Halo 3 ViDoc: Journey's End

Journey's End is a ViDoc released by Bungie Studios related to Halo 3. Released on December 5, 2007 (over two months after Halo 3 came out), the ViDoc is not aimed at Halo fans, but rather new customers; video gamers who have not played Halo: Combat Evolved or Halo 2 but are considering buying Halo 3 for the 2007 Christmas season. The video gives the backstory of the previous two Halo games, telling the entire stories so that players who are just picking up Halo 3 are not lost or confused about the storyline when playing the campaign.

Content
At over 16 minutes long (more than twice as long as all preceeding ViDocs, which ran around seven minutes), Journey's End is by far the longest released yet. It also lacks the Latin title scheme that all previous ViDocs used.

The video contains nothing in terms of new information or insight into the Halo universe. Rather, the video is almost entirely comprised of cinematic footage from Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. The story of the Halo universe is told by a group of Bungie employees, including Lee Wilson, Frank O'Connor, Joseph Staten, and Jaime Griesemer. They narrate the cinematics as they tell the story of all the events in the first two games, from the war with the Covenant to the discovery of the Halo Rings, the release of the Flood, and the background of the High Prophets and the Gravemind. The background of the Arbiter, Master Chief, and Cortana are also discussed. A handful of cinematic footage from Halo 3 is shown at the end, but it contains almost no information about the storyline of the third game.

Additionally, the ViDoc does not contain any backstory, information, or images from any of the five Halo novels which were available at the time, nor did it discuss any of the future games in production, such as Halo Wars. The ViDoc's limited scope only included images and details from the three released games.

Transcript
They let me pick. Did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? Luck.

It's come back home.

It's the return of Master Chief.

This is the end of our trilogy.

This is going to be the end of the story.

At the end of Halo 3 you won't just finish one fight, you'll finish all of the fights that you started in Halo 1.

This is a great story we're about to tell.

This is going to be the end of the fight.

At its heart, Halo is a mystery.

Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?

I think we both know the answer to that.

There are struggles going on in Halo, that are larger and longer than you can possibly imagine.

We made a blind jump. How did they--

Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster.

It's the story of a human conflict with an agressive adversarial species, the Covenant.

The Covenant is a collection of alien races that want to destroy humanity.

Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep them from getting their filthy claws on Earth. We're not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!" {Turns around} "Am I right, Marines?!"

Marines: "Sir, yes sir!"

Sergeant Johnson: "Mmm-hmm. Damn right, I am! Now move it out! Double time!

You play the Master Chief, who is sort of humanity's last secret weapon against this marauding alien horde.

Captain Keyes.

Good to see you, Master Chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance.

The first Halo is about the Master Chief's struggle against the Covenant on a ring world that they all call 'Halo.'

Strapped-in Marine: What is that thing, Lieutenant?

Pilot: Hell if I know. But we're landin' on it.

The story of Halo 1 was really the story between you and your environment, this place that you were exploring.

According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance.

A big part of Halo is the relationship between Chief and Cortana.

Sleep well?

No thanks to your driving, yes.

So you did miss me.

Who is Cortana?

At least one of our writers refers to her as your girlfriend.

Cortana's every girlfriend we've ever had.

You alright?

Never been better!

No, just kidding.

Cortana is a) naked, b) blue, and c) a hologram.

She's your little guardian angel.

Chief, I'm picking up movement. We need to go, right now!

She's sort of the one character who is as powerful as you are.

Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her they'll learn everything.

I understand.

Captain Keyes puts Cortana on the chip and hands the chip over to you as the player.

Good luck Master Chief.

The Master Chief picks up the chip, puts her right in his head. That became an important moment in the relationship between the Master Chief and Cortana.

That whole feeling of "she's in your head." You have no choice but to listen to Cortana.

This is it: Halo's control center.

She's the one who's figuring out how to unlock the doors in front of you, and she's the one who's coming up with the plans and telling you what to do.

There's no time! Get out of here, find Keyes, stop him! Before it's too late!

But then that last ten percent of the time, she doesn't know what to do, and then that's when you take over.

Even if I could get the countdown restarted, I don't know what to do.

How much firepower would you need to crack one of the engine's shields?

As the story progresses you learn that Earth is threatened, not just by the Covenant, but also by the race of parasites called the Flood.

One of the most amazing video gaming moments ever is the introduction of the Flood.

Private Riley: "Ahh... augh! Get it off! Get it off- augh!"

Private Kappus: "Hold still, hold still!"

Sergeant Johnson: "Let 'em have it!"

Captain Keyes: "Sergeant, we're surrounded!"

Sergeant Johnson: "Goddammit, Jenkins, fire your weapon!"

Private Mendoza: "There are too many, Sarge!"

Sergeant Johnson: "Don't even think about it, Marine!"

In Halo 1 they're the ultimate zombie that comes flying out of the closet

It's a virulent strain of alien that as it kills it grows, and as it grows it kills.

No human life signs detected. The Captain... he's one of them!

Halo 1 does such a brilliant thing: this is what the world's about. (ffft) All of sudden you meet the Flood, and the world you realize is about something completely different.

We can't let the Flood get off this ring. You know what he'd expect... what he'd want us to do. It's done. I have the code.

When the Flood comes out the Covenant's just as much food as you are.

The Covenant's fighting the Flood, simultaneously fighting Earth, and you're fighting the Flood and the Covenant at the same time. It's like this crazy triangle of conflict.

The Halo's were built to destroy the Flood.

The Forerunner built this place, what they called a "Fortress World."

The reason there's no more Forerunners is they died fighting the Flood, and the Halo's were like their last option.

The Flood is spreading, if we activate Halo's defences we can wipe them out.

Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their food. Humans, Covenant, whatever! We're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death, and that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life.

You're caught between a rock and a hard place. You can't kill the Flood without firing the rings, but you can't fire the rings without killing everybody else.

That's not going to happen.

Pretty much it's kind of a non-discriminatory weapon, you know, it's a hammer to kill an ant. But you do something clever in the first game.

The Master Chief has managed to destroy the Halo itself so that it doesn't go off and kill everybody on Earth with it.

Which destroys the Flood infestation that's been unleashed and conveniently takes out your Covenant enemies at the time.

Halo, it's finished.

No, I think we're just getting started.

The opening scene of Halo 2 shows the Arbiter and his trial.

When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty?

No.

Yet the humans were able to land on the sacred ring, and desecrate it withh their fiilthy footsteps.

The Arbiter screwed up pretty royally in Halo 1 by allowing Master Chief to destroy the ring.

Your inability to safeguard Halo was a colossal failure.

He's standing before the Prophets, and he's facing them for the game that he lost to you.

Prophet Truth this has gone on long enough. Make an example of this bungler! The council demands it!

The real enemy? Well it's those three kind-of creepy dudes that you can tell are kind of pulling the strings.

Three Prophets at the top of the Covenant political chain: Truth, Regret, Mercy. Truth is the man, and he is the last word when it comes to the Covenant.

You were right to focus your attention on the Flood, but this Demon, this Master Chief.

The Covenant is united under one religious banner, which is the belief that this great journey is at hand.

Soon the Great Journey shall begin. The weight of your heresy willl stay your feet, and you shall be left behind.

He's immediately made an example out of. He's ripped of his rank and armor, he's tortured, he's branded as a failure.

(scream)

It's at that place that the Prophets come to him and provide him with an opportunity to redeem himself.

Become the Arbiter and you shall be set loose against this heresy with our blessing.

The story of the arbiter works at all it works on this very personal level. I was once great, I was shamed, all my responsibilities have been taken away, I'm gonna prove myself.

What would you have your Arbiter do?

And so, he becomes an assassin for the Prophets.

We renewed our faith in the prophecy that other rings would be found, and see how our faith has been rewarded.

Truth has built up this religion around the Forerunner rings, and it's a completely false religion. What he wants to do is light the rings because he thinks he's going to become a god.

Halo! Salvation for all!

And begin the Great Journey.

We don't know what the Great Journey is, but we know that it's probably something pretty bad.

The Flood is unleashed in Halo 2, and you realize that the Flood actually has a central governing intelligence which is this huge creature called the Gravemind.

What is that?

I am a monument to all your sins.

The Gravemind is there to convince you to not fire the rings, for his own selfish reasons.

Those who built this place knew what they wrought.

Truth wants to light the rings, the Gravemind doesn't want to light the rings, and you have to pick one.

Fate had us meet as foes, but this ring will make us brothers.

By the end of Halo 2 the Chief and the Arbiter have the same goal. They're both trying to stop Truth from firing the ring.

Kill the Demon!

Tartarus, stop! The Prophets have betrayed us.

Take care Arbiter, what you say is heresy.

Is it?

People you once thought were your enemies are now your allies.

You don't like me and I sure as Hell don't like you, but if we don't do something Mr. Mohawk's gonna activate this ring, and then we're all gonna die.

Tartarus has locked himself inside the Control Room.

Well, I just happen to have a key. Come on, grab a Banshee and give me some cover.

The Covenant is broken. The Elites have rebelled, the Brutes have replaced them.

The Great Journey has begun, and the Brutes, not the Elites, shall be the Prophet's escort.

There's internal war.

Hold your fire! Hunters have come to our aid, Arbiter. They will fight by our side.

Truth thinks the moment of the Great Journey is about to happen. And the Chief is chasing him, trying to stop whatever this madman is doing.

That structure in the middle of the city, it's a Forerunner ship, and Truth is heading straight for it. If he leads the Covenant fleet to Earth, they won't stand a chance. I'll detonate In Amber Clad's reactors just like we did the Autumn's. No, I don't want to chance a remote detonation. I need to stay here.

The Chief is seperated from Cortana for the first time since you first put her in your head at the beginning of Halo 1.

After I'm through with Truth...

Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it.

Leaving Cortana behind was the big emotional moment for the Master Chief in Halo 2. Cortana is in the clutches of the Gravemind, and the Flood is loose.

I will ask, and you will answer.

Alright, shoot.

Worst of all, all the Halos are primed to fire.

In the event of unexpected shutdown, all remaining platforms are now ready for remote activation.

A lot of disasters are looming.

Truth is on this Forerunner ship and the Master Chief is stowed away in the back.

This is Spartan-117. Can anyone hear me?

Master Chief? You mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?

Sir, finishing this fight.

The Chief has a lot of problems at the beginning of Halo 3. The Flood is out; an unstoppable parasite that capable of wiping out all life in the universe.

All of the Halos are primed and ready to fire.

Oh, and you left that woman that you care about? Yeah, you left her in the clutches of the Gravemind.

Chief! I can't tell you everything. It's not safe.

Cortana!

Nice job!

Cortana is giving us cryptic messages.

Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission. Could you watch me die?

Is she sending us a warning? We don't know what's happened to her since then.

You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies.

The Covenant has absolutely destroyed parts of Earth. Millions of people have died.

And the Prophet of Truth, the guy you didn't whack last time around? He's now in charge of this army of giant gorilla-ape-rhinos that's tearing through your stuff, you've gotta shut him down too.

For your destruction is the will of the gods. And I? I am their instrument.

The Elites and the Brutes are having a civil war, destroying everything that the Prophet of Truth doesn't. And the keys to the doomsday machine are in the hands of a madman who thinks it's some sort of religious gateway.

In a moment I will light the rings, and all who believe shall be saved.

Your job in Halo 3 is the absolute salvation of humankind and the rest of the galaxy. No more, no less.

Humanity is sort of down to its last defenses.

There's this overwhelming feeling of desperation.

This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst.

All you can do is strap on your weapons and go to work.

Until we kill Truth, stop the rings from firing, nothing else matters.

This is gonna be hard. Even for a seven-foot-tall supersoldier, this is gonna be tough.

Tower one approach is active!

Mayday! I can't control her!

Pelican down!

If we don't make it.

We'll make it.

{Halo 3}

{Bungie}