Uprising

Looking for Changing of the Guard, the Covenant event, the Graphic Novel series Halo: Uprising, or the Halo 2 Vista achievement?

Uprising is the 13th campaign level in Halo 2, and the 12th playable one.

As Thel 'Vadamee, the player must battle their way through Brutes, Jackals and a few Drones to reach a rendezvous with Rtas 'Vadumee. Along the way, they will receive some aid from Grunts and other Elites, most notably (and surprisingly) a Zealot.

Transcript
{Cutscene}

''Thel 'Vadamee is seen arriving on a cliff face via teleporting from the Gravemind. The view shows a view of Delta Halo's Control Room. He then turns to his left and finds a conveniently-placed Plasma Rifle, lying on a rock stained with Elite blood, and readies himself on the path ahead.''

{Gameplay}

Oh, So That's How it Is
Thel 'Vadam sees Brute Shot grenades going off in the distance, followed by Plasma Rifle bursts firing in the air


 * Brute: "Weaklings!"

'Vadam picks up an Energy Sword.


 * Elite: (dying) "The Brutes have betrayed us... the Councilors..."


 * 'Vadam sees a Brute shooting at a dead Elite.


 * Brute: "Let's just throw them over the edge!"


 * Brute: "Where's the fun in that?"

Another Brute approaches the two other Brutes.


 * Brute "I already checked there!"


 * Brute: "Just making sure..."

'Vadam ambushes the Brutes and assassinates them.


 * Brute Captain: (growls) "Go see what's taking them so long!"


 * Brute Captain: (if spotted) "He's still just an Elite. Go! Kill him!"

Or alternatively, if spotted:


 * Brute: (sarcastically) So, you've come to save your friends!

After 'Vadamee reaches the doors of a structure, a cloaked Special Operations Elite arrives from the door and helps 'Vadam to kill any remaining Brutes.


 * Spec Ops Elite: "By the Prophets ... what have these Brutes done?"

The Elite turns and looks at 'Vadam, then tightens his fist.


 * Spec Ops Elite: "They have shed our brothers' blood... and for that, they must die!"

Insertion Drop Pods land on the canyon, unveiling Elite reinforcements.


 * Spec Ops Elite: "A Zealot! So much for a stealthy advance."


 * Zealot Elite: "Bah! Over so soon?"

If 'Vadam moves into the structure before the rest of the Elite reinforcements do..


 * Zealot Elite: "Arbiter! Save some for the rest of us!"

If 'Vadam waits until the reinforcements enter the structure.


 * Zealot: "Make haste! There are more Brutes to kill!"

''Once the Elites clear the first room of the structure, they find a couple of Grunts running about. With their help, the Elites finish off the remaining Brutes, Jackals and Drones in the area.''

'Vadam and his allies enter the next room where several more Brutes take defensive positions.


 * Zealot: "Ha ha! Long have I waited for this!"


 * Brute: "Not all dead? Raise the alarms!"

''Later, 'Vadam finds a Grunt cowering in a corner. Sometimes, he will speak as follows:''


 * Cowardly Grunt: "Please ... no hurt! Me like Elites! Brutes stinky bad-bad! Me stay here, make sure no Brutes come behind mighty Arbiter!" (Chuckles nervously)

As 'Vadam and the allies enter a hallway with dead Elites, Grunts, and weapons scattered about.


 * Spec Ops Elite: (praying to dead Grunts and Elites) "Start the journey... be at peace."

Alternatively:


 * Spec Ops Elite: " ...And yet I live."

or


 * Zealot Elite: (sadly, kneeling over dead Unggoy) "He is no more."

'''Vadam and his allies go into another room, where more Covenant Loyalist forces await. The forces are easily defeated.''

''The lance soon enters another room, with more Elite and Grunt corpses and scattered weapons. As the door to the outside opens, several Brutes and Jackals are taken by surprise as the Elites (and any remaining Grunts) charge at them.''

''As the Elites head forward, more Brutes await and are soon eliminated. A few Ghosts are placed near the position. The Arbiter pilots one of them, and the Elites follow on foot.''

'''Vadam takes the vanguard and surprise-attacks the nearby Brute camp head-on. The Elites follow, as a big battle takes place between Plasma Turrets, Ghosts and infantry.''

''After clearing the Loyalist forces in the area, Jackals behind follow up to reinforce the camp, and after they are eliminated, 'Vadam and his allies follow up on the next camp, where a Grunt on a Plasma Turret aids the Covenant Separatists. A few more Brute-controlled Ghosts and a Spectre try to stop the Separatist forces with failure.''

''A small Jackal camp awaits in the next area, and is easily taken care of by 'Vadam. Some Elites take the opportunity to pilot the Ghosts throughout the camp.''

''Another Loyalist camp awaits with Power Cores placed at the front to stop the Separatists, and a few Jackal Snipers as support. The Separatist forces crush the defenses and rush through to the next area.''

Fight Club
''The next area is guarded by multiple Brutes and a few Wraiths. Once most of the area is cleared of Brutes, a few more Elite Drop Pods land, to reinforce the current Separatist pack.''

Inside a structure room, they find a cache of Human and Covenant weapons


 * Elite: "What vulgar taste! Even as trophies, these weapons are worthless!"

Vadamee and his allies get through the Brute forces and a Brute-controlled Ghost and enters a cave to find Jackals and another Brute-controlled Ghost.

{Cutscene}

'''Vadam exits the last door. A Wraith approaches him slowly. Arbiter readies his weapon. The lid opens to reveal Rtas 'Vadum''


 * Rtas 'Vadum: "By the rings, Arbiter!? The Councilors! Are they -"


 * Thel 'Vadam: "Murdered... By the Brutes."


 * Rtas 'Vadum: "Vile, disloyal beasts! The Prophets were fools to trust them!"

''They see Phantoms fly over them. It stops above the platform of the Delta Halo Control Room. Tartarus lands from the gravity lift, with Commander Miranda Keyes and 343 Guilty Spark in captivity. Tartarus greets the Brute guards with growls. He enters, and the doors close behind him.''

Glitches

 * If the dying Sangheili with the Energy Sword at the beginning of the level is melee'd as the quote "The Brutes have betrayed us... The Councilors..." plays, then his mouth will start moving to the words.
 * You can have unlimited Plasma Pistols on this level. If you give a Grunt a Fuel Rod Gun or a Rocket Launcher then drive in a vehicle toward him, he will dive out of the way and drop his weapon and pull out a Plasma Pistol with 100% ammo.
 * If the Grunts that you find the in the first cavern room are still with you when you get to the three-leveled room, you will notice that they will not follow you any further. Should you push (not melee) them toward and off the edge, they will not follow you like the Elites will if you push them down.
 * If you get on top of the mountains by where the Spectre comes you should see a pathway in the mountain straight at you, when you get to the end mysteriously two trees can be seen floating like the one in Two Betrayals.
 * If you walk by a certain tree you will see part of Thel 'Vadam's body and if you shoot it you will take damage.
 * If you take a Ghost past the last door, stop, and get out just before the cut-scene starts, the Ghost will show in the cut-scene.
 * It is possible to gain two extra Spec Ops Elite allies near the beginning of the level, at the expense of two Grunts. When the first Spec Ops Elite begins to say, "By the Prophets, what have these Brutes done?" rush into the next room so that the Zealot and two minor Elites can't drop down from the sky. Therefore, you will only have the one Elite as an ally, plus the two Grunts. If the Grunts are killed, two extra Spec Ops with Plasma Rifles will appear, usually accompanying the first one. Be sure not to betray the Grunts outright, or your allies will turn against you. After you clear the first room, you may go back and allow the Zealot and two Minor Elites to drop from the sky, however, the Zealot and two Minor Elites will not follow you through out the rest of the level if you do this glitch.

Symbolism

 * Due to the emphasis of the Elites now being abandoned by the Prophets and no longer having contact with them, this level is one of two levels throughout all three games to have the least bit of dialogue, the other being 343 Guilty Spark.
 * The dark, gloomy clouds in the broad day light sky emphasize that this stage marks the darkest day for the Elites, being abandoned by the Prophets, and left to be slaughtered like animals by the Brutes.

Miscellaneous

 * If you are in a Ghost and you accelerate towards the communications tower near the slopes quickly, look up and there is a Phantom going overhead. This phantom most likely is the one that carries Tartarus and Commander Keyes to Delta Halo's Control Room.
 * There was a cinematic cut from the beginning of this level in which you would see Brutes lining up and killing Elite Councilors.
 * Grunt allies surprisingly can be given the Rocket Launcher. The best way to do this is obtain the Thunderstorm Skull and play on Easy. Therefore your Grunts are Ultras and can take a lot of damage.
 * At several points throughout the level, one or more of your enemies will run ahead to alert groups further along. (Most notably the Brute that will run into the top of the three-leveled room and yell "Elite resistance, warn the others!")
 * This level and The Great Journey are the only levels in Halo 2 where a Zealot Elite appears on any difficulty. They are also the only levels where Zealots appear as allies in the whole trilogy.
 * When entering the cave you could also see all types of mysterious faces, at the end by the cave if you look to the right there are cat faces.
 * When beginning the mission, go to the second rock to the north east, after that turn a little bit left to see the other wall, there is grass forming a bird head and if you look more up there are horns which might mean this is another devil bird like the one in Zanzibar.
 * This is the only level in the entire Halo series that is just a "revenge" mission. There are no orders, no missions or guidelines to follow, just settling the score with the Brutes and making your way through the Forerunner complexes.
 * Just before "Step Aside, Let the Man Through", you can find a Grunt covering his head and shaking. If you nudge him he will say: "Please! No hurt! Me like Elites! Brutes stinky bad bad! Me stay here and make sure no Brutes come behind mighty Arbiter! [laughs nervously]... eh?" This Grunt is known as the Cowardly Grunt, and is one of the three Talking Grunts.
 * In the Fight Club part, there is a Brute with a Shotgun that, if not killed, can be seen trying out the Shotgun on the wall.
 * In the beginning of the level, you can see sparks of blueish light streaming around of the edge of the cliff. They have a resemblance to the Holo-Drones from when fighting Sesa 'Refumee.
 * The levels "Gravemind" and "Uprising" occur at the same time.
 * In the beginning of the level, Brute Shot can be seen shooting out from the cliff and 4 Plasma Rifle shots will be shot into the sky, hinting that Brutes are fighting and at least one Elite died. Unexpectedly, the Brutes are shooting the Elites, killing them.
 * One of the crates in the "Brute trophy room" is labeled Nerve Gas. This leaves some to believe that the UNSC used or were planning to use biological weapons on the Covenant.
 * Before the end cutscene, if you are holding a Fuel Rod Gun or a Rocket Launcher, the Arbiter will be holidng it in the cutscene. This also works with a Brute Shot.
 * This level has the most allies of any level in Halo 2 with twelve in total.
 * After you have fought through countless waves of Brutes, in one of the rooms is a Grunt that is scared and is shivering in the corner by his dead comrades.
 * Shotguns and Rocket Launchers are the only human weapons available on this level.
 * The human weapon crates contain Marine helmets.