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11/24/2012 3:03:59 PM
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Is the Master Chief going insane? (Halo 4 Theory (SPOILERS)
As of now most of us have beaten 343's Halo 4, we've witnessed the activation of the Forerunner Composer and it's inhumane power. We've [i]'killed'[/i] the Didact and said farewell to Cortana. Ultimately, Halo 4 has turned another direction with story-telling; whether you agree it was good or not, Halo 4 has been embedded in multiple novels ([i]The Forerunner Saga[/i] and [i]The Kilo-Five Trilogy[/i], to say the least).
As Halo 4 begins, we see Dr. Halsey and a mysterious interrogator, which I assume is ONI. The discuss the SPARTAN-II program and it's original reason for creation; to end the civil war between the UNSC and the Insurrectionists. But they interrogator mentions something quite interesting, "Records show Spartans routinely exhibited mildly sociopathic tendencies, difficulty with socialization, furthermore..." (Halo 4; Prologue). [i]Sociopathic tendencies...[/i], wow, that is alot to say about the original SPARTAN-II operatives, but is that to much to say? No, not one bit, it only makes sense for SPARTANs to carry such a heavy weight.
But, what really is [i]sociopathic tendencies[/i]? Four letters, ASPD, or Antisocial personality disorder. ASPD is often characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood." Now, this doesn't sound like the Chief, he doesn't violate others rights. But, then again, he is military personnel, trained to withstand such hardships as a SPARTAN-II. But, that is just one basic definition of ASPD, one other one, that I believe the Chief is have is the fourth definition. "The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode" (DSM-IV-TR, fourth edition).
Now, schizophrenia is a heavy word, a heavy claim, but it all makes sense. Schizophrenia is often coupled with "auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking" and is also "characterized by a breakdown of thought processes and by poor emotional responsiveness" (Schizophrenia, Wikipedia). Now, we all know the Master Chief has poor emotional response, often saying little to nothing when Cortana begins to break down, such simple words he does say, "No", "That won't happen", or "I promise", are small ways of attempting to be emotional towards Cortana's condition. But, I believe the Chief experiences [i]" auditory hallucinations" and "bizarre delusions".[/i] I believe the Chief is going insane.
By Halo 4 the Master Chief is in his early 40s, and most UNSC personnel know this. Captain Del Rio mentions Chief "is a aging Spartan" and that he wasn't going to listen to him or Cortana about staying on the planet. Chief has been through alot, so it isn't hard to believe his mind is deteriorating. During Shutdown, Chief hears the Didact speaking to him, he tells Cortana to trace the signal, but she doesn't hear anything:
"The others scatter like embers over sand. And yet the Librarian's champion is unmoved."
John-117: "Cortana, where's this coming from?"
Cortana: "Where's what coming from?
Didact: "The mantle of responsibility for the galaxy shelters all, human. But only the Forerunners are its masters."
John-117: "The Didact's voice."
Cortana: "I'm not picking up anything, Chief."
John-117: "He's there. Keep trying."
That is just one example of what the Chief 'hears' during the remainder of the Halo 4 campaign, but by the level Midnight, the Master Chief is inside the Didact ship, the [i]Mantle's Approach[/i], all by himself, well, save for Cortana. No one knows what Chief saw or fought inside the Didact's ship, or inside the Composer. I also think Chief has 'sees' the Didact and the fight they 'have', I also believe he 'sees' Cortana holding the Didact long enough for the Chief to kill him. But, at the end of Halo 4, we hear the Didact's voice, most believe he survives.
I believe that Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is suffering from schizophrenia and ASPD, to say the least. I believe his fight with the Didact was a bizarre delusion and auditory hallucination. I believe the Chief is going insane. What do you think?
[Edited on 11.24.2012 7:09 AM PST]
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That's an interesting theory. It fits. I do agree that not all is as it seems in Halo 4. However I attributed Cortana missing out on the Didact's comments as indication of her deterioration. Or maybe it was some sort of telepathic communication instead of a broadcast. Either way, I don't believe we have seen the last of Cortana. My theory is that her story in Halo 4, 5, and 6 will play out like Spock's in Star Trek 2, 3, and 4.
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I kind of attributed the Didact's voice as telepathy that Cortana lacked the equipment to pick up. I don't believe Master Chief is insane at all, the sociopathic tenancies are really just referring to the difficulty of Spartan's interacting with people and forming relationships, not madness.
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Sounds a bit like the beginning of indoctrination....
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That's a good theory for when Chief hears Didact's voice, but as for the whole idea of Chief imagining the end fight just doesn't really fit. The Composer [i]is[/i] destroyed, that's a fact; you see the debris from the explosion. I think the Chief will slowly realise that he has no place in the society he has fought so hard to protect, and that would take a heavy toll on anyone.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] roraj 196 That's a good theory for when Chief hears Didact's voice, but as for the whole idea of Chief imagining the end fight just doesn't really fit. [b]The Composer [i]is[/i] destroyed[/b], that's a fact; you see the debris from the explosion. I think the Chief will slowly realise that he has no place in the society he has fought so hard to protect, and that would take a heavy toll on anyone. [/quote] Oh, I know the Composer is destroyed, but he could've activated the HAVOC nuke thinking he killed the Didact.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Yakov Sidorov [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] roraj 196 That's a good theory for when Chief hears Didact's voice, but as for the whole idea of Chief imagining the end fight just doesn't really fit. [b]The Composer [i]is[/i] destroyed[/b], that's a fact; you see the debris from the explosion. I think the Chief will slowly realise that he has no place in the society he has fought so hard to protect, and that would take a heavy toll on anyone. [/quote] Oh, I know the Composer is destroyed, but he could've activated the HAVOC nuke thinking he killed the Didact. [/quote] True, but I think its too far-fetched. However, I like the theory that he's going insane. Without Cortana or his Spartans, the two consants in his life have been taken away. As he faces replacement by the S-IVs, and his own aging, I think he'll start to go slightly insane/depressed.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] roraj 196 True, but I think its too far-fetched. However, I like the theory that he's going insane. Without Cortana or his Spartans, the two consants in his life have been taken away. As he faces replacement by the S-IVs, and his own aging, I think he'll start to go slightly insane/depressed. [/quote] I kinda hope John goes insane, it will build more character development, and a unique story twist to the Halo series.
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Do you not remember the Librarian accelerating Chief's evolution/further augmenting him, or whatever it was? You start hearing the Didact after that, the level right after in fact. It doesn't mean anything close to insanity, it's some sort of Forerunner thing, for instance it could be the Domain, which the Librarian could have easily plugged into Chief when he met her, and the Domain would technically not be something that Cortana could access as she's not hooked up to it and doesn't have access to it. And you, along with quite a few others it seems, seem to forget that chronological age (IE, how long people in Halo have actually been alive) does not correlate with their physical age (IE how old their body actually is). Like take Sgt. Johnson for instance, in Halo 3 when he dies he's chronologically right around his 80s, and yet physically he's more like he's in hist late 50s or early 60s. Chief may chronologically be somewhere in his 40s, but biologically he's closer to his late 20s or early 30s, the Spartans spent a damn lot of time in cryo. As for mystery man talking to Halsey, he is nothing but a complete and total fool, he's just like Ackerson, he's trying to discredit the Spartan II Program so he can fulfill his own agenda, nothing he says is at all accurate, especially since he has completely forgotten how bad the Insurrection was and is trying to make them come across like a rabble of random nobodies. The Spartans are not at all sociopathic or any type of sociopath. And Del Rio is just an asshat, there's a reason that he was removed from his position of command for leaving Chief behind on Requiem.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OrderedComa [/quote] Your augment makes sense.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OrderedComa nothing he says is at all accurate, especially since he has completely forgotten how bad the Insurrection was and is trying to make them come across like a rabble of random nobodies.[/quote] I see no evidence of this. It's Halsey who starts fabricating history, and the Interrogator who points that out citing the real reason the Spartan-IIs were made. [quote]The Spartans are not at all sociopathic or any type of sociopath.[/quote] He doesn't say they're completely sociopathic, he says they developed "mildly sociopathic tendencies" which led to "difficulty with socialisation". We know this is true, and it's particularly highlighted in Ghosts of Onyx where Kurt is identified as a 'one of a kind' Spartan who does socialise with others. That said, the word 'sociopath' does seem a bit extreme, but he dumbs it down with "mild" and "tendencies".
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This is a poor man's Indoctrination theory.
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Don't think it'll happen exactly as you've described it OP, but I do like the idea of the Chief going insane, or at least becoming unstable. With his entire emotional side being suppressed his whole life, only for his very humanity to be questioned by his best friend right before she dies in front of him, he'll be torn by his stoic duty as a leader, and the human sense of losing everything you are and have. It will be an internal conflict he may not be able to handle right away given his suppressive nature.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Yakov Sidorov As Halo 4 begins, we see Dr. Halsey and a mysterious interrogator, which I assume is ONI.[/quote] Actually, it was hinted that the interrogator was not ONI. That's why Dr. Halsey says: "The others before you were Naval Intelligence, but you... You're something else"
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Not to sound like a douche (is that how you spell it) but it sounds like you haven't been around too many Schizophrenics. I can assure you that Master Chief doesn't have Schizophrenia. Furthermore, mental disorders aren't confined to Wikipedia definitions, so that can both support or invalidate your claims.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartanz_8 Not to sound like a douche (is that how you spell it) but it sounds like you haven't been around too many Schizophrenics. I can assure you that Master Chief doesn't have Schizophrenia. Furthermore, mental disorders aren't confined to Wikipedia definitions, so that can both support or invalidate your claims. [/quote] You don't really need to know a schizophrenic to know what it is. For me, I can see the idea of Master Chief's mentality slowly deteriorating. He lost a lot of friends, and your point at the part with him only hearing the Didact is interesting, although it might be because of Cortana's rampancy as was previously said. Would be kinda cool too. Halo 4 was said to be about Chief's human side, but this game seemed to be all about Cortana. Now that she's gone, maybe in Halo 5 we can see more of the guy behind the helmet.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartanz_8 Not to sound like a douche (is that how you spell it) but it sounds like you haven't been around too many Schizophrenics. I can assure you that Master Chief doesn't have Schizophrenia. Furthermore, mental disorders aren't confined to Wikipedia definitions, so that can both support or invalidate your claims. [/quote] You're right, I haven't been around too many schizophrenics, and that Wikipedia is never a source to use. But, this was a quick theory I put together within a couple hours, and I did little research outside basic internet sites. But, what is this "indoctrination" stuff people keep mentioning???
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Yakov Sidorov [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] spartanz_8 Not to sound like a douche (is that how you spell it) but it sounds like you haven't been around too many Schizophrenics. I can assure you that Master Chief doesn't have Schizophrenia. Furthermore, mental disorders aren't confined to Wikipedia definitions, so that can both support or invalidate your claims. [/quote] You're right, I haven't been around too many schizophrenics, and that Wikipedia is never a source to use. But, this was a quick theory I put together within a couple hours, and I did little research outside basic internet sites. But, what is this "indoctrination" stuff people keep mentioning??? [/quote] Mass Effect 3 reference
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Old Papa Rich Either way, I don't believe we have seen the last of Cortana. My theory is that her story in Halo 4, 5, and 6 will play out like Spock's in Star Trek 2, 3, and 4.[/quote] I agree. Been sayin' this since I beat the campaign.
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Why can't chief go rampant? He's certainly had enough abuse. On a side not, hopefully not too redundant, is Halo 4 officially canon?
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] trekkie Why can't chief go rampant? He's certainly had enough abuse. On a side not, hopefully not too redundant, is [b]Halo 4 officially canon?[/b] [/quote] ....um....ah...uh...sorry to break this to you, but yes.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ajw34307 I see no evidence of this. It's Halsey who starts fabricating history, and the Interrogator who points that out citing the real reason the Spartan-IIs were made.[/quote] The Insurrectionists were just as much of a threat to the human race as the Covenant ever were. The intention of the Spartan II Program was always to save the human race from the start. Doesn't matter if it's Covenant or human Insurrectionists, the end result of both running unchecked would be the same thing, massive amounts of the human populations left dead in their wake and the survivors being thrust into another set of Dark Ages. Doesn't matter if he's correct in stating that the Insurrectionists were what the Spartans were originally created to combat, his dismal of the Insurrection as a non-threat and nothing at all of consequence makes him a fool and everything else I said. In addition, it's still true, even Halsey is just talking about the Covenant and how effective the Spartans were in fighting it. That they saved the human race is still true, and that without them humanity would either be defeated and near extinct or have suffered far more heavily in winning the war. [quote]He doesn't say they're completely sociopathic, he says they developed "mildly sociopathic tendencies" which led to "difficulty with socialisation". We know this is true, and it's particularly highlighted in Ghosts of Onyx where Kurt is identified as a 'one of a kind' Spartan who does socialise with others. That said, the word 'sociopath' does seem a bit extreme, but he dumbs it down with "mild" and "tendencies".[/quote] That is still a sociopath. Which is not true at all. Being anti-social or having a harder time fitting in with others (which I would have to say is for the most part bollocks as well) does not make one a sociopath, a psychopath or anything like that. As I said, the guy is someone with an agenda, whoever Mr. Mystery Man is wants to discredit the Spartans and specifically Chief, excuse me if I take his bologna claims with a whole a mountain of salt and dismiss them as illogical bias.
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Maybe HE too might think himself to death as well (well, not necessarily). This is a bizarre yet brilliant theory pulled together. However, I am irked by how the way it ended on Legendary, though.......
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Shutdown, Chief hears the Didact speaking to him, he tells Cortana to trace the signal, but she doesn't hear anything: "The others scatter like embers over sand. And yet the Librarian's champion is unmoved." John-117: "Cortana, where's this coming from?" Cortana: "Where's what coming from? Didact: "The mantle of responsibility for the galaxy shelters all, human. But only the Forerunners are its masters." John-117: "The Didact's voice." Cortana: "I'm not picking up anything, Chief." John-117: "He's there. Keep trying." The only reason Chief can hear that is because the Librarian altered DNA. Therefore he is more advanced. The Didact was talking to the prometheans.
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I really Hope they don't do that to the Chief I wouldn't like making him insane. Just doesn't seem like the right way to end it and i really doubt they would do that.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] EZcompany2ndsqd I really Hope they don't do that to the Chief I wouldn't like making him insane. Just doesn't seem like the right way to end it and i really doubt they would do that.[/quote]This. What good would that do to the story, what could it possibly gain by turning him insane? What parts of the questions and thematics the story has buildt up so far--especially with Bear's two, soon three, books--could gain anything by having the Master Chief, the main character in the new trilogy, go mad? I know many of you don't care much for the MC as a somewhat silent protagonist with a low-key persona, but surely playing as a madman is a step too far, especially considering how contrived it must feel to have 100% control in-game and whatever madman shenanigans the plot demands in the cutscenes? [Edited on 11.26.2012 2:00 PM PST]
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] the real Janaka [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] EZcompany2ndsqd I really Hope they don't do that to the Chief I wouldn't like making him insane. Just doesn't seem like the right way to end it and i really doubt they would do that.[/quote]This. What good would that do to the story, what could it possibly gain by turning him insane? What parts of the questions and thematics the story has buildt up so far--especially with Bear's two, soon three, books--could gain anything by having the Master Chief, the main character in the new trilogy, go mad? I know many of you don't care much for the MC as a somewhat silent protagonist with a low-key persona, but surely playing as a madman is a step too far, especially considering how contrived it must feel to have 100% control in-game and whatever madman shenanigans the plot demands in the cutscenes?[/quote] Yes, it would be quite odd to have 100 percent control of a madman. But, the story of a SPARTAN going insane is an interesting concept to say the least.
