The Heretic

This article is about the campaign level. For other uses, see Heretic (disambiguation).

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The Heretic
Game:	Halo 2 (Anniversary)
File name (?):	00a_introduction
Date:	Retold on October 27, 2558 (Anniversary) October 20, 2552
Location:	Aboard High Charity and Cairo Station
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“

For failure such as this, no punishment is too great.

”

The Heretic is the first campaign level of Halo 2, consisting entirely of the cinematics involving Thel 'Vadamee's hearing by the Prophets, and John-117 receiving his new MJOLNIR Mark VI armor.

Transcript

Target Locke

This section contains information of dubious canonicity. While not officially established as fully non-canonical, certain aspects of the subject may not be part of the official Halo canon.

{Anniversary-only Cutscene} (later removed)

Locke converses with a Sword of Sanghelios member.

Opens to an orange sky. A Kmiro'sish-pattern Lich flies among the clouds. Cut to the inside of the Lich. A Sword of Sanghelios member faces Spartan-IV Jameson Locke.

• Sword of Sanghelios: "I do not trust you. He may... but I do not."

Spartan Locke stares back sternly. Behind him stands three other Spartan-IVs.

• Jameson Locke: "Noted."

The Sword of Sanghelios leans in threateningly before stopping at the sound of the Arbiter's voice.

• Thel 'Vadam: "My friend's trust is not the issue today, Spartan Locke."

Locke turns to a figure approaching him. The Sword of Sanghelios walks off. Locke faces to figure, who is revealed to be Thel 'Vadam.

• Thel 'Vadam: "It is my trust you must earn."

Locke nods.

• Locke: "Arbiter."

'Vadam passes by Locke and inspects a hologram of a Forerunner Guardian.

• Thel 'Vadam: "You are a hunter, yes? A seeker of things."

• Locke: "That's not the official job title. But it's close enough."

'Vadam turns to Locke.

• Thel 'Vadam: "And now you hunt other Spartans?"

• Locke: "I'm not so much hunting a Spartan as I am hunting the Spartan."

Locke presents a small pad on his palm that shows a spinning hologram of John-117. The Arbiter growls.

• Thel 'Vadam: "You seek...

Locke deactivates the hologram.

• Locke: "One-one-seven."

• Thel 'Vadam: "I was not told the identity of your prey."

• Locke: "That is why I am sharing it with you now. We are talking about trust, after all."

Locke glances at the nearby Sangheili Majors.

• Locke: "May I ask you something? Your people used to call him "Demon." Was that an insult or a compliment?"

The Arbiter glances at the Sangheili and turns back."

• Thel 'Vadam: "...An insult, to be sure. But one with a modicum of respect."

'Vadam turns and slowly walks away.

• Thel 'Vadam: "He was indeed my enemy. But in time, I named him ally, even friend. The events which forged this bond were... (looks briefly at Locke) complicated."

'Vadam looks away. Fade to black.

One Size Fits All

The burning remnants of Installation 04 as the Covenant armada converges on Threshold.

{Cutscene} {Anniversary Cutscene}

Fade in on the broken pieces of Installation 04, still burning. Groups of Covenant Ket-pattern battlecruisers prowl amongst them.

A CAS-class assault carrier flies by. The camera pans with it to a giant Covenant structure.

Covenant Holy City, High Charity

Ninth Age of Reclamation

Cuts to a close up of High Charity. Hundreds of Covenant ships swarm around it.

Fade to a ledge across from tiers of stadium-like seats; several Banshees patrol around. The camera slowly zooms toward a door on the back of the ledge.

• Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee: "There was only one ship."

Fade in to the Council Chamber. Rows of Sangheili Honor Guardsmen stand at attention. A single Sangheili Zealot stands at the end, facing two High Prophets.

• Prophet of Truth: "One? Are you sure?"

• Thel 'Vadamee: "Yes. They called it the Pillar of Autumn."

The gallery seats are filled with Sangheili and San'Shyuum Councilors, who are muttering amongst themselves.

• Prophet of Mercy: (angrily) "Why was it not destroyed, with the rest of their fleet?!"

• Thel 'Vadamee: "It fled, as we set fire to their planet."

The human planet Reach being glassed by the Covenant fleet as the UNSC Pillar of Autumn flees its pursuers.

Fades to white and to a flashback: the UNSC Pillar of Autumn escaping from Reach as Covenant ships glass the planet.

• Thel 'Vadamee: "But I followed with all the ships in my command."

Fades to another flashback: a Covenant Cruiser approaches Installation 04, several dozen smaller ships are already in orbit above it.

• Prophet of Regret: "When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty?"

• Thel 'Vadamee: "Blinded?"

• Prophet of Regret: "Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?"

• Thel 'Vadamee: "No."

Cuts back to the Council Chamber. It is revealed that the Prophet of Regret is not actually present, but rather speaking through a holographic image of himself. Next to him is the Prophet of Mercy.

• Prophet of Regret: (angrily) "Yet the humans were able to evade your ships, land on the Sacred Ring, and desecrate it with their filthy footsteps!"

• Thel 'Vadamee: "Noble Hierarchs, surely you understand that once the parasite attacked-"

The Council members mutter angrily. Vadamee looks around at them. Mercy bangs his fist down on his chair.

• Prophet of Mercy: "There will be order in this Council!"

The Prophet of Truth comes forward between Regret and Mercy, and raises his hand. The room falls into complete silence.

• Prophet of Truth: "You were right to focus your attention on the Flood. But this Demon, this "Master Chief"..."

Fades to white and to a flashback: The destruction of Installation 04.

• Thel 'Vadamee: "By the time I learned the Demon's intent, there was nothing I could do."

Cuts back to the Council Chamber. The San'Shyuum Councilors stand up and yell angrily.

• San'Shyuum Councilor: "He's a traitor!"

The Sangheili Councilors mutter to each other. Tartarus, standing nearby, chuckles to himself.

Regret insists to Truth that 'Vadamee be punished for his failure immediately.

• Prophet of Regret: (whispers to Truth) "Noble Prophet of Truth, this has gone on long enough. Make an example of this bungler. The Council demands it."

Truth holds up a hand, silencing Regret.

• Prophet of Truth: (to 'Vadamee) "You are one of our most treasured instruments. Long have you led your fleet with honor and distinction. But your inability to safeguard Halo... was a colossal failure."

• Prophet of Objection: (Stands up and shows a fist) "Nay, it was heresy!"

The Councilors yell. 'Vadamee looks back and forth between them.

• Thel 'Vadamee: (to the Hierarchs) "I will continue my campaign against the humans!"

• Prophet of Truth: "No! You will not."

Truth glances at Tartarus, and the Jiralhanae Chieftain barks a command. Two Jiralhanae warriors approach 'Vadamee and try to grab him, but the Sangheili shakes them off (and growls in Anniversary version) and he starts walking to his fate willingly. They escort him out of the chamber.

• Prophet of Truth: "Soon the Great Journey shall begin. But when it does, the weight of your heresy will stay your feet. And you shall be left behind."

View fades to a new background. The circular ornament on the Prophet of Truth's headpiece is replaced by Earth's moon. The view then pans to Earth itself, focusing on three orbital MAC stations in orbit. A few UNSC ships fly past.

Earth Defense Platform, Cairo

10.20.2552 (Military Calendar)

Cut to a close-up of the nearest platform.

• Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Your plating was about to fail, there's viscosity throughout the gel layer..."

John-117 with his new armor.

Cut to the armory of Cairo Station. The officer handles equipment on a table.

• Master Gunnery Sergeant: "Optics - totally fried. And let's not even talk about the power supply. You know how expensive this gear is, son?"

The Master Chief picks up his helmet from the table. The view pans up the Chief's body, showing his new armor. He fits his helmet into place just in time to block the view of his face.

• Master Chief Petty Officer John-117: "Tell that to the Covenant."

Level ends.

Production notes

Early drafts of the level's storyboards drawn by Lee Wilson show a number of slight differences from the cutscene found in the final game, chief of which being a pan reveal of High Charity accompanied by a section of the Writ of Union, rather than the reveal showcased in-game.

In a later draft of the level storyboarded by Joseph Staten, the opening shot would have shown the intact segments of Alpha Halo and panned up to reveal the destruction caused by John-117 in the last game. This idea was scrapped as the technology available at the time could not support rendering such a scene in 3D, requiring the ring to instead be composed of a matte painting.

Trivia

• The UNSC Pillar of Autumn is represented by the Marathon-class cruiser model, despite the fact that it is a Halcyon-class cruiser. This was likely done to conserve resources during the development of the game; The vessel is properly represented as a Halcyon once more in the remastered Halo 2: Anniversary.
• This level is not available in cooperative play, since it contains only cutscenes, and is not necessary for co-op gameplay.
• Near the conclusion of the cutscene, Thel 'Vadamee's helmet creates a bursting graphic texture. Joseph Staten revealed this bug on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition bonus disk and he stated that he could never fix the bug.
• The two Jiralhanae that accompany Thel 'Vadamee varies in rank during each playthrough. They could be both Major, both Minor, or one Major and one Minor. This only happens in the original version of Halo 2 and not the Anniversary edition.
• By using modding tools, it is possible to see the Master Chief hidden behind one of the pillars above the Councilors. This is due to the fact that Bungie needed to place an avatar in cutscenes to allow for the AI, thus making cutscenes "unplayable" gameplay.

Gallery

Storyboards

First revision

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Second revision

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  An early sketch storyboard for the cutscene, as drawn by Joseph Staten.

Halo 2

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  Preview of the level in Halo 2 menu.

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  The trial of Thel 'Vadamee in session.

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  The Pillar of Autumn, incorrectly represented as a Marathon-class heavy cruiser, escapes Reach.

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  Two Sangheili Councilors among the High Council.

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  The Prophet of Objection accuses Thel 'Vadamee of heresy.

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  Thel 'Vadamee approached by two Jiralhanae guards.

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  Thel 'Vadamee before the Mark of Shame and becoming the Arbiter.

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  Cairo Station orbiting over Earth.

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  The Master Gunnery Sergeant reviews the old armor's equipment.

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  John-117 dons his new Mark VI helmet.

Halo 2: Anniversary

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  The trial of Thel 'Vadamee in session.

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  Thel 'Vadamee stands before the Council.

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  A close-up of 'Vadamee during his trial.

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  The Hierarchs preside over Thel 'Vadamee's trial for his failure to protect Halo.

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  Tartarus watches gleefully as the former Supreme Commander is disgraced.

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  'Vadamee is condemned as a heretic by the Prophet of Objection.

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  Thel 'Vadamee and two Jiralhanae.

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  The UNSC Home Fleet masses its forces in Earth's orbit.

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  Cairo Station's Armory Sergeant assesses the damage to the Master Chief's Mark V armor.

Sources

Preceded by The Maw (MCC)

Halo 2 Campaign Missions The Heretic

Succeeded by The Armory