... Aw, crap. I really wish you didn't bring this up--no offense. It would take an entire book to explain all this. It's very complicated and I don't know where to begin. I'll try and give the short (if somewhat butchered) version of this for brevity's sake... [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] The Awesome87 ...Perhaps Bungie does not consider the books to be cannon...[/quote] Bungie declared (for better or for worse) that all books, comics, games, etc, are considered cannon. Eric Nylund (who wrote the best and most consistent books by far) was given the Halo Bible to write his books. I fall back on the Halos 1, 2, and 3, and the three books written by Nylund whenever I harp on plot holes and inconsistencies. Now grant it, the idea that humans never encountered Elites and Hunters until [i]27 years[/i] into the war is absolute BS, I'll agree. You don't go that long without seeing warrior groups who are part of the alien military to begin with in ground engagements. Basically (so that this part alone doesn't take chapters' worth for me to explain), when it comes to the Halo fiction, I keep to what I was originally told by the original games and Nylund's books (save for a few exceptions scattered throughout said material) and disregard anything tacked later on that contradicts that. (And I hate and despise the anime abomination that is Halo Legends on principle; but that's another discussion, for another time, in another forum--not here.) [quote]There are already plenty of plot holes between the books and the games.[/quote] The books and the games (yes, the games) were riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies from the very beginning. Some not as bad as others. A lot of it stems from creating new content without properly explaining it to begin with. In the case of Halo Wars for example (and I know Bungie didn't make that game, you don't have to tell me that), they wanted to introduce all the elements of the universe, which is understandable; it's an RTS. I have nothing against that in principle, but at the same time they completely disregard the fact that they've just put tech that didn't exist 20 years prior to the Halo Event, and they incorporate that into their story. Not to mention throwing the Flood into the game--what the -BLAM!-? That in itself almost defeats the purpose of the original game. Again, I could say more, but there's just too much. [quote]For example, in First Strike it is stated that the UNSC had never before seen a brute, and that the brutes were serving as the Prophet's honor guards...[/quote] Incorrect. The brutes were put on simple guard duty for a temple on the Covenant station, Unyielding Hierophant. That's very different from being an Honor Guard which was, at the time, the role of the Elites. Brutes and Elites were kept segregated throughout the war and the Brutes were treated as second class citizens since they were fairly new to the Covenant (within the last few decades, I think, to be more accurate). It at least makes sense that most, if not all, humans wouldn't have seen them until later. I could write 5,000 more words about this, but I'm moving on now. To cover something quick. I'm sure there are those who would accuse me of saying, "Oh, you're just saying 'it's too complicated to fully get into' so you can take the easy way out. You don't actually have anything else to say on X subject, you're just making it up." To which I would say, that's too bad, because you're just going to have to take my word for it. [quote]To top that all off, the other books don't even mention Skirmishers.[/quote] Bungie proved long ago that they have no shame when it comes to introducing new elements into an earlier part of the timeline. All for the sake of trying to keep the game itself as "fresh" as possible so that more people will buy it. That's a problem with any game: you have to keep introducing new elements in sequels to keep it fresh and interesting. In Bungie's case, they seem to like to keep on shooting Continuity in the foot for the sake of it. [quote]The fact is that the books were not written by Bungie. They were coordinated by MS and 343.[/quote] Most of the books were written before 343 Industries ever came into being. Microsoft still went through Bungie on those projects. Remember what I said about Bungie giving Eric Nylund the Halo Bible to write The Fall of Reach, First Strike, and Ghosts of Onyx. Joe Staten from Bungie wrote Contact Harvest. Even his work contradicts what was stated before about first contact with the Covenant. I did like the revelation he put in his book though. [Edited on 08.20.2010 9:51 PM PDT]