Gravesite is the last video featured in the Believe advertising campaign for Halo 3. With a release date of October 1st, 2007 the video follows the rest of the series including Hunted, Museum and Enemy Weapon. It was told from the viewpoint of Lieutenant Niraj Shah.
On October 9th, 2007, the video was made available on the official website.
Transcript
Narrator: "For the first time in 43 years, Lieutenant Shah returns to the site of the battle."
Narrator: "What is that?"
Lt. Shah: "A shell from a sniper rifle."
Narrator: "It's amazing there's still so many remnants out here... Where's Master Chief's grave?"
Lt. Shah: "I don't think anyone really knows. There was a ceremony five years ago, over there, just as a symbolic gesture. The coffin was empty."
Narrator: "Why was the coffin empty?"
Lt. Shah: "No Spartan could be listed as KIA. They can only be listed as MIA, missing, so it could be said that no Spartan was ever killed in combat. So the ceremony was a tribute, more than a burial."
Narrator: "It doesn't look like much."
Lt. Shah: "Chief told me once, that no soldier should be honored for doing what is expected."
Narrator: "Do you believe that?"
Lt. Shah: "I did. And I still do."
Trivia
- The other videos implied that Master Chief killed himself with a plasma grenade, somehow winning the battle for the humans. Of course, he could have stuck the Brute Chieftain holding him with his grenade, like he did in Halo: Uprising. Much like the game, no final death was ever confirmed. This video specifically distinguishes that John is MIA and that an empty casket was present at his memorial service.
- The video was released eight days after the listed release date, on October 9th.
- Niraj Shah appears to have extensive burns along the right side of his face, presumably from wounds received during the war. The scars are similar to what a plasma burn would look like, or they could be the result of an encounter with a Jiralhanae's Incendiary grenade.
- The shell Shah picked up was a .50 caliber BMG shell. The SRS-99 Series used by the UNSC fire 14.5mm APFSDS rounds, which are slightly larger than .50 caliber. Either this is an apparent mistake, or the UNSC has other models of Sniper Rifle's in its arsenal which fire different types of ammunition.
See also