Hot damn, this is really good! When you mentioned the symbol that seems to be a combination of the symbols for "Guardian" and "Shield World", I was reminded of Bastion, a shield world mentioned in Halo 5 (a game about Guardians) and that recently appeared in the book "Halo: Point of Light". In that book, the Shield World was revealed to be carrying seeds that would lay the foundation for the return of the Precursors. It might be coincidence, but the parallels are rather interesting.
Well, and it doesn't hurt that the rather bluntly named "Bastion" is also at this point could be where at least some of the last Forerunners are chillin' out (in exile) as well
@@RedNomster yeah your delivery is similar to the guy that does fallout lore...i could watch it for hours. Do you have a video on Halo lore in the same manner? Others have it with comedy or skipping parts that i find a bit bothersome
Red Nomster, you could talk to rocketsloth about this, they've been looking at the sandtrap text for a while and could probably help out with further stuff
I linked your video in my videos description as a better hint in what the mystery place in my video was ... But I don't join forums or anything to think into deeply about any thing much but yet again everything in this video you made here is yelling Genesis at me ... I don't think it's anything like a treasure at the end of this mystery rainbow of clues ...
About chapter 2 Very interesting. I'm glad you came to the same conclusion that the third voice is Bornstellar / the Iso-Didact, but I'd been under the impression that the 2nd was Pyre, however Chant-to-Green makes perfect sense too. I'll also add, in case anyone is confused about the voices being the Iso-Didact / Chant, since they left the Galaxy to die a primitive life after reseeding: The story "Promises to Keep" mentions that the reintroduction of life to the galaxy took over a century, and as the Legendary ending is only 77 years after the array firing, Bornstellar and Chant would've still been in the galaxy. I really hope this story gets continued more in the first DLC
Great insight that I probably should've mention in the video! I originally discarded Chant/Iso because of what you mentioned, but with the timeline in this theory it allows it, making them better options for the statues than my first video's choices.
@@alexb5766 I mean, I don't see why they wouldn't keep it secret. Who else would they tell? Most of who they all knew were dead. Who's Bornstellar gonna tell, his son? Who also will have died after living a life of just farming?
@@jackroxable There are only 3 voices, not quite sure what you're hearing? The one that sounds like the didact though is Bornstellar (IsoDidact). It can't be the Ur Didact (from Halo 4) because he was locked in his cryptum at the time. Bornstellar and the didact are basically one in the same though.
The three being the iso didact, chant-to-green and the grand edict makes a lot of sense. The one has halo 4 style designs, like that of didact, the other is very plain akin to designs from the original trilogy which i have always interpreted as being linked to the lifeworkers and the other one is a little more ornate akin to the designs in halo 3 which seem more linked to the ecumene council/juridicals etc. Akin to the important chambers around zeta.
Stuff like this is why I love playing through Halo campaigns, there is always the possibility that there are things hidden in plain sight around you that carry significance or meaning. Thank you for these videos, I can't imagine all of the work that went into all of this.
just got done watching all three parts and i don’t know HOW i didn’t see this sooner. this is some next level thinking and digging that would take me centuries to even come up with. mad props to ya, this is insane work :)
I am very much blown away with how many of the text instances escaped either my memory or straight up my eyes, throughout all the games. Says how much was buried, how much was failed to be implemented in the far past.
Wow this is fascinating. When you showed the text was even on Guardian after all the prior correlations, it blew my mind. Maybe in DLC we will get to see the Criterion in flashbacks or holograms. I also noticed this. At the end of the game, when Chief reappears on the other side of the portal in the desert, the rings he is standing around. There are 7 rings there. One is missing a small section, indicative of Zeta Halo, and one mostly broken except for one piece protruding from the ground, as if representing Alpha Halo being destroyed. It seems like that area is very specific to something, and why would the portal dump them out there in particular? I'm sure everyone has seen it, but I don't get to talk about Halo much so I enjoy these spaces!
It’s likely no coincidence that they reappeared in that location. If the Weapon’s dialogue in the silent auditorium is anything to go by, there is some other, unknown AI entity on the ring. This entity aided them during the final boss fight, and likely created the portal, saving them and placing them at a very specific spot on the ring. It’s possible that such an entity has been observing Master Chief’s actions for some time, ever since he arrived on zeta halo. It may have been present on the ring for a very long time. We know from the book “Point of Light” that zeta halo’s records are incomplete, with at least one major event completely absent. If the endless are so dangerous, and their containment so paramount, it stands to reason that the criterion would dedicate something more capable than a installation monitor to keep them under lock and key. TLDR: offensive bias DLC when?
@@joshuadarrow is it possible the ai is mendicant bias, the one that has been observing john for a while and helped guide the remnants of the ship at the end of halo 3 to the shield world in halo 4?
@@joshuadarrow I agree it is most likely Offensive Bias who opened up that portal. While it could've also been Adjutant Resolution, I think he would've made an appearance if that were the case. And he wouldn't have dropped them on the other side of the ring. Also, desert environment when?
Something else to note is that the location seems to not be on the ring directly because of how the ring looks on the horizon. I found that to be pretty weird
This is one of my favourite aspects of Halo. It isn’t just a legendary FPS, it also offers a variety of decade old mysteries which are intricately designed.
The difference between guardian sentinels and guardian custodes isn't the focus, but I'm aware of it. The points in the video stand regardless of which type of guardian I'm referencing so explaining the difference would've just made the video longer :/ Importantly, the blue guardian symbol above the ancient text is derived from Halo 5's guardian symbol, which is referencing the guardian custode (the ones tied to the mantle) Guardian sentinels don't enforce the mantle, but this theory (which didn't make it into the video) connects that they are used or depicted to *protect* the mantle Thanks Rodrigo!
Small thing probably, but sandtrap is clearly some kind of monument/entombment structure. The Cylix are analogous, as you could view them as a form of entombing a person or species. Sandtrap is in a desert, and the biome Chief is teleported to seems to be a desert as well. Sandtrap is a Brute dig site, but those brutes could easily be Banished brutes. And on, and on, and on. At this point it's like 343 read this part of the iceberg, and was like "hold my fuckin beer".
I believe that sandtrap is a tomb. It says so in the description of the map if I remember correctly. And that something powerful or a horror is buried there.
when this mystery first started, all i wanted to do was take some paper and pencil to do that transfer with a pencil when you put the pencil lead sideways to shade in and see the pattern underneath. the symbols on the text always looked like indentations from something that someone wrote and ripped the page out of leaving what we see today. as you post more the mystery seems to focus down more and more and i am so excited to see what happens next!
God I love the halo franchise and THE community ... I would have never imagined this Easter egg becoming more important ... I too have noticed the text in Sandtrap and was curious but you sir are a genius. I’m going to replay old multiplayer maps to see if I see other artifacts can be seen, very cool
"No being will ever learn the truth of what we have done today." Red Nomster: Challenge accepted Also if this ancient writing is about preserving life it is ironic it shows up on sandtrap. However, it makes a lot of sense that if the text is so important to the forerunners then it could likely indeed be the mantle of responsibility as you talked about. Really cool ideas! Edit: Dang I took a look at my comment at the perfect time. I got the nice number lol, also thanks for reading my comment, normally they just get sucked into the void.
also if you look at Sandtrap, it looks like it might be a memorial to a Lifeworker. The images of cylixes on the walls and the ancient text being present thereto show the worker's dedication to the mantle
Iso-Didact and the Chant-to-Green are definitely the best options. I would guess the final male voice is the representative of the Builders at the time.
If you get close with the grapple, they look very different to Human Cylixes, though they seem similar at a distance. I'm guessing these are Forerunner Cylixes. But why would the Forerunners have Cylixes of themselves? The plan was always to have the Forerunner species die out.
Oh god this is so much for me. Maybe not understanding all of the Halo lore makes this a bit more difficult but when it comes to chant-to-green and pyre, I just get lost into the whole meaning and understanding of this ancient text series. Maybe I’ll have to do more research and come back to these videos. Even if I don’t fully understand them, they were so well done and thought out. Bravo!
Halopedia is the easiest way to understand :) just Google "halopedia chant to green" and you'll have every question answered about her. Just watch out fore rabbit holes 🕳
Tristan Backup ehhh and like most of those it’s not really worth it anymore... Used to buy books because the games were THAT good not because I needed to do hw to understand this or videos like this... the original mystery itself required no outside reading and the big piece of the mystery was in the description to the map itself.. not book 3 of the 343 era or book 6
"buried with these rings" So they're clearly referring to the rings from all over zeta Halo. Cortana 2.0 talks about how they are a confession of sorts and a warning.
Although it makes sense who you tied to the ancient whispers, when I first heard them my mind immediately went to the halo 4 terminal where the the Didact (halo 4), the librarian, and the master builder were having a counsel on whether or not to attack the humans for destroying one of their worlds. The female voice definitely sounds different from the librarians listening to it again but I would argue the voice acting for the line "there is" sounds eerily similar to the Didact from halo 4. And I would say isn't the same voice as the one from the legendary ending since he is almost certainly voiced by Darin De Paul (voice of Escharum, but he also voices Valkorion in Star Wars the Old Republic).
This is fantastic. I just watched James web deployment video. I’m fully onboard as a halo nerd on this archeological discovery. Even if it’s just fantasy- it’s just simply fun to fantasize and imagine. A brilliant series
This makes sense... not sure how many of you tried to run to the towers in Sandtrap, but you got absolutely annihilated by lasers from the towers. Almost like if you were put in there, you were meant to stay in there...
I was just playing this part earlier today and was walking around before I started the battle (playing legendary and it's been rough). I was confused when I heard the voices because it wasn't the normal voices. This is pretty cool finding out all this lore! Good luck and hopefully it will pay off!!
Wow, what a turn around on how you managed to literally put gas on the petal and commit to figuring this out (for now …) . Great stuff man, i will be around to see more content like this from you! Keep it up.
I think you dismissed that "De: 10" translation too quickly. We know that Forerunner translation schemes take the recipient's cultural knowledge into account when translating. As explained with the "Maginot Line" analogy. Forerunner tech also may have, if not actual mind reading (potentially based off of Precursor "neural physics" tech), some form of neural imaging feedback system to determine a translation schema far faster and with fewer samples than otherwise (see: "Ghosts of Onyx".) It wouldn't surprise me if the tablets were designed to translate themselves for the reader and, due to age, incomplete access to the Domain, etc, the translation fails or doesn't process fully. This would explain why the text has varying degrees of similarity to English in addition to the De reference. That said, the De citation notes a SECOND tablet...
I always thought that text was the written interpretation of the mantle of responsibility, because of it’s appearance on the lesser ark. It’s nice to know my theory was correct after watching this series. Great work putting this all together!
I just wanted to say that I am rooting for you. I have been following you since your first video you made about this. You have completely trapped me into wanting to know the truth! These videos are what make me love Halo. You finding this mystery absolutely shocked me for joy. I could only imagine your reaction when you were piecing this together
You got a subscription from me. Excellently laid out and presented, in addition to an incredibly calming voice and the atmospheric music. Thanks for making these!
Was there ever a cryptographer mentioned in the credits of halo 3 ? perhaps if we can identify the person that made these texts we might find similar works and perhaps more info that way?
It makes so much sense though. The mantle was the forerunners entire driving motivation basically. Like the 10 commandments. It's so intimate with forerunner lore that it makes sense to be featured yet again. Also it goes with infinites theme of shame... The mantle of responsibility was meant to be protective, uplifting of species... But the forerunners used the mantel to imprison as well. Its like using nuclear weapons to prevent a war, but living with the everlasting shame of having used nukes. Side note, who else wants the endless to actually be the precursors who turn into the flood? I think it would wrap precursor lore up really nicely into the main campaign
So something that I'm hoping sparks an idea for somebody more well versed in Halo lore than I am (I've been playing religiously since H2, but only started seriously digging into the lore since Infinite), but I noticed that in the audio logs of Infinite the date changes when Cortana does whatever she does that breaks the ring apart. I'm fairly certain that the Silent Auditorium messes with time. Possibly where the forerunners were trying to figure out how to go back in time to before the Precursors were forced to dust themselves in order to prevent the Flood. Considering this and 117 being forced forwards 3 days at the end, I think when Cortana did her thing she threw Atriox back in time to a point where the Endless could be freed and sent him instructions or the key to free them. As for the Courtroom, Prison, and place of Execution comment, I think the Silent Auditorium is literally where they are holding the Endless outside the bounds of time. They judged the endless there, held them there, and intended for them to die there at the end of existence. They shove a lot of "forever" and "eternal" in a game called Infinite, so I don't think I'm too far off here, at least.
Also, at the end of the first of these videos where you panned up the camera in Sandtrap, that symbol perfectly matches the pedestal that Atriox sets the key thing on. Also, also I'm pretty sure the reason the Infinty "disappeared" is because it got thrown through time as well.
It makes me so happy to see halo return to the mystery and lore sparked by the original games. I enjoyed the heck out of infinite and I hope that it continues.
Has anyone researching this project thought to check out Halo 3's Sandbox? The whole map, as well as the forge spawned assets, are plastered with what I believe to be this ancient text. Perhaps Bungie even left clues in the item names? To add fuel to that fire, the guardian towers in that level would even directly laser you if you tried to escape containment (leave the playspace). Being that its map setting is nearly identical to Sandtrap, this would be the place to look for clues prior to 343 claiming the mantle. Edit: I went to go check out Sandbox for myself on the MCC, and discovered that the line of text found at 1:15 is singled out on an asset called, "Fin" in a nearly identical way, however the text is mirrored and upside-down when comparing it to Halo Infinite.
Sandtrap... Hmm... Sand is often associated with time (I.e. the sands of time, hourglasses), and trapped referencing the endless' imprisonment. Just a random thought! I love these videos, thanks for sharing and exploring this mystery!
Seems like the endless were immune to the rings. That’s why they found them after the firing. The reason why they were sealed is because they would have taken over the Galaxy. They came to the forerunners for help after the firing.
just watched the previous video. thinking have you folded the tile at the halfway point? 1 meets 12 upside down? as everything in line 6 mirrors line 7 just upside down. folding it at ur line between 6 and 7 might line everything up and act as fillers for characters that seem to be missing chunks?
I wonder if the relation to the cylex's, which are used as prisons for the endless, and mentioned in the dialogue, that the OG text from Halo 3 is reference Mendicants imprisonment on the Ark.
Sorry but something in the dialog when you playing the CONSERVITORY mission and it got me thinking not sure if other picked up on this but the dialog spoken with all Seven Artifacts all over Zada Halo seem to me that fit with this study of yours. Its just my thoughts or just Gibberish. This mystery stuff is soo illuminating great work!! KEEP IT UP!!
every time i see these glyph i can't help but feel i have seen them or something similar, the epitaph glyph scrolling remind me of the code seen in the matrix films looking at the release dates for the last matrix films produced before halo three was four years prior to halo three release, i may be just reading too much into it but thought i put it in just encase good luck with this honestly
If I remember right some of the Halo 2 and 3 soundtrack featuring the Gravemind speaking used reversed recordings of various excerpts from books, or at least one specific book(looked it up, some from Halo 3 used parts of T.S. Elliot's poem "The Hollow Men") meaning it's possible the Forerunner text could be another excerpt.
Well this is a channel discovery that has set 2022 off to a solid start. Halo 1 came out when I was in first grade. Everything about it is fascinating. This is the deep digging commentary that warms my soul.
I spent hours of my latter teen years staring at the text walls in Epitaph just wondering what it all meant and your videos have harpooned me back to those times. phenomenal work!
I remember shooting the text in Sandtrap with a sentinel beam (as if that would actually do anything) because the oracle would open doors with his beam.
I always thought that the Sandtrap ruins with the writing had to mean something and looked a lot like a tomb made to remember something. Perhaps Sandtrap used to be a human/forerunner world that had to be glassed or "contained" and now thousands of years later has turned to just being sand with the ruins and tablets of gold markings left to tell the story
I’m confident the 3 forerunners that were present for the exile of the Endless were the Didact (voice sounds quite similar from what I can tell), the Warden Eternal, and another, maybe the harbinger? The Weapon did say that it was a “court room, prison, and place of execution”, so the names absolutely fit. Didact would have judged people and taught them their sins, Warden is self-explanatory, and Harbinger brought death and erasure to the convicted 🤷🏻♂️
I'm part way in, and had seen videos up to the Pelican Down mission... As for why so many Cylixes remain occupied, seemingly unseeded back into the galaxy... is a bit of a mystery. Would be good fodder for my fanfic story, too, if I'd not finished it over a week ago.
You know what i find interesting? The Halo 5 Guardians are in the game and cortana uses them. The Halo 3 guardians show up repeatedly but are always accent pieces not the real thing or a story beat. We see the Halo 3 guardians following keyships as they reseed life around the galaxy. We also know Guardian sentinels or atleast the Guardian Custodes house ancient AIs which could have knowledge of the forerunners secrets.
Ignoring the text for a moment, I think the identities of the criterion are a great find by themselves. Judgement, execution, imprisonment, Grand Edict, IsoDidact, Chant to Green
What a ride. Respect to you for the amount of research commitment, and passion you must have to put all this together. Also, respect to 343 for building on this easter egg so many years removed. I Can't wait to see what the future holds.
Great videos. I struggled to keep up with all that (I've no idea who these forerunner characters are) but the De:10 thing blew my mind. That has to be intentional I love this shit. At the end of the day it's all pointless. But it's so interesting at the same time
Reminds me of the books where 117 found some strange text, which reminded him of Aztec, which lead them to a Halo installation, after Cortana "decrypted" it to star signs.
These are the kinds of videos that make me realize just how dumb I actually am. I think you're on to something and those symbols aren't just decoration. Cool video series.
Glad you enjoyed brother, I've got more videos on the way that are similar to this series :) and I'm an imaginary archeologist because I'm too dumb to be an actual archeologist, so don't feel bad 😅
it may just be that the flood is the endless. it kinda makes sense from the ancient whispers and the theme of infinite. maybe it was an experiment into immortality gone wrong? maybe to cure disease? or perhaps as a population control. it may be worthwhile to try and translate those smaller strings of texts. maybe you could find a new symbol or symbol order.
According to the Halo wiki (and I think the Halo Encyclopedia) that "Guardian" hologram in Halo Infinite is Offensive Bias which makes more sense since he was deployed to assist Despondent Pyre
Remember that E3 trailer a few years ago with Poncho Chief finding a Guardian in the desert? That wasn't a Halo 5 trailer, 343 said it was a concept of what was to come in the future. Though the story has been rewritten a fair bit since then, what if that was originally meant to be Halo 6, chief on the run in a galaxy controlled by Cortana & The Created, and it was Cortana's plan to release the Endless, not the Banished, which Chief is trying to stop? Is the Guardian that chief sees is actually protecting the Endless tomb, which maybe back then was planned to be on the Ark?
Current theory: it wouldn't be surprising if there are other prisons for the endless beyond zeta halo, and given the desert biome at the end of halo infinite campaign, we will see sand trap type structures. So halo 3 sand trap was a prison for the endless, protected by guardians and covered up (and literally allowed to be covered by the sands of the desert) by the forerunners to save face and maintain the mantle.
I saw your part 2 video and there’s a part where you are using the zodiac killer decipher program. A word “Ring” comes up which seems too coincidental, so I theorized that this ancient text is saying that the ring contains something but that could be completely wrong. I think the better question to ask is how is the ancient conversation being heard by master chief or us the player? When we hear cortana in the game, it’s data so where is the ancient whispers coming from? The ancient writing?
This is the kind of community-driven mysteries that I’m happy Halo infinite brought back
Thanks man! 🥺 trying to do it justice
You guys almost have the same voice I swear
@@lucaseasthope8266 ahah, I thought this was the continue if the video of another channel
@@RedNomster LNG is for kids your vids are v good
The guy had a friend who was in hiring at an intel agency cyber division.
Encryption and cryptology specialty.
Hot damn, this is really good!
When you mentioned the symbol that seems to be a combination of the symbols for "Guardian" and "Shield World", I was reminded of Bastion, a shield world mentioned in Halo 5 (a game about Guardians) and that recently appeared in the book "Halo: Point of Light". In that book, the Shield World was revealed to be carrying seeds that would lay the foundation for the return of the Precursors. It might be coincidence, but the parallels are rather interesting.
I love me some parallels 🕵
I'll have to check it out, thanks man!
Didn’t ghosts of onyx also have a shield world?
@@CoercedJab As was Requiem.
Holy shit, that would definitely support the idea the "endless" are precursor of some variety
Well, and it doesn't hurt that the rather bluntly named "Bastion" is also at this point could be where at least some of the last Forerunners are chillin' out (in exile) as well
Your method of conveying information grabs the viewer’s attention so well, the quality of the videos is fantastic.
🥺 that's so reassuring! Thank you Kip
@@RedNomster yeah your delivery is similar to the guy that does fallout lore...i could watch it for hours. Do you have a video on Halo lore in the same manner? Others have it with comedy or skipping parts that i find a bit bothersome
@@grim86 I've done 2 video before this one, but there about the same lore mystery rather than the lore of the entirety of Halo 🤔
What a journey it's been so far, and I couldn't have walked it with a better community.
Tremendous Find!
Red Nomster, you could talk to rocketsloth about this, they've been looking at the sandtrap text for a while and could probably help out with further stuff
4:50 👈 There seems to be a button at the bottom...? Shoot it ? Shoot others in a certain order ? I don't know but the button isn't on all tablet's
I linked your video in my videos description as a better hint in what the mystery place in my video was ... But I don't join forums or anything to think into deeply about any thing much but yet again everything in this video you made here is yelling Genesis at me ...
I don't think it's anything like a treasure at the end of this mystery rainbow of clues ...
If its the iso didact wouldnt he have the same voice as in halo 4 or was that the ur didact?
About chapter 2
Very interesting. I'm glad you came to the same conclusion that the third voice is Bornstellar / the Iso-Didact, but I'd been under the impression that the 2nd was Pyre, however Chant-to-Green makes perfect sense too.
I'll also add, in case anyone is confused about the voices being the Iso-Didact / Chant, since they left the Galaxy to die a primitive life after reseeding: The story "Promises to Keep" mentions that the reintroduction of life to the galaxy took over a century, and as the Legendary ending is only 77 years after the array firing, Bornstellar and Chant would've still been in the galaxy.
I really hope this story gets continued more in the first DLC
Great insight that I probably should've mention in the video! I originally discarded Chant/Iso because of what you mentioned, but with the timeline in this theory it allows it, making them better options for the statues than my first video's choices.
The who thing dose not make sense the iso-didactic and chant and the other remaining forrunner where ashamed would they have kept the secrets?
Same really hope this wasn’t scrapped
@@alexb5766 I mean, I don't see why they wouldn't keep it secret. Who else would they tell? Most of who they all knew were dead.
Who's Bornstellar gonna tell, his son? Who also will have died after living a life of just farming?
@@jackroxable There are only 3 voices, not quite sure what you're hearing?
The one that sounds like the didact though is Bornstellar (IsoDidact). It can't be the Ur Didact (from Halo 4) because he was locked in his cryptum at the time. Bornstellar and the didact are basically one in the same though.
I literally just finished part two 5 minutes ago. I wondered when the next part will be out and to my surprise this came out. I am so excited.
You're definitely the main character with that timing xD
I just watched the first 2 videos as well
@@alexgraskow8025 I guess I'm the only NPC 😂
@@RedNomster you’re the narrator. That’s at least one tier above NPC.
9:04 That was delivered so good.
Bornstellar is my favorite character in all of halo, so potentially getting to hear his Canon voice has me giddy as hell.
The three being the iso didact, chant-to-green and the grand edict makes a lot of sense. The one has halo 4 style designs, like that of didact, the other is very plain akin to designs from the original trilogy which i have always interpreted as being linked to the lifeworkers and the other one is a little more ornate akin to the designs in halo 3 which seem more linked to the ecumene council/juridicals etc. Akin to the important chambers around zeta.
Stuff like this is why I love playing through Halo campaigns, there is always the possibility that there are things hidden in plain sight around you that carry significance or meaning. Thank you for these videos, I can't imagine all of the work that went into all of this.
This is some next level stuff... I really do hope this mystery is continued through DLC
just got done watching all three parts and i don’t know HOW i didn’t see this sooner. this is some next level thinking and digging that would take me centuries to even come up with. mad props to ya, this is insane work :)
I am very much blown away with how many of the text instances escaped either my memory or straight up my eyes, throughout all the games. Says how much was buried, how much was failed to be implemented in the far past.
Wow this is fascinating. When you showed the text was even on Guardian after all the prior correlations, it blew my mind. Maybe in DLC we will get to see the Criterion in flashbacks or holograms.
I also noticed this. At the end of the game, when Chief reappears on the other side of the portal in the desert, the rings he is standing around. There are 7 rings there. One is missing a small section, indicative of Zeta Halo, and one mostly broken except for one piece protruding from the ground, as if representing Alpha Halo being destroyed. It seems like that area is very specific to something, and why would the portal dump them out there in particular? I'm sure everyone has seen it, but I don't get to talk about Halo much so I enjoy these spaces!
It’s likely no coincidence that they reappeared in that location. If the Weapon’s dialogue in the silent auditorium is anything to go by, there is some other, unknown AI entity on the ring. This entity aided them during the final boss fight, and likely created the portal, saving them and placing them at a very specific spot on the ring.
It’s possible that such an entity has been observing Master Chief’s actions for some time, ever since he arrived on zeta halo. It may have been present on the ring for a very long time. We know from the book “Point of Light” that zeta halo’s records are incomplete, with at least one major event completely absent. If the endless are so dangerous, and their containment so paramount, it stands to reason that the criterion would dedicate something more capable than a installation monitor to keep them under lock and key.
TLDR: offensive bias DLC when?
@@joshuadarrow is it possible the ai is mendicant bias, the one that has been observing john for a while and helped guide the remnants of the ship at the end of halo 3 to the shield world in halo 4?
@@joshuadarrow I agree it is most likely Offensive Bias who opened up that portal. While it could've also been Adjutant Resolution, I think he would've made an appearance if that were the case. And he wouldn't have dropped them on the other side of the ring.
Also, desert environment when?
Something else to note is that the location seems to not be on the ring directly because of how the ring looks on the horizon. I found that to be pretty weird
@@joshuadarrow i always assumed that to be fragments of cortana guiding john to where he needs to be
This is one of my favourite aspects of Halo. It isn’t just a legendary FPS, it also offers a variety of decade old mysteries which are intricately designed.
This is my new obsession, Love this deep dive content. Great work on the video!
More to come! After some rest. Thanks Noah!
The dedication you and your discord chat have done for this is commendable, it truly is the fans that make the game so loveable to me
Much appreciated Adam 🙏
I loved this series! Just a quick note, those are a type of sentinels called guardians, not actual Guardians like the ones in H5
The difference between guardian sentinels and guardian custodes isn't the focus, but I'm aware of it. The points in the video stand regardless of which type of guardian I'm referencing so explaining the difference would've just made the video longer :/
Importantly, the blue guardian symbol above the ancient text is derived from Halo 5's guardian symbol, which is referencing the guardian custode (the ones tied to the mantle)
Guardian sentinels don't enforce the mantle, but this theory (which didn't make it into the video) connects that they are used or depicted to *protect* the mantle
Thanks Rodrigo!
Small thing probably, but sandtrap is clearly some kind of monument/entombment structure.
The Cylix are analogous, as you could view them as a form of entombing a person or species.
Sandtrap is in a desert, and the biome Chief is teleported to seems to be a desert as well.
Sandtrap is a Brute dig site, but those brutes could easily be Banished brutes.
And on, and on, and on. At this point it's like 343 read this part of the iceberg, and was like "hold my fuckin beer".
I believe that sandtrap is a tomb. It says so in the description of the map if I remember correctly. And that something powerful or a horror is buried there.
when this mystery first started, all i wanted to do was take some paper and pencil to do that transfer with a pencil when you put the pencil lead sideways to shade in and see the pattern underneath. the symbols on the text always looked like indentations from something that someone wrote and ripped the page out of leaving what we see today. as you post more the mystery seems to focus down more and more and i am so excited to see what happens next!
"no being will ever learn the truth about what we have done today."
nomster: "yeah, about that..."
SpongeBob narrator: 97 thousand years later...
God I love the halo franchise and THE community ... I would have never imagined this Easter egg becoming more important ... I too have noticed the text in Sandtrap and was curious but you sir are a genius. I’m going to replay old multiplayer maps to see if I see other artifacts can be seen, very cool
I literally found your channel 5 minutes ago and now not only do I discover this secret but you have multiple videos on it.... win
Enjoy the journey friend :)
@@RedNomster I just finished the campaign and needed more so I certainly am❤
"No being will ever learn the truth of what we have done today."
Red Nomster: Challenge accepted
Also if this ancient writing is about preserving life it is ironic it shows up on sandtrap. However, it makes a lot of sense that if the text is so important to the forerunners then it could likely indeed be the mantle of responsibility as you talked about. Really cool ideas!
Edit: Dang I took a look at my comment at the perfect time. I got the nice number lol, also thanks for reading my comment, normally they just get sucked into the void.
also if you look at Sandtrap, it looks like it might be a memorial to a Lifeworker. The images of cylixes on the walls and the ancient text being present thereto show the worker's dedication to the mantle
@@toastymctoastface7532 that could be the case, but which life worker would it be for
@@edgeless5 i dunno
@@toastymctoastface7532 XD fair enough
@@edgeless5 thats just was i percive sandtrap to be, a tomb or a memorial to a lifeworker
Iso-Didact and the Chant-to-Green are definitely the best options. I would guess the final male voice is the representative of the Builders at the time.
your commitment to this is astonishing this has been a great journey thank you for these vids!
one thing I find very curious is why there are Human cylix's around the Silent Auditorium, they have to be the ancient humans before the devolution
I wouldn't be surprised!
If you get close with the grapple, they look very different to Human Cylixes, though they seem similar at a distance. I'm guessing these are Forerunner Cylixes. But why would the Forerunners have Cylixes of themselves? The plan was always to have the Forerunner species die out.
@@Etha-xi8ei Backup Plan Z
my god, i have goosebumps again.... man I thought I lost my fav game but they finally made a great game...
Oh god this is so much for me. Maybe not understanding all of the Halo lore makes this a bit more difficult but when it comes to chant-to-green and pyre, I just get lost into the whole meaning and understanding of this ancient text series. Maybe I’ll have to do more research and come back to these videos.
Even if I don’t fully understand them, they were so well done and thought out. Bravo!
Halopedia is the easiest way to understand :) just Google "halopedia chant to green" and you'll have every question answered about her. Just watch out fore rabbit holes 🕳
Halo lore is like Star Trek, Stars Wars, 40K & it's only going to get deeper. 😆
Tristan Backup ehhh and like most of those it’s not really worth it anymore...
Used to buy books because the games were THAT good not because I needed to do hw to understand this or videos like this... the original mystery itself required no outside reading and the big piece of the mystery was in the description to the map itself.. not book 3 of the 343 era or book 6
"buried with these rings"
So they're clearly referring to the rings from all over zeta Halo. Cortana 2.0 talks about how they are a confession of sorts and a warning.
Although it makes sense who you tied to the ancient whispers, when I first heard them my mind immediately went to the halo 4 terminal where the the Didact (halo 4), the librarian, and the master builder were having a counsel on whether or not to attack the humans for destroying one of their worlds. The female voice definitely sounds different from the librarians listening to it again but I would argue the voice acting for the line "there is" sounds eerily similar to the Didact from halo 4. And I would say isn't the same voice as the one from the legendary ending since he is almost certainly voiced by Darin De Paul (voice of Escharum, but he also voices Valkorion in Star Wars the Old Republic).
This is fantastic. I just watched James web deployment video. I’m fully onboard as a halo nerd on this archeological discovery. Even if it’s just fantasy- it’s just simply fun to fantasize and imagine. A brilliant series
You are blowing my mind here. This is more exciting than anything on netflix for me.
Imagine if they made campaign DLC where Chief ends up going to the ruins of Sandtrap and it ends up being where the Endless were kept
This makes sense... not sure how many of you tried to run to the towers in Sandtrap, but you got absolutely annihilated by lasers from the towers. Almost like if you were put in there, you were meant to stay in there...
@@Over_Reaction EXACTLY!
I was just playing this part earlier today and was walking around before I started the battle (playing legendary and it's been rough). I was confused when I heard the voices because it wasn't the normal voices. This is pretty cool finding out all this lore! Good luck and hopefully it will pay off!!
Thanks man! And good luck on legendary :D
Wow, what a turn around on how you managed to literally put gas on the petal and commit to figuring this out (for now …) . Great stuff man, i will be around to see more content like this from you! Keep it up.
That means a lot Proski! Excited to get some sleep for a couple days 😴
@@RedNomster gib more need mystery more
I think they are actual epitaphs.... They appear only in places where things are/were buried away.
I think you dismissed that "De: 10" translation too quickly.
We know that Forerunner translation schemes take the recipient's cultural knowledge into account when translating. As explained with the "Maginot Line" analogy.
Forerunner tech also may have, if not actual mind reading (potentially based off of Precursor "neural physics" tech), some form of neural imaging feedback system to determine a translation schema far faster and with fewer samples than otherwise (see: "Ghosts of Onyx".)
It wouldn't surprise me if the tablets were designed to translate themselves for the reader and, due to age, incomplete access to the Domain, etc, the translation fails or doesn't process fully. This would explain why the text has varying degrees of similarity to English in addition to the De reference.
That said, the De citation notes a SECOND tablet...
I always thought that text was the written interpretation of the mantle of responsibility, because of it’s appearance on the lesser ark. It’s nice to know my theory was correct after watching this series. Great work putting this all together!
I just wanted to say that I am rooting for you. I have been following you since your first video you made about this. You have completely trapped me into wanting to know the truth! These videos are what make me love Halo. You finding this mystery absolutely shocked me for joy. I could only imagine your reaction when you were piecing this together
I love the cut to black edits that force you to listen. Keep up the great work dude!
Sometimes less is more! More or less. Thanks M M!
You got a subscription from me. Excellently laid out and presented, in addition to an incredibly calming voice and the atmospheric music. Thanks for making these!
Welcome Brandon :) thanks for the feedback and motivation!
Was there ever a cryptographer mentioned in the credits of halo 3 ? perhaps if we can identify the person that made these texts we might find similar works and perhaps more info that way?
Subscribed, absolutely stellar job my friend. It feels so good to be a Halo fan right now.
Welcome! Halos back for sure
It makes so much sense though. The mantle was the forerunners entire driving motivation basically. Like the 10 commandments. It's so intimate with forerunner lore that it makes sense to be featured yet again. Also it goes with infinites theme of shame... The mantle of responsibility was meant to be protective, uplifting of species... But the forerunners used the mantel to imprison as well. Its like using nuclear weapons to prevent a war, but living with the everlasting shame of having used nukes.
Side note, who else wants the endless to actually be the precursors who turn into the flood? I think it would wrap precursor lore up really nicely into the main campaign
Grand Edict Voice Actor is sooo good. Gives me goosebumps 😳
I think you already nailed it. The text is the mantle of responsibility itself. It's their Ten Commandments.
So something that I'm hoping sparks an idea for somebody more well versed in Halo lore than I am (I've been playing religiously since H2, but only started seriously digging into the lore since Infinite), but I noticed that in the audio logs of Infinite the date changes when Cortana does whatever she does that breaks the ring apart. I'm fairly certain that the Silent Auditorium messes with time. Possibly where the forerunners were trying to figure out how to go back in time to before the Precursors were forced to dust themselves in order to prevent the Flood. Considering this and 117 being forced forwards 3 days at the end, I think when Cortana did her thing she threw Atriox back in time to a point where the Endless could be freed and sent him instructions or the key to free them.
As for the Courtroom, Prison, and place of Execution comment, I think the Silent Auditorium is literally where they are holding the Endless outside the bounds of time. They judged the endless there, held them there, and intended for them to die there at the end of existence. They shove a lot of "forever" and "eternal" in a game called Infinite, so I don't think I'm too far off here, at least.
Also, at the end of the first of these videos where you panned up the camera in Sandtrap, that symbol perfectly matches the pedestal that Atriox sets the key thing on.
Also, also I'm pretty sure the reason the Infinty "disappeared" is because it got thrown through time as well.
It makes me so happy to see halo return to the mystery and lore sparked by the original games. I enjoyed the heck out of infinite and I hope that it continues.
Wow, thank you! I'm binging your Mysteries series right now! Keep it up 💫
Love it. That said, I doubt it is the Mantle itself. Bornstellar makes a remark about contemplating the tenants of the mantle at some point.
I wonder if Installation 00 is gonna dig this deep given his mastery level of lore. 😅😆
Red, I cannot thank you enough for all your hard work. Very entertaining and thought provoking stuff!
Thanks Kit! Videos similar to this coming soon 👀
This is incredible. It keeps getting more real. I love it.
Has anyone researching this project thought to check out Halo 3's Sandbox? The whole map, as well as the forge spawned assets, are plastered with what I believe to be this ancient text. Perhaps Bungie even left clues in the item names?
To add fuel to that fire, the guardian towers in that level would even directly laser you if you tried to escape containment (leave the playspace). Being that its map setting is nearly identical to Sandtrap, this would be the place to look for clues prior to 343 claiming the mantle.
Edit: I went to go check out Sandbox for myself on the MCC, and discovered that the line of text found at 1:15 is singled out on an asset called, "Fin" in a nearly identical way, however the text is mirrored and upside-down when comparing it to Halo Infinite.
Sandtrap... Hmm... Sand is often associated with time (I.e. the sands of time, hourglasses), and trapped referencing the endless' imprisonment. Just a random thought!
I love these videos, thanks for sharing and exploring this mystery!
Interesting thought 🤔
Thanks Axios!
Seems like the endless were immune to the rings. That’s why they found them after the firing. The reason why they were sealed is because they would have taken over the Galaxy. They came to the forerunners for help after the firing.
Bravo! As someone who has played halo since the first game dropped I think what you are doing is fantastic. And clearly on the right path.
Thanks Braeden! I've got more videos relating to the text coming soon :)
This is making me adore halo infinite even more than I already did
Yes more halo mysteries to feed my addiction XD
just watched the previous video. thinking have you folded the tile at the halfway point? 1 meets 12 upside down? as everything in line 6 mirrors line 7 just upside down. folding it at ur line between 6 and 7 might line everything up and act as fillers for characters that seem to be missing chunks?
omg dude I love how there is more content on this mystery from yourself! These videos are great and the mystery wonderful!
Thanks Riff! :D
I wonder if the relation to the cylex's, which are used as prisons for the endless, and mentioned in the dialogue, that the OG text from Halo 3 is reference Mendicants imprisonment on the Ark.
Sorry but something in the dialog when you playing the CONSERVITORY mission and it got me thinking not sure if other picked up on this but the dialog spoken with all Seven Artifacts all over Zada Halo seem to me that fit with this study of yours. Its just my thoughts or just Gibberish. This mystery stuff is soo illuminating great work!! KEEP IT UP!!
these videos just further confirm I have so much more to learn about the actual halo lore
My mouth was just gaping in the last three minutes of this video. Great work!
Thanks Logan! 🥺 awesome to hear, love exploring this story
every time i see these glyph i can't help but feel i have seen them or something similar, the epitaph glyph scrolling remind me of the code seen in the matrix films looking at the release dates for the last matrix films produced before halo three was four years prior to halo three release, i may be just reading too much into it but thought i put it in just encase good luck with this honestly
If I remember right some of the Halo 2 and 3 soundtrack featuring the Gravemind speaking used reversed recordings of various excerpts from books, or at least one specific book(looked it up, some from Halo 3 used parts of T.S. Elliot's poem "The Hollow Men") meaning it's possible the Forerunner text could be another excerpt.
Well this is a channel discovery that has set 2022 off to a solid start.
Halo 1 came out when I was in first grade. Everything about it is fascinating. This is the deep digging commentary that warms my soul.
Great to have you on my side... Thanos 😬
@@RedNomster don’t worry, I gave the gauntlet to mom for Christmas. Can’t snap anymore 😞
I spent hours of my latter teen years staring at the text walls in Epitaph just wondering what it all meant and your videos have harpooned me back to those times. phenomenal work!
Welcome back Alex :)
“…imprisoned in his Poke-balll…” 😂😂
Wow. The end of this was crazy. I cannot wait to see where this goes.
I remember shooting the text in Sandtrap with a sentinel beam (as if that would actually do anything) because the oracle would open doors with his beam.
I wonder if the Ark will be revisited, perhaps uncover the secrets underneath Sandtrap.
Ok, now I REALLY want more of the Infinite campaign!
I always thought that the Sandtrap ruins with the writing had to mean something and looked a lot like a tomb made to remember something. Perhaps Sandtrap used to be a human/forerunner world that had to be glassed or "contained" and now thousands of years later has turned to just being sand with the ruins and tablets of gold markings left to tell the story
The video we have been waiting for. Now... We watch.
I’m confident the 3 forerunners that were present for the exile of the Endless were the Didact (voice sounds quite similar from what I can tell), the Warden Eternal, and another, maybe the harbinger? The Weapon did say that it was a “court room, prison, and place of execution”, so the names absolutely fit. Didact would have judged people and taught them their sins, Warden is self-explanatory, and Harbinger brought death and erasure to the convicted 🤷🏻♂️
I'm about to play some Halo Infinite Campaign in a few minutes...
*AGAIN!*
Good luck, Spartan
I'm part way in, and had seen videos up to the Pelican Down mission...
As for why so many Cylixes remain occupied, seemingly unseeded back into the galaxy... is a bit of a mystery.
Would be good fodder for my fanfic story, too, if I'd not finished it over a week ago.
I can't believe that all the clues are placed intentionally, its just too crazy
You know what i find interesting? The Halo 5 Guardians are in the game and cortana uses them. The Halo 3 guardians show up repeatedly but are always accent pieces not the real thing or a story beat. We see the Halo 3 guardians following keyships as they reseed life around the galaxy. We also know Guardian sentinels or atleast the Guardian Custodes house ancient AIs which could have knowledge of the forerunners secrets.
huh didnt know ancient whispers audio plays when near those txt. i must have not been paying attention with all the shooting going on.
You know it gud when da bible show up
You're basically Daniel Jackson from SG-1. I fucking love it.
That's such a cool compliment that hits close to home 😁
Ignoring the text for a moment, I think the identities of the criterion are a great find by themselves. Judgement, execution, imprisonment, Grand Edict, IsoDidact, Chant to Green
What a ride. Respect to you for the amount of research commitment, and passion you must have to put all this together. Also, respect to 343 for building on this easter egg so many years removed. I Can't wait to see what the future holds.
Great videos. I struggled to keep up with all that (I've no idea who these forerunner characters are) but the De:10 thing blew my mind. That has to be intentional
I love this shit. At the end of the day it's all pointless. But it's so interesting at the same time
Reminds me of the books where 117 found some strange text, which reminded him of Aztec, which lead them to a Halo installation, after Cortana "decrypted" it to star signs.
Which book
Knowing that halo 3 is shutting down its servers it’s the end of a long mystery that bears fruit
These are the kinds of videos that make me realize just how dumb I actually am. I think you're on to something and those symbols aren't just decoration. Cool video series.
Glad you enjoyed brother, I've got more videos on the way that are similar to this series :) and I'm an imaginary archeologist because I'm too dumb to be an actual archeologist, so don't feel bad 😅
it may just be that the flood is the endless. it kinda makes sense from the ancient whispers and the theme of infinite.
maybe it was an experiment into immortality gone wrong? maybe to cure disease? or perhaps as a population control.
it may be worthwhile to try and translate those smaller strings of texts. maybe you could find a new symbol or symbol order.
Has anyone noticed the similar symbols running through the weapon just like how code runs through Cortana? Maybe something worth looking in too.
I have, it appears to be different symbols 😔
just discovered your channel and I'm hooked. 💙💙
According to the Halo wiki (and I think the Halo Encyclopedia) that "Guardian" hologram in Halo Infinite is Offensive Bias which makes more sense since he was deployed to assist Despondent Pyre
Remember that E3 trailer a few years ago with Poncho Chief finding a Guardian in the desert? That wasn't a Halo 5 trailer, 343 said it was a concept of what was to come in the future.
Though the story has been rewritten a fair bit since then, what if that was originally meant to be Halo 6, chief on the run in a galaxy controlled by Cortana & The Created, and it was Cortana's plan to release the Endless, not the Banished, which Chief is trying to stop?
Is the Guardian that chief sees is actually protecting the Endless tomb, which maybe back then was planned to be on the Ark?
These videos are great and addictive.
Interesting how there's guns in front of the warriors statue.
Nice touch.
Current theory: it wouldn't be surprising if there are other prisons for the endless beyond zeta halo, and given the desert biome at the end of halo infinite campaign, we will see sand trap type structures. So halo 3 sand trap was a prison for the endless, protected by guardians and covered up (and literally allowed to be covered by the sands of the desert) by the forerunners to save face and maintain the mantle.
I saw your part 2 video and there’s a part where you are using the zodiac killer decipher program. A word “Ring” comes up which seems too coincidental, so I theorized that this ancient text is saying that the ring contains something but that could be completely wrong. I think the better question to ask is how is the ancient conversation being heard by master chief or us the player? When we hear cortana in the game, it’s data so where is the ancient whispers coming from? The ancient writing?
I was thinking the iso didact too. Makes sense and it sounds like the ur didact’s voice actor