- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
At the risk of sounding like a total geek, the purpose of the Halo rings is outlined pretty good in Halo CE (and the later Halo books). Simply put, they rings destroy all life in the Galaxy in order to starve the Flood, since there was no other apparent way to defeat them back when the rings were being created.
The Covenant are obsessed with activating the rings to start "The Great Journey" which seems to be pretty similar to an 'afterlife' of sorts. The Prophets seem to understand this pretty well, but judging from how the Arbiter (and the seperatists among the Covenant) reacted to the truth, it will be interesting to see how Halo 3 progresses.
Whew, there.