I was discussing with my friend how the return of the Flood is, ultimately, inevitable. However, the question remains: How would they return? There seems to be a good few ways they could. Perhaps a containment breach?
What do you all think?
There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
There was also Flood on the exterior of the Shield World encountered in 253, so that proves they are not only on the Halos.
Plus there are the Precursors that left the Galaxy and did not let themselves be turned in to cosmic dust. They could make a come back.
I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
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> There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
My thoughts exactly. However, after what’s happened… I don’t know what/who in their right minds would dare poke their noses, whether it be Human or Covenant, in places they don’t belong on Halo. Especially if doing so had some risk releasing contained Flood samples.
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> I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
I can see why you like to think that, and it is a gold point. But if there was, is there a way for them to get off of the Ark? I want to say there would be some way for them to do so with some leftovers from the battle.
- Samples on the remaining installations - Surviving flood from outside the galaxy - Spirit of fire - Shield worlds
I feel like a certain AI lady could release them from a containment facility on a Halo, perhaps as a punishment to those that refuse to surrender to her.
Could maybe tie into her having become infected by a logic plague by the Gravemind some time ago.
The flood seems to be just one more enemy for the universe to fight. However i do think that once the mantle falls to those that deserve it that it may be possible for the flood to acknowledge the true inheritors of the mantle and more or less stand down. We shall see though
The question is not only “How?” but also “When?”
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> I feel like a certain AI lady could release them from a containment facility on a Halo, perhaps as a punishment to those that refuse to surrender to her.
> Could maybe tie into her having become infected by a logic plague by the Gravemind some time ago.
If she had been infected by the logic plague she wouldn’t have helped John destroy the flood on the Ark. This theory never makes sense since she has never shown any sign of the logic plague, just standard rampancy once she approached the end of her lifetime which was accelerated by the massive amount of data she’s absorbed from the Halos and other forerunner structures.
Also I hope they don’t do another flood outbreak like they did in Halo CE, maybe more from outside the galaxy but I hope not seeing how the flood are boring and annoying to fight. They don’t have anymore mystery or horror that they originally did and now more than ever would they be screwed by the UNSC and the Swords and the Created.
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> > 2533274886377917;5:
> > I feel like a certain AI lady could release them from a containment facility on a Halo, perhaps as a punishment to those that refuse to surrender to her.
> > Could maybe tie into her having become infected by a logic plague by the Gravemind some time ago.
>
>
> If she had been infected by the logic plague she wouldn’t have helped John destroy the flood on the Ark. This theory never makes sense since she has never shown any sign of the logic plague, just standard rampancy once she approached the end of her lifetime which was accelerated by the massive amount of data she’s absorbed from the Halos and other forerunner structures.
>
> Also I hope they don’t do another flood outbreak like they did in Halo CE, maybe more from outside the galaxy but I hope not seeing how the flood are boring and annoying to fight. They don’t have anymore mystery or horror that they originally did and now more than ever would they be screwed by the UNSC and the Swords and the Created.
She’s quoting the flood-corrupted Ur-Didact word for word and somehow subverting thousands of AIs with a corrupted belief in the mantle. That reeks Logic Plague right there. And, seeing that the Flood and Domain are both Precursor in origin and the domain stores knowledge, is it that shocking that she possibly contracted an ideological corruption in a knowledge repository?
Also, if you have read the Forerunner trilogy you know that the Flood have been confirmed to be a central key to the story and will be returning. There’s still plenty of mystery about them… the console limitations of 2007 shouldn’t restrict the creativity in Flood design.
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> > 2533274865500640;8:
> > > 2533274886377917;5:
> > > I feel like a certain AI lady could release them from a containment facility on a Halo, perhaps as a punishment to those that refuse to surrender to her.
> > > Could maybe tie into her having become infected by a logic plague by the Gravemind some time ago.
> >
> >
> > If she had been infected by the logic plague she wouldn’t have helped John destroy the flood on the Ark. This theory never makes sense since she has never shown any sign of the logic plague, just standard rampancy once she approached the end of her lifetime which was accelerated by the massive amount of data she’s absorbed from the Halos and other forerunner structures.
> >
> > Also I hope they don’t do another flood outbreak like they did in Halo CE, maybe more from outside the galaxy but I hope not seeing how the flood are boring and annoying to fight. They don’t have anymore mystery or horror that they originally did and now more than ever would they be screwed by the UNSC and the Swords and the Created.
>
>
> She’s quoting the flood-corrupted Ur-Didact word for word and somehow subverting thousands of AIs with a corrupted belief in the mantle. That reeks Logic Plague right there. And, seeing that the Flood and Domain are both Precursor in origin and the domain stores knowledge, is it that shocking that she possibly contracted an ideological corruption in a knowledge repository?
>
> Also, if you have read the Forerunner trilogy you know that the Flood have been confirmed to be a central key to the story and will be returning. There’s still plenty of mystery about them… the console limitations of 2007 shouldn’t restrict the creativity in Flood design.
And there’s the other portion of the theory that doesn’t make sense. Ur-Didact was never stated to be corrupted by the flood. In fact that has never even been mentioned as a power the Flood or more specifically Graveminds are capable of. The Logic Virus can only infect AIs like Mendicant Bias. I would buy into the corrupted logic virus theory for Cortana if she had shown any sign during Halo 3 before undergoing rampancy like all AI do, in Halo 4 but she doesn’t. As for biological life-forms I’ve never read, heard or seen the Flood try to corrupt in any way. The Gravemind can try tricking, or diplomacy but it’s never been shown corrupting. The closest example to what could be considered corrupting was when It tried finding the location of Earth in Keyes’ brain and he was resisting. It can’t just subtly subvert biological lifeforms to its way of thinking or leave them in a corrupted-half state, it can only assimilate them. If Didact’s reasoning feels odd sometimes its because he spent centuries trapped in a Cryptum with just his own thoughts, once the Domain crashed. I would love a quote for where anywhere in the books they said the flood have the ability to corrupt lifeforms because I never came across it, so as far as I’m concerned, its a fan-theory.
I did read the Forerunner trilogy, the flood was one of the main-points although I felt it focused more on fleshing out the Forerunners and their society. Regardless there always seems to be two factions we fight so I guess the flood could return to take the place of the now defeated Covenant Remnants. But I personally think their return would probably take away from the end John’s and Cortana’s character arcs (I believe both are going to die in Halo 6)
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> If she had been infected by the logic plague she wouldn’t have helped John destroy the flood on the Ark.
The Ur-Didact was also corrupted by the Gravemind, but he still tried to build an army to destroy the Flood. Corruption doesn’t necessarily mean you side with the Flood, it just means that you technically do what the Gravemind wants. The Ur-Didact turned against his own people and attempted to destroy humanity. He created pain and misery and the Gravemind liked that. Cortana herself isn’t directly helping the Flood either. Like the Ur-Didact who thought what he was doing was right, Cortana is going to force peace on the galaxy. Of course the Forerunner did the same and all that did was make the galaxy a perfect target for the Flood to conquer. She’s helping the Flood without even realizing it.
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> she has never shown any sign of the logic plague, just standard rampancy once she approached the end of her lifetime
The problem with this is that notes from Doctor Halsey in Halo 4 indicate that the 7 year life-span of normal AI might not apply to Cortana because of her unique construction. A lot of Cortana’s rampancy moments in Halo 4 are actually her quoting things the Gravemind told her in Human Weakness. Her attitude in Halo 5 is also based around what happened to her in Human Weakness. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but there is a lot of evidence supporting Gravemind corruption.
The Flood have been spreading throughout the universe for a hundred thousand years, if they return, they will have likely evolved to such a degree that they would be nearly unrecognizable. Key Minds will be the least of our concern. What hides inside the shadows of sundered stars? What darkness lurks beyond the borders of our galaxy, surrounding us from all sides? “I recall a sun - black, but shining - and the creatures that inched along its fiery tracks.”
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> > 2533274865500640;8:
> > If she had been infected by the logic plague she wouldn’t have helped John destroy the flood on the Ark.
>
>
> The Ur-Didact was also corrupted by the Gravemind, but he still tried to build an army to destroy the Flood. Corruption doesn’t necessarily mean you side with the Flood, it just means that you technically do what the Gravemind wants. The Ur-Didact turned against his own people and attempted to destroy humanity. He created pain and misery and the Gravemind liked that. Cortana herself isn’t directly helping the Flood either. Like the Ur-Didact who thought what he was doing was right, Cortana is going to force peace on the galaxy. Of course the Forerunner did the same and all that did was make the galaxy a perfect target for the Flood to conquer. She’s helping the Flood without even realizing it.
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>
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> > 2533274865500640;8:
> > she has never shown any sign of the logic plague, just standard rampancy once she approached the end of her lifetime
>
>
> The problem with this is that notes from Doctor Halsey in Halo 4 indicate that the 7 year life-span of normal AI might not apply to Cortana because of her unique construction. A lot of Cortana’s rampancy moments in Halo 4 are actually her quoting things the Gravemind told her in Human Weakness. Her attitude in Halo 5 is also based around what happened to her in Human Weakness. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but there is a lot of evidence supporting Gravemind corruption.
Okay so supposed corruption of which there have only been two cases of, makes a person " do what the Gravemind wants." (let me know if it seems like I take your words out of context.) Now it is certainly plausible for the Flood to plan and manipulate events to affect the future, like they did by not consuming all humans to make the forerunners think that the humans had some cure but even indirectly Ur-Didact and Cortana haven’t helped the flood in the slightest. The flood is capable of anger and other emotions but it doesn’t strike me as sadistic, just methodical in its approach to assimilating everything, panic and chaos help but what Didact and Cortana do after their time with the Gravemind is the exact opposite.
The Didact began composing humans and turning them into flood-invincible killing machines, also he made himself flood-immune. Not only was he eliminating a possible food source but he was transferring them into Flood-exterminators. So if he was truly doing what the flood wanted him too then where does the benefit come in? His Prometheans weren’t attacking forerunners and there’s a good chance if he had composed all the humans that the Forerunners might not have needed to activate the Halos or at least as soon as they did. His motivation never changed, he never believed the humans were ready of the mantle and hated the humans for getting all of his kids killed and destroying Forerunner planets.
As for Cortana, Halsey wasn’t completely if that she could surpass the lifespan, not to mention the amount of data she gained from the Halo probably decreased her lifespan as she shows beginning signs of rampancy in First Strike until some of her data is erased to give her more thinking space. The biggest flaw on basing the corruption theory on her quoting the Gravemind from Human Weakness is that the Gravemind was using doubts that already existed in her mind to get to her. She already felt that way, and so do other AIs judging from how many joined her cause. She had had those thoughts and worries before and the Gravemind was just capitalizing on it. So when she brings them up as she goes into rampancy, whos to say she’s just pissed and angry that everyone wants to get rid of her, she’s ineffective, John will get a new AI when she dies, she’s putting him in danger and that he might forget about her in time? It isn’t a strong point since she only shows signs once the standard AI lifespan is reached and before and after she does her best to help John. Her using the Halo Array to kill all the flood there doesn’t help the flood, especially since the Array can make more rings and they can still be detonated. If the Array had been destroyed by the blast then i could believe the chance of subterfuge and a bigger plan at hand. Now if someone had the theory that only the rampant portion of her made it to the Domain and its thought process was normalized, then I could buy that one but the Corruption one just doesn’t hold up. Of course if in the next Halo its revealed that the Flood just wanted AI in control because they are susceptible to the Logic Virus then I will gladly eat my hat and shoe.
I would love nothing more for than the flood to return, they were the heart of halo ! Ripping into marines, would be an awesome sence marines and Spartans holding off flood forces!
I don’t hope for the flood to return. I think we’ve had enough of these monstrosities. If they do return, that could only be certain doom for all life in the galaxy. 
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> So if he was truly doing what the flood wanted him too then where does the benefit come in?
Halo Silentium
String 24, Page 206
CATALOG: You removed him from the presence of the Gravemind?
MENDICANT BIAS: Not me. The Gravemind.
CATALOG: Why was the Didact released?
MENDICANT BIAS: I cannot know for certain, but the Gravemind never acts without intent. There’s apparently a larger game to be played, a sharply twisted game of revenge, for which my co-creator has been preserved.
Halo Silentium
String 34, Page 287 - 289
"He was interrogated by a Gravemind,’ I say.
‘I know that much.’
‘If you were Gravemind, such an amalgam of ancient memory, Forerunner memory and experience - how would you forge a weapon to strike at the center of Forerunner defenses?’
She narrows her eyes severely. I have struck a strong chord- and a sour one. Her nostrils compress, as if she does not want to breathe the same air as me. But she folds her arms and continues to listen.
‘An honorable and courageous leader is delivered unexpectedly into your control,’ I say, ‘a leader whose return might bring hope and renewed strength to the Forerunner exumene.’
‘And?’
‘And yet his return has brought nothing but sorrow and horrific destruction, not only to his own rate, but now to the humans as well. He’s become a foolish pawn in a dark game of revenge that began long ago.’
‘The Primordial,’ Endurance says.
‘The Primordial. An experience so traumatic he kept the facts hidden from me for ten thousand years. Such a creature, with such a dark brilliance, would play upon his oldest fears, twist emotions made fragile during a lifetime of war and hardship and politics. Twist, intensify - and distort them.’
‘Prometheans have for hundreds of thousands of years been proofed against that sort of pressure,’ Endurance says. ‘Torture has never broken one of our rank.’
‘They have no training against this adversary. No armor or protection against the heirs of those who created us. The Didact has been subjected to the examination of something so very close to a god… one related to those we assumed had passed the Mantle to us, but most definitely have not.’
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> As for Cortana
It’s not a series of coincidences. Even if she had those feelings buried in her subconscious, the point is that the Gravemind dug into her mind and brought them to the surface. She would attempt to resist the Gravemind but he was too much for her. Sane Cortana told him he was wrong and resisted him, that’s why she only quoted him when she experienced rampant moments. She even argues with these rampant spikes in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
> 2533274810945725;2:
> There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
> There was also Flood on the exterior of the Shield World encountered in 253, so that proves they are not only on the Halos.
>
> Plus there are the Precursors that left the Galaxy and did not let themselves be turned in to cosmic dust. They could make a come back.
>
> I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
You really think there could be traces still on the ARK?
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> > 2533274810945725;2:
> > There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
> > There was also Flood on the exterior of the Shield World encountered in 253, so that proves they are not only on the Halos.
> >
> > Plus there are the Precursors that left the Galaxy and did not let themselves be turned in to cosmic dust. They could make a come back.
> >
> > I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
>
>
> You really think there could be traces still on the ARK?
Let me explain my logic.
The fact that Instalation 04, 05 and Shield World 0459 all contained samples of the Flood for study, opens up the possibility that other Forerunner instalations contain samples for study, maybe ven the Ark itself. Doubtfull, as holding samples of the Flood outside the range of the Halo array would be risky, but there is still the posibility.
Further more, we know that the Ark wasn’t destroyed by the destruction of 04B, only damaged.
There may yet have been Flood forces that hadn’t made their way to 04B and were still on the Ark, maybe even in areas that survived damage from the ring?
And my last point. During the final mission of Halo 3, Flood pods rain down from the sky to land in the battlefield.
Where were they coming from.
The only logical explanation is that the Flood still had control of some ships that it had in orbit above the ring, ships that could have gotten away when the Gravemind became aware that Chief had activated the Halo. Meaning there could be Flood infected ships anywhere in the Galaxy.
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> > 2533274958766554;17:
> > > 2533274810945725;2:
> > > There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
> > > There was also Flood on the exterior of the Shield World encountered in 253, so that proves they are not only on the Halos.
> > >
> > > Plus there are the Precursors that left the Galaxy and did not let themselves be turned in to cosmic dust. They could make a come back.
> > >
> > > I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
> >
> >
> > You really think there could be traces still on the ARK?
>
>
> Let me explain my logic.
>
> The fact that Instalation 04, 05 and Shield World 0459 all contained samples of the Flood for study, opens up the possibility that other Forerunner instalations contain samples for study, maybe ven the Ark itself. Doubtfull, as holding samples of the Flood outside the range of the Halo array would be risky, but there is still the posibility.
>
> Further more, we know that the Ark wasn’t destroyed by the destruction of 04B, only damaged.
> There may yet have been Flood forces that hadn’t made their way to 04B and were still on the Ark, maybe even in areas that survived damage from the ring?
>
> And my last point. During the final mission of Halo 3, Flood pods rain down from the sky to land in the battlefield.
> Where were they coming from.
> The only logical explanation is that the Flood still had control of some ships that it had in orbit above the ring, ships that could have gotten away when the Gravemind became aware that Chief had activated the Halo. Meaning there could be Flood infected ships anywhere in the Galaxy.
Wouldn’t the blast from the Halo ring have killed any Flood in the area? Also, I’m pretty sure the Flood dispersal pods came from another location on the ring, where the Gravemind was trying to rebuild itself.
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> > 2533274810945725;18:
> > > 2533274958766554;17:
> > > > 2533274810945725;2:
> > > > There was flood in containment on Installation 04 and 05. It’s a safe bet that they have samples on each Halo.
> > > > There was also Flood on the exterior of the Shield World encountered in 253, so that proves they are not only on the Halos.
> > > >
> > > > Plus there are the Precursors that left the Galaxy and did not let themselves be turned in to cosmic dust. They could make a come back.
> > > >
> > > > I’d also like to think that there may be traces of the Flood still on the Ark.
> > >
> > >
> > > You really think there could be traces still on the ARK?
> >
> >
> > Let me explain my logic.
> >
> > The fact that Instalation 04, 05 and Shield World 0459 all contained samples of the Flood for study, opens up the possibility that other Forerunner instalations contain samples for study, maybe ven the Ark itself. Doubtfull, as holding samples of the Flood outside the range of the Halo array would be risky, but there is still the posibility.
> >
> > Further more, we know that the Ark wasn’t destroyed by the destruction of 04B, only damaged.
> > There may yet have been Flood forces that hadn’t made their way to 04B and were still on the Ark, maybe even in areas that survived damage from the ring?
> >
> > And my last point. During the final mission of Halo 3, Flood pods rain down from the sky to land in the battlefield.
> > Where were they coming from.
> > The only logical explanation is that the Flood still had control of some ships that it had in orbit above the ring, ships that could have gotten away when the Gravemind became aware that Chief had activated the Halo. Meaning there could be Flood infected ships anywhere in the Galaxy.
>
>
> Wouldn’t the blast from the Halo ring have killed any Flood in the area? Also, I’m pretty sure the Flood dispersal pods came from another location on the ring, where the Gravemind was trying to rebuild itself.
Well in Hunters in the Dark, there are lifeforms alive on the Ark that obviously survived the destruction of the ring.
Yes but the pods came from the sky…