heFirst off, to clear some misconceptions, the OP did indeed state AN Arbiter, not The Arbiter. Next, something needs to be cleared up. Arbiter is a political and religious rank placed on disgraced commanders to atone for their failures, where the Arbiter must fight again and again until they die in honor. Its not an all powerful leader rank like some think it is. However, it is the highest possible honor to be given to an Elite. But Arbiters are only chosen during times of EXTREME need. Hence why THE arbiter was made so in Halo 2, because Master Chief had defeated the Covenant, and they were in trouble. We know nothing of the Covenant before Harvest, but as far as we know, their defeat in Halo C.E was their first major defeat, and so they didnt need the rank of Arbiter before this. As far as we can see, the first Arbiter came to light during the Taming of the Lekgolo (Hunters). Before that, we know little of them. The next major event in which we see them is The Grunt Rebellion, and then the War with Humanity. So as far as Canon goes, there was no Arbiter during the Battle of Reach. So TL;DR, as far as Canon goes, there was no Arbiter at the time of Reach. Also, I think the Reach ending is fine. Jun, as far as we can see, is dead, because Halsey is alone on Castle Base, but we dont know for sure.
bungie hinted at a legendary/alternative ending but i guess people gave up looking or there isnt one? 0.o
were did they hint? link?????????? and neo you have a point but bungie dose not really follow the books so it could have been done and would have been cool. who wouldnt like an arbiter at the end?
the little book, halo genesis that came with the limited edition version of halo wars tells about how the arbiter became the arbiter for that particular. i doesnt tell you why they made him it though, as they do (well you know why) in halo 2. on a noble 6 note, why does his visior only crack at the end of the came, i know its for effect etc etc, but you come under a lot more fire in other parts of the game that would outrightly kill you
Oh so that's why I was pinned down by a bunch of elites despite actually holding strong after 5 mins What I think happened (also factoring in the very last cutscene) is that the spartan managed to fight off all those elites but then the GLASS-O-METER came along and glassed the place. It says... "Your body, etc etc belongs to Reach now" (etc) P.S how did his helmet survive the glassing....?!
Doesn't 6 get stabbed? I'm pretty sure he gets killed by those Elites. As for the glassing, the Covenant could have burnt every inch of the planet, but they only needed to destroy the human occupied locations. If Reach had been infected by the flood however, they would need to glass the entire planet (Shipmaster, Halo 3) to ensure the flood is totally destroyed and the planet is made uninhabitable just in case. And an entire planet? Not that much time passes between the Covenant's arrival at Reach and the arrival at Earth, which then leads them to Delta Halo. They had priorities, making sure the a second Halo ring doesn't get destroyed was far more important than glassing a planet they already controlled
that would have been bad ass for it to happen in the levels like when you caome down to red health it would start to, but health things would take them away.