- OrderedComa
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- Noble Member
Posted by: ROBERTO jh
In fact, think of it this way.
I've always seen the inheritors of the Mantle to be sort of like the parents or heads of some daycare center.
They watch over and distance themselves from the younger, ignorant races (children), watch them grow, and intervene only to protect them from harm (perhaps saving races from things like a supernova). Didact does mention that the Forerunners deliberately distance themselves to protect the Mantle.
However, as a learning process, proper inheritors will not intervene in the squabbles of these younger races.
Children get into fights for stupid reasons. Perhaps one stole something of personal value from the other. They get into arguments(political battles) and, if that goes no where, fist fights (war).
This is no different in the case of civilizations, just that the fights are more tragic.
As I said, proper inheritors try to intervene as less as possible and act only as guardian angels for the races of the galaxy. Unfortunately, the Forerunners strike me as the teenager who thinks they're ready, but they're not (overthrowing the father's(Precursor's) rule and possibly ruining the older brother's(humanaity's) chances of taking obver the household).
They get involved in the fist fights, believing that pain and punishment will stop the squabbles and due to their vastly superior size and power, severely injure the smaller children.
The Forerunners have a warped interpretation of the Mantle, under the false notion the Mantle demands dictatorship and violent control.
And then, when a seriel killer or other criminal arrives at the household (The Flood) where only the father and the brother would have any idea how to deal with it, but are in no fit state to deal with it or explain it on account of both being driven from the house(Milky Way) by the over-eager younger brother, the entire place is ruined because of the Forerunners' incompetence.
The reason I like the story of the Forerunners' fall is because, since the Flood was infecting Forerunners, the Flood used the Forerunners' on hypocrisy and methods against them. The Forerunners' anger, punishment and unlimited might and power became their own worst enemy.
tl;dr: the Mantle is misinterpreted by the Forerunners; it has a benign, deeper meaning to it that the Forerunners, unfortunately, cannot see.
I think your post is quite profound Roberto, and pretty accurate. I'm sure the Forerunners only scratched the surface of all the Mantel is meant to be. Likewise I'm sure what we actually know of the Mantel now is only just the beginning, what we know is probably completely true, but I'm sure we're not interpreting it entirely the correct way either due to lacking the whole picture.
I think the Mantel is created to ensure the continued existence of life and its protection, I'm sure it was a misinterpretation and colossal error on the Forerunners part to keep the militarization of the other races and species in the know galaxy down, thus leaving them defenseless to the Flood. And likewise I'm sure the Mantel is not something only one species can be stewards of. The way I see it is one race will inherently have greater power at first, and they're to guide other "child" races to reach the same point as themselves and once they have admit them to the ranks of the Mantel's defenders. In the meantime, as you theorized, they would mostly keep out of the affairs of other species and serve as the silent guardians semi-secretely warding off extinction and gently shepherding the other races to maturity.