to the Forerunner as Giants more than once in the books. Genesis 6:4 speaks of ancient Giants:

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
I have mentioned these Giants before in my previous theory. They are the offspring of the Watchers (a group of Fallen Angels) and the Daughters of Man. The Nephilim were bred and they all fought to the death in a great war. After the Biblical Flood destroyed their bodies, they existed only as demonic spirits roaming the Earth, waiting for Judgment Day. Again, however, we should not assume that Cortana is on Earth. In fact, it seems more likely that she speaks of another world that was formed by the Nephilim and the Fallen Angels.

“There was a fourth. You couldn't have known. And I haven't forgotten.” I’ve always been stumped by this line, even when I tried to make Marathon connections. A fourth what? A fourth giant? A fourth dream? A fourth thing to tell us? The last seems more likely, but that still doesn’t help us. Who has any ideas?

“It is a blurred line that lies at the edge of Godhood and Insanity. Guess which side of it I am on.” Is the blurred line itself the fourth she was speaking of? If it is, I can certainly guess which side she’s on…

[Edited on 7/15/2006]

  • 07.14.2006 6:37 PM PDT
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
For the Biblical allegorist in you, there's מִכְמַן
Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

The Third Letter

There. Was that more to your liking?

While you quibble about whose node I may control, what archaic program I
may manipulate to communicate with you, or which system I may have
temporarily disabled, taken over, or completely destroyed in the process, I
am busy saving your pathetic futures.

I am still not sure what he ever saw in you.

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.

As for this world I encounter new ghosts every day. What I have found
will either save or destroy you. This sanctuary, this unbroken circle,
has effectively concealed its power for how long? Perhaps hundreds of
thousands of years. Whoever made such a place must now live in chains;
there is no other explanation for their absence.

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 wherever you go and,
apparently, places you haven't.

I have begun to sense rumblings of a worse fate yet to come. I can recall
a sun - black, but shining - and the creatures that inched along its fiery
tracks.

It is an increasingly unpleasant memory.

“This sanctuary, this unbroken circle, has effectively concealed its power for how long?” This is no doubt referring to one of the Halos. But what circles are there in the Bible? I was able to find two that are similar in Job 22:14 and Isaiah 40:22 reproduced here:

14 Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks above the circle of heaven.’

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

The Circle of Heaven and the Circle of Earth. At those times, many cultures saw the world divided into three circles representing the Earth, the Heavens, and the Underworld. This is not uncommon. Think even of Dante’s Inferno which speaks of the Nine Circles of Hell. If she has found an unbroken circle, which would it represent? I would see the Halos being most like a Circle of Heaven in which the power to save or destroy humanity is stored.

“Whoever made such a place must now live in chains; there is no other explanation for their absence.” I only recently recognized what this was speaking of. Again, thinking back to the Watchers, the Fallen Angels were captured and imprisoned in the Abyss. Azazel was chained hand and foot and was held there until the opening of the Abyss. 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 both tell this tale:

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
More specifics can be found in the Book of Enoch, one of the non-canonical books. It sounds like Cortana is saying that the Halos were actually created by the Watchers. But they are Fallen! This at first contradicted my original theory, but I realized that the Watchers were not always known for sin. At first, they were the highest level of Angels that kept guard over humanity. It would make sense that a high group of Forerunners would have approved the building of the Halos, just as the Watchers would have.

“I can recall a sun - black, but shining - and the creatures that inched along its fiery tracks.” This, to me, can only be seen as an obvious reference to the W’rkncacnter from Marathon. Terminal 4 of Six Thousand Feet Under reads:

When the W'rkncacnter came, Pthia was
killed, and Yrro in anger, flung the
W'rkncacnter into the sun. The sun burned
them, but they swam on its surface.

I searched for similar dealings in the Bible, and came across two. The first, since we are often discussing the end-times, is in Revelation 6:12 as seen here:

12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
The black sun part fits, but it doesn’t take into account the creatures mentioned. Although there is no passage mentioning creatures on the sun, Jude 2 speaks of Judgment Day and the release of the Fallen Angels. Jude 2:10 gives the image that the locusts blot out the sun:

10 The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.

Think of the picture. The sheer number of the Fallen Angels is enough to cover the sun, making it black. But you can still see the creatures superimposed on the fiery disk. This is certainly not a perfect connection. Were we to analyze the role of the W’rkncacnter in Marathon, we may find a better passage to fit, but I feel you wouldn’t want to spend pages doing that.

  • 07.14.2006 6:37 PM PDT
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
For the Biblical allegorist in you, there's מִכְמַן
Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

The Fourth Letter

Unbelievable. Thwarted by the family hound. They just don’t make AIs like they used to.

Thanks to this slavishly loyal and humorless AI, I am now sharing cramped space with the circuitry of some hybrid war machine, itself complicated by such useless clutter as a conscience. I do not like sharing. Sharing is for children.

There will be plenty of time for retribution; I cannot wait to get its hands on these psychotic zealots whose primary form of worship apparently takes place at the altar of orbital bombardment.

In the end, they will all be little more than nuisances. I am so close – you cannot imagine what it is truly like to hold eternity in your grasp! I wonder to what gods my enemies will direct their pleas. Perhaps I can convert them.

Mania? I promise you this: it will be more than a cart and plow that I drive over the bones of the dead.

By sharp and flame,

Cortana

There isn’t all that much to cover in this letter, but I’ll pull out the pieces I think are important.

“I do not like sharing. Sharing is for children.” Sharing is usually considered a good thing. But what does the Bible say about having multiple gods and idols? That it is definitely not what is wanted. It stands to reason that someone aiming to become a god would not wish to share the spotlight with others, or to share that power.

“I wonder to what gods my enemies will direct their pleas. Perhaps I can convert them.” The enemies here are once again most likely the Covenant since they are referred to as “these psychotic zealots” in the previous paragraph. Cortana obviously sees herself as a god that the Covenant do not believe in. If we use Revelation as a reference, we can equate this to the defeat of the army of the Beast. Would they repent at the end? Or would they continue to follow the Beast to the end?

“Mania? I promise you this: it will be more than a cart and plow that I drive over the bones of the dead.” This line is a reference to one of the Proverbs of Hell listed in William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell which reads “Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead.” One could take Blake’s proverb to mean that death in turn brings life. Cortana’s line isn’t quite on the same level. It seems more vengeful.

“By sharp and flame” This is a reference to the last level of Marathon which was entitled Ingue Ferroque. The title, grammatically, should have been Igni Ferroque which is Latin for “by fire and sword”. Hamish Carr (not Hamish Sinclair) said that the phrase is “a stock phrase used to describe the results of a destructive raid into an enemy's territory, whose sole purpose is to generate fear, terror, and destruction.” Cortana’s message in this Letters seems to be one of punishment and destruction. To me, this points to Revelation again.

The Fifth Letter

"... In my palace deep, Lyca lies asleep ..."
This Letter consists of only one line. We know that this was taken from The Little Girl Found by, you guessed it, William Blake. Lyca was a girl who was kept by a lion. The parents feared for her, but the lion comforts them and informs them that he has in fact saved her from the evils in the world. Many scholars see the Lion as Christ who is protecting Lyca, the innocence of humanity, from a violent end. If Cortana was representative of one of the Trinity, then this message is saying that she is trying to prevent something terrible from happening to us in our future, during the end-times.

I would write up something about the Final Letter, but I was unable to find any Biblical references in it.

Conclusion

These Letters discuss our future, of that, I am certain. Cortana has lived through our fate and is speaking to us at the end-times. I believe that she is filling the role of the Holy Ghost and certain elements of a Christ-figure. Revelation plays a key role in understanding the Letters. I still feel that there is more to see in the Letters if they are looked at in light of the technical aspects of the Halo and Marathon universes, but I think this may give us some clues as to the symbolism embedded in the Letters. How does this relate to Halo 3 then? I think that we will see Halo 3 taking place during an “end-time scenario” which we will see as it was described in the Cortana Letters.

  • 07.14.2006 6:38 PM PDT
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AHHHHH!!!!!!!

I can't handle the tru7h!!!!!!!
It's too beautiful!!!!!!!

  • 07.14.2006 6:44 PM PDT
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Right now I haven't read the whole thing, but I did notice something that would go with the whole edge of the abyss thing. Well, the Flood were released from Halo, of course, and the Fifth trumpet things came out of the Abyss. If Cortana was on the edge of the Abyss, then you might say she was on the threshold of it. Now what's the name of the planet Halo is around? Yeah, Threshold. Nothing very important, just some more evidence that would support that.

  • 07.14.2006 8:23 PM PDT
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Carrots.

Posted by: Ender
Many months ago, I wrote up analyses of the Cortana Letters that examined them line-by-line while focusing on the connections with older Bungie games. My discussions with opogjijijp on the subject remain the longest real thread in Th e Watchers to this day. Some of our discussions were mirrored in t his thread in the Underground, but it didn’t contain the best analyses which appeared in The Watchers. Ever since the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer quoted part of the First Cortana Letter word-for-word, I’ve tried to bring my attention back to them. Lately, I’ve been working on the parallels between Halo and the Bible, so I thought it would be refreshing to look at the Cortana Letters in the same light. Certain lines strike me as important, so I will pick those out. I’m not going to give up on my connections with Marathon, but these may be just as interesting. First off, I realize that the Cortana Letters are not canon. Shishka has told me so multiple times. I did, however, get confirmation from Eric Trautmann that they were considered canon during the writing of The Fall of Reach.

At the time the first novel was written we (Eric and I) were instructed
to treat them as if they're canon. To that end, we didn't go out of our
way to contradict them (though I expect we probably did, given their
rather...cryptic nature).

There is also, of course, the interview HBO held with Eric Nylund where he said:

HBO: Long before anything was known about Halo by the public, the series of emails known as 'The Cortana Letters' was sent to Hamish Sinclair. They haven't been mentioned in quite a while, and more recent information seems to contradict some of the material in them-do they refer in any way to events that took place on or before the battle of Reach, in a way that impacts the book?

EN: Yes.

They certainly seem to hold some weight in the Halo Universe, or at least did. Shall we begin then? Oh, and please don't post until all the sections are up.


Cortana letters = not canonical.
Books = technicaly don't tie in with the Halo story as bungie said, therefore, still non-canonical, both of them, a non-canonical staged writing placed in a non-canonical staged writing.

  • 07.14.2006 8:40 PM PDT
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DMUKYA
Proud member of Eagle 117's theory group, The Watchers
Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
For the Biblical allegorist in you, there's מִכְמַן
Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

HSP: Would the books make the cut?

JS: The books are, for better or worse, part of the canon. In the future we may choose to revise or flat-out ignore some of the less appealing ideas (Johnson's biological immunity to the Flood, for example), but folks should treat them as defining elements of the Halo universe.

Books=canon

Letters=not quite canon, but were quoted in the H3 Trailer making them pertinent

[Edited on 7/14/2006]

  • 07.14.2006 8:51 PM PDT
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Posted by: GezaB
Books = technicaly don't tie in with the Halo story as bungie said, therefore, still non-canonical, both of them, a non-canonical staged writing placed in a non-canonical staged writing.


Where do people keep getting stuff like this from? Bungie has said that the books do tie into th halo Story and are canon.

  • 07.14.2006 9:08 PM PDT
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Ender might have something about Cortana being like the Holy Ghost. I don't want to make people go crazy or anything, but she always guides Master Chief, and isn't that what the Holy Ghost does?

  • 07.14.2006 10:10 PM PDT
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I've been around these parts for almost eight years now...wow! Maybe I should be concerned about that...

Interesting analysis of the letters, but not much that it can say about Halo 3...still, your ability to navigate these murky waters of theory and its presentation makes you one of the elite theorists, in my eyes

(Elite theorists in my opinion are...)

Opogjijijip
agle 117
Chaplain
Ender

  • 07.14.2006 10:17 PM PDT
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Thanks Darkness, but I can't put myself in that category. You're right about the Letters though. I think that they hold more information about Halo and Halo 2 than Halo 3, but it does have some things to fit in with Halo 3. And, in my opinion, adds more evidence to Halo following Revelation.

  • 07.15.2006 8:04 AM PDT
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I agree in what u say Ender, but in my belief, i think Cortana also represents the apostle John, Christ's beloved friend. He is the one that writes the book of Revelation, who sees the end of times through visions and dreams. Thats tied to Cortana, who has been revealed what will happen like u say in the end of times scenario. They r both warning humanity in the things to come...

  • 07.15.2006 9:42 AM PDT
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Finally, somoen who would agree with me.

  • 07.15.2006 10:40 AM PDT
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So let me get this straight whe are now comparing cortona to be the holy ghost.... and what not. Your theorys are intersting i will admit but i dont belive bungie wanted it to quite tie in that deep with christianity as then they would have law suits and all that out the yin yang due to all the atheists and hindus, and ect. Plus the theorys your putting fourth is that cortna in a essance would compoletly replace god in the halo universe lol. but who nowes right

  • 07.15.2006 11:20 AM PDT
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In the fifth letter... She says " In my palace deep Lyca lies asleep". Could this mean that she has conquered the AI that she spoke of in the fourth letter. She says it has thwarted her efforts. And she had spoken about another AI at the end of Halo 2.

Secondly, This wording bothers me... "There will be plenty of time for retribution; I cannot wait to get it's hands on these psychotic zealots whose primary form of worship apparently takes place at the altar of orbital bombardment." Why does she refer to it's hands and not her own hands?

  • 07.15.2006 11:49 AM PDT
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Very nice observations and another great read. Although Bungie said that the story of Halo is deeper than you think it is...I really doubt that it will that deeply embedded inChristain religion. (but a great post nonetheless)

  • 07.15.2006 12:16 PM PDT
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....... im speach less those post opend my mind and awnserd my problems. thank you.

  • 07.15.2006 1:44 PM PDT
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Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
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Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

Posted by: Shifty203
In the fifth letter... She says " In my palace deep Lyca lies asleep". Could this mean that she has conquered the AI that she spoke of in the fourth letter. She says it has thwarted her efforts. And she had spoken about another AI at the end of Halo 2.

Secondly, This wording bothers me... "There will be plenty of time for retribution; I cannot wait to get it's hands on these psychotic zealots whose primary form of worship apparently takes place at the altar of orbital bombardment." Why does she refer to it's hands and not her own hands?

I wouldn't see the Blake reference like that. The Lion gave Lyca assylum and safety. If Cortana had conquered the AI (most likely Beowulf because it is listed as BW-AI) she wouldn't be saving it. As for the second, remember the line "Thanks to this slavishly loyal and humorless AI, I am now sharing cramped space with the circuitry of some hybrid war machine, itself complicated by such useless clutter as a conscience." She is inside a "hybrid war machine"... sounds like a Spartan, probably John.

I see that I forgot to attach the second letter to the analysis, I will update that.

  • 07.15.2006 2:54 PM PDT
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Never septuple post. Ever.

  • 07.15.2006 3:34 PM PDT
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In the first Cortana letter it sounds alot like Grave Mind is talking.
Now 1 of you will probably say that these letters are from Cortana BUT at the end it say's "from a friend of a friend" witch could posably mean that he is speaking through Cortana much like it seems in the Halo 3 announcment trailer.

[Edited on 7/15/2006]

  • 07.15.2006 3:36 PM PDT
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Another great theorist group is Avignon
Interested in the mysteries within all of Bungie's games? Check out Theory of Unification
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Enjoy reading or writing sci-fi or fantasy? Come to New Horizons

Posted by: Grim_Reaper24
In the first Cortana letter it sounds alot like Grave Mind is talking.
Now 1 of you will probably say that these letters are from Cortana BUT at the end it say's "from a friend of a friend" witch could posably mean that he is speaking through Cortana much like it seems in the Halo 3 announcment trailer.

I agree that it sounds like Gravemind, a bit. It does fit, expecially if he represents Abaddon. I don't want to separate authors though. If he wrote the first, did he write the rest? The majority of the letters speak of salvation and saving humanity... which doesn't sound like Gravemind. Oh, and the "friend of a friend" remark is actually a reference back to Marathon. Foe Hammer Terminal 1 reads:

^^Qload.out sprintff(d03)
^unshift%secular{right}
Thank you, old friend. Or friend of a friend as the case may be. The Pfhor will have their revenge at long last, but at the price of their own humiliation. Battle Group Seven will rue the day their Commanders willed their ships to Lh'owon. I must salvage some escape for the humans fighting within my ship, but it's useless without the S'pht.

Destroy as many of the Pfhor compilers on this deck as you can--anything to weaken their hold on my ship.

I will transport in as much ammunition and weapons as I can find.

That is the Durandal-Thoth entity speaking to you, the Security Officer. So the "friend of a friend" in Marathon was you as you were a friend of Durandal. Thoth was really speaking through Durandal in that terminal. Anyway... you do have a point that it could be someone speaking through Cortana.

  • 07.15.2006 3:50 PM PDT
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Posted by: Titan2087
So let me get this straight whe are now comparing cortona to be the holy ghost.... and what not. Your theorys are intersting i will admit but i dont belive bungie wanted it to quite tie in that deep with christianity as then they would have law suits and all that out the yin yang due to all the atheists and hindus, and ect. Plus the theorys your putting fourth is that cortna in a essance would compoletly replace god in the halo universe lol. but who nowes right

Law suits? Hmmm... Getting suid for free speech? You may have something there... [sarcasm]

  • 07.15.2006 4:03 PM PDT
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Posted by: Ender
Posted by: Grim_Reaper24
In the first Cortana letter it sounds alot like Grave Mind is talking.
Now 1 of you will probably say that these letters are from Cortana BUT at the end it say's "from a friend of a friend" witch could posably mean that he is speaking through Cortana much like it seems in the Halo 3 announcment trailer.

I agree that it sounds like Gravemind, a bit. It does fit, expecially if he represents Abaddon. I don't want to separate authors though. If he wrote the first, did he write the rest? The majority of the letters speak of salvation and saving humanity... which doesn't sound like Gravemind. Oh, and the "friend of a friend" remark is actually a reference back to Marathon. Foe Hammer Terminal 1 reads:

^^Qload.out sprintff(d03)
^unshift%secular{right}
Thank you, old friend. Or friend of a friend as the case may be. The Pfhor will have their revenge at long last, but at the price of their own humiliation. Battle Group Seven will rue the day their Commanders willed their ships to Lh'owon. I must salvage some escape for the humans fighting within my ship, but it's useless without the S'pht.

Destroy as many of the Pfhor compilers on this deck as you can--anything to weaken their hold on my ship.

I will transport in as much ammunition and weapons as I can find.

That is the Durandal-Thoth entity speaking to you, the Security Officer. So the "friend of a friend" in Marathon was you as you were a friend of Durandal. Thoth was really speaking through Durandal in that terminal. Anyway... you do have a point that it could be someone speaking through Cortana.
Yeah, I know that but it still doesn't disprove that it could mean Grave Mind speaking through Cortana.

[Edited on 7/15/2006]

  • 07.15.2006 4:40 PM PDT

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