Halo 2 has gone down in gaming history for having one of the biggest cliffhanger endings in a single-player campaign, resulting in the iconic scene of Master Chief delivering the powerful line “Sir. Finishing this fight.”

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In a recent interview with IGN Unfiltered airing later this week, however, composer Marty O’Donnell revealed this was not the original ending planned for Halo 2.According to O’Donnell, the original ending of Halo 2 had a much cleaner resolution, ending with Master Chief finding the Ark of the Covenant on Earth, then working with the Arbiter (then known as the Dervish) to stop the Prophet of Truth.“[T]he ending was you and the Dervish chasing the Prophet of Truth through the Ark and having a grand and glorious conclusion on Earth, finishing the fight right there,” he said, mentioning they had recorded the full ending with the actors prior to re-writes.O’Donnell explains the disappointment shared by himself and the rest of the team at Bungie for having to throw away the original ending, but it was done strictly out of necessity.“We just couldn't finish the plan, it was just impossible,” he said. “So, everything got re-jiggered, and we had the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers.”In hindsight, having a clean conclusion would have been more satisfying at the time, but its resulting cliffhanger became a largely important moment in gaming history.Check out IGN’s interview podcast Unfiltered to learn more from O’Donnell, including how The Beatles inspired the Halo theme and what exactly led to his departure from Bungie. And don't miss our month-long coverage of O'Donnell's new game, Golem.

Cassidee is a freelance writer and the co-host of a freelancing podcast and a geek culture podcast . You can chat with her about comics, video games, and Corgis on Twitter