Among the many bombastic revelations we received in Halo: Silentium, the most ambigious may very well be when the Gravemind reveals the true nature of the Domain, and that the knowledge within the Domain spanned for one hundred billion years. Obviously, this plucked many strings within our minds, as modern science in the real world tells us that the universe is 14 billion years old, and not a hundred billion. This has brought up a few possibilities, that either A) the universe in Halo is simply older than the universe in real life, or B) the Precursors predate the universe. We discussed this to death in 2013, so why am I bringing it up almost three years later?
That is because I’ve formed another head-canon, one which states that like the Precursors, the universe has existed in many forms. Precursor technology, neuralphysics, is built upon the foundation that the universe is a living entity. The Forerunners seem to allude to this when using the term “Living Time.”
> “Precursors felt the Mantle extended to the entire universe, energy and matter as well as living creatures … some say. The universe lives, but not as we do.” --Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, Halo: Cryptum
The Gravemind’s claim that the universe is one hundred billion years old doesn’t necessarily refute our current knowledge of the universe’s age. In that same speech, the Gravemind explained that the Precursors existed in many forms, and that the Flood was just latest. It could be that the universe simply undergoes changes in form, with the 14 billion year old universe that currently exists simply being one incarnation of many. After all, according to the Precursors, it’s a living entity, and life is always evolving and adapting.
Now, onto what could be causing this change. The most recent transformation of the Precursors, the one in which they became the Flood, occurred as a result of the Forerunners driving them to near extinction. Yes, basic natural selection running its course. Unfortunately, this particular adaptation brought about a twisted, skewed version of the previous Precursors. In terms of the universe, what might have caused it to change from it’s previous form to the form we’re in now? No idea, but my mind is drifting towards it being the Big Rip effect (when the universe expands to the point in which atoms are broken down into smaller and smaller particles, essentially destroying everything). Perhaps the universe resets itself as a failsafe against the Big Rip, and then I’ll assume that the Big Bang is the process in which it resets itself. The Precursors are servants of the universe, existing to seed it with life after each Big Bang. The Precursors, under this theory/thought/whatever, also exist to build ways to preserve the knowledge accumulated from the previous universe (the Domain), with the Domain’s existence within Precursor artifacts in the Milky Way just being one form of it.
Yeah, so I should also mention that the Domain is the universe.
To sum it up, this universe (in Halo) is still 14 billion years old, but the universe is 100 billion years old. Apologies in advance.