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Are we all eagerly awaiting the upcoming Halo novel?
Are there still great new insights into the Halo story being revealed?
Is the HSP mailbag still taking up the better part of my hard drive?
Though all may be answered with a resounding 'Yes', a recent post on the forum has emphasized the second, and put forth some very astute research and observations in a nice, discussable bundle.
barkbat writes:
Official Halo backstory:
'Now the name of the gas giant is Threshold... whoops... the name of the moon is Basis, and right in the middle between this big-ass gas giant and this little tiny moon is this foreign object (halo).'
The 'whoops' means threshold is important. Janus is the god of thresholds.
www.pantheon.org quotes:
'Janus was represented with two faces, originally one face was bearded while the other was not (probably a symbol of the sun and the moon).'
This rings bells what with halo positioned between a moon and a sun. The following is Janus's story - brackets are me speculating.
'Janus, as the first king of Latium, brought the people a time of peace and welfare; the Golden Age. He introduced money, cultivation of the fields, and the laws. After his death he was deified (forerunner) and became the protector of Rome (galaxy). When Romulus and his associates stole the Sabine Virgins, the Sabines attacked the city. The daughter (Cortana) of one of the guards on the Capitolian Hill betrayed her fellow countrymen and guided the enemy into the city (earth). They attempted to climb the hill but Janus made a hot spring erupt from the ground (used halo), and the would-be attackers fled from the city (covenant fucked). Ever since, the gates of his temple were kept open in times of war so the god would be ready to intervene when necessary. In times of peace the gates were closed.'
Janus appears to symbolise the Forerunner, Halo the 'threshold' door symbol tied to his diefication.
Other similarities
Covenant elites appear to scream 'Romulon'(Romulous?) in-game when they see you - could this stealing of virgins be an analogy to why the covenant have waged war on humanity? If the Sabines are Covenant, and Rome the city earth, then could cortana not be the traitor, explaining earths desolate state, the cryptic and dark Cortana poems that started all this, and all the other tenuous evidence that Cortana is a bit naughty deep down?
'His (Janus) most famous sanctuary was a portal on the Forum Romanum through which the Roman legionaries went to war. He also had a temple on the Forum Olitorium, and in the first century another temple was built on the Forum of Nerva.'
This might imply there are three Halo's.
CARNA: A nymph who lived at the site where in later times the city of Rome would be built. The god Janus fell in love with her and gave her power over door-handles.
If Halo is the door, the index is the door handle, and CORTANA (v.similar to CARNA) does indeed gain control of the metaphorical door handle.
Interesting no?
Thresholds, founts, and shifty A.I.'s; There's a lot of metaphorical meat here and there is sure to be more in the discussion to follow. Again, this is the type of well conceived proposal that we love here at the HSP :)
Head on over to the forum to discuss and refine...
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-Finn
