The City's location and its roots in the Halo Universe

After taking an extended break from pondering Halo/Bungie mysteries in the mildly disappointing wake of Halo 4, I've only just now started paying closer attention to the new material coming out of Destiny. But I think I've pieced together something pretty cool, that I haven't seen discussed anywhere else.

It started while browsing the destination imagery from the new Destiny site.

(click to expand)

Looking at this wide shot of The City, I happened to spot a familiar three-peaked mountain:

[image]

The presence of Kilimanjaro not only provides a thematic link to Halo 3's East Africa, but also serves as a geographic anchor point that can contextualize several other areas of the game.

For one thing, the distant core of The City is almost certainly Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, which lies north of the mountain (we see its southern face). This is further backed up by a poster in Halo 3: ODST -- not the infamous "Destiny Awaits," but a list of corporate offices -- that includes Nairobi:

Note the presence of several other locales confirmed to be in Destiny, such as Chicago, Crisium (a plain on the near side of the Moon), Seven Hills (a region of Mars in Halo lore), and Dusar (a Martian kingdom in the Barsoom series, possibly related to the Dust Palace?). Other potential locations this would hint at -- perhaps in future expansions? -- are Chiba (Tokyo), Pelion (a Greek peninsula), Essex Junction (a small town in Vermont), and Sydney.

Identifying the City region as East Africa also sheds light on the mysterious Twilight Gap, described in Destinypedia like so:

Little more is known about the nature or characteristics of the Twilight Gap at this time, except that it contains "war-torn fortresses." In news coverage of the Reveal Press Conference, multiple sources stated that it was described as something visible from the Overwatch District [of The City]. The Twilight Gap was also described as "apparently [representing] a big chunk of mankind’s history in the game."

Within East Africa, the most likely candidate is Olduvai Gorge at the southern edge of the Great Rift Valley. Not only is the Gorge a plausible ancestral namesake for the Gap, but at a distance of 150 miles it would be just visible on the horizon from a Nairobi skyscraper. "War-torn fortresses" recalls the crumbling East African UNSC bases seen in Crow's Nest and Rat's Nest, "built for some 20th century war." And Olduvai definitely fits the description of a historical treasure:

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world and has been instrumental in furthering the understanding of early human evolution. [...] This site is significant in showing increased developmental and social complexities in hominins. Evidence of this is shown in the production and use of stone tools, which indicates the increase in cognitive capacities. Evidence also indicates the practices of both scavenging and hunting [...] Furthermore, the collection of tools and animal remains in a central area is evidence of increases in social interaction and communal activity.

What better place to anchor your ambitious social FPS than in the cradle of human evolution?

Not to mention there is a sociological theory -- Olduvai Theory -- which deals with the inevitability of societal collapse. As the essay The Twilight of the Modern World puts it:

Sooner or later, all the remains of our existing society will have gone, to become weed-clad ruins to rival those of the Aztecs and Mayans. [...] The world population may have fallen to as few as a thousand million, scattered in oases of agricultural land amongst deserts of buildings, rusting vehicles and forests.

Sound familiar?

(Bonus food-for-thought: The Citadel on Venus both sounds like the Castra (Latin for "military encampment") Arcology and looks a lot like the early vision of a storm-shrouded "Earth City" arcology in New Mombasa.)

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Nice analysis. Based on your title alone, I thought you were going to try to prove that Destiny took place in the Halo universe.

I love the idea of this "cradle of life" serving for another anchor point for Bungie. I think it's such a perfect location for humanity's last city.

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Hey Jordan117,

This is a pretty sweet post and topic. I am a history nerd and I always enjoy when games and studios try to establish and create a good historical and setting foundation for their games. If what you are pointing out is true, and there is a good chance it is, then this game has a lot more thought and story development going into it than what we've seen so far. That's a really good thing.

I think it is a good sign that Bungie is sticking to what they do well and creating setting is crucial for this game to make it.

That being said, I am about to take a leap off into the abyss:
Is it possible that Bungie may be trying to indirectly tie this game to HALO? I know they can't do that because HALO belongs to Microsoft. However, they could subconsciously created a "far future" for the HALO universe through Destiny even if Bungie never (ever) admits that's what they are doing.

Just some crazy thoughts.

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That being said, I am about to take a leap off into the abyss:
Is it possible that Bungie may be trying to indirectly tie this game to HALO? I know they can't do that because HALO belongs to Microsoft. However, they could subconsciously created a "far future" for the HALO universe through Destiny even if Bungie never (ever) admits that's what they are doing.

Based on my experience, I'd say it's very likely to be happening in some regard. Bungie tends to build on what came before, literally and figuratively. Just look at the amount of Marathon in Halo.

They tend to weave a sense of mystery with this kind of thing, which is almost always good. The last city in the cradle of humanity, with the Guardians reaching out into the Sol system with newfound power, much like our ancestors did after they evolved? Yes, plz.

Also, Jordan, outstanding post.

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I am glad at least someone else agrees that this is a good thing. Like I said, I don't need Destiny to be a sequel to HALO. That will never happen, shouldn't happen, and it isn't what I want. But I am very glad it seems to be a "spiritual" sequel to Bungie's past projects.

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That being said, I am about to take a leap off into the abyss:
Is it possible that Bungie may be trying to indirectly tie this game to HALO? I know they can't do that because HALO belongs to Microsoft. However, they could subconsciously created a "far future" for the HALO universe through Destiny even if Bungie never (ever) admits that's what they are doing.

In a way yes, "Spiritual Successor" is perhaps the best way to put it. Halo was this to Marathon. However the "far future from the Halo-verse"idea is pretty much out since a timeline has already been stated for the Destiny-verse (700 years in the future).

I'm sure there will be some fun Halo references, but I'm guessing they're leaving Halo in the past.

Just some crazy thoughts.

Not crazy at all! ;)

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Very cool post, and interesting ideas. Thanks!

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Believe it or not I was wondering within the past few weeks where you went, because I haven't seen posts from you in what seems like ages. I wondered if H4 had anything to do with it, or if you'd just moved on.

But holy cow, your post rocks. Thanks for that! :D

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That all is really cool, dude. Fantastic detective work!

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I posted this over at HBO as well, but what do you think about the work done here showing the Traveler to be in the Phillipeans?

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This is super-cool, and much of it is probably right - but I have to echo Ragashingo... there's a lot of evidence for the Traveler sitting over Puerto Princesa.

I realize Google Earth isn't perfect, but I don't have any other way of getting on-the-ground shots of that area of the Philippines.

Here's a shot looking at PP - I could probably do better if I understood the Google Earth controls a little better, but I can see all of the mountains in the Bungie picture, even the one that sort of looks like Kilimanjaro. ;)

[image]

That said, I'm thrilled to see you back, and look forward to your killer analyses. :)

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I've been out of the loop for awhile, so I totally missed the Puerto Princesa speculation. But from what I can see, it's all based on the historic map texture used in the backgrounds of the website, ARG, and promo material.

While it does refer to a more concrete location, I think it's also not as likely to be directly connected to The City. As B.net forum ninja xFoman123x put it:

The relative obscurity of this map and seeming insignificance of a small city in the Philippines to a game presumably based wholly or partly in outer space (judging from the numerous references to stars, moons, and planets both in the Destiny Map and other Destiny-related teasers) makes me honestly wonder whether Puerto Princesa was chosen at random because Bungie's artists wanted to use a topographical map of an interesting place for source material for concept art.

Let's not forget, folks, that the Destiny Map is concept art created by Bungie Senior Graphic Designer Lorraine McLees (reference: art credits given to Lorraine at the bottom of the 2012 official Bungie Christmas Card). Lorraine is from the Philippines. I've never inquired of her exactly which part of the Philippines she is from, but it certainly seems possible that she has a personal connection to Puerto Princesa.

Before we start looking TOO deep for connections, it might be good to temper our searches with the possibility that Lorraine used a topographical map of Puerto Princesa solely because it was a place she was familiar with, was readily at hand, and was obscure enough to make for useful concept art. For all we know, the reason we see some differences in the Wikipedia topographical map and the Destiny Map are because Lorraine used her OWN topographical map pulled off her wall or something as source material, not one pulled off the internet. In fact, my dad has an extremely similar topographical map of his hometown in Maine framed and hung on the wall of his house. It's not uncommon.

The Nairobi theory, OTOH, is more circumstantial but also more in keeping with Bungie tradition and their penchant for callbacks, spiritual successors, and mythological significance. There's such a nexus of meaning and history in the region -- it would be powerful to look out over The City and know that humanity first arose in that gulch, The Librarian buried The Ark in the shadow of that mountain, you battled in Master Chief's shoes through that jungles and that savannah and that forgotten ruin of a coastal city, that that hillside is where Lord Hood and the Arbiter laid the original Halo trilogy to rest. It wouldn't have to be explicit (for the sake of subtlety and for copyright reasons), but simply setting it there is a huge implied reference to everything that's come before.

(Of course, considering my very first HBO post was a grand pronouncement involving Kilimanjaro and Google Earth that turned out to be mistaken, maybe we should just wait and see... :P)

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Your speculation is an oasis in what has otherwise been a relatively barren desert, and is much welcomed. I'm not sure we can know anything at this point - we've been given a lot of images but not much textual (story) information. Some details, yes, but not much for motivation of the primary players (traveller, aliens, etc).

The greatest mystery for me always lies in purpose; why us, why here, why there, why then?

Where the traveller is may not really matter, but I hope it does. I hope there is something specific and special about it's location.

I like your speculation, and I want it to be right. Nostalgia (both in-game, and out) is pretty powerful stuff.

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Looking at your city overview again I think the scale is way off for it to be Kilimanjaro and Nairobi. Up close we're seeing individual trees, buildings, and bridges. In the distance it appears those skyscrapers are beyond the Kilimanjaro-ish mountain. The problem is that would stretch the city for well over 100 miles north/south since Kilimanjaro to Nairobi alone is around 100 miles. I feel, based especially on the trees in the foreground that we're closer to the digital equivalent of this:

Now that's Vancouver not Nairobi, but the nearby island is only a couple of miles long, and even the most distant point is probably less than 20 miles away. Compare that shot to another Destiny shot and things become even more clear:

We're possibly looking across generations of concept art and in game assets between this shot and the one you posted in your initial post, but in my older image we are very very clearly not looking at a several hundred square mile city that stretches north and south of Kilimanjaro. Here the city is nestled among a much smaller set of mountains / high hills... much like you get at the supposed site near Puerto Princesa:

Other than that I suppose I find it harder to dismiss the topographical map as personal preference / unrelated when it was one of the first anything of Destiny we saw, is in the background of the mini-arg desktop background that first clued us in on the Travaler's terrafroming of the solar system. The same desktop background that connected directly with The Music of the Spheres. I would much prefer that the map was a studio wide choice meant to point us to something than one artist making something up.

And finally, while Bungie does indeed love making past references across games, Halo is the series they gave up and walked away from to create Destiny. Putting the Last Safe City in Kenya when Halos 2 through ODST were just feels wrong to me for some reason. Too much retreading the past I suppose. I guess I feel like Bungie is building Destiny as something new with its own history and its own locations instead of placing us back in the "same place" we were before.

From an in-story perspective I really like the idea that most major cities on Earth were wiped out, but the Traveler managed to settle over a small island city that over time grew into a powerhouse of a tightly packed metropolis capable of supporting mankind's war effort against its powerful enemies...

P.S. I really hope the above doesn't come off as argumentative because it's not meant to be. Disagreement on location, yes, but friendly disagreement. I think you did a great job on coming up with your theory and I'm not entirely convinced that you're wrong and I'm right. :)

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I have to agree with Ragashingo.

This animated GIF is suggestive, but (and I say this with the utmost respect for your analysis Jordan) it falls into the realm of pseudoscience. A "three-peaked mountain" does not a unique location make. Without any idea of the relative perspectives between the two images you are comparing, and without equivalent lighting (much of the mountain is shadowed in the Destiny image) of the mountain faces, it makes any comparison very difficult.

I also agree with Ragashingo that the scale of Kilamanjaro and surrounding geography doesn't seem consistent with the screenshots we've seen.

This is a cool piece of work, Jordan, and I really like the philosophical tie-ins to the cradle of human civilization. I just happen to think cutting all ties to Halo is more sexy.

Related to this, here's something I've been thinking about... I'm confused by how cold it looks in all the screenshots we've seen of the City, Traveler and surrounding areas, and how that doesn't make much sense in a potential equatorial climate like Puerto Princessa. And many of the mountains in the Philippines are volcanic in origin, unlike those we've seen so far. So maybe the location is at a much higher latitude than the Philippines, or the Traveler has done some climate changing of the Earth as well as the other planets.

Side note: Puerto Princessa has some cool geology. It sits at an intersection of several tectonic boundaries, called the Philippine Mobile Belt... here's a quote from wikipedia.

"The Philippine Mobile Belt is a complex portion of the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, comprising most of the country of the Philippines. It includes two subduction zones, the Manila Trench to the west and the Philippine Trench to the east, as well as the Philippine Fault System. Within the Belt, a number of crustal blocks or microplates which have been sheared off the adjoining major plates are undergoing massive deformation"

If that doesn't get you excited I don't know what will :)

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"The Philippine Mobile Belt is a complex portion of the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, comprising most of the country of the Philippines. It includes two subduction zones, the Manila Trench to the west and the Philippine Trench to the east, as well as the Philippine Fault System. Within the Belt, a number of crustal blocks or microplates which have been sheared off the adjoining major plates are undergoing massive deformation"

If that doesn't get you excited I don't know what will :)

[image]

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... So maybe the location is at a much higher latitude than the Philippines, or the Traveler has done some climate changing of the Earth as well as the other planets.

I'd say that's a safe bet... especially in light of what we are being teased with from Bungie's Instagram account today. It's a very... different Earth that we caught a glimpse of (this marked-up picture taken from Reddit):

[image]

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Hard to say whether positions are "exact" because who knows how that image was projected, but I'm not seeing any confusion in details and their overall placement relative to real-world Earth today. For instance, the circle with the "???" in it just looks like that mess of stuff North of Hudson Bay; the big chunk of land in the center of that circle is Victoria Island.

Here's a map of the Arctic.

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Heh... yeah, you're right. The perspective that was shown threw me off, but it looks pretty normal now after staring at that map for a bit (and with Ragashingo's help).

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Heh... its a bad time of day for me to take this shot what with the shadow line and all, but things look pretty similar to me. I stared at that map for quite a while unable to place ANYTHING until I saw the question mark my greenland on your found image. :)

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Although the geography is similar to modern day Earth, as others have said, this graphic got me thinking...

[image]

Why not Greenland?

If the City were in Greenland, that would explain the subtle evidence for high latitudes, but it also has a few other benefits. Much of the land surface in modern Greenland lies below a large ice sheet, and we don't really know what it looks like because the ice is too thick in most places to acquire data on the rocks below. You have to use radar, and it's been a long process of mapping the ground underneath. In fact, scientists recently discovered a "mega-canyon" under the ice using radar.

At some point in the future Greenland's ice sheets will completely/partially melt away, making much more of the land habitable for people, but we really have very little idea of what that landscape will look like, or what the geography will even be (rivers, streams, mountains, etc.). A location like this would allow environment artists a large amount of creative freedom, even for a well-mapped planet like Earth. Maps of inland locations could effectively be invented creatively. Coastal geography would be pretty fixed but anything inland would be fair game. A semi/completely ice-free Greenland would also be a nice way to get player's heads around the fact that this is a different Earth, and for that matter, a different solar system from the one you are familiar with.

This still doesn't explain Puerto Princessa, but the more I think about it the more I like Greenland as a possible location for the City.

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I love this thinking.. could also explain the Fallen's presence in Old Russia. They want to establish a base of operations close enough to the last city to launch attacks and gather intel, but not be too close

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The City's location and its roots in the Halo Universe (Destiny)