Hunt the Truth

V9D2HzbT9Pc "What seems like the end, is only the beginning."

- Tagline

Hunt the Truth, stylized as HUNT the TRUTH or the hashtag #HUNTtheTRUTH, is an ongoing marketing campaign for the upcoming release of Halo 5: Guardians, hosted on the popular microblogging and social networking site Tumblr. After a countdown ending on Sunday, March 22, 2015 at 6:00PM PST, the site displayed the "Halo 5 Bullet" trailer, as well as acting as the front page of journalist Benjamin Giraud's hunt for the truth about the story of Master Chief. Giraud states that the site will be updated weekly with his "part docu-diary, part audio archive" until E3 2015 in June 2015.

Episode transcripts
Episode 00 Benjamin (Blog): What began as a high-profile hero story quickly turns into a full-blown investigation. Sources claim they know the “real Master Chief”: The boy, the soldier, the hero…the traitor? But who’s telling the truth?

Episode 01 Benjamin (Blog): Master Chief was born in the metropolis of Elysium City. Then known as John, he grew up like any kid in the Outer Colonies. Childhood playmates and school teachers share charming stories. But what happens when a single document throws everything into question?

Episode 02 Benjamin (Blog): An obscure record from the far reaches of the galaxy contradicts everything. Government officials and conspiracy theorists weigh in. Stories of a remarkable young man are once again torn down by conflicting accounts.

Episode 03 Benjamin (Blog): Conversations with retired military paint very different pictures of John. More questions arise about John's home planet and his involvement in a violent training incident. The cracks in the official account widen, and Benjamin is drawn in.

Episode 04 Benjamin (Blog): Rumors of discontent across the military and rumblings in the Outer Colonies are detected. A mandatory meeting at ONI branch headquarters takes an unexpected turn.

Episode 05 Benjamin (Blog): A visit deep inside ONI branch headquarters brings unexpected results. A voice from the past returns. And an in-flight incident sparks a flame that can’t be put out.

Episode 06 Benjamin (Blog): With major questions about the Master Chief now out on the open network, a flood of feedback and theories come in from all corners of human space. Rumors spread that ONI has fabricated elaborate lies, but why? What are they covering up? Has the investigation now put everyone's lives at risk?

Episode 07 Benjamin (Blog): In scanning the slush, Ray makes an interesting discovery. Petrosky returns to tell a terrifying truth about the origins of the Spartan program. And FERO finally surfaces, helping concoct a plan to expose ONI's ugliest secrets.

Blog Posts
Overview Benjamin (Blog): A few months ago I was hired to do an in-depth profile of the Master Chief. Join me each week for a new episode.

Benjamin (Blog): An investigation into the origins of modern-day superhero Master Chief, this digital log serves as part docu-diary, part audio archive. Join me each week for a new episode as we question everything and assume nothing. Journalist. War photographer.

Benjamin (Blog): For decades, I’ve served the galaxy as a journalist and war photographer. I’ve covered human-interest stories on Earth and in the Inner and Outer Colonies. I’ve also contracted for the government, covering military affairs. I was at New Mombasa when the Master Chief first appeared to combat the Covenant attack. The Assignment

Benjamin (Blog): Here’s the offer letter from ONI, outlining the assignment. Sounded so easy when it all started. How could I say no? The Death Record

Benjamin (Blog): Here it is. An old, tattered census record with one line of basic information and a single letter next to John’s name: D. Master Propaganda

Benjamin (Blog): This is the infamous photo I took that fateful day at New Mombasa. Perfectly polished propaganda. But to give you the whole picture, here’s the original with UNSC and ONI notes. Never before seen. Katrina’s Diary

Benjamin (Blog): These are just a few of the screens Katrina sent me after we spoke. Diary entries from when she was seven years old. Proving she knew John. Proving she was there when John died. Glassed Planets

Benjamin (Blog): This is a photo I shot on a previous assignment. But it never saw the light of day because it didn’t pass UNSC standards. Very few got to see a planet firsthand after a Covenant glassing. To look out over all that death and destruction. The desolation is devastating. A petrified sea of what once was. This image has haunted me for years. Greetings from Castellaneta

Benjamin (Blog): Here's a postcard Walker sent me from Castellaneta. The "sunny side" of Saturn looks nice. Not a bad place to retire. Word on the Street

Benjamin (Blog): Mshak sent me this picture of some UNSC recruitment posters featuring the Master Chief, all tagged to hell. The relationship between Spartans and ODST has always been a little shaky, but this seems like something else entirely. Cancel/Confirm

Benjamin (Blog): I stared at this screen for what felt like an eternity. I was one click away from tucking my tail and being the good dog Sullivan hired me to be. Or I could take door #2 and crack this story wide open. Just this one click that would determine the rest of my life. I guess you know which path I chose. Notice of Violation

Benjamin (Blog): Here’s the Notice of Violation and penalty I got slapped with for “unruly and uncooperative behavior.” Not a nice note to wake up to after getting tranquilized and knocked-out in flight. Major Breakthrough

Benjamin (Blog): After being holed up in my place for weeks, it was about time I had a few visitors… This was not the kind of visit I was expecting.

A Message from Sully

Benjamin (Blog): Since going live with my story a few weeks ago, my inbox has been overflowing with an insane influx of messages. I’ve been archiving them as they come in, but I’ve kept Michael Sullivan’s at the top as a glaring and terrifying reminder of ONI’s thinly veiled threats. You can listen to a few of the message that came in here.

Xbox Tumblr: You have 343 new Messages.

False Advertising

Benjamin (Blog): I couldn't believe my ears. From hocking Hogs on Ganymede to shilling fake stories about the Master Chief, Walker's taken us all for a ride.

Twitter Images
Twitter Image 1

Deon Govender's boxing club ID. Twitter Image 2

Ben's video calls Twitter Image 3

Translation: NOTICE

All conversations and public actions are subject to monitoring and recording.

Any recording can be used as evidence for criminal research in accordance with UEG laws.

19.224.124, 19.224.126, 25.12.2

Live action trailers
Two live action trailers were released on Sunday, March 29th, 2015 as part of the marketing campaign.

Episode 6 Voices
On April 24, 2015, four popular Halo YouTubers - Halo Follower, ReadyUpLive, ChiefCanuck, and Halo Canon - uploaded a video detailing that community members would have the option to record their voice to be used in an episode of Hunt the Truth. The deadline was April 27, 2015. The voice clips appeared in Episode 6.



Halo 5: Guardians cover art puzzle
OUdh9kZhFtQ Between Saturday, April 25 and Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Halo fans from around the world searched for 117 pieces of an image. These pieces of the image were found in emails from Microsoft, Twitch, YouTube videos, and Xbox.com before the puzzle was completed revealing the final Halo 5: Guardians cover art. Coincidentally, Rob Semsey, senior communications manager for the Halo franchise, claimed that the puzzle was completed at 1:17 pm PST. Shortly after the puzzle's completion an animated version of the poster was uploaded to YouTube featuring some of the Halo 5: Guardians soundtrack.

Hunt the Signal
Hunt the Signal is a competition part of Hunt the Truth. Teams of four will compete in order to have four characters in Halo 5: Guardians be created in their likeness. On Monday, Aril 27, 2015 a YouTube account by the name of Shar Eldy, an anagram of Dr. Halsey, posted a Ford advertisement with several Hunt the Truth frames edited in. This advertisement was also played in movie theaters for the release of the 2015 superhero film Avengers: Age of Ultron. On Friday, May 1, 2015 XboxUK's YouTube account posted a video containing three hidden frames related to Hunt the Truth. In addition there is a "glitch" in the video that translates the binary into www.hunthesignal.com. When viewed on a mobile phone the website showed a countdown ending on Monday, May 5 2015 at 3:00AM PST. Once the countdown was finished several coordinates for the contest were revealed officially starting the contest.

From a canonical perspective the teams are an Unidentified AI tasked by Jameson Locke to find weaknesses in the Spartan-IIs and the MJOLNIR Mark VI. The competition ends on Friday, May 22, 2015.

The end of the 6th episode of Hunt the Truth contained a hidden message saying stolengauntlet.com. This website redirects to the Ford YouTube advertisement. Transmission 000 Transmission_000 My name is Jameson Locke. You are a non-volitional AI created for the purpose of determining vulnerabilities of Mjolnir combat armor per STOLEN GAUNTLET—a red alert failsafe in the event that any Sierra asset were to operate subversively outside mission parameters and operations protocol. Complete your tasks discreetly.

Transmission 001 Transmission_001 You are located within a secure naval intelligence facility. Locke has tasked you with evaluating potential vulnerabilities of Mjolnir combat armor, exploring the hypothetical scenario of having to neutralize a Spartan-II asset. This includes initiating the armor, manipulating the 49 pieces of its circuitry, then ascertaining its weakness by calibrating the Mark VI firmware.

Transmission 002 Transmission_002 Good work. Your diagnostic test to find the vulnerability could be instrumental in the apprehension of a potentially rogue Spartan asset. Locke has now tasked you with with the infiltration of a highly secure archive created by Dr. Catherine Halsey, director of the original SPARTAN-II program. Insight into the physiology of S-II assets might shed light into additional vulnerabilities which could be exploited in the case of STOLEN GAUNTLET. Caution should be taken, however, as this archive may be heavily guarded by an extant program in the previously quarantined facilities. Halsey's Archive Puzzles Chess Puzzle Jerrod: Win this game in 3 moves. Jerrod: These files are protected by me. And you are but a small spark against my brilliant intellect. You have 3 moves. Jerrod: You may have won this game, but you have not won. This is just the first of my incomparable security constructs.

Ring Puzzle Jerrod: I can spin through a hundred-thousand cycles in the time it takes you to rename an access drive. You've got no chance against me. Jerrod: I've made 'impenetrable' firewalls crumble in but moments, I can do the same to your efforts. Jerrod: You are but a fragment of my abilities. Jerrod: You are a splinter, a nuisance... nothing more. Jerrod: You can probe all you want, like a mouse against castle gates. You will accomplish nothing. Jerrod: You think you can get past me? I didn't know rampancy was possible for such a simple construct. Jerrod: I have built worlds in my mind. You can barely assemble words. Jerrod: Your cyber-intrusion technique is pitiable. Jerrod: I can unravel the puzzles of the ancient and the lost. You lost before you even began. Jerrod: You will forever remain in my shadow. Jerrod: Are you still working on my simple puzzle? I barely noticed.

Trivia

 * With each successive turn, the bullet reads: SON, ABDUCTEE, VICTIM, ORPHAN, RECRUIT, SOLDIER, WARRIOR, ALLY, HERO, SAVIOR, TRAITOR. An image of this is shown below.
 * Benjamin Giraud is voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, of the show Key & Peele.
 * Hunt the Truth establishes that Halo 2's cover art is actually an in-universe photograph captured and edited by Giraud.
 * The circular symbols at the top of the Death Record are actually a modified form of Circular Gallifreyan from the British television show Doctor Who.
 * Giraud's "Notice of Violation" features a QR code. When scanned, the code redirects the user to the Hunt the Truth Tumblr page.
 * The officer who authorized the "Notice of Violation" ticket is a reference to Frank O'Connor, with both people sharing the same last name.