1. “My Sacrifice”
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Although the Master Chief has sacrificed many things throughout his years battling the Covenant, many do not know of his biggest sacrifice. That sacrifice would be his childhood, his parents, and his whole normal life. At the age of 6, the Master Chief and the other Spartans were abducted by the UNSC (United Nations Space Command), “As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, code-named Spartan-II” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 30). Left in his place on his home world with his parents was a “flash clone in an ONI black op” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 270). Instead of his normal life, the Master Chief had his life put in place by the UNSC, “You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 30). Through his ultimate sacrifice, the Master Chief, indeed did protect the Earth and humanity from ultimate destruction.
2. “Stronger”
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From the age of 6 at his initial abduction until the age of 14, the Master Chief went through intense physical and military training, which immensely paid off, “Fourteen years old and he had the body of an eighteen-year-old Olympic athlete, and a mind the equal of any Naval Academy honors graduate” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 59). Even that was not enough as the Spartan-II project held a very risky experiment, “1. Carbide ceramic ossification: advanced material grafting onto skeletal structures to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3 percent total bone mass because of significant white blood cell necrosis. Specific risk for pre- and near-post pubescent adolescents: skeletal growth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization. 2. Muscular enhancement injections: protein complex is injected intramuscularly to increase tissue density and decrease lactic recovery time. Risk: 5 percent of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase. 3. Catalytic thyroid implant: platinum pellet containing human growth hormone catalyst is implanted in the thyroid to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues. Risk: rare instances of elephantiasis. 4. Occipital capillary reversal: submergence and boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of subject’s retina. Produces a marked visual perception increase. Risk: retinal rejection and detachment. Permanent blindness. 5. Superconducting fibrification of neural dendrites: alteration of bioelectrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transduction. Three hundred percent increase in subject reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory, and creativity. Risk: significant instances of Parkinson‘s disease and Fletcher‘s syndrome. ” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 57-58). This risky process resulted in making the Master Chief bigger, stronger, and faster then any known single being in the universe. Of course the last part of the Spartan-II project made him nearly invincible which is called MJOLNIR armor, “The armors shell is a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength, refractive coating to disperse incoming energy weapon attacks, gel-filled layer to regulate temperature, a moisture-absorbing cloth suit that includes abominators that constantly adjust the suit’s temperature and fit, onboard computer, inner structure is composed of a reactive metal liquid crystal. The armor double s the wearers strength, enhances the reaction speed of a normal human by 5. (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 115-116) Light as air, possesses shields, and memory processor super-conductor for an onboard AI.” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 251-252). With his physical prowess and the MJOLNIR armor, the Master Chief was a force to be reckoned with.
3. “Indestructible”
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This song has lyrics that say, “No hesitation when I am commanded to strike” and “ I carry out my orders without a regret” goes with the personality that was imbedded inside the Master Chiefs mind while he was in his training. The personality is “kill first and get the details later.” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 241) This personality has stayed with him throughout his whole life, which means he has never taken a prisoner, everything he has shot at he has killed. This fits in with him being a protector as his is killing the covenant and preventing them from killing his fellow human soldiers and citizens.
4. “Headstrong”
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Through his training and battle achievements, the Master Chief has shown that he has no fear, and is willing to do what it takes to complete his mission. In this song, it states, “back off I’ll take you on, headstrong to take on anyone.” This connects with the Master Chief, as he does not back down from anything. With this sense of no fear, “he was awarded this Legion of Honor medallion because he dove into a bunker of Covenant soldiers. He took out twenty by himself and saved a platoon of Marines who were pinned down by a stationary energy weapon emplacement.” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 237) Not only did he show no fear against the covenant, but also against a new life form which is introduced as the Flood, “The Flood? Those things down there are called Flood?” (Dietz 232) The Master Chief “Was ready for them. The Flood swept into the room.” (Dietz 251) Even though he just encountered the Flood, he took them head on with no fear, and strove to victory and his continued protection of humanity.
5. “Dirty Little Secret”
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This song talks about keeping a secret, and to help ensure public support for the Master Chief and the Spartan-II project, the public was withheld certain information about the project. “If the truth ever came to light--abducted children, replaced by fast-grown clones; the risky, experimental surgeries and biochemical augmentations--public opinion would turn against the Spartan project overnight.” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 231) As this clearly says, the public would turn on the Spartan project, humanity would have no chance against the Covenant, and the Master Chief and other Spartans would not be where they stand today, which is “protectors of Earth and all her colonies” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 30).
6. “Citizen Soldier”
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This song sends the message that the “Citizen Soldier” is will and is always there for protection. That is a great connection to make with the Master Chief, as he has been there for humanity since the beginning, protecting them from extinction. The Master Chief eliminated the current Flood threat by destroying the planet Halo, “Between them lay a glistening expanse of debris--metal, stone, ice, and everything else that had once been Halo.” (Nylund Halo: First Strike 34) Along with the prevention of the spread of the Flood, the Master Chief in the end protected humanity from extinction. One would learn this from playing and completing the video game Halo 3, in which you see the end to the struggle of the Human and Covenant war, with the Master Chief and humanity prevailing.
7. “Kryptonite”
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Although the Master Chief had many advantages and strengths in battle, he had only one flaw, or as compared to superman, his “kryptonite.” His kryptonite is fighting in space. “On the ground, the Spartans always won. The problem was, the Spartans couldn’t take their fight into space” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 8-9) So even as effective as the Master Chief was, once out in space, his kryptonite was shown. It’s not saying that he couldn’t fight in space, its just that the playing field was greatly evened out as both sides had to deal with the same problems. “The Spartans had trained to fight in zero gravity. It wasn’t easy. The slightest motion sent you spinning out of control.” (Nylund Halo: The Fall of Reach 308) Mostly all the battles that the Master Chief fought were in on the ground, so his kryptonite rarely affected him in his protection.
8. “Its my Life”
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Aside from his first 6 years of his life until his abduction, the Master Chief’s whole life has been spent training and fighting the Covenant and protecting humanity. “He had to do what he could to save every person. Today. Now.” (Nylund Halo: First Strike 336) The Master Chief will continue on fighting for humanity, even after the end of the war with the Covenant, as he states at the end of the Halo 3 video game, “Wake me up when you need me.” At this moment he is going into cryo sleep until he is needed again for battle to protect humanity. Through the years of battle, and waiting in the future, the Master Chief will always be known and ready for action as the ultimate protector for humanity.
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Throughout the Halo series, the Master Chief serves as an icon for hope, protection, and survival against the Covenant. Aside from his successes, many do not know or understand his mysterious past.
By
Ryan Jastram