Roland

Roland (UNSC Artificial Intelligence serial number: RLD 0205-4) is an artificial intelligence construct in service with the United Nations Space Command. He is the primary AI of the. His name and avatar are based on Roland Beamont, a British fighter and test pilot for the Royal Air Force during and after World War II.

Operational history
Entering service on December 5, 2557, Roland replaced Infinity's former shipboard AI Aine, who was destroyed when the ship crashed on Requiem in July 2557.

When Fireteam Majestic arrived onboard Infinity shortly prior to the ship's second voyage to Requiem, Roland welcomed them aboard. He later gave Captain Lasky intel on the Covenant remnant fleet over Requiem. Later, Fireteam Crimson recovered a Requiem translocation artifact and brought it aboard Infinity, the artifact soon activated draining power from the ship. Roland was affected also, as his hologram flickered and he noticably slowed down when informing Captain Lasky of what was happening. When the arrived, Roland informed Lasky that it's captain was requesting permission to land. After Catherine Halsey returned to Infinity he locked down the engine room. Later he showed Lasky Fireteam Castle's fate at REQ-153-N. When Fireteam Crimson began chasing Jul 'Mdama, Roland helped them track him through the Slipspace portals, pointing out to Jared Miller, who was having difficulty with the portals, how easy it was. Roland enjoyed taking part in the op, "commanding" Crimson to go to where a portal was, later commenting how much more he liked running ops than ships. For Crimson's next mission at The Gate, Roland had to help Jared Miller run the op, as Sarah Palmer was unreachable. Into a series of missions, Roland found Gabriel Thorne's IFF tag near Crimson at The Cauldron, and tracked him to the Quarry where Crimson began searching for him.

After Dr. Halsey was detained for exchanging transmissions with Jul 'Mdama in secret from the crew, Roland appeared in her holding cell and questioned her on why she chose to withhold the information. Halsey then subverted Roland by speaking the code-phrase "undid-iridium", placing him under her complete control. She forced him to give her access to the ship's computer. Roland managed to free himself from Halsey's control and had her arrested, but not before Halsey had managed to contact Jul 'Mdama. Moments later, Prometheans began materializing all over the ship via the artifact, while Covenant forces attacked the ship from outside.

Trivia

 * Roland is voiced by.
 * Despite the 20th-century precedent of his avatar, Roland's name bears a tangential connection to the mythology behind the naming of Cortana. Roland is a figure in medieval legend with a sword named Durendal; Cortana is named after Curtana, the sword of Ogier the Dane, which bore the inscription "My name is Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durendal." Durendal, in turn, served as the namesake of a principal AI character in Bungie's Marathon series.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Spartan Assault
 * Halo: Escalation