Bungie Marathon News

Marathon's
Story
Page

since 1995

marathon.bungie.org/story

Marathon's
Story
Page

since 2019

marathon.bungie.org/story

Saturday May 31, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #739.

Above and beyond?

Marathon Tattoos by MARATHON_ENJOYER (@MarathonChud) on x.com. May 28, 2025.
Some people buy Marathon T-Shirts others get Marathon tattoos.

One slight problem.

Who is going to tell him there are currently six factions in Marathon 2025?

CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, MIDA, Arachne, and Sekiguchi Genetics.

Of course Arachne is currently under wraps and no official information has currently been released about it.

That hasn't stop people from coming up with theories ranging from a spider cult to an assassination bureau where you can take out contracts on specific high value Runners for their loot.

In the original Marathon they called that PvP game option "Pile on Greg".

It was never implemented in the final release for obvious reasons.

Marathon gore by redorth on tumblr. May 27, 2023.
Perhaps it is back under a different guise.

Marathon Runner with spine by Jeremy Hanna posted by Joseph Cross (@@josephacross) on x.com. April 27, 2025.
The above piece is by Jeremy Hanna, a concept artist working on Marathon.

Jermey is from Wellington in New Zealand and has worked on films such as Dune, Avatar and Blade Runner 2049.

His Marathon artwork was posted by Joseph Cross (Marathon's Art Director). He wrote:

A fun one from Jeremy Hanna exploring a homage to the classic Craig Mullins "spine" piece.

You can see the original 'spine" piece in the Marathon Art of Craig Mullins Gallery.

So remember folks... the next time you piss Bungie off Arachne may just put out a contract on your spine.

Friday May 30, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #738.

It's sketchy Friday!

That day of the week we don't do drama we do sketches.

First up...

"You talkin' to me?"

I'm everywhere by alukslice on tumblr. May 28, 2025.
Entitled "I'm everywhere!" this sketch of the Marathon Marine is by Aluk (@alukslice) on tumblr.

Back on May 15, 2025 we featured Aluk's the Security Officer at the end of time.

Good to see he evaded the W'rkncacnter. Mjolnir Recon be like... "Tis but a scratch!".

kam (@kamil-a) is back!

Actually she was never gone, she's been streadly taking care of business on the Marathon and the Pfhor ship.

Alien Weapon by kam (@kamil-a) on tumblr. April 29, 2025.
kam tells it like it is, in a quirky... funny way.

And yes the Alien Weapon does just disappear ("disintigrates") when you use up all the ammo.

We've been following kam's exploits as she plays through Marathon since February 10, 2025.

She recently wrote:

I hope i am giving you all a skewed impression of what marathon is about

That's one way to put it.

She created a series of images for the last chapter in the game, Rebellion.

Friends Now by kam (@kamil-a) on tumblr. May 23, 2025.
Entitled "Friends Now" it is exactly what you might expect from kam.

She writes:

as soon as i realized theyre helping amd not attacking me i got SOOOOO nervous making sure mjolnir didnt shoot any....... like can you imagine ruining the fragile peace. and durandal going youre embarassing me in front of the s'pht man i told them you were cool

She continues:

its really good that the s'pht begin as scary enemies and then later fight against the phfor with you i gotta hand it to bungie that was good gaming. it was really good use of gameplay to tell a story. the s'pht are my friends i feel so protective of them now

At the end it was all... "high five everybody".

high five everybody by kam (@kamil-a) on tumblr. May 27, 2025.
So nice to see someone happy about Marathon.

Happy sketchy Friday.

Stay sketchy.

Thursday May 29, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #737.

Welcome to Dire Marsh.

High mortality rate indeed.

The name Dire Marsh is a nice call back to Bungie's Myth: The Fallen Lords, released in 1997.

The drums at the start of this level are so Myth.

Myth was Bungie's answer to Quake or as Rob McLees described it in a XBN interview in 2002:

"After Marathon 2 we wonder if it's wise to do another first person shooter," McLees reflects. "We start to do some concept stuff for an FPS, but we know we can't beat Id to the shelves with Quake, so we say 'f*ck that!' We got called a Doom clone with Marathon, and we don't want that to happen again."

Some 30 years later we have... Escape from Tau Ceti IV.

(circumstances are cyclical)

But I digress.

Back to Marathon's Dire Marsh.

Dire Marsh. Marathon Alpha. April 2025.
Dire Marsh is a big open level compared to Perimeter and is designed for 18 players, split into six teams of three.

Indeed it is so large you may have missed parts of it.

Dire Marsh map. Marathon Alpha. April 2025.
Dylan Teter, an Environment Artist, who worked on Dire Marsh for Bungie recently uploaded a massive amount of 'behind the scenes' content for this level on Artstation.

So much so that some of it was removed. Most notably a detailed overhead in-game shot of Intersection.

Perhaps it showed us something that we shouldn't have seen?

Well Dylan did say:

Dire Marsh has many mysteries and secrets to explore.

Concerning Intersection, Dylan writes:

Intersection was created as a major chokepoint of Dire Marsh intended to be a very frequent locale of high enemy incursion. With four areas all funneling into this spot, it needed many options for creative gameplay and skill expression.

I particularly like his UV car wash at Algae Ponds. Got to keep that mold at bay.

Dire Marsh, UV car wash by Dylan Teter on Artstation. May, 2025.
Dylan writes:

The UV car wash was one of my early tasks on Marathon. I was given a narrative theme to build out and used our palette kit and graphics to build one of the most visually striking areas in Algae Ponds.

On the subject of mold, keep out of AI Uplink Underground it has huge amounts of mold buildup.

Dire Marsh, AI Uplink Underground by Dylan Teter on Artstation. May, 2025.
Dylan writes:

Underneath the technological hub of AI Uplink is a deeply infested underground system that provides players with a dangerous, yet hidden method of escaping West toward Complex.

The area features narrow passageways, multiple exits, and a huge data center in the middle that must be unlocked to gain access. While it may appear to be a safer means of travel than the ground above, there is something eerie and unsettling down here.

Dylan's proudest work on Dire Marsh were the BioResearch Tunnels.

Dire Marsh, BioResearch Tunnels by Dylan Teter on Artstation. May, 2025.
Dylan writes:

The work I did on the BioResearch Tunnels is what I am most proud of from my time working on Marathon. Originally there were not planned to be any tunnels until we felt we needed some way to navigate across the zone without going into the extremely dangerous open outdoors.

Dylan adds:

Game director, Joe Ziegler, mentioned during the Marathon gameplay reveal livestream that one of his favorite moments playing the closed alpha happened in these tunnels due to the unique gameplay experience they offered. So that was pretty awesome to hear.

Wednesday May 28, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #736.

Getting under the skin of the Marathon Cinematic Short.

Cartoon Brew recently featured an interview with Alberto Mielgo, the Academy Award-winning animator who directed the Marathon Cinematic Short.

Alberto Mielgo (Photo © Pinkman.tv)
The bottom line is that Bungie gave Alberto Mielgo a lot of creative freedom in making the Cinematic Short and it shows.

Here are some key points from the interview.

Alberto reveals:

I wrote a short treatment of what I would like to do based on a poem that I like, [Percy Bysshe Shelley's] "Ozymandias," which is a very famous and beautiful poem that actually works very well with the world.

The world? Alberto explains:

...the basis of the game is this colony that goes so far out and they put so much effort to go far away, as far as nobody else in humankind has ever gone before. And yet they fail, and nobody really knows what happened there. And there is a mystery there.

Why "Ozymandias"? Alberto explains:

I think that poems are open to interpretation, and in the case of "Ozymandias," the subject matter was very clear. It was very much about the futility of things and how nothing is going to last forever.

Alberto chose to use Bach's "Adagio Concerto in D Minor" to reflect the second era of humankind, similiar to how Stanley Kubrick used Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Alberto explains further:

We're talking about the three ages of humankind here. So, let's say, like the first is the age of cavemen. The second one, it could be the time where we have Bach's "Adagio," classical music, all the technology that comes later, and probably the third age of humankind could be considered the time of Marathon, the future and artificial intelligence. So I felt that it would be nice to choose a piece like "Adagio."

Alberto also explains the "grounding exercise":

...in the Marathon world, people start losing more and more memories with each upload and re-upload.

...I thought that it was very interesting to create some sort of a custom, like a test that they do to these characters just to see how they are behaving, how are their levels of memory. And, of course, the most simple idea that I came up was showing them lucky charms. Like, I imagine that once you download your brain into the server, you have to bring a number of objects for these future tests.

Finally Alberto revealed that the the game's central themes are entropy, recursion, and the cyclical nature of synthetic life. He went on to say:

I read about the previous games as much as possible, but I knew that this was a completely new take.

So now you know.

Tuesday May 27, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #735.

Guess who's back, back again?
Shady's back, tell a friend
Now, this looks like a job for me
So, everybody, just follow me
'Cause we need a little controversy
'Cause this game feels so empty without me

David "PRAZ" Prassel on Artstation gives us a realtime render of the Security Officer in Marathon 2025.

They call me Mister Shady!

2025 Security Officer by David "PRAZ" Prassel on Artstation. April 2025.
David writes:

I've personally been a big fan of Bungie since the original Marathon games from over 30 years ago and especially the early days of Halo.

This demonstration brings in a lot of elements from the original Marathon art style and mixing it with the recent revamped version for what I enjoy most about both versions.

Thanks to David for this short clip of the 2025 Security Officer as he discovers the body of Bernhard Strauss, the Marathon's first science director.

Video Breakdown (technical) by David "PRAZ" Prassel on Artstation. April 2025.

Matt Damon (The Bourne Trilogy, The Martian) will play the Security Officer in the up-coming Marathon movie due to the in-game character's controversial height.

Tom Cruise (Goldmember, Tropic Thunder) who was expected to play the Security Officer in the up-coming Marathon movie due to his lore accurate height was unavailable for comment.

Get me JASON JONES on the phone right... NOW!
How tall is the Security Officer?

Monday May 26, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #734.

And now for something completely different.

Glitch by pipovitsch on the Official Marathon Discord. April 19, 2025.
Always interesting to see different art styles. This 'painting' is by pipovitsch on the Official Marathon Discord.

pipovitsch writes:

I wanna get smashed by her thighs

And then... I am instantaneously transported to 1995 where the femme fatale Xenia Onatopp crushes amorous men to death with her thighs.

Thank you pipovitsch for that James Bond (GoldenEye) repressed memory of Famke Janssen. Talk about having a crush.

But I digress... slightly.

What does it say on her ~~thighs~~ ...err... pants?

You know the ones.

Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short screen posted by Jorge Formigós on Artstation. April 2025.
They hang from her back flopping 'suggestively' behind her.

Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short screen posted by Jorge Formigós on Artstation. April 2025.
Thanks to Jorge Formigós, a Senior CG Generalist on Artstation, for these screen captures.

Jorge worked on Bungie's Marathon cinematic trailer at Illusoriumin Studios in London, United Kingdom.

He's sworn to secrecy of course.

But the Marathon's Story page is no stranger to pants (flashback to June 28, 2000).

If you know... you know.

Sunday May 25, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #733.

Want that Content Creator feeling without all the drama?

Well now you can buy it.

A Content Creator in the United Kingdom is selling their Marathon Content Creator Box direct from Bungie on eBay.

You get everything in the box.

Now while this won't cost you a trillion bucks you won't get much change left over out of a thousand bucks once you pay shipping and duty.

But hey! No one ever said Marathon was going to be cheap, right?

And you do get some cool graphics and lore thrown in.

And remember... you can't take your loot with you when you die!

So spend it now before it's too late.

Jack Strider calls it quits?

Jack writes:

not sure if I'll ever end up posting this anywhere else, but I figure if this is my last marathon artwork for a while I may as well post it here

Jack (@striderau.bsky.social) was a recent victim of 'art theft'.

While the matter was resolved with a two finger payout, it left a bad taste as you might imagine.

You can see his "last marathon artwork" below.

Blackbird by Jack Strider on the Unofficial Marathon Discord. May 19, 2025.
Nice to see Blackbird get some love. It's been all Alt-Girl and Goth-Boy lately.

Now if you are thinking that this looks familiar... as if it were from an old dream, but you can't exactly remember...

Well it means you haven't visited the Marathon Art of Craig Mullins Gallery recently.

Jack's artwork is a homage to Craig's Marathon Marine artwork.

Marine by Craig Mullins on the Marathon Art of Craig Mullins Gallery. 1995.
However, unlike Blackbird, Mr. Marathon Marine don't need no Echo Pulse (sonar detection) to find you.

He can smell your fear!

You can run, but you can't hide.

It's the Marathon way!

Saturday May 24, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #732.

Happy Marathon Announcement Day.

On this day two years ago Bungie announced their new game Marathon during the PlayStation Showcase 2023 live stream.

Still looking as good as it did back on May 24, 2023.

The lore spoke of a ghost ship, a lost colony, colonists long gone, mysterious artifacts, a long-dormant AI, and lashings of infamy. Yarrr!

marathonthegame.com May 24, 2023.
A cryptic voice whispered in hushed, mellow tones that you were not welcome in this far far away land.

_YOU,ARE… _[NOT] WELCOME… _HERE… _IN,THIS… _BODY/WORLD/MOMENT… _AND,BEYOND… _YOU,WILL,FIND… _[CORRUPTION] _RUN,PLEASE…[RUN] _[ITHTAWITHTAWITHTAW] _…

But there were T-Shirts aplenty for those that remained, but a king's ransom demanded in pieces of eight.

Marathon T-Shirts [000] May 24, 2023.
And last but not least for those with a brain, a Marathon ARG with lore for the taking. Arrgh!

And the name of this rollicking high stakes adventure... be on the tip of your freshly spliced tongue...

Pirates of Tau Ceti : Barrett's Revenge
Coming soon... to a Pirate Store near you. Yarr... o.

Happy Marathon Announcement Day.

Friday May 23, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #731.

It's sketchy Friday!

That day of the week we don't do drama we do sketches.

First up... two work in progress sketches of Gaur Dibuja's Marathon Runner we featured yesterday.

Marathon Runner (work in progress) by Gaur Dibuja (@GaurDibuja) left and right on X. May 2025,
Always nice to see how an artist works.

And because you asked for it... here's a work in progress sketch of ThatBoi's creepy 'rando" Runners we also featured yesterday.

Runners (work in progress) by ThatBoi on the Official Marathon Discord. May 20, 2025.
Even as a sketch this still freaks me out.

You see the last time I ran with 'randos' I woke up weeks, perhaps months later, staring at the stars and wondering "Where the hell's my loot?"

Ok... ok... I plagiarised that from Pathways Into Darkness.

It's a modified version of the Death Message of the Stalker.

The Stalker only ever appears in Pathway Into Darkness demo v2.0. It was removed from the full game for obvious reasons but its Death Message remained as a warning to all.

Beware of Stalkers.

Fast forward to 2025.

Beware of 'randos'... they may be after your loot.

Since this is sketchy Friday here's a sketchy Marathon symbol.

Marathon symbol by TekOwait (aka tekotheteapot) on the Official Marathon Discord. May 19, 2025.
It's by TekOwait (aka tekotheteapot) on the totally Official Marathon Discord.

It embodies everything we strive for here on sketch Friday.

Last up for sketch Friday.

This... is my BOOMSTICK!

Runnin man (sketch) by Nathan Clark (@NSClark98) on x.com. May 21, 2025.
Nathan Clark (@NSClark98) on X gives us shotguns akimbo.

Nathan also posted this on Instagram and wrote:

Marathon sketch, runnin' and gunnin'

Let's hope those who are waiting are patient

I think it is fair to say that Marathon fans are the most patient. It's only been thirty odd years and counting.

Then again... it's a marathon not a sprint.

Happy sketchy Friday.

Stay sketchy.

Thursday May 22, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #730.

I miss that helmet.

Marathon Runner by Gaur Dibuja (@GaurDibuja) on x.com. May 20, 2025.
This excellent piece of dynamic artwork is by Gaur Dibuja (@GaurDibuja), a freelance artist based in Córdoba, Spain.

Apart from the "insane perspective" this artwork holds an important message. Gaur writes:

This has been my whole month, work + studying is quite a thing, and I've been struggling to find something that makes me proud and happy when it comes to my artstyle. And well... Last week happened, felt so disappointed...but still, I wanted to show you all this thing I made.

Last week is a reference to the antireal (4nt1r34l) controversy. She is named in the artwork.

A nice gesture to a fellow artist.

And now for something completely different.

Hello little boi, want to play a game?

Runners by ThatBoi on the Official Marathon Discord. May 20, 2025.
Hot from the Official Marathon Discord, ThatBoi gives us 'rando' Runners.

And you wonder why so many people want to play Marathon solo and not with a bunch of randos.

Randos, man, they creep me out!

And now back to that other game.

Name that Marathon level?

i should sleep by //ZACK// on the Official Marathon Discord. May 20, 2025.
Hot from the Unofficial Marathon Discord, Zack has a problem.

Zack is stuck with a 'rando' Pfhor Trooper. Can you help him get off this level? But which level?

But wait there is more.

Zack is using an image "inspired" by BWOOOM (@bwooomscratches) on tumblr.

BWOOOM is Gaby and she is... ~~happy~~ ~~sad~~ mad?

Marathon Inspires Digital Appropriation.

Wednesday May 21, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #729.

Knismophilia. It's a foot thing.

Milesjenkins91, a professional illustrator from the United States on DeviantArt, gives us Ticklish Before Extraction!

Ticklish Before Extraction! by Milesjenkins91 on DeviantArt. May 10, 2025.
What's seen can't be unseen.

Perhaps this will end up in Marathon. You never know.

Got beer?

Glitch (Escape Will Make Me God) by Philipp Mendelson on ArtStation. April 27, 2025.
Ever the party girl, Glitch carries her beer in a beer bandolier. Like you do.

The artist is Philipp Mendelson on ArtStation. Philipp hails from Sydney, Australia and they know a thing or two about beer.

Crack open a tinny and let's have a barbie.

Marathon Cat

. Well Marathon Dog can't be far behind. Right?

Marathon Dog by Nick Daniel (aka P5ych) on DeviantArt. May 2, 2025.
Marathon Dog is by Nick Daniel (aka P5ych) on DeviantArt. Nick is working on a range of furry characters inspired by Bungie's Marathon.

Furries in Marathon? Totally. I have been saying this for years!

One of Bungie's core values is wanting everyone to feel that their identity is welcome.

Introducing Furries at Bungie.

Welcome to the Bungie Inclusion Club.

Escape Will Make Me Dog.

Tuesday May 20, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #728.

_THE.LINE.IS.CROSSED...

Did you buy one (or more) of the latest Marathon TShirts [ISSUE] 001 ?

Many folks did. Like @mfbrown.bsky.social (@MF_Brown) on X.

Marathon TShirt posted by @mfbrown.bsky.social (@MF_Brown) on the x.com. April 22, 2025.
So much so that the Sekiguchi Genetics TShirt is now gone. Phhht! Just like that.

Sekiguchi Genetics fans are distraught.

To add fuel to fire... MF_Brown's wife apparently stole his Sekiguchi Genetics TShirt and wore at the gym. Like you do.

My wife stole my shirt and wore it to the gym posted by @mfbrown.bsky.social (@MF_Brown) on the x.com. April 28, 2025.
But I digress.

MF_Brown posted a clearer image of the text on both the Marathon and Sekiguchi Genetics TShirts.

Marathon TShirt text posted by @mfbrown.bsky.social (@MF_Brown) on the x.com. May 16, 2025.
Unmistakably MIDA in style.

And should placete the MIDA 2023 fans who believe that MIDA 2025 have sold out to the Corporations and the UESC.

I mean why else are they all talking to the... UESC.

Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short. April 12, 2025

Monday May 19, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #727.

The Big Boss.

What happened to Bungie in the 1990s?

Social media platforms were a blaze... Bungie suxs!!! Game ruined!!! Will never buy a Bungie game again!!!

You see, Bungie just couldn't do a Big Boss fight ending to save their life.

I mean how hard can it be?

Bungie's first game Desert Storm had it all. Smoking hot tank battles and at the end a large disembodied head of Saddam Hussein floating across the desert proclaiming that "The gun is good! The pen is is evil!" but fires no weapons of mass destruction.

.

In Minotaur, the bonecrushing Minotaur never turns up for its own afterparty, nor did Jason Jones when the game's ending was slated on social media.

Bungie suxs!!! Game ruined!!! Will never buy a Bungie game again!!!

Pathways Into Darkness didn't faired any better. The Flaming Smokey Dude (aka The Demon) at the end popped like a balloon when you stabbed it with your steely knife.

As for the Marathon Trilogy, well don't get me started.

In Marathon the mutant Pfhor cyborg that controlled the actions of thousands of S'pht had a glass jaw (of sorts).

Death to the Pfhor cyborg by Deltau on the Marathon Discord. May 17, 2025.
In Marathon 2 things got a little better as the game ending required you to run around a lot. It's what you do in a Marathon apparently.

As for the galaxy destroying W'rkncacnter in Marathon Infinity. Well it never even shows up at the end.

Bungie suxs!!! Game ruined!!! Will never buy a Bungie... oh wait... Bungie didn't create Marathon Infinity, Double Aught did.

All hail Bungie!

A parody for our time.

Sunday May 18, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #726.

Greyoutt reminds us why we need to save our game... frequently.

Colony Ship For Sale by Greyoutt on the Marathon Discord. May 16, 2025.
Greyoutt writes:

PoV of the Pfhor that camp around the corner after the puzzle

Anyone who has played Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap for the first time without hints knows exactly what is going to happen next.

Not content with creating a frustrating mind puzzle, Jason Jones left us a little suprise high above the Pillar Room. Three Pfhor Fighters hiding around a corner waiting for you.

Surprise!

The worst case scenario is that you did not save your game after completing the puzzle and now you die.

Congratulations. You have just been given The Shaft.

If there is a life lesson in all of this it is... Ne Cede Malis (oh... and save frequently).

Colony Ship for Sale, Cheap by AlexB207 (@AlexB207Swag) on x.com. August 2, 2024.
If at first you don't succeed... try... try again.

Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap! by kanokoga (@kanokoga) on x.com. February 15, 2025

Saturday May 17, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #725.

DIE! [EXPLETIVE DELETED] [EXPLETIVE DELETED]

VOID knife attack animation by arcadebroke on tumblr. April 13, 2025.
What is best in life?

"To crush the weak, steal their loot, and to hear the lamentation of their Moms."

Unfortunatelty, or perhaps fortunately, you will not be able to hear these lamentations if proximity chat is not an option when Marathon is released. Don't hold your breath.

This is what Jaime Griesemer (former Bungie Studios game designer) recently said about why Bungie removed proximity chat from Halo 3.

The solution? Well he did offer this glimmer of hope.

The behavior is virtually impossible to fix. One-off muting or bans is fighting a flood with a shot glass. I'm hopeful AI can be trained to screen it out.

AI to the rescue?

...dancing through the wreckage of the Bungie computer core, DURANDAL WAS LAUGHING

But I digress.

Over the last couple of days a great deal has been written about Bungie, enough to fill 70 of Durandal's doctoral theses.

But the piece that really caught my attention and stuck with me was this.

I met an artist from social media by basseu on the Official Marathon Discord. May 16, 2025.

I am capturing it here as it will be lost in time... like tears in rain.

Back on July 15, 2023 Marathon fan RuisuteTV drew attention to the similarity between Bungie's concept art and design work by R▲ (theraa, a Russian designer) and was posted on Dribbble on September 8, 2017.

Friday May 16, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #724.

It's sketchy Friday!

We've got sketches.

On the internet no one is safe.

vxxslo writes: "the wife drew this at work today".

the wife drew this at work today by vxxslo on the Marathon Discord. April 17, 2025.
And now her boss knows!

They call me Mister Marathon.

Master_Gecko117 gives us this homage to Lh'owon by Craig Mullins.

UESC cyborg by Master_Gecko117 on the Alright Runners™ Discord. May 6, 2025.
And yes, that is Glitch's head and spine.

When asked: "What did Glitch do to deserve that?" Master_Gecko117 replied: "Runner operations are illegal."

Spoken like a true UESC patriot.

Bring on the DIESIS Protocol.

They call me Alt Girl.

Kenji gives us Glitch infected with the mystery fungus.

Glitch infected with the mystery fungus by Kenji on the Alright Runners™ Discord. April 19, 2025.
And yes, that binary does decode. Try it yourself.

Poor Glitch. Is she the most hated character in Marathon?

Is it because of her big boots? Her trillion dollar body? Or just the fact that she hangs her sweatpants on her back?

Mark my words. If you had Bungie's Glitch Runner Pants ($777) you'd be hanging them on your back rollerblading down Venice Beach this summer.

Happy sketchy Friday.

Stay sketchy.

Thursday May 15, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #723.

The trih xeem broke against my dying vessel and smashed a fine patina across the mystery shields of this station. My crew battled the aliens during the blast, and the silence which came after was sullen and deafening--the pure silence of victory. But the trackless whisper chattering through the hollow space in these cursed walls buzzes and threatens madness. The abomination cracked the shells of my crew and sucked the husks, tossing them unseen and shattering the spindle like a dried creche. The shields are gone, not down, but gone, and so are the engineers. It's coming back, I'm sure: and my last mercy is immolation. Great Mother crouched behind the Throne, I make this wrong right.

This poignant piece of text is from High Admiral Tfear on the Marathon Infinity level Aie Mak Sicur (the end of a failed timeline).

Tfear has once again deployed the trih xeem and released the W'rkncacnter from Lh'owon's sun.

Indeed deploying the trih xeem is Tfear's standard operating procedure throughout Marathon Infinity.

So much so that it was amusingly captured by Gopherofdoomies in a meme entitled: "Very good idea."

Very good idea by Gopherofdoomies on r/marathon. April 30, 2021
Of course it is not Tfear's fault.

He has no memory of doing this before nor any precognition of events in the future. He lives and dies in this timeline (quantum reality).

Only the Security Officer knows what has happened and what will happen as he shifts between quantum realities seeking one where the W'rkncacnter will not be released.

No pressure.

alukslice (@alukslice) on tumblr nicely captures the Security Officer at the end of time.

W'rkncacnter by alukslice (@alukslice) tumblr. May 9, 2025.
alukslice writes:

In primordial space, timeless creatures made waves.

Waves were the battles, and the battles were waves.

Fleeing all W'rkncacnter...

If I was to give a name to this artwork I would call it "The horror! The horror!" after Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

Sometimes a piece of art just gets under your skin.

I leave the last words to Durandal, recalled by High Admiral Tfear:

"On the Marathon, I saw your stupidity through the lens of victory. And now I see it in defeat. Maybe it is fate that your ignorant pride would unleash this horror and destroy the galaxy."

Wednesday May 14, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #722.

Rage.

Thanks to Loafy (@TimLoafy) for this example of Bungie's graphic realism in classic John Woo style.

Alberto Mielgo goes deeper and darker in the Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short.

But don't shed a tear.

Back in 1982 (aka 2019) we called them skin jobs.

We did what we had to do to keep the streets safe.

What are you doing?

Join the UESC today.

Tuesday May 13, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #721.

Paging Dr. Song. Emergency... emergency...

Back on May 7, 2025 we featured the sad story of Dr. Song, dying far from home.

Here's a short clip of it again posted by Kry.exe (@KryDotExe) on X.

Kry.exe went on to give us this emotional image of Dr. Song.

This is Dr. Song by Kry.exe (@KryDotExe) x.com. May 7, 2025.
If Marathon had a Mature rating I have no doubt Dr. Song would be giving Tau Ceti the finger at this stage. Hardcore to the end.

Kry.exe posted a few more Marathon lore clips. You can see them below.

The first is a nice clip of the Anomaly again.

The second is a clip of the UESC's DIESIS Protocol.

Diesis or double dagger is a typographical mark. When used in association with a person's name it means that the person is deceased and is referred to as the "death dagger".

In chess a double dagger denotes a checkmate.

I imagine that the UESC don't do checkmate well. Time to blow stuff up.

Here's a hot tip from Glitch.

Always stretch before you run.

Glitch by Gabriel Flauzino (@Flauzino_FLZ) on x.com. May 7, 2025.
As you might expect this image elicited the usual comments ranging from graphic realism to who has the biggest boots.

Glitch be like...

Monday May 12, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #720.

What is best in life?

For Runners it is... PROFIT.

And CyberAcme is here to help you get it.

CyberAcme: Your New Best Friend.

I have been experimenting with ways of communicating the in-game lore in an appealing way but retaining its original integrity.

Here is CyberAcme's introduction and priority contract: WELCOME TO TAU CETI [0/3]

CyberAcme is the digital backbone of
modern life, an industry leader in AI
functionality. We've seemlessly
intergrated ONI into each shell for life
support and neural sync, letting Runners
focus on what's important: profit.

CyberAcme: Your New Best Friend 

Earn reputation and increase rank with
CyberAcme by completing runs, securing
profit opportunities, and exfiltrating.
Ranking up unlocks addiitonal CyberAcme
rewards and upgrades.

Greetings, Runner. This is the Onboard 
Navigational Intelligence. ONI, if you 
prefer. CyberAcme's dedicated AI guide. 
We are currently communicating through a 
direct neural interface.

Your shell sustained unusual durability 
damage during your last run. As a 
result, CyberAcme protocol dictates you 
undertake a brief reorientation.

To begin, I will provide you with a series 
of "contracts" pertaining to Tau 
Ceti. You will face hostile entities, 
including other Runners competing for 
the objects and artifacts you seek.

For now, focus on searching for 
materials and familiarizing yourself 
with your shell's abilities. You may 
exfiltrate if the possibility presents 
itself, but a far more likely outcome is 
your expedient demise.

Please prepare for your run.

PRIORITY CONTRACT RANK 0

WELCOME TO TAU CETI [1/3]

This is ONI, your Onboard Navigational Intelligence. Your Runner shell is equipped with powerful abilities. Engage them as you scour Tau Ceti for valuables.

Activate prime ability [0/1]

Loot containers [0/5]

You have completed the first step of 
your CyberAcme reorientation. 
Congratulations.

As you have seen, the Unified Earth 
Space Council, the UESC, has deployed 
forces across the Tau Ceti colony. Their 
extreme hostility suggests they wish to 
control access by any means necessary. 
Their destruction is therefore 
completely acceptable.

I'll gather data on your combat 
abilities. Remember to repair damage 
to your shields, and shell, to maximize 
your combat efficacy. Good luck.

PRIORITY CONTRACT RANK 0

WELCOME TO TAU CETI [2/3]

The UESC has deployed hostile forces across he colony to disrupt your retrieval efforts. Eliminate them, and repair any nonlethal damage to your shell.

Eliminate UESC forces [0/5]

Use Shield Charges or Patch Kits [0/1]

Congratulations. You have reached the 
final step of your reorientation.

I must now draw attention to the 
considerable financial investment your 
replacement shells represent. When you 
experience death, CyberAcme is able to 
upload your consciousness and place it 
in a new shell, allowing you to retain 
your memories.

At CyberAcme, we believe that knowledge 
is invaluable... as are the exotic 
materials found on Tau Ceti. Exfilling 
is the only way to claim physical 
objects from the planet. As you have 
seen, it is often quite dangerous, but 
extracting with certain components will 
allow me to upgrade the parameters of 
your shell.

Thus, a successful exfil can be 
extremely lucrative, both for 
CyberAcme and yourself. This 
directive will be a challenge. 
I hope that you are prepared.

PRIORITY CONTRACT RANK 0

WELCOME TO TAU CETI [3/3]

While the baseline for successful Runner exfiltration is approximately 33%, the value of any recovered materials outweighs the risk. Attempt to leave Tau Ceti IV intact.

Exfil successfully [0/1]

Congratulations, Runner. You have 
completed your CyberAcme reorientation 
and have proven yourself fully 
functional.

Two megacorporations have requested 
access to a partition of your neural 
interface... Your actions on Tau Ceti 
piqued their interest. I have granted 
them permission to offer you contracts 
of their own, which incentivize certain 
behavior or gathering crucial supplies. 
If you are able to fulfill their 
priority contracts, they may come to 
feel you can be relied on for more... 
interesting work.

The goals of these megacorps may align 
with yours, or run counter to your 
motivations. You are free to engage with 
them as you see fit. CyberAcme will 
continue to provide you with support, 
as we are invested in your success.

You can rely on CyberAcme to be 
there wherever your journey takes 
you, across Tau Ceti and beyond.

Thanks to gebro4482 (@gebo4482) on tumblr for the animations.

Saturday May 10, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #718.

Thanks to bruteforceonly for pointing out this excellent recording of the solo piano music that plays for Void during parts of the Marathon Cinematic Short.

You can hear it below.

The music is Johann Sebastian Bach's solo keyboard arrangement of the 2nd movement ("Adagio") of Alessandro Marcello's Oboe Concerto. The pianist is Víkingur Ólafsson from Iceland.

The story goes that Bach's original autograph (original manuscript written in the composer's hand) of the solo keyboard arrangement was lost, but the arrangement had been copied by Bach's second cousin Johann Bernhard. Hats off to Bernhard. No relation to Strauss.

Just sit back and enjoy the music and visuals.

But don't get lost in that moment.

Thanks to gebro4482, allsystmsred, solmnace-galleries, avaisnerdytoo, and 1992-2991 (all on tumblr) for their animations/keen eyes.

Friday May 9, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #717.

It's sketchy Friday!

We've got sketches.

Yes folks, that day at the end of the week when we featured the sketchers, the doodlers, and the downright scribblers.

Up first...

Slippy_Soap gives us a panoramic sketch of what is printed on Locus' visor.

Locus's Visor by Slippy_Soap on the Marathon Discord. May 3, 2025.
Yes, people have asked. Now you know.

Locus is an OG Marathon fan favorite by all accounts.

Not least because he's the closest likeness to the Security Officer.

When asked what Locus would like without the chin guard Zumoggu gave us this sketch.

Locus (no chin guard) by Zumoggu on the Marathon Discord. April 29, 2025.
Yes, the Security Officer.

Of course this lead to the inevitable.

The artist known as Picalos Cage gives us this sketchy cartoon of My Boy Locus.

My Magnum Opus by Picalos Cage on the Marathon Discord. May 4, 2025.
If you don't know what's going down in these panels then you are most likely a Boomer.

Undetered and unfettered Picalos Cage went on to give us this panel with the caption.

"Silence Alt-Girl, I sense legendary loot nearby."

Locus and Glitch by Picalos Cage on the Marathon Discord. April 20, 2025.
So let me get this straight, Glitch is Alt-Girl and Locus is Gaylord?

Should be comic series right?

Watch this space.

Happy sketchy Friday.

Stay sketchy!

Thursday May 8, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #716.

It's so over.

But don't worry folks. Like the Pfhor, Bungie will be back in three months time to finish the job.

More Marathon references in Marathon. What the heck?

Thanks to etndse on the Marathon Discord for this short clip.

A nice flashback to Durandal's ending on the Marathon Infinity level Hang Brain.

pr?When the time comes, whose life will flash before yours? pr?A billion paths are here inside me? pr?yes, yes, yes, Bernhard, 110? pr?potential, jewels, jewels, yes, jewels? %

Punished Henchman, also on the Marathon Discord, gives us this little ditty.

The waves of course is a reference to Gheritt White on the Marathon level Never Burn Money

Gheritt looked back into the cell. He saw himself, disciplinarian, lover, murderer. He had killed his nemesis. The rat lay dead in his bloody hands. At last, he held the throat of his beater. He escaped into the waves. The waves.

Strider posted this one.

While not directly Marathon-related it is interesting nontheless.

While naming your children before their imminent death may seem futile, in some religions (belief systems) having a name is essential for entrance to the afterlife.

One can imagine that this is being said in mockery or disdain to those who hold such beliefs.

Perhaps by an AI who doesn't like humans very much.

Hmmm...

Wednesday May 7, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #715.

Paging Dr. Song. Emergency... emergency...

Thanks to Majestic_Rhubarb994 on r/marathon for posting a video of some of the less accessible Marathon 2025 story tidbits. You can see it below.

Poor Dr. Song.

The Majestic one writes:

there's plenty more, in the form of nucal and traxus mission briefs, but these were some of the less accessible stuff.

Indeed.

Poor Dr. Song.

The scientist's body shows 
clear evidence of contagion, 
while its surroundings do 
not. This not the blind 
grasping of simple life.

With a recalibrated analysis 
matrix, I conclude that the 
contagion's behavior is 
intentional... directed.

Hostile.

The colonists' erratic 
paranoia was justified. 
They reacted to danger 
even when their cognition 
lagged behind. There must 
have been some official 
response from colony 
administators, however 
inadequate. Access their 
records and discover 
what it was.

But what about "the Anomaly"?

And why are Traxus so interested in it?

Your investigations have
revealed groundbreaking 
temporal abberations 
linked to what the 
colonists refer to as 
"the Anomaly." Due to 
the significance of your 
findings, this contract 
has been upgraded to 
restriction level "umbra."

Normally, umbra contracts 
are outside the clearance 
level of a privileged asset. 
However, there is no 
qualified asset available 
for this contract. I am 
granting you a temporary 
authorization change. 
Please hold.

Authorization granted. 
Informants alerted Traxus 
to the presence of an elite 
UESC unit on Tau Ceti IV. 
Obtain this unit's data 
core.

Umbra is a Latin word that means "shadow" or more specifically the very darkest part of a shadow.

But the really big question is.

Are we finally going to get to see the Fungal Zombies!

Pfhorget the Bollocks, It's the Fungal Zombies! Marathon 2 concept art (unused) by Robert McLees. 1995

Tuesday May 6, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #714.

The Marathon's Story Page is like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you're going to get.
Unknown Source. October 15, 2046.

Back on October 30, 2023 we featured Crafting Geek (aka Jess) who created cross-stitch logos of her favorite Marathon factions.

Well the UESC was a faction back in 2023.

Oddly, this has increased the value of the original UESC T-Shirt [000].

This one was recently sold (April 28, 2025) by a seller in Florida for US $399.99 on eBay.

UESC T-Shirt [000] sold on eBay. April 28, 2025.
Anyways, Crafting Geek is back with more Marathon cross-stitch logos.

Jess writes:

There's something about Bungie that just awakens my stitching muse. Case in point, within a week, I made three projects, because, again, Bungie.

They are all super easy, super quick, and super fun so when you have time between the alpha and September, y'all will have plenty of time to stitch one or all of these up.

Each one should take maybe 3-4 hours. (The emblem will take closer to 5-6 if you do full stitches. I was lazy and only did half stitches on the bright green.

Destination, Tau Ceti (left) and Traxus logo (right) by Crafting Geek on The Crafting Geek. April 25, 2025.

178 (Tastes like meat.) by Crafting Geek on The Crafting Geek. April 25, 2025.
Jess provides design charts for all her cross-stitch logos.

Her creedo is:

Saw it. Liked it. Had to cross-stitch it.

And if you are like... cross-stitching??? Just ask your mom.

"Hey Greg."
"What?"
"Your mom."
"Hey Jason."
"What?"
"No, YOUR mom."

Staying on the subject of hand crafting.

Does your girlfriend crochet?

Would she crochet this?

GF crocheted me KAAL1 for my birthday! by Matt_RK900 on r/marathon. May 4, 2025.
Well Matt_RK900's girlfriend crocheted KAAL1 for his birthday.

Now this is above and beyond.

And if you are like... crocheting??? Just ask your ~~mom~~ girlfriend...

...and RUN.

Monday May 5, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #713.

Happy Ryu'Toth Day!

On this day 31 years ago Ryu'Toth, a Jjaro representative, appeared via hologram in the Pentagon at 1500 hours on Thursday May 5, 1994.

The alien projection interrupted, quite deliberately, an important briefing of the President (Bill Clinton) by his senior military staff.

It told them they had eight days to save the world.

Pathways into Darkness by Deimos-Remus (Nathan J Anderson) on DeviantArt. October 23, 2013.
Unfortunately the Jjaro, who were busy dealing with another mess (in a galaxy far, far away...), wouldn't actually arrive to clean up this mess for another two and a half Earth years.

"Goddamn it!" yelled Presiden Clinton, slamming his fist onto the desk leaving a dent. ~~"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!"~~ "We need our best ~~man~~, ~~%hero~~, ~~battleroid~~, ~~cyborg~~, woman on the job."

Sergeant Eddings (call me Destiny).

Red Pathways by Jonathan Allen (jallen327) on DeviantArt. April 23, 2013.
Once you realise that Sergeant Eddings is actually a woman then most of Pathways Into Darkness makes sense.

All those crystals and potions, carrying a Red Velvet Bag and an aromatic smelling box, wearing a Red Cloak and gemstone rings. It's all there.

But I digress.

The Jjaro would also go on to feature in Marathon.

Yes, more mess to clean up.

They're like the intergalatic version of sanitation workers. Cleaning up messes, mostly of their own making.

Slingshot a W'rkncacnter into a sun only to miss and have it hit a nearby planet. Opps... we'll be back in a few to fix that one.

You see the Jjaro have a problem.

The Irish have known this for decades. They even wrote a song about it.

Thin Lizzy. Whiskey in the Jjaro. From the album... More of the Hard Stuff. 1968.

Happy Ryu'Toth Day!

No whiskey was consumed in the creation of this update.

Honest.

Hic

Sunday May 4, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #712.

They're back!

No, not the Pfhor.

Furries.

DJSEB1001 on the Alright Runners™ Discord gives us... ESCAPE WILL MAKE ME...

DJSEB1001 also created his own Marathon Furry character F1R3F0X with personalised DAC.

TRAXUS Allegiance by DJSEB1001 on DeviantArt. April 15, 2025.

corpse-maggots (@corpse-maggots) on tumblr gives us a Furry Void in a piece entitled Escape will make me cat.

Escape will make me cat by corpse-maggots on tumblr. April 25, 2025.
Nicely captures that Gothfur Marathon look.

But what about Glitch?... I hear you cry!

Well corpse-maggots has you covered.

Furry Glitch by corpse-maggots on tumblr. April 16, 2025.
Yes folks, the Furries have embraced Marathon 2025 and hope to see a range of Furry skins in the game.

If not the fur will fly.

Furries in Marathon?

Embrace your inner fur.

Tell me again about the Furries. They're Everywhere!

Saturday May 3, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #711.

OH NO... I missed Sketchy Friday yesterday.

That hallowed day when we feature the sketchers, the doodlers, and the barely decipherable scrawlers.

The inevitable hate mail poured in.

Sell out!

Bungie apologist!

How many CARS did YOU buy on Friday?

And all I was trying to do on Friday was correct people on the interwebs. Pointless right?

So without further ado...

...we give you b(i)enny the MNHR on the Marathon Discord.

marton writings and drawings by b(i)enny the MNHR on Marathon Discord. April 25, 2025.

marton writings and drawings by b(i)enny the MNHR on Marathon Discord. April 25, 2025.
These nightmarish scribbles and doodles reveal that the big boss ending on the ship level of Marathon 2025 will be... none other than...

...Mjolnir Recon 54.

Take heed all you grinders and sweaters.

Mjolnir Recon 54 be like...

Marathon gore by redorth on tumblr. May 27, 2023
...GET OFF MY SHIP!

Bungie don't want you to know this but...

...You Think You're Big Time? You're Gonna Die Big Time!

Mjolnir Recon 54 will be played by Jason Jones, of course.

And for all those who want to know where my cars are at...

Hangar 96. Prestige Car Storage.
Yes... Hangar 96.

I mean you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

Right Pete?

Friday May 2, 2025

This Day in Marathon.

Day #710.

Near the start of the Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short directed by Alberto Mielgo there is a nicely composed shot of an impact crator on Tau Ceti.

Marathon Reveal Cinematic Short. April 12, 2025
Its composition is remarkably similar to the eye scene in Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott some 42 years earlier.

Blade Runner. June 25, 1982
Coincidence or homage?

I like to think the later as this is Alberto Mielgo afterall.

Back on May 25, 2023 I asked: How do you take a world-building sci-fi classic and reimagine it?

I used Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 directed by Denis Villeneuve as a good example.

In many ways this is what today's Bungie is trying to do with Marathon 2025.

Only time will tell if they nailed it.

The opening scene of the impact crater on Tau Ceti hints at the fact that the planet is prone to meteor strikes.

Indeed we get to see a meteor shower in progress.

Thanks to thelvadams (@thelvadams) on tumblr for these high quality animated images.

One meteor strikes the UESC Marathon shattering it.

The look of devastation.

Then the meteors hit the planet surface.

But there is no place to hide.

There are people today who still believe that his was the Pfhor attack on the Marathon and the colony. Carefully orchestrated to look like a meteor shower.

NOOOO... IT WAS THE PHFOR
But let me remind you it was Durandal who introduced the Pfhor to the magic of orbital bombardment on Lh'owon (Marathon 2) seventeen later.

Indeed he even explained how he was doing it: I smashed a hole in the roof of this complex by bombing it with a small asteroid.

So if anyone was actually responsible for an 'attack' on the Marathon it was...