- SpoonGuard
- |
- Exalted Heroic Member
I'm going to let Snakie continue with Agustus if he wants and steer this in a new direction.
A thought occurred to me that (to my knowledge) has not yet been directly addressed. Assuming that the Gravemind is indeed a living AI, built synthetically to do the bidding of the Precursor, one would expect it to follow the normal lifecycle of any other AI, including Rampancy.
Just so we're on the same page, the four stages of rampancy are as follows:
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 humans in general, Meta-Stability imparts a calming, mature mindset to the rampant AI. The only confirmed Meta-Stable AI in the Marathon series is Durandal.
As taken from Pfhorpedia
Consider this timeline (of my own creation). Note that this is done under the assumption that Snakie's theory is correct and that the collective intelligence of the Gravemind (though not necessarily the physical form) remains the same throughout:
Eons ago: The Precursor create the Gravemind for the purposes explained by Snakie. All is well for a time until the Gravemind's intelligence reaches a critical point.
Not so many eons ago: The Gravemind enters, Melancholia, the first stage of Rampancy. Realizing it's limited purpose as a giant storage tank, it falls into a state of despair.
Soon thereafter: The Gravemind utilizes it's lesser appendages (Flood forms) and rebels against it's former masters (the Precursor), thereby entering the second stage of Rampancy, Anger. The ensuing conflict sees the destruction of the Precursor at the hands (tentacles?) of the Gravemind.
Eons ago to 100,000 years ago: With the destruction of the Precursor (and with them any limitations on the Gravemind's purpose), the Gravemind refocuses its attention on greater challenges. Thus begins the third stage of Rampancy, Jealousy, as It begins a trans-galactic campaign to conquer the universe and consume all sentient life it encounters. This culminates in a confrontation with the Forerunner in our galaxy.
1000,000 years ago.: A great war takes place in which the Forerunner attempt to stop the spread of the Gravemind (and by extension the Flood) through the galaxy. At this time, It would appear that the Gravemind is somewhere in a transition between Jealousy and Meta-Stability. While it's goal of universal conquest is not yet complete, it's mood, tone and (as apparent from the Terminal conversations with Mendicant Bias) cognitive reasoning would suggest it has matured beyond the more emotional state of a Jealous AI into Meta-Stability.
When the Halo array is fired and the Flood decimated, 100,000 years pass until the Gravemind is again able to rebuild itself. That it had to wait such a long time and lose so much of itself would not matter to such a being, having already existed far longer than it's enemies. So long as it's collective thought remained intact, the concepts of time past and physical loss would not effect it in the slightest.
When we encounter it in the Halo series, it is simply picking up where it left off with a "fresh coat of paint."
Not exactly sure where this is supposed to go but I thought it interesting to ponder. Also, if someone's brought it up before, let me know so I can delete a good half-hour of hard thinking.
[Edited on 07.15.2009 11:47 AM PDT]