Is the Arbiter in Halo Infinite?

If I remember my Halo lore correctly, and there’s a distinct possibility I don’t, “Arbiter” was a title forcefully bestowed upon criminal Elites, who would then be sent off into extremely dangerous, potentially suicidal missions as penance for whatever they did wrong. The Elite we know as The Arbiter, Thel ’Vadam, was a central figure in both Halo 2 and Halo 3 who defected from The Covenant and joined the UNSC to defeat the Prophets. After that, his role in the series was mostly relegated to supplementary material like books and comics, aside from a small cameo in Halo 5. After all this time, one can only wonder whether we’ll ever see him again. So, is The Arbiter in Halo Infinite?

Unfortunately, it seems The Arbiter is too busy doing… whatever it is he’s doing when he’s not in Master Chief’s proximity to help out with the current problem. 

Is the Arbiter in Halo Infinite?

The Arbiter does not appear in any tangible capacity in either Halo Infinite’s campaign or multiplayer modes. It’s a shame, as being able to play as both Spartans and Elites in multiplayer was a pretty cool feature in previous Halo games, and fans have made their desire for the feature to return known. 

However, while The Arbiter himself is missing in action, there is a single reference to his existence to be found in Halo Infinite. If you check inside a particular cave in the most northwestern area of the world map, you may stumble upon a little plush toy crafted vaguely into The Arbiter’s image, stuck in a perpetual T-pose for some reason. I guess someone liked him enough in-universe to craft merch in his image? Sure, that’s probably the best explanation we’re going to get, so let’s go with that.