So what exactly is the point of the Covenant?

Games Other Halo
1

To clarify, when I ask what the point of the Covenant is, I mean what is their point in terms of the overall story and narrative of Halo. In Halo: Combat Evolved, they were just aliens you shot at because they wanted to kill you. We didn’t really know all that much about them, but for the time it was okay. Going through Halo 2, Halo 3 and an explosion of expanded universe content and we found ourselves with an organization with a deep history, complex social structure and fervent religious beliefs. The relationships between the many species was the most interesting, however, and painted a much more vivid picture of the Covenant than “bad aliens that you shot.”

That said in Halo 4, I felt 343i sort of de-evolved the Covenant back to “bad aliens you shot”. From the moment you encounter the Elite near the elevator shaft on “Dawn” to the end, the Covenant just seem to be there without any real rhyme or reason. Yes, I know they are looking for the Didact on Requiem, but I got that information from the books. Yet without the books, I’d probably just see them as cannon fodder, especially after how Halo 3 ended things. After 25+ years of fighting, the Covenant self-destructs, it’s client races scatter and at least between the Elites and humanity there is a truce and an end to the bloodshed.

Yet when Covenant forces start to attack again, how is it handled? Do we piece together what happened through reports on their BattleNet? No. Does the Infinity offer some sort of briefing? No. Cortana merely waves it off with “Things can change in 4 years”.

Listen, I know the books delve into this and to an extent so does Spartan Ops, but frankly all it does is move us backward. In the books the Elites degenerate into a backwards thinking, antagonistic species whose various elements of leadership want to wipe out humans, so nothing was learned in the Great Schism that occurred in Halo 2/3 and Ghosts of Onyx. Spartan Ops sheds a little light on their organization, with Jul 'Mdama being its leader and their worship of the Didact and search for the Librarian. But is that really much different than the Covenant of old worshiping the Forerunners and firing the Halos so they can go to Heaven? I don’t think so.

The fact that Elites are no longer in multiplayer, probably because of it being “canon” now and used as an in-universe training grounds for Spartan-IVs, seems to reinforce that. Had the Covenant not been turned into genocidal monsters, again, there was plenty of ways to do so and remain canonical.

> N’tho ‘Sraom: The youngest member of his Special Operations unit and is one of a growing number of human sympathizers amongst the Sangheili youth. He is a fairly typical young male adult Sangheili—he began compulsory military service at the end of adolescence, and remains unmarried with no close, non-familial relationships outside of his martial order. N’tho Sraom refused to stand idly by while the Prophets replaced Sangheili units with Jiralhanae packs, and now bears deep resentment toward those Sangheili politicians who landed his kind in their current predicament.
>
> Although N’tho ‘Sraom’s romanticized nationalism is emblematic of all Sangheili, he has developed a healthy respect for humanity—not for their physical abilities or martial prowess, but for their audacity and resolve.

> Usze ‘Taham: Although Usze ‘Taham was born into a respected merchant family he was fathered by Toha ‘Sumai—one of the preeminent swordfighters of this age. Usze graduated with honors from the top War College in the Iruiru region of Yermo, Sanghelios (a distinction he shares with Rtas 'Vadum). Shortly after receiving his first post within the Covenant Navy he was offered a place on the Prophets’ Honor Guard but he declined citing “lack of practical experience”. In truth, he had no desire to be part of a largely ceremonial unit, and at the end of his third combat tour, Usze ‘Taham again refused the post—even though his superiors warned him such behavior could be misinterpreted as apostasy.
>
> Since that time Usze has evaded countless punitive actions, at least two assassination attempts, and served with distinction for two additional tours before the Schism. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, he was approached by the Ascetics to become one of their liaisons within the Navy. (Also became a liaison to the UNSC Navy for the Sangheili.)

Why mention these two Elites? These were the canonical co-op characters in Halo 3 and a reflection to how Bungie was handling the Elites, if not the Covenant as a whole, post-Halo 3. At least the Elites were turning from their barbaric ways and symbolizing the noble species they were. Now though? Well they are after humanity once more and it seems any development they had is gone. Heck, 343i didn’t even mention N’tho up there in their Encyclopedia. Had 343i not made the Elites completely evil, we could’ve had a compelling joint UNSC/Arbiter Sangheili operation on the Infinity between the Spartan-IVs and Elites in an effort to hunt and track down the likes of Jul 'Mdama and his ilk as they present problems for the galaxy at large, I mean you think a Forerunner racist will just stop with humanity especially after calling the Covies “beasts”?. You would have Elites in multiplayer and a clear differentiation between the good Covenant and bad Covenant and show, “Hey maybe some things have changed after all in those 4 years, but for the better.”

So what do I think the point of the Covenant in Halo 4 is now with all of this considered? Simply put, I think they are just there to serve as cannon fodder and morally bankrupt beings easy to kill because they are quite clearly evil. And yet as compared to where the Covenant was going, it is a step down. What does the future hold? Well since 343i is trying to mold both the games and expanded universe together to form a more cohesive narrative, I have a feeling we will be dealing with “bad aliens you shoot” for a few years now unless they want to pull a Halo 2…but then that would just be aping Bungie and making this whole contrived conflict that plays out in Halo 4 weak. “Oh no, some bigger threat has appeared, we should team up!”…again.

Bit of a let down.

2

They should have just used Brutes.

3

I personally would’ve loved an entire new set of aliens to fight instead of slogging one more time through the Covenant. But as you can tell by the forums if they got rid of the Covenant altogether you’d have massive epidemic of bed wetting.

4

> <mark>I personally would’ve loved an entire new set of aliens to fight instead of slogging one more time through the Covenant.</mark> But as you can tell by the forums if they got rid of the Covenant altogether you’d have massive epidemic of bed wetting.

That opportunity existed as well, it just would’ve required them to use the Precursors. The client races could’ve still existed, maybe some could cling to the Precursors as new gods, there are possibilities.

5

> To clarify, when I ask what the point of the Covenant is, I mean what is their point in terms of the overall story and narrative of Halo. In Halo: Combat Evolved, they were just aliens you shot at because they wanted to kill you. We didn’t really know all that much about them, but for the time it was okay. Going through Halo 2, Halo 3 and an explosion of expanded universe content and we found ourselves with an organization with a deep history, complex social structure and fervent religious beliefs. The relationships between the many species was the most interesting, however, and painted a much more vivid picture of the Covenant than “bad aliens that you shot.”
>
> That said in Halo 4, I felt 343i sort of de-evolved the Covenant back to “bad aliens you shot”. From the moment you encounter the Elite near the elevator shaft on “Dawn” to the end, the Covenant just seem to be there without any real rhyme or reason. Yes, I know they are looking for the Didact on Requiem, but I got that information from the books. Yet without the books, I’d probably just see them as cannon fodder, especially after how Halo 3 ended things. After 25+ years of fighting, the Covenant self-destructs, it’s client races scatter and at least between the Elites and humanity there is a truce and an end to the bloodshed.
>
> Yet when Covenant forces start to attack again, how is it handled? Do we piece together what happened through reports on their BattleNet? No. Does the Infinity offer some sort of briefing? No. Cortana merely waves it off with “Things can change in 4 years”.
>
> Listen, I know the books delve into this and to an extent so does Spartan Ops, but frankly all it does is move us backward. In the books the Elites degenerate into a backwards thinking, antagonistic species whose various elements of leadership want to wipe out humans, so nothing was learned in the Great Schism that occurred in Halo 2/3 and Ghosts of Onyx. Spartan Ops sheds a little light on their organization, with Jul 'Mdama being its leader and their worship of the Didact and search for the Librarian. But is that really much different than the Covenant of old worshiping the Forerunners and firing the Halos so they can go to Heaven? I don’t think so.
>
> The fact that Elites are no longer in multiplayer, probably because of it being “canon” now and used as an in-universe training grounds for Spartan-IVs, seems to reinforce that. Had the Covenant not been turned into genocidal monsters, again, there was plenty of ways to do so and remain canonical.
>
>
>
> > N’tho ‘Sraom: The youngest member of his Special Operations unit and is one of a growing number of human sympathizers amongst the Sangheili youth. He is a fairly typical young male adult Sangheili—he began compulsory military service at the end of adolescence, and remains unmarried with no close, non-familial relationships outside of his martial order. N’tho Sraom refused to stand idly by while the Prophets replaced Sangheili units with Jiralhanae packs, and now bears deep resentment toward those Sangheili politicians who landed his kind in their current predicament.
> >
> > Although N’tho ‘Sraom’s romanticized nationalism is emblematic of all Sangheili, he has developed a healthy respect for humanity—not for their physical abilities or martial prowess, but for their audacity and resolve.
>
>
>
> > Usze ‘Taham: Although Usze ‘Taham was born into a respected merchant family he was fathered by Toha ‘Sumai—one of the preeminent swordfighters of this age. Usze graduated with honors from the top War College in the Iruiru region of Yermo, Sanghelios (a distinction he shares with Rtas 'Vadum). Shortly after receiving his first post within the Covenant Navy he was offered a place on the Prophets’ Honor Guard but he declined citing “lack of practical experience”. In truth, he had no desire to be part of a largely ceremonial unit, and at the end of his third combat tour, Usze ‘Taham again refused the post—even though his superiors warned him such behavior could be misinterpreted as apostasy.
> >
> > Since that time Usze has evaded countless punitive actions, at least two assassination attempts, and served with distinction for two additional tours before the Schism. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, he was approached by the Ascetics to become one of their liaisons within the Navy. (Also became a liaison to the UNSC Navy for the Sangheili.)
>
> Why mention these two Elites? These were the canonical co-op characters in Halo 3 and a reflection to how Bungie was handling the Elites, if not the Covenant as a whole, post-Halo 3. At least the Elites were turning from their barbaric ways and symbolizing the noble species they were. Now though? Well they are after humanity once more and it seems any development they had is gone. Heck, 343i didn’t even mention N’tho up there in their Encyclopedia. Had 343i not made the Elites completely evil, we could’ve had a compelling joint UNSC/Arbiter Sangheili operation on the Infinity between the Spartan-IVs and Elites in an effort to hunt and track down the likes of Jul 'Mdama and his ilk as they present problems for the galaxy at large, I mean you think a Forerunner racist will just stop with humanity especially after calling the Covies “beasts”?. You would have Elites in multiplayer and a clear differentiation between the good Covenant and bad Covenant and show, “Hey maybe some things have changed after all in those 4 years, but for the better.”
>
> So what do I think the point of the Covenant in Halo 4 is now with all of this considered? Simply put, I think they are just there to serve as cannon fodder and morally bankrupt beings easy to kill because they are quite clearly evil. And yet as compared to where the Covenant was going, it is a step down. What does the future hold? Well since 343i is trying to mold both the games and expanded universe together to form a more cohesive narrative, I have a feeling we will be dealing with “bad aliens you shoot” for a few years now unless they want to pull a Halo 2…but then that would just be aping Bungie and making this whole contrived conflict that plays out in Halo 4 weak. “Oh no, some bigger threat has appeared, we should team up!”…again.
>
> Bit of a let down.

You’re completely wrong about the covenant. These few rebels do not contain the entire force of the covenant fleet, not at all. These are mere elite rebels, their unggoy warriors (the elites and unggoy stuck together for the most part), and some jackal pirates that they met up with.

Not to mention they’re searching for the Didact and the Librarian. They have a lot of plans and purpose, it just hasn’t been fully explained yet. Save your complaining for after spartan ops and the last K.T. Book to come out.

6

If they wouldent have been in H4 I would have raged horribly, luckily they are in H4. The reason though never really expanded on is that they are the Covenant Storm cell, which most players are completely un-aware of.

7

I’m glad they’re in Halo 4.

Terribly disappointed they’re the enemy, but my god, even after all these years they’re enjoyable to fight. (less so due to how Halo 4 does things though.) But about a thousand times better then Promotheans.

But I do agree that we should have elite Human allied forces. That’d be great.

8

> You’re completely wrong about the covenant. These few rebels do not contain the entire force of the covenant fleet, not at all. These are mere elite rebels, their unggoy warriors (the elites and unggoy stuck together for the most part), and some jackal pirates that they met up with.

If you say so, the fact they have managed to keep a hold on Requiem for 6 months and entrench themselves so effectively make me doubt that they are just some push overs. They have a lot of ships and a lot of bodies. Not to mention the situation on Sanghelios not being ideal for the Arbiter. It seems their terror may even be more widespread since Spartan Ops mentions “Covenant asylum seekers” coming to Earth and setting up in Rio De Janeiro.

> Not to mention they’re searching for the Didact and the Librarian. They have a lot of plans and purpose, it just hasn’t been fully explained yet. <mark>Save your complaining for after spartan ops and the last K.T. Book to come out.</mark>

I could, but this has been an issue since Glasslands about two years back. I don’t contend that nothing can change, but will it really be anything special? Will it just go back to “Common threat team up!” like in Halo 2/3 or just continue on this path? There is no reason to not criticize as events unfold if anyone feels like it and in my opinion this is a problem for me. Disagree? No problem.

9

> > You’re completely wrong about the covenant. These few rebels do not contain the entire force of the covenant fleet, not at all. These are mere elite rebels, their unggoy warriors (the elites and unggoy stuck together for the most part), and some jackal pirates that they met up with.
>
> If you say so, the fact they have managed to keep a hold on Requiem for 6 months and entrench themselves so effectively make me doubt that they are just some push overs. They have a lot of ships and a lot of bodies. Not to mention the situation on Sanghelios not being ideal for the Arbiter. It seems their terror may even be more widespread since Spartan Ops mentions “Covenant asylum seekers” coming to Earth and setting up in Rio De Janeiro.
>
>
>
> > Not to mention they’re searching for the Didact and the Librarian. They have a lot of plans and purpose, it just hasn’t been fully explained yet. <mark>Save your complaining for after spartan ops and the last K.T. Book to come out.</mark>
>
> I could, but this has been an issue since Glasslands about two years back. I don’t contend that nothing can change, but will it really be anything special? Will it just go back to “Common threat team up!” like in Halo 2/3 or just continue on this path? There is no reason to not criticize as events unfold if anyone feels like it and in my opinion this is a problem for me. Disagree? No problem.

They’re a rebel group. Sangheilios is literally split in half! Of course these rebels have some real power! Why wouldn’t they? The rebels controlled as many ships and weapons than the arbiter’s men. After all we’ve been arming them. Digging in on requiem? How hard is that? Jul Mdama found a portal to the planet. Sounds easy enough to me. Once you’re in it’s pretty easy to entrench yourself.

10

I’ve kept quiet about this for some time, but it’s my own personal opinion that 343 completely ruined the Covenant.

I hate the way they look now. They aren’t gangly and serpentine like. They all look roided up and like something out of Jurassic Park. They sound nothing like the Elites that we’ve been hearing for like 4 games now (been playing Halo 3 multiplayer recently and hearing quite a few Elite characters die by sword … it’s a shame they no longer scream lol)

The grunts waddling around remind me of Toadstool from Mario Bros and sound stupid. At least there was comedy when they sounded off before.

… and yeah, the backseat they have taken is not appealing to me at all.

I think an alliance of Elites/Humans could have made this storyline a lot more interesting.

… but ultimately I don’t know what to think anymore. H4 is a mess from top to bottom. And Spartan Ops, with 300-400 people per mission, is just a lagfest that’s not even playable.

Sigh.

11

> I’ve kept quiet about this for some time, but it’s my own personal opinion that 343 completely ruined the Covenant.
>
> I hate the way they look now. They aren’t gangly and serpentine like. They all look roided up and like something out of Jurassic Park. They sound nothing like the Elites that we’ve been hearing for like 4 games now (been playing Halo 3 multiplayer recently and hearing quite a few Elite characters die by sword … it’s a shame they no longer scream lol)
>
> The grunts waddling around remind me of Toadstool from Mario Bros and sound stupid. At least there was comedy when they sounded off before.
>
> … and yeah, the backseat they have taken is not appealing to me at all.
>
> I think an alliance of Elites/Humans could have made this storyline a lot more interesting.
>
> … but ultimately I don’t know what to think anymore. H4 is a mess from top to bottom. And Spartan Ops, with 300-400 people per mission, is just a lagfest that’s not even playable.
>
> Sigh.

Play SOPS solo or with actual friends. You don’t need to play with random strangers. I’ve beaten half of SOPS solo.

12

> I’m glad they’re in Halo 4.
>
> Terribly disappointed they’re the enemy, but my god, even after all these years they’re enjoyable to fight. (less so due to how Halo 4 does things though.) But about a thousand times better then Promotheans.
>
> But I do agree that we should have elite Human allied forces. That’d be great.

It would be enjoyable story wise. But it would be stupid. The alliance between humans and elites was an alliance of need, like that between the Soviet Union and the other allied forces during world war 2.

Historically speaking, adopting enemies into your own military is a bad idea. What happened to the Romans when they incorporated the Germans into their army? They were destroyed from within. Do we want the UNSC to mimic Rome? Why would we want that, it’s 500 years ahead of now, and NOW we know that it’s a bad idea. I think they’d know it 500 years from now too.

13

> > I’m glad they’re in Halo 4.
> >
> > Terribly disappointed they’re the enemy, but my god, even after all these years they’re enjoyable to fight. (less so due to how Halo 4 does things though.) But about a thousand times better then Promotheans.
> >
> > But I do agree that we should have elite Human allied forces. That’d be great.
>
> It would be enjoyable story wise. But it would be stupid. The alliance between humans and elites was an alliance of need, like that between the Soviet Union and the other allied forces during world war 2.
>
> Historically speaking, adopting enemies into your own military is a bad idea. What happened to the Romans when they incorporated the Germans into their army? They were destroyed from within. Do we want the UNSC to mimic Rome? Why would we want that, it’s 500 years ahead of now, and NOW we know that it’s a bad idea. I think they’d know it 500 years from now too.

Uhm… Who said adapting them into your army. You know, joined forces tend to be stronger then one. Especially when it was the Sanghelli and Humans together who stopped the current outbreak of the flood.

Oh, and by the way, that whole incorporating enemies into your military didn’t work so bad for the Covenant.

14

> > > I’m glad they’re in Halo 4.
> > >
> > > Terribly disappointed they’re the enemy, but my god, even after all these years they’re enjoyable to fight. (less so due to how Halo 4 does things though.) But about a thousand times better then Promotheans.
> > >
> > > But I do agree that we should have elite Human allied forces. That’d be great.
> >
> > It would be enjoyable story wise. But it would be stupid. The alliance between humans and elites was an alliance of need, like that between the Soviet Union and the other allied forces during world war 2.
> >
> > Historically speaking, adopting enemies into your own military is a bad idea. What happened to the Romans when they incorporated the Germans into their army? They were destroyed from within. Do we want the UNSC to mimic Rome? Why would we want that, it’s 500 years ahead of now, and NOW we know that it’s a bad idea. I think they’d know it 500 years from now too.
>
> Uhm… Who said adapting them into your army. You know, joined forces tend to be stronger then one. Especially when it was the Sanghelli and Humans together who stopped the current outbreak of the flood.
>
> Oh, and by the way, that whole incorporating enemies into your military didn’t work so bad for the Covenant.

Did you see the great schism? It turned out horribly for the covenant. It’s not like the elites would betray us in 5 years, or 10 years, but the mistrust between both sides would remain until the end of time.

15

> > > > I’m glad they’re in Halo 4.
> > > >
> > > > Terribly disappointed they’re the enemy, but my god, even after all these years they’re enjoyable to fight. (less so due to how Halo 4 does things though.) But about a thousand times better then Promotheans.
> > > >
> > > > But I do agree that we should have elite Human allied forces. That’d be great.
> > >
> > > It would be enjoyable story wise. But it would be stupid. The alliance between humans and elites was an alliance of need, like that between the Soviet Union and the other allied forces during world war 2.
> > >
> > > Historically speaking, adopting enemies into your own military is a bad idea. What happened to the Romans when they incorporated the Germans into their army? They were destroyed from within. Do we want the UNSC to mimic Rome? Why would we want that, it’s 500 years ahead of now, and NOW we know that it’s a bad idea. I think they’d know it 500 years from now too.
> >
> > Uhm… Who said adapting them into your army. You know, joined forces tend to be stronger then one. Especially when it was the Sanghelli and Humans together who stopped the current outbreak of the flood.
> >
> > Oh, and by the way, that whole incorporating enemies into your military didn’t work so bad for the Covenant.
>
> Did you see the great schism? It turned out horribly for the covenant. It’s not like the elites would betray us in 5 years, or 10 years, but the mistrust between both sides would remain until the end of time.

Oh, you mean that one time where the Prophets decided, “Hey. We kinda like these big, angry, very violent monkey dudes. Let’s get rid of our loyal, honorable, and generally well behaved Elites who have kept our Covenant together when the grunts rebelled and other such events.”

Then go, “Ahhh, -Yoink-. Who knew our best military might and brains would go work with those Human dudes to kick our butts? Dayumn.”

That’s Prophet stupidity right there. (Seriously, shouldn’t have betrayed the Elites.)

16

We trade one villain for another.

In other words, the Covenant have been our enemy since the day they found us. With a majority of the Sangheili’s forces now on our side, and the original Covenant shattered, those whom remained vigilant under the eyes of the now-dead Prophets have begun searching. Upon finding Requiem and the remains of the FUD (to which held the Demon), the “Storm” became the primary antagonist against the Chief (up until the emergence of the Forerunner Promethean army, that is).

Also, noone knew of the Storm’s whereabouts up until the FUD was discovered by the UNSC Infinity.

17

> > I’ve kept quiet about this for some time, but it’s my own personal opinion that 343 completely ruined the Covenant.
> >
> > I hate the way they look now. They aren’t gangly and serpentine like. They all look roided up and like something out of Jurassic Park. They sound nothing like the Elites that we’ve been hearing for like 4 games now (been playing Halo 3 multiplayer recently and hearing quite a few Elite characters die by sword … it’s a shame they no longer scream lol)
> >
> > The grunts waddling around remind me of Toadstool from Mario Bros and sound stupid. At least there was comedy when they sounded off before.
> >
> > … and yeah, the backseat they have taken is not appealing to me at all.
> >
> > I think an alliance of Elites/Humans could have made this storyline a lot more interesting.
> >
> > … but ultimately I don’t know what to think anymore. H4 is a mess from top to bottom. And Spartan Ops, with 300-400 people per mission, is just a lagfest that’s not even playable.
> >
> > Sigh.
>
> Play SOPS solo or with actual friends. You don’t need to play with random strangers. I’ve beaten half of SOPS solo.

I’ve beaten 21 missions of SOPs on Legendary by myself, and none of my friends play this game anymore because of how awful it is.

It’s a shame, too. I used to enjoy playing FF Limited on Reach, but even that’s non-existent anymore. Not that SOPs is comparable (with the unlimited lives and all, wtf) but it just gets old by yourself.

18

the way i see it, an elite named in spartan ops broke off the arbiter to reform a covenant group, in halo 4 its made obvious that the covenant arnt as strong, the infinity smashes through one, or the ease we destroy their ships, this covenant fleet is made very inferior to humanity at this point, thats the whole deal with the Epilogue.

fact is the covenant are religious, and there would always be followers to join others, not all the elites have to follow the arbiter, the covenant once discovering the didact obey him, and the didact just uses them, to be fair i have no problem with them being in the game, knowing we have prometheans aswell

19

I was really confused by this too. But I’ve spent so much time fighting the Elites that I didn’t really question it. Just sort of shrugged it off and was just like “Huh… figures.”

20

> From the moment you encounter the Elite near the elevator shaft on “Dawn” to the end, the Covenant just seem to be there without any real rhyme or reason. Yes, I know they are looking for the Didact on Requiem, but I got that information from the books.

Nearby, a Battlenet access point aboard a crashed Lich dropship also remains online.

Cortana: “The console’s still got some power in it.”

The Chief activates the terminal.

Cortana: “This communication’s being broadcast to all Covenant in the area. Let me put it through translation.”

The Sangheili broadcast is put through the comms system. Cortana translates.

Cortana: “Non-believers walk the sacred ground. Purge the heretics, so that they do not foul the air of Paradise. The time has come to enter the Great Light. The Promethean awakening is nigh…our reward is at hand.”

John-117: “It sounds like the Covenant were here looking for something.”

Cortana: “It’s the Covenant. Aren’t they always looking for something?”

The Chief proceeds to walk up the cliff side. On the other side of the crevice, a malfunctioning Covenant console can be found on top of a second crashed Lich.

Terminal (looping): “Di…dact!”

Cortana: “What is that? Chief, see if that terminal is still active.”

The Chief activates the device, allowing Cortana access.

Cortana: “The Covenant have been broadcasting that from an equidistant orbit every 30 minutes for the last three years.”

John-117: “They’ve been waiting outside the planet for three years?”

Cortana: “Apparently, they couldn’t get in.”

That came from the game, not the book.

> Yet when Covenant forces start to attack again, how is it handled? Do we piece together what happened through reports on their BattleNet? No.

Cortana: “Non-believers walk the sacred ground. Purge the heretics, so that they do not foul the air of Paradise. The time has come to enter the Great Light. The Promethean awakening is nigh…our reward is at hand.”

Yes.

> Does the Infinity offer some sort of briefing? No.

What is there to offer? They didn’t learn about Requiem from the Covenant, they discovered it through their own research of other Forerunner installations. How did they have known a new faction had been formed? How would they have known This faction was at Requiem for 3 years? That was 3 years they weren’t anywhere near the the UNSC so how is the UNSC supposed to have intel on them?

> Why mention these two Elites? These were the canonical co-op characters in Halo 3 and a reflection to how Bungie was handling the Elites, if not the Covenant as a whole, post-Halo 3. At least the Elites were turning from their barbaric ways and symbolizing the noble species they were.

The opinions of two Elites do not represent the opinions of all the Elites. Besides this, the details of these two Elites were never given in the game. They don’t even appear in cutscenes with the Chief and the Arbiter nor do they appear in the Characters section of the games instruction manual. The only way you would know the back story of these two Elites is if you had read their background information on Bungie’s website. It’s also of note that Usze ‘Taham’s bio makes no mention of liking Humans.

They’re not exactly a good example to use in how the Elites were treated by Bungie.

> Had 343i not made the Elites completely evil, we could’ve had a compelling joint UNSC/Arbiter Sangheili operation on the Infinity between the Spartan-IVs and Elites in an effort to hunt and track down the likes of Jul 'Mdama and his ilk as they present problems for the galaxy at large,

Again, these guys spent 3 years or more not anywhere near Sanghelios or Earth so both the Arbiter’s Covenant and the UNSC wouldn’t have been bothered by them. Out of sight, out of mind. They were even surprised to discover that Jul 'Mdama was on Requiem and they didn’t learn of this for another 6+ months after discovering Requiem. Now that they know they are a major threat which they can’t deal with alone, (it would appear he is going to actually invade the Infinity), then they may reach out for help. I definitely wouldn’t rule it out just yet.