There where many aspects of the Covenant that held them back. One of these was their lack of drive to innovate and improve. They continued using the tech that they had had for many years and almost permitted the UNSC to technologically “close the gap”. An aspect of their society that also lead to their demise was the inequality and oppression in their society that eventually lead to infighting and the Great Schism. Another thing that held them back was their faith and their upmost respect for the Forerunners. This meant that they didn’t fully enhance the potential of Forerunner tech due to their faith forbidding them. In addition to this, their mis-translation of reclaimer to reclamation mixed with the propaganda of a holy war lead them to exterminate Humanity, rather than doing the sensible thing of attempting to recruit them.
The Banished does not suffer from many of these faults and was, in fact, born from them. They are almost in opposition to the Covenant in their ideology. They are not restricted by some respect to the Forerunners, they are not held back by special infighting caused by inequality, and they do not harbour the same hatred towards Humanity itself. The Banished are also most more of a secular political faction. Not being blinded by faith, they would look at humanity in a more objective way without the bias of genocidal intent. From this, they would come to the conclusion that Humanity is a powerful, adaptive, resourceful, intelligent, political and divided species. They would have also seen this first hand with the defeat of the Covenant not just being at the hands of the Elites but also the Humans. After realising this, there is no reason why the Banished wouldn’t attempt to recruit Humans into their ranks. The only problem with this approach is, would many Humans accept.
In short, yes, many Humans would accept the call to arms of the Banished. However, in a very Human way, some would and some wouldn’t., divided as ever. Groups under the umbrella-term “The Insurrection” in the Outer Colonies would be most likely to ally with or even join the Banished. The Banished and these groups have similar histories; they are the discarded people of their respective empires, simply forgotten or (at worst) used to accomplish their bidding. This could be a uniting feeling within the ranks of the Insurrection, seeing the Banished as a more honest group then their UNSC oppressors. The Banished would also be able to provide security and, knowing the danger of humans, equality.
Having humanity in the Banished is such an amazing opportunities in the Lore and could be done so well. This would also add a moral dilemma to Halo’s Lore in what side do you support. This could be done in so many great ways and I really do hope that Humanity does enter the Banished in some way. This could also make the Banished so much more of a threat, especially if Insurrection-friendly parts of the UNSC defect and become Insurrectionist groups in their own right, then join the Banished later down the line.
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From what I’ve read in the EU books there are smaller factions within the Banished that allow humans, allthough they seem to be looked down upon.
The majority of the Banished forces still think very lowly of humanity and usually still don’t condone their presence.
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I wonder why that may be. If that is the case, I think the expansion of this lore could be interesting. Perhaps the ONI could support the increase in those smaller factions and attempt to increase pro-human ideas in the Banished in those factions yet not in other ones. These ONI shenanigans could be done to try and cause a split in the Banished and cause political infighting, with the pro-human factions being supported so they can be on par with the other anti-human factions.
This interesting thing about that is that this could either be a success or a complete catastrophe if they back the pro-human faction so they overwhelm the original Banished as this version of the Banished could be more of a threat.
Without getting into too many spoilers. ONI is already up to some shenanigans within the Banished. If you want to know more look for Ferret Teams or Keepers of the One Freedom.
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Veta Lopis and the Spartan III Ferrets already did something similar to this. I can’t remember if it was the Keepers of the one Freedom or the Banished though…
Read shadows of reach and divine winds if you want to know
There are clans within the Banished, more like military divisions than factions as they all follow Atriox. We don’t know which views are the majority or minority yet, as we’ve only seen 3-4 clans.
Many Banished also look down upon Elites and think lowly of them like Decimus and other Brutes. At the end of the day the Banished care about skill, be it a human or an Elite.
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I would like in Halo Infinite to fight some human pirat in the Banished or prisonner who betray UNSC and join the Banished. They don’t have to became a rgular unit, but a special boss with his squad could be cool
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The problem isn’t that Atriox doesn’t hate humans. It’s that they should hate him.
His goals and methods are that repulsive without any redeeming features. There is no other side to this story. They are the aggressors in an unjustified war and threatening billions innocent lives because they want power. This is why Cutter, Isabel, the Pilot and the Infinite marines are very clear that the Banished are monsters. Yes, 343 has to tone down this hatred in order to keep the games tone and age rating; but I am not seeing a faction which humans would flock to.
If anything he’s delusional to think that he can do the things he does and expect humans to join him. You see this when he offers Cutter the option of leaving in peace and gets shot down.
I don’t want to spoil anything for you but may i suggest reading the books. They show a greater understanding and expansion on the halo universe
The Keepers of the One Freedom aren’t Banished. They, ostensibly, joined because of a shared religious belief in the Great Journey. This is why they end up fighting the Banished.
Divine Wind having reference to some humans in the Banished is a retcon of Atriox wanting to kill the humans with the Keepers. People vocally complained about this so the author changed it as a minor detail. Honestly, I don’t take either book seriously because the author obviously wasn’t told that “oh yeah Cortana destroyed Doisac”. Instead there’s this weird tunnel vision where they make obligatory reference to it before focusing on the immediate plot. Which they kept up for six years. If you aren’t going to tell your author key world building information like that then they’re not worth reading.
For a human to join the Banished:
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You have to trust Atriox and the Brutes. Despite being cannibals who massacre humans for fun. Despite being former Covenant and having perpetrated massacres of innocents for decades.
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You have to be willing to betray your own species. Including participate in massacres of unarmed human civilians such on the Ark.
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You have to not be suspicious of him wanting to control a Halo Array. What did the last Brutes who tried that want?
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You have to take payment in scrap metal and meat. Humans appreciate money. Human money. Banished do not have human money. They raid for food, technology and fighting.
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You have to be fine with contributing to a Galaxy where Atriox and the Brutes rule the Galaxy. Do you want your children living in a Galaxy like that? Why allow a tyrant to reform the Covenant under a new banner?
Even the most jaded mercenary or hawkish Insurrectionist should be disgusted by the Banished. Also, during the Covenant War, a lot of those old differences faded away because of the common threat. The Banished are that threat today.
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The way they’re depicted in Halo Infinite with huge propaganda towers and their leaders loudly declaring their loyalty to Atriox and his philosophy shows it’s a cult. Atriox is a dictator and you wouldn’t really be able to get away from that.
The Covenant species have killed more humans than any war in human history in numbers and as a proportion of the population. 2/3 brutally killed over 30 years from a population much larger than lives on Earth today. Most of the Banished took part in that. They have blood on their hands and they don’t get to wash that away. Also, just because humanity does bad things in the past doesn’t mean humans would view evil aliens doing it to them as something neutral or apolitical. It would inspire deep hatred and it’s only because of the games tone that this aspect is played down.
The Banished don’t strike me as a subtle organisation. Judging by the numbers sent to Zeta Halo, a thousand legions according to Escharum, this and the Ark are their main areas of operation. You couldn’t not be aware of this.
Yes but you would risk being a social outcast, branded a criminal and a traitor. It’s prison or a firing squad at that point. Your family would turn their backs on you. The consequences of joining an alien army with those goals is not good. In the real world mercenaries join causes to which they aren’t directly connected and where there’s limited consequences. But the Banished are at war with humanity if not committed to destroying them.
Most people would care and that vastly reduces the pool of potential candidates. I don’t see thousands of humans flocking to the Banished cause. It’s a criminal organisation bent on dominating the Galaxy at the expense of humanity and has not a single legitimate cause.
Also, humans like money. As in, human, money. Bansihed don’t have currency, they’re a barbarian host that are fighting for power and scrap. Humans in the Halo universe have no reason to admire concepts like conquest, lust for battle and personal honour like Brutes/Elites. Given what’s been done to humanity most people in Halo should view that with extreme disdain.
So for a human joining the Banished you have nothing to gain, everything to lose and humans should be predisposed to hate the Banished. Yes like with Spartan Ops you might have the occasional individual who is amoral, forced into it or has their own agenda. But, we’re down to scraping the barrel at that point. It would absurd if you had entire battalions of humans in the Banished.
A banished chief on a planet recruit soldier. Some human mercenary who think only to their interest join him. They don’t know about the Ark and the Halo, they just care about the local situaiton on their planet. As for money, we are in a galaxy where species trade together, so they would easily find a way to paid them (weapon, ship, medic, fuel …)
Also, the Banished aren’t the covenant, they are at war against the UNSC, but they don’t want to exterminate all humanity. Insurectionnist without honnor could try to allied with them for a time.
So of course they won’t be thousand of humans fighting with banished, but some special units and temporary alliance is possible
In Shadows of Reach the Banished occupy the planet and force the Colonists underground with extreme violence. This makes them desperate enough to consider deliberately summoning a Guardian. If that’s what a typical Banished conquest looks like you’re not going to have a lot of recruits. The Banished are the danger to your average local planet. Just because you don’t like the UNSC or Created doesn’t make the Banished your friends.
The Banished war is with humanity, not the UNSC. Hence why they keep saying they’re going to kill or eat all the humans. It’s not a political war between States where the Banished have some kind of political objective. They’re a threat to the Insurrectionists and all of humanity.
In Halo humans need a little more than a good fight and fresh meat to keep them entertained. What works for Bassus won’t work for your typical human.
The Banished, including Atriox are all former members of the Covenant. They’re the same people, doing the same thing; but for different reasons. Your average human won’t care what flag they’re wearing. They haven’t renounced war and sought peace they just don’t think believe God wills it anymore. If a human looks at Atriox they won’t see some Sagely ruler of a nation state with a few valid points to make. They’ll see one of those vicious monsters who butchered innocent people for decades and wants to destroy them.
They’re at war with humanity because they say they are and repeatedly talk about the terrible things they intend to do to humanity. The UNSC is barely mentioned. Also If the goal is to destroy the main human state, “monuments of human oppression”, then that involves levelling cities, killing civilians and a typical human would be afraid of those monsters being in charge. A typical human has a vested interest in the UNSC defeating the Banished.
The Banished war against the UNSC proves they can’t be trusted and would act in bad faith for any alliance. What kind of leader gets his planet destroyed because he’s too stubborn to lie and then blames the UNSC, who actually dealt with Cortana, and murders them as revenge for Doisac. 
This is clearly not somebody who can be dealt with or allied with. He’s clearly a tyrant lashing out and blaming others for his own failings.