List of changes in Halo: The Fall of Reach rereleases
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Halo: The Fall of Reach was first published in 2001, and since then has been adapted multiple times in different formats. Changes to the novels include grammatical fixes, resolved inconsistencies, and new bonus content. Changes in graphic media include modified, omitted, or added dialog and scenes; amalgamated character roles; and visual depictions varying from their original descriptions.
2010 Tor Books rerelease[edit]
- The rerelease includes an Adjunct section at the end with several new pieces of short fiction:
- ONI Directorate Memorandum Interrogation Findings - a series of excerpts from the interrogation of Subject 386 by Admiral Cole after the Battle of the Great Bear in 2530.
- Word from the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence - a message sent by Supreme Commander Luro 'Taralumee to the Vice Cleric of Zeal following the Battle of Miridem.
- A transmission from Vice Admiral Berlin M. Tursk to Captain Lucius Jiron, concerning the capture of Dr. Catherine Halsey during the Battle of Miridem, as well as the UNSC's response.
- A message from Mike to Agnes, regarding Ralph-103's upbringing and reintegration into society following his dismissal from the SPARTAN-II program.
- United Nations Space Command Transmission 34670J-17 - A transmission sent by Captain Jacob Keyes of UNSC Pillar of Autumn to Vice Admiral Kopano N'Singile of Reach Central Command in late August 2552, in which Keyes remarks on the final preparations for Operation: RED FLAG and laments that he is forbidden to inform his crew of the Covenant's presence on the planet. Along with Dr. Halsey's personal journal and the Data Drops, this serves to reconcile the timeline of the Fall of Reach as presented in the novel with that of Halo: Reach.
- An ONI post-incident investigation report on a possible security breach that may have contributed to the Covenant's discovery of Reach. It involves a transcript of a SecNet conversation between Sergeants Joseph Poteet and Alasdair Schicker.
- WINTER CONTINGENCY Declaration Supplemental Orders, an ONI directive containing orders for field agents on Reach in the event of a WINTER CONTINGENCY declaration.
- The dropship used to transport the 75 Spartan-II trainees to the Military Wilderness Training Preserve in Chapter 5 is identified as a Pelican in the original edition, despite its troop bay being far too small for 75 occupants. In the reissue the dropship is changed into a larger Albatross.[1]
- On page 46 of the original edition, Kelly-087 hands out parts of a map to the 75 Spartan trainees. Then on page 48, when John-117 checks to make sure the children arrived at the lake, he counted only 67. In the re-release, the count of 67 is changed to 74.[2]
- In the original edition, when the Spartans are browsing through the cargo manifest of the freighter Laden, the ship is said to carry champagne of a "Beta Centauri vintage", implying the Beta Centauri system had been colonized by humanity.[3] In the re-release, "Beta Centauri" has been changed to "Procyon".[4] This is likely because the system is approximately 390 lightyears from Earth, far beyond the known sphere of influence of humanity and thus unlikely to house a colony; all human colonies depicted in subsequent media are well within 100 lightyears of the Sol system.
- In the original edition, Captain Keyes refers to Ensign Ensign William Lovell as "Michael" when first meeting him. This has been corrected in the 2010 edition.[5]
- In the original, a UNSC frigate is referred to as the Alliance, and then shortly thereafter as the Allegiance. In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as the Allegiance in both instances.[6]
- In the original edition, the ship UNSC Leviathan is referred to as a cruiser and then later as a carrier. In the 2010 edition, the ship is referred to as a cruiser in both instances.[7]
- On page 19, Michael Stanforth is said to be a Vice Admiral, and on page 95, it said he is a Rear Admiral. In the 2010 edition, he is referred to as a Vice Admiral in both instances.[8]
- In the original edition, Vice Admiral Stanforth is stated to be ten years Dr. Halsey's senior. "Ten years" is changed to "six years" in the 2010 edition, likely to accommodate Stanforth's and Halsey's birth dates established by the ONI memorial in Halo 3: ODST.[9]
- In the 2001 edition, the Pillar of Autumn is said to be missing its port-side emergency thrusters, though it later uses them twice. In the 2010 edition, the mention of the thrusters being missing has been removed.[10]
- In Chapter 22, James-005's left arm is severed by an assault cannon. In the original edition, he is said to salute with left mere pages later, despite the hand being missing. In the 2010 re-release, he salutes with his right hand.[11]
- In the original edition, the first time John-117 encounters Sangheili warriors in the battlefield is on Gamma Station during the Fall of Reach. In addition, the UNSC is depicted as not having any first-hand intelligence on the species prior to the battle; Dr. Halsey only hypothesizes about their existence.[12] This has been universally ignored in later media, which depict Sangheili as commonplace throughout the war. The 2010 reissue thus modifies references to the Sangheili having never been encountered by humanity prior to the Fall fo Reach. When Dr. Halsey briefs the Spartans for Operation: RED FLAG in chapter 26, the line
- During the Spartans' mission to Reach Station Gamma in chapter 35, the following sentence:
- In chapter 29, the sentence
- "From this distance, the Pillar of Autumn could have been mistaken for an elongated frigate."[17]
- is changed into:
- "From this distance, the Pillar of Autumn could have been mistaken for a Marathon-class carrier."[18]
- This line is still erroneous, as the Marathon is actually a class of cruiser, not a carrier.
- The number of the Covenant ships present at the battle over Reach is changed from 314 to "well over seven hundred" in the 2010 reissue.[19] This is probably due to a hyperbolic line spoken by Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood in Halo 2, in which he states that the fleet that destroyed Reach was "fifty times" the size of the Fleet of Sacred Consecration, being taken at face value. However the change is only made once; all other instances state the fleet consists of 314 ships.
- During Blue Team's mission to Reach Station Gamma, the original edition states that Kelly shouted "All secure!" while the Spartans' Pelican prepares for maneuvering, even though she is not aboard the Pelican. "Kelly" has been corrected to "Linda" in the reissue.[20]
- In the 2001 edition, Admiral Roland Freemont recalls all UNSC warships in the "REACH, JERICO [sic] and TANTALUS systems" to the defense of Reach.[21] The 2010 reissue changes the spelling of "JERICO" to "JERICHO", but the rest of the line remains unchanged.[22]
2011 Definitive Edition rerelease[edit]
- The number of ships at Reach is changed back from 700 to the original 314.[23]
- The references to the Tantalus and Jericho systems have been removed.[24] This is because Tantalus, like Reach, is a planet in the Epsilon Eridani system,[25] whereas the "Jericho system" (Lambda Serpentis) had been invaded by the Covenant in 2535, as depicted in the novel's prologue.
Halo: Fall of Reach comic series[edit]
General changes[edit]
- There are several changes regarding various characters' hairstyles.
- Kelly-087 is depicted with brown hair in the Spartans' first day of training, whereas in the novel, she had her hair dyed blue at the time. She is also depicted with a bob-cut hairstyle in later scenes of childhood training; according to Dr. Halsey's personal journal, Kelly, like the other Spartans, had her head shaven a few days after her induction into the program, with an entry describing how she had to be held down for the barbers to finish cutting her hair. Kelly is also depicted with medium-length hair in the scenes following the augmentation procedures; in the book, her hair had yet to grow back after the augmentations at the time of the Spartans' mission to Eridanus Secundus, and even later in her career she is described with a short military cut.[26]
- Linda-058 maintains a rather long haircut in the comic, while the novel describes her as having close-cropped hair.[27]
- The comic consistently portrays Dr. Halsey with black hair; the novel mentions that her hair had started graying by 2525