- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
First off I would like to say that I have read none of the books and if I say something that contradicts the plot of any that you'll have to forgive me. I'm simply going by what I've picked up throughout all the knowledge I have on the Halo story and from what I've heard here.
As mentioned earlier, the covenant social status system and religous system work much like that of the Buddhist caste system, but I think that prior to the formation of the covenant, each different species acted independently - much like that of Indian tribes that had settled here in the Americas before Europe colonized. Like almost any Indian tribe, they had their disputes and possibly even had grueling conflicts over issues such as religion, superiority, etc. This could help explain the "racism" between the differing species even after the Prophet species reunited them with a common religious goal - to collect all the Forerunner artifacts laying under dust around the galaxy.
I am still pending on the issues of a covenant civil war. It seems highly unlikely that the covenant would turn on each other considering that they are so very close to wiping out a species that stands in their way of a religious goal. I don't think that something as petty as disputes such as superiority between grunts and jackals will truly ever make a difference. What I do believe could cause a civil war is the fact that the prophets are hiding crucial information behind the rest of the covenants backs (with the exception of brutes). If any kind of information leak of this spreads, it could easily light the fuse that is their distaste for each other. Assuming of course that the theory of Forerunners being humans or similiar to them is true, they obviously don't want the other covenant knowing that they're really doing the opposite of what motivates them; killing the humans as they get in the way of their religion(s).
Speaking of Forerunner, I find it strange how no one has yet come to think that the new species that Bungie has been planning for us could be the Forerunner itself. Unless of course they specified that it was indeed a covenant specie, then I must apologize. Even so, I don't really believe that the Forerunner could truly be wiped out - if they were wiped out, then only three species could have done so; The covenant, the flood, or themselves. Considering their far superior technology and the fact that the Prophets are so intent on learning their secrets it's almost impossible for it to be the Prophets. I do not see a true reason for the Flood to invade the Forerunner and once again with their far superior technology it's hard to believe that if the Flood posed a real threat it wouldn't be easy to obliterate them all. The most likely choice (and the only one left) is that they destroyed themselves. I don't really see why they would do such a thing, but I'm sure just like any other species they had their own issues to settle.
Some very important points were mentioned but not stressed as they should've been, for example, if any three of the books mentioned that the covenant invaded a planet because they suspected that there were forerunner artifacts on it's surface, then why invade Earth? This point helps support any those of you who believe that the Forerunner could be humans, which in turn helps support a lot of other points. If we are not Forerunner, and there are still Forerunner artifacts on our planet, then that storyline would not make much sense. Something like the forerunner would have been noticed a long time before Halo supposedly took place, which is fairly obvious on it's own.
As for the announcement trailer issue, I'd have to say that was either an eye teaser or was something thrown together very sloppily (no offense Bungie guys). As the E3 demo shows, (or doesn't, at least the impression it gave was that) Master Chief enters Earth at New Mombasa, of course, it could simply be another mission entirely somewhere in the middle of the game. If the announcement trailer was not an eye teaser and was the first cinema of the game, then it only tells you that your first mission is most likely on whatever ship Master Chief lands on.
That's all I have to say for now.