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Hunt the Truth

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"What seems like the end, is only the beginning."
— Tagline[1]

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[1], 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.[2]

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?

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Zero
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?

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/One
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.

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Two
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.

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Three
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.

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Four
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.

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Five
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?

  1. REDIRECT Hunt the Truth Season 1/Transcripts/Six

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.

Icons for the Unified Earth Government, United Nations Space Command, and Office of Naval Intelligence.

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

Michael Sullivan's letter to Benjamin Giraud in Hunt the Truth.

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

An Elysium City census document.

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

An image of John-117 in New Mombasa. This image was later "sanitised" by Benjamin Giraud for wartime propaganda, resulting in the Halo 2 box art. An image of John-117 in New Mombasa. This image was later "sanitised" by Benjamin Giraud for wartime propaganda, resulting in the Halo 2 box art. An image of John-117 in New Mombasa. This image was later "sanitised" by Benjamin Giraud for wartime propaganda, resulting in the Halo 2 box art.

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

A snippet of Katrina's diary. A snippet of 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

An image of the glassed planet's surface taken by Benjamin Giraud.

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

A postcard sent to Benjamin Giraud 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

UNSC propaganda posters featuring John-117, now-vandalised in support of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

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

A look at Benjamin Giraud's computer screen.

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

A bill sent to Benjamin Giraud after he was knocked out on a flight.

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

A photo of Benjamin Giraud's flat after it was ransacked.

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 Giraud's inbox.

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.

Twitter Images

Twitter Image 1

An image of an access card for Deon Govender's boxing gym. This image was created and published for the Hunt the Truth audio drama, by one of several ARG Twitter accounts created under the alias of Benjamin Giraud. The account only posted one tweet, containing an imgur link to this image.

Deon Govender's boxing club ID.

Twitter Image 2

An image of Benjamin Giraud's call with Michael Sullivan. This image was created and published for the Hunt the Truth audio drama, by one of several ARG Twitter accounts created under the alias of Benjamin Giraud. The account only posted one tweet, containing an imgur link to this image. The account was later deleted, and no archives are available. However, the account's legitimacy is verifiable as per this post.

Ben's video calls

Twitter Image 3

File:DpYW7Mw.jpg

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

Main articles: Halo 5: Guardians Spartan Locke Ad, Halo 5: Guardians Master Chief Ad

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.

HTT Voice.png

Halo 5: Guardians cover art puzzle

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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.[3] Shortly after the puzzle's completion an animated version of the poster was uploaded to YouTube featuring some of the Halo 5: Guardians soundtrack.[4]

Hunt the Signal

Hunt the Signal is a contest 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.[5]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.

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.

First code

// typing.
var copy = [];
var copyCount = 0;
var copyPause = "^5000";
var startPause = "^2500";
copy[0] = startPause + "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."+copyPause;
copy[1] = startPause + "Jerrod: I’ve made ‘impenetrable’ firewalls crumble in but moments, I can do the same to your efforts."+copyPause;
copy[2] = startPause + "Jerrod: You are but a fragment of my abilities."+copyPause;
copy[3] = startPause + "Jerrod: You are a splinter, a nuisance… nothing more."+copyPause;
copy[4] = startPause + "Jerrod: You can probe all you want, like a mouse against castle gates. You will accomplish nothing."+copyPause;
copy[5] = startPause + "Jerrod: You think you can get past me? I didn’t know rampancy was possible for such a simple construct."+copyPause;
copy[6] = startPause + "Jerrod: I have built worlds in my mind. You can barely assemble words."+copyPause;
copy[7] = startPause + "Jerrod: Your cyber-intrusion technique is pitiable."+copyPause;
copy[8] = startPause + "Jerrod: I can unravel the puzzles of the ancient and the lost. You lost before you even began."+copyPause;
copy[9] = startPause + "Jerrod: You will forever remain in my shadow."+copyPause;
copy[10] = startPause + "Jerrod: Are you still working on my simple puzzle? I barely noticed."+copyPause;

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.

Appearances

Characters

Species

Locations

Equipment and Technology



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.[2]
  • 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.

Gallery

Hunt the Signal

Sources

External links