Halo 3 finale nearly a flying Banshee escape inspired by Return of the Jedi

Halo 3's final Warthog Run remains one of the series' most memorable finale set-pieces, a theatrical escape that calls back to Master Chief and Cortana's desperate flight in Combat Evolved. Lead developers once strongly disagreed on the finale's direction: some argued for the Warthog Run it became, while others pushed for a flying mission modeled on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Campaign design lead Robert Stokes said the team aimed missions at delivering the 'fuck yeah!' moments and the 'oh shit...' moments, but 'there was a bit of a battle over the finale.' Stokes recalled an unnamed lead developer 'really pushing for it to be a flying mission in a banshee,' an escape meant to echo the flight from the innards of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

Interestingly, Halo 4's final mission opens with a flying sequence piloting the F-41 Broadsword inside a huge Forerunner warship.

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