G’day readers. I recommend you watch this video before reading the rest of this article. (HiddenXperia is a great Halo theorist and I also encourage you to check out his other videos regarding the future of Halo. Hopefully wat he says comes true.)
Fact: Jul M’dama, as we know, was a Sanghelli leader who lead a large fragment of what remained of the Covenant ever since the end of human-Covenant war in 2552. His goal was to uphold the beliefs of their once powerful, almost victorious empire which involved eradicating the human race. He was officially assassinated by Agent Locke at Forerunner location on Kamtchatka in 2558. This was a huge victory for the UNSC.
If you played Halo 5 and understand the story, you’ll realise that Jul M’dama’s Covenant has been defeated by Arbiter. This points towards only one direction: No Covenant in Halo 6. It’s all gone.
On the contrary, this video suggests that the Covenant may actually return again.
I’d like to get into greater detail why this is such a huge possibility and the reasons why 343 wanted to get rid of the Covenant.
1: 343 were getting tired of the Covenant. Defeating the Covenant for good (and making Arbiter’s army look inferior but stronger) suggests the possibility that 343 were eventually hoping to cease the development of the Covenant within the future FPS Halo titles. Halo 5 brought 343 them that opportunity. However 343 wanted to see how the fans would react - would it be noticed by the fans that the Covenant would never return again? Turns out they left in a few clues in-game to suggest that they may change their minds if there is so much disappointment. (Least sales to date conclude there is.) Additionally, 343 has an increasing interest to forcefully expand the Forerunners as adversaries and hold an obsession on the Infinity as a main protagonist foundation. No longer will any be secrets be left in the galaxy and the Human-Forerunner sounds more intriguing to them.
2: Getting rid of Jul M’dama gives way to a new more powerful leader. As suggested in the video, Cortana would easily be recognised as a Forerunner God by what remains of the Covenent. It’s like criminals fighting for power - whoever wins gets to take over the leadership of a gang or something. I personally think Jul M’dama was an interesting character and his potential was thrown away. But this is why 343 made Locke say “He was an opportunist, not a leader” so that you could understand how 343 views Jul. In their opinion, Cortana is a more fitting leader.
3: Defeating Jul’s faction gives way to a potentially stronger Covenant, under Cortana’s command which includes the Brutes. Instead of fighting “alien terrorists and mercenaries”, we’ll be fighting against a new galactic alliance in Halo 6. 343 may have felt that continuing the Halo franchise with a very weakened Covenant lead by Jul M’dama was not going to assist the future of Halo in a positive way. Rather than try to improve this issue 343 believes that if a new Covenant empire is decided to return in Halo 6, it should be more powerful and heartfelt because it will be a great opportunity to take revenge on humanity. Halo Wars 2 brutes confirm the fans take a huge interest on the return of the Brutes and are for this reason being preserved for Halo 6.
4: These theories also possibly give way to keeping Forerunner warfare secret from the public. In most cases, Forerunner artefacts, facilities, and locations, are a huge surprise to humans once anything is discovered and are a valuable treasure to the Covenant. It wasn’t until Halo 3 during the excavation of the Ark’s portal that anything had become public. Since then the UNSC has pledged the Infinity on behalf of mankind to locate and dismantle remaining Forerunner Halos. (Public opinion of this is still not entirely known).
In in my personal opinion, Halo 5 rubs Forerunners 343 hopes to be the new main antagonist empire. It’s all rubbed in your face and I don’t think that it’s a good thing. What’s so cool about the Forerunners if they are no longer a secret and became the main foes over traditional enemies? Halo 6 has a chance to cover this mistake by placing the Covenant in the front lines of Cortana’s war against those who resist her. Public attention will be directed to Covenent once more and the Forerunners would remain a secret… Hopefully
Thanks for reading. I’ll edit this articl for some improvements later.
(Why was Dr Halsy so important in Halo 5? Read HERE to find out the answer)