Many of you probably tuned into the PlayStation showcase last week and were greeted by Bungie’s newest announcement, simply titled Marathon. You, like me, probably got very excited for it as well. A new Bungie IP? That’s a first in almost a decade, and something that hasn’t happened since Halo outside of that. Well, you’re… half right. Marathon is “new ground” for Bungie; promising to bring Bungie’s world class shooter design into the burgeoning extraction shooter genre. But Marathon itself goes back, WAYYYYYYYY back. It predates both Destiny games, it even predates Halo, going back all the way to good ol’ 1994.
Sci-fi space super soldiers, covens of aliens, crazy AIs, and all the other Bungie staples were started in Marathon. I’ll do a light explanation here of all 3 Marathon games to get you a bit caught up, however, if you want to experience it for yourself, good news! Marathon has a completely fan developed port to modern machines; Aleph One is a good way to experience these classic shooters on modern machines with some modern quality of life enhancements.
The Start Point for Bungie’s History Of Trailblazing
Bungie already has a history of innovation and pathfinding with the Halo series and Destiny, both for better and worse. This started however in Marathon, which holds the join title of being the first instance of both reloading AND duel wielding weapons in a game. The only reason it gets the “joint” part in joint title is that Rise of The Triad came out the same day and also had both of those, and its impossible to tell which had the idea first I guess. Reloading sounds like such a basic staple in almost every shooter nowadays that it can be hard to remember that someone had to come up with the basics of it. Only problem is that you have to empty your entire magazine before reloading; the first time is rarely the best.
Marathon was also the first of its kind when it came to its general plot, universe and how in depth it all was, which we’ll get into a bit later. There were games with convoluted stories and mountains of lore before, but in 1994’s shooter scene, DOOM rules the world, and I feel as though saying DOOM’s story is… light is not a very contentious statement. While DOOM’s creators were busy comparing story in a shooter to a story in a porn film, Bungie was busy building a mountain of lore
The Basic, BASIC Plot
Anyone who’s reading this that actually knows Marathon knows that getting into the story in detail is going to need a lot more than 1 article to get it done. I’m just going to be covering the most basic of basic info here to avoid getting too far into the weeds. No Hanger 96 or Gerrit White’s rats in the walls here.
Your time as Mjolnir Recon #54 (I just call him Mjolnerd), involves complicated terminals that require interpreatation that lead to meaning through dreams, secret societies, political coups and the reason for the titular Marathon even being where it is in the first place. You’ll also meet the rampant (sound familiar, Halo fans?) AI Durandal, an AI who went insane because his entire purpose in life was to open doors.
While the Marathon trilogy is from the point of view of Mjolnerd, make no mistake; this is Durandal’s story as well, as he grapples with both rival AIs and the end of the universe. The main plot points of Marathon are competing AIs both trying to escape the end of the universe and kill each other while their at it: Durandel and his nemesis, Tycho, treat the end of the universe like we treat retirement. They are very, very responsible, and getting started early.
Marathon 1 Basics
Marathon follows the origins of the titular Marathon ship, a generations spanning secret society and plan involving the colony of Tau Ceti V involving the infamous MIDA (Sound familiar, Destiny fans?), the alien coalition known as the Pfhor and the civil war within that breaks out when one of the servant races, the S’pht, rebel. This is told throuogh several complicated terminals and a lot of this has to be pieced together and interpreted through non-linear and non-literal storytelling.
At the end of Marathon 1, its revealed that the Marathon was built as an ark ship to get away from the Sol system and start over after war, poverty and pollution had rendered all of the other human colonies in chaos, Durandel called the aliens here after his rampancy began, and with the help of the Mjolnerd, the humans are able to fend off the aliens and save the day. Durandel and Tycho then begin to advance their great game and duke it out in Marathon 2
Marathon 2
Marathon 2’s story is the simplest of the bunch, following the Mjolnerd and Durandel as they assault the S’pht homeworld in search of lost colonists and a mysterious alien AI known as Thoth. As war with the aliens continues on the planet, its revealed that part of the S’pht actually left their homeworld on a flying…moon thousands of years ago and developed to unprecedented levels of tech. After contacting this mysterious group, the Phfor empire’s Battle Group 7 moves into combat with Durandal, and most of the game is about staving off Battle Group 7 until the lost clan of S’pht arrive, obliterating Battle Group 7.
The epilogue of Marathon 2 takes place 10,000 years after the events of the game. Durandel makes a pit stop at Earth to make sure humanity hasn’t forgotten him, and ponders the events of the past and how the Mjolnerd was able to overcome such overwhelming odds time and time again. Oh well, I’m sure its nothing too complicated…
Marathon: Infinity
Marathon Infinity is a mess. I know you real MarathonHeads reading this want me to at least attempt to explain it, but I’m not even going to try. It involves 7 different timelines (at least) eldritch beings, poop eggs, more AIs, previous Bungie games, and the birth of superbeings. If you want to try and understand it, LordMandalore’s video on the game explains it better than I ever could.
Marathon’s Legacy
Beyond the obvious, Marathon’s legacy lives on through all the Bungie games. Sci-fi super soldiers fighting a coalition of vicious aliens to save humankind alongside a snarky AI, and partway through a civil war breaks out among the aliens? Why, that’s just Halo! But it goes even farther than that. Even more of Bungie’s narrative tropes can be found in Marathon, and the Marathon glyph itself (Pictured above) is found EVERYWHERE in Bungie’s Halo games. Its on Captain Keyes’ rank insignia, 343 Guilty Spark’s face,. hell, Halo’s control room, arguably the most important location in the series, is in the shape of a giant Marathon glyph. The extremist group MIDA is also directly referenced in Destiny, with the Mida Multi-Tool.
Lots of cut Marathon content was reused for Halo as well, namely the Flood was originally supposed to be in Marathon 2 as a sentient fungus that would infect the aliens and turn them into unthinking zombies.
Perhaps the most fascinating connection is the proposed “Bungie Mythos” theory, which presents the idea that ALL of Bungie’s games are connected to Marathon after one of Marathon 2’s terminals suggests that the Mjolnerd is a reincarnated ancient hero that appears once in a great while when he is needed. The split timelines that Marathon Infinity introduce make it possible that John-117/the Master Chief AND The Guardian from Destiny are all different reincarnations/versions of the Mjolnerd.
The End… For Now
I really hope you enjoyed this little dive in Marathon with me. If I could go more in depth, I would but you and me only have so much time. For now, maybe consider playing Marathon! Or watching some material that goes a bit more in depth than this. Its a fascinating series. While part of me is disappointed we won’t be getting another single-player Marathon game, I’m still excited to see where Bungie takes it after a very, very long hiatus.
