Halo: Empty Throne
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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512 pages[3] |
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9781668052129[3] |
Halo: Empty Throne is a Halo novel by longtime franchise writer Jeremy Patenaude, released on February 18, 2025.[3][4] It was announced at the Canon Fodder Live event at the Halo World Championship on October 13, 2023.[1]
The novel is set in the late months of 2559 and early months of 2560, around the time of the start of Halo Infinite. The story focuses on new characters and explores what is happening in the rest of the galaxy away from the conflict on Installation 07.[5]
Official summary[edit]
| “ | 2559. It has been a year since the rogue artificial intelligence Cortana seized control of the Domain, an otherworldly dimension housing a vast information network. With an array of Forerunner weapons at her disposal, Cortana set out to enforce an authoritarian peace on the civilizations of the galaxy. But as the United Nations Space Command flagship Infinity prepares to strike against Cortana at Zeta Halo, another plan has also been set in motion.
An ancient access point hidden on a seemingly insignificant human colony has become the focus of a parallel effort to claim the Domain and its immeasurable capabilities. The UNSC, however, needs a key: a living, forsaken product of an old war. As a new generation of heroes rise to meet this challenge and Cortana's pursuit of control reaches a desperate and sudden crescendo, a cunning, ruthless warrior emerges from the shadows of the Banished, who has vowed to fill the new power vacuum by any means necessary...[1] |
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Plot synopsis[edit]
Empty Throne opens with a flashback to the Battle of Installation 04, depicting the opening of the level Halo in Halo: Combat Evolved, with Master Chief stepping out of his Bumblebee lifepod. The scene then cuts to Office of Naval Intelligence agent Octavio Morales, who is reviewing footage from the Chief's mission to Alpha Halo in preparation for an upcoming mission. Morales then meets with Special Forces Captain Annabelle Richards, who confirms that a battlecruiser, UNSC Victory of Samothrace, is ready to get underway for their upcoming mission: the rescue of admirals Serin Osman and Terrence Hood from Rossbach's World.
Victory deploys a U81 Condor with Gray Team to Rossbach's World to retrieve the admirals and a briefcase carrying a number of AI inside it, but are interrupted by the emergence of a Guardian Custode over the planet. After being ambushed by armigers, the group make it back to Condor Zulu 079 and are extracted, with Victory's Captain Abigail Cole (daughter of the famous admiral Preston Cole) present to take possession of the briefcase. While retrieving the admirals was a part of the mission, the primary objective was not their security, but to ensure the briefcase (and its contents) was returned to UNSC possession. Cole then debriefs the admirals on everything they had missed since their exile at the beginning of the Created uprising, revealing that the UNSC have discovered a network of nodes (known as the Lithos) to connect with the domain, and believe that once Cortana is removed from the domain, they will have a unique opportunity to take control of it. While UNSC Infinity is preparing for an upcoming mission to destroy Cortana (as depicted in Halo Infinite), the UNSC needs a missing piece of the puzzle, information hidden inside Black-Box - one of the briefcase AIs. It is believed that the brain donor for Black-Box hid a clone of Doctor Catherine Halsey out of guilt for his work in the SPARTAN-II program; such a clone would be the only being capable of using Cortana's connection with the domain, as they would share neurological traits. As BB is derived from the original scientist, he may still have this information inside him.
Simultaneously, the Swords of Sanghelios are conducting a mission over Kus'kah, intercepting a warship carrying a high-ranking official of a remnant faction named the Order of Restoration. For the past six years, the carrier Shadow of Intent has been charged with hunting down San'Shyuum war criminals associated with the Order, and they are now attempting to capture one such official, Kafo Dein, in the hopes of learning more. However, the mission fails and Kafo'Dein's ship self-destructs, with Dein's escape pod shot down in the ensuing dogfight. After the mission, Shadow of Intent meets with another ship to share intel with its shipmistress Mahkee 'Chava; an automated probe tracking a battlecruiser working for Sali 'Nyon's Covenant has intelligence on the whereabouts of Shadow of Intent's most-wanted target Dovo Nesto. There is one catch: he is believed to be located on a human colony, Venezia. meaning the Swords are required to ask permission from the United Nations Space Command to deploy there. Tul 'Juran expresses outrage that the Swords are forced to treat the humans as an equal, though she is reprimanded by Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum. As it happens, the Swords' need to head to Venezia may line up with the UNSC's goals, so the two sides arrange to meet at Nysa to discuss their options.
The book's third main storyline is introduced focusing on an ONI private contractor James Solomon, formerly the SPARTAN-II known as James-005. Once believed-killed during a conflict over Reach, James was allowed to retire from military service and do the missions that even ONI preferred to look the other way about, being paid handsomely in return. Along with his personal dumb AI Lola, James is tasked with eliminating a slaving convoy operating on Terceira consisting of six Paris-class heavy frigates. James deploys aboard the ships and begins setting demolition charges on them, though is soon attacked by its Janissary defenders. After narrowly escaping and destroying the convoy, he wonders about the lives of the innocent victims in the convoy, noting that his soul-crushing work for ONI and his wish to retire to a world he has been able to hide from interstellar survey catalogs, Suntéreó. After the mission's completion, James returns to his home on Far Isle, where he decides to quit working with ONI.
Aboard a Banished warship Ghost of Helotry, a Jiralhanae War Chief named Severan, the son of Tartarus, meets with Atriox and his council. Severan explains that he has intelligence about UNSC Infinity's upcoming mission to Installation 07, and he urges that action must be taken. Atriox responds in kind, noting the need for urgency, and that he has plans of his own relating to the recovery of a superweapon on Netherop (something depicted in Halo: Outcasts). Despite initial hesitancy from some of his council, Atriox is impressed by Severan's initiative and awards him authority over all Banished forces not set to accompany Atriox to Installation 07 with a simple mission: to keep a watch for any move the UNSC may make that the Banished have not already accounted for, and to defeat them in whatever they try. After departing, Severan returns to his clan's home on Warial. While making preparations, he bears witness to the destruction of the planet Warial orbits; the Jiralhanae homeworld Doisac. Almost immediately after Doisac is destroyed by the Created, Severan is contacted by Escharum and instructed to enact vengeance against humanity; a human AI destroyed their world, so it is fit that the Banished should destroy Earth. Severan begins gathering any survivors he can and orders them to a rally point, while he makes a personal mission to Venezia.
On Nysa, Victory of Samothrace and Shadow of Intent's crews meet at an ONI facility, Site Z, alongside ONI Admiral Jilan al-Cygni and Spartan Commander Laurette Agryna. The group collectively open up Black-Box for interrogation, finding him severely compromised and nearing a state of rampancy. He briefly taunts Captain Cole by offering to provide the true status of her father, though she refuses and sticks to the mission. After being prompted, Black-Box informs the UNSC that the clone they are looking for is a girl named Chloe Hall, and was hidden in the city of Mindoro, Cascade. During the meeting the UNSC also provide permission for Shadow of Intent to deploy to Venezia, themselves concerned that if Dovo Nesto is working with Sali 'Nyon, this may be a resurgent Covenant threat too great to handle. However, as a corollary to Shadow's request, Victory of Samothrace is also to accompany it to Venezia, with the UNSC wanting to investigate who else Nesto may be working with. Back on Far Isle, James is contacted in person by Octavio Morales, who promises him one final job, and then he'll be able to wash his hands of ONI. After some hesitation, James agrees and picks up his new mission: abducting Chloe Hall.
On Venezia, Severan meets with Dovo Nesto, where it is revealed that he is a double-agent secretly working for Nesto and the Order of Restoration, with Nesto having always been a father figure to Severan in his youth where his own father was absent. While they talk, Nesto reveals that he is aware of the UNSC/Swords plan regarding the domain, and that he intends to take it for himself and ascend to godhood. Severan hopes that by steering the Banished to serve Nesto, he can retain a place as Nesto's right hand when this happens. Their meeting is interrupted by the arrival of the Shadow-Victory task force, and Severan instructs Dovo Nesto to come with him, lest he be captured or killed. A firefight ensues on the ground, with Nesto's personal guard facing off against several Shadow of Intent Sangheili troops alongside Gray Team. Despite the effort, Nesto escapes aboard Severan's Trespasser dropship. The dropship heads back into space, where the two allied warships are facing off against Severan's fleet of six dreadnoughts and his personal flagship Heart of Malice. Wanting Nesto taken alive, they do not fire on his dropship, and as a result he is able to escape onto Severan's ship. The space battle severely damages Victory of Samothrace and Shadow of Intent though they are able to down four dreadnoughts, at which point a third fleet of warships belonging to Sali 'Nyon arrive in the system. With both sides believing themselves unable to also take on 'Nyon, Severan orders a retreat, though not before broadcasting a taunt to Victory of Samothrace, warning the upcoming destruction of Earth. Victory of Samothrace immediately departs back to Earth to warn the Home Fleet of the threat, while Shadow of Intent retreats to a Covenant shipyard for repairs.
On Cascade, James prowls the streets of Mindoro undercover in search of the orphanage where Chloe Hall was deposited as a child. After some searching, he finds her in the service of a local criminal named Miko. Initially expecting her to be held captive, he fights through Miko and his guards to abduct Chloe, before making his escape on a siege bike now-pursued by Mindoro's corrupt law enforcement. He narrowly makes it onto the city's space elevator, escaping reprisal and learning that Chloe acted as Miko's bookkeeper, demonstrating an advanced intellect for a teenager. However, he remains steadfast in wanting to simply get the mission finished so he can retire, not knowing or caring why ONI needs her.
Victory of Samothrace arrives at the Sol system, and spends the next day undergoing repair and rearmament after its battle of Venezia. The following day, a decommissioning ceremony is held on Bengaluru Station for Black-Box. Almost immediately after the ceremony, Severan's armada of over a thousand warships arrives in Earth orbit. The Home Fleet immediately responds, though it is immediately clear that the UNSC are totally outmatched. As the fleets engage, the two Created Guardians keeping watch over the system also mobilise and begin to use their pulse emitters to disable the ships in combat. However, just as Victory of Samothrace and Heart of Malice are about to be caught by such a blast, the Guardians are taken offline thanks to the simultaneous battle taking place at Installation 07 (aka the opening of Halo Infinite), and as a result both fleets are left confused and off-guard. Realising that Cortana has been defeated, and knowing about the Lithos from Dovo Nesto, Severan orders his fleet depart from the battle despite their near-assured victory if they press the attack now. While he faces pushback from the Eight; the council of chieftains under Severan's command, he is able to convince them that capturing the Lithos is in the Banished's best interests. As they retreat to a known Lithos site on the colony world Boundary, they are pursued by Victory of Samothrace and Battle Group Omega, consisting of four Paris frigates.
On Boundary, James has been given the coordinates of a dead-drop containing his next orders and a syringe which he must administer to Chloe, which Lola estimates is designed to inject her with a "subroutine", presumably related to stopping Cortana. After talking with Chloe, he elects not to inject her, and instead decides to take her to his next coordinates, the city of Tyrrhen, so that he can ask his handlers directly what they intend to do with her. The two head out into the wilderness and are attacked by a Panthedron, though eventually make it to Tyrrhen in time to see the Banished invading the city and setting up their own dig-site there.
Victory of Samothrace and her battlegroup arrive in orbit of Boundary and immediately find themselves stacked against impossible odds. Instead, they deploy a single Condor containing Gray Team, the remnants of Shadow of Intent's crew, and several ODSTs and SPARTAN-IVs onto the planet's surface while the battlegroup does what it can to distract the Banished fleet in orbit long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The ground team makes its way into Tyrrhen on foot, while James receives new orders informing him that the ONI team he was supposed to meet with will not be able to meet him, and as such he needs to deliver Chloe Hall to the Lithos site directly. He ultimately elects to abandon this mission after learning what ONI intend for Chloe, instead opting to try and keep her safe and extract her offworld.
As the Banished occupy Tyrrhen, an armada of Covenant warships under Sali 'Nyon's command show up in orbit, passing through the Banished defensive shell with clearance codes from Severan's fleet. Severan realizes that Dovo Nesto had given the clearance codes and confronts his Daskalo, who had revealed himself alongside 'Nyon to members of the Eight, ultimatly confirming that Dovo Nesto had promised him and 'Nyon the same prestige. Dovo Nesto would attempt to kill Severan, only for the War Chief to cut off the High Lord's arm, causing conflict to break out between the Banished and Covenant. Meanwhile, the UNSC/Swords team get set up in a sniper position overlooking the courtyard where the argument is taking place, though at the moment where they take their killshots, they are betrayed by Spartan Merrick and Sangheili Vul 'Soran, who both attack the team, revealing their traitor allegiances. The gunshots ignite conflict between the already-tense Covenant and Banished forces throughout Tyrrhen and fighting starts both on the ground and in orbit. The massive space battle is eventually joined by Shadow of Intent as well as UNSC reinforcement fleets from Earth, resulting in a three-way melee and massive casualties on all sides. During this fighting Victory of Samothrace once again comes head-to-head with Heart of Malice and, seeing no possible route to capture the Lithos on Boundary, is ordered to fire a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon round at the site, ensuring its destruction for everyone. After this, Victory is rammed by Malice and crash-lands on Boundary's surface.
In the aftermath of Victory of Samothrace's orbital bombardment, Tyrrhen and its surrounding regions are devastated, though fighting among the survivors continues amid evacuation efforts. Tul 'Juran attempts to hunt down Dovo Nesto though is pursued and disarmed by Vul 'Soran, who then abandons 'Juran to tend to Nesto. As Severan converges on Nesto's position to kill him for his betrayal, decapitating Sali 'Nyon in the process, Severan is stabbed in the back by 'Soran's energy sword. Dovo Nesto and Vul 'Soran then escape in a Revenant transport. James fights off numerous Banished soldiers attempting to kill or capture Chloe and ultimately sacrifices himself to ensure her survival, using his Mark V armor's built-in self-destruct to kill the remain troops around him so that Chloe can escape to his ship. After this, all of James posessions; his prowler Cataphract, his equipment, Lola, and the planet Suntéreó, are left to Chloe.
Weeks later, Abigail Cole wakes up in a hospital on Luna, having been recovered from the wreck of her ship. She is debriefed by admirals Hood and Osman, and Captain Richards, and given new orders for once she has recovered: hunt down Severan and Heart of Malice. Simultaneously, shipmaster 'Vadum consoles Tul 'Juran aboard Shadow of Intent, explaining that 'Soran's betrayal was not her fault and that he needs her strong for their next mission: locating Dovo Nesto alongside Gray Team.
Two days later, on January 1, 2560, Heart of Malice arrives in the Oth Sonin system to observe the still-smouldering ruins of Doisac. Severan, having been saved from death by medical intervention, now has a set of artificial breathing equipment on his chest and neck after the damage inflicted on him by Vul 'Soran. Watching the burning wreckage of Doisac, the War Chief fully commits himself to the Banished cause, realizing now the extent of how he had been betrayed by Dovo Nesto. On the same day, Dovo Nesto is aboard Breath of Annihilation, the assault carrier formerly 'Nyon's flagship, healing his injuries thanks to Forerunner gene-forge technology. He informs Ayit 'Sevi that 'Nyon is dead, and then informs Vul 'Soran that the ship is to head to Cloister.
Finally, Admiral al-Cygni is aboard her prowler Akkadian still in orbit of Boundary. She communes with an ONI agent FIXER, informing him of the damage done to the Lithos and how it has faltered Project BOOKWORM. She then recieves a report from Ayit 'Sevi informing her of Dovo Nesto's next move.
In the adjunct epilogue chapter, Forthencho watches the carnage of the battle over Boundary via neural transmission, his essence contained within the domain. After commenting on the battle after the Lythos is destroyed, he returns to the domain and observes the sunrise alongside the Ur-Didact.
Appearances[edit]
Production notes[edit]
A preview of the novel was shown during the Canon Fodder live event at the Halo World Championship 2024 on October 4, 2024.[6]
Jeremy Patenaude, the author, explained in an interview that his hope was to capture the spirit, that magic of earlier stories with similar themes and concepts, more than treading brand new ground. "As an old school Halo fan who poured over the first Halo novels over twenty years ago, my hope was to capture some of that magic here while setting the table for future exploration," said Jeremy Patenaude.
Believing he might not get another opportunity to tell a Halo story, he set out to tell a "distinctively Halo story" as he put it, even if it meant relying on some clichés such as "the ineffable Forerunner tech MacGuffin."
He also entertained the idea of this book's story being translated into a game. While he believes the book and games are different and it'd be hard to tell this kind of story in a game, especially a shooter, he did point out certain elements such as James-005 taking down an entire slave ship convoy or war sphinx dogfighting as things that could potentially be translated into gameplay moments.[7]
Gallery[edit]
A parody of the novel's cover art created by community writer Alex Wakeford.
External links[edit]
- Text previews
- Audiobook preview
- Halo: Empty Throne | Chapter 2 Preview | Audio Excerpt - An Audio Excerpt of the novel's second chapter.
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c YouTube - Halo, HaloWC 2023 Community Stage – Day 1 (Forge, Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, Keith David, Lore, Digsite +) (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2023)
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - In-Zane in the Membrane (Retrieved on May 15, 2024) [archive]
- ^ a b c d e Simon & Schuster, Halo: Empty Throne (Retrieved on Nov 16, 2023) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - O Come All Ye Fiction (Retrieved on Dec 19, 2024) [archive]
- ^ YouTube - HALO, Community Stage at Halo World Championship 2024 – Day 1 (Retrieved on Oct 4, 2024)
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Road to HaloWC2024 (Retrieved on Sep 13, 2024) [archive]
- ^ paulsemel.com, Exclusive Interview: “Halo: Empty Throne” Author Jeremy Patenaude (Retrieved on Feb 24, 2025) [archive]
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