The Library (Level)

Looking for the Library structure?

The Library is the seventh level in Halo: Combat Evolved. It begins after 343 Guilty Spark teleports the Master Chief from the swamp he was in (part of the previous level) into the Library of Installation 04. The Master Chief must battle through four Flood-filled levels to reach the Index chamber. This is the first level where you encounter Carrier Forms. This is also the first and only level where Sentinels will be your allies for most of the level. And this is the only level that you're not fighting against the Covenant foes. This is also the last level in Halo: Combat Evolved where you will have allies.

It should also be noted that this is one of the least popular levels in the Halo series. Many players find the layout confusing and repetitive. Also, as the only adversary in this level is the Flood, some players are thrown off by the dramatic changes in challenges, rhythm, and tactics in the level. After so much negative feedback, Bungie made the Library segment much shorter in its Halo 2 counterpart, Sacred Icon. However, some players like this level due to its difficulty and see it as a challenge. It is also very similar to the Halo 3 level Cortana.

The Library
{Cutscene}

(The view fly through of the main central chamber of the Installation, through a bizarre rotating doorway, to find 343 Guilty Spark and the Master Chief teleporting in.)

343 Guilty Spark: "We must collect the Index before we can activate the installation."

{Gameplay}

(Over the course of the level, 343 Guilty Spark mutters all sorts of random phrases. Here are most, if not all of them):

343 Guilty Spark: "We are near the Index chamber. Follow me."
 * "Doodeedooodooo..."
 * "Teeheeeheeeheeehee!"
 * "Huaaaaa, huaaaauuuuhummmmm."
 * "Ahhhh...I, am a genius. Heeheeheehee!"
 * "Ah."
 * "Oh. Hello."
 * "Hahahahaha!"
 * "Oh, that's a good idea!" (When you reach one of the rotating doors)
 * "Reclaimer, we must keep moving! ...Reclaimer?" (If you die)
 * "Hmm, how unfortunate." (If you die)
 * "I told you to upgrade to at least a class 12 combat skin!" (If you die)
 * "Please, stop being Human." (If you shoot him or the Sentinels)
 * "That is totally unnecessary." (If you shoot him)
 * "We have much more important business here." (If you shoot him)
 * "Please control your temper." (If you shoot him)
 * "Are you finished yet?" (If you shoot him)
 * "Please conserve your ammo." (If you shoot him)

When the Chief emerges into the large central chamber

343 Guilty Spark: "The energy field above us contains the Index. We must get up there."

(When the Chief comes to a huge door, which is locked)

343 Guilty Spark: "The security doors have sealed automatically. I will go access the override to open them."

(When Spark returns)

343 Guilty Spark: "Please, follow closely. This portal is the first of ten."

(If the Chief heads to the wrong way)

343 Guilty Spark: "That is not the correct direction, Reclaimer. If you do not follow me, you may become lost."

(As the Chief and Spark move into the next hallway)

343 Guilty Spark: "Puzzling. You brought such ineffective weapons to combat the Flood, despite the containment protocols."

(Upon moving down another hallway)

343 Guilty Spark: "The Flood must not escape the installation. They would consume all."

(Upon entering into another hallway)

343 Guilty Spark: "You can see how the body's been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection. The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate. The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any hosts remain, the Flood is virulent."

(As the Chief goes down yet another hallway)

343 Guilty Spark: "We must continue. This way please."

(Further down the another hallway)

343 Guilty Spark: "This installation's research facilities are most impressive! Perhaps we'll have time to see them later."

(As the Monitor Spark sends a squad of Sentinels to assist the Chief)

343 Guilty Spark: "These Sentinels will supplement your combat system. But, I suggest you upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current model only scans as a Class Two, which is ill suited for this kind of work. "

(As the Chief nears the first platform lift)

343 Guilty Spark: "Pardon me. A plasma conduit breach in Section 5-5-2-4 has disrupted power flow to a gravitic maintenance assembly. Repairs require my attention. I will return soon."

(As the Chief rides the first lift to upstairs)

Wait, It Gets Worse!
Towards a little down the first hall of the second floor.

343 Guilty Spark: "Flood activity has caused a failure in a drone control subsystem. I must reset the backup unit. Please, continue on. I will rejoin you when I have completed my task."

The Monitor leaves temporarily, and soon returns to the Chief with the door open.

343 Guilty Spark: "The Sentinels can use their weapons to manage the Flood only for a short time. Speed is of the essence."

Once the Chief encounters another large door.

343 Guilty Spark: "Please wait here."

As Chief approaches another hallway on the second floor.

343 Guilty Spark: "Your environment suit should serve you well when the Flood begins to alter the atmosphere. You are a good planner."

Into once again another hallway.

343 Guilty Spark: "The installation was well conceived. It is surely the only way to end the Flood threat."

The Chief finds and rides the second platform lift)

But I Don't Want to Ride the Elevator!
The Chief goes into the first hallway of the third floor.

343 Guilty Spark: "I would conjecture that the other species currently on the installation is responsible for releasing the Flood. They seem most persistent in their attempts to access restricted areas."

The Chief comes into another hallway, but this time its large, open, cavernous.

343 Guilty Spark: "Why naturally the Flood is simply too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted. Of course, samples were kept here after the last catastrophic outbreak...for study. It seems... that decision may have been an error."

The Chief encounters another hallway.

343 Guilty Spark: "The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce. "

The Chief reaches the third floor's locked door.

343 Guilty Spark: "I will deactivate the security lock. Wait here.'

Spark once again leaves and returns to the Master Chief."

The Chief encounters yet another hallway, but this time with slightly more Flood forms.

343 Guilty Spark: Please stay close. Time is short.

The Chief rides on the platform lift to the fourth floor.

Fourth Floor: Tools, Guns, Keys To Super Weapons
The Chief enters the first hallway of the fourth floor.

343 Guilty Spark: "The Flood are already hard at work repairing your vessel. Its parasitic nature belies the Flood's intelligence."

The Chief clears the route to the Index platform, fending off several remaining Flood forms.

{Cutscene}

343 Guilty Spark: "The energy barrier surrounding the Index will deactivate when we reach the ground floor."

When the platform comes to a stop.

343 Guilty Spark: "You may now retrieve the Index."

''The Chief walks slowly over to the Index, which is held in a sheath of some sort. Sections of the sheath move in and out for a few moments, before the Index itself pops slightly out of the top of the sheath. The Chief removes it and stares at it for a moment, before 343 Guilty Spark zaps it from the Chief's hands and into some sort of trans-dimensional pocket.''

343 Guilty Spark: "Protocol requires that I take possession of the Index for transport. Your organic form renders you vulnerable to infection. The Index must not fall into the hands of the Flood, before we reach the Control Room and activate the installation."

Spark and the Chief teleport away from the platform

343 Guilty Spark: "The Flood is spreading! We must hurry!"

Glitches

 * If you have an Overshield, it is possible to launch yourself onto the Index, and you can fall to the bottom of the place right below this post and survive.
 * On the second elevator you ride, get it just high enough to where you can walk under it. Once under, it will start to go back up, jump into the blue light that represents a gravity lift, you will fall to your death but at the bottom you will see a spinning Monitor who will even talk. You can also do this while 343 Guilty Spark is on another part of the level, at the time.

Mistakes

 * 343 Guilty Spark makes a mistake in a sentence he says in the beginning of the level. He says that "The energy field above them contains the Index," while, in fact, the Index is on the bottom floor of the energy field lift, the same place he says the line.
 * In the beginning cutscene, the container holding the Index unlocks, revealing it for two seconds before the animation by what is seen appears to have restarted since the Index seems to disappear as if the container was never even opened. This might have been caused by a scripting error.

Miscellaneous

 * In the Korean Halo version, this level is named as "Finding the Index".
 * The blueish lighted windows seen throughout the level are rumored to be used to access the data archived by the Librarian although this has never been seen in any of the games thus far. In addition, they are described as "glowing blue monitors" in Halo: The Flood.
 * It should also be noted that this is one of the least popular levels in the Halo series. Many players find the layout confusing and repetitive. Also, as the only adversary in this level is the Flood, some players are thrown off by the dramatic changes in challenges, rhythm, and tactics in the level. After so much negative feedback, Bungie made the Library segment much shorter in its Halo 2 counterpart, Sacred Icon. However, some players like this level due to its difficulty and see it as a challenge. It is also very similar to the Halo 3 level Cortana.