- pioTROFFski
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- Exalted Legendary Member
Great theory, and a very plausible one. Actually a pretty fun read.
Here's a couple things I've been wondering about... forgive me if my logic takes complete U-turns a few times...
When the Flood were quarantined on Halo for thousands of years, we cam assume that they were deprived of both calcium and knowledge. Without the calcium, the population was unable to grow (which it really didn't need to in such a confined state). Without the knowledge, it is very likely that the Flood and the Gravemind forgot much of their knowledge, possibly enough to make them forget their core functions.
Think about it. As Chief moves in to stop Truth from activating the rings, the Gravemind is obviously able to speak and function through the Flood minions, as he speaks directly to the Chief to form a temporary alliance. However, in the first Halo and in the second book, a Flood form is unable to fully infect Wallace A. Jenkins. Given Jenkins' semi-deformity after the attack, it can be assumed that the infection form had sufficient physical capability to complete the infection. However, it seemed unable to have the knowledge to completely destroy Jenkins once and for all. If even the Gravemind still fully knew how to infect, he could have made direct assistance.
In my opinion, the Gravemind may not have simply forgot the information he had at the end of the Forerunner-Flood War. He may have deleted it. As an artificial construct, the Gravemind must have had some limit to memory. He had to have taken in an enormous amount of information after all the casualties in the Forerunner-Flood War, and it just may have been too much.
Indexing life takes up a lot of memory, as seen with Cortana after she takes in the data from the Index. That amount of data impeded Cortana's ability to function. Similarly, the Gravemind may have had too much information, and needed to delete a large amount just to maintain functionality for 100,000 years. He kept just enough information to continue to be able to catalog life, while trying to save as much history as he could.
When the Flood was finally released, the Gravemind could have been desperate for new knowledge, and in a stage of anger. The Flood, slightly unaware of their primary task, attacked everything in site. Once the Gravemind once again had enough intelligence to remember his purpose and his mortality, he helped the Chief stop Truth, in an attempt to not only save himself, but to preserve the existence of life within the galaxy, thus keeping himself capable of pursuing his original task.
I'm not so sure that the Gravemind ever reached the stage of jealousy. If he had, he might have assisted the Covenant, knowing that it would destroy vast amounts of life. In a stage of jealousy, he may have even believed he could discover a way to exist permanently with all sentient life gone.
DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED!? I have beaten fleets of thousands! Consumed a galaxy of flesh and mind and bone!
If I'm not mistaken, this line is said near the beginning of the "Cortana". The Gravemind does not particularly like other organisms trying to destroy him, so he flaunts his accomplishments in the Forerunner-Flood War in an attempt to discourage the Chief. He is only so hostile to the Chief because the wants to eradicate him (rendering him incapable of his duties), as did the Forerunners.
Do I take life, or give it? Who is victim... and who is foe?
I take a slightly different meaning to this quote. At this point in the level, the Gravemind might be beginning to believe that the Chief will destroy him. I believe that he is challenging humanity's view of what humanity considers to be a "war" with the Flood. Humanity insists that the Flood treats it as a foe, but the Gravemind might actually consider lost sentients to be "collateral damage" in desire to obtain knowledge. In the Gravemind's opinion, he does not destroy life; he stores the knowledge and memories, enabling the organism to "live on", in a manner of speaking. In attempting to justify his actions justifying his actions, the Gravemind is confused over whether to kill the Chief or try to make peace.
Maybe not much of what I just said makes sense (your knowledge of canon is far more expansive), but it's at least an interesting thing to think about. The Gravemind may have just been following orders all along, but caught between his duties and his need to stay alive to perform those duties.
[Edited on 05.28.2010 11:41 PM PDT]