Campaign Evolved have a post-credits scene?

Did you know there is a secret Halo: Campaign Evolved ending? Well, it’s more of a post-credits type of scene than an actual secret ending, but it implies that a certain someone is still alive, and it’s done in a hilarious fashion. The non-secret ending also poses some questions, especially for anyone playing Halo for the first time.

Halo Campaign Evolved main ending explained

Credit to LunarGaming for uploading the entire legendary ending, alongside the ending for the three bonus missions, to YouTube.

Let’s talk about the normal Halo: Campaign Evolved ending first, achieved by beating the campaign (just the original 10 missions, not the three bonus missions) on any difficulty. After escaping the imminent explosion of the Pillar of Autumn, Master Chief and Cortana flee in a longsword fighter jet. Behind them, the Autumn detonates, destroying the Halo itself.

Master Chief asks Cortana if anybody else made it out alive, which she denies, claiming that they’re all that’s left… which is something that the secret ending implies to be incorrect. Cortana then revels in their achievement — obliterating the Flood and a Covenant armada — before justifying the collateral damage to UNSC marines by claiming they had no choice.

“Halo. It’s finished,” she says. “No. I think we’re just getting started,” Master Chief replies. This is the same dialogue as the original game, re-recorded for Campaign Evolved. Back then, it implied there’d be a sequel, which of course there was: Halo 2 was released three years

later, in November 2004. The inclusion of it in the remake would imply Halo 2: Campaign Evolved is also in the works.

Halo Campaign Evolved secret ending explained

Image: Halo Studios/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

In the original game, the secret ending for beating the whole campaign on legendary featured Sgt. Johnson in a tussle with a Covenant elite, before the pair witnessed the explosion of the Autumn. For their final moments, the two embrace each other in a hug instead, as the blaze envelops them. This ending isn’t canon, however, as Sgt. Johnson did return in Halo 2.

However, if you beat the entirety of Campaign Evolved on legendary difficulty, you’ll see a secret scene that starts with Sgt. Johnson lounging on a beach, rewatching footage of that original ending on a tablet. In the distance, he sees the Autumn explode, and takes that as his cue to get up and board a pelican. Before departing, he points at the camera and delivers one final line: “See you in the sequel.”

Image: Halo Studios/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

Okay, so Halo 2: Campaign Evolved seems to be a lock (as long as it doesn’t get cancelled like another recent Halo project), and as expected, Sgt. Johnson will be back. However, there’s one final scene in both endings of the game: we see 343 Guilty Spark flying through space, confirming that it survived. Presumably, it’s heading to its eventual meeting with the Arbiter, which kicks off the events of Halo 2.

So while there hasn’t been an official announcement, an Unreal Engine 5 version of Halo 2: Campaign Evolved is highly likely to be in the works, and if that’s the case, it’d be a surprise if Halo 3 wasn’t also planned to finish off the original trilogy. If you can’t wait for more Halo, you can play through the remastered versions of the originals in Halo: Master Chief Collection, or hang on for the remade sequel, because chances are, it won’t be too far away. Here’s hoping it has multiplayer this time.