I was (re)watching halo 3 cutscenes and I (re)discovered this. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADuLiC3z210&fmt=18"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ADuLiC3z210&fmt=18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> There is something powerful about this end scene at the conclude of the trilogy. The direction is great. Master Chief moves around by pushing off walls, like a deep sea diver. His helmet flashlight is on, and its as if he were swimming around a reef looking for a find. The scene where he floats around a corridor; the light moves ahead of him and follows the curves of the hallway. Awe-inspring. The wreckage of the ship and a shot of the colors of a NASA-illustrated galaxy are shown side by side. The chaos of the melting heaps of red metal and the cool order of the yawning, cloud blue nebula are a perfect contrast. He lets Cortana free from the chip and she lights up the room with Master Chief kneeling in front of her. He doesn't need his flashlight anymore. He's not a deep sea diver anymore. He slides into suspended animation as she pines for him. She knows she will be standing in front of his lifeless body for years until they are salvaged. As the door closes down she touches her arm and looks down, not quite prepared to wait for him. Similar to how the wife of a sailor looks off a cliff as the love of her life leaves her for an undetermined stretch of distance and time. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cortana)</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Master Chief)</div> The camera pans out and you can see a second cryogenic chamber next to Master Chief. The watcher painfully realizes that Cortana and Master Chief will never be realized because she can not physically sleep in the chamber next to him. They are incompatible even though they were selected for each other, a perfect match, made for each other. The camera pans out further. A third cryogenic chamber. A fourth. Too bad. So sad. Now if you beat the game on legendary the next 30 seconds of the cutscene will show you the tragic end of the two star-crossed lovers. Happy Valentine's Day. Go to your special someone and appreciate her (or him). If you can sleep next to each other and be together then you can consider yourselves blessed. -------------------- <div align="center"></div>
Wow, I really like that ending. But I always though we would eventually get to see his face. Too bad.
I don't think that was their "tragic end." It shows them heading towards a mysterious (forerunner?) planet. Probably setting up for some type of game in the future, cause there's no way Bungie would just end their flagship character's existence with him hanging around the universe.
I don't think it exploded, it was probably a light used for dramatic effect or something. You can read about it here - http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Legendary_Planet
