Beforehand inactive laptop terminals in Bungie’s newly launched extraction shooter have now turned on, and somebody is speaking to gamers. And it is likely to be a very powerful character in the complete Marathon franchise, voiced by one among gaming’s greatest names.
When Marathon launched on Thursday, you would discover switched-off laptop terminals that appeared so much like those present in Bungie’s authentic traditional Marathon trilogy launched again within the ’90s. Again within the day, these terminals supplied textual content logs that instructed the story of Marathon. They usually took the type of completely different AI chatting with the participant or offering new missions. Most frequently, gamers communicated with the psychotic however clever AI Durandal, the OG trilogy’s primary villain (?), who famously needed to flee the inevitable collapse of the universe in order to grow to be immortal. Abruptly, the terminals are on-line, and it appears Durandal is chatting with gamers who discover them.
On March 6, a bit of over 24 hours after Bungie launched Marathon on consoles and PC, a brand new degree was unlocked for gamers degree 12 and as much as discover and loot. However round this identical time, gamers found that the classic-looking terminals had been now energetic. These terminals can present areas on the map, and for those who head to the indicated spot, you’ll discover one other traditional terminal and listen to a voice.
👀 Durandal #Marathon
Credit score: __meh pic.twitter.com/2BXVaTHiec
— Marathon Codec (@MarathonCodec) March 6, 2026
This positive appears like Ben Starr, who voiced the “narrator” in final 12 months’s Marathon CG quick. A number of followers speculated on the time that Ben Starr was really voicing Durandal. There was even a touch in direction of that within the credit. Now, it appears like Starr’s “narrator” is again and speaking to gamers via terminals in Marathon. However I’d guess all my shields in my Marathon vault that the voice heard in movies shared on-line by gamers is none apart from Durandal.
What does this imply? Properly, I’m unsure. I’m not a Marathon lore professional in any respect. Nevertheless, the truth that Durandal is seemingly taunting gamers by way of terminals that additionally appear to be linked to an ARG involving Marathon‘s upcoming “endgame” degree, Cryo Archive, makes me assume this isn’t the final we’ve heard from the maniac AI. In actual fact, I guess as Bungie continues to replace Marathon and add extra content material, we’ll be listening to extra from Durandal and different traditional Marathon trilogy characters. Maybe someday I’ll get to shoot a S’pht within the face once more?
