Siege of Madrigal

Siege of Madrigal
Album:	Halo: Original Soundtrack
Composer(s):	Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Length:	1:04
Previous:	Halo Theme

The Siege of Madrigal is a piece of music that Bungie used in one of their previous games, Myth: The Fallen Lords. Players can hear this music when standing in a certain spot in the games Halo: Combat Evolved (as well as Anniversary), Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach. This music is also featured after the last track on the Halo: Original Soundtrack. It is one of very few Easter eggs that can be found in every Bungie-produced game in the Halo series.

Walkthrough

Halo: Combat Evolved

In the level Assault on the Control Room, there are a couple of places where the player can stand and hear this music.

1. One can be found on the pyramid structure at the end of the level. There are three brackets on the large tower above the control room entrance. The player will need to land on the second one with a Banshee to do this. Then, once one has landed, face the cliff, go to the right side of the bracket. There should be a part of the bracket that points towards the cliff, then slopes down steeply. From the flat part of the bracket, move towards the steeply sloped portion slowly. Eventually, the music can be heard.
2. The other is at the beginning of the level. If the player goes through the level Assault on the Control Room and gets a Banshee, they can fly back, get out by the door to go backwards the way they came, and melee the Banshee through. It is possible to go all the way back to the beginning of the level (where Foehammer drops the Master Chief off in the first cutscene). The massive cylindrical cavern can be seen from the platform. If the player falls down without the Banshee, they will die. With the Banshee, however, the player can fly down to the first or second ledge. The Siege of Madrigal can be heard if the player stands in a certain spot.

Halo 2

On the multiplayer map Ivory Tower, stand by the metal door behind the elevator and wait. Attacking the door may also help, but be aware that the sound is very faint and hard to hear. Many have disputed the claim that the music does not appear on Ivory Tower; however, anyone with access to Halo 2's map files will find the music among one of the sound files for Ivory Tower.

Halo 3

In the final stretch of The Covenant, after defeating the Scarabs, ignore the waypoint and fly toward the left of the Citadel (the building that Truth is located in). Carefully land the Hornet there (the return is possible without it, just much harder given the fall damage) and run along this ledge. Eventually, it will turn into a 45-degree slope; at the top, the music can be heard. It plays almost immediately after one reaches the slope. Unfortunately, it only plays a shorter version of the track, but it is easily recognized.

Warning: If the player lands on the building where the Prophet of Truth is, there is a possibility of activating the Revelation chapter prior to entering the building (The word will appear in the corner of the screen, but nothing will happen). Should that happen, the player will be able to continue the level normally until the end of the cutscene (though to hear the music, the player needn't go near the building itself). The game will be stuck in the 'chapter title' mode with black bars across the screen, and will not return control to the player.

Halo 3: ODST

Marty O' Donnell, found dancing when the player approaches Halo 3: ODST's Siege of Madrigal on Legendary.

The music is found on the level Kikowani Station on all difficulties. It can be found in the third open area of the level, on the right side rooftop on top of a small bridge, which can be found by turning right when exiting the second tunnel. It can easily be spotted by looking for a large red sign with the words "ACCESS DENIED" printed on the left. Standing in the very middle of the area, while touching the wall causes "Siege of the Madrigal" to play as well, moving or standing anywhere else will not allow the music to play. On Legendary, when standing on top of the small roof above the door on top of the bridge, an animation begins of Martin O'Donnell dancing, with winged hearts similar to the Halo: Reach armor effect flying around him. A dance beat will play. The winged hearts effect is used by Steve Cotton to test glitches, and someone seemed to have added the effect on the Easter egg as a prank on Martin O'Donnell.

Halo: Reach

Main article: Club Errera Easter egg

The Siege of Madrigal in Halo: Reach can be heard in Club Errera, a club that is located in New Alexandria.

The Siege of Madrigal can also be heard in Dr. Halsey's Lab, the secret room in the level The Package.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

The music appears just as it did in the original game. However, there are two versions; "Classic" and "Remastered," depending on the music setting chosen by the player.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

The music appears again, as it did in the original versions of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach. Activating these music cues will unlock the Madrigal Debut, Siege of Ivory Tower, Dirge of Madrigal, Like a Broken Record, and Play Us a Sad Song, Claude achievements, respectively. It has been remastered into Spartan's Regret in the Halo 2 Anniversary Original Soundtrack.

In Halo 3: ODST, the dancing Marty is replaced with Beamish.

Trivia

• There is a distinct resemblance between the locations for the easter egg's locations in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3. Both require the player to land on a precariously perched platform on a Forerunner building.
• In Halo 3, there is another Easter egg at the other ledge of the Citadel.
• According to Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer for Halo 3: ODST, Martin O'Donnell was unaware of the dancing gif of himself tied to the Easter egg when playing the level on Legendary. The dancing image came from O'Donnell walking past Jandro's camera when the latter was filming references shot in the back of Bungie's studio building. O'Donnell entered the shot, shuffling his feet and pumping his fists as joke. As part of a prank unbeknownst to O'Donnell, Jandro asked Steve Scott to add the recording, along with flying hearts animations, to the Siege of Madrigal Easter egg. After the game's release, O'Donnell hosted a small contest on the Bungie.net chapter known as "The Marty Army", where the first person that posted a video on their Fileshare of themselves finding the music and completing the level would win a signed copy of the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack. Incidentally, the first player to have found the Easter egg did so on Legendary, and O'Donnell was surprised to see another aspect of the Easter egg.