: Normally I'm against involuntary euthanasia, but this is fantastic! This
: could be the next step in retconning the Forerunner into something
: interesting again. With Requiem gone and the Didact dead, all that's left
: is to punt the Prometheans down the memory hole. Get to it, 343i!

: I think most of the genre-savvy public assumed that he wasn't dead if we
: didn't see the corpse.* The Ur-Didact was such a big character, it was
: hard to believe that they would bring him up for one game only. It's still
: hard to believe that they'd kill him off in the comics.

: *And even then, check for a pulse and signs of cloning. This is a Marvel
: writer we're talking about.

: *shrugs*

: Even back in the Bungie days, Forerunner installations appeared as-needed.

: I think it's sad because the stories make it hard to take the comics
: seriously. They read like fanfiction instead of official canon, so I can't
: buy that they're supposed to be Halo content on par with the games.

Brian Reed got into a twitter convo that's since been deleted where he inferred that they did not bring back the Didact to kill him off 2 issues later in a comic as this is an early part of a longer-story thread. He also reiterated that he was the one who worked on the Halo 4 Terminals and established that the Didact couldn't be composed. This implies that there are more plans for the Didact and that while he was defeated he's not dead and was not composed.

Hood seemed to think that it was safe to consider the Didact is dead. Chief thinks it's safer to assume that he's only contained. This is both an in-universe nod to the opening of the arc where he did not report the Didact dead because he did not visually confirm the kill, as well as a seed that the writer is planting permitting his return.

The Shield World is the one which houses the Composer's Forge that Blue Team reached via the portal on Gamma Halo. Gamma Halo was, in turn, brought to the Shield World by Static Carillion as part of his deal with the Didact. It was then taken to an unknown location for repair.