does anyone know where to find the original cortana letters? [Edited on 12/17/2006]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Apocrypha Halo-1. Also called nimbus. a geometric shape, usually in the form of a disk, circle, ring, or rayed structure, traditionally representing a radiant light around or above the head of a divine or sacred personage, an ancient or medieval monarch, etc. 2. an atmosphere or quality of glory, majesty, sanctity, or the like: the halo around Shakespeare's works; She put a halo around her son. 3. Meteorology. any of a variety of bright circles or arcs centered on the sun or moon, caused by the refraction or reflection of light by ice crystals suspended in the earth's atmosphere and exhibiting prismatic coloration ranging from red inside to blue outside (distinguished from corona). 4. Astronomy. a spherical cloud of gas clusters and stars that form part of a spiral galaxy. 5. an undesirable bright or dark ring surrounding an image on the fluorescent screen of a television tube, due to some fault either in transmission or reception. –verb (used with object) 6. to surround with a halo. –verb (used without object) 7. to form a halo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Origin: 1555–65; < L, acc. of halōs circle round sun or moon < Gk hálōs such a circle, disk, orig. threshing floor] Corona-1. a white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, esp. around the sun or moon. 2. Meteorology. such a circle or set of circles having a small radius and ranging in color from blue inside to red outside, attributable to the diffraction caused by thin clouds, mist, or sometimes dust (distinguished from halo). 3. Also called aureola, aureole. Astronomy. a faintly luminous envelope outside of the sun's chromosphere, the inner part consisting of highly ionized elements. 4. a long, straight, untapered cigar, rounded at the closed end. 5. Botany. a crownlike appendage, esp. one on the inner side of a corolla, as in the narcissus. 6. Anatomy. the upper portion or crown of a part, as of the head. 7. Electricity. corona discharge. 8. Architecture. the projecting, slablike member of a classical cornice supported by the bed molding or by modillions, dentils, etc., and supporting the cymatium. 9. the tonsure of a cleric. 10. Ecclesiastical. a gold-colored stripe around the lower edge of a clerical headdress, as of a miter. 11. a chandelier of wrought metal, having the form of one or more concentric hoops. Cortona-Pietro Berrettini da. 1596-1669. Italian painter and architect best known for his fresco on the ceiling of the Barberini palace in Rome, The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (1633-1639). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IF YOU SEE A CONECTION IN MY NOTES USE EM U MIGHT WANT TO SEE CORTANAS ART AND GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT READ THE CORTANA LETTERS (HALO CORTANA NOT ARTIST CORTANA) CHECK THE POETS OUT CHECK THE POETS POETRY GET A DICTIONARY PIEACE THE PUZZLE TOGETHER FIND THEMEANING OF WHAT YOUR LOOKING FOR IM PROBALY NOT AS SMART AS HALF THE PPL ON THESSE THERORIES BUT IF YOU COULD GET YOUR NOTES AND LOOK AT THE CLUES YOU CAN SOLVE ALL THIS JUNK YOU WANA KNOW TO ME ITS COMMON SCENSE PLUS A COM PUTER AND NAMES IS ALL YOU REALY NEED JUST ONE THING BE FORE I PROBALLY FORGET EVERY THING I WROTE AND LEARNED SOLVE THIS RIDDLE WHAT QUESTION CAN YOU NEVER SAY YES TO ??? [/quote] THERE ARE A FEW... ARE YOU DEAD? ARE YOU SLEEPING? WILL YOU NEVER SAY YES AGAIN? there are more, but you get my point...

Just look it up in wikipedia if u want an easy answer. Although i shall come back and discuss this when i'm feeling a little better. [Edited on 12/7/2006]

what it seems to me is that cortana is refering to how the covenant think theyre on a holy journey and cortana defied there gods by destroying halo, and the demon part comes into play cuz the cov call mastercheif demon. cortana was also a big part in how mc fought and defended himself whicxh would explain line 2, and she was with him for past and knows him, i duno bout the future, and then she knows about how the world is gonna end cuz is in in a forunner or cov construct so either she figured out cov had coordinates to earth or she found out the arc or ark or whatever is on earth. simply put.

Its not Cortana speaking its Gravemind talking to MC through Cortana. when he says "deamons" you can hear him easily. if you listen its vice versa during the cut scene after the level "Regret" you can hear Cortana underneath Gravemind’s voice, you can hear it more evidently when GM says "those who built these rings knew what they wrought". just my theory but... connection between GM and C? perhaps some sort of data transfer occurred whilst C was exploring the systems of the original halo (instillation 04) in the cut scene after the level "regret". maybe GM has tiny little 'bugs' all over the halo's, perhaps one of them went into C. it would explain her unparalleled smugness and change in personality ever since that mission. C was all to eager to get into the covenant systems if you ask me (level 'truth' (i think)) quote "put me down on one of the pedestals by the door" claiming that she needed to be in the systems to work, even though she again did it perfectly well in Halo: CE on the level 'truth and reconciliation'. She then said (after the last CM mission, second to last game mission) she had to stay behind to not chance a 'remote' detonation, even though that is exactly what MC had to do in Halo: CE after 343 Guilty Spark had disabled the remote countdown.

After reading the books, and playing the games, I believe that the games will end like the original Planet of the Apes movies. Someone, not necessarily MC, will lose everything. When they do they will WILLINGLY activate the rings and only those in the shield worlds will survive. Bungie has time and again pulled from other sci-fi sources to make this story. Johnson is Apone from Aliens, Cortana can be viewed as HAL from 2001, the Halo's are from Niven, the Elites from Predator (both the in way their jaws work and the active camoflage), and the flood is from a host of sci-fi movies. Given all of this, (and remember that the Planet of the Apes moves also had a Nova bomb) WE will set off the Halos to just end everything. A good, dark, F*%@ Everything gaming moment.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Crowe87 I am your shield I am your sword. Cortana provides excellent tactical information for Master Chief, along with a motion sensor for him in his visor. He can use all the tactical info she gives him for an offensive strike or defensive battle.[/quote] The message sounds redundant to me. Wouldn't the Chief and Cortana know their purpose? Why repeat the obvious?

in the first seen when mc is walking towards the cannyon what is the spherial metal object that is broken and beaten? [Edited on 11/19/2006]

WARNING Ghosts of onyx spoilers In ghosts of onyx we are told the revelance of the sword and shield. Halo ring worlds are swords, and onyx is a shield world. The remaining spartans enter the shield world where they are safe from anything. This paired with the the last line "this is how the world ends" Leeds me to believe that the Halos will fire, and the world/universe will end. The flood leaving delta halo is a major theme of G.O.X. and I think the flood will bring everything to the brink of extenction. I think MC will die, because that would be a great ending, him sacrificing his life for the world. Still there will be hope from the shield worlds. Also, I think we will find out some deeper truth about the forerunner and the whole meaning of life and creation, and the cycle of life will start over. Think about a Universe wide ice age. these are my speculations, but I think it sets the stage very well for Halo 3, which is obviously exactly what they were trying to do with that trailer. [Edited on 11/19/2006]

Sorry to double post, but there's something I really want to know. What is the answer to that riddle?

Hasn't Bungie already confirmed what Cortana says in the trailer? As far as I know, this is commonly accepted: "I have defied gods and demons. I am your shield. I am your sword. I know you. Your past. Your future. This is the way the world ends." I think many answers can be found in the first Cortana letter. I've based a lot of my research solely on it because the last line of the letter is directly copied in the trailer. I've come to believe that the trailer is actually some sort of hallucination or dream that the Master Chief is having, and this vision has been given to him by Cortana. Actually, to be more specific, given to him by the combination of Cortana and Gravemind. When Cortana combines with Gravemind, she reaches the fourth, undocumented stage of Rampancy.

as cortana talked you could hear gravemind overlapping her voice, and whens the next podcast?

would the queston be " Are you lying?" ?? and cortana sais " gods and demons" not gods men and demons> if you slow down the video and listen you can tell that it sounds like that bcause she's running her words 2gether [Edited on 11/19/2006]

Okay...what you said is you heard it through your little head phones or such and such...but I've been listening to it and it looks like it does say I have defied gods,men, and demons. If you listen to it carefully why would she have say anything between gods and demons? When she is talking listen to it. You can easily think she didn't say men because of the words "Gods and demons", and think she didn't say men. So really she said... I have defied gods, men, and demons I am your shield, i am your sword I know you, your past, your future This is the way the world ends

Halo-1. Also called nimbus. a geometric shape, usually in the form of a disk, circle, ring, or rayed structure, traditionally representing a radiant light around or above the head of a divine or sacred personage, an ancient or medieval monarch, etc. 2. an atmosphere or quality of glory, majesty, sanctity, or the like: the halo around Shakespeare's works; She put a halo around her son. 3. Meteorology. any of a variety of bright circles or arcs centered on the sun or moon, caused by the refraction or reflection of light by ice crystals suspended in the earth's atmosphere and exhibiting prismatic coloration ranging from red inside to blue outside (distinguished from corona). 4. Astronomy. a spherical cloud of gas clusters and stars that form part of a spiral galaxy. 5. an undesirable bright or dark ring surrounding an image on the fluorescent screen of a television tube, due to some fault either in transmission or reception. –verb (used with object) 6. to surround with a halo. –verb (used without object) 7. to form a halo. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Origin: 1555–65; < L, acc. of halōs circle round sun or moon < Gk hálōs such a circle, disk, orig. threshing floor] Corona-1. a white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, esp. around the sun or moon. 2. Meteorology. such a circle or set of circles having a small radius and ranging in color from blue inside to red outside, attributable to the diffraction caused by thin clouds, mist, or sometimes dust (distinguished from halo). 3. Also called aureola, aureole. Astronomy. a faintly luminous envelope outside of the sun's chromosphere, the inner part consisting of highly ionized elements. 4. a long, straight, untapered cigar, rounded at the closed end. 5. Botany. a crownlike appendage, esp. one on the inner side of a corolla, as in the narcissus. 6. Anatomy. the upper portion or crown of a part, as of the head. 7. Electricity. corona discharge. 8. Architecture. the projecting, slablike member of a classical cornice supported by the bed molding or by modillions, dentils, etc., and supporting the cymatium. 9. the tonsure of a cleric. 10. Ecclesiastical. a gold-colored stripe around the lower edge of a clerical headdress, as of a miter. 11. a chandelier of wrought metal, having the form of one or more concentric hoops. Cortona-Pietro Berrettini da. 1596-1669. Italian painter and architect best known for his fresco on the ceiling of the Barberini palace in Rome, The Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (1633-1639). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IF YOU SEE A CONECTION IN MY NOTES USE EM U MIGHT WANT TO SEE CORTANAS ART AND GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT READ THE CORTANA LETTERS (HALO CORTANA NOT ARTIST CORTANA) CHECK THE POETS OUT CHECK THE POETS POETRY GET A DICTIONARY PIEACE THE PUZZLE TOGETHER FIND THEMEANING OF WHAT YOUR LOOKING FOR IM PROBALY NOT AS SMART AS HALF THE PPL ON THESSE THERORIES BUT IF YOU COULD GET YOUR NOTES AND LOOK AT THE CLUES YOU CAN SOLVE ALL THIS JUNK YOU WANA KNOW TO ME ITS COMMON SCENSE PLUS A COM PUTER AND NAMES IS ALL YOU REALY NEED JUST ONE THING BE FORE I PROBALLY FORGET EVERY THING I WROTE AND LEARNED SOLVE THIS RIDDLE WHAT QUESTION CAN YOU NEVER SAY YES TO ???

94 pages.... and still NOTHING............DO'H!

I was looking at the trailer again, and when cortana said "i have defied gods and demons", it sounded more like i have defied gods with demons. Weird, i know.

well cortana would die from having too much information soaked into her, which is what i think that dude said, he was referring to not being able to breath which is like saying suffocated by info. i dont know if this opens anymore ideas but i looked up some pretty simple halo related things in a bible search. Genesis 6 The Flood 1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." i can kinda see some relations with that and the topic we are on. there is alot of good stuff from the beginging of Gensis..which means the begining doesnt it hah? linkage. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206;&version=31; does that help at all? probably not.

wait so u guys are saying cortana dies from not breathing that doesnt make sense isnt she like a hologram how does she have organs?And if she does then i think the cheif is going to die because he needs her and i dont think he can survive without her in his system.

Read my sig. It is the key to your problem.

man i need to get ghosts of onyx so bad. Im getting it tommorow no matter what.

oh, as for the origins of Cortana's words--in GoO Cortana transmits a message through slipspace using High Charity's technology, and it reaches earth. If Cortana's message is actually in game...thats probably how it'll get to MC. Perhaps the message is indicative of the flood. They have defied gods (forerunners) and demons (if they didn't particularly like the forerunners, since demons are more or less a hated, unwanted 'god'). In an odd way, there could be the forerunner's sword and shield, if they were used as a biological weapon, or, as someone speculated, if they were created to sort of prod along Darwinian evolution, preventing their race from multiplying into oblivion. Since the flood has survived the whole time, they will know the "past, present, and future", and with the possibility that humans are the forerunner are related (maybe not direct descendants, but related in the way apes and humans are remotely related), humans may be the present, the forerunners the past, and the spartans in the dyson sphere as the future. And as for the world ending from the flood...thats sort of self evident xP [Edited on 11/18/2006]

(thinks everyone here should finish reading ghosts of onyx and see what it says) it really connected with cortanas words DOH! i forgot also in ghosts of onyx a certain spartan gets a certain message from a certain AI from a black ball :x and then the AI dies, is this is whats gonna happen to cortana? since shes communicating from 'cross the galaxy :/ i hope not shes hot :D [Edited on 11/18/2006]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] lordxiion Cortana and the Covenant talk about these "Giants" (Giants = Forerunner ?) Why would Cortana call them Giants instead of Forerunners? Another hint that she is possesed by Gravemind? But the thing that takes all of this stuff, and crushes it, is that the Flood dont talk like Covenant, do they?[/quote]Another part of Norse Mythology? Also, weren't the Titans in Greek Mythology Giants too? Then the Olympians were smaller? [Edited on 11/18/2006]

Shield = Onyx Sword = Halos Past and Future = When they were looking at the Onyx Shield exterior (Which is identical to the Ark's), they wonder if all the images it reflects is "From the [b]Past[/b]? The [b]Future[/b]? Both?"

I think I got a few things here! --- First off, Cortana in the letters talks about sharing space with a "hybrid war machine." This obviously means that she "sent" these letters sometime after Halo: CE. --- Halo 3 Trailer "I have defied Gods and Demons." Demons probably reffering to MC. But she says Demons, not Demon. So we can assume that she "defied" other Spartans? Also, Cortana wouldnt call Spartans demons unless.......... 1. Possesed by Gravemind? 2. Rampancy Gods, referring to Forerunner? If it is, then that would mean that Cortana HAD to be under the influence of Gravemind. --- Second Letter "And what of the Giants who formed this world? So much to tell you, but so many more important things to do. There was a fourth. You couldn't have known. And I haven't forgotten." Halo: The First Strike "Among the more coherent samples of their exited religioous babble were: Uncovering the fragment of divinity, and illuminating, shard of the gods to exist the perfect moment that vanishes in the blink of an eye, but lasts forever, and collecting the stars left by the Giants." Cortana and the Covenant talk about these "Giants" (Giants = Forerunner ?) Why would Cortana call them Giants instead of Forerunners? Another hint that she is possesed by Gravemind? But the thing that takes all of this stuff, and crushes it, is that the Flood dont talk like Covenant, do they? [Edited on 11/13/2006]