Talk:Marathon Trilogy

Marathon similarities to the movie Aliens
The motion tracker, assault rifle, colonists, tight corridors and aggressive alien swarms are all very similar themes as in the 1986 movie Aliens. A good item for inclusion, in the plot section, if any of the creators have commented on the movie as a source of inspiration. 124.149.79.117 (talk) 02:09, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

plot section and story section
I don't see why there are 2 different sections in this article directly relating to the marathon story. I think both need to be combined together, revised heavily and streamlined for the reader. I'm going to comb through both sections and possibly do a re-write if need be. This whole article needs to be revised somewhat to be more encyclopedic. --RiseRobotRise (talk) 08:32, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Created Archive
I created an archive of all the past conversations. All of the topics, with the exception of the one I started has not been discussed about in the past year or so. The vast majority of topics date back years and haven't been talked about in years as well. If you want to take a look at previous conversations, you can find it here, or in the archive box I posted at the top of the main talk page. --RiseRobotRise (talk) 23:54, 11 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Looks like you accidentally archived the portion you meant to preserve here too. I've fixed that for you. --Pfhorrest (talk) 08:15, 12 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I actually meant to archive that too, but on second thought, it is very recent, and relevant to the work that is being done to this article. thanks --RiseRobotRise (talk) 01:09, 13 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Oh I see now, I misread: I thought your message above said "all the topics, with the exception of the one I started, have been archived", indicating that the archival of the latter was unintentional.
 * Did you set up autoarchiving, and if so, with what settings? --Pfhorrest (talk) 05:50, 13 June 2010 (UTC)


 * No I didn't set up autoarchiving. Given the amount of user edits this article receives, and the frequency topics are posted on this talk page, I don't think having one would be necessary, but if you'd like to set one up, go for it :) --RiseRobotRise (talk) 06:41, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

How to cite the Pathways into Darkness connection?
The mention in the lede that the games are set in the same fictional universe as Pathways into Darkness is requesting a citation. I am unclear on what would count as a citation for such a statement, and how it would be referenced.

Colloquially, if someone asked me "how do you know that?", I would say "their stories reference the same entities". The most direct connection is the Jjaro, an alien race which features in the background of Marathon 2 and prominently in Marathon Infinity, and a representative of which sent the player-character and his cohort on their mission in Pathways into Darkness. The less direct connection is the dreaming alien "god" "whose name no human throat will ever learn to pronounce", the prevention of whose awakening is the objective of Pathways Into Darkness (at the direction of the Jjaro), and the "W'rkncacnter" (try pronouncing that), a similar godlike being or beings which the Jjaro trapped inside a star in Marathon Infinity.

I think the fact that two works by the same author reference the same characters is prima facie evidence that the works are set in the same fictional universe, but how does one cite that in an encyclopedia fashion? How, for instance, would one cite the connection between Asimov's "Robots", "Empire", and "Foundation" series, if not for the fact that characters and places and so forth coexist between all three?

There is mention somewhere by a Bungie source (I can try to look it up if need be) that Marathon 2 was originally supposed to end with a return to the first level of Pathways Into Darkness "to make the connection more explicit" (or some words to that effect). Would that be sufficient, or even necessary? --Pfhorrest (talk) 04:55, 25 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, since I don't see any official web pages that could be cited, just the ones run by the fans, I think the appropriate thing to do is make the assertion slightly less positive and just back it up with some of the facts you mentioned. Something like "Marathon shares some story elements with Pathways into Darkness, leading fans to consider the games as being in the same universe. For instance, [state facts here]." Perhaps just the first sentence in the lede, and elaboration somewhere in the article.
 * While I agree that Marathon was clearly intentionally linked to PiD, unless Bungie stated it somewhere, it's better to state it as a belief rather than a fact, and then list the evidence. I doubt anyone will be so pedantic as to mark a statement rewritten in that manner with an "original research" tag, but if they do, a simple citation of a bungie.org page showing fans making the connection should be a sufficient response. --Iritscen (talk) 17:01, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
 * I’m removing the citation (replacing it with a tag) because that source only describes similarities between the two games and does not definitively state that they’re connected plotwise. The only solid connection is that they used the same name for an alien species—one that’s long gone in the later game, long before humans were around, IIRC. —Frungi (talk) 18:51, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I’ve removed the claims entirely. The main debate here seems to have been on Talk:Pathways into Darkness, and the consensus there was that it’s mostly speculation and there’s no solid connection. —Frungi (talk) 04:26, 24 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Congratulations, the article is definitely better now that it fails to mention obvious connections between subsequent games from the same company. Future historians will marvel at Wikipedians' courage in rejecting common sense in favor of misapplied bureaucratic policies. --Iritscen (talk) 17:41, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
 * On the contrary, all that's been removed is some speculation for which no one has found any reliable sources from the last 19 years. Having been a fan of the games, I initially believed this connection was obvious and significant to the subjects. However, looking at it again, it looks like my perceptions were off. The entirety of the connection is the mention of the "Jjaro" in the manual for Pathways (not the game itself) before the name was used in the Marathon backstory, and the supposed similarities between Pathways ' "dreaming god" and Marathon ' s "W'rkncacnter". However, there are also differences between these figures in the games, and there's nothing explicit in any of the games suggesting there's continuity, so it's clearly not nearly as "obvious" or "common sense" as you or I perceived it to be. This is why it's important to include only information that's been included in reliable sources. If and when one is found discussing the connection (or perceived connection) between the games, we can discuss how best to include it; as of now it's best to leave it out so our readers aren't misinformed.--Cúchullain t/ c 21:16, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Does Bungie own the IP?
I know they dont own Myth, Oni, and Halo, do they own everything else? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.180.204.17 (talk) 13:12, 27 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Bungie never signed away those IPs, so yes, they should still own every IP from Gnop! or Desert Storm onward, up through Marathon. In fact, there was actually a leak of information around the time that Bungie made their contract with Activision for Destiny, stating that Bungie could spend 5% of their resources working on a Marathon 4. I'm actually surprised this doesn't seem to be noted in the article. --Iritscen (talk) 17:14, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Marathon Trilogy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100523134451/http://www.mariusnet.com/ to http://www.mariusnet.com/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 10:14, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Marathon Trilogy. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071011070444/http://marathon.org/story/seven.html to http://www.marathon.org/story/seven.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 09:18, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Marathon: Durandal (XBLA) doesn't use the M2 engine or Aleph One
Hi, so one of the developers of the Durandal Xbox port went on record saying that this version does not use any part of Bungie's original engine or Aleph One. Instead, it is a custom made 3D game engine: https://old.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/lhboke/should_i_play_this_game_on_xbox/goh4adi/

As such, the game is more of a remake than a port or rerelease.

"hippieman" is a known figure in the Marathon community and he's in the game credits, but I don't know if this counts as an acceptable source.

I won't make the edit, but if this is usable information feel free to make the change. --Chipsnapper2 (talk) 18:43, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

"Marathon RED" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Marathon RED and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 July 31 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Jay 💬 13:50, 6 August 2022 (UTC)

Requested move 25 May 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. Marathon (video game series) can be discussed separately. (closed by non-admin page mover) C LYDE TALK TO ME/STUFF DONE (please mention me on reply) 04:00, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Marathon Trilogy → Marathon (series) – With the announcement of the new Marathon title that is something of a reboot/relaunch of the series but definitely tied to the series' narrative, it would be better to name this as a series page. Marathon Trilogy can still exist as a redirect to a section on this page to minimize other disruption. M asem (t) 00:49, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Oppose - This seems very premature since the new game hasn't been released and we don't have a clear picture of how sources will refer to this franchise. The (series) disambiguator is on its own quite bad, and we tend to move articles away from using it in favor of either (franchise) or (video game series). For now, there is strong sourcing on the term "Marathon trilogy" as referring to the original 3 games, and there is no clear reason to roll this unreleased title into it. Until 1) the game is released, 2) a main space article for it is created, and 3) we have sources which label/group all 4 games together under a single descriptor, we should hold the status quo. -- Netoholic @ 05:41, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * It is very clear from the devs that this new game is within the Marathon universe, there us no question on that..And as I noted, "Marathon Trilogy" does not go away with the move. M asem (t) 17:39, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Marathon (disambiguation) also has Marathon (media), the sequential broadcast of a number of related media programs. Marathon (video game series) would be a better proposal. In ictu oculi (talk) 06:54, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Approve - Considering they confirmed that this is not a hard reboot but instead a new story in the same universe, I think changing it to Marathon (series) works. &mdash;Jman "not a dude" 98 13:54, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Oppose Per WP:RECENTISM. This is massively premature - perhaps in numerous years, when the new soft reboot has released and sources refer to Marathon as a series, we can revisit this move. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 18:28, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * 'Oppose as proposed it should use Marathon (video game series) as series of marathons occur elsewhere -- 64.229.90.172 (talk) 23:04, 27 May 2023 (UTC)
 * weak oppose. only until a confirmed release date is set.Blue Pumpkin Pie (talk) 03:30, 28 May 2023 (UTC)