It may have taken a few years, but we finally know the real name for The Weapon, Cortana's replacement AI introduced in Halo Infinite. Designed as a clone of Master Chief's former companion, The Weapon has operated under her pseudonym until now.
During this year's Halo World Championship, Jen Taylor, the voice of Cortana and The Weapon, participated in reading passages of upcoming novel Halo: Edge of Dawn by Kelly Gay, with Steve Downes, Master Chief's long-running video game performer. The excerpt revealed the AI's real name: "I am UNSC AI serial number CN0435-0, name designation Joyeuse."
That's pronounced 'joy-oose,' if you're finding it tricky. There was applause, since we've been waiting for this since 2021. Joyeuse is the name of a sword wielded by Carlonginian Emperor Charlemagne, a significant political force in Europe through the mid-to-late 700s. While that may seem an obtuse reference, it carries on a lineage started within Bungie back before the Covenant.
The Weapon’s New Name Revealed at HCS Worlds 2025from r/halo
Marathon, Bungie's futuristic FPS from 1994 and very much a precursor to Halo, contained an AI named Durandal, named for a word carried by Roland, a French Paladin with ties to Charlemagne. Cortana, then, comes from the blade of Ogier, another French Paladin. Charlemagne has clearly remained a benchmark despite Halo Studios (formerly known as 343 Industries) taking over the mainline games from Bungie some years ago now.
While it is a fun reveal, we've no real clue when it's going to matter. Several Halo projects are in the works, with Halo: Campaign Evolved, a full remake of the first game in Unreal Engine 5 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, coming next year. Future installments are expected to be multi-platform from now on as well. Whenever Halo 7 arrives, you can bet we're all saying Joyeuse in our heads until it's properly made canon.
