Editing Halo: The Third Life

{{Title|''Halo: The Third Life''}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Redirect|The Third Life|the similarly-named [[Hunt the Truth]] episode|Episode 05: Where the Third Life Shines}}
{{Novel infobox
|name=''Halo: The Third Life''
|variant=Anthology
|image=[[File:TheThirdLife Cover.jpg|300px]]
|author=
*[[Alex Wakeford]]
*[[Jeff Easterling]]
|cover artist=[[:Category:Images by William Cameron|William Cameron]]
|illustrator=
|editor=
|audio=[[Alex Wakeford]]
|publisher=[[343 Industries]]
|publication=[[2024#May|May 8, 2024]]
|media=Short story
|length=
|ISBN=
|series=[[Halo Waypoint Chronicle]]s
|preceded=''[[Halo: Fireside]]''
|followed=''[[Halo: Anvil Accord]]''
|multiseries=
|notable=
}}
{{Quote|Spartans have often been thought of as incorruptible symbols of virtue, but that’s just the official story. Some names are known as examples of Spartans having gone rogue, pledging themselves to a variety of causes, and one former-Spartan in particular finds herself on a new path altogether...|Teaser{{Ref/Site|Id=Announce|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/banished-honor-operation-launch#waypointchronicle|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Banished Honor Launch - Halo Infinite CU32|D=30|M=04|Y=2024}}}}
'''''Halo: The Third Life''''' is a short story in the [[Halo Waypoint Chronicle]] series published by [[343 Industries]] on [[2024#May|May 8, 2024]].{{Ref/Twitter|haruspis|1788227335029653631|Alex Wakeford|Quote=New Waypoint Chronicle releases today, featuring the return of Ilsa Zane and a couple of other familiar faces...<br><br>Here's a tiny slice of the cover as a sneak preview 👀|D=08|M=05|Y=2024}} The story is set immediately following the end of [[Hunt the Truth Season 2|Season 2]] of ''[[Hunt the Truth]]'', and is focused on the rogue [[Spartan]] supersoldier [[Ilsa Zane]].{{Ref/Reuse|Announce}}{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-the-third-life|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Halo: The Third Life|D=8|M=5|Y=2024}}

The short, and its theme of [[Banished]]-aligned Spartans, were written and released in conjunction with the ''[[Banished Honor]]'' update for ''[[Halo Infinite]]''. The story acts as a follow-up on characters and themes established in the ''[[Halo: Evolutions]]'' short story ''[[Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss]]'', the comic series ''[[Halo: Initiation]]'', and the aforementioned Season 2 of ''Hunt the Truth''.

''The Third Life'' is set to be included in the [[2026]] print anthology collection ''[[Halo: Waypoint Chronicles - Volume One]]''.{{Ref/Site|Id=HWCCover|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-waypoint-chronicles-volume-one-cover-reveal|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Halo: Waypoint Chronicles – Volume One <nowiki>|</nowiki> Cover Reveal|D=03|M=07|Y=2025}}

==Official synopsis==
{{Article quote|[[2558#October|October 2558]]. After being taken prisoner by the [[Banished]] as chaos erupts across the galaxy, [[Ilsa Zane]]'s hunt for the truth leads her to a new stage of life she never expected...{{Ref/Site|Id=Jiji|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/jilted-jiralhanae|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Community Update - Jilted Jiralhanae|D=02|M=05|Y=2024}}}}

==Summary==
Ilsa Zane, filled with anger and betrayal, confronts with a gun to their head a person from her past. Once, she had dedicated everything to their cause, but now sees them for who they truly are. Before killing them, she wants to recount her story as a "mad Spartan"-turned-traitor aligned with the [[New Colonial Alliance]] and her hunt for the truth that had led her back to this moment.

Zane, living by the mantra "Nobody kills Ilsa Zane," recalls her tumultuous life up to [[2558#October|October 28, 2558]] on [[Laika III]]—from losing everyone and everything when the [[Covenant]] [[Battle of Kholo|destroyed]] [[Kholo]] to her exploitation in the [[SPARTAN-IV program]]. On that day, as the NCA prepared to launch a war against the [[United Nations Space Command]], their plans were jeopardized by [[Maya Sankar|FERO]], an undercover [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] agent. After a [[Skirmish on Conrad's Point|catastrophic event]] at [[Conrad's Point]], where a [[Guardian Custode|massive construct]] emerged and jumped into slipspace, Zane managed to rally the rebels despite FERO's infiltration and the subsequent UNSC airstrike.

Zane tracked FERO to Laika III, intending to kill her and harness the new anomalous power. However, FERO found refuge with a cult called [[Triad]], led by dodgy conman [[Dasc Gevadim]], who claimed these events signaled divine transcendence. The situation became even more chaotic when ONI arrived in force just as another awakening event caused the ground to collapse and Triad followers suspended in the air by gravitational anomalies. Amidst this chaos, Zane took advantage of the UNSC troops' confusion, attacking them brutally with her bare hands until she lost consciousness during the event; she feared her mantra could ironically be her last gasp of thought.

Zane awakened in a makeshift prison, surrounded by humans, including some from her own rebel forces and UNSC troops. A Jiralhanae warrior, over 8.5 feet tall, with light gray skin and crimson-colored armor, loomed over her, intimidating her. A low voice warned her not to look the creature in the eyes. The speaker, Gevadim, explains their dire situation: The Guardian construct, now controlled by an AI, had declared a [[Created|new order of peace]] across the galaxy. However, Zane saw this order as unbelievable as the Triad, so instead focused on her surroundings and fellow captives, too terrified to act.

Gevadim revealed that they were now prisoners of the Banished, a mercenary faction that Zane had only heard rumors about. Agreeing that they cannot wait three days for Zane's tracker to prompt NCA rescue—the amount of time without reports before such action—he proposed a deal with Zane, offering to teach her how to survive the [[Jiralhanae|Brute]]s in exchange for his freedom once her NCA rescue team arrived. Zane reluctantly considered his offer, noting that her implanted tracker should soon alert the NCA to her presence on Laika III. The Jiralhanae returned, and Zane made a bold move by directly challenging the beast much to Gevadim's shock, then attacked it right after it roared, using her unique Spartan augmentations—yet another half-truth on par with the Triad and the Created—to crush its windpipe and bludgeon it to death with its own armor.

She enjoyed the beatdown to the point of maniacal laughter, to the horror of the other prisoners, and dragged the corpse to the wooden gate as a stunt. The six [[Seven|other]] Jiralhanae, led by a chieftain, witnessed her victory over their dead brother—[[Amatus]] as identified. Despite the others' chants for revenge, the chieftain, impressed by Zane's strength, offered her a boon: Dine with them and choose another prisoner to be fed to the pack in her place. Zane, recognizing her weak odds and the danger of leaving Gevadim alive, selected him to die, much to his shock.

After Gevadim's screams faded, Zane recounted how the NCA never came to rescue her within three days; instead, she became part of the Banished, surviving by choosing who would die each day, imagining them with the face of [[Admiral]] [[Mattius Drake]], the NCA leader. In countless days, she eventually earned the respect of the Banished and made a deal with [[Escharum]], their [[War Chief]], when he landed in a size-proportionate ship on-planet, ensuring her survival.

On [[2559#May|May 8, 2559]] aboard the [[NCA D'artagnan|NCA ''D'artagnan'']] in the [[Edolas system]], Zane turns Admiral Drake's command chair to face a viewscreen showing the arrival of a Banished intrusion corvette, the Admiral revealed to be the person at the story's opening. As the vessel approaches, Drake panics. Zane addresses the NCA fleet, declaring a "change in management," denouncing Drake's leadership as weak and cowardly after years of inaction, therefore a square peg in their ideals' round hole.

Escharum steps onto the bridge, the scene revealing a few ensigns dead in their seats and Admiral Drake bound to his command chair. Zane unholsters her pistol and executes Admiral Drake, and declares that the NCA, with its extensive resources—including fleets and agents—and a fervent desire for independence, is now pledged to serve the Banished. Escharum, though not as enamored with humanity as Atriox, acknowledges the strategic advantage of uniting with willing allies like the NCA, so welcomes them into the Banished's fold, promising them a future of hunting, plundering, and never again bowing in submission.

Zane reflects on her actions, feeling no regret for killing Drake, to whom she once owed her life, believing that the NCA's survival depends on eliminating weakness. Finding some truth in Gevadim's sham Triad religion—about the linkage of three internal lives—she contemplates her transformation from an orphan during the [[Human-Covenant War]] to an expendable tool for UNSC propaganda and finally the "Banished Spartan." Escharum quickly sets them to a mission to prove their worth. Zane, now armed with new armor from a slain Spartan, prepares for the challenges ahead, driven by [[Musa Ghanem|a]] [[Sarah Palmer|list]] [[Kree'yat|of]] [[Hieu Dinh|names]] and a readiness for new hunts in the vast [[Milky Way|galaxy]].

==Appearances==
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5
|title-1=Characters|
;Artificial intelligence
*[[Cortana]] {{Im}}
;Human
*[[Dasc Gevadim]]
*[[Hieu Dinh]] {{Mo}}
*[[Ilsa Zane]]
*[[Mattius Drake]] {{1st}}
*[[Maya Sankar]] {{Mo}}
*[[Musa Ghanem]] {{Mo}}
*[[Sarah Palmer]] {{Mo}}

;Jiralhanae
*[[Amatus]] {{1st}}
*[[Atriox]] {{Mo}}
*[[Escharum]]

;Kig-Yar
*[[Tek]] {{Mo}}

;Others
*[[Kree'yat]] {{Fm}}

|title-2=Species|
*[[Human]]
*[[Jiralhanae]]
*[[Kig-Yar]]
**[[T'vaoan]]

|title-3=Organizations|
*[[Covenant remnants]]
**[[Banished]]
**[[Vata 'Gajat's mercenary group]] {{Mo}}
*[[Insurrectionists]]
**[[New Colonial Alliance]]
*[[Unified Earth Government]] {{Mo}}
**[[United Nations Space Command]]
***[[Office of Naval Intelligence]] {{Mo}}
***[[Spartan Operations]]
****[[SPARTAN-IV program]]
***[[UNSC Marine Corps]]
*[[Triad]]

|title-4=Locations|
*[[Edolas system]] {{1st}}
*[[Kholo]] {{Mo}}
*[[Laika system]]
**[[Laika III]]
*[[Mesker system]]
**[[Conrad's Point]] {{Mo}}

|title-5=Events|
*[[Human-Covenant War]]
**[[Battle of Beta Gabriel]] {{Mo}}
**[[Battle of Kholo]] {{Mo}}
*[[Created uprising]]
**[[Skirmish on Conrad's Point]]
**[[Battle of Laika III]]
**[[Cortana Event]]

|title-6=Weapons|
*[[Gravity hammer (fiction)|Gravity hammer]]
*[[Mk50 Sidekick]]

|title-7=Vehicles|
;Human
*[[Human starship]]
**[[NCA D'artagnan|NCA ''D'artagnan'']] {{1st}}
**[[UNSC corvette|Corvettes]]
**[[UNSC frigate|Light frigates]]

;Covenant
*[[Covenant starship]]
**[[Intrusion corvette]]
*[[Phantom]]
*[[Space station]]

|title-8=Technology and equipment|
*[[CHAMPION-class armor]]
*[[Guardian Custode]]
*[[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor (GEN3)]]
}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:TheThirdLife IlsaZane.jpg|Ilsa Zane standing in front of fire and Banished banners.
File:HINF IlsaZane Banished Keyart.png|Keyart used for the story.
</gallery>

==External links==
*[https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-the-third-life Halo: The Third Life]- The official Waypoint post in which the short story was released for free.
*[https://content.halocdn.com/media/Default/community/thethirdlife_pdf-40c2e964e5c1420084175c0636ee79f2.pdf Official ''Halo: The Third Life'' PDF] - The PDF of the short story released on Halo Waypoint ({{file link|The Third Life.pdf|Archived copy}}).
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfWCofw7t4Y Halo: The Third Life | Audiobook] - The audiobook narrated by Alex Wakeford.

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Waypoint Chronicles}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Third Life}}
[[Category:Halo Waypoint Chronicles|Third Life]]
[[Category:Canon]]