The Top 7... Unanswered Questions in Halo 3

Mystified by Master Chief's final fight? You've come to the right place

Words: Charlie Barratt on October 1, 2007

What was buried in the African desert? Was it the Ark? If so, what was Installation 00? And what the heck was that portal all about?

Halo was, appropriately enough, about a Halo. A single ring, floating in space, with the potential to destroy the galaxy. Got it. Halo 2 was, appropriately enough, about a second Halo. Same deal. Understood.

The identity and importance of all the crazy alien structures in Halo 3, however, are tougher to follow than a road map to the Middle East. The cut scenes lead you to believe something like this: Delta Halo leads to Africa leads to the Ark leads to the Portal leads to Installation 00 leads to the real Ark leads to... another Halo? HUH?!

Our best guess: By starting and then stopping the activation of Delta Halo in the second game, our heroes inadvertently put all Halos in the universe on standby. The Covenant leader believed he could fire these rings simultaneously from a mysterious location hidden in the African desert. The Ark? Nope, the structure he unearths merely creates a portal to the Ark, light years away from Earth. Once there, you discover the purpose of the Ark is to construct new Halos, giving it the official name of Installation 00 (the ring in the first Halo game was Installation 04.)

Any clearer? Yeah, we didn't think so.

...

Platforms:

Xbox 360

Topics:

Top 7

20 comments

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D0CCON - March 17, 2011 10:09 p.m.

@EwoksTasteLikeChicken I'm about to be ridiculously anal and say that Master Chief was in Reach...for two seconds, if you moved your camera to the right during the final cutscene, which most people didn't realize they could do during their first playthrough, and he's still in his pod not doing anything. Anyways, it is kind of sad that Bungie won't be making Halo 4 if it does happen, and it looks like Halo 4 still won't be the next Halo (two prequels, a "meanwhile on Earth" game, and now a remake if rumors are true. While I'm not complaining, it seems a bit odd). Those questions don't look like they will be answered for awhile.
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EwoksTasteLikeChicken - December 3, 2010 1:59 p.m.

I think it's funny how there have been three Halos after this, and none of them have Master Chief in them.
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Chaoscoolperson - September 28, 2010 12:54 a.m.

Most of their answers were spot on with my understanding of the games storyline. However the forrunners saved several species of life before firing the rings for the first time. This is stated in halo legends which came out 2 years later than this article apparently. Anyway we learn what a forrunner look like and that they saved the human race, But no other connection then that. The forrunner planet thing though? low chance that chief will land near living Forrunners. We don't know though. some speculate that it is Reach that chief is drifting towards and those marks are from the glassing beams the covenant fired.
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BurntToShreds - August 21, 2010 5:36 a.m.

I think the ending also makes allusions to ancient legends about heroes who "sleep" until they are once again needed. Master Chief woke up when humanity needed him, and went back to sleep (stasis) at the end of the trilogy. King Arthur is one of the most famous of these heroes.
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member214 - June 27, 2010 11:31 p.m.

The planet John and Cortana are drifting toward at the end of Halo 3 is most likely a Forerunners home planet. Forerunners are the life forms that built the Halo rings in the beginning of the series story, to kill all of the invading Flood. And now we all know there is going to be Halo: Reach which is about the first Spartans fighting on the human planet Reach. Halo CE takes place right after that battle.
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TheSugarRay - February 9, 2010 8:26 a.m.

I played the video and donte's inferno played.
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joopajoo111 - January 12, 2010 2:51 p.m.

and for the last question : there will be atleast 2 more halo games, Halo 3 Reach and Halo 4 both made by gearbox.
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joopajoo111 - January 12, 2010 2:45 p.m.

3rd question. did you even play the game? as there was a cut scene where they spoke about activating the unfinished ring to destroy the other's. seriously play it again and pay attention to what they say. (ntcs and pal may differ)
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Axcleblade - January 6, 2010 3:02 a.m.

Only 6 and 7 are legitimate questions. You answered the rest of them in your "best guesses". Chances are, there will be a Halo 4. Considering Microsoft gave the Halo franchise to 343 industries, it can be assumed hat a Halo 4 will be made (It doesn't make much sense to form a new company to handle a franchise with a cliffhanger ending and then NOT adress the cliffhanger ending. I predict that someone will tell me to calm down or call me a nerd/fanboy/Bungie-worshipper, etc.
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skyguy343 - October 14, 2008 12:55 a.m.

halo.wikia.com will explain everything
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theguyinthecloset - September 30, 2008 10:31 p.m.

for the fifth question i think that it may be the great charity meaning that if John survived why wouldn`d the parasite do so! but i only saw the video on a very low definition so there might be a small detail that doesn`t match.
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skyguy343 - October 14, 2008 12:50 a.m.

2. was actually totally clear
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TURbo - May 5, 2009 4:52 p.m.

overall long running videogame series do not do a good job tying up loose ends in videogames like Half-Life or Command and Conquer. Being a PC Gamer and playing a lot of FPS, I don't Halo is anything special. @TheSylvester- saying we shouldn't point flaws in videogames that sold extremely well is like saying no one should trash the movie Titanic because it is the highest grossing movie of all time. Or NSYNC's No Strings Attached is the best musical album of all time because it is the only album to go double platnium in one week.
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044magnumx - April 15, 2009 9:19 p.m.

@thesylvestor - dude... take a chill, its just an article...
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Cwf2008 - December 14, 2008 6:32 a.m.

As the Gaylo fanboy above me said, 2 was actually pretty clear...no wonder those damn terrorists mostly live in the Middle East they want to go to the ark and wipe out all life in the universe!
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ilike2pwn - September 19, 2009 6:12 p.m.

There will be a Halo 4..... The cliffhanger left with us at Halo 3 gives Bungie a butt-load of questions to answer
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UsernameAlreadyInUse - June 26, 2009 4:32 a.m.

Bungie will make a halo 4. Like they said its milking the money cow even more. lus w/ odst out the halo fan-boys will be going crazy on the new found info
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TheSylvester - March 31, 2009 11:13 p.m.

You website people are just retarded. You just posted questions the players MIGHT of had the minute those scenes happened, then put the answers they TELL you or is just common sense. Why was he frozen in the beginning? What side is 343 or Gravemind on? WTF? The only good ones are the last two, because they actually make sense and aren't explained. I also hate how you post things like this that make us think you like Halo, then bash every little flaw it has in another article. Sure Gears of War was cool, but did it break the record for the most sells in one day OF ANY ENTERTAINMENT ITEM. Not just videogames, but movies, books and CD's too. It has remained the most popular online game for over a year. Just think about that when your insulting one of the MOST POPULAR games in history.
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synthetictwist - February 21, 2009 11:49 p.m.

343 Guilty Spark doesnt say "You may be Forerunner...", He says "You ARE Forerunner..." Perhaps that doesn't change anything, but 343 was a little more sure of the Chief's Forerunner-ness.
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cgamer125 - January 12, 2009 5 p.m.

For q 5 i think it would be the second "best geuss" cuz theres evidence in the game. for isntance like they sed above there were the terminal letters. and also i think wut Spark ment wen he sed "you may be forerunner but this ring is mine" was that they aren't their children but actualy the chosen heirs of the forerunners. and also some evidence i realized after reading this was that the forerunners built them, so u kinda figure only they can fire em. and if u remember from the end of the level the covenant (i think its that level, well the one where the flood help u stop truth and where the IWHBYD skull is) during 1 of the cinemas truth needs Johnson to start the rings he couldnt do it with out him. he even stated "true, i need your help." so it all kinda adds up to say that they r the heirs to the forerunners.
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