: I certainly didn't think I would post here today, 20 years after Halo 2's
: release and so many years after going on endlessly about the mystery voice
: in the Mausoleum Suite and coming up with ideas that it was Tartarus. And
: it also feels strange to look back and realize just how much I disagree
: with my past speculations (and posting style).

: I think Installation00's pretty much nailed it, but I'm going to take this
: interpretation a little further. This reversed voice on the music track is
: indeed meant to be the Arbiter, but it's not Thel 'Vadam the Sangheili,
: spirts of the deceased past Arbiters, or the ancient Arbiter armor
: talking. This is rather from the standpoint of the role of the Arbiter,
: a role that has not changed in 3000 years, that of a condemned warrior
: wandering and seeking forgiveness for their past transgressions, causing
: great destruction in the process and knowing that only death will truly
: restore their honor.

: Lines such as "time has no meaning", "wandering the
: Earth" and "crimes against God and man" are poetic and
: metaphorical rather than literal. This is on the music track because it
: isn't actually meant to be one specific person speaking but rather a
: poetic explanation for what the role of the Arbiter was meant to offer,
: and what Thel 'Vadam had just gotten himself into. It was hidden
: information meant to help us understand some of the background behind the
: Arbiter's role in the context of Halo 2 itself - Master Chief's journey
: and purpose within the game are crystal clear to us, but this is useful
: background to the Arbiter's journey of redemption in the game.

: I also totally misunderstood what Tartarus was named for in context. Tartarus
: was a throwaway villain in the grander story but he represented the hell
: that the Arbiter was thrown into, and it's when the Arbiter truly kills
: him that he breaks free of the hell represnted by the role of the Arbiter
: and turns it from a punishment into something truly new and honorable. It
: was a narrative choice attached to the narrative of the Arbiter, since
: Tartarus is the Arbiter's main antagonistic supporting character for Halo
: 2.

: Perhaps this interpretation isn't more accurate than all my previous
: longwinded theories about everything that landed up on the Halo Story Page
: two decades ago, and it certainly isn't something that I can lay claim to.
: But I suppose this is something I feel more at peace about, especially
: since I no longer fear being proven wrong over something that is, in the
: end, very trivial.

: It'd be interesting if Marty the Elder himself were to venture an opinion
: about this interpretation, but I have no idea if he ever visits this site
: these days.

: And apart from a handful of folks, I'm not sure how many people would
: remember all the Mausoleum Suite discussion or care much about it.
: Whatever happens, this has given me the opening to put my endless days of
: theorizing and overanalysis here to rest - let it join the Mausoleum of
: the Arbiters in honor rather than linger in embarrassing memories of the
: past.

Marty has seen the video, and seems to have given it his approval. I always thought that Mendicant Bias was a bad fit, since what we know from Halo 3 and Contact Harvest indicates that he was wandering around for a lot longer than three thousand years.

The idea that the voice speaking was the role of the Arbiter is never something I would have guessed, even though it fits. I guess I'm just too literal-minded to think that way.