This may have been discussed before. This thread this LENGTHY.
This may be the same as one or more other theories, but I want to spell it out. Maybe multiple people coming to the same conclusions interdependently could be indication that we are onto something.
I usually am on the bungie.net forums but I thought you guys might like to hear this theory as it does make a lot of sense ( to me at least. )
It may ( or may not ) reveal some things about the Precursors, flood and the mystery surrounding them, so if you are concerned about possibly discovering things or latching onto things that could be revealed by future titles or books consider that this could contain spoilers if these hunches are correct.
Now about this theory:
If you are into the Halo universe you know about “the timeless one”, the last of the precursors. He indicates that he is the last of them.
The questions remain: where did the precursors go, where did the flood come from and what went down surrounding that.
We also know that the forerunners have the philosophy about “the mantle” that believes in preserving all live.
We also know ( or suspect ) that the precursors had the same ( or similar ) philosophy about preservation of life.
I believe that the “flood” was an attempt by the precursors to preserve all life as a sort of “single species”. An amalgamation of all life that is telepathic and “one.” This oneness and so called “peace” ( accompanied by a lack of indviduality and suppression of true life ) is hinted at by the gravemind.
I believe the forerunners found out about this misguided plan to “preserve” life and rebelled and somehow destroyed the Precursors and defeated the flood way before the events of the halo universe we know of so far.
There is also the possibility that the precursors ( some of them ) committed self genocide by amalgamating with the flood and encouraged ( or forced ) all other sentient races to do so. ( which could be why the humans were so horrified on earth when they found out the origin of the flood. )
I am not saying the flood is their creation, as it could have also been discovered by the Precursors and they may have decided it was best to integrate rather than wage war.
Somehow the flood was not quenched or escaped eventually to initiate the a new war with the forerunners perhaps serving the dual purpose of revenge for rebelling against the Precursors and to amalgamate them into the flood as the flood tends to do.
This theory is probably incorrect and isn’t completely accurate but I can’t help to feel that I am onto something.
I tend to think the precursors are in cahoots with the flood and that is why it is a distinct possibility that they may be the new enemy in halo 4. Some of them could have been exiled. Perhaps the timeless one survived and raised a secret army of new Precursors seeing the decline of the flood. etc etc…
Perhaps we could even see surviving or revived or newly birthed precursors in the mysterious installation that have improved the flood ( in order to keep them in the plot while at the same time allowing for new forms for us too shoot up )
One of the reasons I think this is because of Mendicant Bias’ actions:
He obviously didn’t just randomly betray the forerunners. he had a conflict of interests and chose the latter option of amalgamation believing that the end justified the means. He believed in the mantle in some form although became misguided. ( even the he repented of his betrayal later on ).
It will be interesting to see how the gravemind-timeless one-Mendicant bias connection plays out as they seem to share common elements in their ties and personality.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the grave-mind was a shard of Bias that was captured by the flood and amalgamated ( although this might contradict evidence that bias was restored on installation 00 before its destruction )
If anyone has anything to add to this or correct me on mistakes made feel free to do so. I’d love to hear what you think about this.