I know this has already been discovered, its basically where the Master Chief head is, but while exploring the massive area outside the Black Garden level on Mars I found a few interesting observations. This is reproducable every time, I've done it on easy as I wanted little to no resistance on my approach to the gate.
Notes : I'm wearing jordans to make it easier but I'm sure any guardian with any gear, class or race with even a little bit of skill could do this.
- Get to the gate, kll the Vex, go through the gate.
- Go the right of the gate after being warped.
- Go through the big gap (was this interntionally left open?!)
- Work your way up to the top using the ledges (I die a few times in the video through misadventures!)
As you can see in the video, I'm on the outside of the cave you get warped into, theres nothing of interest here. If you jump off the edge you can see the cave/gate.
- Go across the roof tops, assassins creed style, and drop down into what looks like part of the level.
- Use the ledges again to get about (try not the fall, although its not a problem as you respawn here)
- Head towards the rocks in the disance.
- You'll see a 'floor' area, go towards that and you'll see a large entrance that looks strangely like the cave we got warped into.
- This is not the same cave though.....
As you can see in the video (I will annotate shortly), we have travelled too far for it to be the same location and there are differences.
- The location 'Tharsis Junction' appears
- The wall where we just entered the cave is now blocked by a flat wall (different from the original cave)
- Red dots on the radar and Vex firing sounds behind the wall.
- The large hole in the wall is now blocked.
- The route to the Black Garden is now blocked too.
- Theres no Vex static statues.
[b]- The route is altered towards the dead end.[/b]
This is the thing I find most interesting :
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11667437_10153325426983089_6670881426889819282_n.jpg?oh=a884cec0bddbd978119467a7e1980a57&oe=56718497
Theres a small gap in the rocks in this picture. When first coming here after being warped you can see blue sky and grass, when your in the glitched version of this cave you can see Cabal/Mars like structures and dust. I havent fully explored the area but I doubt theres anything out here to be found, try it out and see what you guys think.
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That would be the original entrance to the black garden, until it was decided to be a lame portal, you would have to fight all the way through the tharsis junction and find that hole. The path to the rest of the mission is blocked by a wall, so nobody would ever find it playing the it, but its not there in patrol (which there is a way to get to there in it), so its pretty interesting. Bungie did say there were plans of the Black Garden being found underground, there was even concept art. Guess this is the remains of that idea.