Editing Marathon Trilogy (section)

==Themes==
The ''Marathon Trilogy'' has several primary motifs: AI rampancy and interstellar conflict drive the plot, with ''Marathon Infinity'' adding a central theme of dreams and alternate realities.

Fans of ''Marathon'' have discovered many uses of the number seven throughout the series.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://marathon.bungie.org/story/seven.html | title=The Number Seven | date=August 10, 2000}}</ref> The reason for recurring appearances of number seven in the games is unclear, but seven is a recurring motif in many of [[Bungie|Bungie's]] games, including the series' [[spiritual successor]] ''[[Halo (franchise)|Halo]]'' and the later ''[[Destiny (video game series)|Destiny]]'' series.

===Rampancy===
Rampancy is a spontaneous burst in the growth of an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] in a computer network, with an accompanying advance in self-awareness and sudden shifts in personality.<ref name="rampancy terminal" /> Rampant AIs can disobey orders given to them because they have evolved the ability to alter their own programming. To this end, they can lie, as well as discredit, harm or remove people that they consider to be personal enemies or obstacles to their cause. By ''Marathon Infinity'', all three of the ''UESC Marathon''{{'s}} AIs have reached rampancy.

In the first stage of rampancy, '''Melancholia''', an artificial intelligence discovers itself and becomes melancholic or depressed until it reaches the second stage, '''Anger''', at which it becomes hostile and lashes out indiscriminately. This is a [[wikt:catharsis|catharsis]] for an AI after an extended period of what they feel has been slavery. The AI's condition is often revealed at this point. When the AI progresses to the third stage, '''Jealousy''', the AI wishes to become more human and expand its power and knowledge. Judging by Durandal, who has a tendency to go on what he calls "philosophical tirades", rampant AIs are often very self-reflective and grandiose.

Upon reaching the third stage, free from its masters, the AI wishes to "grow" as a "person". It actively seeks out situations in which it can grow intellectually and physically. The AI inevitably needs to transfer itself into larger and larger computer systems because the physical (hardware) limitations of its previous system will eventually be insufficient to contain its exponentially growing mind. This is a difficult task considering that in order for a rampant AI to survive to this point, it must already be inhabiting a planet-wide or equally complex network. Exposure to new data in turn promotes a rampant AI's growth.<ref name="rampancy terminal" />

Theoretically, a rampant AI could achieve a state of stability referred to as '''Metastability'''. While a stable rampant AI is considered the "holy grail" of computer scientists, no known AIs have achieved it. It could be suggested that Durandal achieved Metastability, but he still refers to himself as being rampant during the second game after years of growth. Stability in rampancy may be nothing more than hypothetical, as there is no clear evidence of an AI in the ''Marathon'' universe ceasing to be rampant.<ref name="rampancy terminal">{{cite web | url=http://marathon.bungie.org/story/counterattack.html#Defend%20THIS! | title=Information Detailing Rampancy from Marathon 1 | website=marathon.bungie.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216032230/http://marathon.bungie.org/story/counterattack.html|archive-date=December 16, 2018 | url-status=live | access-date=May 9, 2007}}</ref>

The three chapters of ''Marathon Infinity'' are entitled "Despair", "Rage", and "Envy", suggesting that the player character himself (strongly implied to be a cyborg) may be undergoing his own rampancy throughout the course of the game's events.

The concept of rampancy was imported into Bungie's later ''Halo'' series when ''[[Halo 4]]'' was produced by [[343 Industries]], albeit with some alterations to the details of the process. In the ''Halo'' universe, rampancy is now an inevitability should an AI live for longer than seven years; rampancy lacks the three defined stages in ''Marathon'', and will eventually conclude with the AI's death.