Cortana Moments/Gravemind Moments

Through the Halo 3 campaign, there are "Moments," where either Cortana or the Gravemind directly address the Master Chief. During these moments, the player's movements will slow drastically and a screen effect will alter the display of the game. For Cortana, this includes herself, as well as distorting the screen blue. Her voice will sound with a slight echo. For the Gravemind, it changes the player's view, distorts the screen green, and tentacles can be seen at the edge of the screen, as well as the screen shaking vigorously. The Cortana moments depict her descent into rampancy, while the Gravemind moments are used to convey the point of view of the Flood. Checkpoints are usually attained after moments.

Arrival

 * Cortana {V.O.}: "They let me pick, did I ever tell you that? ...choose whichever Spartan I wanted."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw..."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "...but me."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "Can you guess?"


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "Luck."


 * Cortana {V.O.}: "Was I wrong?"


 * (Cortana Moment): "Don't Make a Girl a Promise. If You Know You Can't Keep it.

These moments happen during a cinematic and Cortana's face is not seen except for the last one listed.

Sierra 117

 * {Cortana Moment}: "Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? Could you watch me die?"

Crows Nest

 * (Cortana Moment): "You have been called upon to serve."
 * (Cortana Moment): "You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies."
 * (Cortana Moment): "There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead."
 * (Cortana Moment): "You will become the best we can make you."
 * (Cortana Moment): "This place will become your home."
 * (Cortana Moment): "This place will become your tomb."-The screen turns black and Cortana's face is not seen.

Tsavo Highway

 * None

The Storm

 * (Cortana Moment): "I have defied Gods and Demons..."
 * (Cortana Moment): "I am your shield...I am your sword."
 * Cortana {V.O.}: "This is the way the world ends..."-This moment happens during a cinematic and Cortana's face is not seen.

Floodgate

 * (Cortana Moment): "Chief. {background mumbling} I can't tell you everything...it's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the sys... {background mumbling}."
 * (Gravemind moment): "Do not be afraid. I am peace...I am salvation."
 * (Gravemind moment): "I am a timeless chorus; join your voice with mine and sing victory everlasting!"

The Ark

 * None

The Covenant

 * (Cortana Moment): "It asked, and I answered. (Her tone turns bitter) For a moment of safety, I loosed damnation on the stars."
 * (Cortana Moment): "I'm a thief... but I keep what I steal."

Cortana

 * (Gravemind Moment): "Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness; a father's sins passed to his son."
 * (Cortana Moment): (A strange mix of cries of agony and manic laughter)
 * (Gravemind Moment): "Of course, you came for her.... We exist together now. Two corpses in one grave."
 * (Gravemind Moment): "And yet, perhaps a part of her... remains?"
 * (Gravemind Moment): (angry) "Time has taught me patience! But basking in new freedom, I will know all that I possess!"
 * (Cortana Moment) : "It was the coin's fault! I wanted to make you strong; keep you safe. I'm sorry I can't."
 * (Cortana Moment): (panicking) "I have walked the edge of the abyss. I have seen your future. And I have learned!"
 * Gravemind (Gravemind Moment): "''Submit'! End her torment and my own!"
 * (Cortana Moment): (panicking) "There will be no more sadness, no more anger, no more envy!"
 * (Gravemind Moment): (angry) "You will show me what she hides, or I shall feast upon your bones!!"
 * (Cortana Moment): (speaking in a flat, monotone voice as though brainwashed. Her image is green.) "This is UNSC AI Serial Number CTN0452-9. I am a monument to all your sins."
 * (Gravemind Moment): (roars) "At last, I see! Her secret is revealed!"
 * (Cortana Moment): "You like games... So do I..."
 * (Cortana Moment): I'm just my mother's shadow. Don't look at me, don't listen! I'm not what I used to be..."

Halo

 * (Gravemind Moment): "Do I give life, or do I take it? Who is victim? Who is foe?"

Trivia

 * If you take a screenshot of a moment in theatre mode it will appear completely black in the screenshot gallery.
 * During any of these moments, you are completely immune to damage and will not be attacked even by nearby enemies.
 * Excluding Arrival there are 7 levels where the Gravemind and Cortana moments occur.
 * The moment in Sierra 177 is the only moment that anyone else apart from the player notices anything.
 * If you play on Co-op the moments will also appear on the extra player's screen.
 * Excluding the moment in Arrival there are 28 moments in total. 28 is a multiple of 7.
 * If a moment occurs while you're in a vehicle, it slows down as well.
 * Moments will not slow down meleeing or attacking with something such as the Gravity Hammer.
 * Many of Cortana's moments quote Dr. Catherine Halsey in Halo: The Fall of Reach, this is probably because Cortana is a flash clone of Dr Halsey's brain.
 * The "It's the coin's fault" moment in the level Cortana is a reference to when Master Chief was brought into the Spartan II program. He identified the side of a 21st century quarter that was about to the hit the ground before it did.
 * If you are playing in Co-op, the Arbiter and Elites also receive the moments.
 * It is possible that the moments are triggered by Dr Halsey trying to contact Cortana, and giving her flashbacks of Dr. Halsey's memories which would also be Cortana's as she is a flash clone of Dr Halsey's brain.
 * During the level The Covenant as you enter the Control Room during the Cortana moment if you look at the screens that show the Prophet during the cinematics you can see the same thing there.
 * In one of the last Cortana moments, she appears to be green. This is probably because she is turning rampant. The evidence is in the fact that in Halo: Combat Evolved, after spending 12 hours in Installation 4's control room, Cortana turns slightly rampant and turns green. It's assumable she begins turning rampant after part of her gets corrupted by the Gravemind.

Images
 Image:Cortanam.jpg|A Cortana Moment. Image:Cortanam1.jpg|Another Cortana Moment. Image:Gavem1.jpg|A Gravemind Moment. Image:Cortanam2.jpg|A Cortana moment where she appears as green. 