Empty Throne Could Set Up the Future for Halo Games

In mid-February, Halo Studios, Simon & Schuster, and Xbox published the 37th Halo novel with Halo: Empty Throne. The first Halo novel written by former franchise lead writer Jeremy Patenaude, Empty Throne is one of the longest Halo novels ever released, featuring 512 pages of content filled with dozens of fan-favorite characters and factions. Set in the latter months of 2559 and the early months of 2560, Empty Throne explores what happened to the rest of the galaxy while Master Chief and the UNSC Infinity dealt with Zeta Halo, focusing on the UNSC, ONI, Banished, Created, and Covenant remnants. Based on Empty Throne’s timeline in relation to Halo Infinite and its multiple revelations about factions, the novel could be setting up events for multiple Halo games.

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Halo: Empty Throne’s Events Explained

While Halo: Empty Throne is Patenaude’s first official Halo novel, it directly follows up on other novels by other writers, including Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: Shadow of Intent, Halo: Fractures, and Halo: Envoy. Set a year after Cortana’s takeover of the galaxy seen in Halo 5: Guardians, the UNSC has remained relatively subdued, with Cortana watching over Earth and Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood and ONI Commander-in-Chief Serin Osman fleeing to a hidden planet. Meanwhile, the Swords of Sanghelios and active UNSC fleets have continued combating Banished and Created threats whilst continuing to hunt down runaway San’Shyuum from the Great Schism. Empty Throne sheds a greater light on the Banished internal affairs, revealing that the Banished home fleet is led by War Chief Severan in Atriox’s absence.

Hood and Osmin are recovered by Spartan-II and Swords interspecies strike team Gray Team to take part in Operation: Bookworm to take out Cortana via a Domain gateway called a Lithos on the planet Boundary. However, most Covenant remnants have been recollected under the command of the San’Shyuum-led Order of Restoration with the goal of reforming the old Covenant and gaining access to the Domain to become “gods”. Under the command of Captain Abigail Cole, daughter of the legendary Vice Admiral Preston Cole, and Shipmaster Rtas ‘Vadum, the UNSC and Swords fleets head to Boundary to confront the Order of Restoration and attempt to kill Cortana. Before these acts can occur, however, the Jiralhanae homeworld of Doisac is destroyed by Cortana, causing Severan to launch an attack on Earth.

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The Banished and Covenant’s Endgame in Halo: Empty Throne

Severan is not a mere Banished War Chief as he is the last living son of the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae Tartarus and secretly loyal to San’Shyuum High Lord and leader of the Order of Restoration Dovo Nesto. His attack on Earth catches Guardians’ attention, but they shut down in the midst of battle after Cortana’s death as seen in Infinite. The Banished fleet then withdrew from Earth to Boundary to aid an Order fleet led by “Hand of the Didact” Sali ‘Nyon. During the battle, the Lithos is destroyed and Severan is betrayed by Nesto. Severan survives, promising to kill Nesto, but the High Lord escapes and regroups with a massive fleet, planning to continue the Order’s goals at the Shield World Cloister, home to the remaining San’Shyuum population.

Halo: Empty Throne’s Potential Impact on Halo Games

Halo: Empty Throne is one of the most complicated and important novels the Halo franchise has seen in years. It practically sets up the universe’s major conflict beyond the threats set up by the Endless in Infinite. While rumors and job listings have suggested that Halo Studios is currently working on developing Halo 7 and possibly a Halo: Combat Evolved remake, narrative details of these games are currently unknown. If both are in development, Halo 7 could utilize the events set up in Empty Throne to shape the critical events of the game. The Endless threat could still be dealt with by Master Chief, but Severan’s Banished and the Order of Restoration could play as secondary and tertiary antagonists in Halo 7.

With Atriox and War Chief Escharum apparently dead in the eyes of most Banished forces, Severan could locate Zeta Halo and launch an all-out attack on Master Chief and UNSC Infinity remnants for revenge. Severan is depicted as a sort of cyborg after his defeat on Boundary, so he could serve as a unique boss fight in Halo 7 if he does show up. Similarly, the Order of Restoration could attack Zeta Halo to gain control of the ring and the Endless, allowing players to potentially fight Prelates, Drones, and more Covenant-esque enemies alongside Banished forces. Nesto does suggest that Cloister is home to vast Forerunner knowledge and technology which could lead them to Zeta Halo for the ring’s and Endless’ power.

Spinoff Halo Games from Halo: Empty Throne

If Halo 7 doesn’t follow up on any events seen in Halo: Empty Throne, Halo Studios should strive to develop a spinoff Halo game to conclude the novel’s conflicts. For many fans, Empty Throne sets up a narrative many wanted to see in Halo 4, with the UNSC and Elites uniting to finish off the remaining threat posed by Jiralhanae and San’Shyuum remnants. This spinoff game could see the return of many favorite characters, such as Hood and Rtas, and feature the long-requested return of playable Elites, given how close the UNSC and Swords are cooperating to combat the Banished and Order. It could even feature multiple protagonists such as Jai-006, Severan, and Tul ‘Juran, each with their own distinct campaign levels similar to Halo 2.

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Released

December 8, 2021

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T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios