- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I believe that Bezerko has it, exactly. Humans have developed their technology from scratch, through centuries of innovation. That technology itself can be easily labelled as heresy, to smother unwanted questions, but the (likely) truth of the matter is that we are too socially/culturally advanced to join the Covenant. Such a race as ours would question it, and ultimately seed dissent among the other Covenant races.
To use the Dark Ages example, and expand on it - any sufficiently advanced technology would appear to humans at that level of development as magic... perhaps divine magic. You can't rationalise science as science if you have no understanding of the basic principles behind it. What else could it be but paranormal in origin?
If the beings who enlightned us to this wonderous power - a power we could not hope to understand at that level of technological development - claimed that it was the legacy of our divine Forerunners (you can substitute the term Gods in here), as a vehicle to a Great Journey to immortality, much of humanity would jump that bandwagon with as much fanatical vigor as they could muster. Life becomes purposeful. Directed. Combine that with fear - submit of die as a heretic - and you're looking at near total conformity. A generation or three down the line in a closed-mouth society, and no one would be the wiser as to how or why their race had been absorbed into the Covenant, even if individuals began to see the "magic" for what it really was - technology. After all, it's not just technology, but unstoppable, raw power. Hardly on the same level as the "wow" factor that would accompany a crash introduction to the electric lightbulb. We're talking WOW of the miraculous variety.
It's a plausable shift of understanding (divine to divine tech) that does not require one to question their most guarded religious beliefs when herd mentality and the uncontested dominance of said technology continually reassures you that it is still divine in origin... until. Of course you're fighting for the right side when every other race you have come across either joins you or perishes at the hands of your God-like power...
But suddenly, the Covenant are introduced to a race with technology that is able to withstand, and further, destroy the Holy Might and Legacy of the Forerunners. It defies the power of "Gods." You can't absorb something that you've been telling your followers simply cannot exist, else your carefully structured web of lies would collapse upon itself, even if you believe them youself. You fight it. It is Holy War.
That may be a sufficient cover for the more submissive Covenant races, but the infallability of the Forerunners' divine technology is called into question elsewhere. I think it is significant that the conversation tidbits offered were from an Elite. Being one of the more intelligent (free-willed) and independent races of the Covenant, it is only natural that after a time, they would come to question the tenets of the established beliefs system, given a sufficient push in that direction. A dangerous venture, but the action of the Prophets towards humans is obviously questionable, if you're brave enough to question it. So it is questioned by a few, and from that faith waivers. We have the Heretic, the Aribiter, and many more who need only courage (or a solid kick in the rump a-la-Gravemind) to go beyond nagging doubts to full blown rejection of a beliefs system that suddenly makes less sense than it once did.
That is what the Prophets feared when they encountered humanity, and rightly so. The Covenant-proper still hates humans, but there is now dissent among the ranks, and from their perspective, hating us, and anihilating us, was the only choice to preserve their Covenant. Regardless of their overwhelming success against us, it has cost them dearly, and I'm keen on seeing it cost them a whole lot more before the end of H3.