The Next Halo Game Must Spill The Beans on a Burning Halo Infinite Question

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The Next Halo Game Must Spill The Beans on a Burning Halo Infinite Question

Highlights

  • Halo Infinite introduced the Endless, a mysterious alien race immune to the Halo rings and potentially as dangerous as the Flood.
  • The Banished allied with the Harbinger to revive the rest of the Endless, posing a new threat for Master Chief in Halo 7’s story.
  • Halo 7 needs to delve deeper into the Endless’ history to establish them as a credible and formidable antagonist for the franchise.

As a veteran gamer with decades of Halo experience under my belt, I can confidently say that the Endless have piqued my interest since their introduction in Halo Infinite. The potential for these mysterious aliens to become a formidable threat in the Halo franchise is immense, but it seems that 343 Industries has only scratched the surface of their history and capabilities thus far.

2021 saw the return of beloved aspects in the Halo series with Halo Infinite, including Master Chief’s armor inspired by the classic Mark 6 Gen 1 Mjolnir and the depiction of an authentic Halo ring. While 343 Industries did pay homage to veteran fans, they also introduced fresh elements such as brute-crafted voltaic weaponry and The Endless. These mysterious beings, symbolized by The Harbinger, are rumored to be more menacing than the Flood, but specifics about this new alien race are scarce. With expectations that The Endless will serve as the primary adversaries in Halo 7, it’s crucial for 343 Industries to explore their past beyond Halo Infinite to establish The Endless as a formidable enemy.

Halo Infinite: The Endless Explained

343 Industries unveiled to players, through audio logs found and interactions with The Harbinger and Zeta Halo’s monitors, a mysterious being known as the Endless, a subject the Forerunners had aimed to conceal forever. After the activation of the Halo array that annihilated all intelligent life in the galaxy, remnants of both Forerunner and ancilla found that one species survived the Halo’s activation: The Endless, also called the Xalanyn. These Forerunner remnants were puzzled by this species as they had never encountered them during their empire’s thousand-year reign, and they seemed immune to the Halo rings. This raised suspicions that the Endless might also be resistant to the Flood, as both entities target an organism’s immune system.

The Endless, as a powerful, sentient species, put the Forerunner’s plan on restarting the galaxy and ushering humanity to claim the Mantle of Responsibility at risk. Due to this threat, Forerunner remnants ultimately sentenced the entire Xalanyn race to banishment within genetic repositories called cylixes on Zeta Halo. To further protect emerging species and keep knowledge of the Endless a secret, Forerunner remnants attempted to destroy all records of the species’ existence, but few remained on the Ark and Zeta Halo itself. Installation 07’s monitor 117649 Despondent Pyre felt remorse for these actions and isolated herself from contact with the other Halo rings.

The Harbinger’s Resurrection and Fall

In the latter half of the 26th century, Atriox uncovered information about the Endless on the Ark and set out for Zeta Halo to enlist them in a fresh conflict against humankind following the devastation of his world Doisac. With support from War Chief Escharum and human captives, the Banished successfully reanimated the Harbinger, as well as a lesser species known as gasgira or skimmers. The Harbinger joined forces with the Banished to resurrect her kin, but was ultimately destroyed by Master Chief at the exact moment Atriox gained access to more of the Endless’ cylixes. In the climactic ending of Halo Infinite, it is also disclosed that the potent Forerunner ancilla Offensive Bias was mobilized to address the Xalanyn danger.

The skimmers aren’t Xalanyn but are suspected to be related to them in some way due to the gasgira sharing similar characteristics with the Harbinger and her support for enlisting them in the Banished’s military.

The Endless’ Potential in Halo 7

In Cortana’s estimation, the Endless are considered more dangerous than the Flood, yet there is no clear evidence in “Halo Infinite” or additional media that supports this claim regarding the Xalanyn. If skimmers share some connection with the Endless, they fail to demonstrate the deadliness of the Endless as they can be quickly defeated with a single pistol shot and seem incapable of flying much higher than five feet above the ground. The Harbinger, who displayed powerful shock blasts and teleportation abilities, appeared formidable, but she was also defeated rather easily by Master Chief, who faced a more menacing adversary in the brute chieftain from the Silent Auditorium.

In Halo 7, it’s crucial to demonstrate that the Endless pose a threat equivalent to or even greater than the Flood. While we know little about the Xalanyn’s culture prior to their exile, some fans speculate they might be related to the Precursors, an alien race annihilated by the Forerunners and who eventually gave rise to the Flood. This connection could help explain their resistance to the Halo arrays and the Flood. Moreover, it could shed light on how they might endanger the galaxy, as the Precursors fought a massive war with the Forerunners millions of years ago. In contrast to previous expansions like the Didact in Halo Infinite, the new threat should be fully developed within the game itself.

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2024-08-17 21:23