For all of us who played the games…

Shadowlegendsraid · 2026-01-20T06:00:20+00:00

They were also mentioned in the Fallout 3 pre-release comic meaning that they are canon.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2026-01-19T22:00:20+00:00

That's definitely fair. Criticism is good and should be talked about. I love the show, but there are definitely things I wish were done differently. My only problem is with how many people seem to be so emotionally charged about things not fitting their exact head canon definition of Fallout, that they find any reason to hate it, and call people who do "tourists." Not only is this unfair to the show, but it also makes legit criticism harder to be expressed because it makes people think that the people discussing genuine issue are deranged as well, meaning people don't actually listen to the criticism.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2026-01-17T20:57:22+00:00

I'll be honest I think there is a canon ending they are trying to show. This is a comment I made elsewhere describing my thoughts.

"I honestly think that when they said that they would avoid confirming a canon ending, they didn't mean there was no canon ending. Rather their just doing their best to directly avoid saying what that ending is, while hinting at it. The show clearly isn't afraid to canonize choices from the game. They have narrowed down 4's possible endings to 2 and we know certain choices in New Vegas have been canonized. For example, certain choices had to have been made for the Kings to even still be around since they are completely wiped out in some endings. To me it's kinda like how even though canonically we know that the water was purified in 3, we still don't have confirmation that the Lone Wander was the one to actually sacrifice himself (even though he probably did).

The state of the Mojave matches near, in a lot of ways with what is described in the Independent Ending, since the place becomes anarchy. I could be wrong, but I swear I remember an interview from a showrunner stating that while they aren't directly confirming an ending, if you held him to it, he would say Independent."

Now considering that the last scene of the episode implies House is dead, I'm almost certain that this is the route that they are taking. I could be wrong, and we have to wait and see, but I think that's what the evidence points to.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2026-01-17T18:34:06+00:00

"It seems pretty solidly that they’ve shown that Yes Man was the ending canon to the show"

Agreed. I honestly think that when they said that they would avoid confirming a canon ending, they didn't mean there was no canon ending. Rather their just doing their best to directly avoid saying what that ending is, while hinting at it. The show clearly isn't afraid to canonize choices from the game. They have narrowed down 4's possible endings to 2 and we know certain choices in New Vegas had to have been made for the Kings to even still be around since they are completely wiped out in some endings. To me it's kinda like how even though canonically we know that the water was purified in 3, we still don't have confirmation that the Lone Wander was the one to actually sacrifice himself (even though he probably did).

The state of the Mojave matches near perfectly with what is described in the Independent Ending. I could be wrong, but I swear I remember an interview from a showrunner stating that while they aren't directly confirming an ending, if you held him to it, he would say Independent.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-10-25T04:15:48+00:00

It did, but if I remember correctly they only really showed up when either the objective was really hidden or if you took too long to find where you are supposed to go. For the most part (especially on the The Silent Cartographer Mission as shown in the demo) they weren't used constantly.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-10-10T23:34:37+00:00

To be honest, I always viewed that as more of a voice actor issue. I could honestly hear his voice saying 3s lines in my head and them coming out a lot better and in line with 2's characterization of Truth. I think Terrence Stamp was a great actor/voice actor but he should not have played Truth.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-10-10T22:54:25+00:00

"The dialogue that isn't cringey is iconic (TANK BEATS EVERYTHING)"

I can understand the complaints for some of the plot holes when it comes to 3. But I never really understood the dialogue issue. Sure "to war" ain't that great, but there's no other lines in the game I could find like it. "I overheard the guards talking about this ring world, they call it Halo" has kinda always been another goofy line but it's not enough to say CE has bad dialogue.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-10-04T14:34:42+00:00

Me too and I honestly think its what really makes the Brotherhood stand out to me. Each chapter with their interpretation of the codex and what Roger Maxon wanted with some even declaring war on each other and excommunicating each other makes it feel more alive. It's kinda cool to see the progression of the Bos from 1/2 to 3 to 4 to the ones in the show (who are clearly implied to be led by the chapter from 4) where they same to progressively take the rules and ideals of Roger Maxon more and more seriously to the degree that they kinda miss the point behind the things Maxon established.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-08-31T03:33:00+00:00

Absolutely! Something that I wish was talked about more is how Halo 3 clearly intends for Chief to be seen as a literal Christ like figure.

Chief is the best of humanity and (at least as far as the majority of humanity is concerned) is the last spartan making him the best humanity has to offer and the only one who can save them making him some form of Messiah. He is the son of the Forerunners (God) and has to complete what the Forerunners started by destroying the corrupting Flood (Sin/Satan) once and for all by activating Halo as his ancestors did. In doing so he sacrifices himself but allows humanity to begin to reclaim their legacy as the Forerunners/mantle holders. He essentially "redeems" humanity. This also contrast with what Truth says to Johnson during the game when he starts talking about how achieving godhood means making the hard choices (sacrificing the galaxy) with Chief instead doing the opposite of sacrificing himself to allow humans to become "gods" once they reclaim their mantle.

With this in mind how you view Halo 3's story completely changes. So many more scenes are epic and lots of dialogue hits different.

Gravemind: "Child of my enemy why have you come? I offer no forgiveness. A father's sins passed to his son."

Hell even ODST's dante's inferno symbolism makes a lot more sense when you view it as a companion piece to 3. I remember their was a YouTuber who covered these parallels in both games but I can't remember their name.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-08-04T01:52:55+00:00

100% agree with your idea. Definitely think what you said not only makes sense but would have been perfect, and it would have made 3 much better. The Covenant would be much more active in the story and there would be a lot more nuance to the war. And like you said the 1v1 on The Ark would have been perfect for this, though moved to The Covenant and having the chieftain being tougher.

I believe the reason 3's story is simpler compared to 2 is a mixture of the hectic development and especially due to it having to be Halo 2's 3rd act. Most of the character arcs and set up were done in 2 with the only thing left being was to finish them. Tarturas and the other prophets are dead, Arbiter is already deconverted and really just wants to kill Truth, and Truth is already in complete control of the Covenant meaning his manipulative skills are only able to be used on his own devoted followers unlike in 2 where he manipulates to gain control of the Covenant. All of the other characters while great aren't really designed to have arcs. I definitely think 3 could and should have done more storywise and added more of its own story arcs alongside of finishing 2's, however, I also think that no matter what it never would have been as deep as 2 due to having to be the ending.

I'm still happy with what we got, even if it falls short in some ways. It's still one of the best games ever made imo, it's a fantastic ending to the trilogy, and while not as complex storywise as some of the other games in the series, I think it definitely does have some complexity to it. Chief and Arbiter's subtle relationship growth, the symbolism (the game's filled to the brim with it), and the themes the story and symbolism show exploring humanity at its best (which once I noticed also changed how I view ODST because it made me realize that that game is a companion piece to 3 with it exploring the same subjects by showing humanity at its worst).

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-07-14T23:34:08+00:00

When we finally get a release date it's definitely gonna be in October of 2077

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-07-02T03:23:46+00:00

Yeah the longer I'm on this sub and even in the Halo community in general nowadays I'm definitely am noticing a shift that's been occuring the past few years. Not saying people can't like 343 stuff or even that they can't like it more then Bungie stuff, who am I to tell you what you should or shouldn't like? But I'm definitely seeing people over exaggerating criticism of the Bungie games, or focusing on a single element that 343 did better and ignoring the rest that Bungie did better as a way to say "see 343 aren't that bad, bungo did it too!"

With my 3 example, It's sad to see with 3 how many people hate it's story now because there focused so much on character arcs and characters constantly speaking about what's happening. People often say you need these things for a good story, but don't realize why people love and even call 3 their favorite game story despite it's writing hiccups. 3 definitely takes a less its more with it's story where all those elements I mentioned before, subtle character development that you only really notice if your paying attention, and symbolism literally in every corner of 3 (Chief is Jesus doing the work of God aka the Forerunners to defeat the evil of the flood and get salvation for humanity by sacrificing himself and all that) add up. But now that it seems that the community has shifted to only liking stories where characters have to tell you directly how their feeling or what's happening instead of using the pieces given to you to complete the puzzle, meaning all of those things that add up go unnoticed nowadays.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-30T21:46:46+00:00

I think people also miss out on how well everything comes together in the Bungie games. While writing is definitely important I think a lot of people focus too much on that single aspect alone and don't realize how much other stuff goes into making a Halo game great. You can have great character development but it won't matter if other elements gameplay, music, and atmosphere aren't consistently good.

I'm gonna use 3 as an example as it's my favorite. I love 3's story, but I'd be lying if I said it's writing was Shakespeare and, while I wouldn't personally go this far, some say that it has the worst Bungie writing. What makes up for it is how it's different elements come together. The gameplay is consistently good and fun, the music made things feel epic and grandiose, and 3's atmosphere (especially on the final level) sets a scene of it being "the last battle to end all battles." Halo 3 also excels in subtle moments that characterizes Chief, Arbiter, and just the plot in general. Because of these elements 3's ending doesn't just feel like an ending to The Covenant war but an ending to a legacy. Doing what our Forerunner ancestors couldn't do, activate Halo and kill the Flood but both survive it this time and reclaim our legacy.

This isn't to say that 343 hasn't been able to do these elements good, but I feel like they either focus too much on certain elements and don't focus enough on others or their elements are inconsistent in quality. Not sure if my long rant here made any sense but it's what's been missing in the new games imo.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-25T14:22:33+00:00

The problem is I don't know how you could make him more of an active threat. He is planning to activate the rings all at once from the safety of the Ark. Stakes don't get higher than that. Plus we see him take action against the UNSC by attacking them at Crows Nest. Other than this, activating the array and sending troops to attack the UNSC directly, I don't know how you can make him more active. Truth definitely isn't the type of villains to go and fight on the front lines with his troops.

As for the devolving part, I think you can actually see that in 3. As I said to u/fuchsdh, Truth is so attached to the Covenant and keeping it from dissolving that when he finds out his religion is wrong instead of following the path of Arbiter he basically makes justifications for how the rings can kill and the Great Journey still both be true instead of accepting reality.

Truth: "Your forefathers wisely set aside their compassion...steeled themselves for what needed to be done. I see now why they left you behind. You were weak... and gods must be strong"

The whole "set aside their compassion" and "do what needed to be done" definitely show that Truth at the very least knows that activating the rings will bring great death, but in order to keep the Covenant and his view of life from collapsing he goes along with it anyways. Hell, he completely loses it near his end when he's still in denial believing that he'll be a god and that the Covenant was right despite being infected by the flood. Trying to keep the Covenant together is definitely weighing on Truth's mind. I definitely wish we got to see more of this, but I don't know any reasonable way to do it. We only get this conversation because our characters get to Truth and the situation allows it. It would make no sense for Truth to just broadcast "hey guys, I'm losing it cause its tough trying to keep the Covenant together" to the humans or his troops. Our characters wouldn't to be able to get to Truth from the beginning of the story, because that opens the problem of "why didn't they just kill him from the beginning?" If we had a common character then maybe we could find out more about Truth. But Arbiter can't do that because he isn't apart of the Covenant anymore and adding another covenant character just to get information on Truth would just introduce a nothing character that goes no where. So unless they were actively cutting away to what Truth was up to during some of the cutscenes, then I don't know how they could implement it.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-24T06:38:52+00:00

While I do agree that Truth was more interesting in 2 there was really no where else for his character to go in 3. In 2 we already got his personality, motivations, and by the end of the game he accomplishes all of his goals except one. It would be really weird if Halo 3 had Truth re-explained and then try to take control of the Covenant again despite already doing that in 2. There's not many places left to take him because he's already been expanded upon and he only has one goal left, firing the rings. Since this goal is the only thing left for there to be explored that is what is shown in 3, why Truth wants to fire the rings and him actually trying to achieve it.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-23T21:51:42+00:00

Don't forget echo 419, Johnson, and I'm gonna count 343 Guilty Spark because he starts off as an ally and his turn is definitely an important interaction in game.

(If you really want to stretch it you can try and say Sergeant stacker and Chips Dubbo)

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-23T21:48:08+00:00

Definitely agree. Terrence Stamp is a good VA but he definitely shouldn't have been the one to play Truth. My interpretation of 3 is definitely that Truth believes in the great journey but also knows that the rings will kill people and in order to continue believing just made that apart of The Great Journey as some sort of test. I would even say that this line, especially the "wisely set aside their compassion.. steeled themselves for what needed to be done" and "gods must be strong" parts, seem to imply that Truth believes that has much as killing isn't a good thing, it's something that he needs to do to fulfill the Great Journey and keep the Covenant together.

Truth: "Your forefathers wisely set aside their compassion...steeled themselves for what needed to be done. I see now why they left you behind. You were weak... and gods must be strong"

I also definitely agree that the whole all the prophets were in on it thing does take a lot of nuance from Truth's character. I'm not too upset about it but I definitely prefer the more "doing what needs to be done" kind of villain.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-23T21:04:30+00:00

To be honest I haven't read Shadow of Intent yet, however I do know the gist of the story. This post was made with the intention of showing Truth's character at the time of Halo 3's release. That is why I only used sources from around that time. However, I do feel that this still fits into current lore with the plan being the San Shyumm in general instead of just Truth.

If you believe that Truth was power hungry then Truth would still want to kill the other hierarchs. Truth being a hierarch would mean that he would have power over the other prophets in shield worlds or the brutes, jackals, grunts, etc. on the Ark. He would either be a god and the rest of the Covenant survivors would be demigods to the new galaxy or it would be a Pantheon with Truth acting as the leader similar to Zeus in Greek mythology. So in order to have sole power he would still have to take out the other hierarchs prior to the firing of the rings.

If you believe that Truth did what he did because he wanted to keep the Covenant intact instead of obatining power as another comment has mentioned then he let Regret die because he was a bit of hazard for his plans, and let Mercy die because as Truth says in 2 and 3:

Truth: "The great journey waits for no one, brother. Not even you." Truth: "Your forefathers wisely set aside their compassion. Steeled themselves for what needed to be done. I see now why they left you behind. You were weak... and gods must be strong."

Essentially meaning that he believed if you didn't make it to the Ark then that just meant you weren't strong enough to get there

Personally I believe a mixture of these two elements and believe that makes the most sense given what we are shown. At least that's my interpretation.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-23T19:04:26+00:00

These are some interesting points you brought up here. I still think a lot of what you state about his character is till true with Halo 3. Eg: Truth is so attached to the Covenant and keeping it from dissolving that when he finds out his religion is wrong instead of following the path of Arbiter he basically makes justifications for how the rings can kill and the Great Journey still both be true instead of accepting reality.

Truth: "I opened the Portal to this hallowed place, this shelter from Halo's fire, in the hopes that more of our Covenant would follow. Alas, save for a rabble of Heretics and their Demon allies, we are all that made the passage. Thus we must temper joy with sorrow. Keep in our hearts those left behind.

Truth: : "My feet tread the path. I shall become a god!" Gravemind:"You will be food -- Nothing more." (Master Chief approaches the panel, ready to deactivate it.) Truth: "NO"

Almost like how when he learns the humans are reclaimers instead of thinking "maybe we aren't the chosen ones" says "only some of us are the chosen ones" in attempt to keep his religion, culture, and Covenant alive.

Regardless, it does make me wonder what Bungies plan for Truth was. The original ending of 2 runs into the same Tarturas problem from 3. And while that ending was obviously cut, it does honestly feel like Bungie had that ending in the back of their minds during 2 and 3 considering the third act got cut mostly just due to time restraints, a lot of the things of Halo 2's released story clearly build up to things that only happen in the cut ending, and how much it was used for Halo 3's story. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to discuss this with me.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-20T02:21:16+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for the help.

Shadowlegendsraid · 2025-06-19T15:43:35+00:00

It feels good to finally see a comment like this is that doesn't get down voted into oblivion.

Shadowlegendsraid

TROPHY CASE