After the Forerunner-Flood war, the Flood were all but eliminated from the galaxy. Only a few samples were kept in stasis for study, so I think it is safe to assume that there were no Graveminds or Key Minds left. However, when the Gravemind speaks to John during Halo 3, he seems to have full recollection of events that occurred in the past. Also, in Silentium, the Gravemind which captured the Ur-Didact seems to possess all knowledge of the Primordial, who had already been destroyed. In both of these instances, we see that the Flood seems to have a shared knowledge base that exists separately from any particular entity. Several possible ways that this can be are as follows:
Each flood spore contains the entire knowledge base of past Graveminds (unlikely)
The knowledge base exists across all Flood/Precursors that exist (think of a bit torrent network, where nodes contain some part of the whole but can access all other nodes at will) and can be accessed by any Gravemind at will (similarly to how Forerunners interacted with the Domain); this implies that Flood exist elsewhere (plausible)
The knowledge base exists as a separate entity in and of itself; this would imply that the Flood’s knowledge comes directly from a Domain-like structure not yet revealed but definitely separate from the one destroyed by the Halo array. This parallels a Forerunner’s interaction with the Domain: only a mature Forerunner could access the Domain in the same way that only a Gravemind could access the knowledge base.
A Gravemind has the memories of all previous Graveminds and Precursors.
Say Master Chief meets a brand new Gravemind. That Gravemind will have the memories of the Halo 2 Gravemind, and know exactly who Master Chief is, even though this new Gravemind has never met him personally.
> A Gravemind has the memories of all previous Graveminds and Precursors.
>
> Say Master Chief meets a brand new Gravemind. That Gravemind will have the memories of the Halo 2 Gravemind, and know exactly who Master Chief is, even thought this new Gravemind has never met him personally.
> <mark>After the Forerunner-Flood war, the Flood were all but eliminated from the galaxy. Only a few samples were kept in stasis for study</mark>, so I think it is safe to assume that there were no Graveminds or Key Minds left. However, when the Gravemind speaks to John during Halo 3, he seems to have full recollection of events that occurred in the past. Also, in Silentium, the Gravemind which captured the Ur-Didact seems to possess all knowledge of the Primordial, who had already been destroyed. In both of these instances, we see that the Flood seems to have a shared knowledge base that exists separately from any particular entity. Several possible ways that this can be are as follows:
> 1. Each flood spore contains the entire knowledge base of past Graveminds (unlikely)
> 2. The knowledge base exists across all Flood/Precursors that exist (think of a bit torrent network, where nodes contain some part of the whole but can access all other nodes at will) and can be accessed by any Gravemind at will (similarly to how Forerunners interacted with the Domain); this implies that Flood exist elsewhere (plausible)
> 3. The knowledge base exists as a separate entity in and of itself; this would imply that the Flood’s knowledge comes directly from a Domain-like structure not yet revealed but definitely separate from the one destroyed by the Halo array. This parallels a Forerunner’s interaction with the Domain: only a mature Forerunner could access the Domain in the same way that only a Gravemind could access the knowledge base.
>
> Are there any other ideas out there?
> Thanks
But since then, some have been released, and grown, even with knowledge.
I imagine its like your first theory. A genetic memory. The samples kept on installations would still have come from the whole and thus have this genetic memory; only being accessed by a higher Flood form effectively.
Much like Orks in 40k they don’t understand what they know they just do because its genetically passed down (like the feral stage flood forms).