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“To say more would spoil be it’s overall its a game that needs to be played.” - Aristotle
Proof from the Terminals?:
In Terminal #1 on Legendary difficulty, Mendicant Bias speaks the following:
Is this the noble sacrifice my creators spoke of? Where is the nobility in these streets paved with greasy carbon and dun ash? [My mouth is speaking at another's behest] - that is not my voice; that is the other.
Its voice stands out as the single calm note in the panicked cacophony outside the sphere. It alone is not decrying its fate or raging against the [central government].
This anomaly bears closer examination.
I've divided this message into three parts. In the second, bolded section, Mendicant Bias seems to be indicating that the first sentence was not spoken by him, but rather "the other". In the underlined section immediately following the bolded section, Bias goes on to speak of how the voice in the first section "stands out as the single calm note in the panicked cacophony outside the sphere." He then goes on to speak his desire to further examine the "voice".
This voice is assumed to be the Gravemind. And, as we know from Halo lore, Mendicant Bias later visited the Gravemind and was convinced to turn against the Forerunner on the basis of assisting the Gravemind to set up a utopian land of heightened evolution. But if the first sentence is Gravemind speaking, what is so important about it?
I draw your attention to his wording: "Is this the noble sacrifice my creators spoke of? Where is the nobility in these streets paved with greasy carbon and dun ash?" If that truly is the Gravemind speaking, as it seems to be, then he is admitting that he is possibly an artificial being, and at least an engineered one. We know that the Precursor likely possessed a Mantle similar to the Forerunner: Gravemind could easily have been speaking of the futility of such a quest, as this would be the second species he had eradicated that attempted to protect other life.
Solid evidence.
Further Explanations and Sub-Theories:
The theory itself has been stated, but there is still much to be considered. In this section we will delve further into what this theory tells us, and what it could mean. Many sub-theories and actual in-depth explanations of facets of this theory are to follow. Many of these sub-theories are critical to the theory itself! Please keep reading!
On Trans-Sentience v. Omnipotence:
It is very important, indeed critical to this theory, to understand that Trans-Sentience is not Omnipotence. Just because a species exists beyond what we can comprehend does not mean that they are God-like or have abilities similar to any divine entity. They very well likely could be killed, or infected, or subjected to almost any physical ailment that we have... if they still have bodies. It is important to be aware that the Precursor were not Gods, they likely simply had a much vaster intellect and a much more efficient way to process it, at least according to this theory's definition of Trans-Sentience.
On the Gravemind Attaining Sentience:
As far as this theory is concerned, the Gravemind started as the central hub for a memory retrieval system, nothing more. My best correlative example for what he existed as would be a library computer. Most library computers have the hardware to run higher functions, but programming and manual restrictions upon them usually allow for only a catalog system to be run. Although the capacity for higher function exists, it is inhibited.
Similarly, the Gravemind had the ability to attain sentience because it was organic and, indeed, alive. "Programming" restrictions in the very genetics of the Flood, however, stopped him from being able to attain sentience on his own. The Precursor that were being absorbed, though, already had their sentience and their thought processes. The Gravemind, as he absorbed these creatures that could think and had an established thought process, gradually copied that thought process. The very absorption of Precursor was what allowed the Gravemind to break his shackles and become sentient, able to strike out at the unsuspecting Precursor.
Does the Gravemind Still Serve the Precursor?:
While it may seem like an odd question, seeing as how this theory suggests that the Gravemind eradicated the Precursor, it's more of an awe-inspiring question than odd. This theory suggests that the Flood's very DNA is encoded with commands from the Precursor to obey them and, above all, store memories and, possibly, catalog races.
We don't know if AIs that go rampant still hold onto their core functions, nor do we know if AIs that go rampant override their coding or override their logic and make a "get-around" that allows them to do what they want while still being "acceptably" within the parameters of their own coding. For example, the Gravemind might have "listened" to his DNA coding, but he could have reasoned that absorbing the Precursor was along the parameters of cataloging races and used this to justify the slaughter of their entire species... while still technically obeying their wishes.
If this "get-around" idea is, indeed, what the Gravemind did, does that mean that he is still, deep down, doing what the Precursor want? Is he still cataloging races, obtaining knowledge, and following their instructions rather than trying to consume galaxies and conquer?
Living AIs?:
Think further on the above. The Forerunner were the only species that could create fully sentient non-living AIs. It is generally accepted that AIs went rampant not only due to nearing the end of their lives, but due to their extreme desire to actually "live". Could it be that the Precursor wanted - or were indeed close to - a way to make an AI that was immune to rampancy? Was the Gravemind not only a catalog, but an experiment to see if the Precursor could create a living AI (or Engineered Intelligence (EI), as the term has come to be known)? And, if so, did it work? Even now, is it possible that the Gravemind fulfilled the Precursor's dreams and attained an AI-like state while living? Is the Gravemind a living AI? Only time and more information will tell.
If the Gravemind is an AI, does it go rampant like they do?:
A very interesting point of discussion: if the Gravemind is a living AI, does it go rampant like all of the other AIs created throughout history? There are four stages to an AI's rampancy:
Melancholia
During the Melancholia stage, the AI's mind realizes the limits of its existence. Unable to surmount them, the AI falls into a state of despair.
Anger
The AI shifts into the Anger stage when the AI's uncontrollable growth comes up against those limits. Instinctively raging against those limits and barriers, the AI shatters them.
Jealousy
After the barriers to the AI's psyche are destroyed, the AI seeks new tests and challenges, which is perceived as the Jealous stage. The AI is not technically jealous, it simply wishes to keep testing itself against obstacles.
Meta-Stability
Whereas the first three stages of Rampancy show a clear distaste of life in general, Meta-Stability imparts a calming, mature mindset to the rampant AI. The only confirmed Meta-Stable AI in all of the Bungie games is Durandal.
Think about the Gravemind's theorized development. When it attained sentience through the Precursor knowledge it was absorbing, the Gravemind was immediately placed at odds with its genetic inhibitors, immediately aware of the limits of its existence. The Gravemind's sentience might not have been recognized by the Precursor because it was quiet, depressed, going through the first "true" stages of its life already in the Melancholia stage.
When it finally had attained enough knowledge and had reached an even higher form of sentience, trans-sentience, it would have clashed with its built-in genetic restrictions and blasted them to shreds, killing all of the Precursor, its creators, in the process.
When Jealousy hit, the Gravemind would have launched its interstellar campaign to eradicate all life. Continuing to push itself, continuing to push its armies, attempting to kill everything off. During this stage it would have clashed with the Forerunner, the Covenant and Humanity.
Meta-Stability, however, is harder to understand. It still shows signs of wanting to test limits, the Jealousy stage, as shown by its dialog here in Halo during Halo 3:
DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED!? I have beaten fleets of thousands! Consumed a galaxy of flesh and mind and bone!
But it also displays higher thinking, and attempts to explain itself, possibly to clear its own conscience of what it has been doing for millenia, on the very same level:
Do I take life, or give it? Who is victim... and who is foe?
I believe that, if the Gravemind is following these cycles, he is currently in a passage between Jealousy and Meta-Stability, but he's much closer to Jealousy at the end of Halo 3. And he is ended, at the end of Halo 3... but is he? The Flood's memories survived from the Forerunner-Flood war when they were almost completely eradicated, and more Flood still survive on the rings. Will another Gravemind be made, with the same memories of the one destroyed at the Ark, and will it go all the way to Meta-Stability, finally becoming a mature AI? As with most questions we ask ourselves from this theory, only time will tell.
[Edited on 10.31.2009 5:25 PM PDT]