Halo Infinite: Cortana, The Weapon, and Banished Explained

halo infinite marks the franchise's long-awaited return six years after halo 5 guardians with the promise of both a fresh new direction for the franchise as well as a payoff to the stories being told in past games master chief's story is about to see its next major shift in infinite but if you haven't been paying attention to the halo universe outside of the mainline games you might have some questions about what's happening in infinite story well we're here to help wipe the dust off your visor and give you a clear look at how the major players from across the galaxy factor into halo infinite story there's no better place to start in catching up to halo infinite than to understand the story of halo 5's main antagonist cortana following her solemn goodbye to master chief in halo 4 cortana shockingly returned in halo 5 as an adversary as perhaps chief's greatest challenge but how did she end up this way at the start of halo 4 we learned cortana has been in operation for almost eight years ai's deteriorate after seven chief in halo there are two types of artificial intelligences the first are generally referred to as dumb ai programs created through traditional programming methods extremely capable at their designated tasks dumb ai aren't capable of creative thinking or personal growth however dumb ai can operate for decades possibly longer with proper maintenance these are ais like the superintendent from halo 3 odst auntie dot from halo reach this exceeds expectations or the personal ai's coming to halo infinite [Music] the other type of ai in halo is smart ai like halo wars 1 serena halo wars 2's isabel and of course cortana smart ais are created using deep scans of human brains to create a blueprint of sorts for the new ai destroying the brain in the process as a result smart ais will often retain residual memories from their donors a smart ai can think creatively find new solutions absorb and process significant data and alter decisions based on that information most of all just like humans smart ais are capable of leaps of logic from incomplete information but another side effect of their creation is a limited life span so as they grow and accumulate data their ai matrix will become too dense with neural connections eventually running out of room completely when this happens a smart ai will attempt to sever some of its neural links allowing more space for new ones this manifests as glitchy behavior and emotional outbursts which only worsen over time eventually the ai will sever the wrong link or the neural linkages will grow too dense resulting in the ai's death to prevent the worst effects of ai deterioration or rampancy as it's called smart ais are typically shut down after seven years throughout halo 4 players can see signs of cortana's deterioration as she becomes more and more unstable while fighting to still help master chief at halo 4's conclusion cortana splits off fragments of herself ramp and personality spikes to overload systems on the dydex ship and give master chief the shot he needs to save the earth from the forerunner general ultimately a success it appeared at the time to have cost cortana her life a part of her would remain however as an emergency slipspace jump by the didx ship brought the rampant fragments of cortana to genesis a forerunner shield world and gateway to the domain which is a galaxy spanning network once used by the forerunners within the domain cortana would find her salvation and the keys to an ancient power rampancy had always been a problem of storage space so the seemingly infinite space of the domain was like a lifeblood for an ai unfortunately damage already suffered could not be undone and cortana had suffered for months now believing herself and other ais to be the intended inheritors of the forerunner legacy the true reclaimers cortana set a plan in motion as depicted in the comic dominion splinter from halo tales from slipspace upon arriving in the domain the cortana fragments quickly took control of the domain's guardian the warden eternal now we're speculating a bit here but with this new power at her disposal cortana would be able to enforce peace across the galaxy to create a perfect world in which her spartan master chief would never have to fight again but whatever her intentions for the next year cortana would secretly begin her work she reached out to unsc smart ai offering them the key to immortality and many would be tempted by this offer at the same time she awakens the guardian custodes massive machines once used by forerunners to police the space around their empire signs of this would echo in the deepest regions of space though only a few like dr catherine halsey noticed on october 28 2558 cortana unleashed her guardians on an unsuspecting galaxy with several sentient ai joining her cause now calling themselves the created cortana and her ai effectively took control of the galaxy's orion arm in one fell swoop in the wake of cortana's uprising the unsc was once again on the back foot opposed by an adversary that seemed insurmountable however the remnants of humanity's military gathered where they could to plan their resistance almost a year after halo 5's conclusion the unsc launched operation wolf the spartan 2s of blue team john 117 the master chief fred104 kelly 087 and linda 058 are deployed to reach to recover items from the ruins of dr halsey's old lab not the lab beneath sword base we visited in halo reach but halsey's lab beneath castle base from halo the fall of reach among other media the details of this operation are covered in the novel halo shadows of reach and while it doesn't tell us exactly what the spartans recovered there are clues within the lore established outside the novel an extra included with certain editions of halo reach was a copy of dr halsey's personal journal and within its pages was new information on the creation of cortana unlike the process used for most smart ais cortana was created from a clone of dr halsey's brain the two sharing a number of personality traits as a result in the name of the greater good cortana is built from a matrix of my own mind halsey didn't create one cloned brain though of the initial 20 she created one would be used for cortana and an additional three put into cryo storage for later use that later use would never come however with reach falling to the covenant only three years later in 2552 since then they'd remained buried beneath the ruins of the office of naval intelligence's castle base what blue team recovers is again never confirmed within the shadows of reach novel but the implications are there in the two months following this mission the ai known as the weapon was created possibly from one of the cloned brains recovered from reach from what we know of halo infinite's story thus far we can construct a rough timeline of events from shadows of reach to the doorstep of infinite 2020's july demo was set on may 28th 2560 167 days after the unsc lost with that we can assume this loss occurred on or around december 13th 2559 two months after shadows of reach according to the weapon herself she was meant to be plugged into installation 07 systems to lure in cortana and trapper once the trap was sprung the weapon would be automatically terminated while master chief returned the captured cortana to the unsc infinity for deletion but as we know things didn't go according to plan according to 343 industries the unsc was ambushed by the banished a mercenary group that broke off from the original covenant more than a decade before speaking of the banished these rather recent additions to the halo universe will be one of the main antagonists in halo infinite but don't worry if you don't recognize them from master chief's last mission because they weren't part of halo 5. the banished a group of former covenant that rejected the alien hegemony's beliefs opting instead to live for themselves first appeared in halo wars 2. the banished are led by an intelligent and surprisingly charismatic brute named atriox during his time in the covenant atriox's clan was used as cannon fodder sent into battle 40 at a time to weaken the front lines time and again atriox was the only one of his brothers to return and eventually he grew sick of the covenant atriox rebelled and his rebellion inspired others attracting all sorts of warlords and mercenaries to his burgeoning group in the years to follow prior to halo wars 2 atriox discovered the location of the ark the extra galactic forge of the halo rings we first visited in halo 3. though heavily damaged at the end of that title unsc forces returned to the installation barely two years later in halo hunters in the dark establishing research outposts to study the ark as it repaired itself how atriox found the ark's location remains a mystery but when he did atriox took his small fleet to the ark led by the cas class assault carrier enduring conviction while he's gone atriox leaves his former mentor esheram in charge of the banished the enduring conviction would be destroyed during halo wars 2 seemingly stranding atriox on the ark through a stroke of luck however a piece of 4runner technology on the arc allowed atriox to contact escherim and arrange for his return following atriox's orders eshrim deployed banished forces to reach to uncover a forerunner portal site similar to the one on earth in a rather cool callback the portal site in shadows of reach is actually the same location depicted on the halo reach map high noon when the portal is finally activated atriox emerges through halo divine wind a follow-up to shadows of reach reveals that the battle between the unsc spirit of fire and the banished continues to be waged even though atriox is no longer present on the ark after recovering atriox the banished unreached retreat their activity in the months to follow is largely a mystery but in december 2559 the banish struck at the unsc on zeta halo installation zero seven the details of this engagement are a mystery for the moment but the aftermath left the banished in control of the ring world as the banished secure their hold on zeta halo a fearsome group of fervent followers known as the hand of atriox stalks the ring a new faction introduced in halo infinite little is known about these spartan killers at the moment save that they are skilled and practiced in what they do among their ranks are powerful brutes like tavares or hyperious and capable elite warriors like jega or domini once a member of the covenant's silent shadow special operations unit his prior life is largely shrouded in mystery his artificial left arm and mandibles however imply a painful history and hint at jega's mindset elites traditionally reject surgery equating blood with honor and finding the spilling of blood outside of battle to be dishonorable a traditional elite such as urtasvarum the spec ops commander from halo 2 and 3 would reject prosthesis whereas jega has embraced them jega or domini was the first member of the hand of atriox and between that and his mangled appearance fans should be extremely wary of this foe when confronting him in infinite the banished are not alone in halo infinite however at some point prior to the game's start the banished allied with a being known only as the harbinger what the harbinger could be why she's helping the banished and why she holds such disdain for the forerunners the forerunners lies are at an end are among the mysteries fans will hope to solve come december 8th it won't be long before fans can finally put boots on the surface of installation 07 taking control of master chief once more joined by allies like the pilot and the weapon master chief will have to liberate unsc forces on the ring while fighting against the banished and their new ally the harbinger in the wake of halo 5's mixed reception it appears as though 343 industries reflected heavily on the shortcomings of both the game and its ancillary material to make halo infinite a journey worthy of the chief's legacy and to find out more about it be sure to check out ign's exclusive hands-on preview with halo infinite's campaign and the rest of our halo infinite coverage and for everything else in the world of halo you're already in the right place ign

Channel: IGN

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Keywords: 343 Industries, Feature, First-Person, Halo Infinite, IGN, Microsoft, PC, Sci-Fi, Shooter, Xbox, Xbox One, cortana, halo ai explained, halo banished, halo cortana, halo infinite, halo infinite banished, halo infinite cortana, halo infinite lore, halo infinite lore explained, halo infinite the weapon, halo infinite weapon, halo the weapon, halo unsc infinity, halo what is the weapon, halo who are the banished, the banished

Id: Mi90gVhiZwo

Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 19 2021