Is Cortana forever dead? Are there plans for her to return in upcoming Halo games? A fan made a great presentation on how Cortana could return, but as a human.
With Cortana’s chip destroyed at the end of Halo 4, many were left thinking of how Cortana could have survived without it. At the beginning of Halo 3, it’s proven among many other times that Cortana can operate without her chip, as she was stuck on the covenants ship.
At end of Halo 3, Johnson says never let her go. She could be within the debris of the composer flying around Earth. As discussed, Cortana is very human, perhaps one of the most human character in Halo. However, it was pointed out, that Cortana is attached to her hologram, much like one wanting to see themselves when they do things, she identifies herself as a human. That’s important. Many times in Halo 4 does Cortana want to do human things. Touch, and feel. Things she can’t do. So it brings us back to square one. How will Cortana become Human in Halo 5? It will have to be through forerunner technology, something that could transfer digital life to organic life, and vice versa. Such as the Composer, that was destroyed in Halo 4.
The Forerunners have cataloged, stored, and protected population examples from the Halo effect, and they use this repopulate worlds. So it’s not to far off if recovered, and saved in some way, Cortana could become human. In Halo 5 it’s likely for Cortana to return some way, or 343 could go route of leaving her on the sidelines, to make an epic return in Halo 6.