Has anyone here ever noticed that the titles of the Forerunner Saga novels seem to link up together?
-Cryptum - Latin for Crypt.
-Primordium - Beginning, Start, Origin.
-Silentium - Quietness, Silence, Stillness, Repose.
It starts with the Crypt, and ends with the dead.
Requiem, by the Roman Catholic Church definition, is the Mass celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead. In Halo 4, the shield installation’s name may be roughly translated to a sanctuary for the souls of the dead. If Requiem is the final resting place of Forerunner warriors, the arrival of the Master Chief and the Infinity alerts the warriors and sets in motion the events of the Reclaimer Saga. Consider this when looking at Theory # 2 below.
In the post-E3 Sparkast, Frank O’Connor made several statements that significantly alter my understanding of the Prometheans from the Forerunner novels. Read the quotes below, followed by my analysis.
Quote #1
“Prometheans are a race of warrior knights within the forerunner society. The things that you think you know about that class in the books may evolve or change as you play the game. They are Forerunner Warrior-Servants…they are super powerful warriors… they were mostly outfitted and trained and ultimately in some ways designed genetically and mechanically to fight the Flood."
Quote #2
“The Prometheans are covered in the Greg Bear novels, from Cryptum, Primordium, and soon, Silentium. Their role or class is part of the Halo 4 story. Bluntly, the final chapter of that novel comes out after the game for a very good reason because some of that is revealed there.”
Additional quote from the Promethean Knight character description:
“While these Prometheans are significantly different from the legendary Forerunner Warrior-Servants of ages past, these Knights are no less harrowing.”
The things that you think you know about that class in the books may evolve or change…Something VERY dramatic must occur in Silentium in order to properly explain this evolution of the Prometheans. The legendary Promethean Class Warrior-Servants of ages past were organic, living, extremely lethal Forerunner warriors. To my knowledge, the original Prometheans were not “designed” or “mechanical”. Bornstellar described the Prometheans as over 4 meters tall, with arms the size of tree trunks. Promethean was the title given to a Forerunner Warrior-Servant who reached the highest warrior mutation possible. Prometheans were significantly larger and more powerful than average warrior-servants, and described to be vastly different than these mechanical warriors in Halo 4 that carry on their title. Because of this vast difference between the new and the original, I have developed several theories in an attempt to understand this new interpretation of the Prometheans.
Theory #1
One theory is that this new rate of Promethean classes are a mixture of AI, non-AI, and non-organic. Cortana clearly recognizes the Crawlers as Non-Organic Defense AI. However, when the Master Chief is confronted by the Knight, Cortana can only say “Whatever it is, it’s not organic”. She may be having difficulty determining what exactly the Knight is, or what is powering it. This by extension may suggest that Knight is also non-AI, classifying the Knight as both non-AI and non-organic.
Theory #2
It is highly possible that the original Prometheans and Warrior-Servants were infected during the Forerunner-Flood War, and the Didact used the Composer to insert the mind, or soul if you will, of infected Forerunners into this new rate of mechanical Prometheans tasked with defending the shield world installations. Mysteriously, Requiem is defined as the Mass celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead. The Knights may be classified as under Forerunner control, non-AI, and non-organic. A single Promethean may be able to remotely control an entire army of these mechanical warriors. This is one possible explanation why this new rate of mechanical warriors earn the title of Promethean.
Evidence: Part of the Didact’s motives in saving Installation 07 was to save all possible biological specimens, including those infected by the Flood who had stayed loyal to the Council during the rule of Mendicant Bias and had continued to serve even in their infected state. In Primordium, the Didact transferred Chakas’ mind from his damaged body into a stable condition where he could continue to serve the Didact and the Librarian. It can be assumed that this same process could be performed on the infected Forerunners, preserving their minds in a form (Halo 4 Prometheans) where they could continue to serve the Didact. They would serve him in life and in death.
In addition, pay attention to the official description of the Crawlers, Watchers, and Knights here. The Crawlers are described as machines, the Watchers as sentinels, and the Knights as residents. The Knights have been described as residents, warriors, and commanders…all descriptions that would normally be attached to an individual.
Theory #3
The previous theories also provide evidence for why some Promethean classes incinerate, and some do not. The classes that can be infected by the flood incinerate, and the classes that cannot be infected by the flood simply cease functioning. The Crawlers are Non-Organic Defense AI, designed to combat the flood in close quarters combat, and cannot be infected. If theorizing correctly, the Knights are both non-organic and non-AI, but the Flood may still be able to infect the composed consciousness or durance of the Forerunner Warrior. This may explain why the Knights incinerate upon death.
Theory #4
The Forerunner weapons and armor used by the Prometheans also are designed in order to combat the Flood. The weapons that we have seen so far (Light Rifle, Scattershot) both incinerate the target upon death. In my opinion, this was clearly a design implemented in order to permanently remove any trace of organic tissue. The Promethean Knight’s armor also seems to have a similar design. Even when the Knight is killed by human weaponry as seen in the E3 trailer, it incinerates, completely removing any trace of the Promethean. If the Knight were simply an autonomous Forerunner defensive construct, like the Crawler and Watcher, why would it incinerate upon death by any type of weaponry? There must be more to it.
I take issue with Frankie recognizing this new rate of Prometheans as the original. These new Prometheans are clearly a new beast altogether, designed specifically to combat the flood, but Frankie directly compares them to the legendary Prometheans of ages past in the quotes above.
Discuss.
Credit to Deva Path, Solis Argentum, DecepticonCobra, and many others for contributing to the development of the theories within this thread.