Mr.Bananas Halo Theory

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mrbananas’s Last Theory

Table of Contents:
-Introduction
-How halo works
-The loop hole to halo
-The Reseeding process
-The Flood
-Humanity as the Forerunner
-How Forerunner became Humanity
-How the covenant came to be
-Truth and the civil war
-Counter counter-points to Humanity as the Forerunner
-mrbananas’s final remarks
-References

Introduction

Considering that the rest of the theory is very long I will try to make this brief. This is a formalized theory written out in a long but organized fashioned listing all pieces of Quote evidence word for word and giving and appropriate explanation of the Quotes followed by an application of it. A simplified short version summery without all the fancy quoting and formalized explaining is currently not available. There is actually more than one theory within this massive document before you. It is recommended that you read in order and hold questions and rebuttals until the end because it might get answered/explained in another section.

How halo works

To clear up common confusion, I will first state that halo does not target according to sentience. A reoccurring trend is that people confuse these two quotes.

1 “...Which means that any organism of sufficient mass and cognitive ability is a potential vector.”

2 “More or less. Technically, this installation’s pulse has a maximum effective radius of twenty-five thousand light years. But, once the others follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life, or at least any life with sufficient biomass to sustain the flood.”

Quote #1 is referring to the flood. Not Halo. Vector: an animal that transmits a disease-producing organism.

Quote #2 is the true means of how halo works. Notice the underlined words. Halo is designed to directly kill life forms based on a size criteria, aka sufficient mass.

3 “You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the forerunners built it? Halo doesn’t kill flood, it kills their food. Humans, covenant, whatever. We’re all equally edible. The only way to stop the flood is to starve them to death. And that’s exactly what Halo is designed to do; wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life.”

4 “After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died ...as planned…Would you like to see the relevant data?”

Quote #3 is Cortana’s quote, she says that halo wipes the galaxy clean of all sentient life. However, #2 is said in direct response to this quote, and #2 starts off with the words “more or less.” This means that Cortana’s statement was not exactly correct. Guilty Spark then goes and gives us the true technical definition.

Quote #4 is deceitful wording. It doesn’t say that halo directly kills all additional sentient life, only that the end result is that they will all die. This statement includes everything directly and indirectly killed by halo that is sentient.

Therefore what halo targets and can be killed can be set so that it will result in including all sentient life form as well as life forms of the same size or bigger than the sentient ones. So this means that the trees and elephants die too despite possibly being unable to be infected by the flood. A doomsday device that eliminates everything big and lives the small alone would certainly do the job of ensuring that all the sentient life forms are destroyed.

The Loop Hole to Halo

Without adding any additional information, there are already several major and exploitable loop holes. One easy loop hole is to just be out of range, but there is an even better one. Anything below the required sufficient biomass quota for supporting the flood should be completely unaffected by halo. For those of you that still believe halo works on cognitive ability, the loop hole can be stretched to that too. If something is too small and/or lacking the cognitive ability, neither the flood can infect, nor can halo kill it.

Using this loop hole, there are several different techniques a sentient race can do to preserve the specie’s existence beyond halo’s activation.
1) cloning from storage samples of tissue
2) rebuilding. Using the complete DNA record, build the DNA molecule from regular atoms.

But my personal favor is the next topic.
3) the reseeding process


The Reseeding Process

Every life form starts as a single cell, despite what its adult form looks like or is capable of. Even before that some species like human start as two halves of a cell. A Sperm cell and an Egg cell. When you think about time, money and size, which would be easier; loading up a couple members of every species in the galaxy that would be killed by halo and building a massive ship to move them out of halos range as well as house and feed them. Or simply collect either a record of their DNA, or sample of their sperm and eggs, or even the embryo its self, freezing it, and stock piling it in a ship or facility. This collection would not have to be moved out of halo’s range and storing it would take up a fraction of the space that would be needed for the full sized adults & their food.

Even though this collection of sex cells is still within the three radii it doesn’t violate quote # 4. A sperm cell is not of sufficient biomass for usage by the flood and neither is a sperm cell sentient. DNA wise it isn’t even a real human, because it is only half of the genetic code. But look at quote #4 again. It says addition sentient life, but not additional sentient “species”. Life is something currently living. Technically, speaking, since the sperm is not sentient, it doesn’t qualify as sentient life therefore it survives.

Quote #4 requires everyone of sentience to all be dead at the same time. As long as there is an interval of time during which all sentient life forms are dead, then this statement will be true despite however long the interval of time is. Nobody said that the forerunner had to remain extinct forever. Think Jurassic Park, before the clones were made, there were no living dinosaurs making them extinct. Logic would say that they would need to remain dead until the Flood starved to death or were completely contained, but after that…

Before activation of halo, the forerunner could have gathered sperm and egg samples of every species that halo will kill and store it someplace for later. Considering the forerunners thirst for knowledge, they could have even already had such a collection for research. When halo goes off, all of the flood’s food dies and the flood starves to death. Once the flood threat is neutralized, a fully automated system goes about reseeding the entire galaxy with all the species that were preserved in the embryo collection. Without a doubt the forerunner would have added their sperm and eggs to this collection too. For a race as technologically advanced as the forerunner, methods for preserving the sex cells and creating artificial wombs should be no challenge.

An automated probe of some sort (like a nannybot) would be necessary to raise certain species until the species is capable of survival on their own. A human infant is incapable of taking care of its own bodily needs. Another thing taken into consideration is the debate about whether nursing habits of some species are instinctive or learned from by the parents. The easiest way around this dilemma is a matrix-style nannybot. The first generation would be raised in a virtual matrix world which simulated the environments of the natural world, but gives them virtual program parents to raise then in the traditional fashion. The transition from matrix to reality can be made flawless because the virtual environment would be identical to the real one. Of course for this matrix world to work, the forerunner would have needed research on the life styles of the organism. But chances are the forerunner could have already obtained this information long ago when researching the biology and behaviors of these organisms.

By now you may already be seeing a big connection to Noah’s Ark. However, this theory does not require the storage of the embryo collection to be the Halo Ark. None the less, the connections shouldn’t be ignored. Noah’s ark had two of each clean land animal. Noah’s tale goes something like this:
-God tells Noah to build an Ark.
-The Ark contains many land animals and Noah
-God unleashes a flood. The great flood’s purpose was to kill all the Nephilim
-Rains for forty days and forty nights.
-After the flood ends they exit Ark
-God creates the rainbow as a covenant with man to never flood the world again.

Many literal connections are made by words alone, but I like a more figurative approach.
Basically, God’s Flood is not the same as the flood species, but instead represents the activation of Halo. In a sense, the Flood species are like the Nephilim in that both are being purged. However, while the start of god’s flood is not the Flood species, its continuation over time could represent the period it takes for the Flood species Starvation. Basically waiting for god’s flood to dry up is the same as waiting for the Flood species to starve to death. The rainbow is the Halo installations, or a signal from Halo signaling that the flood threat has been neutralized. When god is making a covenant, this could be relating to the creation of The Covenant. Simply put, if the forerunner technology wasn’t lying all over the place then the Covenant wouldn’t have been formed. Not to be confused with the forerunner deliberately creating the Covenant, but more like accidentally leading to its formation.

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The Flood

In many ways, the flood is like a highly evolved sentient virus.

3 “You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the forerunners built it? Halo doesn’t kill flood, it kills their food. Humans, covenant, whatever. We’re all equally edible. The only way to stop the flood is to starve them to death. And that’s exactly what Halo is designed to do; wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life.”

I bring back quote #3 to make a very important statement. Contrary to popular belief, the ability to go into a dormant state for long periods of time is not a proven characteristic of the flood. After all, what kind of plan would starving the flood to death be if they don’t starve to death? The ability to regress into a dormant state belongs to a creature called the Vang from Starhammer. The Vang and flood happen to share several similarities.

Many have argued that if the flood can’t go dormant, than how is it that they are still alive during the time of Master Chief. My answer is direct forerunner intervention kept them from becoming extinct.

-The Flood, so far, have only ever been found in forerunner installations. The flood is usually found in a state of containment before someone accidentally frees them, however escape (exceptions) could have happen in other ways.

-In the threshold facility, we find infection/ranger forms being kept in storage containers shaped like barrels along the walls of the giant elevator.

4 “After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died ...as planned…Would you like to see the relevant data?”

5 “Why naturally the Flood is simply too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted. Of course, samples were kept here after the last catastrophic outbreak...for study. It seems... that decision may have been an error.”

6 “The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce.”


From quote #4 we have the mentioning that all additional sentient life died. As I mention before, the wording doesn’t mean that halo specifically targeted all additional sentient life, but that this was the overall end result. But are the flood sentient life forms too?

7 “The Flood are already hard at work repairing your vessel. Its parasitic nature belies the Flood’s intelligence.”

Quote # 7, plus the whole existence of Gravemind are signs pointing toward the flood being a sentient life form. Of course the true challenge comes from what is the definition of sentience? The flood think, plot, plan, coordinate and improvise.

But regardless, whether or not the flood are sentient, I have already stated the flood would starve to death without food to feed upon. Therefore upon the activation of halo, if thing proceeded as they would then the flood would become have extinct were it not for another piece of the puzzle. Direct forerunner intervention.

In both quote #5 & #6 we have statements that specifically mention the flood being deliberately preserved and contained for scientific purposes. The flood’s existence on halo or in any forerunner installations was the deliberate work of the forerunner. They were specifically placed there by the forerunner. If you haven’t guessed it by now, in quote #6 I am implying that the “their survival” is referring to the flood, not the forerunner. So by the way I imply quote #6 , it should read like this. The flood’s survival was dependant upon being contained on halo for research by the forerunner.

But how where the flood able to survive on halo without any food? Chances are that the forerunner went through a lot of trouble to ensure the flood’s prolonged existence by use of a suspended animation technique based on advanced forerunner technology. Just like the cyrofreezing process used by the UNSC during long slipspace voyages, the flood samples were placed into a suspended state with the help of advanced forerunner technology. This technique may enable the flood to survive longer without food for 100,000 years, but it doesn’t make them immortal. What is the last sentience of quote # 6. “I am grateful to see that survived to reproduce.” Guilty Spark is referring the flood surviving long enough without starving before food became available to the flood.

8 “You can see how the body’s been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection. The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate. The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any hosts remain, the Flood is virulent.”

Just like a virus, the flood needs a host body for reproduction. Notice how any host eventually becomes a carrier form which ends up spewing out more infection forms than the original one that infected it.

You might be wondering why the forerunner would have deliberately ensured the survival of there greatest enemy? It sounds like a stupid idea on the forerunners part but guess what? If you look at the end of quote # 5 you will see that guilty would agree with you. “that decision my have been an error”

9 “Arrogant creature! Your deaths will be instantaneous while we shall suffer the progress of infinitude!”

When halo activates everyone else gets to die instantly, and possibly painlessly, while the flood must suffer prolonged starvation.

Some people have suspected the possibility that the flood where on halo before its activation. Some even think that the original outbreak was merely referring to just an containment breach on the halos, but not something on a Galactic scale. Well I disagree.
The original encounter with the flood must something along the lines of very wide spread.

4 “After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died ...as planned… Would you like to see the relevant data?”

10 “The sacred rings... what are they?”
“Weapons of last resort, built by the Forerunners to eliminate potential Flood hosts, thereby rendering the parasite harmless.”

From quote #4, the forerunner had to have exhausted every other strategic option. War and Military involvement is a strategic option. War does not become exhausted until all hope of winning the war is over. Now let’s say the flood have control of one planet and the forerunner are consistently trying to eradicate the flood with military force. Even if the forerunner never seem to be able to remove the flood from the planet, as long as continuous battle is keeping the flood from escaping the planet, then all hope is not lost. Chances are they would Glass the planet as soon as possible. Such a technique would hopefully prevent the flood from escaping the planet, but in order for it to work the entire planet would have to be glassed the moment the flood threat is known, otherwise you risk flood stealing a ship and escaping of the planet. Entire populations would be lost, but this technique would no doubt be considered and put into application long before the halo doomsday device.

Quote #10 calls halo a weapon of last resort. Indeed a super mega dooms day device that kills everyone is a last resort option. The flood is like a virus, a disease, and so is AIDS. Now AIDS is incurable. A last resort option of ridding the world of AIDS or even the common cold would be to kill every human. With no humans, the common cold and AIDS would have no host and become extinct. Now, if only one person had the common cold would you use something like halo to solve it? No. Now if the overwhelming majority of the galaxy is infested by the flood would you use halo? Maybe. A doomsday device like halo is the type of object you want to avoid using by all means necessary. The use of halo is a sign that all other hope is lost.

And now comes the final and longest part which ties every thing together.

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Humanity as the Forerunner


11 “Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?”

12 “Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed.”

13 “You can’t imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of all of our lost time! Human history, is it? Fascinating.”

14 “...Unfortunately, my usefulness to this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to... perform a task as important as the reunification of the index with the core. That final step is reserved for you, Reclaimer.”

15 “These Sentinels will supplement your combat system. But, I suggest you upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current model only scans as a Class Two, which is ill suited for this kind of work.”

16 “We have followed outbreak containment procedure to the letter. You were with me each step of the way, as we managed this crisis.”

This would imply that Master Chief knows the protocol

17 “But you already knew that. I mean, how couldn’t you?”

18 “And may I say, reclaimers, it has been a pleasure to serve you both. Good bye...”

19 “Remote activation? From here?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Listen, tinker-bell, don’t make me-“
“Then where? Where would someone go to activate the other rings?”
“Why... the Ark, of course.”

Without a doubt it is obvious that there is a relationship between forerunners and humanity. The question has always been to what extent does that relationship go?

Here are some additional fun facts:
-Guilty Spark and Penitent Tangent have called every human that they have come across as Reclaimers Master chief, Sergeant Johnson, Miranda Keyes, and Mobuto (TF)
-in any & all conversations with humans, Guilty Spark and Penitent Tangent have never used the word Forerunner. But they do use it when speaking with the arbiter.
-There have only been human Reclaimers thus far.
-A reclaimer is required to physically insert the index into the core. As evident by Tartarus’s usage of Miranda to insert the index.
-The monitors are always implying that humans should know more information than they actually do.

5 “Why naturally the Flood is simply too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted. Of course, samples were kept here after the last catastrophic outbreak...for study. It seems... that decision may have been an error.”

When GS uses the term naturally, the context in which it is used implies that the information about the flood should be like second nature to the master chief, like knowing your own birthday. Clearly Guilty Spark expects Master Chief to know information that no human (aside from possibly ONI) would know.



20 “We have followed outbreak containment procedure to the letter. You were with me each step of the way, as we managed this crisis.”


How many times have you heard the number 100,000 years? Twice; “100,000 year war” subtitle and that Guilty Spark was left in charge 101,217 local years ago. Do you think Bungie randomly choose this number. In reality, according to human history, about 100,000 years ago is when the species -blam!- sapien first emerged. Coincidence? Or an underlying connection? 100,000 years ago symbolizes the arrival of modern day humanity on earth. This symbolic date also carries into the halo universe.

100,000 years ago is the estimated date of halos activation based upon that being the time Guilty spark was left in charge of the halo installation.

Whether they were the forerunners themselves or simply friends, one thing remains. Humans were around before and after halos activation.

12 “Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed.”

Quote # 12 says that master chief or someone looking like him asked GS a question long ago. According to an interview

21 HSP: 343 Guilty Spark says, “Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed." How much time is he referring to?

JS: 100,000 years. Give or take.

Therefore someone of the same shape and size as a human had to have been around 100,000 years ago to ask the question. And since said question would most likely have been asked before activation, somebody had to be sentient enough to ask it before activation occurred. By the way, this would be the third time 100,000 years was mentioned.



What about time travel?
22 HSP: 'Time travel' has been decried by some readers as one of the more hackneyed plot devices in story telling. The events of Sep 7, 2552 at Reach provide ample possibility of that device being employed in Halo 2. What comments do you have in regards to time travel, Halo 2, and storytelling in general? [Or, paraphrased] Time travel is a little corny, don’t you think?

JS: Absolutely. Teleportation is a different matter, however. Used sparingly, it works great as a plot-device without stepping too far outside the hard sci-fi boundaries of the Halo universe.

No time travel.

When GS said “you” in quote # 21, “you” could be referring to the plural and therefore be referring to the entire human race in general. In the English language we only have one word for “you” but in some other languages there are two words for “you.” From the French language we have “tu” and “vous.”

23 “I? I am a monument to all your sins.”

in Quote #23 gravemind becomes very symbolic. But whose sins is he talking about? Humans are the forerunner, and right away Gravemind recognizes a forerunner when he sees one. But what sin have the forerunner preformed? Galactic genocide due to too much pride to let themselves be defeated by the flood? Or how about their Greedy attempts to learn more about the flood by deliberately preserving flood samples and ensuring the species survival? Either one, Gravemind is still a clear reminder of either.

24 “Not true. This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and one actual. It is ready to fire on demand.”

4 “After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died ...as planned…Would you like to see the relevant data?”

Halo has only been fired once before according to PT, and according to GS the forerunners are the ones who activated it. But in halo 1 we are given the impression that it was a reclaimer who activated the rings. And don’t forget that it has to be a reclaimer touching the index to put it in. This can only mean one thing; That Reclaimers and Forerunners are one in the same.

For those who try to impose that Reclaimers were a special non sentient or insufficient biomass creation of the forerunner that was meant to evolve into sentience and sufficient size only after halo’s activation; How is it that the forerunner could program the index for a DNA pattern that didn’t exist yet? Evolution can’t be predirected because it wouldn’t work. There is too much risk of the creature not evolving to suit its environment and therefore becoming extinct.

For those who try to impose that Reclaimers were a servant species of forerunner and that the forerunner ordered them to activate the ring; If the reclaimers, still the same now as there were before activation where able to survive halo’s activation, then by the same means of the reclaimers survival could the forerunners have also survived. But by having an ensured forerunner survival there would really be no need for the reclaimers to be inheriting the forerunners stuff in the first place, or for the forerunners to be entrusting a device as powerful as halo to anyone but themselves.

We know that there is a positive relationship between reclaimers and forerunner. But all the substitutes for anything but one equaling the other all depend upon the forerunner not being around. But the major problem is that for every single individual way in which a separate reclaimer group could have survived, the forerunners could have also survived. If the ark was a shield, the forerunners could hide under it. If earth was out of range, then the forerunners could have taken a trip to earth. If the reclaimers were too under evolved to meet the size requirement, the forerunners could have used the reseeding process.

Hold your questions until the end, finish reading the theory, I know about the interview quote and it is discussed later on in this theory in the counter counter-point section.

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How the Forerunner become Humanity

I have already gone through how the reseeding process works which is exactly how the forerunner survive halo. Think about the preservation of the flood for one second. What good is scientific opportunity to a dead race. Why go through all the effort to ensure the floods survival if not your own survival too.

Here is how the forerunner’s original plan was supposed to hypothetically go down. Because every other technique of stopping the flood had failed, the weapon of last resort, halo, was to be used. Halo was supposed to kill everyone and then starve the flood to death. Except for the flood samples to be contained on halo, and the embryos of every creature that would be killed by halo, everything else dies. Then after the flood threat was neutralized, the forerunner embryos were supposed to be grown so that the forerunner civilization could start up where they left off and get everything back. They would then come to halo, controllably feed and study the flood, and live happily ever after.

That was the plan…But that’s not how things turned out. We can tell things went wrong because that’s not how things turned out and also, (if you remember the fun fact), humans are supposed to know more than we do according to GS. Also I am positive that the existence of the Covenant is something that the forerunner wouldn’t have wanted to have happen.

Here is what did happen…
The forerunner got reseeded on the wrong planet, earth. Here we have a species emerging onto a new world with absolutely no knowledge of anything prior to there emergence. Because nobody is there to educate them and teach them the forerunner wealth of knowledge, and because there is no technology around, the new forerunner race is starting at absolute ground zero just like when the species first came into existent. Civilization is recreated from scratch and thus you have the dawn of the human race.
Think about it. The only reason why you are even able to read this is because someone taught you this human language. Humanity advances only because technology and knowledge are passed down from generation to generation. Imagine having to reinvent the light bulb before you can use it. When the forerunner emerged on earth, there was no light bulb waiting for them, and there was nobody to teach them how to build one. Every major discovery in the forerunner race now has to be rediscovered again. This would explain why master chief does not know about protocol as Guilty Spark was expecting.
Humans are called reclaimers because according to the plan, humans were supposed to reclaim everything that halos activation would rob them of.

How the Covenant came to be

As I said before, the Covenant are clearly something the forerunner would not have wanted to form. Would you want a crazy religious group to be trying to destroy all life in the galaxy by using your super weapons and technology outside of there intended purpose?
The original plan of the forerunner would have been to return all other races to there rightful planet with their rightful technology waiting for them.

But…two races end up on the wrong planet. The Elites and the Prophets together end up on the planet originally meant for the forerunner. Hypothetically speaking.

25 Covenant Writ of Union, Canto I:
so full of hate were our eyes
that none of us could see
our war would yield countless dead
but never victory

So let us cast arms aside
And like discard our wrath
Thou, in faith, will keep us safe
Whilest we find the path

Clearly the elites and prophets had been at war with each other for a long time before the birth of the covenant. Considering how in human history, the way Europeans first reacted to Africans, imagine how to different primitive alien races would react to each other. In the history of humanity, simple tiny differences like color, race and religion where more than enough to spark massive social tensions, slavery, and genocides. So imagine all of that and include a whole other species of sentient life form. Heck, thinking back two how slaves were once said to have rabbit blood, (no offense intended), The elites and prophets don’t even have the same color of blood.

Even today some people still have trouble seeing other races as equal. So imagine to different Alien Races trying to see each other as equal while still early in their history. Even at the current time, the different members of the covenant have a hard time seeing each others as equals.
-The covenant have a class system of different social status based solemnly on race.
-A hunter steps on the head of a jackal in TFOR with out pity or care.
-The Engineers are said to answer only to the Prophets and each other.
-The Brutes refuse to see themselves as below the elites.
-The Jackals boast to be above the Grunts when technically they are both in the lower class.
-The Grunts are practically enslaved.
So this would explain the “so full hate were our eyes.”

Why must the elites and prophets have started on the same planet? Well the line “but never victory” implies that neither race could defeat the other. Now if the prophets came to the elite planet using forerunner ships, then that the prophets would have had the advantage of advanced technology on their side. According to the stone tablets, if you look at the pictures you see the elites and prophets fighting in one scene with spears and daggers (low grade technology).

Also, another reason why they had to be on the same planet from the start is because of time. The elites and prophets where probably very primitive races when they first gave birth to the covenant. Look at their current culture and society,
-The government is controlled by religious leaders.
-heresy is a crime punishable by death
-the covenant have very little scientific understanding of their own based upon the fact that all there technology is stolen from the forerunner and not self invented. They don’t try to upgrade the work of the forerunner (only change it to better fit the user). They disbelieve humanity could create a suit which is more powerful than their own.

The covenant lack several things that humanity has developed due to time.
-Understanding of equality.
-Advanced scientific method
-Seeking the truths of the universe through science and not religion
-Basic freedoms and why people should have them
-abolishment of social class system..
-democracy/ representation (I see no grunt council members)

Now imagine what would happen if cavemen emerged on a planet surrounded by technology so advanced that it would seem like the work of magic and godly powers.
Because the Covenant was introduced to such advanced technology at an early time. They could never possibly understand the physics behind how then things worked, only how to use it and duplicate it. The pursuit of science could only be completely crushed if Religion still had a more powerful influence and Science had little to none.

Another reason why the covenant’s birthday had to be very early is because if you take a look at the number of arbiters throughout there history, and consider that they are only created in times of dire need, then the covenant has to have been around for a very long time. That or frequently in need of Arbiters. Also, there needs to have been time for each of the current races in the covenant to have grown to such a population as they are when starting from freshly defeated foes of the covenant. The covenant strategy is to wither the enemy down and then force them to join or face extinction.

The Covenant religion could very easily be based off of misinterpretations of the forerunner culture, history, and knowledge. The covenant majority believe that halo is the key to their religions great journey, but in truth it was a forerunner weapon of last resort.

How is it that the Covenant Religion is so powerful and has been able to sway other races into abandoning their own religion and joining the covenant. Well it is a whole lot easier to convert someone to your own religion when you have forerunner goodies that you can parade off as pieces of hard evidence and truth that your religion is true.

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Truth and the civil war:

Now many like to think that there is a deep dark conspiracy behind Truths actions which weren’t directly made apparent. I am not going to deny the possibility of Truth knowing the truth, but I think I have an explanation for the whole civil war.

Remember how I mentioned the great deal of racism within the covenant and the social caste system. The prophets are on the exact top. They do not see the elites as exact equals, but there is a little bit of gray zone between the two where a high ranking Elite might surpass a low level prophet. But then again, from the book the flood, I believe the low level prophet had more authority than the fleet master of the covenant forces at halo when it came to denying the ships the rights to use their weapons near the halo ring.

When the brute came along, they might have seemed like a superior species to the Elites from the prophets view point. This evidence comes from the fact that after the prophet of regret was killed, the honor guard was changed to brutes because the elite could no longer ensure the prophets’ safety.

26 “With my blessings, the Brutes now lead our fleets. They ask for your allegiance, and you shall give it to the them.”


27 “Recommissioning the guard was a radical step, but recent events have made it abundantly clear that the Elites can no longer guarantee our safety.”



That right there says that truth believed the brutes to be more capable warriors than the elites. Since the prophets are at the top of the social caste system, they could care less how the lower levels feel. Considering that they don’t see the elites as equals a prophet would have no problem with inserting a logically more deserving race above them.

After all, do you think that the members of the covenant were converted in the order that they rank. Were jackels converted before grunts? Since grunts are the lowest would that mean they were the most recent to join? No. Chances are the promotions and demotions in social status have been happening throughout the covenant history. The grunt rebellion could have possibility been started because the new arrival of jackals were pushing them done the social ladder. It could have also been cause by Grunt oppression and slavery as well but because there are no facts pertaining to the case of the rebellion, all we know is that it happened. This might also explain why the Jackals remain loyal to the covenant and the Grunts don’t when civil war occurs.

Now of course the elites would get pissed about being pushed down the social caste ladder because elites have always been # 2 since the birth of the covenant. Pride and honor are the two features that make the elites such great warriors. If the elites were to be bumped down a level then of course all the councilors would have to be removed, but before that the honor guard would need to be replaced first so that elite honor guards would not be in a position to revolt against the prophets they were protecting when the demotion of social caste was to occur. The plan for demoting the Elites could have been long in the workings but only able to be achieved now thanks due to the circumstances. It might even be possible that the prophet of regret was tricked into coming to earth unprepared.

Then there is also timing. Considering that a civil war was inevitable during this time of Elite demotion, what better time to perform such an event than when the majority of covenant spirit is at is highest in celebration of finding another halo. Also considering that salvation is about to be achieved, its not like there were going to be any long term effects of the civil war since the religious goal of the covenant is almost complete.

But then one must ask, considering that the religious goal is about to be achieved, why even bother with a social class change? The answer lies deeper within the covenant religion.

28 “No, Arbiter! The Great Journey has begun! And the Brutes, not the Elites, shall be the Prophets' escort!”

In quote # 28 you will notice the mentioning of a position called the Prophets’ escort. It would appear that ones admission ticket to salvation is their social class within the covenant. The higher your rank, the greater your salvation would become. Hence a reason why the grunts might have rebelled if the cause was indeed a demotion because of the Jackals. What better way to motivate a member into being the best they can be and climbing the ranks to shipmaster by making it a reward in the afterlife. Prophets escort must only go to the second highest social class which is what the Brutes wanted.

As for why Truth is heading to earth, I have no comment other than speculations. Perhaps considering that the demon (MC) destroyed the last halo, truth could tactically using himself as a way to draw MC away from delta halo to better ensure Tartarus’s chance of success. (never counting on an arbiter who should be dead from stopping him.) But that’s just baseless speculation.

Counter counter-points to Humanity as Forerunner

Like any real scientific theory, there are some contradicting pieces of data (abnormal data points, etc.) and the ability to be falsified. If there weren’t then this would be an undeniable law, not a theory. But the application of factual evidence in support is what raises this above mere hypothesis. But here I have explanations for what would other wise seem like direct contradictions.


*Bungie directly said forerunners can’t be humanity

29 HSP: The Forerunner inhabit another galaxy.

JS: Well they don’t inhabit ours - which is to say something with the power and reach of the Covenant would certainly have found them by now if they did.
Many have decreed that the humans can’t be the forerunner because forerunner don’t Inhabit this galaxy. However the many whom use this quote often neglect not only the entirety of the answer, but also the entirety of the interview.

Look at the #29 again. It is a conditional statement, If….Than….
If the forerunner inhabit the galaxy, then the covenant would have found them by now.
As most of you know, how a conditional statement works is that if the first part is true, then the second part is also true.
Think about it, with the vast reach that the covenant has, who have they found? The Covenant have found Humanity thus far. Now if humanity is the forerunner, than the conditional statement still rings true. Think about it. No where does the statement require the covenant to actually know that they have found the forerunner, or for the forerunner to even know that they are the forerunner.

While you think about that, take a look this next quote which is from the exact same interview.

30
HSP: Modern humans are descendants of the Forerunner.

JS: That’s an interesting theory.

If bungie is not going to flat out deny the possibility in quote #21, then why would they do it in #20. The thing is, Bungie never gives start answers, especially not to such a major plot question like are the humans the forerunner.


*Reclaimers and forerunners are referred to each other differently.

Often times someone states that humans can’t be forerunners because Guilty spark doesn’t call them that. They use facts like he only ever calls them reclaimer, and also they claim that Guilty Spark speaks of forerunners and reclaimers indifferent manners making them two different things.

However, often this impression is created by distortion of quotes. Often times, one looks at a quote and completely forgets who the target audience of the quote was. The reason why reclaimer and forerunner are mentioned differently sometimes is because Guilty Spark is talking to a completely different person.
Fun facts:
-When GS is talking to a human, he uses the word reclaimer and always speaks of reclaimers as someone in the present.
-When GS is talking to the Arbiter he uses the word forerunner and often is taking about a third party group.
-The Arbiter is an elite, and is not a reclaimer, therefore it is expected that GS would speak about his creator differently when talking to him.
-When Guilty Spark speaks of his creators, he can be literally referring to the individuals who created him as well as the entire race.
-In quote #14, GS labels Master Chief as superior to GS.

14 “...Unfortunately, my usefulness to this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to... perform a task as important as the reunification of the index with the core. That final step is reserved for you, Reclaimer.”


When you look at every individual time Guilty spark speaks, and who he is speaking to, the variations make perfect logical sense and in fact seem to promote that humanity is actually be forerunner.

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* Lack of technology

-*Humans didn’t build the halos*
True, because at the time halo was built, the forerunner did not call themselves humanity

-*Where did the all the technology go?*
It didn’t go anywhere, humanity just got misplaced

-*why is the ark on earth but no other forerunner technology?*
Who is to say that the ark is the only piece of technology. Myths and legends may hold your answers. Atlantis could have been a former forerunner colony, but when humanity stumbled upon it, their lack of understanding lead to its destruction. Any place in human myth, legend, or religion which contained a magical item or powerful being could have had some truth in there being a forerunner object behind it. Surely forerunner technology could have easily enabled and individual to walk on water and cure the sick. Basically, I never said it wasn’t possible for there to have been other forerunner technology or minor cities. Nor do I directly endorse Atlantis having anything to do with halo, I only mention it as an example.

*Contradictions within the Counter Points.
Person A says that the forerunners can’t be humans because it’s too obvious for bungie and that it must be more complex.
But Person B says that all the evidences point to forerunners and humans being different.
So which is it? Is the all the Evidence making it too obvious or does all the evidence disagree. Well I have presented you with the evidence and what the evidence has told me.

But the problem is that the people who say that it is too obvious for bungie base this off past games of bungie

31 HSP: There has been some mention of a possible inherent lack of ambiguity in the storytelling style of Halo (and presumably Halo 2), where recorded dialog and video leave little room for the inscrutability and/or tantalizing vagueness that other Bungie games have been known for. Are you content with the ways in which you have been able to tell the story from within the game so far?

JS: It’s an unavoidable fact that, the larger you want your audience to be, the less ambiguous you can afford to make the stories you tell.

I’m not saying every story with broad appeal needs to be watered-down, cliche, merely that if you hope to attract the interest of the mass-market, your fiction needs to be clear, tight, compelling - and, as far as video-games are concerned, easily avoided (press “X” to make my job irrelevant).

The Marathon terminals, the Myth narrations - these story-telling elements were designed to be ambiguous, tough nuts to crack. As such, they appealed to a much smaller audience than we were shooting for with Halo - a game that relied, accordingly, on pretty unambiguous letterboxed cinematics for the bulk of its storytelling.

Like its predecessor, Halo2 has straight-forward movies, scripted mission-dialog, but we’ve done a better job this time around at infusing all aspects of the game (the environments, the characters, the combat dialog, etc.) with deep, consistent context. It is my hope that Halo2’s story will satisfy the masses as well as provide the leave-no-stone-unturned faithful with ample grist for the mill.

mrbananas’s Final Remarks

without this final section, the theory alone has stretched out to nearly 18 word document pages. You might be saying, wow mrbananas this is nice work, or geez this guy has no life. But as the title implied, this is the last halo theory I am going to ever write. So I wanted to make sure I said everything I was going to say.

I would just like to state on my defense that this entire theory was not written all at once but was started a year ago with major gaps in between progress. The majority of the ideas were taken from all the previous theories I have written and put into a more organized and unified form. While a big part of the theory revolves around humans being forerunners, most of the other parts and pieces are capable of standing alone and applicable in may other paths of speculation.

Considering that it is a big, long theory, chances are that some questions might be getting answered in other sections. Don’t assume that when you see someone point out a disagreement that they have thoroughly checked the entire piece. The answer to their rebuttal might just lie hidden somewhere inside. I also acknowledge that many quotes are open to more than just the one interpretation I chose. Chances are that I am not going to be around to answer many questions

As far as I am concerned, I don’t even care if the theory turns out to be completely wrong. I have given my personalized educated “guess”, (emphasis on guess) and will be happen if even only a tiny section turn out to be only somewhat close to the truth. I am always open to the realm of possibilities and I don’t plan on having a mental break if I turn out to be wrong. If you have read this far then I thank you for taking the time to do so.

References:
-All quotes except for #25 come from halo.bungie.org from interviews or the script.
-quote #25 is copied word for word from the halo 2 volume1 soundtrack inside cover.
-fun facts come from multiple observations of patterns in the game or are facts pull from the books.
-Peer reviewed by:____________
-Short summarized version written by:___________

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whoa. cool

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Its very... Big. Did you read the whole thing?

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I can’t read taht show thing lol

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I read part of it, it was interesting, but it’s like a 50 page book up there.

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Its super-awesome.

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I always knew forerunners were the humans but earlier.

So according to putting Halo into christianity terms, Master CHeif is Jesus?

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No, I think MC is Peter, and the Arbiter is Paul.

Last edited 07 Dec 2006 09:17 pm by Duriel

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I read the entire thing. He has many, many holes in his theory.

1. Viruses do not just deteriorate and die without a host. The H5N1 virus (bird flu) will not deteriorate whatsoever in cold environments, which is completely opposite to that of normal viruses, which will deteriorate in the cold and can stay dormat in more or less room temperature.

2. There have been proven descendants of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens on Earth, so the theory of Human beings being planted on Earth cannot be true.

3. Sentience has not been defined, truely. What makes one sentient? Tell me that.

4. The ability to make and store zygotes is one thing, the ability to grow a zygote into a fetus is another. To house a fetus, you must have a constant blood supply of a compatable donor, such as the mother, cells to repair tissure, cells do this and that and the other thing, so thus the “holder” of the fetus must be biological, not mechanical as he suggests. And maintaining just a uterus would be impossible, as it would need blood, have to excrete metabolic wastes, nourishment, ect.

...And that’s all I’ll throw out there now...

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Oops.

And, viruses can evolve to infect other hosts, and even merge with other viruses. So you can never eliminate a virus. AIDs can be defeated only by the human body, if the genes are correct, then the body can fight off the disease, ensuring that the strong survive.

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And Thus the Flood are still around.
So how did we get to Earth in the first place?
Sentience: the ability to acknowledge ones’s own existence.

Go to Bungie and argue with em if you got a problem. We’re not looking for real life problems, just one’s in the Haloverse, mind you. But whatever.

http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/heresy/GroupHome.aspx

Last edited 08 Dec 2006 11:43 pm by spartan 076

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that owned picture is awesome