As awesome discussion has continued to be pumped out over in the IRC server chat room where the best of the best go to speak, some talk focused on just what this "Guardians" is all about. Well, I had something to contribute from that, and it was based on something I remember seeing years ago.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/25/gdc-09-the-halo-3-level-you-never-played

So, the multiplayer map, Guardian, on H3 did have a campaign purpose at one point, and you were even supposed to battle a Guardian on it. So what is this Guardian?

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Guardian_Sentinel

Could this be what is being referred to? Is this Guardian Sentinel going to be evolved and further described in-game, or are they just going with something completely unrelated and calling it a Guardian?

In the initial CGI reveal of Halo for Xbox One, they show Mr. Big Bird popping out of the sands of wherever. Granted Mr. Big Bird is way bigger than the Guardian Sentinel and also way different, but 343 could be repurposing the Guardians for a more "epic" scale that fits their larger "size and scope" of the upcoming game(s).

I'm wondering if the sands of wherever is the Ark. Could Master Chief be back on the Ark looking for some way to get Cortana back? A piece of Mendicant Bias that perhaps still plays a role in Cortana's existence? I've been waiting and waiting for an awesome Mendicant Bias appearance, especially since Halo: Legends heavily seemed to imply that Cortana had been infilitrated in some form, but who knows. Assuming the "Guardian" campaign level would have taken place on the Ark, and assuming Mr. Big Bird is a new design of the Guardian Sentinel, maybe we'll be seeing something.

Also, it would be a nice little surprise to go back to the Ark and potentially find out that, surprise, maybe the Flood weren't quite destroyed there after all.

Any thoughts? Related to material not included in H3? A trip to the Ark in store? Discuss away. Also, feel free to join in on the discussions in this lovely chat environment.