Halo Infiniteis coming soon, and it’s bringing plenty of expectations with it. Fans are hoping that this is a return to form forHalo, both in terms of gameplay and story. What has been seen of the multiplayer already looks promising, resembling a refined and expanded version ofHalo 5’s multiplayer with an intriguing new Grappleshot ability worked in. The Grappleshot also follows series protagonist Master Chief to the campaign, where he must face The Banished: a splinter group from the Covenant Empire, on the open-world map of the Zeta Halo. Even this far off, it really feels likeHalo Infiniteis a revival for the series.
Joining the Spartan soldier on his journey this time area yet-unnamed Pelican pilotand a new AI known as “The Weapon.” Notably absent is the Chief’s old AI partner Cortana, a series staple since her initial appearance inHalo: Combat Evolved. Cortana has had as much of a storied history as the unstoppable space marine himself, serving with him in countless battles even as she fell to rampancy. It seems that Cortana will still be relevant inHalo Infinitein some way, so it’s important to remember just what Cortana’s role has been thus far.
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Cortana in the Bungie Halo Trilogy
Cortana was introduced to players inHalo: Combat Evolved. Her first chronological game appearance was as a fragment that needed to be transported by the player inHalo: Reach, setting up for the events of the original game. Being an especially potent AI that worked directly with her creator Dr. Halsey to gather information, she was placed inside Master Chief’s armor for protection. Bungie designed Cortana as a way todirect players throughHalo’s fairly open levelswhile feeling like an organic element in the world that would not come off as annoying. It evidently succeeded, as Cortana became popular enough that Microsoft named its Windows digital assistant after her.
Master Chief and Cortana grew close over the course of the originalHalotrilogy, with the games making it vague as to whether this was a close sibling relationship or romance. Regardless, it made for a potent low point in the original trilogy when Cortana is captured by the Flood near the end ofHalo 2. That’s one more reason why players were so anxious tosee what came afterHalo 2’s ending. Cortana can only communicate to the Chief through brief visions in the beginning ofHalo 3, but is eventually rescued and stays with Master Chief stranded in deep space after the two have completed their mission of stopping the Covenant and the Flood.
Cortana in the 343 Industries Halo Games
Something that fans noticed around the time ofHalo 3was that Cortana seemed to be falling into rampancy, a state where an AI at the end of its seven-year lifespan has its mind fracture, leading to death. A large part ofHalo 4’s story deals with this reality, eventually leading to Cortana fracturing, barely able to perform her normal functions. However, even at her lowest point,Cortana still sacrifices herself to stop the Didact, a rogue Forerunner. It seemed like the series-defining relationship had ended, and Master Chief needed to move on.
He still might, but not for the reasons anyone expected.Halo 5made the controversial decision to bring Cortana back as a villain, now in (more or less) her right mind but using the power and resources of the borderline mystical Domain to force peace on the galaxy via an AI uprising. She still cares for the Chief, but when he proves reluctant to go along with her plan, she decides to seal him away until a point in time by which she had already won and they would not have to fight.
This fails, but as of current lore, Cortana and her Guardian forces are still at large. AHalo Infinitetrailer statedCortana was captured and terminated offscreenby Master Chief and a new AI known as “The Weapon” who poses as her, but the circumstances around this are mysterious enough to be a source of future revelations and developments. Fans will have to wait and see if Cortana’s long history withHaloand Spartan-117 has truly come to an end.
Halo Infiniteis in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
