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In coordination with the debut of Halo Infinite ’s recent multiplayer Operation, Operation: Last Stand, Halo: Waypoint released a two-part Waypoint Chronicle entitled Halo: Battle for the Academy with the first part releasing in mid-May and the second releasing in early June. To the pleasant surprise of many Halo Infinite players, this two-part story concluded the long-mired narrative of Infinite ’s multiplayer. While Infinite ’s multiplayer was somewhat prominent around the game’s launch in 2021, it was left unfinished after the release of Infinite 's third multiplayer season, Echoes Within. With Infinite ’s multiplayer narrative now complete, its ending may have set up the future framework for Halo 7 ’s multiplayer.
The Complicated History of Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer Narrative
When players were first able to play Halo Infinite ’s multiplayer beta in November 2021, players were able to witness the first multiplayer cinematic depicting Spartan-IV Commander Laurette Agryna ’s rescue by Spartans in London during the Battle of Earth in 2552. This event inspired Agryna to enlist and eventually become a Spartan herself and train Spartan-IV candidates at the Avery J. Johnson Academy of Military Science. From here, players could have Agryna interact with their own customized Spartan-IV in Halo Infinite ’s Academy mode to briefly train gamers about Infinite ’s gameplay fundamentals. Each subsequent multiplayer season was originally supposed to continue Agryna and the Academy’s story with new cinematics, but this didn’t remain the case for long.
By May 2022, 343 Industries launched Halo Infinite ’s second multiplayer season called Lone Wolves and with it, players were able to witness four more brief cinematics. The first cinematic introduced Spartan-IVs Hieu Dinh and Sigrid Eklund arriving at the Academy after acquiring and trapping the Banished AI Iratus in Dinh’s neural link. The second revealed Iratus had become trapped in the Academy’s systems, freeing Dinh from his coma, and allowing Academy staff to begin analyzing Iratus’ Banished archive. The third showcased a one-sided conversation between Eklund and the player’s Spartan about operating as a lone wolf, and the final cutscene for season two had Eklund reiterate the necessity for Spartans to work in teams.
The End of Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer Cinematics
In March 2023, 343 Industries launched Halo Infinite ’s third multiplayer season, called Echoes Within , and with it came the final few multiplayer cinematics for the Halo game. These cinematics depicted Iratus’ psychological torment of Dinh using his own memories, Dinh discussing his time with Iratus to Eklund and the player, Dinh and the player opening an ONI vault, and concluding with Iratus hijacking a Mjolnir suit and the vault’s systems.
Echoes Within’s “Unbound” cinematic was the last one publicly released in Infinite , but there was a small set of cinematics produced for Season 4 that were scrapped. As explained by 343 Industries community director Brian Jarrard in June 2023, the discontinuation of Halo Infinite ’s multiplayer cinematics was for the developers to better allocate resources to improve Infinite ’s multiplayer.
Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer Narrative Redirection
If 343 Industries were to continue producing Halo Infinite 's multiplayer cinematics as it originally intended, Infinite ’s season 4 would have set the multiplayer narrative in a very different direction. The cut cinematics depicted Agryna confronting Dinh and the player about Iratus’ infection of ONI systems and Academy servers, with Agryna directing Eklund to shut down communications and SAT link. Season 4’s second cut cinematic simply showed how Iratus was using the Academy’s systems to observe Agryna, Dinh, and Eklund, while the third cut cinematic saw Iratus become contained to the vault only to threaten a micro fusion reactor detonation in his hijacked Mjolnir suit. Finally, the fourth cut cinematic would have depicted the end of Iratus’ threat only for ONI superiors to take control of the Academy.
While elements of these cut cinematics did go on to appear in Halo Studios’ official conclusion of Infinite ’s multiplayer narrative, the developer would primarily use online Waypoint Chronicles to tell in-universe stories to coincide with multiplayer Operations going forward. For example, to coincide with April 2024's Operation: Banished Honor, the Waypoint Chronicle Halo: The Third Life was released to tell the story of the Banished Spartan Ilsa Zane, who wears the Champion armor. Similarly, for July 2024’s Operation: Anvil, the Waypoint Chronicle Halo: Anvil Accord was released to tell the story of Spartan-IVs and Swords of Sanghelios (SoS) Elites training on Anvil Station and testing out the Assailer armor.
Since 2022, Halo Studios has published 18 Waypoint Chronicles that will eventually be collected and published physically in the upcoming anthology novel Halo: Waypoint Chronicles – Volume One .
How Halo Studios Concluded Infinite’s Multiplayer Narrative
Despite not featuring any glamorous cinematics, Halo Studios still managed to end Halo Infinite ’s primary multiplayer story in a dramatic, interesting way. In Halo: Battle for the Academy Part 1 , Dinh and the player, simply called Rook, attempt to extract Iratus’ hijacked armor fusion core until the AI tells the Spartans it would be fruitless as he could blow up the room and still be present in the Academy’s systems. Iratus then takes control of the Academy’s comms, sending a signal out to the Banished, and causing the Academy staff to initiate the Cole Protocol. While Agryna manages to send out a distress message to Anvil Station, Iratus destroys the only slipspace-capable ship at the Academy with its own defensive measures.
Part 1 ends with Banished Spartan Ilsa Zane aboard her dreadnought Ghost of Kholo ,entering Nysa’s orbit, the planet hosting the Academy, and preparing her troops for bloody battle and glory. Halo: Battle for the Academy Part 2 sees a small joint contingent of SoS and UNSC arrive at Nysa to help evacuate any Academy survivors that they can. This contingent is led by former Noble Team members Jun-A266, Rosenda-A344, and Elite Shipmistress Vedu ‘Ehtar. While Agryna, Dinh, Eklund, and a few fireteams of marines and Spartans are successfully evacuated, much of Nysa’s population is slaughtered by the Banished. The Waypoint Chronicle ends with Zane recovering Iratus and inserting his AI chip into her helmet.
How Battle for the Academy Could Influence Halo 7
With Halo Infinite likely reaching the end of its multiplayer life cycle as it nears its four-year anniversary and new Halo games expected to release sometime in 2026, it’s highly probable that Infinite ’s multiplayer narrative won’t be followed up on until Halo 7 ’s debut or in a later book publication. If Halo Studios does decide to continue this story in Halo 7 ’s multiplayer , it’s likely that the game’s multiplayer would be set on Anvil Station, as the Station is known to house War Games simulators. This may also hint at Halo 7 ’s potential of bringing back playable Elites, as Anvil Station was specifically designed for Spartan and Elite cooperation and training in units called Riftborn.
