Is Chief really dead? This fan’s perspective.

The loss of Master Chief

With those words, it was proclaimed that on the date October 27 2560, the Master Chief has died.

Walk with me, as I explore a possible Halo without Master Chief…and with him still in the fight!

First….that date if true is 2 years removed from the timeline of Halo 5 Guardians, which is 2558. In fact, Halo 5 is just 6 months after Halo 4. I’ve heard that the date was meant to be 2558. I find that a HUGE error if the video proclaims 2560, when it’s 2558. Doubtful 343 would make that kind of mistake, at this point in the game. (Pun intended)

Okay, so first let’s look at the latter date. Oct, 27 2560. That being a couple years after the events of Halo 5, could this actually be a vision of the future in which Master Chief actually dies in Halo 6??? That would seem the most logical if you go with the 2560 year instead of 2558.

Since that’s still a bit away, no need to dwell on that. Instead, lets focus on Oct, 27 2558. Of course the date is the same with exception to the year, of the release of Halo 5 Guardians and Chief’s death. Definitely not a coincidence. In the death announcement trailer (at the end of this article if you need a refresher) we see a presumed Guardian destroying a city. This is from a birds eye view looking nearly straight down. We only see the thrusters and a little bit of the back of the Guardian.

We know from the announcement that Chief (or at least his armor) is trapped under huge chunks of debris. So he looks pretty dead…right? I mean, his visor ‘turns off’.

If this truly is the case, what are the implications of this event?

• Will Chief die at the end of Halo 5?
• Is he killed by the Guardian by way of the city debris?
• Was he killed by Locke and his body was left there only to be covered later by the city debris?
• Does Locke become the new central character of the Halo franchise?
• If so, what happens to Blue team? Fireteam Osiris?

Let’s look at in-game/lore next.

The Master Chief is dead, but he has not succeeded in stopping the Guardians. We know this again from the announcement trailer. So someone else or a team of others are tasked to stop the Guardians. While Blue team is legendary within the UNSC and their own records impressive, they do not have the resume that Chief does. Well in fact, noone does.  He’s saved humanity a few times over. Even the whole galaxy.

Is Locke really the guy to step up and take Cheif’s place? From what we know of him from Nightfall, he’s basically a manhunter. Not really a prerequisite for being the new savior of humanity. He also doesn’t have the FOUR decades of combat experience. Yes, he has some. However, much of that is with ONI and only a very SHORT time as a Spartan.

The other issue here is life experiences. Chief like his fellow Spartan IIs where trained to be super soldiers. They are singularly focused. Especially so when on a mission. We’ve already seen that Locke isn’t completely that focused. This referencing Nightfall. He failed his team, saving only himself and Macer. True that only two could be saved by the end. However, the initial mission didn’t go as planned. Undoubtedly more could have been saved. His not even recognizing until too late that Aiken had rigged it, shows that he really isn’t as perceptive as he is made out to be.

If not Locke, then who? I along with others had thought that Thorne was being groomed for this position. Unfortunately with the lukewarm perception from the overall community towards Spartan Ops, 343 (if they had even planned it this way) canned that idea.

Likewise, many were soured on Palmer as well, seeing her as being too brash.

So Locke was concocted. Not a bad character preset, but definitely not at the level Chief is/was.

The UNSC without Chief?

There are heroes in every war. Someone steps up. Though none may be as successful as Chief, someone(s) would try to fill that void. Would Chief be forgotten? Well we know from present day history that war heroes of old are not forgotten. However, our current society seems much more focused on what the ‘it’ thing is or the ‘flavor of the month’ kind of thing is. In this case, that’s Locke, or rather what 343 wants you to think.

What Chief’s death could mean to the franchise.

Okay, I have GOT to have bullet points here…

• Chief is the marquee character to Halo/XBOX, akin to how Mario is for Nintendo
• The potential loss of gaming fans form the loss of the main character of the franchise
• What if Locke doesn’t pan out as hoped for?
• Those into the lore of Halo might leave the franchise

As the marquee figure for Halo AND XBOX, it would be absolutely ludicrous to kill Chief off. We do NOT need to have that much realism in a video game. In fact, we NEED to have someone to believe in, even if that someone is fictional. Chief represents the hero we need to have today. Regardless of his social shortcomings, he gets the job done when it comes to the mission. And that really is all that matters here. Humanizing Chief is an iffy thing. Sure, we can get under the skin of Chief to get to know him more, possibly. The thing is, what more is there to really know? He was abducted at 6, trained to be a super solider, has 40 years of training and battlefield experience, both with his own team and Cortana. That’s it. He’s NOT that complicated. Why would he now pause? He spent decades with Blue team. The loss of Cortana with whom he really only spent a couple of months with (Cryo time does NOT count), shouldn’t affect him that much, even if she was literally inside his head.

His brother and sisters in Blue team are now back with him, so he doesn’t need to become an emotional mess. And really…I don’t want to see that. This is a VIDEO game. I very much enjoy the lore of Halo. However, when things start to get this deep, it feels a little strange to me.

Just imagine if Nintendo said, “Mario is dead, he will no longer be in any more games.” What kind of uproar would that receive? No doubt international attention. Sadly Chief isn’t quite up to Mario, but still, not having him in games anymore would most certainly affect people internationally. Is 343/XBOX/Microsoft really that willing to sacrifice fans for the sake of moving a story in a different direction?

Speaking of this…

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming though. In the beginning cut scene of Halo 4, Halsey is being asked questions and comes to the realization that they mean to rep[lace Chief. So we already knew back then. We just didn’t choose to believe it would really happen. We had heard rumors that 343 wasn’t going to bring backSteve Downes and Jen Taylor (Chief and Cortana respectively). Thankfully they did, but they also DID kill off Cortana.

Though, she seems to possibly be making an appearance in Halo 5, even if only as some sort of mental break on the part of Master Chief.

The loss of Halo gamers who enjoy the lore and more specifically Chief as the lead character is something that should be seriously weighed. Just think to yourselves..What it a good chunk of fans leave over this? Halo’s gamer presence has been in decline for awhile. The botched release of the Master Chief Collection didn’t help. Not Chief’s fault, BTW. So why risk losing even MORE of the core fans? Just doesn’t add up.

Now with all of this effort being put into Locke, what if he doesn’t pan out? What if in fact he turns out to be a disappointment as Spartan Ops unfortunately became (BTW, I should note here that I LOVED Spartan Ops). Then what? 343 has to make yet another character to take Chief’s place? Or do they try to bring either Thorne of Palmer into that position? Again, it doesn’t add up. I don’t mind having another strong character, as Locke is being portray as. But not to take over Chief’s role. Instead, I’d rather see 343 do a spin-off game with Locke and Osiris, but still Have Chief as the main LIVING character/face of Halo.

Simply put, Halo without Master Chief is NOT Halo anymore. It might as well just be any other Sci-Fi shooter out there. Sure, you can have your warthogs and ghosts; Spartans and Elites. Not having Chief though? Well, does 343 think Halo can live on multiplayer alone? I know there are some within that would hope for that. Again though, the glory days of Halo being the major eSports game have come and gone. Will it be a competitor again? Definitely has a shot. But again referencing the HMCC, it’s likely not going to take the top spot. All the effort being put into the professional gaming side of Halo has also started to alienate those who came to the game for the fun of it. Many for the fun of the Campaign and playing as the Master Chief.

I just really can’t see a GOOD reason why he should be killed off.

What are the effects of keeping him alive? Well, there are still enemies to fight. What of the Precursors? How about a contingent of Forerunners that actually survived the Halo Array’s blast? Another alien race altogether? There is still PLENTY of room for Chief to be in this franchise.

So we’re now back to the question. Is Chief really dead? Some fans have speculated that it’s ONI propaganda as the in-game explanation. That could very well be. I personally don’t even like the idea of 343 toying with the notion of killing Chief off.

I don’t think he’s dead in this game. He’s just TOO important to Halo and XBOX as well. My straightforward opinion is that it would be a monumental (emphasis on mental) mistake if he’s killed off.

So help me, if he is killed off in this game, I will seriously consider shuttering the doors here. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy multiplayer. But when I don’t have friends on to game with in Halo, I readily jump into campaign. Being the bad ass Master Chief still gives me that rush after all of these years. I don’t want that taken away.

Okay, I’ve about said my peace here. The announcement vid is below if you need a refresher.

Normally I’d ask your thoughts on the subject here. However, since this was rather taxing on me to write (I was frustrated a bit at the notion of Chief not being in Halo), this will be a closed article. Any replies as such will not be posted.

Huh, almost forgot the most important part…

NO, I do not believe he is dead as stated.

This entry was posted in Halo 5 Guardians by Sal. Bookmark the permalink.

About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal