[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] The Awesome87 At the risk of being flamed to doom, I'm going to suggest another theory for those of you worried about the holes that seem to be appearing between the books and Reach: Perhaps Bungie does not consider the books to be cannon. There are already plenty of plot holes between the books and the games. 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 Phrophet's honor gaurds. This fact was totally in conflict with the plot of Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Wars, and is even in conflict with every novel written since then. Also, The Fall of Reach states that humans didn't ever see an Elite before Reach fell. This also obviously incorrect when compared to the games and other novels. To top that all off, the other books don't even mention Skirmishers. The fact is that the books were not written by Bungie. They were coordinated by MS and 343. They're nice fluff material, but in the end, it doesn't look like they can be accepted as 100% Halo Gospel. So, as far as facts go, I'm going to accept Bungie's word over the books. [/quote] agreed