The Maw

### Depicts

The actions of the Master Chief that result in the destruction of Installation 04, the Flood and the majority of the Covenant's *Fleet of Particular Justice*.

### Enemies

* Covenant
	+ Elites
		- Spec Ops
	+ Grunts
		- Spec Ops (Easter egg)
	+ Jackals
		- Spec Ops
	+ Brutes
		- Commander (Cross-Map Unlock)
	+ Hunters
		- Spec Ops
* Flood
	+ Infection Forms
	+ Combat Forms
		- Human Forms
		- Elite Forms
		- Brute Forms
	+ Carrier Forms
		- Infected ODSTs
		- Unshielded Elites
		- Jackal Forms
		- Infected Grunts
* Forerunner
	+ Sentinels
	+ Sentinel Snipers

*"Destroy Halo before Halo destroys all life in the galaxy."*

**The Maw** is the fourteenth (twelfth is a straight playthrough) and final mission of the Installation 04 Campaign in *Halo SPV3*. In this level, John-117 makes his way through the wreck of the UNSC *Pillar of Autumn*, in order to detonate the ship's fusion reactors and destroy Halo, the Flood, and the Covenant armada, thus preventing the destruction of humans and potentially, all sentient life in the galaxy.

## Overview & Background

Although this mission reuses the environment of The Pillar of Autumn, there are many major differences in The Maw that easily distinguish it from its counterpart level. It is played from a different start point, like all the other repeated levels in the game, and many textures have been altered to make the ship look destroyed and in ruins. Certain parts of the ship have had the orientation shifted, to give the impression of the intense heat that the *Pillar of Autumn* sustained upon entry of Halo's atmosphere, distorting the metal infrastructure of the corridors and passageways. It also brings players to a few areas and tunnels not visited in its sister level.

In what is considered to be an extreme element that greatly alters the gameplay, almost every light in the level has been turned off. The beginning of the mission, the ships bridge and the Warthog run at the end are well lit, but other than that, the environment is almost pitch black. The only illumination the majority of the level provides are the dull, red emergency power lights. While these do enhance visibility slightly, even through the Flood fog, the details of the walls, objects and enemies remain massively obscured.

This level also features minimal music, with the humming of the *Pillar of Autumns* slowly failing emergency power generators as the only sound to break the silence for most of the mission.

## Gameplay Information

Everything that the player has learned must be put to good use in this level. Visibility is very poor for most of the mission, forcing the player to use the torch, and other methods such as the muzzle flash of firing weapons, to navigate through the dark halls of the ship. This gives the level a strong survival horror type vibe, coupled with the fact that the player, once again, has no allies. In *SPV3.3*, the Energy Sword Hilt armor ability was added into the mission, giving the player the option of using the Energy Sword as the Master Chief to combat enemies, and also to light the level in place of the torch.

The Flood have overrun the ship, turning it into one of their hives in preparation for interstellar travel. As such, they are the primary enemy encountered, and they appear in their usual high numbers in very tight and enclosed corridors and areas. Many Flood Growth Pods are also found, evidence of their deep infestation of the ship.

Pockets of Spec-Ops Covenant and Sentinels are also found throughout the level, both attempting to cleanse the ship of the Flood. As normal, Covenant and Forerunner forces will also attack each other. As a Cross-Map Unlock feature, if one kills all of the Spec-Ops Covenant at the end of the mission Keyes, Spec-Ops Elites will be replaced with Brute Commanders in this mission.

The Warthog run at the end of the level is unchanged, but on Noble, the time limit will be six minutes as opposed to five on Legendary, another detail of *Halo: Combat Evolved*'s Easy mode that was carried over. The player also has the option to use a Gungoose for the run instead. Barricades that have been added into the tunnels during the Warthog run forces the player down the passage that contains the Thirsty Grunt Easter egg.

## Developer Information

The SPV3 Dev Team looked at this mission and deduced that there is nothing that particularly stands out in it, with the exception of the Warthog run at the end. Their original vision was to make the level more like the mission *Cortana* from *Halo 3*, with new areas to explore that would have been inspired by *Halo 5: Guardians* and the *Gears of War* series. However, these plans fell through and, thus, they opted to use new lighting effects tools to change the mood of the level by making it very dark. This gives The Maw a unique look and feel to any other mission, and provides a challenging final test of the Installation 04 Campaign, forcing the player to make use of every technique they have learned through the game to complete the mission.

## Trivia

* There are 6 terminals scattered throughout the level with 4 Cortana logs that are difficulty specific for a total of 9
	+ The 4 Cortana logs can be found in the same location, one log per difficulty, as they each vary.

* Masterz1337 has stated, since the release of *SPV3.3*, that he almost regrets including the Energy Sword in this level.
* Since in the previous level where the player controlled Master Chief, None Left Behind, ended with the Chief escaping in a Pelican dropship, the initial cutscene to The Maw has been altered to feature a Pelican instead of a Banshee approaching the *Pillar Of Autumn*.

## Walkthrough

None Left Behind • The Commander • The Commander: Evolved • **The Maw**