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> This is a fascinating thread. Very interesting to see the different (and passionate) opinions.
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> While I agree that collective guilt as a general concept tends to be counterintuitive, I’m not sure the Sangheili’s situation parallels any that we can draw from real-world history. We talk about blaming the front-line Elites as opposed to those that were back home on Sangheilios, but as far as we know they were all Covenant. Sure, some Elites wondered why humanity wasn’t offered admission to the Covenant, and others felt humans were honorable or worthy foes, but despite some minor sympathies to the best of my understanding we don’t know of any Elites that were truly opposed to the war.
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> All available sources seem to indicate that at that time, the Covenant was a truly monolithic organization and that the vast majority if not all members of its respective species were committed to its goals. For some species, such as the Lekgolo and Kig-Yar, the Covenant was more pragmatic than anything, but from what we have to go on, most Elites were true believers in the Great Journey, regardless of whether that belief was misguided. In that sense, there’s not a lot separating the Elites on the front lines from those back home. Now, groups like the Ussans should get a pass since they were out of contact with the rest of the species and didn’t even know of the war, but as far as I know there aren’t any known anti-war dissidents in Covenant space during the Human-Covenant conflict. Remember, the civil conflicts between the Elites post-Halo 3 were a result of the new knowledge that the Great Journey and the Prophets were false- prior to that though, they all seemed to be on the same page in their fight against humanity.
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> As a gamer, I like the Sangheili. I think working with them presents interesting story opportunities. If I was actually in that world though- just some human on the street, I can’t imagine forgiving the species that just attempted to eradicate my own, regardless of their motivations. That said, a lack of forgiveness doesn’t mean you can’t be pragmatic. Working with the Arbiter’s faction is definitely advantageous. Even then though, I can’t say I fault ONI for arming his competition and attempting to keep them down. I don’t necessarily agree with it, and there’s huge potential for blowback, but it’s a realistic reaction given the circumstances.
I think you kind of missed the entire point of the second half of Halo 2. They separated from the Covenant, and worked with Humanity. Sure it was in part to survive, and yet Thel dropped the bomb into saying that everything they believed was false.
If a Sangheili was born in 2553, and you met him on the street in 2570, you would harbor that hate that happened nearly two decades ago, to a random Sangheili who has zero knowledge of such events?
Saying that this situation doesn’t correspond with Human History is false. Look again at Anton’s post on how he replaces certain words with post WWI and WWII. A popular saying is that ‘History is written by the victors.’ If the Axis won, would they be in the right? Allies placed people of certain races into ‘camps’ because they were afraid of spies. They bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yet it was considered just?
These situations are not black and white as you nor Naked Crook are making it to be (who still hasn’t responded to any logical counter argument against him, which should tell you something). Its funny how Halo 5 actually talks about two sides to the story, and yet people won’t view Locke’s side, and stay arrogant on Chief’s side, believing he is fully in the right. We don’t even know the situation, and yet we are already prejudging something that hasn’t even happened.
An extermination, or even a disgrace of the Mantle in this game, would lead to Humanities extinction. I’m assuming you don’t want to see us die by the full force of the Flood? Cause the Flood in Halo CE, 2 and 3 was small and weak compared to what they actually are.
