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343 Guilty Spark (alternatively known to the '' and '' Halo 2 ''. BACKGROUND 343 Guilty Spark is an Artificial Intelligence tasked with overseeing Installation 04 , which the Covenant and the UNSC know as "Halo". Unlike other artificial intelligence characters in the Halo universe, 343 Guilty Spark is contained within a physical avatar, which he is invariably tied to. Constructed in the Forerunner Monitor style, the avatar has many abilities, including the ability to interface with computer systems when in close proximity, flight, and indestructibility. Its indestructable nature was likely written in so the player would be unable to kill it. It can also access Installation 04's Teleportation grid. However, it lacks offensive capabilities, and it can be immobilized by strong Magnetism , such as that present in Tartarus 's hammer. 343 Guilty Spark also controls the Sentinels of Halo. He can manipulate them just as he can manipulate his own personal avatar. However, this only extends to the Sentinels of Installation 04. He has absolutely no control of other Sentinels, such as those of 2401 Penitent Tangent on Installation 05 . It can be assumed that he requires his avatar to be within a certain proximity of the Sentinels in order to manipulate them, or, alternatively, for some sort of relay network to transmit his signal over a larger area. While on Installation 04, 343 Guilty Spark could command his Sentinels from tremendous distances, but once the Halo was destroyed and he left its ruins, he displayed control only over those Sentinels near to him. 343 Guilty Spark is not fully integrated with the systems of Halo; in fact, Halo seems to be composed of various completely separate systems, so as to prevent the entire ring's takeover at once. Instead, 343 Guilty Spark must use his avatar to interact with Halo physically, usually by using his interface ability within very close proximity of certain interactive terminals. 343 Guilty Spark's interface ability appears to be quite advanced. Not only can he access Forerunner computers, but he can also enter alien systems, like those on the human '' Pillar Of Autumn ''. His technical ability is phenomenal; even on a human computer that he'd no previous interaction with, he could institute overrides that even Cortana , an exceptionally skilled UNSC artificial intelligence, could not contend with. The personality of 343 Guilty Spark is somewhat egotistical and eccentric, and possibly insane, due to the amount of time left alone on Halo; he often audibly reminds himself, through his avatar, that he "is a genius", and he is prone to cheerful humming for no apparent reason. It is possible that 343 Guilty Spark is in a state of Rampancy , a form of insanity featured in Bungie's Marathon series; although he is still accepting of his role as Monitor, his pursuit of alien knowledge does seem to go beyond his purpose. He seems to prefer that his living companions remain alive, but he shows little sorrow when they die. He has a special relationship with humans, which he refers to as Reclaimer s, although the true meaning of his thoughts are still unknown. 343 Guilty Spark was on Installation 04 for a total of 101,217 years, local time; this time had been spent maintaining the structure. He has a vast wealth of knowledge on the Flood , the Forerunners, and Halo's overall purpose. Prior to this, he was tasked with the study and containment of the Flood. There have been many elaborate speculations and analyses made regarding the origin of 343 Guilty Spark's name, history, and motives. The most notable question is: what exactly is he "guilty" of? The most obvious answer is that he instigated the galactic genocide that killed all sentient life when the Forerunner installations were activated. Also, the number 343 significantly is the number 73, relative to 2401 Penitent Tangent 's number being 74. Another fact that loosely supports this theory is that the original number of Halos is seven. The number 7 is significant in all of Bungie Studios 's contributions to the gaming world, including the Marathon series. In this context, it is not known if the number seven has plot significance or if it is just another allusion to Bungie Studios. ROLE ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' The Master Chief first comes into contact with 343 Guilty Spark in a swamp area on Halo . The Flood had been released from the local infrastructure, and the Master Chief (with several other UNSC soldiers) were running towards a tower structure; Foe Hammer was ready to evacuate them. However, when several Sentinels are found at the tower, they engage the Flood as well. The Master Chief and the Sentinels fend off several waves of the Flood, but then the Master Chief is teleported to the top of the tower, where he interacts with 343 Guilty Spark. 343 Guilty Spark calls John-117 a Reclaimer . 343 Guilty Spark then teleports himself and the Master Chief to the Library , a vast complex infested by the Flood. 343 Guilty Spark informs the Master Chief that the Reclaimer must reclaim the Index , the key to activating Halo's defenses and destroying the Flood. Despite the seriousness of the situation and the fact that Master Chief is in constant peril from the attacking Flood, 343 continues to uphold a cheerful attitude throughout the Library incident, whilst casually explaining the history of Halo to the Chief. Sentinels aid the Master Chief throughout the Library, and 343 Guilty Spark floats above the action, occasionally floating through tunnels to access computers and open otherwise impassable doors; this allows the Reclaimer to move on. Once the Index has been reclaimed, the Master Chief and Guilty Spark are returned to Halo's control room. The Master Chief and Cortana had been there previously; they had been making an effort to reach it before the Covenant , and the result was Cortana's insertion into the mainframe. 343 Guilty Spark claims that Master Chief must reunite the Index with the Core, as he himself cannot perform a task of such importance. However, once inserted, Cortana takes the Index and reveals that when Halo's defenses are activated, it will not kill the Flood: it will instead kill their food, starving them to death. 343 Guilty Spark confirms that activation will cause the eradication of all sentient life within 25,000 light years, thus ''indirectly'' killing the Flood, attempting to justify his lack of explanation of Halo's defenses to the Master Chief. When the Reclaimer refuses to fulfill his task, 343 Guilty Spark orders the Sentinels to dissect the Master Chief and recover the Index. He then teleports away to seek an alternative method to activate Halo. Before leaving 343 Guilty Spark asks "Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?" followed by "Last time you asked me: if it were my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice. We must activate the ring." From these statements we can infer that 343 Guilty Spark is unable to distinguish between the Master Chief and whomever activated the rings' last detonation cycle. Also, it implies that this individual was hesitant and mournful of what they had to do. Or, more controversially, it could imply that there will be a degree of Time Travel involved in future Halo games, where the Master Chief has to activate the ring for some unknown reason hundreds of thousands of years in the past. However, it may be that Guilty Spark, having spent over a hundred thousand years ("many of which were quite boring") with no sentient contact, is merely insane, a possibility stated in ''The Flood''. The Master Chief and Cortana temporarily disable the pulse generators powering Halo's weapon, meaning that 343 Guilty Spark will have to wait at least a little while for repairs to take place. Guilty Spark is later discovered on the Pillar Of Autumn , accessing information on Humanity , about which he states, "imagine, a record of all our lost times. Human history is it? Fascinating." this could also mean that the Foreunners were human. He has taken control of the ship, and refuses to allow the self-destruction of its engines. However, in a final showdown, the Master Chief and Cortana do battle with 343 Guilty Spark and his Sentinels in the ship's engine room, and succeed in manually initiating a "wildcat destabilization of the ship's fusion engines". Though Halo is destroyed, apparently killing every living thing on it, 343 Guilty Spark and several Sentinels escape destruction by heading into space. ''Halo 2'' Later, 343 Guilty Spark is rescued from the ruins of Halo by a Covenant Elite, to whom he gives knowledge about Halo's true nature. This knowledge causes the Elite to become a Heretic and rebel against the Prophets. The Heretic Leader leads a large group of like-minded Elites and Grunts to one of the Forerunner facilities that predates the Halo Installations in Threshold's atmosphere. When the Arbiter is sent to kill the Heretic, he is engaged by the Sentinels, and he also encounters 343 Guilty Spark (whom he refers to as the Oracle). Once the Heretic is dead, Tartarus arrives, and he captures the Oracle with his gravity hammer. 343 Guilty Spark is held in captivity for some time; Sentinels do not come to its aid, either due to radio signals interfering in the communication to them, too great a distance between High Charity (where he is taken) and the Sentinels back on Halo, or both. The Covenant Hierarchs interrogate 343 Guilty Spark, gaining as much information as they can about Halo and the recently-uncovered Delta Halo . Once Miranda Keyes , another Reclaimer, is captured—along with Delta Halo's Index—both she and the Oracle are taken by Tartarus to Delta Halo's Control Room. Guilty Spark, still intent upon activating the installations, warns Tartarus not to damage Keyes as she is "delicate", but Tartarus ignores him. The Arbiter, Sergeant Johnson, and several Elites arrive as Tartarus is activating Delta Halo. The Arbiter asks 343 Guilty Spark what the purpose of Delta Halo is; once again Guilty Spark reveals that, as with the original Halo, it will destroy all life within 25,000 light-years. Blinded by his purpose and his commitment to the Great Journey , Tartarus throws the Oracle at Sergeant Johnson and activates the ring anyway. As Guilty Spark begins to countdown the ring's firing sequence, a battle ensues between the Elites and the Brutes, culminating in Tartarus' defeat at the hands of the Arbiter. Meanwhile, Miranda Keyes attempts to interrogate 343 Guilty Spark about how to stop Halo from firing. He tries to stall, but eventually answers Keyes' question by telling her to remove the Index from the core. Keyes takes back the Index, and the process is stopped. However, the ring sends a remote beacon to all other installations, preparing them to fire simultaneously upon receiving a confirmation signal from "the Ark ", a fact which 343 Guilty Spark explains (and was aware of when he told Keyes to remove the Index). The location of the Ark is not revealed, although the game's ending suggests it may be on Earth , particularly given the Covenant attack on the planet, apparently made ''without'' the knowledge that it was the human home world. Another theory suggests that the Forerunner ship used as a power source for High Charity , and as the escape vessel for the last remaining Prophet, is the Ark. The story ends here, though it is to be continued. TRIVIA The Number 343 is equal to 73, with Seven being a number seen frequently in Bungie games and mythology. In ''Halo 2'', the "2401" from 2401 Penitent Tangent is equal to 74. When the numbers of each Monitor are examined, a pattern emerges: each seems to be seven raised to the power of the installation number minus one (7(n-1)); therefore, The "eye" of 343 Guilty Spark bears the Marathon logo. The number seven could also relate to the is the seventh letter counted from the beginning of the alphabet and so is T if counted from the end, "G" and "T" being the Initials for "Guilty" in Guilty Spark and "Tangent" in Penitent Tangent respectively. The word " Penitent " means "Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses", and "Tangent" means unrelated, hence "2401 Penitent Tangent" is most likely not guilty of firing the Halo systems and killing the Forerunners. "343 Guilty Spark" is so named because he may have helped, or had a part in, the destruction of all sentient life including that of the earlier Forerunners , though this can easily be discounted due to the fact the A.I's were quite possibly named before firing of the rings. Despite the literary and mathematical depth of the source of 343 Guilty Spark's name, his blithe disregard for the hero's peril and endless prattling about irrelevant facts earned him the common Halo player nickname, "that little blue bastard." |
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