Halo Infinite | Story and Lore (Spoilers)

[Coolduderedux]

Really hope story dlc comes within the next two years to fill in all the holes in this story. Just finished the game yesterday and I still can't get over how we went from Halo 5 and Cortana being the big bad to she's dead and all these major story beats happened when the player wasn't around so figure it out as you go. Feels like they did Cortana dirty after her being a main staple for the series. I love me some newtana, but it felt like the whole Landfill situation in Beerfest.

Does the new Halo book fill in the gaps between Halo 5 and Infinite or is it a random blue team mission story?

 

[Solbright]

Really hope story dlc comes within the next two years to fill in all the holes in this story. Just finished the game yesterday and I still can't get over how we went from Halo 5 and Cortana being the big bad to she's dead and all these major story beats happened when the player wasn't around so figure it out as you go. Feels like they did Cortana dirty after her being a main staple for the series. I love me some newtana, but it felt like the whole Landfill situation in Beerfest.

Does the new Halo book fill in the gaps between Halo 5 and Infinite or is it a random blue team mission story?

Click to shrink...

I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if there isn't story DLC sometime this holiday. They cut a huge portion of the game that had some content already completed. They don't need to reinvent the wheel, make a new engine, etc. Even if it isn't a "big" DLC I'd expect some additions. Hopefully I'm not being too optimistic.

 

[MythicReclaimer]

I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if there isn't story DLC sometime this holiday. They cut a huge portion of the game that had some content already completed. They don't need to reinvent the wheel, make a new engine, etc. Even if it isn't a "big" DLC I'd expect some additions. Hopefully I'm not being too optimistic.

Click to shrink...

I think it would have probably already been announced if something was coming that soon. I would say late spring at the earliest (and I doubt it's coming that soon). I hope they are going to do Destiny-like sized story expansions on an annual basis and larger campaigns like every 3 years. I would really love a new Firefight or Spartan Ops mode (or a combination of the two) that is constantly iterated on/updated that allowed us to build our own Spartan and give us PvE folk something to do daily/weekly. Whatever they have planned the more the better as the gunplay/gameplay is so, so good and satisfying.

 

[Solbright]

I think it would have probably already been announced if something was coming that soon. I would say late spring at the earliest (and I doubt it's coming that soon). I hope they are going to do Destiny-like sized story expansions on an annual basis and larger campaigns like every 3 years. I would really love a new Firefight or Spartan Ops mode (or a combination of the two) that is constantly iterated on/updated that allowed us to build our own Spartan and give us PvE folk something to do daily/weekly. Whatever they have planned the more the better as the gunplay/gameplay is so, so good and satisfying.

Click to shrink...

The Halo: The Endless trademark got made before 2022, so I think the gears are in motion.

 

[Abrasion Test]

I think it would have probably already been announced if something was coming that soon. I would say late spring at the earliest (and I doubt it's coming that soon). I hope they are going to do Destiny-like sized story expansions on an annual basis and larger campaigns like every 3 years. I would really love a new Firefight or Spartan Ops mode (or a combination of the two) that is constantly iterated on/updated that allowed us to build our own Spartan and give us PvE folk something to do daily/weekly. Whatever they have planned the more the better as the gunplay/gameplay is so, so good and satisfying.

Click to shrink...

I'll guess we don't see any DLC until 2022 or 2023, but certainly no new single player story this year.

On top of co-op and mission select, it would be great if they can get some form of NG+ in there or other smaller new modifiers and additions to the Infinite campaign.

Right now we don't really know what the 10 year platform means beyond constant multiplayer additions. Would love for this year's E3 to be them detailing what this really means for the franchise over the next few years.

 

[oriic]

The Mega listing says "Designed as he appears in Halo Infinite, this Agent Locke micro action figure...", and Hyperius (the Chopper Brute boss Chief fights in Infinite's campaign) has his helmet and chest piece as ornaments/trophies, so 99% sure he's on Zeta Halo somewhere.

Click to shrink...

This is just a general description, it makes no sense. There's also Decimus, who we killed in Halo Wars 2. LINK

"Designed as he appears in Halo Infinite, this Decimus micro action figure is equipped for battle. Suit up with authentic detail, premium decoration, a combat accessory and detachable, swappable armor. Take position on the battlefield when you build the deluxe display stand with printed name detai..."

 

[Xwing]

This is just a general description, it makes no sense. There's also Decimus, who we killed in Halo Wars 2. LINK

"Designed as he appears in Halo Infinite, this Decimus micro action figure is equipped for battle. Suit up with authentic detail, premium decoration, a combat accessory and detachable, swappable armor. Take position on the battlefield when you build the deluxe display stand with printed name detai..."

Click to shrink...

Doesn't it seem oddly specific to create a Locke figure who is missing precisely the armor pieces we know he's missing but still wearing most of the rest of his armor? Also "Agent Locke" is a weirdly specific name, when he'd normally be referred to as Spartan Locke. I know the Megaconstrux sets should always be taken with a grain of salt, but there's enough circumstantial evidence between this and what we see in Infinite's campaign to assume Locke isn't dead and is somewhere on Zeta Halo.

 

[Solbright]

Doesn't it seem oddly specific to create a Locke figure who is missing precisely the armor pieces we know he's missing but still wearing most of the rest of his armor? Also "Agent Locke" is a weirdly specific name, when he'd normally be referred to as Spartan Locke. I know the Megaconstrux sets should always be taken with a grain of salt, but there's enough circumstantial evidence between this and what we see in Infinite's campaign to assume Locke isn't dead and is somewhere on Zeta Halo.

Click to shrink...

That set is Locke from Halo: Nightfall, before he was a Spartan. The entire line he is a part of is the "Halo Heroes" assortment, including characters from all over the franchise in different time periods. The description is likely a mistake by the web team.

 

[iFirez]

The Mega listing says "Designed as he appears in Halo Infinite, this Agent Locke micro action figure...", and Hyperius (the Chopper Brute boss Chief fights in Infinite's campaign) has his helmet and chest piece as ornaments/trophies, so 99% sure he's on Zeta Halo somewhere.

Click to shrink...

That set is Locke from Halo: Nightfall, before he was a Spartan. The entire line he is a part of is the "Halo Heroes" assortment, including characters from all over the franchise in different time periods. The description is likely a mistake by the web team.

Click to shrink...

Yeah what he is wearing is pretty clearly his clothes from Nightfall so I don't think it has any relation to Infinite currently and is most likely a mass description C&P from the web team. He is also called Agent Locke in Nightfall.

 

[Xwing]

That set is Locke from Halo: Nightfall, before he was a Spartan. The entire line he is a part of is the "Halo Heroes" assortment, including characters from all over the franchise in different time periods. The description is likely a mistake by the web team.

Click to shrink...

I honestly forgot that Halo: Nightfall was a thing. I blocked it from my memory. Damn, that's disappointing. There goes my hope for Locke being alive.

 

[oriic]

Doesn't it seem oddly specific to create a Locke figure who is missing precisely the armor pieces we know he's missing but still wearing most of the rest of his armor? Also "Agent Locke" is a weirdly specific name, when he'd normally be referred to as Spartan Locke. I know the Megaconstrux sets should always be taken with a grain of salt, but there's enough circumstantial evidence between this and what we see in Infinite's campaign to assume Locke isn't dead and is somewhere on Zeta Halo.

Click to shrink...

I understand what you're saying, but obviously we can only speculate. What is certain is that we hear his name in one of the Propaganda Tower, and Lasky talks about him in one of the audio logs:

"Spartan Locke is already well underway with the next stages of BREAKER TRIP, but each time out I wonder if we've pressed our luch too far."

 

[Gestault]

OK, i'm a bit lost on how Cortana transitioned from holding Earth hostage, destroying a planet, and suddenly a damsel in distress between Halo 5 and Infinite. Is there a simple "for halo noobs" vid on Infinite's storyline?

Click to shrink...

In case this helps:

• Cortana went rampant because she was alive so long after the events of H3, and got empowered when she joined with the old Forerunner Domain (basically, the data network behind that old empire), which is the events of H4
• She was still theoretically motivated by helping people generally, but was nuts, and went brutalist/totalitarian (H5)
• She started overextending via the intelligent AI insurrection she led in H5, to the point of trying to take on the mantle of ruling everywhere
• She tried this approach with the Brute homeworld, and when they refused, she personally destroyed the whole thing
• Atriox was like "wtf, yo, this isn't over", learns about the UNSC plan to capture Cortana with the Weapon, and kicks the collective ass of the UNSC forces (and the Chief) to capture the Weapon so he can use it for his own revenge trap

(The last two points are the events of Halo Infinite, revealed through the course of the story. The player isn't supposed to know at the start, deliberately having you wonder why the Brutes (especially the Banished) care about humans so much, why they bothered targeting Chief/Infinity, why the Brutes are so into the idea of their legend/legacy and claiming the ring, what happened to the AI insurrection, and then why the ring is blown up, Cortana is gone, and the Weapon wasn't erased.)

 

[Azubah]

That all sounds like it could've been a game instead of a pieced together summary.

 

[Gestault]

That all sounds like it could've been a game instead of a pieced together summary.

Click to shrink...

What are you referring to?

 

[PanzerKraken]

In case this helps:

• Cortana went rampant because she was alive so long after the events of H3, and got empowered when she joined with the old Forerunner Domain (basically, the data network behind that old empire) in H4
• She was still theoretically motivated by helping people generally, but was nuts, and went brutalist/totalitarian (H5)
• She started overextending via the intelligent AI insurrection she led in H5, to the point of trying to take on the mantle of ruling everywhere
• She tried this approach with the Brute homeworld, and when they refused, she personally destroyed the whole thing
• Atriox was like "wtf, yo, this isn't over", learns about the UNSC plan to capture Cortana with the Weapon, and kicks the collective ass of the UNSC forces (and the Chief) to capture the Weapon so he can use it for his own revenge trap

(The last two points are the events of Halo Infinite, revealed through the course of the story. The player isn't supposed to know at the start, and is deliberately left wondering why the Brutes (especially the Banished) care about humans so much, why they bothered targeting Chief/Infinity, why the Brutes are so into the idea of their legend/legacy, what happened to the AI insurrection, and why the ring is blown up, Cortana is gone, and the Weapon wasn't erased.)

Click to shrink...

Still so many unanswered questions

 

[Gestault]

Still so many unanswered questions

Click to shrink...

This all got answered during the course of Infinite, though not necessarily play-by-play details.

 

[Xwing]

This all got answered during the course of Infinite, though not necessarily play-by-play details.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, like, I don't understand people who say "the story makes no sense"; there's a logical series of events laid out by the end of Infinite's campaign that's pretty straight forward, but a lot of little details not filled in.

They clearly took a ton of story inspiration from Halo 1, whose story events also have a lot of little details missing which were later filled in by sequels and extended media. Hell, we got some questions answered about Halo 1's story as recently as Fireteam Raven.

I think a lot of people just really don't like the Breath of the Wild style "figure out what happened as you go" story approach. To Halo 1's credit, you find out the sequence of events in order, even if you skip over a bunch of details in between missions.

 

[blizzardjesus]

Still so many unanswered questions

Click to shrink...

The only thing unanswered is the background and history of The Endless. Everything else is in the game told through cutscenes and audio logs.

 

[Azubah]

What are you referring to?

Click to shrink...

Cortana being on a rampage, blowing planets up, Chief has to stop her. The stuff that was being set up in H5. That all could've been a fun story, maybe even throw in some of the Pinocchio moments they were pusing in H4. Instead it's all after the fact audio logs and we're off to a new status quo.

 

[PanzerKraken]

The only thing unanswered is the background and history of The Endless. Everything else is in the game told through cutscenes and audio logs.

Click to shrink...

Why are the on the zeta ring, what got them there, what is the status of the entire galaxy at this point? What happened to Earth, what happened to the Guardians, what happened to all the rogue AI's. It's just giant gaps in lore all over the place. All the snippets of things in the game still leave tons of things unanswered and just vague for the sake of it. Cortana is shown going around destroying places, so what is the status of the actual UNSC? What happened to everyone else, are they all alone, what is going on with all the other spartans, the other characters that just went poof for the sake of this game.

Yea the story makes sense in the if you ignore the details of everything going on. Halo has a very tight lore with events going on all around. Infinite is this big confined story that jumps ahead while leaving out all the other details folks want to know. You had years of ongoing regular Halo narrative, this kind of just takes a big leap and leaves huge gaps of whats going on.

 

[blizzardjesus]

Cortana being on a rampage, blowing planets up, Chief has to stop her. The stuff that was being set up in H5. That all could've been a fun story, maybe even throw in some of the Pinocchio moments they were pusing in H4. Instead it's all after the fact audio logs and we're off to a new status quo.

Click to shrink...

Sounds like someone needs to replay Halo 5.

 

[BrightLightLava]

Cortana went rampant because she was alive so long after the events of H3, and got empowered when she joined with the old Forerunner Domain (basically, the data network behind that old empire), which is the events of H4

Click to shrink...

I forgot that Cortana got red pilled by the Forerunner internet

 

[Xwing]

Why are the on the zeta ring, what got them there, what is the status of the entire galaxy at this point? What happened to Earth, what happened to the Guardians, what happened to all the rogue AI's. It's just giant gaps in lore all over the place. All the snippets of things in the game still leave tons of things unanswered and just vague for the sake of it.

Click to shrink...

This is literally every Halo game though. There's always tons of background details left vague and unanswered. Name any Halo game and I can list off a bunch of similar questions for them that are never addressed or are not addressed until later media.

 

[blizzardjesus]

Why are the on the zeta ring, what got them there, what is the status of the entire galaxy at this point? What happened to Earth, what happened to the Guardians, what happened to all the rogue AI's. It's just giant gaps in lore all over the place. All the snippets of things in the game still leave tons of things unanswered and just vague for the sake of it.

Yea the story makes sense in the if you ignore the details of everything going on. Halo has a very tight lore with events going on all around. Infinite is this big confined story that jumps ahead while leaving out all the other details folks want to know.

Click to shrink...

Cause cortana went there.
The Infinity
Its in disarray
Australia got blown up.
Cortana used them to blow up a planet.
They blew up the Spartain Training Facility.

This is all in the game.

 

[Azubah]

Sounds like someone needs to replay Halo 5.

Click to shrink...

I must've missed the part where she had her planet busting toys taken away and we got to play the part stopping her, my bad.

 

[Bulby]

I actually like that they kept it brief and told the story, basically, in reverse. I prefer my sci fi in broad strokes rather than getting into the minutiae of everything.

 

[Gestault]

This is literally every Halo game though. There's always tons of background details left vague and unanswered. Name any Halo game and I can list off a bunch of similar questions for them that are never addressed or are not addressed until later media.

Click to shrink...

And even just more generally, storytelling isn't listing every detail or event that happens adjacent to an otherwise successful narrative. Something not being specifically outlined to the "Nth" degree is generally intentional, rather than an oversight. And someone being able to imagine a totally different story (or story section) that they think could be cool isn't a "failure" of the story that sparked it in the first place.

Detailed writing doesn't always do this, but writing that gets too lost in the weeds (re: details and over-explaining everything) is some of the worst writing you still see still make it into mainstream content.

 

[Coolduderedux]

Yea the story makes sense in the if you ignore the details of everything going on. Halo has a very tight lore with events going on all around. Infinite is this big confined story that jumps ahead while leaving out all the other details folks want to know. You had years of ongoing regular Halo narrative, this kind of just takes a big leap and leaves huge gaps of whats going on.

Click to shrink...

I definitely feel you here. I know people pointed out that a lot of the story is told through audio logs, but in my playthrough, getting random audio logs out of order and then deciding to play a campaign mission that ended up being a point of no return left me a lot of questions. Why would I have to go back after the main story is over to find the rest of the out of order audio logs to understand some bits and pieces of what was missing?

I don't agree with the way that they went with the storytelling here. Sure, there are some comparisons to BOTW as far as having to piece everything together goes but I think it's an unfair comparison. Every Zelda game is standalone whereas Halo (this trilogy anyway) requires you to have played spinoffs, and read a series of books in order to have enough background to try and make sense of what's going on. Then, you have a new entry in the main storyline in six years and it kills off a main character in the background, starts the player off by making them feel like they missed an entire game's worth of story and ignores most of the characters they forced you to care about or reduces them to audio logs. I may be in the minority here but I absolutely hate audio logs especially when you find one in the middle of a firefight. It slows the game down incredibly.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

Really hope story dlc comes within the next two years to fill in all the holes in this story. Just finished the game yesterday and I still can't get over how we went from Halo 5 and Cortana being the big bad to she's dead and all these major story beats happened when the player wasn't around so figure it out as you go. Feels like they did Cortana dirty after her being a main staple for the series. I love me some newtana, but it felt like the whole Landfill situation in Beerfest.

Does the new Halo book fill in the gaps between Halo 5 and Infinite or is it a random blue team mission story?

Click to shrink...

I feel like there was an inadvertent painting into a corner that occurred with 5; The stakes got raised so high that it would've been hard to de escalate them in a satisfying way onscreen. Having a faction of banished brutes dismantle the entirety of Cortana's empire because they were just really angry at her did feel extremely truncated, despite that evil queen cortana storyline not really being some thing I cared much to see again anyway.

 

[jokkir]

How did Atriox get to Cortana? I feel like I missed something

 

[UraMallas]

I feel like there was an inadvertent painting into a corner that occurred with 5; The stakes got raised so high that it would've been hard to de escalate them in a satisfying way onscreen. Having a faction of banished brutes dismantle the entirety of Cortana's empire because they were just really angry at her did feel extremely truncated, despite that evil queen cortana storyline not really being some thing I cared much to see again anyway.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I agree. They fucked up 5 and had to reset. It might not be entirely satisfying to do it off screen but I'd personally rather they do all of that offscreen and start to tell their own fresh story in Infinite. It does feel a bit messy and quick but I think they did a pretty good job, all things considered. I think my hype for the future is much higher now compared where it would have been if Halo Infinite was the story of Cortana and her AI/Guardian army. Which I was personally enitirely over by the end of Halo 5 and was ready for a refresh exactly like the one we got.

 

[Abrasion Test]

I actually like that they kept it brief and told the story, basically, in reverse. I prefer my sci fi in broad strokes rather than getting into the minutiae of everything.

Click to shrink...

For all my gripes with the story, I don't think it was a mistake to have the conflict with Cortana resolved off screen. My issue with Halo's 4 and 5 especially is it made the universe feel small by having you be involved in everything with the stakes so high. The appeal to me of Halo CE's story is feeling this was an existing universe and I was just getting a contained, but important part of the story. 343 made the right call to keep things within a small group of characters and make sure they got that right.

 

[MasterGuardian]

How did Atriox get to Cortana? I feel like I missed something

Click to shrink...

Cortina headed to Zeta Halo and the UNSC followed with The Weapon to trap and delete her. Atriox learned of this, took all of The Banished forces and destroyed the Infinity, and with Cortana locked down by The Weapon and not having access to The Domain anymore (thanks to The Weapon) couldn't use the Guardians to help her.

Once Atriox had her she tried to redeem herself for what she's done by stopping Atriox's plan to use the Ring by blowing it up and killing herself and Atriox. She succeeded in stopping The Banished from firing the Ring (for the moment, at this time) but as we learn in the post credits scene, failed in killing Atriox himself.

 

[Odesu]

This is literally every Halo game though. There's always tons of background details left vague and unanswered. Name any Halo game and I can list off a bunch of similar questions for them that are never addressed or are not addressed until later media.

Click to shrink...

This argument is a bit silly imo. A comparable situation would be if, jumping from Halo 2 to Halo 3, the war against the Covenant was now suddenly over and the Prophet dead, with you trying to figure out why and how, with no further mentio of any other race in the covenant. This isn't even close to previous games.

The worst comparison before was the handling of the Didact jumping from H4 to H5, but he was at least defeated at the end of H4. H5 literally ends with setting up the war between Cortana and the Galaxy and Halo Infinite starts with that war now being over, all by quite easily defeating Cortana via a convenient Deus Ex Machina (and instantaneousredemption by the villain), with no mention of the Guardians, Prometheans and other Created.

 

[Quellyford]

If the Harbinger is a Xalanyn, then how come her Cylex looks different than all the other Xalanyn Cylexes?

Also, how is it possible that the decaying rings (like the ones you are teleported to at end of game) indicating Xalanyn burial sites on Zeta Halo predate the Forerunners themselves when they are the one who built the rings in the first place?

 

[shiba5]

If the Harbinger is a Xalanyn, then how come her Cylex looks different than all the other Xalanyn Cylexes?

Also, how is it possible that the decaying rings (like the ones you are teleported to at end of game) indicating Xalanyn burial sites on Zeta Halo predate the Forerunners themselves when they are the one who built the rings in the first place?

Click to shrink...

I can't answer the first one, but the decaying rings are (guessing) reverse timelocks where time moves at a more rapid pace. Thus, they look much older even though they were made by the Forerunners.

Timelock

A timelock is a temporal stasis field in which the passage of time is brought to a standstill through sophisticated higher-dimensional manipulation. Both the Forerunners and prehistoric San'Shyuum possessed timelocking technology. Prehistoric humans...

www.halopedia.org

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

The worst part is that you never find out what name the Weapon chose. I can't wait 7 years and 3 books to find this out, I still haven't watched Nightfall or Halo Legends

 

[Quellyford]

I can't answer the first one, but the decaying rings are (guessing) reverse timelocks where time moves at a more rapid pace. Thus, they look much older even though they were made by the Forerunners.

Timelock

A timelock is a temporal stasis field in which the passage of time is brought to a standstill through sophisticated higher-dimensional manipulation. Both the Forerunners and prehistoric San'Shyuum possessed timelocking technology. Prehistoric humans...

www.halopedia.org

Click to shrink...

Wow, that's a pretty interesting interpretation, thanks for this! It would make a lot of sense.

As always, I'm left with an equal amount of questions as answers after finishing Halo, but damn that story was really good :)

 

[Cranster]

So I wonder if that ship that crashed on installation 04 in the Halo 1 Terminals was The Endless?

 

[Kay]

Finally finished it, I'm so used to 343 explaining everything in books in media (literally the worst impulse in video games) that i thought i'd missed something as per usual. Was pleasantly surprised that most of the beats they missed while chief was out were explained. I actually quite liked it, although it was way more lowkey then i was expecting.

 

[Protoman200X]

Finally finished it, I'm so used to 343 explaining everything in books in media (literally the worst impulse in video games) that i thought i'd missed something as per usual. Was pleasantly surprised that most of the beats they missed while chief was out were explained. I actually quite liked it, although it was way more lowkey then i was expecting.

Click to shrink...

It was refreshing that all the storybeats and such were contained in this game, and were not secluded in some bullshit cross-media promotional materials that you had to look up or read to understand what the hell was going on.

I really hated Halo 4 & 5 because of that, because in one such case, The Didact was nothing more but some giant bowling pin of an antagonist that I had to knock down and I quickly lost interest with both games for whatever the hell was going on.

 

[TheHunter]

So I wonder if that ship that crashed on installation 04 in the Halo 1 Terminals was The Endless?

Click to shrink...

That happened well after the rings had fired.

 

[Cranster]

That happened well after the rings had fired.

Click to shrink...

Could have been a ship of them that escaped.

 

[William_Herschel]

As someone who watches a lot of quality movies and TV, I do not understand how anyone could like the direction they've gone with the story in this franchise. Respectfully, nothing makes a lick of sense in this universe anymore, and I do not have the energy to fill in the gaps about who is who and how we got here.

Genuinely miss the days when Halo was essentially just an amalgamation of Starship Troopers and other Sci Fi films.

 

[Vidpixel]

I really thought we'd get a tease of The Endless or something with how long the game kept hammering into your head "this ring is hiding something terrible and mysterious" but that ultimately leads to nothing, kinda bummed me out and left the ending a bit unsatisfying for me.

The only other major issue I had with the campaign was obviously the lack of diversity with the environments. Like damn, not even a dense lush forest or desert environment that were present in the initial teaser trailer? Bummer for sure, but not surprising given how the game feels like large chunks were cut to present us with the story we were given.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

The worst part is that you never find out what name the Weapon chose. I can't wait 7 years and 3 books to find this out, I still haven't watched Nightfall or Halo Legends

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure it's Cortana. It's at least heavily implied.

 

[VictoryLap77]

Pretty sure it's Cortana. It's at least heavily implied.

Click to shrink...

This was my takeaway as well.

 

[Nox]

The worst part is that you never find out what name the Weapon chose. I can't wait 7 years and 3 books to find this out, I still haven't watched Nightfall or Halo Legends

Click to shrink...

Not the biggest loss tbh

 

[Buttonbasher]

The worst part is that you never find out what name the Weapon chose. I can't wait 7 years and 3 books to find this out, I still haven't watched Nightfall or Halo Legends

Click to shrink...

Neither of those are in any way important. Everything surrounding Infinite is designed to put the audience on the same page, without having to have read any book, or engaged with the extended universe whatsoever. For the past few entries, that stuff only exists as additive storytelling, rather than required reading (which is how it should be).

Additionally, it's all but confirmed that there will be multiple campaigns within Halo Infinite, so you're not going to be waiting 7 years for the next one. The continuation of the story set up in this first campaign will be part of Halo Infinite, rather than Halo 7 or Infinite 2.

 

[shiba5]

Pretty sure it's Cortana. It's at least heavily implied.

Click to shrink...

When I rewatch that cutscene, that's not the impression that I get. I see it as her asking for permission to name herself. It would be dumb as hell for 343 to name her Cortana.