‘Halo 5’ Arbiter Friendship Questioned In ‘Halo: Master Chief Collection’ Terminal Video

In addition to revealing new Halo 2 Anniversary details for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries and Microsoft also released a new video Saturday featuring the Arbiter. The video comes from the new terminal videos in the Halo 2 Anniversary that features the Elite leader, and gives a dark peek into what is in store for Halo 5: Guardians for the Xbox One.

The Halo 2 terminals are scattered throughout every level of the Anniversary remake and are connected to the story of Halo 5: Guardians. They will tell the story of the Arbiter, Thel ‘Vadamee, as made from a report gathered by the Oni agent Lt. Commander Jameson Locke and read by Master Chief.

The first terminal teaser video released gives a taste of the Arbiter’s history, but also leaves open the question of whether the Master Chief will still call him friend.

Here’s the entire text of what the Arbiter said in the above video.

I have had many names in this long war. The humans knew me as the destroyer. To the Covenant, I was Supreme Commander. The Prophets named me Arbiter. And your Master Chief calls me Friend. How well do you know your friend, human? And what will you call me when you learn the truth of what I have done.

What could the Arbiter be referring to when he says “the truth of what I have done?” The Master Chief must know that he was responsible for the death of millions of humans as the Covenant went on its genocidal crusade to wipe out humanity in the Halo universe. This is no different than the Arbiter being aware that the Master Chief was responsible for the deaths of many of his comrades.

Still, when you take the Arbiter’s comments together with what was previously revealed in the first Halo: The Master Chief Collection trailer from E3 2014, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place.

To find him you have to forget the stories, forget the legends. You have to do more than walk in his footsteps. For he is more than the sum of his actions. I tell you this not because I trust you Agent Locke. But because all our lives are at stake. Because the seeds of our future are sown in his past.

So, these two videos put together tell us that Agent Locke is trying to find a Master Chief that has disappeared following the events in Halo 4. It’s not just the Oni Agent that needs to find him, but the Arbiter as well, because there is something that threatens the existence of humanity, the elite, and the rest of the remnants of the Covenant.

Could it be that the Arbiter feels he is responsible this calamity whether directly or by accident? We’ll find out more when Halo: The Master Chief Collection releases to the Xbox One on November 11.