- Cortana: Got an escape plan?
- Master Chief: Thought I'd try shooting my way out. Mix things up a little.
- Prophet of Truth: I am the Prophet of Truth! The voice of the Covenant!
- Arbiter: And so, you must be silenced.
- Lord Hood: [at the end of the game] For us, the storm has passed. The war is over. And let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark, and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure. Sacrifice, an unshakeable conviction that their fight... *our* fight... was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They enobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten.
- [salutes the Marines]
- Marine Sargent 1: Present arms!
- [Marines draw Battle Rifles and fire a 21 bullet salute]
- Lord Hood: [later] I remember how this war started, what your kind did to mine. I can't forgive you, but you have my thanks...
- [shakes the Arbiter's hand]
- Lord Hood: ... for standing by him to the end. Hard to believe he's dead...
- Arbiter: Were it... so easy...
- Cortana: You found me. But so much of me is wrong... out of place. You might be too late.
- Master Chief: You know me. When I make a promise...
- Cortana: ...you keep it. I do know how to pick 'em.
- Master Chief: Lucky me.
- [first lines]
- Cortana: They let me pick. Did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research, watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? Luck... Was I wrong?
- Cortana: I have defied gods and demons. I am your shield; I am your sword. I know you; your past, your future. This is the way the world ends.
- Little Boy: Do you ever wonder what's up there?
- Little Girl: Like what?
- Little Boy: Maybe someone up there is probably wondering what it's like here.
- Little Girl: I guess... Do you think we'll ever meet them?
- Little Boy: I hope so... Don't you?
- Master Chief: [gasps for air, looks to the side and sees helmet]
- Little Girl: [echoing] Do you think we'll ever meet them?
- Master Chief: [grabs helmet and puts it on]
- Little Girl: [whispering] Time to go...
- Marine: [Master Chief is lying motionless on his back in his own crater, hands still raised as if he were still in combat] His armor's locked up. Gel layer could have taken most of the impact... I don't know, Sergeant Major.
- Sgt. Johnson: [kneels over the Chief, looking for signs of life] Radio for VTOL. Heavy lift gear. We're not leaving him here.
- Master Chief: [grabs Johnson's arm] Yeah, you're not.
- [pulls himself up]
- [In Crow's Nest, a soldier walks up to a locked Hangar Door]
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: Hey!
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: [knocking] Open up!
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: What's the password?
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: Password? Oh man, I forgot.
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: "Forgot" what?
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: I forgot the password.
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: That was almost right. Uh, see, the password *begins* with, "I forgot," but ends differently. Um, try again.
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: No. I mean, I forgot the password.
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: No, OK, see, you- you got it wrong again. See, you said the same thing as last time.
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: I'm bein' serious! I don't know the password!
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: No no no. See, you changed the first part. See, that- that was the right part. See now you've got the whole thing wrong!
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: No! I forgot what the password is, and I just need you to open the door!
- Pvt. Michael J. Caboose: All right, come on man, now you're just guessing!
- Pvt. Leonard L. Church: [knocks four times, repeats endlessly]
- [a damaged, Flood-infested Covenant ship crash lands nearby]
- Arbiter: What is it, more Brutes?
- Master Chief: Worse.
- Gravemind: Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness for father's sins cast to his son.
- [from trailer]
- Sergeant Johnson: Marines, fall back now!
- Sergeant Johnson: Any sign of the Chief?
- Marine #2: Negative Sarge. I think we lost him.
- Master Chief: Not yet.
- Prophet of Truth: You are, all of you, vermin. Cowering in the dirt, thinking... what? That you might escape the coming fire? Your world will burn until its surface is but glass!
- Sgt. Johnson: We have enough to worry about without you two trying to kill each other.
- Arbiter: Were it so easy.
- Arbiter: We must go. The Brutes have our scent.
- Sgt. Johnson: They must love the smell of Bulgari. Yeah, I'm doing a little product placement. I gotta get paid, too!
- Sgt. Johnson: Crazy fool. Why do you always jump? One of these days you're gonna land on something as stubborn as you are, and I don't do bits and pieces.
- Gravemind: Time has taught me *patience*! But basking in new freedom, *I will know all that I possess*!
- Marine: Squad leaders are requesting a rally point, ma'am. Where should they go?
- Commander Miranda Keyes: [loads her pistol] To war.
- Marine #2: I heard their main weakness is bananas!
- Marine #2: Do we have any bananas?
- Brute: [incredulous] Where did he get a hammer?
- Suicidal Marine: I... I didn't have a choice... The L.T... the Sergeant... they were all infected! I could see it crawling... sliming around beneath their skin! A-and then they got up... and s-started to talk! Oh, God! Their voices! Oh, God! No, make them stop!... I did them a favor... y-yeah that's it; I-I helped them!... Maybe... maybe I need to help myself...
- [breaks down crying]
- Arbiter: We must go. The Brutes have our scent.
- Sgt. Johnson: Then they must love the smell of badass.
- Gravemind: Resignation is my virtue; like water I ebb, and flow. Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved... but you imposed.
- Gravemind: Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside; corpses shift and offer room, a fate you must abide!
- 343 Guilty Spark: You are a child of my makers, inheritor of all they left behind. You are forerunner, but this ring is mine.