According to the Forerunner saga, about 10 million years ago, the Precursors were deciding what created species would inherit the mantle. The forerunners lost to the humans, and so they rose up and hunted down their creators. The last of the Precursors then fled the galaxy or underwent a form of stasis in which they broke down their bodies into a form of powder, only for it to become corrupted and mutate into the Flood. This seems incredibly unlikely to have happened. It’s like the Ewoks devastating the Empire in Return of the Jedi, only 1000 X less realistic. The Precursors created life in the galaxy and are said to be older than the universe itself; they must have been a devastating force.
How exactly could the Forerunners beat the Precursors? I know it’s suggested that the Forerunners used the Precursors own technology to best them, but that doesn’t explain how:
They got their hands on it.- They could access or even comprehend it. The Flood could activated star roads and other precursor technology; humans and forerunners could not.- The reason that they still do not possess it. Or even remember the events of the Precursor - Forerunner war.The Precursor’s ‘loss’ must have been orchestrated. I believe the Precursors allowed the Forerunners to believe that they had won so that they could test them (and other species in the galaxy) through the Flood. What does everybody else think?
Honestly I’m not entirely sure. My only guess is that something from within the Precursors posed a problem for them so they were weakened, perhaps some sort of political struggle like the Forerunners would have while fighting the Flood later on. Although the Precursors always talked about Unity and making everything into one, so conflict within themselves after billions of years of following this philosophy would be unlikely. I have no idea how it could have happened, and as far as I know no source exists that explains it.
I like your idea of how the Precursors let the Forerunners win, as that’s the most realistic option IMO.
If it was anyone else, I’d chalk this up to lazy writing. But since it’s Greg Bear, I wouldn’t be surprised if leaving this vague was his idea, so that it could be revealed later in a big twist, or something. Or, as you’ve said, the reader was meant to interpret that the Precursors allowed the Forerunners to win.
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> “The Precursors didn’t defend themselves. They marveled at the power of destruction, of reorganization.”
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> Most of the records from that war was either lost or intentionally suppressed by the Forerunners.
This.
Alternatively, Look at history. Many more technological advanced factions have been defeated by “lesser” technological groups. A single decision or mistake made more technological Advanced EMPIRES fall to “lesser” tribes. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility without the above quote. Surprise attacks have a crap ton more effect then a lot of people think, I mean (at least in the begianing) the blitskrege really REALY helped the germans out in WW2,
The above quote seems to imply that they “let it happen”.
was never explained as the precursor forerunner war read more like a fairy tail akin to Titanomachy
The Domain was created by the Precursors over 500 million years before the end of the Forerunner civilization, as a library of experience and cultural exchange totaling to a hundred billion years’ worth of knowledge.
Again the domain. The Domain had its own set of rules and restrictions it rarely violated. Forerunners could only view information that they already knew or what was otherwise available to them, namely data stored in the Domain in recent times. The deepest records contained in the Domain could not be accessed, due in no small part because information in the Domain was not static: the records changed over time as new visits by newer generations laid new layers of information which settled into its own patterns and sought to make itself more complete.
edit: flood are the embodiment of the precursors bitterness… so i dont think the forerunners won out right. but i wouldn’t be surprised if precursors deduced every permutation.
According to the book ‘The Primordium’
When the Didact encountered the Primordial (the supposedly last Precursor)
The Primordial said the the what was left of the Precursors went out of reach of the Forerunners and creation continued.
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> According to the book ‘The Primordium’
> When the Didact encountered the Primordial (the supposedly last Precursor)
> The Primordial said the the what was left of the Precursors went out of reach of the Forerunners and creation continued.
It is the last Precursor
And the Primordial was ejected from Path Kethona prior to the Forerunners exterminating that space. So it has no idea what happened afterwards.
I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
The precursors are as mysterious as the forerunners back in the day, I’m really wondering if 343 is going to shed some light on them or if they keep them cloak and dagger
That’s what I thought, too. I think it was one big -Yoinking!- ruse, I can’t explain it otherwise. The Precursors are supposedly older than this universe, so how could the forerunners beat them? I remember that one line in the book where it’s said that they were surprised at the sheer ferocity the forerunners showed off. But, seriously, how long would they keep to be surprised? I can only think that knowledge of the events were manipulated, that the primordial lied or that the overwhelming urge of the precursors to create left them unable to defend themselves. But well, one can only speculate until we are given new material concerning this subject.
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> > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
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> It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> Because he outright says so.
He is not abundantly clear, if he was there wouldn’t be a discussion. Yes that was the last precursor, we got that, or some of us. People, just like the OP, just want to understand completely how the Forerunners got away with it. It has never been fully explained. Just tidbits of info here and there in little side notes or some interesting conversations that just leave more questions then answers.
Definitely up to speculation for some material that’s the BLUF, Bottom line up front.
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> > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
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> It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> Because he outright says so.
We only know that the forerunners defeated the precurcors, and even that’s left somehow unclear. There’s a lot of stuff left to be explained…
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> > > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
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> >
> >
> > It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> > Because he outright says so.
>
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> We only know that the forerunners defeated the precurcors, and even that’s left somehow unclear. There’s a lot of stuff left to be explained…
The last vestige of the Precursors was a single being-Not everything is dramatically obscure. The Primordial was a precursor and we have 3 novels of content on that. The Forerunners eradicated the Precursors because majority weren’t tier 0 and probably used that level of weaponry against those who were.
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> > > > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
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> > > It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> > > Because he outright says so.
> >
> >
> >
> > We only know that the forerunners defeated the precurcors, and even that’s left somehow unclear. There’s a lot of stuff left to be explained…
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>
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> The last vestige of the Precursors was a single being-Not everything is dramatically obscure. The Primordial was a precursor and we have 3 novels of content on that. The Forerunners eradicated the Precursors because majority weren’t tier 0 and probably used that level of weaponry against those who were.
>
> simple.
Halo Primordium Page 364
“Those who created you were defied and hunted,’ the Captive said. 'Most were extinguished. A few fled beyond your reach. Creation continued.”
In regards to the Primordial “The Timeless One”
Halo Cryptum Page 120
“What did they keep here?’
‘Something the Precursors left behind long ago,’
‘Yes, but what was it?’
'An ancient construct… or a captive. Nobody knows its origins, but what was confined here terrified all who saw it.”
Halo Cryptum Page 138
“They are out there, waiting…’
'If what the Old Ones made is loose…”
We don’t know what the primordial was because two characters think they are two separate things - Ur Didact thinks he is a construct, the lord of admirals thinks it was a gravemind made up of up to a dozen bodies.
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> > > > > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> > > > Because he outright says so.
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> > >
> > >
> > > We only know that the forerunners defeated the precurcors, and even that’s left somehow unclear. There’s a lot of stuff left to be explained…
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> >
> >
> >
> > The last vestige of the Precursors was a single being-Not everything is dramatically obscure. The Primordial was a precursor and we have 3 novels of content on that. The Forerunners eradicated the Precursors because majority weren’t tier 0 and probably used that level of weaponry against those who were.
> >
> > simple.
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> Halo Primordium Page 364
> “Those who created you were defied and hunted,’ the Captive said. 'Most were extinguished. A few fled beyond your reach. Creation continued.”
>
> In regards to the Primordial “The Timeless One”
>
> Halo Cryptum Page 120
> “What did they keep here?’
> ‘Something the Precursors left behind long ago,’
> ‘Yes, but what was it?’
> 'An ancient construct… or a captive. Nobody knows its origins, but what was confined here terrified all who saw it.”
>
> Halo Cryptum Page 138
> “They are out there, waiting…’
> 'If what the Old Ones made is loose…”
>
> We don’t know what the primordial was because two characters think they are two separate things - Ur Didact thinks he is a construct, the lord of admirals thinks it was a gravemind made up of up to a dozen bodies.
out of the two i think lord of admirals is the one safer to bet on seeing as the humans had some relationship to the flood.
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> > > > > > I don’t think there’s an answer to that question yet, one can only speculate
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > It is literally stated in the universe section here and the novel made that abundantly clear as well.
> > > > > Because he outright says so.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > We only know that the forerunners defeated the precurcors, and even that’s left somehow unclear. There’s a lot of stuff left to be explained…
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > The last vestige of the Precursors was a single being-Not everything is dramatically obscure. The Primordial was a precursor and we have 3 novels of content on that. The Forerunners eradicated the Precursors because majority weren’t tier 0 and probably used that level of weaponry against those who were.
> > >
> > > simple.
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> >
> >
> >
> > Halo Primordium Page 364
> > “Those who created you were defied and hunted,’ the Captive said. 'Most were extinguished. A few fled beyond your reach. Creation continued.”
> >
> > In regards to the Primordial “The Timeless One”
> >
> > Halo Cryptum Page 120
> > “What did they keep here?’
> > ‘Something the Precursors left behind long ago,’
> > ‘Yes, but what was it?’
> > 'An ancient construct… or a captive. Nobody knows its origins, but what was confined here terrified all who saw it.”
> >
> > Halo Cryptum Page 138
> > “They are out there, waiting…’
> > 'If what the Old Ones made is loose…”
> >
> > We don’t know what the primordial was because two characters think they are two separate things - Ur Didact thinks he is a construct, the lord of admirals thinks it was a gravemind made up of up to a dozen bodies.
>
>
>
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> out of the two i think lord of admirals is the one safer to bet on seeing as the humans had some relationship to the flood.
“I see now that you are nothing more than a mash-up of old victims infected by the Flood. A Gravemind.” -IsoDidact
There’s three descriptions and two of them match. We don’t really know what the Primordial was, but it claims to be Precursor and that’s not something we can disprove. While I doubt that’s the original body, the mind may very well be from a Precursor. Considering how old it is, I’m inclined to believe it.