Halo 5: Guardiansreleased nearly five years ago in October 2015, and it was the last mainline entry in theHalofranchise. This fall,Halo Infiniteis set to release and continue the story that was left on a cliffhanger inHalo 5that also left many of the series' biggest characters in limbo. Developer 343 Industries has confirmed that despite the non-numbered name,Halo Infiniteis indeedHalo 6in the sense that it continues the story fromHalo 5.
So, after almost five years from the last major entry in Master Chief’s story and ahead of the release ofHalo Infinite, now is a good time to look back at where exactly the characters and story were left inHalo 5.
RELATED:The Evolution Of Master Chief From Halo: Combat Evolved To Halo: Infinite
Master Chief
InHalo 5: Guardians, Master Chief chases down Cortana, his AI companion whom he has bonded with over the course of the first four games and who appeared to die inHalo 4. But after hearing her voice during an early mission inHalo 5, Chief goes AWOL with his Blue Team to find Cortana. By the end of the game, Chief pleads with Cortana to abandon her plans of galactic domination, but his words fall on deaf ears. Cortana traps John-117 and his fellow Spartan II’s in stasis with the intent to keep them frozen in time for thousands of years for her to carry out her plans, but they are rescued by Locke and his Fireteam Osiris. At the conclusion of the game, Master Chief is reunited with not only Fireteam Osiris but also the Arbiter and Catherine Halsey, the scientist who created both Cortana and the Spartan program that made him.
Cortana
Despite appearing to die inHalo 4,Cortana returns inHalo 5. After defeating the Didact inHalo 4, Cortana survived upon the wreckage of the Didact’s ship and ended up on a Forerunner planet, which houses the Domain, a galactic library of knowledge. Cortana, who was experiencing rampancy inHalo 4, a state of AI in theHalouniverse that makes them unstable and dangerous, was apparently cured when she was connected to the Domain. From there, she came up with the ultimate goal of becoming the Reclaimer, a position according to the Forerunners, who could possess the Mantle of responsibility for all life in the galaxy.
Cortana uses the Guardians to attack the galaxy, disabling technology across systems with EMPs and recruiting other AIs to her cause, whom she calls the Created. She believes the Created, her fellow AI, are the Reclaimer species, not humans. And her plan is to be the dictator of the galaxy in order to bring it to peace.At the conclusion ofHalo 5, Cortana and her Guardians are sweeping through the galaxy taking it over.
Halo
While there is no Halo installation inHalo 5: Guardians, the Legendary ending of the game lets players know that there is a Halo ring still out there. This very well could bethe location ofHalo Infinite, placing the action of the upcoming game on this Halo.
UNSCInfinity
The UNSCInfinityis a ship that is captained by Thomas Lasky and, with the events at the end ofHalo 5, appears to be one of the sole bastions of the UNSC and the forces that can combat Cortana. AtHalo 5’s conclusion, Cortana locates theInfinity, but theInfinitymakes a number of random slipspace jumps to escape from Cortana. It is likely that the UNSCInfinityand its forces will play a major role inthe events ofHalo Infinite.
Not a lot of information is yet known aboutHalo Infinite, but Xbox should be revealing much more about the game at E3 this June, which is planned to have a big showing forHalo Infinite. The initial trailer for the game was more tech demo than anything else and the last trailer released at E3 2019 appears to be more of a journey of getting toHalo Infiniterather than something descriptive of what players will be experiencing in the game itself.
Halo Infinitelaunches this holiday season for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
MORE:Halo Infinite Toys Confirm Classic Armor and New Villains
