: Many great stories of our time have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Now,
: it appears that there are stories out there that just keep going, and
: going, and going. Comic books do this. I feel like Halo is going in that
: direction. Is that beneficial? Should Halo have that?

: Personally, I feel like the story of Halo comes in arcs. As long as it has
: that, I'm happy. There's a beginning, middle, and end to the
: Human-Covenant war (somewhat). Now, we appear to be in the age of deeper
: understanding of the Forerunners.

: There are differences when it comes to video games versus a novel/movie in
: storytelling. Just curious on your thoughts to this matter.

It's a good question. And I see it as a fundamental difference between a story and a storyworld. Halo: CE in a sense set a precedent for what was to come. That single video game contained a single narrative, but hinted, passively, at a much larger picture. It didn't say "buy the comic book for this person's story" or "watch this offshoot short for this place's history". It just implied that there was something more. We had the choice to be curious about that, or just take in the narrative, which had a beginning, middle, and end (well, if you consider the game the story, or the broader John117 and followup games to actual story arc).

Essentially, Halo: CE the Halo universe as an open-ended container for many stories. Some merely want it to be MC's arc. Some are happy with a bit of exploration of surrounding primary events. Some want to see more of everything that can make a good story (*raises hand*), from short stories (like Evolutions) to deeper philosophical subject matter (life, AI, culture wars, morality, etc).

I personally think that Halo has such a wide range of potential topics spanning human ethics and conflicts that as gaming generations move along, and both gaming styles and story trends progress, there'll be no shortage.

IMO, Halo will only die (and I mean that only re moving forward) when either 343's storytelling capabilities come to an end, or are generally consider DOA, or someone in TPTB make a catastrophic mistake about how to handle the Halo franchise.

So when you ask "Should Halo have an end?" I would say it depends if you're referring to a specific story/arc, or if you're referring to the franchise as a whole. And that note, to the former I say it most definitely should! To the latter, I sincerely and honestly hope no end is consciously in sight.

Halo has a scope the potential size of Star Wars and Star Trek - If the creators remain passionate and on par in their storytelling abilities...