Canon Fodder: Joyeuse Occasions
The end of the year approaches, and oh boy do we have a lot to catch up on from the last month alone.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends. It’s Canon Fodder time!
HALO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2025
The 2025 Halo World Championship was a momentous moment in so many ways. Most obviously, we revealed Halo: Campaign Evolved—a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s genre-defining campaign coming to Xbox, PC, and for the first time... PlayStation!
Alongside the remade campaign missions we fell in love with a quarter of a century ago, Campaign Evolved will also feature three bonus missions. These will follow the Master Chief and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson on a new mission that we’ll have more to share about in the near future!
As we also confirmed during the Canon Fodder LIVE! panel, players will be able to find text-based Terminals which offer some insights into the deeper history of the universe.
The tradition of Terminals in Halo is, of course, a storied one that goes back to 2007 (and for old school Bungie fans, even further back), and we’re tremendously excited for you to find these cryptic, lore-laden collectibles when the game is in your hands.
For this and everything else that we covered, you can check out the full panel below!
CANON FODDER LIVE! 2025
JOYEUSE EXULTATION
It brought us great joy to provide a preview of Halo: Edge of Dawn, the upcoming novel by beloved author Kelly Gay, at HaloWC 2025. Steve Downes and Jen Taylor reprised their roles on-stage at the event to read an early scene of the book where the name of “the Weapon” was finally revealed.
Joyeuse.
To understand Joyeuse, we must first understand the roots of her predecessor.
The name “Cortana” originates from the 11th century epic poem Song of Roland. In this, Cortana was a sword wielded by Ogier the Dane—a legendary hero who enters a prolonged sleep once his fight is finished, until he is needed again (sounds kinda familiar!)
The sword bears an inscription which reads: “My name is Cortana, of the same steel and temper as Joyeuse and Durandal.”
Joyeuse is a “sister sword” of Cortana, forged from the same steel—just as Cortana and the Weapon were both created from the cloned brains of Dr. Halsey.
Joyeuse translates to “joyous” or “joyful,” which closely matches the personality of the Weapon, as she is characterized as curious, expressive, and youthfully naive—more like a younger sister.
(If you’re nice, she’ll let you call her Joy.)
The closing scene of Halo Infinite has been interpreted in various ways by fans, but the core of this creative direction is really summed up by two particular lines from Cortana and the Master Chief at the end of the game:
In her farewell message, Cortana says:“It won’t be me... but you know that, right? But that doesn't matter.”
And in the final scene, the Master Chief says to the Weapon:“You get to choose your name.”
Cortana’s greatest fear of being replaced in Halo 4, by another “Cortana model” no less, is what she ultimately overcomes in her final moments on Zeta Halo. She manages to make peace with the fact that she would be succeeded by another—and that this “replacement,” crucially, wouldn’t be her. The Master Chief affirms this when he tells the Weapon that she gets to choose her name, giving her the opportunity and blessing to forge her own path.
Joyeuse is certainly still connected to the legacy of Cortana, that much is as undeniable as her own serial number, but she is also a unique individual unto herself. Edge of Dawn offers a great opportunity to delve into why she chose that name and what it means to her, to really dig into Joy’s interiority and how she thinks and feels about things after the adventure she has been on through Halo Infinite’s campaign.
For audiobook listeners, this will all be bound together by Jen Taylor’s incredible narration as Joyeuse, Cortana, and Dr. Halsey. She will be joined by Steve Downes (John-117), Nicolas Roye (Fernando Esparza and audiobook narrator). And the book will close with a short piece read by Debra Wilson (the Harbinger).
Halo: Edge of Dawn is written by Kelly Gay and releases December 16 and will be available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.
And stay tuned, as we’ll have a preview of the full opening chapter of the novel in the coming weeks with the text published here on Halo Waypoint and the official audiobook excerpt on our YouTube channel.
PARASITE’S WAKE
On the subject of books, we announced a new novel for 2026, which is being written by a brand-new author to the Halo universe.
Welcome, Tim Lebbon!
Tim Lebbon is a New York Times-bestselling horror, thriller, and fantasy writer from a little village in South Wales. He has written over 45 novels, including original fiction and tales in universes such as Star Wars, Alien, Predator, and Firefly. Earlier this year, he released Secret Lives of the Dead, an original dark folk horror novel which has seen worldwide acclaim.
In 2026, you’ll be feasting your eyes (and ears, for audiobook listeners) on Halo: Parasite’s Wake, a new horror story that takes place during the events of Halo: CE.
2552. As the planet Reach falls to the alien alliance known as the Covenant, a lone human ship—the UNSC Pillar of Autumn—fled into slipspace and has arrived at a place that could change the course of this decades-long war. An ancient, mysterious ringworld: Halo.
With human forces scattered across the surface of this immense alien construct, Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto must now lead his fellow crewmates—survivors from the ship’s brig—back to the Autumn’s crash site to rally and regroup with their allies. Desertion, drunk and disorderly, and murder are only a few of the charges that Mobuto's squad carries—and keeping them in line might prove to be just as difficult as surviving the zealous, entrenched Covenant warriors who believe they have found the gateway to paradise.
But as war rages across the ring's landscape for control of the installation’s weapons and secrets, a far more terrible threat from deep within Halo’s underworld is hellishly unleashed that transforms this conflict into a desperate battle of survival for UNSC and Covenant alike....
Even beyond the obvious tonal shift that comes with the Flood being unleashed from containment, the dire situation of humanity facing annihilation and the lonely, isolated feeling of the ring itself contributes to such a distinct feeling of creeping unease in Halo: CE.
We’ll have plenty more news on Halo: Parasite’s Wake over the coming months, including a reveal of the cover art by the one and only Rythaze!
You can check out some of Rythaze’s work, along with an interview about his personal history with Halo, in our second ever issue of the Community Corner.
OMNIBUS OVERDRIVE
The other thing we announced during Canon Fodder LIVE was an exciting new compendium titled Halo: The Master Chief Omnibus.
This immense tome will include The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike together, and will feature brand new art from the legendary Isaac Hannaford.
For series newcomers looking to explore the story around Halo: Campaign Evolved, and for long-time fans who want to revisit these foundational texts with updated edits, new adjunct stories, and a very pretty visual treatment for your shelves, this is the perfect way to return to where it all began as we celebrate twenty-five years of Halo history.
We alluded to the fact that further editing work has been done on these books, and we’ve got a few examples to share. To be absolutely clear: the story of these books is not changing one bit. That much is held as sacred as we preserve the foundational work that Eric Nylund and William C. Dietz did with these first three novels. But certain details within them have been apocryphal for many years, and errata remains even within the 2010 editions. These are the things we have sought to address.
At the most basic level, factual corrections have been made to dates and other statistics. Errata from previous editions has placed certain events as taking place in 2542 instead of 2552, and references made to certain lengths of time now align with what is canonically true.
Other items that we have addressed are the height of certain species and the tonnage of various vessels. These numbers have evolved over the years and now reflect up to date statistics. For example, the UNSC Iroquois is stated to be an eighty-thousand-ton vessel in the book, but our encyclopedic fiction (such as Halo Warfleet and the 2022 Encyclopedia) puts Halberd-class destroyers at 1.8 million metric tons. There are various instances of figures being provided for UNSC and Covenant ships throughout the book and all have been addressed to match the updated figures for detail-oriented readers.
Within the 2010 edition, The Fall of Reach still has some leftover textual examples of various Covenant species being encountered for the first time. As the series has evolved, that notion very quickly became untenable, and so further wording adjustments have been made to smooth out these remaining elements.
Similarly, there are some evident draft conflicts during the chapter where John, Kelly, and Sam conduct their boarding operation on the Unrelenting after departing Chi Ceti IV. While piloting a Pelican from the planet surface, it is noted that—in addition to John, Kelly, Sam, and Dr. Halsey—there are a dozen spare Mjolnir suits in the Pelican’s troop bay, and no mention of the other thirty Spartans (because, of course, there is no logical way they’d all fit in a standard Pelican).
However, upon reaching the Unrelenting, it states that “Only two other Spartans waited for [John] there,” with Kelly saying “I think we’re it,” and John speculating that the Covenant were either shielding transmissions “or there were no Spartans left to communicate with. John pushed that last thought aside.”
At one point, evidently there may have been more Spartans attempting to board the Unrelenting, but that was pivoted away from to focus on John, Kelly, and Sam. This part of the story ultimately served as a pivotal moment where Sam would be the first to die, sacrificing himself to destroy the Covenant ship. As a result, some minor edits have been applied to address these discrepancies.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Blue-Five? I thought not—it's not a tale The Fall of Reach would tell you... at least, not any more.
In the book’s prologue, during the battle of Jericho VII in 2535, where we are introduced to Blue Team for the very first time, they have five members instead of four. The identity of this fifth member is completely unknown, as they are only referenced a handful of times in the chapter.
But the presence of a fifth member is complicated by Blue-Two saying: “Four of us and a thousand of them? Piss-poor odds for the little guys.”
The text vacillates between there being four or five members of Blue Team in this prologue. Samuel-034 is a decade dead at this point; Kurt-051 went MIA four years earlier in 2531... One could perhaps make an argument for James-005 fitting in here, but no further acknowledgement of a “Blue-Five” is given throughout the entirety of the book.
As this is readers’ first introduction to Blue Team, the very first piece of published Halo media (and the cover doesn't even show a fifth member!), we wanted to keep the focus on John-117, Kelly-087, Fred-104, and Linda-058. As a result, Blue-Five during the battle of Jericho VII has been consigned to the darkest depths of apocrypha.
Farewell, whoever you were...
Finally, at least for now, there are a few places in the text where we saw some opportunities to connect events more closely to Halo: Reach. When Dr. Halsey makes it to her lab near the end of Chapter 28, for example, perhaps there might be some added reference concerning where she’s come from at this point in the timeline (seeing to a certain urgent data decryption matter beneath SWORD Base).
We hope that, as a result of these little additions, there is a stronger sense of synergy between the experience of reading the book and playing the game, closing the loop on those last remaining bumps in the road between two beloved pieces of Halo media.
We’ll have more to share with you about the omnibus in the coming months, so stay tuned!
WAYPOINT CHRONICLES
Also releasing next year is Halo: Waypoint Chronicles – Volume One.
Waypoint Chronicles began in November 2022 as we celebrated the tenth anniversary of Halo 4 with Vertical Umbrage, and here we are three entire years later with twenty-four total short stories in this series.
We’ve been absolutely blown away by the response to these little glimpses into some of the deeper fiction, revisiting various characters who have been MIA, and diving into new, unexplored areas of the universe. One recurring comment has stood out through the last three years, and that’s the hope that we will compile these into a physical book that will slot in nicely on your shelves—and that’s exactly what you’ll be getting next year.
As we’ve stated previously, this anthology novel will include:
- WAYPOINT CHRONICLES: Every short story we’ve released from November 2022 through October 2025, from Vertical Umbrage to Fifth Canticle.
- INTEL: All the Intel drops released for Halo Infinite will be sprinkled among the stories.
- ARMORY INFINITUM: All of the micro-stories featured in Canon Fodder over the last few years showing a moment in time where the special weapons of Halo Infinite (such as Jega’s bloodblade) were used.
PRE-ORDER HALO: WAYPOINT CHRONICLE - VOLUME ONE
We’ve also teased that there will be an additional ten Waypoint Chronicles in the published edition, and at HaloWC 2025 we teased some of them with the image below.
We’ll preview a little more about these stories in the very near future. For now, let the speculation begin!
ASCENSION ON ATROPOS
We love a good horror story, and for Halloween this year we released Ascension on Atropos—a sequel to 2023’s Saturn Devouring His Son.
There have been several different kinds of Flood horror stories told in the Halo universe over the years, but never before have some of the “cult” elements been explored. Enter the Governors of Contrition, a radical sect within the Covenant that worship the Flood, first introduced in Eric Nylund’s Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.
But there’s more than one kind of cult, and Captain Pedro Alvarez of the UNSC Saturn has a lot to answer for as he makes a fateful decision after the disaster at Site 22.
Ascension on Atropos can be read here on Halo Waypoint, as a free PDF, or in audiobook format on YouTube.
FIFTH CANTICLE
On October 27, Halo 5: Guardians celebrated its tenth anniversary.
In celebration of this astounding passage of time, our final Waypoint Chronicle of the year was released. We began with Halo 4’s tenth anniversary, and three years later we’re concluding with Halo 5’s.
Fifth Canticle might almost be thought of as a collection of “bonus” scenes from the game’s planet-hopping story.
When Captain Lasky says that he’ll “make arrangements” to go to Sanghelios, what did that conversation look like? What if Jul ‘Mdama and Dr. Halsey shared a truly honest moment, given how much they have in common? What happened to the prisoners in the cells on Genesis after Cortana’s departure? How did the Arbiter feel about one of his own clan betraying him on the cusp of his victory over the Covenant? And why is Claude Debussy’s Preludes playing through all the comms equipment on Zeta Halo?
These are the central questions of Fifth Canticle, and all are answered one way or another.
Fifth Canticle can be read here on Halo Waypoint, as a free PDF, or in audiobook format on YouTube.
DEEP LINKS
Speaking of Halo 5, we thought we’d celebrate its tenth anniversary in Canon Fodder style with some fun deep links.
THE RED FANG
“Nobody pours ‘em like you, Krel.” Jono waited until the final drops of the viscous blue liquid descended into the short glass before lifting it and giving a quick nod of appreciation while taking the first sip. He winced hard and contorted his neck to the side as the mixture of palm vodka and hidefruit syrup made from one the local groves hit the back of his throat.
“Yeah, boyo, that’ll get ya!” Lemmy, his friend, laughed hard and pounded the counter in amusement. Both human men were in their forties and clad in dusty jumpsuits, sitting on stools pulled up close to the aluminum countertop. It wasn’t their first trip to The Baggage Claim that day—in fact, their friends might argue that they spent more time in that bar than they did in their own homes. Krel’s humble establishment was a makeshift affair, converted from an old BXR Mining Corporation shipping container. It sat a little way off one of the lonelier roads into New Tyne, about a hundred kilometers away from the city’s municipal borders.
“I thank you for your words,” Krel’s raspy voice was sometimes hard to hear over the ever-present vid-feed mounted in the container’s far corner.
“And we thank you for helping me hide from the missus! Don’t know what we’d do without this place.” Jono laughed but awkwardly burped partway through, amusing Lemmy even more. “Y’aren’t so bad for a Yonnie!”
Krel gave a small nod. The Yonhet was used to feeling out of place, but his kind continued to press on and find ways to remain useful to Venezia’s diverse denizens wherever they could. Some supplied weapons, some information. Krel supplied something arguably more valuable: distraction.
“So, you think we’ll ever be rid of that damn hinge-head?” Lemmy took a long chug of his own drink and wiped his face. “I'm tired of losing credits.”
“Not until the bean counters give us better equipment to work with,” Jono responded. “‘It’s just one Banshee’ they say. ‘Maybe our pilots are the problem,’ they say. I’d like to see them try to take out the Red Fang with an old Kestrel.”
“I don’t even know why Red pays us any mind.” Lemmy wrinkled his nose. “Feels like their kind has nothin’ better to do than cause problems for hard working folks like us. We all gotta make a living.”
“Perhaps it depends on how the living is made.” A deep voice came from the other end of the bar, emanating from what looked like a large cloth boulder, but was in actuality a Sangheili covered in a thick cloak that appeared worn and gray in the dim light.
“Perhaps you should mind your own damn drink.” Jono responded. “You sound pretty high and mighty considering what your kind has done.”
“We all have things to pay for,” the Sangheili muttered.
“Maybe you should start with our tabs,” Lemmy pushed his stool back. “And then find your own hole to hide in.”
The Sangheili sat silent for a few moments before pushing his own stool back and reaching a zygodactyl-fingered hand into his cloak. “Very well.”
The motion instinctively made Jono and Lemmy tense up, waiting for the alien to draw a stowed weapon. Both reached for their own sidearms, but before their hands found their holsters, they realized that the only thing the Sangheili held in his own was a small stack of gekz—old Covenant-era currency that was still plenty valuable on worlds like Venezia. As he reached toward the bar however, Krel held up a pale wrinkled hand.
“Your credits are no good here, pilot.” Krel spoke in humble reverence as Jono and Lemmy stared in confusion. “My family will forever be in your debt for driving off the raiding parties that haunted our camps and stole our young.”
“The honor was mine,” the Sangheili said. “I no longer have patience for those who seek power over peace.”
“Which is why you will always find a place to refuel here.” Krel placed his hand on the Sangheili's arm. “Both your belly, and your bird.”
The saurian warrior turned to leave, nodding to the dumbstruck humans still standing at the counter when they caught a glimpse of something under his cloak. Their eyes grew wide and their expressions froze as they saw a distinctive crimson glint coming off the ornate pilot helmet hanging from the Sangheili’s combat harness.
As the door closed behind the cloaked figure, Jono and Lemmy looked at Krel and then at each other.
"You don’t think..." Lemmy stammered. A moment later both ran outside just in time to a watch as a local cloaking field deactivated around a small landing pad a few dozen meters away from The Baggage Claim. Service umbilicals detached and retracted as Baron Mvon 'Sraom steered his blood-red Banshee into the air and away.
“You gotta be-- son of a mothe...” Lemmy couldn’t form complete thoughts through his bewilderment. “What do we do?!”
Jono stood still, looking at the deep sky as the Red Fang’s glowing thrust trails slowly faded.
“We go back inside,” he sighed and clapped a hand on Lemmy’s shoulder. “And we have another drink.”
KRITH’S LEFT HAND
The tale of Pirate King Krith has been told many times over recent decades, from the Kig-Yar prince’s glorious rise to the final battle on Malurok where he and his followers were slain. With each telling, certain details are exaggerated or lost, but Krith nevertheless remains an inspirational figure for those under the yoke of the Covenant who dreamt of disobedience and independence.
Records of the Mind Talon, a guild of Kig-Yar historians and archivists, detail that Krith was publicly declared a heretical figure after he conducted a series of successful raids on Forerunner reliquaries secured by the Covenant’s Ministry of Fervent Intercession and assassinated a San’Shyuum Precentor with a highly modified Zubo-pattern beam rifle. Renowned for his skill as a sniper, the pirate king’s weapon was named “Krith’s Left Hand” by his followers in acknowledgement of this, as he was known to favor his right.
Krith’s reign came to an end when he set his sights on claiming Malurok. Following an unsuccessful parley with a hive queen where Krith sought to convince the Yanme’e to turn against the Sangheili they shared the planet with, the pirate king was ultimately slain by a young warrior who would also go on to serve as an infamous figure within the Covenant—Ripa ‘Moramee.
BREAKOUT GRAND FINALS 2558
"Welcome back to Waypoint Radio for the 2558 Breakout Grand Finals! I am your humble host, MCY 5971-3, but you can call me Mercury.
We’re comin’ at you live from Munera Platform A7 in geosynchronous orbit above our beloved and beautiful planet Earth where we’re about to bear witness to the final of finals, the epic showdown between the Misriah Maulers and the Hannibal Heavies!
They’ve fought their way through six grueling stages of high intensity combat, and now they’re here to decide once and for all who will emerge victorious.
You know the game and you know the rules. Two teams of four duke it out over five rounds, and everybody has one life each. Eliminate the enemy team or capture their flag to secure the win.
Let the battle commence!"
FREE FRONTIER EDUCATION // MERIDIAN CODEX: ROCK WEAVERS
Free Frontier Education presents the Meridian Codex, a series of short informational videos—made in partnership with the Liang-Dortmund Corporation—designed to get you acquainted with all you need to know about the colony.
What has been named the “Meridian Glassworm” by Liang-Dortmund planetary rehabilitation pioneers is actually a misnomer. Though exceedingly rare, sightings of these subterranean creatures have been reported throughout the twenty-fifth century, despite popular tales of them being left behind by the Covenant or formed as a result of the planet’s glassing.
That said, there is some truth in the myth. The tisseuse de roches originally found their home deep within the mantle of Meridian, but the burning heat from the glassing of the planet effectively displaced them and brought them closer to the surface, which is why sightings have notably increased in recent years. Glassworms are known to grow over a hundred meters long and present a potential danger to Liang-Dortmund mining rigs on open terrain.
In the event you see a glassworm, you are advised to immediately shut down all mining equipment and follow the instructions of your supervisor.
COMMUNITY LORE CORNER
Kicking off this issue’s Community Lore Corner, Lucyjrobyn is well into her first playthrough of Halo 5. See you on Sanghelios!
On the topic of Halo 5, Katarn343 has released this excellent and detailed look at the long history of the Guardians and what became of these setting-breaking metal space owls in the wake of Cortana’s demise.
Kammyshep has put together a lengthy video on Halo lore. As in, not general lore from Halo, but lore about the Halo ring itself.
JumperScape continues their audio drama-style adaptations of the Waypoint Chronicles with Whispers from the Pyre.
Woody has explored the high value target enemies in Halo 2—both overt and hidden, from Sesa ‘Refumee and Tartarus to the Jha’kaar and the Light of Sanghelios.
HiddenXperia has taken a look at the curious service of Master Sergeant Marcus P. Stacker across the series and how this marine’s story has intersected with some of the Master Chief’s most pivotal adventures.
That’s all for this issue, folks.
With less than a month to go, it’s the final countdown for Halo: Edge of Dawn. Keep your eyes peeled for that opening chapter preview in the coming weeks!
We’ve got just one remaining motion comic to rerelease on our YouTube channel, Headhunters, which will also be with you very soon. As that story features Jega ‘Rdomnai, who also happens to be in Edge of Dawn, one might say that it’s an opportune time to revisit that tale.
Until next time!