The Covenant factions were split in Halo 2 and the Elites allied with the UNSC in Halo 3. The factions not with the Elites were destroyed. The Prophets and the Brutes were taken down.
So why is it that we come back in Halo 4 with the Elites and the rest of the Covenant as foes again with no reason? There are WAY too many wholes in the story. This is just one of the many.
Are the new Elites betrayers or another faction of Elites? Where did they come from? Why are they still attacking the UNSC and going for the journey after the loss of the Prophets?
Please discuss and add any details you may know. Some people may prefer Spoilers for certain information so please respect that.
I remember in the campaign, Chief asks Cortana why the Elite attacked him, because he thought they had a truce. All Cortana says is something like “you’ve been gone a long time, Chief”. And that’s all we really know. lol
Long version: Go read Glasslands and The Thursday War.
Short version: The leader of these Covenant is a guy named Jul 'Mdama. He hates humans because he feels they are responsible for the death of his wife. Plus, he got into ONI’s hands, so there’s that. He determined that the other people he could side with (religious zealots who were being supplied by humans and the Arbiter, who openly works with humans) suck. Through various events, he learns about the Didact (who also isn’t terribly fond of humans), discovers the Didact is on Requiem, and decides he wants to use the Didact to destroy humanity.
As to how he got all the other races working with him, I’m assuming he found the hyper religious ones. He found a colony of super religious sangheili to start off with, and probably just worked outward from there.
> These Covenant seem more fanatical than the others.
Turns out that it is a radical religious splinter group. There are Covenant refugees on Earth even (explained in Spartan Ops episode 1). The Covenant civil war is still ongoing it seems.
> These are just a splinter group of many.
>
> Read Glasslands and Thursday war.
>
> I’m serious read some books. I know alot of people don’t like reading but they help you understand the lore.
This. Or at the very least, read the summaries. It’s what I did for the Forerunner Trilogy, which I had no intention of reading, to understand who the Didact was before the game came out.
> Are the new Elites betrayers or another faction of Elites? Where did they come from? Why are they still attacking the UNSC and going for the journey after the loss of the Prophets?
the Covenant you fight in Halo 4 are the Storm Covenant. They are a faction of the remaining Covenant that still believe that Forerunners are their Gods. They also still believe that humans are pathetic beings and still long to wipe them out.
They are led by Jul 'Mdama, the Elite currently showcased in Spartan Ops as the main baddy. He was part of a plot after Halo 3 to assassinate the Arbiter, who was seeking peace with Humans. It failed. Jul 'Mdama learned that the Storm Faction was being supplied by ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) which is part of the UNSC. He was captured and sent to an ONI facility on the Forerunner Shield World Onyx. He later escaped after learning the coordinates for Requiem while on Onyx.
When he returned, he took command of the Storm faction and set off to find Requiem. Enter Halo 4.