- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
lol, I wrote this a day or two ago and decided I'd share. I'm not really used to writing down theories (for the most part I just don't bother) so if my thoughts are a little out there and overly-thought, don't worry--I know. Anyway, here it is......
The New Theme of Halo 3: Duality
Heh. In this theory, I have compiled a bunch of my own ideas and a bunch of ideas I have stumbled upon online in the past to identify a huge theme and possibly hints to the plot of Halo 3. There’ll be spoilers in here, but most of you probably already read the books and completed the games, so don’t be too worried lol.
Duality is a noun that means “the quality or character of being twofold; dichotomy.” Dichotomy is the division into two usually contradictory parts or opinions: “the dichotomy of the one and the many.” So how does this play into the theme of Halo 3? Duality is present all throughout the Halo 3 trailer.
So where is this duality, actually? I can name three specific instances, and one dichotomy present throughout the trailer. Gods and demons; shield and sword; past and future; flesh and nerve. Further, the last one helps identify two more examples from Halo 2.
The first instance is indicated when Cortana, or whoever is controlling her if it is not herself, states, “I have defied gods and demons.” As we all probably know, gods are the polar opposite of demons. Gods exist to subdue demons and create harmony. Demons exist to subdue gods, creating chaos. Enter the Covenant. The Covenant worship the Forerunners. The Forerunners are the gods of the one accepted Covenant “religion.” For some reason, unbeknownst to us at this time, the Covenant believe the destruction of the human race is the “will of the gods.” The war between humanity and the Covenant exists only for the alien coalition to appease to their gods. One most common belief held by players of Halo is that the humans are indeed the Forerunners. This would be irony itself because if the Covenant fights the Forerunners, they are fighting gods. If they fight humanity, they are fighting demons. In this, duality is present. Humans are both gods and demons, and can be therefore divided into both of those contradictory parts.
The second instance is indicated when Cortana states, “I am your shield, I am your sword.” The shield and the sword are opposites once again. A shield is a defense that serves to destroy an offense. A sword is an offense that serves to destroy a defense. Cortana is stating that she is both. What in the Halo universe applies to both protection and attack? In the words of 343 Guilty Spark, “Why the Ark, of course.” The Ark, as far as the humans know, is a weapon that will destroy all sentient life sufficient enough in mass to sustain the flood. So lets take this one from the human perspective. Say Cortana actually did fire the Ark. If Cortana fired the Ark, she would in turn destroy the Flood. They would not be able to feed, and they would perish, so in a sense she is defending humanity from the Flood, acting as its shield. However, at the same time, if the Ark destroyed humanity, she is halting their defense. You cannot defend against that which you do not fight. Cortana would be and wouldn’t be a shield at the same time. On the offensive side, firing the Ark would, as stated, destroy the Flood. This is an offensive tactic. Acting in offense is acting as a sword. Still, you cannot attack if you are dead, so she isn’t a sword. She is and she isn’t a sword.
There is a couple of ways this duality occurs. The state of being a sword versus the state of not being a sword. The state of being a shield versus the state of not being a shield. The state of being a shield and a sword. The state of being neither the shield not sword. Arranging in such a way, there are four instances of duality behind this quote.
Cortana’s final quote that I will use here is, “I know you—your past, your future.” Now assume neither the Covenant nor humanity was correct. Assume you never saw the Great Journey or extermination. Assume the Ark sent those who fired it back in time, back before the outbreak of the flood, or even before the first firing of the Halo rings. We already know the Forerunners had time traveling ability to some extent. The artifact retrieved and subsequently destroyed in Halo: First Strike showed obvious time warping abilities, and if a 100,000 year old artifact can change time, who says it cannot do that to a much larger extent. This time travel could have fooled Cortana. If the present was erased, life as we know it would end. Humanity would exist, but not into the “future” in the conventional sense of the word. There are a few supporting elements to this theory. For one, the Monitor states that John hesitates to do what he has already done. Now, the Monitor is a machine, and he can live through a time warp because he will never die. Therefore, if the “last time the Halos were fired” was John, he might not remember the last time he fired the Halo. Last time, he didn’t have a resource to stop him from doing it, and he fired it. He and the rest of the galaxy were sent back in time, and he does not remember the “present” because in his “past” it has not happened yet. The monitor, though, is programmed, metal and wire, so does remember. After all, Guilty Spark was designed to monitor Installation 04, even through activation if needed. So if the Forerunner used their calligraphy some time before Halo was fired (which the calligraphy supposedly resembles Aztec ‘human’ writing) he would recognize the glyphs, explaining his familiarity towards them. That last bit was one more mystery solved by this idea. If the Forerunners as the Covenant know them existed before Halo fired, but firing of Halo caused a time loop, where the galaxy is perpetually stuck going back into the same time, it is plausible that the humans wouldn’t remember all about their Forerunner history.
Okay, I’m breaking this into another paragraph just to keep it a bit easier to read. Anyway, back on track, after the Arbiter asks 343 Guilty Spark to tell Tartarus what the rings do, he says, “All sentient life within three galactic radii............ will die.” As I remember it, he does have a noticeable pause within that sentence. What if he was trying to find the right words? He obviously thinks he is much smarter than everyone around him, so maybe he thought they wouldn’t understand anything so perplex as this, and simplified it by telling them they will die. My last bit of evidence for this quote lies in another quote from Cortana… “This is how the world ends.” That line, as has been noted before, is an allusion to the T.S. Eliot poem “The Hollow Men,” where he writes, “"This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper." I’d say going back in time, not advancing further in time, is more of a whimper than a bang. The bang could be what the humans all expected—sudden and unavoidable death. A whimper would simply be the present ceasing to exist (by going back to the past.) This all leads back to the duality. Humanity’s past is also its future. What lies ahead for it is to go back to its past. Two opposites once again represent the same thing.
My final point is a bit shorter than my last one. The representation of the Chief is, in itself, a duality. Master Chief, according to Gravemind, is “machine and nerve, and has its mind concluded.” While this is kind of irrelevant to the trailer, but relevant to the theme of duality, Gravemind goes on to describe the Arbiter as, “but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded.” First, machine and nerve. Master Chief survives by his natural ability as a soldier and the technology of his MJOLNIR armor. However, as anyone who has seen the Matrix can tell you, machine and nerve (or “man,” as the word would better fit) definitely are not the same. One is intuitive and living, while the other is calculative, literal, and nonliving. However, in the Chief, they work in unison for one purpose. This purpose combines opposites and makes them the same. Now, the Arbiter is flesh and faith. These two words—flesh and faith—can also be substituted with secular and religious. Those who are secular believe in only Earthly, scientifically plausible things. Those who are religious believe in a greater being, and believe in creation rather than evolution. They believe after this mortal life they will transcend into an eternal spiritual life. Where secular people don’t believe, religious people do. They are opposites. However, the Arbiter until that point had been using his flesh, his mortal being, to help achieve something higher, a Great Journey, a religious belief. His flesh served his faith. The two opposites once again work together. Finally, the Master Chief and the Arbiter are “concluded” and “deluded.” However, once the truth of…. Truth’s plan is revealed to the Arbiter, the two are on much the same path. Both seek to bring down the Covenant. However, once until that point had been concluded (he knew the truth and was firm in his path to bring it to justice) and the other had been deluded (he had been deceived and lied to, and almost served a path he did not understand). Concluded and deluded, but together as one. Three dualities in one (two, if Halo 2 is included) being. Machine and nerve, flesh and faith, concluded and deluded.
That about wraps up the bulk of my theory. In my opinion, the parallel structure of different elements can help understand what may happen in the conclusion of the Halo series. Am I absolutely sure I am correct? Of course not. Is there a decent probability I am wrong? Yeah. Is there just as great a chance I am correct? Sure…….
But is there an even greater chance I just had too much coffee and my brain is working too hard when I should be asleep? Definitely. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed my theory. I’m off.