Before I begin, yes I am crazy. But bear with me, and maybe, just
maybe, I'm on to something.
I. Introduction
A. QTA XII VIThe ancient engima. The puzzle that was thought to be solved, but only came back again, staring us in the face, as if goading us. Originally thought to have concluded as a
Quick
Time
Application trailer for Halo: Reach that released on December 6th, it actually was
present as a string of text on armor in Reach, which led us to believe that we were not fully done with this badge yet. CIA has recently noted that Vergil the engineer was originally named "
Quick
To
Adjust", which is also a valid candidate for the text. Moving past the text for now, SGP OG Tepec mentioned to me that one of his friends at Termacious Trickocity theorized about the XII VI meaning Canto XII Verse 6 of Dante's Inferno. Now, why Dante's Inferno? We are already well aware of the parallels and allegory between ODST and Dante's Inferno; if the hell of Mombasa Streets isn't symbolic enough, Data Hive's descent of the 9 levels seals the deal.
Canto XII is the beginning of Circle
7. Now, before we go any further, I want to make clear that the integrity of this theory is
not hinged on this interpretation of QTA XII VI. I had actually already come to Circle 7 through my own conclusions after reading The Hollow Men, which will be explored later. This means that there are
two potential pointers toward Circle 7 (Ring 1 and 3, the beginning and end), which makes this whole thing a little bit less of a stretch. Looking at the 6th verse of the Canto, we find this text:
My Sage towards him shouted: "Peradventure
Thou think'st that here may be the Duke of Athens,
Who in the world above brought death to thee?
To me, "
Who in the world above brought death to thee?" sounds like something the many of us would ask about the dead Elites of New Mombasa. While I don't think QTA is particularly important to this easter egg, especially given how we've already identified more than one valid option, I personally imagine it to be "Question to Ask" or "Question to Answer". The question is of course is who brought death to the elites - the conclusion to the verse referred to by XII VI.
B. The Hollow MenWe are also well aware of the parallels between TS Eliot's
The Hollow Men and ODST. To further emphasize this, Marty O'Donnell just posted the following on his twitter in response to RocketSloth and Tepec's revitalization of ODST's mystery:
Is it time to unravel the mystery from the land of cactus?
It is clear from this that our previous work on the relationship between ODST and Hollow Men was significant. Now, however, we have something to focus on: Cactus Land. Here's the first segment of Hollow Men's 3rd movement which references the Cactus Land:
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
It's been compared to the Squidhenge before, and I'm pretty confident in saying Joseph Staten is well aware of the connection here. I mean, Stone images raised, dead man's hand, and twinkling of fading star...
But we started our journey in Dante's World, did we not? Under what circumstances could this entirely different poem be related? Well, let's work backwards.
C. Circle 7 Ring 3There is a place in Dante's Inferno that heavily resembles a "cactus land", being described as:
A great Plain of Burning Sand scorched by great flakes of flame falling slowly down from the sky... The Blasphemers (the Violent against God) are stretched supine upon the burning sand... the Sodomites (the Violent against Nature) run in circles... the Usurers (the Violent against Art, which is the Grandchild of God, as explained in Canto XI) crouch huddled and weeping
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Blasphemers = Elites
Sodomites = Covenant Camps
Usurers = Engineers
The
blasphemers are self explanatory: elites that failed in achieving the great journey; a halo was destroyed. They become officially blasphemous later when the great schism occurs, but a San'Shyuum even decrees Thel Vadamm's failure as "Heresy" - the shoe fits. They now lay dead upon the ground.
The
sodomites are also pretty self explanatory. The covenant wreaks havoc upon the city, glassing the planet (nature). They are quite unruly, bringing much damage to the world. The covenant packs of New Mombasa roam the streets in circles, looking for prey.
The
Usurers are the Engineers, weeping over their slain brethren. Dante notes that "he does not recognize them, but each has a heraldic device emblazoned on a leather purse around his neck". Wikipedia says this about heraldic devices: A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual or family. Now here's the kicker: The Huragok were created by Forerunners, who were created by the Precursors. This makes the Huragok grandchildren of the precursors. And who are the precursors? They're the ultimate god figure in the Halo Universe, as far as I'm aware.
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I have no doubt that the Cactus Land refers to the Squidhenge. Working backward, we can say that Mombasa Streets (Ring 3) is the end destination of the journey that QTA XII VI begins. We began by asking the question "Who in the world above brought death to thee?" and we concluded by visiting the Squidhenge and learning that the Elites were killed by the covenant because they were blasphemers. The Sad Mono Glyph mourns their fate.
II. Development
A. How does it all come together?I have just presented a wealth of information and relationships with a fair bit of cross-linkage, but now it's time to really iron out a map. The most obvious thing we can say about Hollow Men III and Circle 7 Ring 3 is that Hollow Men specifically relates to the Squidhenge whereas Circle 7 Ring 3 is more of a bigger picture of Mombasa Streets. This is why I propose the relationship of:
Dante's Inferno -> Level
The Hollow Men -> Locale
The third ring's description lets us know that we need to be in Mombasa Streets, and the third movement of The Hollow Men lets us know that we need to be in the Squidhenge. This is one possible relationship, but of course it is fallible if Ring 1 and Movement 1 don't line up in any realistic way, for example. This is where the leg-work comes in. Through scrutinization of the passages in these two works, we can develop a road map that should take us throughout Halo 3: ODST.
B. Action PlanHow do we
activate the easter egg, you might ask. After I mentioned that parts of the structure of Sadie's Story reflects the structure of Dante's Inferno (Audiologs 19-21 are labelled as Circle 7 Arc 1, Circle 7 Arc 2, and Circle 7 Arc 3), CIA suggested the playing of audiologs as a mechanism for the game to recognize. To bring this whole thing together, we need to identify the 3 relevant locations that reflect Dante's 7th circle and Hollow Men's 3 movements, playing audiologs 19-21 at each one respectively. Ignoring the details of Hollow Men and Rings 1/2, one probably imagines the 3 unique places of Mombasa Streets: Circular Glyph, Tri Glyph, and Mono Sad Glyph. Do these correlate with the structures governed by Hollow Men and the Rings, I don't know, does it matter, I don't know. But I've developed a framework that allows us to pursue this easter egg through an avenue that brings together all our past investigations into one esemplastic mass.
III. In Closing
Those of you who know me understand that I'm a sucker for insane theories that are more often than not just fantasies. The good news is that when an easter egg remains unsolved for 11 years, those crazy theories might just be the ones shaking things into place! While the exact technical details of this easter egg may not line up with the technical approach used in this theory, I believe that the relationships investigated here are still significant and will be helpful in the ultimate solution to this easter egg. I encourage everyone to explore the two works
The Hollow Men and
Dante's Inferno to develop your own theories. The more crazy stuff we try, the more likely we are to solve this thing! No stone unturned.
