Editing Terminal (Halo 4)

{{Era|RW}}

{{Center|Were you looking for the [[Z-9930 Information Vector Console]], otherwise known as a Terminal?}}

[[File:Halo-4-Terminal-Locations.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A Terminal seen in ''Halo 4''.]]

The '''terminals''' in ''[[Halo 4]]'' are [[Forerunner]] [[terminal]]s accessible to the player over the course of the game's [[campaign]]. Like the [[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|terminals]] in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'', the ''Halo 4'' terminals feature animated and voiced cinematics similar to [[:Category:motion comics|motion comics]]. Fictionally, the terminals are presented as fragments of information from the [[Domain]], a mysterious store of knowledge once used by the Forerunners.<ref name="jul">[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/Universe/detail/halo-4-terminal-jul-mdama/0f378de5-e0e3-4f31-a1e1-2a363af4094d '''Halo Waypoint:''' ''Halo 4 Terminal: Jul 'Mdama'']</ref><ref name="achievements">[http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/08/22/The-Halo-Bulletin-82212.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''': ''The Halo Bulletin: 8.22.12'']</ref>

Finding a terminal awards the player the [[Contact the Domain]] achievement, while finding all the terminals in the campaign unlocks the the [[Terminus]] achievement.<ref name="achievements"/>

==The terminals==

<div class="tab">Prologue</div>

{{/One}}

<div class="tab">Terminal One</div>

{{/Two}}

<div class="tab">Terminal Two</div>

{{/Three}}

<div class="tabbox">

<div class="tab">Terminal Three</div>

{{/Four}}

<div class="tabbox">

<div class="tab">Terminal Four</div>

{{/Five}}

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<div class="tab">Terminal Five</div>

{{/Six}}

<div class="tab">Terminal Six</div>

{{/Seven}}

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<div class="tab">Terminal Seven</div>

{{/Eight}}

*[[Endurance-of-Will]] {{C|Indirect inclusion}}

*[[Jul 'Mdama]]

**[[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction]]

*[[Prehistoric human civilization]]

*[[Capital]]

*[[Omega Halo]]

**[[Siege of Charum Hakkor]] {{1st}}

*[[Reclamation conflict]]

**[[First Battle of Requiem]]

*{{Class|CRS|light cruiser}}

|title-8=Technology|

*[[Promethean Knight]]

==Behind the scenes==

The terminals do not appear in-game after they are acquired for the first time, nor does Cortana's [[Requiem (level)#THE GATEWAY|unique line]] regarding the second level's terminal. The only way to avert this is to clear all Halo 4 data from the [[Xbox 360]]'s system cache. Unlike the terminals in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]'', the first ten of which are available in-game, ''Halo 4''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s terminal videos can be accessed only through the player's ''Halo 4'' Service Record on ''[[Halo Waypoint]]''.

 

There are a number of discrepancies between the terminals and [[Greg Bear]]'s ''[[The Forerunner Saga|Forerunner Saga]]'', in particular the third and final novel, ''[[Halo: Silentium]]''. The most direct inconsistencies lay with terminals 5, 6, and 7, which are adapted as part of the climax of ''Silentium''. Some plot elements are changed slightly, while others are altered quite drastically; the dialog varies completely in each case. These discrepancies are largely the result of deliberate production decisions; according to [[343 Industries]] Franchise Writer [[Jeremy Patenaude]], the the terminals are meant to present a condensed version of the story of the Didact and the Librarian with the main consideration of weaving the narrative with that of the game proper while conveying the basics of the story to a wider audience within the confines of the limited length of the terminal videos.<ref>[http://waypointassets.blob.core.windows.net/mobilecontent/legacysupport/content/assets/en-us/podcast/343Sparkast_017.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''343 Sparkast 017'']</ref> Thus the narrative of the terminals lacks much of the nuance and broader context present in the novels, and many elements of the greater story arc are simplified, abstracted or omitted altogether. From an in-universe perspective, it should be noted that the terminals are hosted by the [[Domain]], (which is known to alter data without explanation and had lain un-accessed for 100,000 years following the firing of the Halos), which could explain any perceived incongruities. Meanwhile, the narrative of ''Silentium'' is a series of eyewitness accounts collated from the memory stores of the carapace of a [[Catalog]] and a [[monitor]] as opposed to the more unreliable Domain, and as such can be considered a more accurate recounting of the events.

Terminal 3 depicts the Didact and the Librarian having a conversation on [[Omega Halo]], in the same human village that the Didact later composes in Terminal 6. The exchange could not have occurred in this location for a number of reasons; while the events of the terminal are implied to have occurred almost immediately after the fall of the [[prehistoric human civilization|ancient human empire]], the Ur-Didact went to exile before the Halos were constructed and did not reunite with his wife until after his transformation. Additionally, humans were not brought to Omega Halo until moments before the Flood [[Battle of the greater Ark|attack on the greater Ark]] and the Ur-Didact's betrayal. Within the simplified context of the terminals, the backdrop of the Halo and the human village can be understood as setting up a recognizable location for the events of the sixth terminal; in any case, with the main focus of the scene being on the characters of the Didact and the Librarian, the setting is of little importance outside the aforementioned connection within the narrative of the terminals themselves.

The nature of the humans' devolution is also portrayed differently: in Terminal 3, the Librarian comments on the genetic reduction of the inhabitants of a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7]] human village. In the books, it is stated that [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|the surviving humans']] biological evolution was reversed from their "modern" forms to archaic, less intelligent incarnations; to the Librarian's great astonishment, the humans then rapidly recovered their past forms, undoing their artificially imposed devolution process.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 45-47''</ref> The hunter-gatherer community shown in Terminal 3 consists of what appear to be anatomically modern humans, implying the scene takes place after the humans had re-evolved. The evident regression in this case would be cultural and technological rather than biological, making the Librarian's lamentation over their genetic reduction seem out of place in this context.

 

The events of Terminal 5 are not depicted directly in ''Silentium'', though they are implied to have occurred between the Didact's recovery near [[Uthera Midgeerrd]] and his return to [[Nomdagro]] (a four-year span).<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 28, 197''</ref> In ''Silentium'', the conversion of the organic Prometheans into mechanical Knights is not addressed until much later. The Didact's physiological changes wrought by his self-experimentation are never mentioned in the novel; rather, it is implied that his face has become haggard due to the psychological stress he endured during his interrogation by the [[Gravemind]].

The events of Terminal 7 are not heavily changed, though they are greatly expanded. The most notable difference is the involvement of [[Endurance-of-Will]], the Didact's lover before his marriage to the Librarian. Additionally, the terminal depicts ''Mantle's Approach'' hovering over a mountain range with stars visible in the sky, whereas in the novel, the ship remains docked within the interior of Requiem when the Librarian comes aboard to confront her husband. In the novel, the Librarian and the Didact briefly converse on the bridge of ''Mantle's Approach'' before the former shoots the latter. Though the Librarian touches a Promethean Knight as she leaves the Cryptum chamber, there is no indication that this overrides the Promethean constructs' loyalty to the Didact; instead, this is implied to occur when she leaves her [[Mind transfer|memory imprint]] with Endurance. However, 343 Industries has clarified that the particular Knight the Librarian encounters in the terminal is Endurance, who composes herself after the Librarian's final conversation with her;<ref>[https://blogs.halowaypoint.com/en-us/blogs/headlines/posts/the-halo-bulletin-5-14-14 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''The Halo Bulletin 5.14.14'']</ref> this is heavily implied, although not directly described, in ''Silentium''.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 300''</ref>

The very nature of the terminal narrative being drawn from the Domain is suspect in light of ''Silentium'''s revelation that the Domain would be destroyed by the firing of the Halos, along with all [[Precursor]] architecture.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 322-323''</ref> In the ''Halo 4'' level ''[[Requiem (level)|Requiem]]'', Cortana notes that a terminal is "caught in a loop" trying to access the Domain, suggesting that the Domain may truly have been unavailable and the terminal videos are in fact locally-hosted copies of the information. Regardless, the name of the achievement "Contact the Domain" implies a connection to the Domain itself.

File:H4-RequiemTerminal-ScanRender.png|Extraction of a Requiem Terminal.

File:Halo4-Terminal3.jpg|A terminal seen in-game.

File:Halo4-Requiem-Terminal.jpg|A terminal in the core of Requiem.

File:H4-Forerunner-Terminal.jpg|A terminal found on the level ''Forerunner''.

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