Chronique:Canon Fodder - Mythellaneous Topics

BY GRIMBROTHER ONE - 12/16/2015

ISSUE 55

Welcome back, lovers-of-the-lore! We’re hoping today ends up being a pretty cool one for Halo fans of all walks and interests, as many of you have likely already spent part of the day diving into many of the new features and facets of the Cartographer’s Gift content update for Halo 5: Guardians that we detailed in last week’s issue. I know there are countless souls within our studio walls that are eager and excited to see what Halo’s wildly creative community comes up with as the boundaries of the mode get pushed ever further.

Today though, we’re going to talk a little bit about different project we’re also pretty excited about: Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo. After sneaking it into the most recent episode of The Sprint, we saw fiction fans immediately begin to speculate about the nature of the new project – many wondering the same as one of our forum members, ChasCT2, who asked “Will the Halo Mythos book which is coming out next year be the next Halo Encyclopedia?” The short answer to that question is “no,” and it was important to us to make sure our loyal lore community had a clearer inclination as to what to expect. So if it’s not the “new encyclopedia,” what is it exactly? I’m glad you asked…

We Myth you[modifier]

Mythos is a guide and overview of the Halo story itself, and one like we’ve never produced before. Brought to you by our friends and partners at Egmont Publishing and penned by a few of the scribes at 343 Industries (including yours truly), Mythos will walk readers through the expanded Halo fiction – from the Forerunners’ conflict with ancient humanity all the way through the events of Halo 5: Guardians. Along the way, readers will witness connected stories unfold across a continuous narrative, helping tie together characters, artifacts, and events found not only in the Halo games, but also throughout the novels, comics, and live-action and animated features.

Accompanying the text will be more than fifty pieces of newly commissioned artwork from a handful of talented artists who have applied their unique styles to specific eras in Halo’s timeline, allowing fans to get a glimpse of certain events they’ve only read about but never had visualized. Just recently fans got a small taste of what’s in store, when we gave you a sneak piece at artwork by Halo-veteran Isaac Hannaford depicting a moment within the recently-released Halo: Shadow of Intent by Joseph Staten. Needless to say, it’s been a pretty incredible to see so many iconic moments in Halo’s history come to life in brand new ways.

For the writers on this end, it’s been a process as delightful as it was daunting – bringing together stories from a myriad of media and weaving them together into a more linear narrative in hopes to frame the overall Halo story in a new way that’s both engaging for the “old-school” fans, but still accessible and entertaining to new ones. In fact, we hope that not only will Mythos be a book every Halo lore fan will want to have on their shelf or coffee table, but that it will be something fans want to share with friends and family to introduce them to the universe we all adore calling home.

With Mythos we got to dig deeper into the Halo Story Bible than ever before to present perhaps the most cogent and complete accounting of events in the universe over the last 100,000 years. We can’t wait until people get it in their hands to marvel at the art, absorb the historical detail, and start to put the pieces together for the next chapters of the story. While Mythos is specifically designed to make the entirety and breadth of the vast Halo timeline more accessible to fans of all walks, detail-oriented and deep-diving story seekers will no doubt find some particularly intriguing gems sewn throughout the narrative, answering some questions while perhaps raising brand new ones to ponder.

In short, Mythos tells the massive story of Halo with incredibly rich, brand-new art and an interesting peek at some of the more enigmatic corners of the universe. Mythos is slated to drop into your hardcover-holding hands in October 2016, and we look forward to sharing more info about the project as we approach its release later next year. If you dig Halo's story at any level, you'll want to pick this one up.

CF SNAPSHOTS[modifier]

Last time we talked about CF SNAPSHOTS, we showed off a collection of hard-hitting Helljumpers captured by our talented community. We also said that when next we broached the subject, we’d be showing off the opening salvo of sweet Sangheili screenshots, and today we’re doing just that. Be sure to check out the Sangheili species article in the Universe section of Halo Waypoint and drool over all the talent showcased by the community! After the new year, we’ll be revisiting the feature to make a few tweaks and keep it moving forward, so stay tuned, Snapshooters.

Truth & Reconcialiation[modifier]

SL9pones: When does Halo Wars 2 take place? Before, during, or after H5?

A: Yes.

EightWalk326413: Aside from Blue Team and possibly Naomi and the Spartans aboard the Spirit of Fire, are there any other surviving Spartan-II's as of 2558?

A: Yes.

Well that will do it for us this week, but before we go, if you didn’t get a chance to catch Joseph Staten when he joined the Halo Live Stream last Friday, our friends at ReadyUpLive have got you covered. Head over to their YouTube channel to check out the segment all on its own, and listen to Joe chat Halo history and Shadow of Intent; as expected, it’s a pretty fun watch – especially for Halo’s old community guard.

Next week being what it is, it’s not quite finalized whether we’ll have a regular Canon Fodder issue or not – and since I always try and only make promises I can keep, we’ll put next week’s chances at a steadfast “we’ll see.” Here’s hoping you are as eager to get your hands on Halo Mythos as we are to get it to you, and hope you have a fantastic holiday time!

Until next time… Live well, play Halo, and never tell me the odds.

-Grim