The timeless one is a mobile advanced gravemind. O.o X 2
That I need to buy some milk from the grocery store. : )
The flood were like an initiation exam made by Precursors. O.O X 3
That 343 GS has made multiple copies of himself. And now everything is starting to slowly combine and form a clear picture, of what has been happening in the past 100.300 years.
Precursors are currently in hiding and we still don’t know what they look like. They will return in “101 human centuries”. O.O X trillion
So what do you think is happening, now?
Edit: Allow me to correct myself, did it say 100.001 centuries? Multiple “Reclaimers” theorize that the 100.001 centuries was a typo. That it should have been “100.001 years”
Edit 2: The composer? Does anybody have ideas over the mysterious entity named “The composer” (makes me think of a person who makes music), which apparently has the ability to turn intelligent organisms into moniters, and than something about turning changing the flood’s ability over their host. (Definitely not a music composer)
> That there are 2 Arks. O.o
>
> The timeless one is a mobile advanced gravemind. O.o X 2
>
> That I need to buy some milk from the grocery store. : )
>
> The flood were like an initiation exam made by Precursors. O.O X 3
>
> That 343 GS has made multiple copies of himself. And now everything is starting to slowly combine and form a clear picture, of what has been happening in the past 100.300 years.
>
> Precursors are currently in hiding and we still don’t know what they look like. They will return in “101 human centuries”. O.O X trillion
Five of these things should never have made it into the Halo lore. I’ll give you a hint: even supersoldiers need milk.
> The flood were like an initiation exam made by Precursors. O.O X 3
the timeless one says that it (“forerunners will never bear the mantle”) was decided by “long study”, long before the forerunners came in contact with the flood.
he also says that humans will be tested next (remember he says this 10,000 after the first human-flood war was over) and later he says “humans will rise. whether they will also fail has not been decided”.
so the forerunners were tested before being exposed to the flood and humanity will be tested after being exposed to the flood. the flood isn’t the test.
he also names a very interesting date for “unity” (assumption: 100% assimilation by the flood): “In a hundred and one thousand centuries…”. that’s 101.000 x 100 = 10.100.000 years in the future. about 100.000 years have passed since those words were spoken. looks like we have 10 million years left until doomsday.
the flood outbreaks in the games so far were isolated incidents. the covenant released the contained flood on installation 04, somehow there also was an outbreak on 05 - so far it seems the flood really isn’t back for good, BUT:
when the timeless one speaks these words, the flood is about to wipe out the forerunners, which would leave the galaxy defenseless and it isn’t infecting humans. unity is at hands, why not use all available resources and finish the job, but instead wait for another 10 million years?
> We are the Flood. There is no difference. Until all space and time are rolled up and life is crushed in the folds… no end to war, grief, or pain. In a hundred and one thousand centuries…unity again, and wisdom. Until then–sweetness."
despite the graveminds all talking about unity, they are not the ones to bring it, at least not for now - they plan to feed on grief and pain. “sweetness until all life is crushed in the folds”.
the flood strikes, feeds, disappears and repeats. the reasons for this and the true meaning of the mantle remain a mystery, as well as the nature of the “test” that awaits humanity and the forerunners failed.
was that the reason for the forerunner-precursor war? and why don’t the forerunners remember the story about how they defeated their gods? they are so obessed with memories in “cryptum” and “primordium”, i find it hard to believe that something like that would get lost even over millions of years - in a culture that is advanced enough to best their creators!
At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
> At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
>
> If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
>
> If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
>
> We shall see.
The issue I have with the 2nd theory is why the Flood didn’t infect all of humanity then, If the Flood had them on the brink, and 2/3 of the population is gone. Why would they stop? Thats an easy win for them then
> > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
> >
> > If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
> >
> > If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
> >
> > We shall see.
>
> The issue I have with the 2nd theory is why the Flood didn’t infect all of humanity then, If the Flood had them on the brink, and 2/3 of the population is gone. Why would they stop? Thats an easy win for them then
> > > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
> > >
> > > If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
> > >
> > > If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
> > >
> > > We shall see.
> >
> > The issue I have with the 2nd theory is why the Flood didn’t infect all of humanity then, If the Flood had them on the brink, and 2/3 of the population is gone. Why would they stop? Thats an easy win for them then
>
> They chose not to infect everyone.
Thats my point. If the true meaning of the Mantle is to unify with the Flood, then why did they choose to stop infecting?
> > > > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
> > > >
> > > > If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
> > > >
> > > > If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
> > > >
> > > > We shall see.
> > >
> > > The issue I have with the 2nd theory is why the Flood didn’t infect all of humanity then, If the Flood had them on the brink, and 2/3 of the population is gone. Why would they stop? Thats an easy win for them then
> >
> > They chose not to infect everyone.
>
> Thats my point. If the true meaning of the Mantle is to unify with the Flood, then why did they choose to stop infecting?
If they stopped infecting humanity and humanity thought they found a cure, then that would give the Forerunners a reason to preserve humanity. With the Forerunners gone and humanity remaining, humanity can be tested. If they fail, then the Flood will unify. If they succeeded, then the Flood isn’t necessary. Seems the Flood is there to cover the Precursors bases for any situation.
> If they stopped infecting humanity and humanity thought they found a cure, then that would give the Forerunners a reason to preserve humanity. With the Forerunners gone and humanity remaining, humanity can be tested.
> > > > > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
> > > > >
> > > > > If it is the former, then the forerunner failed because instead of uniting all the species across the galaxy, they blew all the other species to hell and hoped to take the flood on themselves.
> > > > >
> > > > > If it is the latter, well, it’s self explanatory why the forerunner failed.
> > > > >
> > > > > We shall see.
> > > >
> > > > The issue I have with the 2nd theory is why the Flood didn’t infect all of humanity then, If the Flood had them on the brink, and 2/3 of the population is gone. Why would they stop? Thats an easy win for them then
> > >
> > > They chose not to infect everyone.
> >
> > Thats my point. If the true meaning of the Mantle is to unify with the Flood, then why did they choose to stop infecting?
>
> If they stopped infecting humanity and humanity thought they found a cure, then that would give the Forerunners a reason to preserve humanity. With the Forerunners gone and humanity remaining, humanity can be tested. If they fail, then the Flood will unify. If they succeeded, then the Flood isn’t necessary. Seems the Flood is there to cover the Precursors bases for any situation.
However, the Forerunners were said to have already been found unworthy to hold the Mantle. The Forerunners preserved humanity for their own reasons, not because they wanted to. If it wasn’t for the supposed “cure” the Forerunners would have just wiped the Humans out. I just find it odd that the Flood just “decided” hey we wiped out most of your population, we’ll stop now.
> > If they stopped infecting humanity and humanity thought they found a cure, then that would give the Forerunners a reason to preserve humanity. With the Forerunners gone and humanity remaining, humanity can be tested.
>
> why not go for the forerunners right away?
Perhaps they wanted to see how well the Flood would perform and to see how both the humans and Forerunners would fare individually? The plan would be mucked up by the Human-Forerunner War though, causing problems.
> At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
it is neither. during the flood invasion the timeless one says that it has been decided long ago that the forerunners won’t bear the mantle. long ago + the timeless one = not during the outbreak.
the flood is not the test, the flood is the answer.
(TO: “and our answer is at hand”)
imho long ago dates back to the forerunner-precursor war. the forerunners failed the test and the precursors moved in, but were defeated in the resulting war.
then they came back as the flood and finished the fight, that’s why only forerunners were targeted.
> > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
>
> it is neither. during the flood invasion the timeless one says that it has been decided long ago that the forerunners won’t bear the mantle. long ago + the timeless one = not during the outbreak.
>
> the flood is not the test, the flood is the answer.
> (TO: “and our answer is at hand”)
>
> imho long ago dates back to the forerunner-precursor war. the forerunners failed the test and the precursors moved in, but were defeated in the resulting war.
> then they came back as the flood and finished the fight, that’s why only forerunners were targeted.
The Flood is the Test for the Humans and the Answer to the forerunners. The latter will be destroyed while the former tested.
> > At this point, it’s impossible to say if the test is to defeat the flood (a common galactic enemy = all the other races will unify against it), or if the test is to embrace and unify with the flood.
>
> it is neither. during the flood invasion the timeless one says that it has been decided long ago that the forerunners won’t bear the mantle. long ago + the timeless one = not during the outbreak.
>
> the flood is not the test, the flood is the answer.
> (TO: “and our answer is at hand”)
>
> imho long ago dates back to the forerunner-precursor war. the forerunners failed the test and the precursors moved in, but were defeated in the resulting war.
> then they came back as the flood and finished the fight, that’s why only forerunners were targeted.
What if the Flood isn’t their “answer”, but the turning of MB and the Forerunners using the Halos to destroy themselves is? Cause Humans were targeted first, so it wasn’t just Forerunners. Forerunners were targeted after the attacked the Humans. And even then it wasn’t like the series of Primordium has them going after the Forerunners in any major fashion. Not until the Terminals do we hear about the Flood going after whole Forerunner planets. That could have been simply to force the Forerunners into a corner. The Didact said that the Forerunners were forcing the Flood into a corner, but in fact is was the other way around, the Flood left them little choice but to fire the Halos.
> What if the Flood isn’t their “answer”, but the turning of MB and the Forerunners using the Halos to destroy themselves is? Cause Humans were targeted first, so it wasn’t just Forerunners. Forerunners were targeted after the attacked the Humans. And even then it wasn’t like the series of Primordium has them going after the Forerunners in any major fashion. Not until the Terminals do we hear about the Flood going after whole Forerunner planets. That could have been simply to force the Forerunners into a corner. The Didact said that the Forerunners were forcing the Flood into a corner, but in fact is was the other way around, the Flood left them little choice but to fire the Halos.
the flood was careful not to infect humans in their war against the forerunners, because humanity would be tested next. pointless, if the goal is to make the forerunners fire the halo array which sterilizes the whole galaxy.
> > What if the Flood isn’t their “answer”, but the turning of MB and the Forerunners using the Halos to destroy themselves is? Cause Humans were targeted first, so it wasn’t just Forerunners. Forerunners were targeted after the attacked the Humans. And even then it wasn’t like the series of Primordium has them going after the Forerunners in any major fashion. Not until the Terminals do we hear about the Flood going after whole Forerunner planets. That could have been simply to force the Forerunners into a corner. The Didact said that the Forerunners were forcing the Flood into a corner, but in fact is was the other way around, the Flood left them little choice but to fire the Halos.
>
> the flood was careful not to infect humans in their war against the forerunners, because humanity would be tested next. pointless, if the goal is to make the forerunners fire the halo array which sterilizes the whole galaxy.
The Flood already infected 2/3 of the population before and during the war. The Humans expanded as they left their populations to the Flood, and got into forerunner space. Thats why the Forerunners attacked. After the defeat, although we don’t know what MB and the “gravemind” talked about completely, after they alied MB knew about the indexing of the species, thats knowledge that would have been shared. Otherwise stopping the assault and then saying theyd return in 101,000 centuries would make no sense. Why would it take that long if they weren’t expecting the steralization of the universe?
> The Flood is the Test for the Humans and the Answer to the forerunners. The latter will be destroyed while the former tested.
maybe, but i rather think that candidates for the Mantle would be judged by how they manage the galaxy in absence of precursors. the “long study” remark by the TO supports this imho.
> > The Flood is the Test for the Humans and the Answer to the forerunners. The latter will be destroyed while the former tested.
>
> maybe, but i rather think that candidates for the Mantle would be judged by how they manage the galaxy in absence of precursors. the “long study” remark by the TO supports this imho.
The long study could also be attributed to what happened during and before the Precursor-Forerunner war. When saying the last of this kind, could mean there is a Utopian society of Precursors with many different races that have been inducted in over the years. The Forerunners destroying the Precursors would automatically leave them unsuitable for the Mantle.