The *New* Covenant's Role in the Reclaimer Trilogy

Games Other Halo
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> I am one of those people who believes that 343i wouldn’t throw away something as iconic to Halo as the Covenant. Instead, I believe the Covenant is, relatively speaking, going to evolve, along with the rest of the Halo series.
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> Personally, I think the Covenant is going to be our ally in the upcoming battle against the ancient evil. Stay with me here, guys. I know that may be a difficult concept to grasp since humanity has been fighting them for, as of 2552, twenty-seven years now. I think the Human-Covenant alliance will be forged out of absolute necessity.
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> Apparently, this new enemy is going to threaten the fate of the entire universe. Humans and the Covenant share this universe, and each set of species will be driven to extinction by the ancient enemy if they don’t settle their differences and fight against a common foe.

> During the event known as the Great Schism, the Covenant split into two. One side, made up of mostly Elites, Grunts, and Hunters, fought against another side of Brutes, Jackals, and smaller mixes of the other species mentioned above, disregarding Elites, of course. Anyway, this civil war lasted from, according to canon, 2552-2559, resulting in the ultimate demise of the Brutes.
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> I am thinking that Karen Traviss’s upcoming novels will further and mostly explore the events of the Great Schism, but maybe we’ll be dealing with it in-game, playing as the Arbiter, but I find this most unlikely.
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> : (
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> But I really want to focus on the Human-Covenant alliance that will, most likely, occur in the Reclaimer Trilogy. With the Brutes and Jackals possibly out of the picture (unless we are dealing with the events of the Great Schism), that would leave the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters, something I’ve dubbed as “The New Covenant”, victorious, but they are going to face the same ancient threat as humanity, and, therefore, will need assistance in the fight.

> An alliance between the Humans, Elites, Grunts, and Hunters would be amazing, in my opinion. Imagine each faction working together with the Forerunners to try to combat the ancient evil. THAT would be an excellent story element and some awesome story elements.
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> Hey, the Covenant and humanity have worked together before, and they’ll do it again.
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> Watch that video up until 4:29, the ending. Did you see that? Humanity and the Covenant united against the Flood, which I believe will be the enemy, along with the Precursors in the Reclaimer Trilogy. But, just think about that. Humanity and the Covenant, only though it lasted for a short period of time, banded together and put a stop to the Flood that would’ve consumed them all. This sound like it could happen in the Reclaimer Trilogy at some point.

> There could be some potential problems with this newly formed alliance, such as tension between species, but I think, in the end, they’ll learn to ignore the hatred and focus on the bigger picture: Saving each others species from annihilation due to a galactic Flood infestation and Precursor domination (cwatididthar?).
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> If the Forerunners happen to ally with us, then we’ll be in even better hands. They nearly wiped the Precursors out before, and, with the help of the humans and a few Covenant species, I’m sure they can do it again, but the Flood is going to be a huge problem.

> This is going to be another great ten years of Halo!

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quotations…

> …why?

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Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.

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> quotations…
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> > …why?

I just thought it would be easier for people to read. Thought I’d save you guys some trouble.

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> Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.

Having variations of multiple species fighting for you rather than fight against you is not smart game development. Typically, game developers want to give the fun gameplay variation to the other side for you to fight.

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> > Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.
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> I’d rather have more enemies than allies, and I’m sure the majority would agree.

So why do they have to be Covenant? Are new enemies such a terrible concept?

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> > Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.
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> I’d rather have more enemies than allies, and I’m sure the majority would agree.

I think the Flood and Precursors will be enough. Do you really want to be fighting two separate wars? I’d rather focus on the larger threat.

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> Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.

I really don’t know what else to call them, other than “The New Covenant”. If they are implemented into the new series, hopefully the Elites will come up with a more juicy and meaningful name.

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> > Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.
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> I really don’t know what else to call them, other than “The New Covenant”. If they are implemented into the new series, hopefully the Elites will come up with a more juicy and meaningful name.

Somehow I doubt any of the species would want to be part of anything with the name “Covenant” in it. Painful memories.

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> > > Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.
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> > I’d rather have more enemies than allies, and I’m sure the majority would agree.
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> So why do they have to be Covenant? Are new enemies such a terrible concept?

I’m not necessarily saying the Covenant will be in Halo 4, just arguing against you stubborn attitude that baffles me. Are new enemies with the Covenant as a side threat such a terrible concept? More things that are fun to fight lead to a better gameplay experience.

So you want a dumbed-down gameplay experience? Oh, and now you’re going to tell me how the Covenant have no role in the story even though you know nothing about Halo 4’s plot, and even though Frankie has stated 343i’s not afraid to bend things in the game/universe to make for a more enjoyable game.

It makes more sense to keep the Covenant, but to a smaller scale, rather than scrap them altogether, i.e., scrapping one of the biggest selling points of the Halo games. There are more logical reasons to keep them than to get rid of them. Case closed.

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> > > Personally, that all sounds fine and dandy. I want fights like the one in the video, unified species all working together to fight a common foe. That said though, can we finally drop the “Covenant” title? I think that needs to go to show progress.
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> > I’d rather have more enemies than allies, and I’m sure the majority would agree.
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> I think the Flood and Precursors will be enough. Do you really want to be fighting two separate wars? I’d rather focus on the larger threat.

I don’t think you have a clear perception on depth of a story. In Halo’s case, having multiple things happening around at one time makes for an intense plot.

And I don’t think people would take kindly to the much-dreaded parasitic enemy of the Halo games that are usually regarded as annoying, along with gigantic monsters with no personality that make every moment count as a boss battle, both of which having absolutely no flavor to them. Not one that’s not sour, anyway.

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> I’m not necessarily saying the Covenant will be in Halo 4, just arguing against you stubborn attitude that baffles me. <mark>Are new enemies with the Covenant as a side threat such a terrible concept?</mark> More things that are fun to fight lead to a better gameplay experience.

They don’t need to be a side threat, that implies they aren’t even important to the story. I’ve been fighting and reading about the characters fight the Covenant for over 10 years, enough’s enough.

> So you want a dumbed-down gameplay experience?

So the gameplay will be dumbed down without the Covenant? Proof?

> Oh, and now you’re going to tell me how the Covenant have no role in the story even though you know nothing about Halo 4’s plot, and even though Frankie has stated 343i’s not afraid to bend things in the game/universe to make for a more enjoyable game.

That tells me they don’t really care about the canon and story as they say they do if anything else. I also find it funny you condemn me for having nothing to base their importance on the story, yet say the game will have dumbed down gameplay without them. Hypocrisy much?

> It makes more sense to keep the Covenant, but to a smaller scale, rather than scrap them altogether, i.e., scrapping one of the biggest selling points of the Halo games.

The Forerunner books don’t have the Covenant and those have sold well and remained popular. Frankly, things need to change. Star Wars isn’t always about the Empire being a threat and it does just fine.

> There are more logical reasons to keep them than to get rid of them. Case closed.

And there are more logical reasons to keep them out of this game than to keep them in. I’m not beyond with the species coming back in future games, but they just aren’t intrinsically necessary in Halo 4. So case NOT closed.

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I would rather fight the Covenant myself, I see why others would enjoy it but for ten years we have been against the Covenant and now it has changed into one of Halo’s necessities. If they were friendly, yes it would be cool, but Halo’s campaign gameplay involves shooting various aliens. Adding Forerunner or Precursor counterparts will mean they would have to have the exact amount of health and shape because we know the old formula works in campaign. It would be a lot easier if we fought against Covenant as well as the Ancient Enemy.

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I am fine with covenant being an enemy in Halo 4, but i sure as hell don’t wan’t them being as common as in Halo Reach - 3. After 10 years I have gotten a little tired of fighting them, and I think the idea of a brand new enemy sounds extremely fun.

So in short : Yes Covenant ( they should still come in in big fights to mix things up ) , But reduce their role in the game.