Halo Cryptum

Community Halo Universe
1

100,000 years ago the Forerunners ruled the galaxy with peace and benevolence, and then in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Pushed to the brink in their war with the parasites know as the Flood, the Forerunners activated their ultimate weapon, the Halos and then, just like that they vanished.

Much of their history has been hinted at throughout the games and even more concrete details were given through various novels and last year’s anime Halo Legends, but truly, the Forerunners are steeped in mystery. With the release of Halo Cryptum Novel however, the story of the Forerunners is finally being told.

But is it? I finally read the book and to my surprise i did not like it at all. i have read the previous novels and love them all.
specially “First Strike” and “Fall of Reach” which i think it should had been used as the base for storyline for the campaign
of the Halo Reach game , instead of using until that point an unexistent Spartan III team group call Noble Team…

Anyways back to Halo Cryptum novel book , everything we have been told or teach in the past 10 years have been
well kinda of a … LIE!! , so the Forerunners are not this peaceful guardian species , they are actually evil and everything they do has a purpose to their agenda, they actually go to war with human kind, which to many of the surprises i discover were already space capable and super advance in technology , yes you read it right more than 100,000 years ago we were already in space traveling around our gigantic galaxy now call the milky way.

But to my other surprise we lost the suppose war with the Forerunners and were sent all the way back to the caveman era. Even if the story doesn’t focus much on that its still a part that disturb me a lot, In general they change everything we have come to know in the last decade, so that’s the main reason i did not like it at all.

But more important then the idea of changing the entire story of the past history in the Halo universe with 1 book is the constant idea of thinking what will Halo 4 will be about? the book was approved as cannon for Halo universe by 343 industries themselfs, meaning that they could do the same for the next trilogy of the so love franchise of Halo.

I really have to say that if this happens in the major Halo part that is the video gaming part, it would be a colossal failure for the franchise. i wrote this article to raise awareness between us fans to let 343 know that Halo as we know it should remain close to their roots. i do not doubt the abilities of 343 compare to the ones of Bungie.
But i am concern on the way they are changing the things so much so fast.

So let me know your opinions on these subject, Should Halo stick to its roots with out becoming repetitive of course.
or just change the whole background and start with a whole new concept that might not be follow by hardcore Halo fans?
These includes the novels as well as the game and the complete story on the Halo Universe.

2

They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.

3

> They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.

They did change everything. Humanity Tier 3 or 2 species a hundred thousand years ago, which is completely outragous, the flood isn’t even a threat to humanity, -Yoink!- habilis defeated the flood with ease in Cryptum but the more advanced forerunners couldn’t do -Yoink- against it? And wasn’t the point of why the flood was so dangerous that it was completely alien to the forerunners. Well not in Cryptum! Also if the forerunners were so much like the -Yoinks!- cryptum says they are, why did they bother to try and save anyone from Halo’s effect? Cryptum makes absolutely no sense at all. It might have done if there wasn’t hundreds of thousands of pages worth of excisting canon before it that it contradicts. But even then it would be a long shot. If we had really been that advanced you’d think somebody would know.

4

fortunately, Cryptum didn’t change anything. All of that “ruled with benevolence” was actually a complete fan-made fabrication based entirely on assumption. No Halo canon has ever said the Forerunners were a peaceful people (not even the Covenant, and even if it did, they’d obviously have no authority to say anything).

So basically, you hate Cryptum because it showed you the truth. You do NOT hate Cryptum because it changed stuff, for it never changed anything.

5

> > They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> > And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.
>
> They did change everything. Humanity Tier 3 or 2 species a hundred thousand years ago, which is completely outragous, the flood isn’t even a threat to humanity, -Yoink!- Yoink! habilis defeated the flood with ease in Cryptum but the more advanced forerunners couldn’t do Yoink! against it? And wasn’t the point of why the flood was so dangerous that it was completely alien to the forerunners. Well not in Cryptum! Also if the forerunners were so much like the Yoink! cryptum says they are, why did they bother to try and save anyone from Halo’s effect? Cryptum makes absolutely no sense at all. It might have done if there wasn’t hundreds of thousands of pages worth of excisting canon before it that it contradicts. But even then it would be a long shot. If we had really been that advanced you’d think somebody would know.

These kinds of posts piss me off.

We had NO knowledge on anything about the Forerunners before Cryptum; those “hundreds of thousands of pages” you cite are utter bull -Yoink-. The only thing we did know was that they had actually survived the Halo, left the galaxy, and had a power struggle.

And if you actually paid attention to the book, you would have noticed the Flood we as humans fought was not the Flood the Forerunners fought. We fought a less dangerous, primitive version of the Flood, an uncoordinated parasite, nothing more then that, for this was before the Gravemind. Again, if you could also read the book, you’d know that the Flood evolved to an unexpected form when the Forerunners found it. It was still completely alien to them.

And you also have to use your brain to understand why the Forerunners saved humanity and the other races from Halo. They overcame violent nature and realized they were wrong. The Flood acts as their judge and executioner, punishment for their crimes against life. That actually REINFORCES why they disappeared; they exiled themselves from the galaxy because they were not worthy.

-Yoink!- it, why don’t people think anymore? You’re trying so hard to hate Cryptum even though all of what you consider to be contradictions are quote plainly explained in the books.

6

I don’t remember anything promising that the Forerunner were completely peaceful. There were things that said that the Forerunner were wise and largely benevolent, but they were not pacifists.

The book didn’t change anything, and Greg Bear is filling details to a history that likely already had an “outline” created by Bungie.

7

> They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.

This is a good post.

I agree.

8

It’s called a plot twist, every thing you thought was true about the past was based on assumption, nothing more and nothing less. Cryptum on the other hand fills in the gap, and did a rather fine job at that to.

9

As others have said, the only info we had about the Forerunners was “They’re ancient, they fought the Flood, they fired the Halos, end of story.”

10

Yeah, to say they changed everything is kinda dumb considering we knew absolutely nothing about the Forerunner during the Trilogy. We only get bits and pieces of info which is often very cryptic or in the case of the Covenant, misunderstood. Cryptum was an excellent book which expanded the universe immensely.

11

> > > They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> > > And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.
> >
> > They did change everything. Humanity Tier 3 or 2 species a hundred thousand years ago, which is completely outragous, the flood isn’t even a threat to humanity, -Yoink!- Yoink! habilis defeated the flood with ease in Cryptum but the more advanced forerunners couldn’t do Yoink! against it? And wasn’t the point of why the flood was so dangerous that it was completely alien to the forerunners. Well not in Cryptum! Also if the forerunners were so much like the Yoink! cryptum says they are, why did they bother to try and save anyone from Halo’s effect? Cryptum makes absolutely no sense at all. It might have done if there wasn’t hundreds of thousands of pages worth of excisting canon before it that it contradicts. But even then it would be a long shot. If we had really been that advanced you’d think somebody would know.
>
> These kinds of posts piss me off.
>
> We had NO knowledge on anything about the Forerunners before Cryptum; those “hundreds of thousands of pages” you cite are utter bull Yoink!. The only thing we did know was that they had actually survived the Halo, left the galaxy, and had a power struggle.
>
> And if you actually paid attention to the book, you would have noticed the Flood we as humans fought was not the Flood the Forerunners fought. We fought a less dangerous, primitive version of the Flood, an uncoordinated parasite, nothing more then that, for this was before the Gravemind. Again, if you could also read the book, you’d know that the Flood evolved to an unexpected form when the Forerunners found it. It was still completely alien to them.
>
> And you also have to use your brain to understand why the Forerunners saved humanity and the other races from Halo. They overcame violent nature and realized they were wrong. The Flood acts as their judge and executioner, punishment for their crimes against life. That actually REINFORCES why they disappeared; they exiled themselves from the galaxy because they were not worthy.
>
> -Yoink!- it, why don’t people think anymore? You’re trying so hard to hate Cryptum even though all of what you consider to be contradictions are quote plainly explained in the books.

Fine, I can understand the forerunners ,but I’m still calling -Yoink- on humanity as a tier 2 race. The point of science fiction is to feel plausible. Humanity being that advanced that early seems like bogus. If Bear rewrote Cryptum with the Sangheili or something like that in humanity’s place then it would be alright. I like my science-fiction consistent with my history, which Halo was very well until Cryptum showed up. That’s actually my main beef with cryptum, everything else except this can be forgiven.

12

> > > > They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> > > > And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.
> > >
> > > They did change everything. Humanity Tier 3 or 2 species a hundred thousand years ago, which is completely outragous, the flood isn’t even a threat to humanity, -Yoink!- Yoink! habilis defeated the flood with ease in Cryptum but the more advanced forerunners couldn’t do Yoink! against it? And wasn’t the point of why the flood was so dangerous that it was completely alien to the forerunners. Well not in Cryptum! Also if the forerunners were so much like the Yoink! cryptum says they are, why did they bother to try and save anyone from Halo’s effect? Cryptum makes absolutely no sense at all. It might have done if there wasn’t hundreds of thousands of pages worth of excisting canon before it that it contradicts. But even then it would be a long shot. If we had really been that advanced you’d think somebody would know.
> >
> > These kinds of posts piss me off.
> >
> > We had NO knowledge on anything about the Forerunners before Cryptum; those “hundreds of thousands of pages” you cite are utter bull Yoink!. The only thing we did know was that they had actually survived the Halo, left the galaxy, and had a power struggle.
> >
> > And if you actually paid attention to the book, you would have noticed the Flood we as humans fought was not the Flood the Forerunners fought. We fought a less dangerous, primitive version of the Flood, an uncoordinated parasite, nothing more then that, for this was before the Gravemind. Again, if you could also read the book, you’d know that the Flood evolved to an unexpected form when the Forerunners found it. It was still completely alien to them.
> >
> > And you also have to use your brain to understand why the Forerunners saved humanity and the other races from Halo. They overcame violent nature and realized they were wrong. The Flood acts as their judge and executioner, punishment for their crimes against life. That actually REINFORCES why they disappeared; they exiled themselves from the galaxy because they were not worthy.
> >
> > -Yoink!- it, why don’t people think anymore? You’re trying so hard to hate Cryptum even though all of what you consider to be contradictions are quote plainly explained in the books.
>
> Fine, I can understand the forerunners ,but I’m still calling Yoink! on humanity as a tier 2 race. The point of science fiction is to feel plausible. Humanity being that advanced that early seems like bogus. If Bear rewrote Cryptum with the Sangheili or something like that in humanity’s place then it would be alright. I like my science-fiction consistent with my history, which Halo was very well until Cryptum showed up. That’s actually my main beef with cryptum, everything else except this can be forgiven.

There is nothing wrong with it, it’s a relatively common trope of Sci-Fi. Bear is also going one step forward and playing into our muddled fossil record. It also helps strengthen the connection between the Humans and the Forerunner with out the stupid “Dur we is dah furunaz” that too many people have been expecting.

13

> > > > > They didn’t change the entire past with one book, they only gave us details. Also if you ask me Cryptum is by FAR the best Halo Novel. All of Nylund’s books were crap. Sure Nylund can set up a Universe but the man can not write, his books are just so dry.
> > > > > And the Forerunners are evil? Pfffft!!! you basically described humanity. If anything they actually made them more peaceful.
> > > >
> > > > They did change everything. Humanity Tier 3 or 2 species a hundred thousand years ago, which is completely outragous, the flood isn’t even a threat to humanity, -Yoink!- Yoink! habilis defeated the flood with ease in Cryptum but the more advanced forerunners couldn’t do Yoink! against it? And wasn’t the point of why the flood was so dangerous that it was completely alien to the forerunners. Well not in Cryptum! Also if the forerunners were so much like the Yoink! cryptum says they are, why did they bother to try and save anyone from Halo’s effect? Cryptum makes absolutely no sense at all. It might have done if there wasn’t hundreds of thousands of pages worth of excisting canon before it that it contradicts. But even then it would be a long shot. If we had really been that advanced you’d think somebody would know.
> > >
> > > These kinds of posts piss me off.
> > >
> > > We had NO knowledge on anything about the Forerunners before Cryptum; those “hundreds of thousands of pages” you cite are utter bull Yoink!. The only thing we did know was that they had actually survived the Halo, left the galaxy, and had a power struggle.
> > >
> > > And if you actually paid attention to the book, you would have noticed the Flood we as humans fought was not the Flood the Forerunners fought. We fought a less dangerous, primitive version of the Flood, an uncoordinated parasite, nothing more then that, for this was before the Gravemind. Again, if you could also read the book, you’d know that the Flood evolved to an unexpected form when the Forerunners found it. It was still completely alien to them.
> > >
> > > And you also have to use your brain to understand why the Forerunners saved humanity and the other races from Halo. They overcame violent nature and realized they were wrong. The Flood acts as their judge and executioner, punishment for their crimes against life. That actually REINFORCES why they disappeared; they exiled themselves from the galaxy because they were not worthy.
> > >
> > > -Yoink!- it, why don’t people think anymore? You’re trying so hard to hate Cryptum even though all of what you consider to be contradictions are quote plainly explained in the books.
> >
> > Fine, I can understand the forerunners ,but I’m still calling Yoink! on humanity as a tier 2 race. The point of science fiction is to feel plausible. Humanity being that advanced that early seems like bogus. If Bear rewrote Cryptum with the Sangheili or something like that in humanity’s place then it would be alright. I like my science-fiction consistent with my history, which Halo was very well until Cryptum showed up. That’s actually my main beef with cryptum, everything else except this can be forgiven.
>
> There is nothing wrong with it, it’s a relatively common trope of Sci-Fi. Bear is also going one step forward and playing into our muddled fossil record. It also helps strengthen the connection between the Humans and the Forerunner with out the stupid “Dur we is dah furunaz” that too many people have been expecting.

Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.

14

> Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.

No, it didn’t establish that. At all.
In fact it established the complete opposite. Humans came from Earth. They aren’t related to the Forerunners or the Precursors.

Also there aren’t really any missing links, what I am talking about is how our fossil record seems to jump back and forth in evolution.

15

> > Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.
>
> No, it didn’t establish that. At all.
> In fact it established the complete opposite. Humans came from Earth. They aren’t related to the Forerunners or the Precursors.
>
> Also there aren’t really any missing links, what I am talking about is how our fossil record seems to jump back and forth in evolution.

Cryptum actually says we might be like a sibling race to the forerunners.

16

> > > Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.
> >
> > No, it didn’t establish that. At all.
> > In fact it established the complete opposite. Humans came from Earth. They aren’t related to the Forerunners or the Precursors.
> >
> > Also there aren’t really any missing links, what I am talking about is how our fossil record seems to jump back and forth in evolution.
>
> Cryptum actually says we might be like a sibling race to the forerunners.

No, a lot of people are completely taking one line wrong. The book pretty much confirms that we are not actually related to the Forerunner in any way.

17

No… some believe the precursors created the forerunners and the humans alike.

18

> Fine, I can understand the forerunners ,but I’m still calling Yoink! on humanity as a tier 2 race. The point of science fiction is to feel plausible. Humanity being that advanced that early seems like bogus. If Bear rewrote Cryptum with the Sangheili or something like that in humanity’s place then it would be alright. I like my science-fiction consistent with my history, which Halo was very well until Cryptum showed up. That’s actually my main beef with cryptum, everything else except this can be forgiven.

First, they were a Tier 1 species just like the Forerunner. The Covenant in 2552 was a Tier 2 species. Second, this isn’t a new concept you know. Plato told the story of Atlantis around 360 BCE and described the Atlatnians as being so advanced that even by today’s standards their power was superior to our own.

There are also well documented theories suggesting ancient Earth was visited by extraterrestrials which influenced our development as a species. Cryptum takes this concept further explaining why we were visited. We were a powerful race but were devolved as punishment and then the Forerunner who still cared for us, like the Librarian, watched over us and prepared us for greatness.

> No, it didn’t establish that. At all.
> In fact it established the complete opposite. Humans came from Earth. They aren’t related to the Forerunners or the Precursors.
>
> Also there aren’t really any missing links, what I am talking about is how our fossil record seems to jump back and forth in evolution.

It didn’t confirm nor deny it. In the story it was theorized that Humans and Forerunner were related because we shared part of our genetic code with them. Humans also believed they were shaped by the Precursors, (doesn’t say in their image), and they were the true inheritors of the Mantle. This often put them at odds with the Forerunner because they believed they were inheritors. Primodrium will explain more of this since it is from the Human perspective and they will speak with the Last Precursor.

19

> Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.

No, it was speculated that Forerunners and Humanity were CREATED by the Precursors, so they are essentially God.

20

> > Didn’t Cryptum though establish that we are descended from precursors… That’s even more far fetched, since the precursors are described as looking like arthopods. The evolutionary history of humanity is pretty well mapped except for a few missing links, and I don’t think those will turn out to be alien arthopods. I know it’s science fiction but that’s just silly.
>
> No, it didn’t establish that. At all.
> In fact it established the complete opposite. Humans came from Earth. They aren’t related to the Forerunners or the Precursors.
>
> Also there aren’t really any missing links, what I am talking about is how our fossil record seems to jump back and forth in evolution.

“It is also important to note that the humans have been identified as the descendants of the Precursors in Halo: Contact Harvest,” Alright so I made a bit of a mistake, it was in Contact Harvest not in Cryptum. Though I haven’t read Harvest so I can’t be absolutely sure if this is true.