Halo Universe Explained: Part 6 - Precursors/Flood

This article is going to be a bit different.  Because so little is know about the Precursors and their connection to the Flood, this post will necessarily be based largely on my own speculation.  The Precursors have only just begun to be explored, most notably in the recent forerunner trilogy of novels.  Much of my information will come from the first two novels of that trilogy.  Warning - because I rely on those two novels this post will include some spoilers and should be avoided if you have any desire to read them.

I’ve already mentioned the Precursors in the post about the Forerunner.  While the Forerunner are idolized as Gods by the Covenant and their member species, it appears from the fiction to date that it is the Precursors who possess “God-like” powers – that is they appear capable of creating entire species.  The precursors are believed to have created the forerunner and humanity and presumably all other species in the Galaxy.  The Precursors were not of this Galaxy but they seem to have used it as a testing ground for the various species they created.  Turns out, not many of the species passed the tests.  For unknown reasons, the Precursors would eventually kill off the species they had created.  As I said in the Forerunner post, the precursors developed a pattern in which they would introduce species into the Galaxy, nurture them, and then without explanation, eliminate them.  

The Forerunners were scheduled to meet this fate as well.  However, they fought back and eventually pushed the precursors out of the Galaxy.  The Precursors seemingly disappeared, and after 100,000 years even the Forerunners had lost nearly all memory of the Precursors.  But the Precursors were not done with the Forerunner.  Instead they created another species and sent it to extract revenge against the Forerunners – that species was the Flood.

To talk about the Flood is to really talk about the Gravemind – which is the central intelligence of the Flood infection.  In truth there is not one Gravemind; each outbreak of the Flood can create a Gravemind that is unique.  The Gravemind is created when an individual Flood spore takes on multiple sentient beings.  This is known as a proto-Gravemind.  If not destroyed a proto-GM will devour more and more sentient beings and will eventually become self-aware.  At that point it becomes a full Gravemind and can move independently and can direct the remaining Flood spores.

The First Gravemind was captured by the Forerunners shortly after Ancient-Human/Flood war.  Because the Gravemind was sentient the Forerunners recognized its value as a source of information on how to combat the Flood.  Forerunner also recognized the risk of allowing the Gravemind to live.  They held it captive on a secluded and abandoned planet and began to interrogate the creature.   It claimed to be the last Precursor.  But other than that the creature spoke in riddles and gave the Forerunner's very little useful information.  However, when alone with individual Forerunners the Gravemind would tell them the secret of the Flood.  The knowledge was so devastating that when these individuals heard the secret they would immediately commit suicide.  Some believed the creature was simply manipulating these unfortunate Forerunner and all interrogations were ordered to stop.  Instead they ordered the AI Medicant-Bias continue the interrogation - thinking the AI would be safe from any manipulation.  In fact, the AI was corrupted and was under the influence of the Gravemind when he took over the Halo array and tried to fire them within the Forerunners capital city. 

The Gravemind remained captive for 10,000 years.  When the Forerunners test fired the first Halo ring the shockwave destroyed the prison that was holding the Gravemind and he escaped.  The Didact came out of his self-imposed exile to try and capture the Gravemind.  When he eventually captured the the Gravemind he was told the secret of the Flood.  The Creature informs the Didact that humanity did not defeat the Flood.  The humans only survived the Flood infection because the Flood chose not to infect humanity... it was not humanities time to be "tested", it was the Forerunners time to be tested.  Humans would be tested next, after the Forerunner were destroyed.

Until theire defeat at the hands of humanity, the Flood were viewed as an unstoppable force.  Humanities victory gave the Forerunner hope they the Flood could be defeated... they just needed to learn humanities secret.  But this knowledge turned the victory into a hollow one.  Humanity had defeated the flood simply because the Flood were not trying to win.  Their target were the Forerunners.  

This had huge implications for the rest of the Halo universe.  As discussed previously the Didact was opposed to the Halo rings.  He believed the Forerunners were capable of holding off the infection with military might just as the Humans had done.  But now he new humans hadn't really defeated the Flood. That is why, after trying every other means at his disposal it was the Didact that chose the fire the Halo array wiping out the universe of Sentient life.  In addition, the knowledge that humans were the next species to be tested is what led the forerunner to set humans up as their inheritor.  Humanities status as inheritor is what made the Prophets hate humanity, and it is the reason they were determined to destroy humanity.

There is a second theory about the Flood and the Precursors.  Instead of being a Precursor weapon, the Flood were their enemy.  Before turning their sights on the Milky way Galaxy is is possible the Flood had taken over what-ever Galaxy the Precursors had called home.  That would explain why the Forerunners were able to push the Precursors from the Galaxy - perhaps the Precursors where weakened by the Flood infection.  Having destroyed the Precursors galaxy, the Flood attacked our Galaxy.

Either explanation seems possible, though the fiction is certainly pointing to the idea that the Flood was a Precursor weapon sent into the Galaxy to destroy the Forerunners, and eventually humanity.  I would imagine the trilogy of games that begins with Halo 4 will begin to point to which theory is correct... or even point in an entirely new direction.  Either way it will be fun to uncover.

Halo Universe Explained: Part 5 - The Covenant

Anyone who has played the Halo games knows the Covenant as the primary antagonist throughout the trilogy.  But like many aspect of the Halo universe the games do a poor job of explaining why the Covenant hate humanity and why they want them wiped out of the universe.  Sure, you probably know they were trying to fire the Halo rings and if you were paying attention during a few cut scenes you may have heard some rumblings about the “great journey”.  You may have even gotten a sense of the division within the Covenant Empire that first begins to surface in Halo 2.   But if a casual halo fan was asked to describe either of those things I bet they would be at a loss.  Hopefully, after reading this post the answers to those questions will be clearer.

At a basic level the Covenant is a fanatical religious empire led by the Sha’ Shauum or theProphets.  The Covenant worships the Forerunners as Gods.  They believe the Forerunners had discovered a way to transcend the physical world and become omnipotent beings of the universe.  The Prophets believe the Forerunner achieved this state of being by firing the Halo rings.   Moreover, they believe that they – the Prophets – had been chosen by the Forerunners to be the Inheritor of the Forerunner technology and were destined to carry on the Forerunner legacy.  The Prophets believed firing the Halo rings would initiate the “great journey” that would allow them to transcend the physical world just as the Forerunner before them.

The prophets were an ancient and very powerful civilization, who initially existed along side the Forerunners.  They had been traveling the Galaxy for tens of thousands of years searching for and utilizing Forerunner technology in their pursuit of the Halo rings.  In their travels they would encounter other races and using the Forerunner technology they had uncovered would subjugate the races and fold them into the covenant.  Is these societies resisted, the forerunner would threaten to “glass” their planet (literally incinerate the planet so thoroughly, that the topsoil would turn to glass).   Most races would willing give in rather than risk extinction and would quickly adopt the Prophets view of the Forerunners and of the Great Journey.

However, the Elites were aware of the Forerunner and held a different view of the technology they had left behind.  The Elites viewed the technology as sacred, and its use was equivalent to sacrilege.  When the Elites first came into contact with the Prophets and the Covenant they were appalled at their use of Forerunner tech.  Being a proud warrior race, the Elites refused to bow to the Covenant and the two sides fought a long war of attrition.  Eventually they came to a truce and the Elites adopted the Covenant’s view of the Forerunner and reluctantly accepted the belief in the Great Journey.  In return the Elites were given a place of prominence as the military leaders of the Covenant Empire.  Other races incorporated into the Covenant include (in order of rank): the Brutes, Hunters, Jackals, and finally Grunts. 

When the Covenant first discovered humanity their plan was to fold them into the Covenant just like they had with every other race they had discovered.  However, before initiating contact with human the prophets uncovered a forerunner secret – it was humanity, not the Prophets that the Forerunners had chosen to be their inheritors.  The prophets feared that their authority and place within the Covenant would be at risk if humanities role as inheritor was ever uncovered.  With that, their plan for humans changed.  They would no longer offer humanity a place within the Covenant.  Instead they convinced the rest of the Covenant that Humanity’s very existence was an affront to their Gods.  As worshipers of the Forerunners, it was the Covenant’s duty to eradicate humanity from the universe.  Soon after, the Covenant attacked the planet Harvest.   

The Elites were always suspicious of the motives of the Prophets, but during the events of Halo 2 one of the more influential Elites -the Arbiter - discovered the truth about the Halo rings and the truth about humans being the true inheritors of the Forerunners.  These discoveries led to a splintering within the Covenant.  A large segments of Elites led by the Arbiter and segments of other species in the Covenant turned on the Prophets.  In turn the Prophets appointed the Brutes to take the place of Elites.  The resulting conflict became known as the "Great Schism".  

Though their feeling towards humanity had not changed entirely, the Elites recognized the they and the humans shared a common enemy - the Prophets.  That is why, during the events of Halo 3 the Arbiter fights at humanities side.  

As Halo 3 concludes the Covenant is no more.  The different species returned to their home world and began to rebuild.  However, as I am sure we will see in Halo 4, there is still a segment of the Covenant that remains and is dedicated to destrying humanity in the name of their Forerunner gods.   

The Rise of the Retro Game Market

Battletoads was one of my favorite games for the NES.  Not that I ever got very far in the game.  My 15 year old self just couldn't handle the challenge of what is widely considered one of the most difficult games ever made.  I've often thought if I could go back to the game as an adult, with all my years of gaming experience, could I get past that damn third level.

Well, with the boom in the retro gaming market it is conceivable that I could go back and find out.  Where I'm from, there are no less than 4 locally owned and very successful businesses that specialize in selling older titles - no current generation titles allowed.  It has been fascinating to watch these stores grow.  One of the more successful stores actually has multiple locations within the region.

I've wondered if this is a local trend, or if it is something happening across the country.  I think I got my answer this week when Gamestop announced they will begin selling retro games going all the way back to the NES.  For now they will only sell them online.  But if Gamestop has decided there is money to be made I'm assuming retro gaming is more widely popular and not just confined to my part of the woods.

Emulators that allow you to go back and play many of these retro titles for free have been popular for years, so why is this suddenly a trendy segment of the gaming marketplace?  I imagine it has something to do with the fact that members of the Mario generation are now entering the 30s and 40 and have more disposable income to spend, and are looking for ways to reminisce about their earlier days of gaming.  And walking into one of these stores definitely brings back memories.  Out of curiosity I went into one the local retro stores.  The first game that caught my eye was Bayou Billy for the NES.  I immediately thought of sneaking downstairs with my cousin after hours to play that game until 4 in the morning.  In one corner of the store was an CRT monitor set up with an NES playing the original Ninja Gaiden.  I immediately thought back to when a friend opened the game on his Birthday.  We rushed downstairs and passed up cake and an open pool ( on a very hot day) to sit in his basement and play for the remainder of his party.

Somehow I managed to walk out without buying one of the refurbished NES systems and a handful of the cartridges.

If you have a few of these stores in your area, I would highly recommend stopping in to look around.  If nothing else it will jog your memory.  But just in case...bring your wallet.

Halo Universe Explained: Update

The fourth entry in my write-ups on the Halo universe is posted Below.  After doing four of them and working on the fifth I can say...Damn, it is a lot of work.  I honestly thought I would be able to rip these off pretty quick.  Instead, after researching, writing and re-writing each post I'm struggling to finish one each week.  The Halo universe is so interconnected that I'm finding it difficult to compartmentalize each write-up.  It was near impossible explaining the Forerunners in the latest post without going into greater detail on the Precursors and the Flood, or the human covenant conflict.  Saying just enough about the relationship between topics, without saying too much is a real challenge.

I have enjoyed it though.  Writing each post makes me think about the Halo universe more than I ever have and is helping me better understand what is going on.  They say to fully understand something, explain it to someone else... and that has definitely been the case with these posts.

My concern is that since each post is necessarily incomplete that they may not be understandable or helpful to anyone actually reading them.

To any readers following along, I'd love some feedback.  Have these posts been understandable and helpful?  A yes/no in the comments would be plenty.   There is still time to alter my strategy with these posts and produce something useful before Halo 4 comes out.

On a related note...these Halo posts have been so time consuming they have kept me from more regular posts.  I'm planning on changing that this week.

Thanks.

Halo Universe Explained: Part 4 - The Forerunners

So much of the events of the Halo universe – both in the games and the expanded fiction – are dictated by the actions of the Forerunners.  Yet, to most casual fans of the game, almost nothing is known of the Forerunners.  I’ve already covered the Forerunners role in creating the halo array, and have discussed how their decision to fire the array 100,000 years ago in the face of Flood led to their extinction from the galaxy.  However there is more to the Forerunners than that.  For example, humanities unique ability to utilize the technology left behind by the Forerunner allowed humans to develop galactic space travel, create intelligent AI like Cortana, and even the Mjolnir armor worn by the Spartans. The forerunners are even at the heart of the conflict between the Covenant and humanity.

The forerunners were created millions of years ago by the Precursors.  The precursors were an even more ancient civilization that is believed to be responsible for all life in the galaxy (I'll delve a bit more into the precursors during the entry on the Flood).  While little is known of the Forerunners, even less is known of the Precursors.  However, the precursors tended to follow a pattern in which they created a species, fostered their development, and then deemed the species to be "problematic" and exterminated them.  Shortly after the Forerunners were created the precursors deemed them problematic and took steps to eliminate them.  However, the forerunners refused to just lie down and be eliminated.  They fought back and after a long struggle managed to defeat the precursors.  Over millions of years all records of the precursors were lost and by 100,000 years ago the Forerunners simply believed the Precursors had disappeared.

Since I have already discussed the Human-Forerunner conflict and the firing of the Halo Array I'll spend sometime discussing Forerunner society, their technology, and ultimately their unique connection to humanity.

Forerunner society was based on a series of classes.   The most prestigious class was the Builders, who were responsible for designing Forerunner technology - including the Halo array.  The next tier was the Miners, who supplied the raw material to produce the technology.  The next tier were Life-workers who were charged with performing medical and biological research.  Warrior-Servants were the military class.  And finally, the engineers were responsible for actually building the technology designed by the builders.  There were different ranks within each class.  For example, prometheon knights were the highest ranking Warrior servant.

One of the defining characteristics of the Forerunner is their armor. The armor is effectively an extension of the individual. Not only does the armor protect them is can be life sustaining - providing nourishment, hydration, and when necessary can provide oxygen to the individual. As the Forerunner grow and increase in rank their armor will grow along with them. The armor can also be implanted with a smart AI that will enhance the armors connection to the individual. This all should sound familiar if you've read the post on Spartans. It it believed that the Spartan armor was modeled after Forerunner armor technology. This is not confirmed, but Halsey (the mastermind behind the Spartan program) is an expert on Forerunner technology. It is possible the idea for the armor came from discovered forerunner technology.

Another feature of the Forerunner that relates to the modern game world is the development of super intelligent AI. The forerunner developed an assortment of smart AI that were capable of handling many important tasks for the Forerunner. One of the most important task was monitoring the Halos. These monitor AI (or monitors) were left behind by the Forerunners to oversee the operation of the Halos, and ensure that they could be activated again if the Flood were ever to return. In the recent novel Halo: Primordium, it was revealed that the monitors of the Halo Installations contained the minds (i.e. the experiences and memories) of ancient humans. The most famous Monitor - 343 Guilty Spark - contains the thoughts experiences and memories of an ancient human named Chakas.  Again there is a connection with human technology... Cortana - the AI housed in the Master Chief's armor - is based on the mirror image of the mind of Cathrine Halsey.

When not in armor the forerunner have a very human look to them.  In fact the Forerunners discovered that they shared a great deal of DNA with humans. This lead them to believe that the precursors had created both races to coexist and lead the galaxy. The human-forerunner war disrupted that vision, but it did not alter the Forerunners affection for humans. As such, before activating the Halo Array the Forerunners took steps to ensure that humans would repopulate the Galaxy. Moreover, the Forerunner encrypted their technology in such a way that it could only be activated by humans. The forerunners thought of humanity as the "inheritors" of what they left behind. If you think back to the games - you will recall that Guilty Spark refers to the Master Chief as an "Inheritor". Of course humanity is not aware of their status as the inheritor of Forerunner Technology.

Forerunners are believed to have been wiped out when they fired the Halo array.  The humans of the game world believe the Forerunner's sacrificed themselves to save the Galaxy from the Flood.  However, the forerunners made sure to save members of each species so to repopulate the Galaxy after the Array was fired.  Why didn't they save samples of themselves?  The truth is (as we are sure to find out in Halo 4), the Forerunners are not extinct.  But it is true that they are nowhere to be found in the Milky way Galaxy.  They seemingly left the Galaxy by choice and took steps to ensure that humans would have access to their vast technology, and would take over their place as the leaders of Galaxy.  The reason for this self imposed exile has not been fully explained - but there is no doubt that the reason will have a significant impact on the Halo Universe.  I'll speculate why they chose to leave the Galaxy in a future post when I discuss the Precursors and the Flood (yes the two are related and so will be in one post).

One other important fact.  The reason the Prophets wanted to see humans extinguished is because they were jealous that the Forerunner (who they view as their gods) chose humans to be the inheritors.  Not all of the covenant knew that, but the highest ranking prophets did.  They were concerned that if the rank and file in the Covenant found out about humanities role as inheritor, their own role as religious leaders would be questioned.  Instead, the Prophets convinced the rank and file that the humans were an affront to the Forerunners and it was the duty of the Covenant to extinguish them in the name of their Gods.

As I said most of what happens in the Halo universe has its roots in the actions of the Forerunners some 100,000 years ago.

Halo Universe Explained: Part 3 - Spartans

The Spartan Program

If you’ve only played the trilogy of games you probably have a particular view of the Master Chief and of Spartans more generally.  Spartans are noble heroes – super solders designed and created to defend humanity from the Covenant.  They are the futures version of Captain America, only instead of a shield, they sport an entire augmented suit of armor.  Before jumping into the extended fiction I found the Spartans to be pretty bland as hero figures go.  I was wrong.  In fact, it was when I learned of the Spartan Programs true purpose, and learned who the Spartans really were that I realized just how deep the Halo universe was.

So I’ll cut to the chase.   The Spartans were not designed to combat the Covenant.  Instead, they were designed to quickly and mercilessly put down a growing human insurrection that was threatening the United Earth Government's hold on power.  More shockingly, the Spartans you know from the games - Spartans like the Master Chief – were child soldiers.

Before jumping into that we need to discuss a bit more human history leading up to the initiation of the Spartan program. 

By the late 2200s humanity was in bad shape.  The planet was overpopulated and its resources had largely been depleted.  Unrest was growing.  Then in 2291 humanity discovered slipspace travel, which allowed them to travel the Galaxy.  The result was the establishment of earths first galactic colonies on resource rich planets - like the planet Harvest which became the bread basket of the Galaxy.  these new world eased the strain on resources and allowed the population to stabilize.  This was humanity's golden age.

The golden age didn’t last forever.  Toward the late 2400s protest began in what was known as the outer colonies.  The protesters demanded greater autonomy from humanities central government on Earth knaown as the United Earth Government (UEG).  Despite wide public support for protesters and their demands the UEG refused to even negotiate with the protestors.  As a result, the protests turned violent.  Small but costly battles between insurrectionist factions and the UEG's military wing the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) raged across the galaxy.  These "small" battles cost millions of lives, many of them innocent civilians.

As the insurrection grew the UNSC wanted a smaller tactical force that could go behind enemy lines and take out their chains of command – essentially, they wanted assassination squads.

The USNC turned to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) – think the CIA – to develop such a team.  The result  was the Spartan program.  The best and the brightest in active duty military volunteered to undergo intense biological augmentation as well as grueling physical and mental training.  The 165 who adapted to the augmentation and passed the tests became Spartan Is.  The Spartan Is were fairly successful on early missions.  However, it quickly became clear that their abilities did not match expectations - that coupled with the cost of the program result in ONI pulling the plug.

But after the insurrection continued unabated for another 10 years there was renewed interest in the Spartan program.  The Spartan II program would be led by Dr. Catherine Halsey.  Dr. Halsey had studied the Spartan I program and believed she had the key to greater success.  She believed the intensity of the Spartan programs augmentation and training could not be successful if it was implemented on established soldiers – their mental and physical capacities had already been reached.  Instead the program needed to begin with younger subjects.  And by "younger", I mean no older than the age of 6.

The ONI team scoured the human genetic database looking for children with traits that would make them successful Spartans.  A number where identified.  Given the unlikelihood of Parents turning over their 6 years olds to become child soldiers, ONI instead turned to kidnapping.  And to mask the mass disappearance of 100s of 6 year olds, ONI left behind clones of the children so the parents would be none the wiser.  Sadly, these clones were not particularly healthy and all of them died within a few years.  Parents buried what they thought were their children, while unaware that their real children were still alive.

The selected 6 year olds were subject to intense physical and mental training that would be on par with SEAL training in the US military.  The indoctrination was so intense that all of the children would eventually forget details of their past - many would even forget their own names and would have to be assigned a new one.  Many died.  Others were killed when they tried unsuccessfully to escape.  When those who remained reached puberty the physical augmentation program began.  They were also fitted with a weaponized suit of Mjolnir Armor - each suit of armor could cost as much as a mid-size starship.  The results were incredible.  The Spartan IIs stood upward of 8ft tall; they had superhuman strength, agility and intelligence, were master strategists and could learn the most complex weapons systems in seconds.  One Spartan II stood out as the best – John 117 – better known as The Master Chief.

The Spartans were well on their way to eradicating the insurrection when the covenant struck the planet Harvest in the year 2525.  Their attention was diverted to deal with the grave alien threat.  If not for the Spartan program, humanity may not have survived the first Covenant onslaught.  In the year 2552 the Covenant attacked the planet Reach.  Reach was the home and the base of operations for the Spartan program.  When the planet was glassed every Spartan (except one) was killed.  The Master Chief narrowly escapes as the Pillar of Autumn enters slipspace and jumps away from the planet just before the planet is glassed.

While the Covenant war wages on, ONI attempts a third Spartan Program.  The Spartan IIIs were orphans who lost their parents in the Covenant war.  They have been described as Spartan IIs made on the cheap.  Unlike the kids in the Spartan II program, the orphans in the Spartan III program had not been genetically screened, so they were less capable of handling the stress of the training regiment. As a result fewer survived the training, and the ones that did were less mentally stable.  There were even fears that they would eventually go insane. 

After the covenant war ends ONI initiates a Spartan IV program.  There are very few details o the Spartan IVs, but they are expected to play a large role in the trilogy of games that begins with Halo 4.

So keep this in mind the next time you play Halo.  The Spartan that fans have come to know and love as the Master Chief was once a 6 year old ripped away from his parents, forced to go through the equivalent of Navy SEAL training, forced to undergo horribly painful physical augmentation all so UEG leaders could assassinate rebel leaders rather than give into their seemingly reasonable demands.   

Did I mention the Halo universe is deeper and darker than you might think.