Just finished the campaign.

Played the campaign on co-op with my sons.  What a great time we had.

Please do not continue if you have not finished the game.

But with all the screaming and talking, I might have missed something.  

1.  The main villain dies at the end of the game, right?   but I thought it was little too easy.  I was expecting more of an epic fight.

2.  Did Cortana die?  She is gone now?

3.   How did Chief survive at the nuclear blast?  Did Cortana save him?  How?  

4.  the scene after the credits was somewhat epic.  I was hoping to see a little part of chief's face.   so what are they preparing to do next?  Who are they going after?

Sorry if these questions are lame, but I only play the games and usually not pay too much attention to the story.  This one is so cool, I need to know.

Cortana died and I almost went to the store to sell the game right there and then. Main villain most likely died, but probably had allies (As I assume that's what the epilogue was for). Cortana must have teleported him somehow to save him. Overall I loved the game, I liked the story, I really hated that ending. It really soured the game for me, to spend a whole 6 hours saying "It's going to be okay Cortana... we'll get through this." No it's not okay, she dies! The hell did Chief spend all that time consoling her? I really liked their dynamic in the game too. They spent a lot of time adjusting Cortana's model and her face, I could really see the fear in her eyes. The fear of her own demise... and Chief still couldn't save her. So pissed off at that ending.

Personally I really like the ending, a little sad but there is still a way to bring cortana back if they really pushed it, after all she is "down there" in all the ship fragments... the one thing that really confuses me is how do they now continue into the next 2 games of the trilogy if the threat 'The Didact' is dead.

Could anybody tell me if there is a 'legendary' ending because I completed it on Heroic.

I guess they do have more different cut-scene for 'legendary'.
I still don't know how to feel about Cortana's death.
I thought the story was gonna be about how chief saves her.

My only major complaint about the ending was that I was denied an epic fight with the Didact. Why is Halo 2 the only game in the franchise that has a great final boss battle? Anyways, I highly doubt we've seen the end of Cortana, so I'm not yet convinced that John constantly saying he'll protect her was all for nothing. Call me crazy, but I think they might be trying to build a romance between the two of them.

I just finished it a hour ago and overall i thought it was a great story. Better than the past few Halo's by miles.

Cortana died, but I have the feeling that Halo 5 is about trying to bring her back, and it sounds like it may even be possible to bring her back as a living being. In the meantime, we'll probably have to deal with another AI.

Im also pretty sure that the Didact died. However, I dont remember exactly what the captain said, but he made it sound like he already new of other threats, seemingly of the Didacts level.

If you want to see a part of the Chiefs face at the end, you'll need to beat it on Legendary...or search youtube.

I don't think the Didact died because you can hear him talking after the credits. I think they will try to find a way to bring Cortana back in Halo 5, so I wouldn't leave her out completely.

If you beat it on legendary you see a glimpse of John's face.

cool.  would i be able to just play the last part of the game on legendary to see john's face?

and is that the only difference for 'legendary'?

I thought it was great! I completed the campaign on solo legendary for TEH CHEEVOS! For the guys wondering if there is a different ending I wouldn't know. YouTube would have all the endings by now for sure. Didact is by no means dead. You only saw him fall, given that chief survives a nuke blast it seems a little convenient that the didact only fell.... Away from blast radius.

My opinion anyway..