- Ender
- |
- Exalted Mythic Member
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]