Based on the above, I think it would be seriously foolish (not to mention a let down) if there was any other AI beside Cortana that could justify the line "Yes... well... great minds do think alike."
Agreed. I'm just not sure how they can pull this off.
First Strike definitely leaves one with the impression that contact between Cortana/Master Chief and Halsey is severed on August 30. After that date, Halsey and crew are underground without access to comm equipment until they are rescued by John et al on an unspecified date somewhere between September 7 and 12. Their departure from Reach is immediate (an evacuation) and necessarily so so they don't all DI-IE.
Wait, I just watched it again. I think what Halsey's saying - especially given all the Auntie Dot graphics, which
Bungie confirms to be Auntie Dot - is that Auntie Dot, as a smart AI or "great mind," thinks like Cortana (and by extension, her) when she chooses Noble-6. This supports my hypothesis that there is a Master Chief and Noble-6 connection. OR, if I were thinking a bit more cynically, I'd say this trailer is Bungie marketing's way of really hammering home that you will play as a character who is as good as the Chief. My gut says a bit of both.
Anyhow, back to my point. So the events of the trailer seem to happen BEFORE August 30, right? BUT a continuity problem looms.
This little-known trailer creates the impression that the Battle of Reach begins on or around July 23, 2552 - it is heavily implied, for example, that something will prevent Mommy from coming home in three days - but according to
Fall of Reach, the Covenant doesn't arrive until August 30. Combat events should take place on or after August 30 to be in line with canon. It is possible that the trailer is just showing life before the attack and misleading us with the soldiers rushing up the steps. But Halsey's dialogue in "A Spartan Will Rise" also creates the impression that she's been in some kind of command and control center observing an extended battle. This really doesn't jive with the books, which demand that she be underground, cut off, within the day such that this can only be August 30. She can only comment on the battle from Reach at the beginning of the battle if that makes sense.
I guess technically Bungie can justify anything with time on the planet Reach since it's the home of the crazy time-bending crystal, but I agree with Angry Pregnant Lady: "The timing is insane." So (though I really hope not)....are there two Halseys as well?
UPDATE: Unless of course, Reach does NOT fall as we imagine - we know that characters are often under false impressions, e.g., the UNSC thinks Halsey is dead - and (as I initially speculated as a lesser possibility) the events depicted in the game are taking place after Halsey has "returned" from the shield world. It would make sense that the battle for a planet the size of Reach would be a long and protracted one. In this sense, maybe the events are occurring during or after the events of Halo 2. Still, it wouldn't explain the appearance of Cortana. Also, it seems the Covenant would have finished glassing the planet once the crystal was removed by Halsey, John, and team on September 12.
