Summary
While theHalogames can sometimes be quite comedic with their characters and dialogue, at their core, they provide a very serious and dark story about humanity’s last struggle against a ruthless race of alien warriors. Not only are Master Chief and the rest of the human race fighting againstthe Covenant, but they’re also tasked with holding back the terrifying Flood, and eventually, even taking on the mysterious robotic-like creatures called Forerunners.
Some of the games end on a high note, with Chief and his companions making a positive step to help make the universe a safer place, but this isn’t the case for most titles. Needless to say, theHalogames feature more than a few dark endings that linger in the brain long after they’ve been finished, but which is truly considered to be the most sinister of them all?
After having no contact with Cortana for what feels like a lifetime, Chief eventually gets to meet his old friend one more time at the very end ofHalo Infinite. Sort of. It turns out that Cortana had been stolen bythe brute known as Atrioxin an attempt to try and understand the hidden secrets of the rings. As a way to prevent Atriox from gaining control and power, Cortana decided to destroy herself and part of the Zeta Halo ring, but not before recording a message for Chief.
In the recording, Cortana talks about how she and Chief were the ultimate team and begins reminiscing about all the grand adventures they’ve experienced together, while also apologizing for her recent actions in the story. Once the message switches off, Chief is clearly heartbroken as he stands there contemplating what he’s just seen for a few seconds. It’s a bleak and emotional ending that catches the player off guard, but things only get worse in the Legendary ending where Atriox, who is somehow still alive, activates a door leading him to the Endless, seemingly to prepare for yet another attack.
Near the end ofHalo: Combat Evolved’s story, Chief and Cortana come to learn that the true purpose of the Halo ring is actually to wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy to stop the ongoing rampage ofthe Flood. In an attempt to stop the ring’s activation, Chief watches as entire squadrons of soldiers are turned into flood right before his eyes, until eventually, he and Cortana manage to destabilize the ring, causing a huge explosion in the process.
As the two narrowly manage to escape from being caught up in the blast, there’s an eerie atmosphere in the air as Cortana desperately starts trying to justify why they had to go through with what they did. After a quick scan, she confirms that she and Chief are the only ones left alive, which is certainly a pretty dark note to end on. There’s even a post-credits scene that shows the ring’s valiant defender, Guilty Spark, flying around in space, indicating that what has just occurred is only the beginning of a much bigger battle.
Since it’s aspin-off game,Halo Wars’story doesn’t revolve around Master Chief and Cortana. Instead, the game takes place twenty years before the events of the firstHaloand follows the UNSC Spirit of Fire and its group of commanders as they do all they can to hold back swarms of Covenant forces across a range of different areas and locales. Near the end of the game, it’s revealed that the planet that the UNSC and Covenant are fighting over is secretly a Forerunner installation base, which the Covenant intends to use to obliterate all of humanity. While trying to destroy the installation, Sergeant Forge and his group of Spartans are ambushed by a group of Elites.
Though they do manage to hold back the enemy forces, and even kill the Arbiter in the process, the reactor becomes damaged and requires a manual detonation. Forge, who is more or less the protagonist of the game, volunteers to sacrifice himself to keep the universe safe in an incredibly heart-wrenching scene. Additionally, the whole plan came at the cost of the Spirit of Fire losing its faster-than-light drive, with all the main characters being forced to enter cryosleep as they aimlessly wander around in space, seemingly being completely forgotten about.
ThroughoutHalo 5’s story, Chief is on a desperate mission to try and hunt down Cortana,who seems to have gone rogue. His suspicions turn out to be true when it’s revealed that Cortana, in an attempt to bring about “peace” to the universe, is doing everything she can to annihilate all organic life. Though it’s clear that she still has deep personal feelings for Chief, Cortana seems very determined in her plan, and it presents her as quite a threatening antagonist due to her power and authority.
During the final few moments of the game, chaos ensues as AIs all across the galaxy start pledging their allegiance to Cortana. She then manages to track the Infinity ship, but just as she tries to shut it down, it manages to narrowly avoid her clutches by entering emergency slipspace. It’s a haunting scene that, for a moment, manages to convince the player that all hope has been truly lost, but things get even more distressing when a post-credits scene shows a Forerunner Halo installation hovering around in space, while Cortana hums a sinister tune in the background.
Halo Reachstands out in the series for itsdark and oppressive atmosphere. Unlike otherHalogames where it feels like there’s always at least a glimmer of hope that keeps everyone fighting,Reachis constantly showing the player that the planet they are currently fighting on is doomed to be destroyed due to how overwhelming and relentless the Covenant forces are. Nowhere is this made more apparent than in the final mission where the last remaining survivors of Noble Team must hold out as long as they can to eventually hand over Cortana to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.
Despite successfully managing to achieve their objective, each Noble Team member, except for Jun who narrowly escapes, succumbs to the brutality of the Covenant during this mission, until eventually, it’s only Noble Six left. As players try their best to keep the Covenant at bay while the ship escapes, they will gradually take more and more damage until the enemy manages to get the drop on them.Reach’s ending sequences perfectly encapsulate the dark hopelessness that lingers throughout the entire game, and it’s a scene that noHalofan will ever be able to forget.
