Although lots of the teasers for Halo 5: Guardians are focused on the upcoming campaign story, some of the most compelling viral marketing has been about the franchise's past. As a new protagonist is being added to the picture, 343 Industries is making sure that fans know Master Chief and his mysterious backstory will still play a major role in Halo 5's story.
In the long waits between Halo 5 teaser trailers, fans are able to entertain themselves by listening to the Hunt the Truth podcast. The faux-Serial style narrative follows journalist Ben Giraud's investigation into Master Chief's history. The second episode explored conflicting reports about the death of John-117 at age six and the third episode continues digging into the hero's childhood secrets.
Episode three is titled Critical Condition and is all about Master Chief's home planet. The narrator interview's a retired military officer, who is lounging on a beach resort on one of Saturn's rings, to speak with about the Chief's home planet. Here's the official synopsis:
"Conversations with retired military paint very different pictures of John. More questions arise about John’s home planet and his involvement in a violent training incident. The cracks in the official account widen, and Benjamin is drawn in."
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Before the episode starts exploring Chief's home planet, Ben continues his investigations about John's supposed death at age 6 that he began in episode two. The reporter's desire to get to the bottom of the paradox almost gets him fired and he tries to move on, but more mysteries pop up almost immediately as he struggles to understand Master Chief's childhood.
The retired military officer who Ben interviews early in the episode is Walker, a soldier who attended boot camp with John. Walker reveals that although John was only 16, he quickly became a leader in the group. His story sounds very government-approved and doesn't contain anything but compliments to the war hero.
The episode turns to less credible sources throughout and more conspiracy theories emerge. The first unapproved source tells an unbelievable story about a 13-year-old John being put in a boxing ring with four ODST soldiers that led to the death of two of the soldiers. Although it's no secret that Spartans receive mild augmentations, the ethical implications of the military augmenting a 13-year-old fly in the face of plenty of regulations.
The episode also reveals that boxing had been outlawed on Chief's home planet years ago, which contradicts many stories from John's supposed boxing coach. This may sound like a minor detail, but if the boxing coach's story is full of lies, then everything Ben (and the world) thinks he knows about Chief's history might be just as inaccurate.
The inconsistencies continue as the stories of Elysium City's takeover by the Insurrectionists are called into questions. As Ben gets closer to the truth, it's hard not to worry that he is putting himself in the crosshairs of whoever has orchestrated the elaborate web of lies about Master Chief and his home planet.
When Halo 5 is released in October, we expect to see Agent Locke dealing with some of the repercussions of all the lies surrounding the iconic war hero.
How do you think the lies surrounding Master Chief's history will play into Halo 5: Guardians? Let us know in the comments.
Halo 5: Guardians is set to release on the Xbox One on October 27, 2015.
Source: Hunt the Truth