Halo 3 - the complete story

And will Cortana survive?

Bungie and AI's

Bungie haven't exactly got the best reputation when it comes to in-game AI. The Marathon trilogy was positively plagued with countless crazed compu-twats either trying to control the universe themselves, wipe out mankind, or just simply going full-on crazy. Halo is no exception. We've seen evidence of Cortana's early steps towards rampancy before, in both Halo and Halo 2, and here, her life is coming to an end.

You'll notice in the latest trailer, during the shots of the Arbiter and Master Chief wielding turrets through the UNSC base, that the crates in the background all say Traxus on them. This is important, as back in the Marathon days, Traxus was a notoriously troublesome AI that - although never actually seen - was well known for going rampant. Is this anything more than a nod to an earlier Bungie game, or something far more sinister?

Where is she?

We last saw Cortana on the Covenant City of High Charity. As the Arbiter and Miranda Keyes were attempting to save the day, disengaging Delta Halo by removing the Index. Cortana remained on High Charity in a healthy position to detonate the ship and destroy the Covenant city. However... she didn't. Instead, she stays with Gravemind, leaving Master Chief to sort out the rest with twin SMGs.

After the credits of Halo 2, though, we see a small cinematic sequence showing Cortana conversing with Gravemind, who is presumed to be the controlling intelligence behind the Flood. When he says he has questions, she says, "All right, shoot," as if to cooperate with his evil biddings. And that's the last we saw of her.

So it's no coincidence that we're headed back to High Charity for Halo 3. We do after all, have a girl, a race, and a universe left to save. Ah, well... two out of three ain't so bad.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Looking at the code for Halo 3, there's one segment in particular that we simply can't ignore. Level Eight, the penultimate level set upon High Charity, will reward the player with the Orpheus Achievement. Why is this important? That depends on how well you know your Greek mythology. Greek legend tells of Orpheus, a poet and musician, who followed his dead wife, Eurydice, to the underworld. By charming Hades, he obtained permission to lead her away, provided he did not look back at her until they returned to earth. However, at the last moment he couldn't help himself and looked, and in that moment she was lost to him forever.

So, with that load of old guff in mind, this is what we reckon is the significance: Orpheus is Master Chief. His wife Eurydice, Cortana. Hades is the Gravemind. And the underworld is the Flood-infected environment. Unfortunately for Cortana, it all pieces together a little too well, meaning that despite our best efforts to keep those hologramatic baps a' bouncing, we reckon Master Chief will fail on his mission back to rescue her and Cortana will perish.