Halo: Reach/Tear Jerker


  • "Negative, Sir. I have the gun." Followed by, "This is the Pillar of Autumn. We're away... and The Package is with us."
  • The last level. Reach is covered in dust, fog, and ruins. Painfully beautiful piano music plays. Six stands tall, and watches the Covenant destroy the planet. He/she gets ready for his/her last stand. It's the end of the Halo saga. As the gameplay begins, the title rolls in: There'll Be Another Time...". Don't look at me like that, I'm just sweating from my eyes. And if you're not overcome with Manly Tears, you will be by the time you've watched the final cutscene.
    • And just before that, when you know what's coming and you can hear the tone of the music behind Six staying behind to give the Autumn cover, it made This Troper's eyes leak during the second playthrough.
      • Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you remember the only other time that music is played is during Jorge's sacrifice, the destruction of the Long Night of Solace, and the arrival of the rest of the Covenant Fleet. Subtly telling you that yes, Six is not going to make it, but s/he has managed to do something monumental with his/her sacrifice.
    • "I looked up at the sky and saw the last traces of the Pillar of Autumn as she escaped into the heavens. I gazed out at the barren landscape where my fallen brothers lay. I was alone. Covenant drop ships were beginning to swarm around me, I could hear shouts and roars of Elite soldiers approaching in the distance. Death seemed inevitable at this point. There was no escape. No, I thought. This is not my time to die. As I grabbed my rifle, I told myself, "There'll be another time..." - Youtube comment
  • The Deliver Hope trailer. Not so much the visuals, but dear god, the soundtrack... Thom (the original Noble Six) dies in the trailer, carrying a tactical nuclear weapon inside a Covenant cruiser. Kat and Carter think they failed him. Holland thinks he was an idiot. They're all wrong.
  • Jorge's goodbye.
    • "Tell 'em to make it count."
      • And then, directly after Jorge sacrifices himself to destroy the ship and tosses you off on your gravity propelled trip to terra, you look to the right to see that his sacrifice is rendered pointless as the ENTIRE DAMN COVENANT FLEET pops out of slipspace, filled to the brim with ships exactly like the one that was about to 'cleanse the taint' all by its lonesome. It was enough to propel this Troper into a two hour funk, curled up in a corner and crying. Because what do you do when something that big wants to kill you? It was made worse by my building hope that, maybe, we can defy canon! Maybe we can save Reach and survive and save them all!... Well, Troper, you were wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do.
        • Even worse, right after the new Covenant fleet appears, Six lands, wounded on re-entry. With nothing but a pistol, s/he makes it up a hill and spots a large city, mostly smoldering, with a huge Covie ship floating above, while some of the most heart-wrenching music in the entire series plays (up to 1:28 on this vid). YMMV on this, but this moment nearly caused a Heroic BSOD for me.
      • Even right before Jorge's sacrifice, there's a wham moment where the frigate that was escorting you for the entire mission (and whose slipstream drive was cannibalized to make the bomb you're carrying) suddenly gets torn to shreds right in front of your eyes. The music goes solemn right at that moment and stays that way as you're about to assault the corvette's bridge. Yeah, Jorge was the best, but hundreds of people just got vaporized simply to give you a chance of finishing your mission, and it turns out that their deaths were all just as senseless as Jorge's. Cue the blue-screen.
      • Far from senseless. Destroying that Supercarrier killed so many Covenant and such a powerful and expensive ship that it's doubtful they could have died in a more meaningful and useful way. Just imagine if that Supercarrier had been present in the battle for Earth, or the battle at The Arc.
  • Kat getting killed by a lucky Covenant shot.
    • Made even more upsetting when you find out through the game's Director's Commentary that Kat and Carter had a relationship prior to the events of Reach, which explains why he ends up being the one carrying her body...
      • For what it's worth... That Field Marshal is probably the same one you fight at the end of The Pillar of Autumn. It won't bring her back, but... killing him gives you, if not some small amount of Schadenfreude, then at least satisfaction.
  • "You're on your own, Noble. Carter out." (BOOM!)
  • "I'M READY! HOW ABOUT YOU?" Sayonara, ya crazy bastard...
  • Understanding of the Halo universe will have some Fridge Tearjerker. Dr. Halsey's hostility towards the SPARTANs's was engendered by suspicion, since they weren't "her" SPARTANs. Her attitude change is tearjerking stuff, especially her final farewell to Noble Six.
  • "Lone Wolf" and the narration that plays after Noble Six dies.

Doctor Halsey: It didn't take long for Reach to fall. Our enemy was ruthless. Efficient. But they weren't nearly fast enough. For you had already passed the torch. And because of you, we found Halo. unlocked its secrets, shattered our enemy's resolve. Our victory - your victory - was so close... I wish you could have lived to see it. But you belong to Reach. Your body, your armor - all burned and turned to glass. Everything... except your courage. That, you gave to us. And with it, we can rebuild.

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