Mysterious Halo teaser points to Atriox from Halo Wars 2 reappearing

The Halo Twitter account shared a short teaser earlier today, suggesting that a certain Halo Wars 2 villain could appear in Halo Infinite.

The short video, titled "Signal detected. Tag designation: Foe", is a transmission from an unnamed speaker. Here's the full message: "The hour approaches. Forces occupy the ring. Within hours it will be under our control. Humanity will burn. Their brazen defiance will be all but a memory. No more Prophets, no more lies. We stand together, brothers to the end. We are his will. We are his legacy. We are the Banished." 

Two lines jump out here: "We are the Banished" and "No more Prophets." These lines all but confirm that the speaker here is Atriox, the leader of the Banished faction in the Halo universe. The Banished are ex-Covenant soldiers who chose to follow Atriox, who was a central character in Halo Wars 2. Atriox rebelled against the Prophets that lead the Covenant, and it seems he's now set his sights on a new Halo ring - potentially Zeta Halo, which has been the subject of much theorycrafting. It's possible that this will play out in a new Halo Wars installment, but given the timing, it's more likely that Atriox will appear in Halo Infinite. 

We haven't seen or heard much about Halo Infinite in quite some time, so it's nice to see the franchise moving again, even if it is just for one minute. Fortunately, we already know Halo Infinite will make an appearance at the July Xbox Series X event, and it's apparently just one of many first-party titles on the docket. 

Halo Infinite will be an Xbox Series X launch title this holiday season, and it's also coming to PC. Like other first-party next-gen Xbox games, it will also be on Xbox Game Pass at launch.