Starry Night

Starry Night is a short CG spot released on December 4, 2006 as an advertisement for Halo 3, and intended to be used as a television commercial.

Video Breakdown
 The video, directed by Joseph Kosinski, begins with a young boy and girl lying on the grass contemplating the existence of life on other planets. Who they are and where they are is unknown and still up for debate It is possible that the boy is John 117 and the girl Linda, Kelly or another female Spartan. The boy turns to look at the girl, but instead sees the Master Chief's helmet lying on the ground.

It suddenly transitions to the Master Chief's point of view, with the sound of the two kids screaming merging into a Wraith's mortar detonating. He is lying on the desert ground looking at his fallen helmet. The Master Chief raises his hands up, still dazed and temporarily half-deaf from being shell shocked, and staggers towards his helmet (hearing the girl's voice in his head again). As soon as the helmet is put on, the camera switches to a third person view, revolving around the Chief who's crouched on the sand, recovering from the blast that sent him off his Mongoose. Sound finally returns fully and communication from Cortana and some soldiers could be heard. A MA5C Assault rifle is also shown lying on the ground.

The scene switches to Master Chief getting up, now fully recovered, and hoisting the rifle to his back. At this point, a few Plasma Mortars could be seen heading high up into the sky, one which is heading towards Master Chief. Quickly, he responds to the soldiers, informing them that he is not lost yet (Dead), and reaches for a Bubble Shield and activating it just in time as the Plasma Mortar hits the whole vicinity, sending the Mongoose flying away in pieces. As soon as the dust clears and the Bubble Shield is down, the Chief very quickly starts sprinting forward, at the same time arming himself with the Assault Rifle, and narrowly avoiding an explosion from an unknown source. The camera then switches to tailing the Chief's back, where he is shown to be preparing to take a leap from the edge of a small cliff and dropping amongst a small force of Covenant consisting of at least six Wraiths, 14 Brutes and one Brute Chieftain who anticipates the Chief by raising his Gravity Hammer. The final shot shows the Chief "landing on the camera" and it cuts to a black screen with the words "Halo 3" shown.

Transcript
(Two kids are laying in the grass, looking up at the stars.)

Boy: "You ever wonder what's up there?"

Girl: "Like what?"

Boy: "Maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here."

Girl: "I guess. Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

Boy: "I hope so. Don't you?" (He turns to look at the girl, but instead sees a MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet.)

(A Wraith mortar detonates nearby. The lighting changes and Master Chief wakes up. Myriad voices are heard, some in his head, others from his radio.)

Girl: "Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

(Master Chief puts on his helmet, and regains his balance.)

Girl (faintly) : "Time to go"

Cortana: "Chief, please!"

Marine #1 (radio): "Is anyone out there?"

Marine #2 (radio): "Chief!"

Cortana (faintly): "Chief!"

Sergeant Johnson (faintly): "Chief!"

Marine #3 (radio): "Marines! Pull back now!"

Sergeant Johnson (radio): "Any sign of the Chief?"

Marine #4 (radio): "Negative, Sir. I think we lost him."

Master Chief: (looking up at incoming mortars, pulls out bubble shield ) "Not yet."

(He throws an early interpretation of a bubble shield onto the ground, creating a shield that protects him from another Wraith mortar. Quickly, after the dust clears, he runs forward. While running he holsters his pistol and pulls out his assault rifle. He then leaps off a cliff into a pack of Brutes, and the ad ends.)

Bungie Official: "Product not yet rated."

Identity of the Children
As for who the kids seen at the beginning are, Bungie has yet to give a straight answer. Their only answer has been that the children's inclusion is up for the viewer's interpretation. No time period has been set for that scene or location, though it's been heavily assumed by most that they may be John and another female Spartan. KP has confirmed that the trailer took place on Earth:
 * Konrad - Frankie, WHERE does the trailer take place?
 * KP - The trailer takes place on Earth.

It does seem slightly unlikely it is John as the trailer takes place on Earth, and John came from Eridanus. However, if KP's answer is to say that the trailer's BATTLE took place on Earth, rather than the vision, then the memories could be from Reach where John lived during his training on the Spartan II Project. As for the girl, she is usually assumed to be Kelly, Linda, or another unknown Spartan.

The significance of the scene, if it is indeed a flashback, is that John‘s eventual, ironic fate is to battle “whatever’s up there", as the aliens he wonders about turn out be hostile. At this point, around 2517 to 2523, neither of them, nor the rest of humanity, would know about The Covenant.

One theory, prompted by Frankie’s statement of: “Are they Earth kids from the 20th century?”, has been that the children are meant to depict current day civilians. This, of course, brings up the question of why John would receive such a vision from the past.

Video Trivia

 * When Master Chief grabs the MA5C Assault rifle, the "On" button and Marathon logo are clearly visible.
 * When Master Chief picks up his rifle you can clearly see a Warthog, but when the Chief activates the Bubble Shield, you can clearly see the Mongoose in front of the Chief right before the mortar round makes contact. (Many people claim that the Warthog in question changes to the Mongoose. It is also claimed that this was an intentional move by Bungie. However, upon close examination of the trailer, it is clear that the Warthog is behind Master Chief, to his left. While in the other shot, the Mongoose is in front of him, slightly to his right.
 * Just before Master Chief leaps off the cliff, if you look at the sky, the clouds seem to be in a circle and there is a flash of what could be lightning. This is similar to the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer where just above what might be the Ark, the clouds are spinning in a circle and there appears to be lightning in them. That may mean that the battle part of the trailer is near the remains and ruins of Old Mombasa. This could be either in the Halo 3 level, The Storm or Tsavo Highway.
 * On the MJOLNIR Helmet, shortly before Master Chief reaches down to grab it, a small image appears. Speculation implies that it is Master Chief's head, though it also looks somewhat like a dog's head. This may coincide with an inside joke within Bungie, regarding a dog's head (Ling-Ling) which they need to take over the world. Others say the face looks like a pig. This was later confirmed to be clouds and Covenant cruisers.
 * When Master Chief puts his Assault Rifle on the back, it is diagonally upside down. But during the shipped version of Halo 3 when MC put his Assault Rifle on his back the Rifle is never placed diagonally-upside down.
 * The Brute Chieftain in the advertisement is seen holding the Fist of Rukt, the Gravity Hammer from Halo 2.
 * The Bubble Shield is different than the one seen in the game, as it's only big enough to protect Master Chief. The bubble shield in Halo 3, however, is bigger and can protect more people. Also, the bubble shield in the trailer is deployed like a grenade, while the bubble shield in Halo 3 is mounted on a tripod. This could mean that the bubble shield in the trailer was an early version or different type of shield designed for personal use.