Halo Infinite It is on the way. Microsoft and 343 Industries will debut the game in a presentation sometime in July, but they’re already bothering us with some new details. In a brief teaser released Wednesday, the developers even gave fans their first hint as to who the antagonists of the latest Halo entry might be.
The teasers begin with a deep voice that explains that “the forces occupy the ring”, that “humanity will burn” and that there will be “no more prophet, no more lies”. Finally, the voice reaches the most important part saying: “We are her will, we are her legacy, we are the exiles.”
So it looks like The Banished is back for the next main installment in the Halo franchise. But for many fans, they might not have touched anything related to Halo since Halo 5: GuardiansThis alien combat force may be a bit unknown.
The exiles were the main antagonists in Halo Wars 2They should seem pretty familiar to Halo fans though. The enemies are a collection of aliens, made up of many different races, with a distinct hierarchy of their own. The Banished are made up of Jiralhanae (Brutes), Lekgolo (Hunters, at least in their colony form Mgalekgolo), Sangheili (Elites), Unggoy (Grunts), and Huragok (Engineers). In other words, it is almost exactly like the Covenant.
However, as the mysterious voice mentions in the teaser, The Banished does not believe in the Prophets or their Great Journey, as the Covenant did before them. Instead, they are, or were, led by a Brute named Atriox. In the main campaign of Halo Wars 2, Atriox fights against the UNSC when he and The Banished occupy the Ark. Later in the Halo Wars 2 DLC called Awakening the Nightmare, Atriox briefly unleashes the Flood, but manages to destroy the Proto-Gravemind and stop a larger outbreak.
Advance towards Halo Infinite teaser, and it seems like something about The Banished may have changed. The Banished now appear to be in possession of a Halo ring, or could be within hours of occupying it. Based on the mention of “his legacy,” it appears that Atriox may be dead and that The Banished may be under new leadership.
On the other hand, it could also be Atriox himself speaking in the video. While statements such as “we are his will” would be quite outside of Atriox’s overall philosophy in the series thus far, it is certain that many things have changed since his encounter with the Flood, which is why we cannot say for sure.
Whoever is in charge of The Banished, the general motivation seems clearer depending on everything, “humanity will burn.” If that’s your true goal, then it’s not hard to imagine how a massive super weapon like a Halo ring could play into those plans.
But even if we have some good guesses, the trailer doesn’t reveal everything. Thankfully, Halo Infinite ‘In the event of a bigger reveal that will happen sometime in the next month, we should only have a few more weeks to wait before figuring out exactly what The Banished wants and how the Master Chief will stop them.
Vox Media has affiliate associations. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.
