As Time Passes...

[Dodger 1,275]

... new information is given to us. With the new update drop, it will most likely satisfy the multiplayer fans (WW:FF, Infection, Grifball, Doubles, etc), along with dropping several new forge objects into the update. One of these, which I found particularly interesting, was this Didact Doll...

Thank you @Andycu5 for the image, as I was too lazy to take my own screenshot.

 

Taking a short trip down memory lane, people were not satisfied with Halo 5's story (Cortana came back making her death null, Jul died immediately making him seem like a demon, Chief randomly goes AWOL with subpar team dynamics on Blue Team, etc). In fact, I would say the majority of Archivers disliked it heavily, whether it was due to false advertising or not living up to its predecessor Halo 4. A lot of things felt really wrong with the entire thing, especially given #HuntTheTruth and the recent advertisments for the game. People stopped speculation.

@Chronarch and Halo Canon did their level by level analysis, which were all really good reads and watches, but I felt like it was more how they felt about the levels instead of thoughts for the future and what it could mean (aside from what the universe is now with Cortana awakening the guardians).

And then we get this little description for the Didact Doll. "Not all visitors of the Domain are strangers."

Not all visitors... well that could mean a lot of things. 

As we know the Domain is like the Forerunner library, being able to recall ancestral memories. It is also may have a mind of its own if we look at a few of the Forerunner Trilogy books, but that's still up in the air (especially given Halo 5's story). We also know that it can supposedly revive rampant AI's, rendering their seven year lifespans completely moot... or can it?

We know several people when regarding this little statement with the doll. The Ur-Didact, as we know, can and has accessed the Domain. The Librarian has. Blue Team have never accessed the Domain up until Halo 5 through Cortana. At this point, we have found our answer clearly. Blue Team are these visitors and strangers, therefore this statement is completely written off, completely worthless and we can continue the...

Cortana also never visited the Domain either.

And yet she is operating it like a pro. She spews out lines that are almost exactly what the Didact said. She knows all of this, and she can speak to Chief in his head... but not Blue Team. Just like the Ur-Didact could speak to Chief... but not Cortana.

It isn't completely stated that Blue Team can't hear Cortana, considering they actually respond to certain things Chief and Cortana says, but it is the way they speak after one of the two speaks that really brings this little theory of mine to pass. Whenever Chief speaks and talks to Cortana, whether it's repeating what she says or responding to her question, Blue Team is there to respond as well. However, when Cortana makes a point, and Chief doesn't say anything, the other members of Blue Team don't argue against her, nor her against them. In fact, they go back towards points that they heard from the Chief and talk about that. That is the near exact behaviour that Chief and Cortana did during Halo 4 when the Didact was talking to Chief and Cortana couldn't hear him.

Of course, Blue Team just could not have spoken, but that would put their characters farther into the "subpar" category of character development.

But that statement still rings, and if Cortana is not a stranger, then that could only mean one thing. That the Didact is using the image of Cortana to further his plans (whatever they are) and that Cortana is not alive.

Now yes, we can easily argue that the Warden's behaviour makes it near impossible for Cortana not to be alive if we only took the Domain levels as the example. Because that level is the only level we see Cortana in her new physical form (and onboard the Infinity, but that can easily be explained away of a projection instead of actually being there, hence her flickering out of existence when Infinity jumps). She doesn't appear anywhere else. Why wouldn't she appear on Genesis to see the Chief? Other AI's did it easily. Pretty sure she had a close relationship with him after Halo 4, if that cutscene was to say anything. Why wouldn't she ever appear to confront Osiris as they inched ever closer to releasing Blue Team? Why would she yell "No!" 

She yelled that as the Chief was released from the Guardian, when Osiris got the cryptum. When the plan to keep Blue Team, one of the most dangerous Spartan Fireteams out of the battle, failed. And the Didact had to deal with another group of Spartans. Anyone else's reaction would be of total frustration as you got your plan foiled by Spartans who are considered to be "less efficient" when compared to their older Spartan-II's. 

As we knew, the Didact had a lot of hubris when it came to Humanity, underestimating them time and time again. How would anyone feel if they completely failed to execute their plans? Sure, Cortana completely forgets about the entire thing when she projects herself onto the Infinity. Wouldn't she have reacted differently since she just lost Chief, and may as well lose him if he fights in the upcoming battles? Instead she goes back to the cold calculation of dealing with Humanity... just like the Didact.

But what about the Warden? His goal was to protect Cortana at all costs! He planted her into the Domain to save her, his goal was to protect her... 

It was what he was told to do. Upload an image of her memories to the Domain, and let the Didact access it and manipulate it to lure the Chief onto Meridian.

When the Hunter knocked Blue Team down from the catwalk, only Chief had the vision of Cortana. None of the other Spartans saw it, but Chief. The reason why was because Chief had the "gift" the Librarian gave him in Halo 4. And the Didact could communicate with him. Not the other three Spartans, because they did not have this gift.

The Warden was told, programmed, whatever, to grab the dying memories of Cortana and upload her into the Domain. Then the Didact would use her memories to lure Blue Team to Genesis, where a Domain infrastructure was located. What a great place that was eh? But why would Cortana try and get Blue Team to join her? This is actually where I cite a different game. KOTOR. In it, Bastilla talks about the different sides of the force, and how the more powerful you became, the more the other side would attempt to steer you in the wrong direction. What better way to win a war, then to turn their own troops against them. That is exactly what Cortana tried to do. That is exactly what the Didact tried to do. What better way to completely crush anyone who stood in your way, then to have a monumental figure telling you to join up with him, for they would make Humanity better. That, or he would kill them. What a great strategy to use, considering who the Chief was. And, with ONI declaring him KIA, this would further drive insurrectionists to want to separate, and he would join the Chief sooner than they would of a rampant Created.

It nearly worked, save for what the Chief stood for. And what is the next best thing when your potential ally denies their cooperation? Get rid of them.

So, based off all of these little tidbits, that have become more clear due to this little description we had from the Didact doll, it does confirm what some people said early on when Halo 5 released. Just not in the same way. Cortana isn't the Didact, her memories are being used. That is what the Domain was, a library of memories. 

It certainly brings a different light towards Halo 5, which then brings this question. Why the Created?

The Created are Humanities best instruments. They focus on everything (Selena, Sloan, Juliana). So when you remove those rampant AI's and have them turn on their creators with promises of immortality, it really damages both morale and efficiency. It also means this. You have an expendable asset. As soon as Humanity is gone, these AI will be too weak and damaged to go up against the Didact, meaning he has completely expendable soldiers that will die with the passage of time. All with promises of immortality.

Anything I might've missed or didn't cite something properly, ya'll can talk about it down below.

[DecepticonCobra 6,688]

An interesting perspective on an idea heard quite often. I just wouldn't say it MUST mean the Didact is controlling Cortana, that's my only caveat. True, Cortana never contacted the Domain, but she no doubt would have heard of it from information gleaned from Requiem, the Librarian, or any other source. I think it's even been argued that the Gravemind introduced Cortana to some form of the Domain in Human Weakness. Still, I'd wager that if any AI could use the Domain in a short period of time, it'd be Cortana. Really, all we'd need is a timetable of when Cortana or her memories entered the Domain and when the Didact contacted the Domain or entered it himself. Those are just some small thoughts. 

[Dodger 1,275]

An interesting perspective on an idea heard quite often. I just wouldn't say it MUST mean the Didact is controlling Cortana, that's my only caveat. True, Cortana never contacted the Domain, but she no doubt would have heard of it from information gleaned from Requiem, the Librarian, or any other source. I think it's even been argued that the Gravemind introduced Cortana to some form of the Domain in Human Weakness. Still, I'd wager that if any AI could use the Domain in a short period of time, it'd be Cortana. Really, all we'd need is a timetable of when Cortana or her memories entered the Domain and when the Didact contacted the Domain or entered it himself. Those are just some small thoughts. 

So what you're saying is it could have been her, for however brief, which means she recieved a wealth of information and uploaded her memories to the Domain in her dying state.

I see what you mean with the Gravemind introducing her to a form of the Domain, but I can't see how the Gravemind could do such a thing. The Domain, as we know it, was closed during 2552. It couldn't access it, so neither could Cortana. And if we go off Chronarchs theory of the Flood being the Anti-Domain, then Cortana would only know about the negative and pure consumption of the Domain, and would attempt to repel it, meaning there would be no memories for the Didact to use.

Though I do agree, we will need a timeline to see events clearly.

[GreenleafCM 3,790]

One main issue with something you brought up is this: we know that Cortana (aside from the vision Chief had in level 2) was in fact using the COMs to talk to Chief and Blue Team for the rest of the game. How? Because just like when any other character speaks through the MJOLNIR's radio, an icon pops up on your HUD whenever she talks no matter what character you're playing as. They can all hear her.

So yeah, Blue Team just doesnt speak because 343i's current writers chose to sideline them in favor of focusing on the "oh so much drama" between Chief and his stalker-mom instead.

Also in regards to Cortana boo-hooing the Chief being rescued from her clutches, I don't see how that is anything other than what it appears. She calls out because she was just denied posession of the object of her obsession. Simple as that really.

Basically the problem here it that we have been straight-up told by Brian Reed the Didact became extraneous to 343i and that (at least as of the publication of the 'Escalation' Library Edition) they have no plans to reintroduce the Didact to the main narrative. Now because of the criticism against 'Halo 5's story this could be the first signs of them backpedaling on that choice - much like the forum post that effectively retconned the end of 'Halo 4' so Cortana could be brought back to begin with - but obviously we can't begin to guess. This could be a linchpin, or ot could be nothing at all.

Or who knows, maybe it will be revealed that while the Didact did end up in the Domain he has/will have nothing to do with "the created" plot.

Furthermore, what do you do with Cortana at this point? Because for me this only makes it easier for 343i to give us an excuse to "save her" and thus use the Didact as a scapegoat for all the horrible things she's done. Which only seems even more insulting after they completly kicked the Didact to the curb to shoehorn her into 'Halo 5' in the first place.

[Dodger 1,275]

I didnt catch the COM thing, but the vision still stands strong 

Actually, there is one thing, completely different point.

ONI

Hunt the Truth talked a lot about them but we never heard much about them in Halo 5, just that they declared Chief KIA. It didnt seem to make any sense, since the Chief didnt do anything and simply broke orders. But breaking orders does not result in someone being declared KIA. Except for maybe this...

Chief blew up Argent Moon, the ONI research station. Their mission was recover it and get it back to ONI in one piece. Recent images show that ONI was researching SOMETHING there. Not only did it mysteriously go dark, but it has been gone for a long time. The images could allude to the Flood, but what if the point of recovering Argent Moon was not to simply recover some research but to contain the Flood, hence the containment protocols that ONI installed on the ship. The same protocols that Blue Team completely bypassed, therefore releasing the Flood.

But that explains Chief's random KIA status. What about the Didact? Well, if the Flood is released, whats the point of maintaining the Cortana persona? If the Didact was indeed using her memories, then 343i can easily out and say it was the Didact all along. It just becomes a manner of Cortana dying, then the Didact simply defying her death for his own gains.

Still kinda ruins his character a little bit, unless his mind is still messed up by the Flood, which would help explain why he would ditch the Cortana persona once the Flood return.

[GreenleafCM 3,790]

Except the bioweapon on the Argent Moon, while //seemingly// being based in Flood-research, is hardly the same thing as actual Flood. Nor did the Chief do anything wrong by blowing the station up, because denying the Covenant assests in the event they cannot be recovered has been standard UNSC procedure since the start of the war. And either way the destruction of the ship whould have completely obliterated all the samples of the bioweapon anyway.

Also since the Chief being declared KIA is //never// brought up in the game, as well as the trailer that introduced the concept being canonically-dubious at best, I wouldn't count that as anything more than just another marketing stunt concocted by 343i to hype the game.

There is still no good (let alone straightforward) way out of the pickle 343i put the narrative in by sidelining the Didact in the first place.

[Dodger 1,275]

Actually, there was a huge window for evacing after containment protocols were forcefully bypassed manually, so if it was Flood it did get free before the explosion. 

But I do agree, there is still way to much wrong with the story for there to be any fix that will satisfy people. Putting in the Didact would only solve the Guardians and Created plot, not the subpar development of Blue Team, Jul's death, the poor pacing, etc.

[Adopter of Knowledge 3,912]

 

Now because of the criticism against 'Halo 5's story this could be the first signs of them backpedaling on that choice - much like the forum post that effectively retconned the end of 'Halo 4' so Cortana could be brought back to begin with - but obviously we can't begin to guess. This could be a linchpin, or ot could be nothing at all.

 

I want this to be case, so, so much... 

[Glen Coco 351]

Interesting theory, I definitely think that there's waaay more to this "Cortana and the Domain" business than what we were given in Halo 5. It just feels like one of those cases where the protagonist (and therefore, the audience) wasn't exactly given the full story in regards to what really happened.

The only thing I kinda disagree with is what you said later on, that the Argent Moon facility possibly contained the Flood. It's been a while since I played Halo 5, but from what I can remember, the intel that was on that mission mentioned that the subjects who were exposed to the disease (presumably the dead Kig-Yar that you see in the facility) naturally recovered from early tests, prompting the researchers to make the disease stronger, or something to that affect. To our knowledge, there is no known species that can just naturally recover from a flood infection. And the Kig-Yar, if those were the subjects being referenced, definitely can't. So it's unlikely that it was the flood that the researchers were dealing with. While it's also possible that they had the flood on the same station as the one where they were testing the bio-weapon, I find this highly unlikely. Knowing the threat that the flood poses, ONI would likely keep the bio-weapon and the flood on separate facilities, in order to deal with them separately. 

But that's just a minor nitpick. It was a nice read.

[GreenleafCM 3,790]

I definitely think that there's waaay more to this "Cortana and the Domain" business than what we were given in Halo 5. It just feels like one of those cases where the protagonist (and therefore, the audience) wasn't exactly given the full story in regards to what really happened.

What makes you say that though? Just because the situation came out of left field doesn’t exactly make it ambiguous. Because aside from the minute details (which I dont think 343i considered due to the hand-waving required to execute her survival in the first place) we have had everything about Cortana's entrance into and subsequent takeover of the Domain all laid out for us in both the game and addional materials.

[Dodger 1,275]

What makes you say that though? Just because the situation came out of left field doesn’t exactly make it ambiguous. Because aside from the minute details (which I dont think 343i considered due to the hand-waving required to execute her survival in the first place) we have had everything about Cortana's entrance into and subsequent takeover of the Domain all laid out for us in both the game and addional materials.

Not... really.

We get the information from the Warden and her. Mantle's Approach jumps, Warden uploads her to the Domain, she therefore plots to take the mantle for herself, and to make sure Blue Team isn't caught in the fray. That's what Halo 5 and all subsequent material told us. How did the pieces magically teleport to Genesis with Cortana, the only place where we know a Domain entry point is?

How did the Warden collect her? How did he know to find her on the ship? Why did he do it in the first place? Why was he on Genesis when Exuberant Witness was the Shield Worlds monitor?

Sure most of her knowledge can be explain as 'Domain told her' but why the sudden shift in personality? Why would she change so violently between 4 and 5?

Why ONLY Blue Team? What about other surviving Spartan-IIs, the other family members of Chief? It doesn't make sense that Cortana just 'forgot' about several other surviving Spartan-IIs. 

Maybe I missed something, as I haven't looked at the intel lately.

Interesting theory, I definitely think that there's waaay more to this "Cortana and the Domain" business than what we were given in Halo 5. It just feels like one of those cases where the protagonist (and therefore, the audience) wasn't exactly given the full story in regards to what really happened.

The only thing I kinda disagree with is what you said later on, that the Argent Moon facility possibly contained the Flood. It's been a while since I played Halo 5, but from what I can remember, the intel that was on that mission mentioned that the subjects who were exposed to the disease (presumably the dead Kig-Yar that you see in the facility) naturally recovered from early tests, prompting the researchers to make the disease stronger, or something to that affect. To our knowledge, there is no known species that can just naturally recover from a flood infection. And the Kig-Yar, if those were the subjects being referenced, definitely can't. So it's unlikely that it was the flood that the researchers were dealing with. While it's also possible that they had the flood on the same station as the one where they were testing the bio-weapon, I find this highly unlikely. Knowing the threat that the flood poses, ONI would likely keep the bio-weapon and the flood on separate facilities, in order to deal with them separately. 

But that's just a minor nitpick. It was a nice read.

Some people found some... thing on that mission which was a massive blob of biomass. It is theroized that ONI was trying to develop their own Flood, which would make sense what you're saying. The Flood was harmless at first. It evolved and became deadly.

[GreenleafCM 3,790]

All of your questions have pretty simple explanations, I think.

Mantle's Approach jumps, Warden uploads her to the Domain, she therefore plots to take the mantle for herself, and to make sure Blue Team isn't caught in the fray. That's what Halo 5 and all subsequent material told us.

Actually it wasn't the Warden that put Cortana in the Domian. We've been told that she found a way into it herself via slipspace when the "core" of the Mantle's Approach went to Genesis. She only encountered the Warden after she got there, and the two formed "a pact" of some kind (this is all in the Unknown Forerunner's audio logs). What exactly went on after that is unclear, but those are the facts we do have. And from there the game basically tells us that Genesis' systems were locked down in such a way that Cortana could not effectively leave the planet until the Chief activated the towers and freed her.

How did the pieces magically teleport to Genesis with Cortana, the only place where we know a Domain entry point is?

Occam's razor: because the plot required it to. No more, no less.

How did the Warden collect her? How did he know to find her on the ship? Why did he do it in the first place? Why was he on Genesis when Exuberant Witness was the Shield Worlds monitor?

See above. The Warden never "collected" Cortana - just found each other through Genesis' network. And though we don't know how or why any Forerunner AI haven't just uploaded themselves into the Domain prior to this if it's apparently as easy as going into slipspace, the likely answer is simply because (again) the plot required this to be the situation. As for the Warden himself, all current evidence points to him having been a different character prior to whatever extensive rewrites borked 'Halo 5's plot - but now he's basically just been turned into Cortana's lackey because 343i needed a "big" enemy for players to fight in the campaign.

Sure most of her knowledge can be explain as 'Domain told her' but why the sudden shift in personality? Why would she change so violently between 4 and 5?

There doesn't need to be a story-based reason for this (though I don't doubt 343i will come up with some lame excuse later just so she can be turned "good" again). Cortana is evil now because the plot requires her to be, in order to make everything "MORE DRAMATIC". Also this can be chalked up to nothing more than bad writing. Why is the Chief a callous bastard in 'Halo 5' all of the sudden as well? Because the writing team listened to the wrong criticisms - i.e. people who complained the Chief had actual character in 'Halo 4'.

Why ONLY Blue Team? What about other surviving Spartan-IIs, the other family members of Chief? It doesn't make sense that Cortana just 'forgot' about several other surviving Spartan-IIs. 

 A very strong case can be made that Cortana didn't want to trap Blue Team (nor planned to), but essentially had no other way to deal with them once they reached her. This idea is as follows: Cortana sends a message to the Chief to lure him to Genesis by way of Meridian, so it is very likely that without them having a connection to the Domain Cortana had no idea the others were even with him until they all arrived on the planet. This seems to be supported by the fact that the game tells us Blue Team experienced no Promethean resistance on Meridian, but all of the sudden they start getting waylaid on Genesis - which is conveniently only after Cortana has verified for herself that the Chief is accompanied by his teammates. We are also told later that Cortana is allowing the Warden and Prometheans to assault them, and it is only when the Chief himself is in explicit danger does Cortana intervene. Which is very indicative of her wanting to eliminate the rest of Blue Team before they make it to the conduit. Combine that with her flippant attitude towards the other Spartan-IIs and her obvious obsession with the Chief, and the reason for her not bothering to capture anyone else becomes pretty clear. She never wanted anyone but the Chief.

[Dodger 1,275]

I will never accept the reason of 'the plot demanded it' simply because there will be and has to be more. We are just not recieving the details... yet.

Anyways, if what you're saying about Blue Team is true, then having the Didact using Cortana's memories is all the more plausible. Chief was the one who defeated him. Lock him away in the Cryptum. Other Spartans? Eliminate them with the Prometheans. It makes the theory more plausible then implausible.

[Tacit Axiom 4,550]

I will never accept the reason of 'the plot demanded it' simply because there will be and has to be more.

Even after 343i's behind the scenes commentaries where they freely admit that they killed Black Team because Brian Reed wanted some characters to kill, the Didact got cut because he got "extraneous" to the story, or that they decided to destroy Requiem because Frankie just happened to walk into the room with the idea?

If those commentaries are anything to go by, and there's no reason to assume they aren't, 343i's writing these days is just as shallow as it looks.

[Dodger 1,275]

Even after 343i's behind the scenes commentaries where they freely admit that they killed Black Team because Brian Reed wanted some characters to kill, the Didact got cut because he got "extraneous" to the story, or that they decided to destroy Requiem because Frankie just happened to walk into the room with the idea?

If those commentaries are anything to go by, and there's no reason to assume they aren't, 343i's writing these days is just as shallow as it looks.

I meant with this current topic. Reviving Cortana is no small matter, especially after Halo 4. 

[GreenleafCM 3,790]

I will never accept the reason of 'the plot demanded it' simply because there will be and has to be more. We are just not recieving the details...yet.

As Tacit Axiom already outlined though - we have proof-positive that these kinds of narrative decisions are in fact being made on the fly and having next to no thought put into them. Also when has a Halo game ever withheld so much information about the main crux of the narrative? So it doesn't make a lot of sense for one to do so now. I know it's tough to accept the awful story we've been dealt, but at this point I think it is best to really consider the possibility of it being as shallow as it appears.

I meant with this current topic. Reviving Cortana is no small matter, especially after Halo 4. 

 Well apparently it is - seeing as how 343i thought it would be okay to retcon the entirety of 'Halo 4's ending in a forum post, and then introduce the concept with one throwaway line of dialogue in 'Halo 5'.

[Adjutant Reflex 779]

Anyways, if what you're saying about Blue Team is true, then having the Didact using Cortana's memories is all the more plausible. Chief was the one who defeated him. Lock him away in the Cryptum. Other Spartans? Eliminate them with the Prometheans. It makes the theory more plausible then implausible.

Why would he need to lock Chief away when he can just kill him? The only reason he hasn't been able to is because the plot won't allow it. But trying to lock him in a Cryptum and for 10,000 years no less, is just confusing. And if he was doing it to use humanity's own weapons against them, why would he eliminate all of the other Spartans that he could surely benefit from? I think its just more sensible to believe that this is the real Cortana. Its pretty obvious that not much thought at all went into this story, so logical fallacies are going to be quite prevalent. Otherwise, nothing else will make sense.

[Dodger 1,275]

 

As Tacit Axiom already outlined though - we have proof-positive that these kinds of story decisions are in fact being made on the fly and having next to no thought put into them. Also when has a Halo game ever withheld so much information about the main crux of the narrative? So it doesn't make a lot of sense for one to do so now. I know it's tough to accept the awful story we've been dealt, but sometimes you just have to accept that a story is indeed as shallow as it appears.

 Well apparently it is - seeing as how 343i thought it would be okay to retcon the entirety of 'Halo 4's ending in a forum post, and then introduce the concept with one throwaway line of dialogue in 'Halo 5'.

They have all withheld their own information that would have been relevant to the plot. Halo 3 comes to mind, what with the random plot holes and illogical storyline after Halo 2.

It should never be a small matter. But an executive decision has never been made on one single forum post. That is more relaying information than actually being like "alright, time to revive Cortana, heres the forum post that will completely change Halo" while everyone shrugs and goes along with it. Company decisions are not made off of a whim, no matter how much it looks like it does. No company before has done that, and any company that does now is too small for us to care, and is already driving themselves into the ground.

Companies make bad calls, it happens all the time. But that doesnt mean they didnt plan stuff out and then just randomly mix things around just for the lulz. They would fall apart faster then anyone could ever imagine. We just dont see that.

[Dodger 1,275]

Why would he need to lock Chief away when he can just kill him? The only reason he hasn't been able to is because the plot won't allow it. But trying to lock him in a Cryptum and for 10,000 years no less, is just confusing. And if he was doing it to use humanity's own weapons against them, why would he eliminate all of the other Spartans that he could surely benefit from? I think its just more sensible to believe that this is the real Cortana. Its pretty obvious that not much thought at all went into this story, so logical fallacies are going to be quite prevalent. Otherwise, nothing else will make sense.

Do we know the effects of what the Cryptum does to a Human?

[Adjutant Reflex 779]

Do we know the effects of what the Cryptum does to a Human?

I don't imagine it'd be any different to the effect it has on a forerunner, especially considering Blue Team walked out of it just fine, with no obvious side effects .

[Chronarch 10,284]

Do we know the effects of what the Cryptum does to a Human?

Considering what Librarian did to John in Halo 4, he would be unaffected. But the rest of Blue Team did not receive that particular 'augmentation' to their evolution, their minds cannot access the Domain - therefore, if Cortana's plan had succeeded and they were imprisoned for 10,000 years, they'd have gone mad.

[Dodger 1,275]

Considering what Librarian did to John in Halo 4, he would be unaffected. But the rest of Blue Team did not receive that particular 'augmentation' to their evolution, their minds cannot access the Domain - therefore, if Cortana's plan had succeeded and they were imprisoned for 10,000 years, they'd have gone mad.

So Cortana would have successfully eliminated Blue Team and John would be the only survivor. Losing his friends to madness might break him even further.

[Adopter of Knowledge 3,912]

So Cortana would have successfully eliminated Blue Team and John would be the only survivor. Losing his friends to madness might break him even further.

I have to say that is just hands-down evil. That is something we can't agree with, not something we don't agree with. 

[Dodger 1,275]

I have to say that is just hands-down evil. That is something we can't agree with, not something we don't agree with. 

What do you mean "can't agree with, not something we dont agree with."

Am I disagreeing with something? Cause I never said "This is totally not evil haha!"

[Chronarch 10,284]

What do you mean "can't agree with, not something we dont agree with."

Am I disagreeing with something? Cause I never said "This is totally not evil haha!"

He's referencing what Reed and Frankie said, that what Cortana is doing is just "something we disagree with", and that she isn't evil.

What she's doing is something that we simply cannot agree with, not something that we don't agree with. There's no two ways about it, it is evil.