The Didact has revealed himself. While we don’t know the full extent of his designs, we do know that he considers humanity a threat that must be purged from the universe.
Fortunately for us, we’ve finally found some allies on his hunk of rock that might be able to help us deal with this new problem. Or maybe they’ll do what every other human NPC in this franchise has ever done and get in my way.
It’s the latter, isn’t it?
Thumbnail by Sam Callahan.
Streamed on my Twitch.
There was a large portion of this session, early on, where I flat out forgot what was going on in the story for at least 30 minutes or so. It didn’t help that it felt like no meaningful progress was being made on any plot point, so I didn’t have an anchor to focus my attention on.
Then suddenly, one of the worst plot twists I have ever seen in a franchise just drops itself into my lap. One of the most interesting facets of Halo is how its flagship protagonist is a walking, talking dichotomy. He is the single most heroic figure in the human military forces, taking on and accomplishing the impossible in the face of overwhelming odds and in defiance of common sense. And yet, that is enable at the expense of his humanity, having been kidnapped as a young man and forced to undergo extremely intrusive and dangerous physical and mental augmentations while getting indoctrinated into the role of a police officer for a fascist state.
This inherent contradiction between who he is, the nature of what went into making him that way, and his intended purpose raise an important question: Was it worth it? And even if it was, should we overlook the original sins of his birth in service of the good he has wrought? My stance is that the ends do not, nor can they ever, justify the means in a scenario this depraved. And yet, I must grapple with the fact that humanity would almost certainly be crushed if not for him and his fellow Spartans.
But apparently none of that matters, because it was never really a choice to begin with. Some woman from an ancient civilization encoded into us the plan to turn ourselves into Spartans. We were genetically pre-determined to commit war crimes on ourselves, which makes it okay! It’s not our fault at all, and every interesting conversation regarding guilt, heroism, and consequences can just be upended by the roots.
Further worsening the mood is how inept our human allies are both in story and in gameplay. My misgivings about his origin aside, there is no denying that the Master Chief is a hero who has the power, skill, and knowledge to keep humanity safe as a sort-of messianic figure. There’s a argument to be made against entrusting any one man, even, maybe especially, a genetically enhanced and engineered one, but the game does not make it. If anything, Del Rio looks like a inept fool despite what his backstory would imply as he frantically orders his men to arrest one of the most legendary figures in the known universe.
All of these scenes lose the nuance, care, and attention that the franchise has put into its world up until now. As fun as the game is, I can see why fans weren’t entirely happy with it.
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