So, i’m a little bit confused. I had always thought that The Mantle was just a thought process with an object given to a specific race to hold “balance” in the galaxy and all that. Basically, to the point, that it’d be a symbol that race held the responsibility to keep the biodiversity in the galaxy stable. But, as i’m hearing some other people talk about The Mantel, they are talking about it as if it gives the race powers over the others that aren’t fully understood or something. Halopedia says it’s just a thought process with a symbol passed from The Precursors, yet some are still talking about it as if it’s a technological wonder bringing great power to the race that holds it. So which is it? A thought process, or a object bringing power?
The mantel seems to be something like an honarary position except with some power. Since the precursors created the galaxy and kinda had some power over species, they were respected. I guess they got tired, so they gave the job of creating and maintaining life to another species. So the mantel seems like a position of importance and a “responsibility” bestowed on the species that has it.
From the lore, what we know of the Mantle is that it is a term the Precursors used to refer to the duty of one race to safeguard the freedom of the other races, to ensure that each has the opportunity to achieve its maximum potential. However, this doesn’t mean that the other races should be prevented from striving with each other. This leadership is very laissez-faire in that respect.
Nowhere in the lore is this stated to bring any super-powers with it. From what I can gather, the Precursors pick a powerful race and test it, and if the race possess the strength of character the Precursors are looking for, then that race will be given the honor of holding the “Mantle of Responsibility”.
if you have the “Mantle of Responsibility”, doesn’t that place you in command of the monitors and precursor technology? So, wouldn’t that be a technological wonder bestowed upon a race, in a manner of speaking?
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> So, i’m a little bit confused. I had always thought that The Mantle was just a thought process with an object given to a specific race to hold “balance” in the galaxy and all that. Basically, to the point, that it’d be a symbol that race held the responsibility to keep the biodiversity in the galaxy stable. But, as i’m hearing some other people talk about The Mantel, they are talking about it as if it gives the race powers over the others that aren’t fully understood or something. Halopedia says it’s just a thought process with a symbol passed from The Precursors, yet some are still talking about it as if it’s a technological wonder bringing great power to the race that holds it. So which is it? A thought process, or a object bringing power?
This is because taking the Mantle of Responsibility and being the Reclaimer is conflated in the story.
The Mantle, as you say, is just a philosophical notion that those whose evolution is most complete must be the Guardians of all life. Being Reclaimer is about inheriting all of the Forerunner technology. That’s what people mean by it conferring power.
Also, its presumed that you can only be in a position to impose the Mantle if you are powerful enough to do it. You can’t really explore the idea of the Mantle if you don’t have that relative position of power. So a discussion of holding the Mantle presumes the wielder has immense power.
A good example would be Cortana from Halo 5. In accessing the Domain and taking over Forerunner tech this makes her the Reclaimer; even if she has essentially stolen it from humanity. This is what gives her power. However Cortana wanting to rule over others and reclaim the Mantle is different and is about her proactively doing that. A lot of characters conflate the two since having the power to impose the Mantle goes well with wanting to possess it; they’re distinct. Hypothetically, if Cortana had become the Reclaimer she could have rejected the Mantle. Alternatively, she could have adopted the Mantle as a normal AI and just built a load of UNSC robots to do the job.
Who knows, the forerunners and especially the precursors held such a high level of technology they understood secrets of the universe that the UNSC hasn’t even begun to question. To the Humans and maybe even the forerunners it may just be a theology. To the precursors, they may have discovered something that makes the mantle of responsibility a real thing.