- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: Scipio
I know this was in a previous thread I have made, but I think it's relevant to this thread's discussion.
Here are my ideas on why the Covenant are attacking humans and what the Prophets aren't telling the elites.
In light of Frankie's article about the covenant and the posts afterwards, I have been struck with an idea.
Prophet ceremony and purpose is not generally known to the Covenant population, most of whom simply trust in their wisdom to further the goals and territory of the Covenant.
So the nature of Prophets is more or less unknown to the other Covenant castes. I believe it also said in one of the books that the Prophets live on a world where the Forerunner had lived before they abandoned it for unknown reasons. Now here is where I make a few assumptions. Lets say, for the sake of argument, that humans are or are at least related to the Forerunner. The Prophets obviously know a lot about the forerunner and are in control of the Covenant because of their understanding of and the mysticism of the long-departed Forerunner. Now, the Covenant run into a human ship and blow it up, why? The Covenant have been studying humanity (and vice versa) for a little while before contact was made according to FS. If the Prophets realized that humans are or atleast are the only/closest relatives of the Forerunner, then they'd a pretty good reason for eliminating them.
First of all, if all Covenant castes knew that the humans, with their inferior technology and mannerisms were direct decendants or were forerunners, then their faith in these 'godlike' beings would be shaken to the breaking point. The millenia of semi-worship of Forerunner and pursuit of their level of greatness would seem to be completely wasted if they all ended up as some lowly imperial race with sub-par technology. Plus, if the humans are Forerunner and are the result of some kind of self-induced apocalypse, then trying to attain their level of greatness through the Prophets guidance would be folly because it would only lead to their own destruction. The Prophets are ultimately dependent upon the other races to keep themselved defended, and without those races loyalty, they are vulnerable to the same kind of extinction they pose to humans.
Now, the Prophets realize this before any of the other Covenant (or they assassinate anyone else who knew the truth. Remember in Halo:The Flood when Zammamme goes through all the security checks because of recent assassinations?) and the concequences of the rest of the Covenant knowing the truth. They decide to protect their position as the head of the Covenant and maintain the enigmatic nature of their Forerunner idols by destroying any and all evidence that they may be these newfound humans. That would explain why they go to such great lengths to destroy every single human and their buidings on every single planet they inhabit while maintaining their phoney motive of pursuing forerunner relics and killing the infidels who have set up camp on top of them.
Frankie's Covenant info hints that there will be Civil War among the Covenant races (the evidence is so great it screams at us). The elites aren't keen on the idea of protecting and listening to the Prophets in the first place because they'd much rather just kill than wait for a purpose, so how loyal would they be when they realized that Prophet dogma and religion was all a lie?
I think Scipio's pretty much on the ball with the situation within the Covenant heirarchy, especially with regards to the Prophets. I disagree with the hypothesis that the Brutes are mercenaries, primarily based upon the fact that in First Strike they guard the temple aboard the Unyielding Heiro-thing. It is obvious from the last chapter of the book that the Elites clearly look down upon the Brutes as being overly-primitive, and as the most religiously idealistic of the Covenant races as well as the second-highest ranking I doubt they would stand for their guarding of religious sites if they weren't even a true part of the Covenant. I'm not entirely sure what niche they fulfill in the Covenant, but it definitely seems as though they are not mercenaries.
Another thing that I would like to bring up is the Human-Forerunner relationship. I think that, as Scipio states, the humans are at least the genetic offshoot of the Forerunners, if not the Forerunners themselves, and only the prophets realize it, and wish to eradicate the humans so as to prevent religious turmoil as well as maintain their place at the top of the hierarchy. I can support this fact with multiple quotes muttered and actions from 343 Guilty Spark throughout the course of Halo. Before I continue I would like to give credit to Wesker's FAQ on GameFAQs.com for saving me the effort of recording these quotes myself.
Quote #1-"The installation was specifically built to study and contain the
Flood. Their survival as a race was dependant upon it. I am grateful to see
that some of them survived to reproduce."
Quote #2-"The Flood are already hard at work preparing your vessel. It's
parasitic nature belies the Flood's intelligence."
Quote #3-"Puzzling. You brought such ineffective weapons to combat the Flood
despite the containment protocols."
Quote #4-"I would conjecture that the other species currently on the
installation is responsible for releasing the Flood. They seem most persistent
in their attempts to access restricted areas."
Quote #5-"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 any least any life
with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood...But you already knew that, I
mean, how couldn't you? We have followed our outbreak containment procedure to the letter.
You were with me each step of the way as we managed this crisis."
Quote #6-"Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?"
Quote #7-"Last time you asked me if it were my choice would I do it. Having had
considerable to time to ponder your query my answer has not changed. There is
no choice. We must activate the ring."
Quote #8-"You can't imagine how exciting this is to have a record of all our
lost time. Human history is it? Fascinating.
Ok thats a lot but ill explain it all. The first thing I want to address is the fact that the Monitor is insane. It is mentioned in the books that Human smart AI's only have a lifespan of about 7 years. Even though Forerunner technology is far superior, it makes sense that after 100,000 and some odd years that it would develop some quirks. Quote 1 indicate that something on Halo is descended from the Forerunners. Though it doesnt necessarily mean the Humans, it narrows it down. Also, in the book the MC comes upon a fallen soldier in the library who the Monitor refers to as the previous Reclaimer. Though not impossible to have occured, it makes sense that the Monitor would seek out Forerunners or their decendants to carry out containment procedures, which the Monitor is clearly bent on carrying out to the letter. Quote 2 must to the Truth and Reconciliation, and the Pillar of Autumn is in no shape to fly. It is, however, a Covenant ship, and the Monitor erroneously refers to it as belonging to the MC. This makes sense because the Monitor would naturally assume that a Forerunner would arrive on a Forerunner designed ship and since the Covenant designs are base upon Forerunner technology the Monitor simply assumed it was the MC's.Quote 3 is just one of many that shows the Monitor assuming the MC knows whats up, as it would be logical to assume that the MC knew his own (Forerunner) history. Quote 4 refers to the Covies. Though not specifically named, the behavior described matched that of the Covenant, who had searched the ring-world extensively for "relics" and also makes sense because in the level 343 Guilty Spark Keyes' patrol encounters dead Covenant left and right, evidence that the Flood had been realeased prior to the Human patrol's arrival. Combined with quote 1 it narrows down potential Forerunner species to just the Humans, as reference the Covenant as "the others" clearly shows that the Monitor has no prior knowledge of their existence. Quotes 5-7 all point to the fact that the MC should know whats going on and allude to the fact that he should know his own history. Also, it references the fact that the ethics of Halo had been discussed prior to its original firing, and that the MC should be clued in on the fact that it had been determined that it was the only correct course of action. Lastly, quote 8 refers to Human history and the way the Monitor discusses it it doesnt sould like it is talking about some other species' history but rather the records of what had transpired within his own civilization during his time in isolation.
Two more things that support a Human-Forerunner link. One is that fact that the Monitor and the MC can talk freely. All language translation on the planet requires some sort of link between the two languages and some ancient languages remain untranslated because they evoloved independently of our language system. Therefore the ability for the Monitor to understand English suggests that there is some common link somewhere in our past. Lastly, yes, lastly, in the books there are occasional references to the MC and other Spartans feeling as if they is somehow familiar with Forerunner and Covenant interfaces. There are also references of how Forerunner coordinate systems are based upon natural geometry or something to that effect. This suggests that Humans naturally understand Forerunner interfaces because theyre based upon patterns recognized by genes or something. This also alludes to a common link in evolution. I'm about to hit the 10000 character limit so thanks for reading.
I love being right.