In September 2010, Halo modified eternally. Halo: Attain, a prequel to Bungie’s Halo trilogy and the final sport developed by the studio whereas underneath Microsoft’s umbrella, messed with established canon and launched controversial options that basically altered the Halo gameplay loop. (I nonetheless love you, Armor Lock.) Then Bungie moved on. However Halo positive didn’t.
To this present day, followers nonetheless debate the affect Halo: Attain had on the sequence.
Launched Sept. 14, 2010, for the Xbox 360, Attain particulars the Fall of Attain — a essential occasion in Halo lore when the antagonistic Covenant faction of religiously genocidal aliens bombs the human stronghold planet of Attain to smithereens. You’re forged because the faceless, anonymous Noble Six, the latest member of an elite squad of armored supersoldiers (referred to as Spartans) tasked with defending the planet. Spoiler alert: You fail.
Attain instantly units up the occasions of Halo: Fight Developed, the primary sport within the sequence. At the beginning of Fight Developed, the interstellar-capable Pillar of Autumn spaceship seems within the orbit of a mysterious ringworld referred to as Halo. Onboard are Halo protagonists Grasp Chief John-117 (a Spartan) and Cortana (an AI). A Covenant fleet rapidly arrives and assaults the ship.
So is Halo: Attain canon or not? It’s a query followers have debated ever since 2010. Whereas the prequel completely particulars the Fall of Attain itself, lots of the overarching narrative occasions have been chronicled within the ultimate act of Eric Nylund’s 2001 novel The Fall of Attain, which can also be thought-about canon. And there are some plot factors that don’t precisely line up. (The Fall of Attain was additionally depicted within the now-canceled Paramount Plus Halo TV present. Although statedly set in an alternate timeline, everybody unanimously agrees this interpretation of the occasions was The Worst. We are able to ignore this one.)
In The Fall of Attain, Grasp Chief battles his approach onto the Pillar of Autumn with Cortana in tow. However in Halo: Attain, Noble Six escorts Cortana to the ship; an finish credit scene reveals Grasp Chief already aboard, suspended in cryosleep. In The Fall of Attain, Cortana acquires the coordinates for Halo from an artifact from a misplaced civilization, discovered on a planet mild years away from Attain. However in Halo: Attain, the coordinates are attained from an artifact already on Attain itself. Broad strokes, and there are just a few extra minor divergences — like implications about whether or not or not all Spartans in addition to Grasp Chief are killed within the Fall of Attain — however these are the massive ones.
Virtually instantly after the discharge of Halo: Attain, followers began elevating these questions. “Which storyline is canon: Halo Attain, or Halo Fall of Attain? *spoilers*,” poses one thread on Gamefaqs from 2010. The next yr, devotees of the unique lore integrated the web site haloreach.isnotcanon.internet, which is precisely what it says on the tin, even likening among the occasions of Halo: Attain to the notorious addition of midi-chlorians to Star Wars fiction. (The positioning lastly closed in 2024.)
You’d assume time would quell these queries, however no. Each the first r/Halo and r/HaloStory subreddit — the latter being devoted completely to dialogue of Halo lore — are repeatedly populated by threads that restart the talk:
“How precisely is Halo Attain not canon?” one fan requested in 2019, sparking chatter about which particulars Halo: Attain acknowledges and doesn’t.
“Halo Attain and Fall of Attain can not each be canon, you must choose one and I’m sorry to say, the sport takes precedence,” another person stated that yr, leading to a bunch of suggestions from followers, in full “nicely truly” mode, claiming you don’t have to choose one.
“Halo Attain vs The Fall of Attain, which one is canon?,” one fan requested in 2020, once more questioning whether or not the video games trumped the guide canon.
“Can we actually think about Halo: Attain to be canon to the lore in any approach?,” one other individual requested in 2022, complaining that “It’s clear bungie didn’t even attempt to make this sport correct or constant.”
In 2023: “As followers of each the guide ‘Halo: the autumn of attain’ and ‘Halo Attain’ what’s the extra definitive story of how Attain fell[?]”
In 2024: “Cortana’s creation in Attain retcons the books.”
In 2025, it’s merely: “Which attain is Canon?”
The boring reply is: Each variations are canon. Halopedia, the last word arbiter of Halo lore, decrees each The Fall of Attain and Halo: Attain as canon. Drawing on inner guidelines from Halo developer Halo Studios (née 343 Industries), Halopedia editors don’t apply a canonical hierarchy to varied mediums, saying any formally sanctioned Halo media is a part of the timeline. This successfully means you’re free to imagine what you need, to justify any leaps of logic you might want to sq. up the story in your head. (When you’re curious and have half-hour to spare, this video from the Halo Canon YouTube channel does yeoman’s work in untangling the threads.) Or you possibly can proceed to debate it. Nobody’s stopping you.
On this, Halo: Attain has proved at the least one outdated cliché true. For all of the Covenant’s pontification in regards to the “Nice Journey,” it’s not the journey that issues. It’s the vacation spot.
