- DecepticonCobra
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- Fabled Heroic Member
@accordingto343
Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.
After some careful study and speculation, I've come to the conclusion that Requiem has to be some sort of prison. I'll give evidence point by point and then tie them all together in a final point.
The Didact and his "Unbound" State
un·bound (n-bound)
v. Past tense and past participle of unbind.
adj.1. [h]Not bound[/h]: unbound manuscripts; an unbound book.
2. [h]Freed from bonds or restraints[/h]; released:
According to the dictionary, this is the definition of unbound. So the Didact is free from bondage? We can see that he is in a Cryptum in the E3 2012 trailer. Though Cryptums aren't necessarily prisons themselves, they are used by Warrior-Servants as punishment with self-imposed exile. Yet could it be retrofitted as a sort of containment? If this art has any relevance, then it appears to be grounded to a structure. However later on it is flying around unchained. Could this be the unbound state it mentions?
The Ur-Didact in Silentium
Now those of you who have read what I've written in the past, you'll know what I'm referring to. According to Amazon, the Ur-Didact was "treacherously abandoned in a Flood-infested system" by the Master Builder. There could be a chance he was compromised by Flood infection in his time there. Amazon also says that: "one of them must now commit the greatest atrocity of all timeto prevent an insane evil from dominating the entire universe."
This is an obvious reference to the Halos being fired and we know the Didact is responsible for that in the Halo 3 terminals. This could partly be a reason he goes inside a Cryptum. Yet could possible Flood infection be another reason? I will explore this in the next section.
The Prometheans and the Composer
So as we see in the Halo 4 trailer, the Promethean Knights are nothing like the Promethean Warriors we are told about in the novels. However after over 300 years of war against the Flood, I can easily see how much their ranks would diminish. It's like zombies, every person they kill fills their ranks and lessens your own manpower.
Yet we are also introduced to the Composer, a being/machine/thing that can convert flesh and blood organisms into a ancilla. It is was saved Chakas and Genemeder Folder of Fortune in Primordium. Thus far we've only seen beings turned into imprints and Monitors. Yet what is stopping them from being turned into the Knights? The Knights could serve as timeless guards on Requiem.
Requiems name and it's use as a Shield World.
A Requiem mass is a celebration or repose of the dead. Could Requiem serve as a place for those Flood-infected individuals to live for all time and not be a harm to the galaxy in general? Another curious aspect seems to be the lack of ships. If the Didact is a true danger to the galaxy, then why would he not use the ships that have thus far been seen on all the Shield Worlds we have encountered?
The Mendicant Bias-Cortana connection
As I've mentioned in previous threads, Halo Legends: Origins I and II show something peculiar. This is Mendicant Bias as seen in Halo Legends: Origins I. Look in the middle at the symbol, this is known as the Iris symbol. It was used during Halo 3's ARG and seems to have been adopted by 343i. Now look at this picture of Cortana's eye, there is is again!
Now though Mendicant Bias himself may be dead, is it possible his programming live on? He was originally made to organize Forerunner protection against the Flood after all. This could lend credence to Cortana's now infamous "I will not allow you to leave this planet!" line to my all connecting point.
Final Thought
Alright, here it goes. I believe that the Ur-Didact is infected by the Flood. He fires the Halos to stop the Flood from spreading then imprisons himself in a Crpytum on Requiem for his "crime" in firing the Halos and to contain himself from the galaxy. Requiem also serves as a world to house those infected by the Flood and turned by the Composer, enter the Promethean Knights. The Knights could be there to serve as guards to ensure the Ur-Didact does not leave.
Yet something must've happened. Why would Mendicant Bias send Master Chief to Requiem with the idea that it is a prison to contain the Ur-Didact and Flood-infected Forerunners turned Promethean Knights? Remember Bias' original programming? Though he may have perished, Bias could've uploaded his directives to Cortana to make sure the Ur-Didact is not freed, hence her insistence that the UNSC does not leave Requiem due to the danger the Ur-Didact possess if he escapes.
What about the Knights? Well, if the Ur-Didact has gone insane due to Flood infection, it is possible they may have as well. Thus far we've seen two types of Knight, orange and blue. Could this be significant in the notion that the orange Knights are under the Ur-Didact's control while the blue Knights are still independent thinkers?
And so that concludes my theory. I apologize if it seems like I do a lot of guessing, but I did the best I could with what little info I had.