: For me, it's a classic. The idea was that while in Halo's central
: computers, Cortana was somehow infected or corrupted by the flood. Thus
: the "Warning: Hitchhikers may be escaped convicts" title
: actually refers to whatever flood influence infiltrated Cortana.

: She had you blow up the ring not just because she didn't want you firing it,
: but because blowing up the ring would FREE the flood.

: That would have been amazing.

Who say's that may not be true to some level? If not the flood then some other entity. Namely Mendicant Bias.

I am 100% convinced that Bias is behind everything from mid Halo 2 onwards (Maybe since the start of the covie war...via his actions in Contact Harvest). He is playing the board with Cortana and Chief as his best pieces.

How could Chief and Cortana RANDOMLY float in space (Which is huge) from the ark to Requiem? Convenient...

I think that Cortana is infected by Mendicant and at the end of Halo 4 the whole "Goodbye Chief" speech is just Cortana/Mendicant pretending to die. I think that Cortana has found a way to re open the domain and has integrated herself within it. She told chief that she was dead so that he would move on without her so that she can pursue whatever her real primary objective is...She said it herself "She's not doing this for Mankind."

And who knows what Gravemind may have infected her with in their time together...