Lord Hood, and his raw hamburger, face looks over a dusk lit savanna. A military band plays a dirge that is not taps. A montage of the Arbiter, a crashing spaceship, and then welders. Welders? Funerals of the future are weird. Seven soldiers fire their Battle Rifles three times. Considering that BRs fire three bullets at a time, this would be a 63 gun solute.
Hood says that he never forgives the Elites for the first strike but he does owe the Arbiter his thanks. Back up in the beer-bottle-opener shaped Shadow of Intent, the Elites discuss how strange it is that there are no more profits. They take off to head home.
Back down at the funeral, the number 117 is scrawled really poorly in the side of the memorial (Master Chief’s number). So, Master Chief is dead. Don't look so glum. On the bright side, if he had survived he probably would have been pressured into a political career and if John McCain, Wes Clark, John Kerry, James Stockdale, and Bob Dole (among others) are any indication, war heroes just don't get elected. Its best that Master Chief went out a martyr instead of losing in an early primary for Space President.
The screen turns black and a postcard of somewhere in Africa appears and overtop of it a love note from Bungie appears and the Credits roll.
Tons of names...
Luke Smith is given a writing credit !?!
Special thanks screen....
Team Ninja? Further evidence of the Bungie an TN love affair. Check out this interview with Itagaki and look for the Master Chief on his table.
Combine that with the unlockable Hyabusa armor in multiplayer, the Dead or Alive playable Spartan and it is apparent that the two developers are playing love swords with each other.
Marketing:
There only three names? How did those three people do all that we see now and I wonder which one of them commissioned the Slurpy cups.
After the credits, Chief is floating through space’s vacuum. Space junk float through the hull. He and Cortana were on the wrong of the portal as it collapsed - so much for that luck that cortana was bragging about at the opening cut scene. It looks like half the ship made it through (the one the Arbiter was in). Cortana compliments him on doing everything and then she starts a beacon. Chief puts himself in a cryogenic tube to be held in status until they are found. As the door to the tube closes he says “Wake me When you need me.” I wonder if that is being said more to Cortana or to Microsoft. Full circle, this is where we started this saga, in a cryogenic tube.
Hour 24 min | *******