You neglected a few extremely important details when talking about the Forerunner Human war and I have to mention it. Especially since I went through the books again for the infinite number of times yesterday and today. A long comment. Get some popcorn. 1. While Ancient Humanity put up a strong fight against the Forerunners in which Ur-Didact repeatedly acknowledges that strength, the grand admiral himself never considered themselves ever being close to defeating the Forerunners. One of the few things he claims is that they never got close to the heart of the Forerunner's empire during the entire war. Specifically saying they were more than 15,000 light years away. Whenever Ur-Didact spoke about their backs and forths, he talks and behave as if they were his toughest opponents but never shows any feelings that Forerunners would ever lose and were close to losing. It gives off the impression that Ur-Didact was playing chess while Lord Admiral was fighting for the survival of his entire species. 2. Ancient Humanity fought on two fronts yes, but to say that they had a chance to get rid of Flood if they didn't instigate an entire war against the Forerunners instead of establishing any communications with them, is false. They never had a chance of winning against Flood even if they had no one else to fight. The most important detail about the entire war in which you neglected to mention is that the Flood SEEMED to be retreating. SEEMED to be pushed back by Ancient Humanity. Ancient Humanity stopped getting infected. It's even detailed that Flood would suddenly run past Ancient Humans, ignoring them and running straight to the Forerunners instead. At that point suddenly Forerunners were fighting on two fronts instead and this is a detail everyone misses. Forerunners would think a cure existed. But turns out it was all a ruse! Turns out Primordial AKA Flood purposely retreated, purposely stopped infecting Ancient Humans and tricked everyone into thinking there was a cure. EVEN Ancient Humanity themselves thought they had found a cure or immunity to the Flood! But no. There is no cure, never was. Primordial AKA Flood was scheming nonstop. At some point Ancient Humanity was manipulated into accepting an offer Primordial AKA Flood offered to them in which Ancient Humanity wouldn't be wiped out according to what was offered but Forerunners would be. At that point Ancient Humanity would help Primordial AKA Flood to wipe out Forerunners. These are important details people never pay attention to. All in all, I have faith that Kelly Gay can fix the shit Frank Pieceofshit'Connor caused. She managed to create the best and most logical possible solution to The Flood in her books series so I have full faith in her being able to repair the injustice Ur-Didact got.
The Didact, for having so little time in the actual games, has quite the impressive amount of great lore on him. All that backstory presents such a grand number of dynamics to his past present and possible future. I likewise hope to see him return to the mainline elements of Halo as there is still much potential for him as a character. Imagine what all the knowledge he possesses could do for Humanity in the Halo universe.
The didact was so noble, and since I read the forerunner trilogy I hope that he can be redeemed. That's probably my biggest hope from the new book, rather than him being another one note villain
I think the best ending he can get is realize the evil of his actions right before dying, and passing on his genetic material onto Master Chief through an improvised Mutation Ritual ala-Iso-Didact, transforming Chief into a Second-Form Warrior Servant.
@@markricheard1870 That's something I could live with, though I do think a human would be compatible with forerunner mutations. Plus it'd change the chief we know and love
@@stuperman117 Nope. The precursors did create both, but they are ultimately separate species. Kinda like humans and Neanderthals. Maybe more distantly related. Read point of light, some super fascinating stuff was said on that subject
What's truly amazing to me is when I bought my xbox on November 15 of 2001 just to check out this new game Halo CE, it was intended to be a "1 and DONE" game. Now look at us. Almost 21 years later and still actively and enthusiastically involved in the lore and game.
I remember seeing HiddenXperia get really upset at the idea of the Didact being Composed, as potentially coming back as a Corrupted, Partially-Broken Forerunner Ancilla, and I dont agree with him that the Didact should stay organic, him becoming a Promethean himself is perfect in my opinion for his character. He became so obsessed with Composing Humanity and turning them all into Prometheans, that his ultimate punishment is to experience that pain himself and lose his prestige title as 'the last Forerunner' Although other Forerunner have become Ancilla just to survive the Halo's, the should Didact become one out of his own arrogance, hatred and hubris. I guess we will see what new form he takes come Kelly Gay's new book, Halo: Epitaph...
He(Hidden) was so upset because it broke literally all of the established lore regarding the Didact. The whole point of the Ur-didact being imprisoned was because he couldn't be composed due to the experiments he preformed on himself. He was made immune to being composed, which was the didact's original plan for himself should it seem like flood infection was inevitable.
he wasnt upset because of the corrupted part, he was upset because the writer literally disregarded pre-established lore; the Didact himself is immune to the Composer after what he did to try and immunize himself to the Flood them coming out of nowhere and saying; 'o but uhh...we nuked the Didact with an armory of exploding Composers! Of course it work!' was utter bs, you'd think the Didact and his team would've tried a focused blast of Composer energy long ago if this was the case...
@@johncarver357 Probably because he didn’t want to become a robot? Plus, look at his Composed form in the Halo 5 Concept Art, it clearly didn’t work properly, as massive chunks of his body are gone.
@@johncarver357 Probably because he didn’t want to become a robot? Plus, look at his Composed form in the Halo 5 Concept Art, it clearly didn’t work properly, as massive chunks of his body are gone.
I always got the idea that the didact was a foil to the chief in the sense that he represented what chief could have become if he never regained his humanity
no you aint the only one, io loved halo 4 from the start, its still my fav game for story, the struggle of chief and cortanas humanity was great, the didact was a great antagonist and it fleshed out the forerunners more, i wish 5 had followed more of 4's story and could have even seen a potential 6th game having a didact redemption arc in which chief possibly having to recover the didact in some form to combat the flood controlled banished
halo 4 was a good game just alot of things changed in halo 4 that made it feel different and alot of ppl hate it cause it's the start of the slide in quality, it's good but it's not as good as 3, at least in my opinion.
The main problem I had with it was the gameplay balance. I was constantly running out of ammo, even more than when I played ODST, and it really made the later parts of the game frustrating. The prometheans are way too bullet spongey for the numbers they show up in.
RIP Greg Bear. His trilogy is still one of the most breathtaking and wonderfully written parts of the lore for this series, his impact on halo will always be gigantic.
@@xXx_Regulus_xXx i prefer humans being a separate species that evolved from a common ancestor alongside the forerunner’s, which is now confirmed canon
I read his trilogy back when it came out before Halo 4. Bear is a skilled writer but the books were confusing as heck. There were so many new terms and technology and new concepts that weren't really explained, I was lost a lot of times in the books. Regardless the books were still cool, but it took a lot of TH-cam lore videos for me to understand everything.
Silentium is rough, because it follows the Forerunners themselves, and this during the last wave of the Flood. It is a scramble, but I loved that it reflected Halo 3. That was a game with plenty of scrambling and hectic action that only got more, and more hectic as the game progressed. I loved Silentium, because it ramped up that hectic feel 1000 fold, because the Flood was at its worst.@@jediflip2515
Old comment but it only makes sense knowing they also were a creation of the Precursors. They were bound to become technologically advanced just by that fact alone and according to the Primordial, they wanted to pass the Mantle of Responsibility to Ancient Humanity so they had to become technologically advanced for that purpose.
I hope at some point 343 leans into the ancient humans part of the lore, like maybe have an armour core in infinite based off their armour designs, or have chief encounter a settlement/ship of ancient human design.
I've a hunch the Endless are a more recent, Halo-immune incarnation of the Precursors, as they share design motifs with Abaddon and the last Precursor known (Primordial) - something missing from this recollection of the history of Iso-Didact in paritcular is the Criterion - their brief governing group to oversee their galactic reseeding and restoration efforts. I imply simply, the Endless are a derivative backup form of the Precursors, seeking to right the wrongs they perceived and continue to see in how the Forerunners had handled matters before, since, and soon - should there be Shield Worlds out there that had succeded in their purpose (and thus were not logged in known history, due to the Didact still having the likes of Requiem unblemished by the Flood). Considering Bastion, mentioned in Halo 5, and the Forerunner colony in Path Kethona. Beyond this point is a wild ramble - a what-if that may lead to a Mass Effect or MMO style continuation of the Halo universe, with Infinite being the 'base game' used to build this on as a continuous expansion to Infinite rather than making more Halo titles - a harkening back to Halo 4's Spartan Ops campaigns. Which were a novel idea, but deserved more time. Unfiltered theoretics, guesswork, and hopefully lore-viable content/fanfiction/??? follow. Way I imagine Ur-Didact coming back is, as he has spent longer in the Domain looking about (sightseeing with echoes of his wife, friends, children, and others - perhaps even convening with the Knight-souls who uploaded themselves to the Domain before their forms failed them, which would explain the constant stream of Knights without need for further Compositions, not unlike how the Necrons can copy themselves to new bodies should their current ones be beyond restoration), he would inevitably liberate Warden Eternal, and also learn other Precursor secrets. To that end he would figure out how to return in organic form, but also remain in The Domain, and pass this on to his Prometheans - who'd do the same. He would have Warden block off Offensive Bias, who would be on the offensive against all parties until he meets Adjutant Resolution and - after a duel with Chief - accepts him as a worthy assistant against the Endless and on a campaign to incite a Great Schism (2) on the Banished to garner additional units to quarantine the Endless before they escape and start committing temporal warfare to cancel out currently accepted history with one where the Forerunners lost their war on the Precursors. That is to say, when Warden intervenes in the duel between Off-Bias and Chief, Didact and his Prometheans emerge and surround them, with a combination of Warrior-Servants proper, Cavalier Mimics controlled by Essences still in The Domain (basically smaller Warrior-Servant-shaped versions of Warden, devoid of face besides a Didact helmet like mask that would part for the face weapon to fire), and Knights. And then a bigger number of Armigers phasing in on command of Off-Bias, but instead of taking aim, they kneel, and Off-Bias dips its head after turning to the Ur-Didact after Warden T-posed in its way. A brief exchange ensues, Warden ambiently shrugs to Chief, very subtly, then whispers to him on comms about having work to do. Warden would be later seen fighting the Harbinger, despite us seeing her dead earlier, as to imply time isn't quite linear with the Endless, or that death isn't the same. She would shout cryptic orders at Warden which are ignored by him, as The Domain was restored by a Forerunner and thus does not possess the Precursor codes she remembers. She'd probably become increasingly frustrated and sloppy, before being restrained, and likely reimprisoned in a Cylix - still able to talk outside of it in a ghostly tone thanks to her Domain connection; this would be a good moment for her to go over a brief history of why she is screaming about Forerunners being wrong - giving Chief an in-depth allusion to the Precursor angle on things. She'd continue to haunt Chief in a ghostly holographic form akin to Abaddon, only to find herself wrapped up in chirpy discussions with Weapon (theory on her name: Durandal?) which leads her to get Domain-memories of why humanity is actually pretty adorable when you get to know them on better terms. This results in her giving a layman's-terms rundown of Neural Physics and how her kind are able to use it because they're a 'spare evolution' the Precursors had but 'got bored of', then 'got stuck in' because their equivalent of the Promethean Rate were at war with the Forerunners and went overboard on a vengeful crusade, resulting in what we know. Weapon in contrast would be giving Harbinger the Forerunner history she had a spare copy of thanks to Cortana's 'ghost' still doing things in the background. At this point the Endless/Precursor/Flood relation would be exposed and we'd be fighting Flood and fully fledged Precursor war engines, Banished, and wayward green-lit Prometheans that had been hijacked by the Precursor/Endless via Logic Plague, who have a more organic/zombie gait. During this, Harbinger would be leading Chief behind their lines and trying to get her kin to reevaluate the present tense. Didact, Warden, Off-Bias and their combined Promethean/Builder arsenal would overwhelm the Flood/Endless forces, but not kill the Endless themselves - instead restraining them as to show their adherence to the Mantle in action. The end of such a hypothetical(ly free) DLC campaign if taken in this way would introduce alerts that reward credits, with Flood, hijacked Sentinel swarms, and rogue Promethean forces, attacking your firebases - or trying to take and reestablish defeated enemy bases. Furthermore, the Spires would also be revealed to be repurposed partitions of the Palace of Pain, with 'forbidden' configurations implying that the Master Builder had tormented the Xalanyn for longer than the Forerunners-since had realised, or something to this end. DLC weapons in the campaign would include a classic Carbine, the entire Promethean arsenal with the ability to swap between 'combat models' (i.e: Halo 4 versions and Halo 5 versions), with some functional adjustments to give the arsenal a clear array of distinct uses. Things like the Brute Shot and armour abilities like the Hardlight Shield would return as pickups, with modes where you have loadouts, like in Reach. As for further content after on this narrative path, we would likely see the Precursors trying to reassert their position, and coming into political bouts with the Forerunners while rebuilding destroyed worlds and restoring life via The Domain - with, much to the Precursors' disgust, Forerunner help, because The Domain's functions are recoded to a Forerunner, not a Precursor. Chief would be still following with Harbinger and pursuing a major lead from Ur-Didact regarding Atriox and that he must be brought to judgement for trying to exterminate mankind, as well as other leads regarding pockets of noncompliant Created remnant forces (a gathering of Armigers and Covenant forces, with the occasional human acting as a commander with their Ancilla at their side being the norm, more a 'cult' worshipping the Mantle's ideologies and trying to enforce them without appripriate supervision, leading to needless hostilities and immunity to reason). Didact would continue to discover unregistered Shield Worlds, unleashing dense Forerunner civilian populations on the galaxy and resulting in further galactic political strangeness - with humans putting their things back together, the Covenant leftovers trying to figure out what to do with all these gods running around, and the galaxy at large reeling from the fact that the Precursors - as Xalanyn - are back in the picture. All the while, the Harbinger would continue to find herself fascinated with Chief and his relation to Cortana and humanity - and be 'trapped' in conversations with the Weapon which continue to reveal lore tidbits as they scour the other Halos or something else. Harbinger would still be locked in her Cylix due to trying to incite civil unrest as per neo-Ecumene law. Halsey would likely ask to be Composed, after becoming sufficiently aged, wanting to continue her own agenda which has Didact intrigued. After Composition, Halsey would probably have a form reminiscent of herself and Librarian in some respect, but with the back-parting of a Promethean Warrior-Servant's helmet. This would catch Didact's interest and have him send Chief after her for the sake of security... Only to find she reassembled Cortana into several 'sister' copies from her ghostly leftovers, and is exploring the galaxy, citing Star Trek references. This results in the Didact and Harbinger both being interested in human fiction, which does not help Chief as he continues to do what he enjoys - sightseeing, stopping serious galactic plots of villainous intent, blowing up ancient machinery, and making a friend or two.
Thank you for another great lore and theory. I love the intricate story-lore that Halo has about the Forerunners and especially the Ancient Humans [Archeohomina] and hope there's more eventually about them as well. I hope to be looking forward to more added about them. Thanks again!
I didn't know all this about him. Starting off as a noble character and then being corrupted by a gravemind is tragic. I think he is due a huge redemption arc.
Personally I think he lost his nobility with how he handled the ancient humans. His hatred and vengefulness seemed to be the beginning of his downfall.
The Ur-Didact is a noble, yet tragic character. He loves his wife, The Librarian, and would die defending her. However, he was corrupted through grief, brought forth by the loss of his children, the rage he had towards Ancient Humanity, and the Gravemind’s/ Primordial’s logic plague. This ultimately led to the birth of the Promethean AI constructs. But, deep down, he truly wanted to protect all sentient life, as per the tenets of the Mantle, and he still had a sense of honor. Again however, it’s overrun by psychosis. Now that he’s in the Domain, with his memories shattered, maybe his journey might finally cleanse his mind of the Gravemind’s influence, and return him to what he once was, just in time for the Precursors’s final test.
"The Halos fired perfectly and sterilized all life in the galaxy." The silence that followed that sentence was so perfect. We often talk about the destructive force of the Halo Array but just take a moment to think about what that means. All life. All thought, all desires, all memory of past and present - gone. Think about how preciously you hold your life. And now think about how hundreds of billions feel the same way. All erased. The realization of such an event is daunting.
I literally felt deep down on the journey Ur-Didact had to go through. If not for Master Builder's failed plan, Ur-Didact could've actually make the galaxy a probable peaceful living space with the librarian's advice. But unbeknownst to all that he was captured by the gravemind and subsequently reduced to the lowest of madness stage, all of it could've been prevented. That aside, thankfully Iso-Didact had his peaceful final moments with his wife and son nonetheless.
Ideas of mine in addition to what you said about the Didact's future potential in the story: - The Didact does go through a redemption arc as you suggest. - The Didact does save Master Chief from Offensive Bias. - The Didact and Master Chief do work together against the Endless. - The situation with the Endless is at least temporarily 'resolved' though not necessarily with a complete victory or resolution over them. - The Didact and Master Chief continue to talk after this and the Didact tells him some information concerning the Forerunner-Flood War. - The Didact then parts ways with Master Chief, expressing a desire to find the Forerunners thought to be in exile beyond the galactic plane. Bonus round: - The Didact _does_ find them though their civilisation has become more monastic and unrecognisable to the Didact, albeit still technological. - It takes the Didact years to find the colony because they are deliberately masking their presence from discovery, in a way which is clever enough to make them practically invisible even to the best efforts of the Forerunner and Covenant-tech ascended capabilities UNSC and the initial attempts by the Didact. - Eventually the Didact realises the tell-tale signs of the use of bafflers and cloaking technology on a massive scale, and methodically works to understand and interpret the sources of the cloaking devices, scouring areas of space in the intergalactic void to try and pinpoint a main source. - After finding a few sub-nodes and eventually landing on an asteroid with a large, hyper-advanced baffler (which had in itself been cloaked and made largely invisible) the Didact begins to predict and plot a map of such outposts and, while doing so, lets out a constant beacon signal in the language of the Forerunners and signals the presence of a Forerunner ship (that which he is using to travel the Void) The process takes several years though he does eventually find a likely source of the Forerunners. - Strategic analysis through his own immense tactical and strategical intelligence, narrowed down the initial search area and saved him a lot of time, as he may well have known all along the likely sectors of space which the Forerunners may have fled into if they had to. The number of seemingly unrelated - but he'd know, were actually _entirely_ interlinked - automated masking stations and bafflers, would then create a form of cordon around a small sector of space into which the Didact would exhaustively search for two further years. Then he would find the main source, in the darkness, after nearly crashing into it. - Hidden behind various cloaking fields and made to look like empty space dotted by a few random asteroids, the truth behind the illusion would be revealed as a large, shield-world-like megastructure spanning 24,000 km wide. Around it are positioned a number of smaller, 'satellite-megastructures', all over 1,000 km wide, which are cloaked on their outward appearance like the main structure, from the direction of the galactic plane, though aligned together in perfect unison around the main megastructure. There are 12 of these around the 'Equator' and 6 each around both of the 'Tropics' of the spherical megastructure, as well as even larger nodal defence megastructures for each of the polar approaches (so 26 spherical defence nodes in total) Note: the two polar moons are both over 2,000 km in diameter each.
- Girdling the entire megastructure is a gigantic ring megastructure which is hundreds of kilometres thick and over 30,000 km wide. This, singular megastructure ringing the main 'planetary' megastructure', is a massive docking facility and defensive structure. It it's own right, it is a masterpiece and exhibits the terraforming wonders of the Forerunners. Each of the 24, moon-sized spheres stationed in fixed positions around the ring and the planetary megastructures, are themselves guard bastions protecting all approaches of the entirely Forerunner constructed system. They also act as listening posts and defensive nodes with massive ground-to-orbit cannons and vast fortifications. Together, they also emit gigantic defensive energy fields around the entire system, with energy barriers and shields going out way beyond the outer spheres, enveloping everything within for a hundred thousand kilometres in radius. - Seeing the scale and beauty of these structures, The Didact is brought to silent tears on the bridge of his starship, seeing the majesty and spectacle of the Forerunners in it's sincerity and tenacity once again. But he also recognises the significance of what structures of this scale, must mean, in terms of the potential Forerunner population within. A new class of Forerunner destroyer - based on the Sojourn-class - is docked in large numbers on each of the 24 nodal spheres/bastions, and a very great number are docked in the ring around the planetary megastructure. Keyships are found all over the planetary body. - Under dense defence layers on the exterior of the metallic looking megastructure, there is a heavily miniaturised 'star' providing light, and ample warmth, to the surface of a smaller spherical body locked in stasis within; permanently shrouded under massive energy fields and shields yet again. The paradise contained below these massive defences is veiled, though once seen, never forgotten. A masterpiece, even by the standards of the Forerunner Builders. - Numerous Forerunner Warrior-servant Legions guard the entire system, and Builder Security numbers are even greater. However, the sentinels here are very much more advanced than anything ever seen before, and they are designed to be more difficult to be controlled by any central AI; decentralised AI is the norm. The situation here is that there is a fear of AI since the Forerunner-Flood War, and a serious number of protocols exist in any sanctioned use of AI for literally anything. Automation and AI integration does exist, in a widespread form, even with that in mind; though it is used much more carefully and each AI sentinel is more of a 'bespoke' unit. There are still millions of them, all the same. - The majority of systems here are maintained by living Forerunners. Here, technological and spiritual advancement is seen as 'Returning to the Mantle'. The ruling elite of the defence-and-secrecy paranoid Forerunners here, are bound by various laws and protocols to uphold their solemn duties and to further the arts, sciences and technologies of the Forerunners. Here, they have continued to advance Forerunner technology. - The entire system is known to these Forerunner survivors as, 'Unyielding Spirit in the Darkness of the Sundering Void', or more functionally as 'Nexus'. Within the armoured shell of the defence sphere, the planetary body formed inside the energy shields, is itself often referred to by the Forerunners there, as 'Heart of the Mantle', or simply, 'Halcyon'. Some combine the terms, referring to the entire system as 'Nexus Halcyon'. More commonly, it is one or the other. - The beautiful oceans of the planetary structure, entirely Forerunner-made, are full of subaqueous cities and carefully tended to marine life, in perfect harmony. The land masses of the planetary structure are similarly well-tended to, and cities are built with a respect for 'nature' (as 'natural' as it can be here) The architecture is interwoven with the biological elements of the trees and other flora, and the architectural styles of the Forerunners merge with natural, flowing forms. They build tall, elegant spires and typically Forerunner, utilitarian buildings, yet structures which play host to waterfalls and gardens wherever they can excuse them being. The Lifeworkers work closely with both the Builders _and_ the Warrior-servants, to make for a closer resonance with nature, in all things; not just the architectural. This manifests most obviously in their armour and suits, because these are even more elegant (think Tolkien's Elves) - Forerunner society here is more religious and obsessed with the Mantle of Responsibility, and the ruling elite is focused on purging dissenting voices. This has caused a number of tensions with the Warrior-servants and the Builders, though pacification campaigns and purgation phases have seen small civil insurrections ended here several times, with somewhat brutal oppression enforced by the ruling class. However, numerous Forerunners now argue they should return to the galaxy, in growing strength of voice and numbers. - The ruling elite, forming the Council of Elders, with representatives from all the sects and castes of their system, monitor the situation with growing concern as dissent continues to emerge over their self-imposed exile. Civil disobedience and elitist suppression of the lower orders, is common. Although the Didact does not know it, he has discovered a monastic, religious colony of the Forerunners in exile. The presence of a Forerunner starship of an ancient class, emerging from out of the galactic plane to hail the system, has caused a huge uproar amongst both the loyalists of the 'conservative traditionalist isolationists' and the 'radical exploratory reformists'. This division in the society of the several dozen million Forerunners present, is dangerous. However, plenty of Forerunners are excited at the news of a Forerunner vessel arriving after having found them. It was not supposed to be possible after all this time. [part 1/4]
[part 2/4] - The Didact's arrival is not welcomed by the ruling Council of Elders, however, and they issue orders for the immediate arrest of the interloper. Before long, a dozen squadrons of advanced Forerunner warships surround the Didact, on all sides, emerging from not only Nexus, but also from stationary positions out in the darkness of the Void, through slipspace portals (some Forerunner warships, acting like preservational arks in their own rights, rotate between tours of duty defending Nexus, and being 'anchored' - that is, held in fixed positions - out in the galactic Void, at various points of distance away from Nexus/Halcyon. - The Didact surrenders himself willingly to the Forerunners, and he is brought before the Council of Elders. The ruling class attempt to deny the general public being privy to the identity of the visitor and the nature of the conversations held. It soon becomes more of an interrogation, concerning the Didact. However, rivals of the ruling class have informants inside the council and information is relayed to opposing figures in Forerunner society; figures whom would rather help the Didact in his endeavours and bring him to see all of Nexus and Halcyon, and to see all of what they had wrought in the darkness. Those whom understand the nature of the Didact are in awe of his ancient presence in the council chambers, while others fear and resent him. The ruling council oppose the Didact's intentions, which are made clear to return to the galaxy at the head of a number of Forerunners to work with his allies in the UNSC. The role of the Endless is explained and instead of embracing the Didact upon learning of this, some wish to execute him on the spot for risking bringing them to Nexus. The Didact insists that his movements in the galactic Void beyond the Milky Way and Path Kethona, were impossible for the Endless to have known, after the recent actions of himself and the UNSC remnants. The fact the Flood are returned to the Milky Way galaxy is also revealed, and this terrifies many members of the ruling council into abject refusal to allow the Didact to leave. Knowing this would be their response, and not intending to leave for the time being anyway, the Didact didn't care that this would be their obvious reaction. The fact that the Flood had initially escaped after 100,000 years, from storage facilities on Installation 004 is made clear to the Council of Elders. The outrage, caused by a combination of factors, during the Human-Covenant War. The Didact must detail to the Council, the true state of affairs and history in the Milky Way (spanning the events, in-game, from HALO:CE to HALO Infinite) Alarmed at the survival of the Flood - largely thanks to ancient Forerunners keeping and storing specimens needlessly 100,000 years earlier - the decision is made to keep the Didact inside Nexus upon the surface of Halcyon, for the foreseeable future. A knowledgeable 'guest', rather than a prisoner; but a prisoner in all but name. The Didact is happy to oblige, wiser and more ancient than every single Forerunner around him. Impressed at the technological innovations, yet disturbed by the extremism of some of the more pious Forerunners, the Didact deftly understands that this society is on the verge of splitting in half, once he realises that splinter factions are beginning to emerge (informants make their masters known to the Didact in secret, and information is passed to him of their whereabouts on Nexus) The movements of all citizens, including now the Didact, are tracked. Made aware of this, the Didact strategizes. The monastic culture at the head of Forerunner society in this sanctuary system, has stagnated over as innovators and pioneers are suppressed from naturally returning to the galaxy to explore anew. The issue of the Flood terrifies all and even the spectre of their memory holds this paranoid, elitist, theocratic society together. That it is known the Flood survived and are once again plaguing some parts of the Milky Way galaxy, shocks and offends numerous Forerunners. The ruling elite begin to use this as a means of doubling down on oppressing the secessionists and radicals, determining that their path could only ever lead to the eventual loss of any colony in the Milky Way and worse, the Flood finding their way back to Nexus after destroying them. Scaremongering about the Flood overrunning the system, becomes a new stick the Didact unwittingly gave the Forerunner Council of Elders, to beat the dissenters with. Undeniably powerful amongst their kind, the Didact soon gains position and status on Halcyon, and many great speakers and educators flock to hear his oratory and learn from his lectures. He teaches them of ancient knowledge and Forerunner lore, long since forgotten by their own kind here. However, a number of radicals want him to represent them. Inversely, some of the more tactically minded Forerunners amongst the Council of Elders, wishes for the Didact to become a conduit of their own policies, and knowing he is too beloved, famous and respected to simply do away with, they wish to use him to suit their own ends. As such, the Didact is afforded more of the trappings of a Forerunner of his standing; the latest and greatest of Forerunner combat suits, the latest augmentations, the best of everything they can afford to give him. The Didact's ship is brought closer to Nexus, and literally tens of thousands of Forerunners study and investigate it under official training regimens, while the Didact is inside Nexus. Radical reformists within Forerunner society inform the Didact that this is happening, and the Didact angrily confronts the council. However, the Council of Elders explains that it had been done to ensure no Flood had stowed aboard his vessel, as a safety measure. The Didact is told he can return to his ship under a massive force of armed guards if he so wished, and that he was still a 'guest' of Nexus and Halcyon. In his own thoughts, the Didact knows this society is a paradox and that it's contradictions and flaws will one day rip it apart through civil strife, if the people are not united under one banner. At this point, the Didact loses his patience with the Forerunner Council of Elders, and secretly plans to supplant the entire council under his own dictatorship. The radicals whom support the Didact separately, offer their own arms and means to his cause, later on. And those radicals whom stand in his way, share the same fate as those traditionalists whom do as well; obliterated. The Didact is seen as a 'hero of the ancient world' and his survival inside the Milky Way in the face of the new inheritors of the Mantle, is seen with a form of amazement. The Didact quickly becomes the most popular figure on Halcyon, and his vast knowledge and age leaves few in any doubt that it is he whom deserves to lead their people. His coming to the citadel spires and memorial gardens of Halcyon, was no accident; it was by his own skill, tenacity and wisdom. His own strategic brilliance. His own mastery of the stars. There was simply no Forerunner amongst them whom could truly match him. Not as a warrior, not as an admiral. Not as a genius. They had many geniuses, but the Didact came from an era when the galaxy was swarming with the Forerunner geniuses of the Ecumene of old. He now walked as though a King-Emperor among Kings in Nexus, and he was unstoppable by sheer force of will and the gravity of his voice. He was a poet-orator of grand repute and an inspiration to all of Nexus, all of Halcyon. Everywhere he went, crowds thronged around him, wanting to speak to him. Upon realising the scale of his popularity and the reach of his influence, the previously manipulative angle the Council of Elders had taken, soured, and turned. Now, most had gone back on that idea and decided it best to execute the Didact, for stirring dissent. They had initially hoped to use the Didact as a lightning rod to capture the anti-radical zeitgeist they themselves had espoused and pushed on their people. However, discerning the manipulation immediately for what it was, the Didact had merely played along; biding his time, before leading the revolution which toppled them.
[part 3/4] Just 2 years after arriving on Halcyon, the Didact emerged as the leader of the entire system. It had not taken him very long to turn the wheels of change in favour of the radicals, and the Council of Elders was dismantled. The Mantle of Responsibility was not their burden to bear, though they could aid Humanity in it's own battle against the detractors within it's ranks and enemies from without. Now, the Didact was the leader of the Forerunner colony. Now the Didact was in full control. His sheer might and presence of will, uniting the majority of Forerunners under his banner. Entire legions renamed themselves in his honour, such was the love for the Didact amongst his species. The legendary leader of the Warrior-servants, rising to the fore in this forgotten colony, at a time when the Warrior-servants were generally pro-revolution considering the stagnation and corruption going on in Forerunner society due to the Council of Elders, blatantly hiding behind the cloak of religiosity to excuse their silencing of critics and the disappearances of dissenting voices. Ironically, the Didact would 'disappear' the Council of Elders; that said, by popular demand. Taking over in a relatively short time, the Didact would rule over Nexus and Halcyon for 3 years before deciding to return to the Milky Way at the head of an expeditionary force. This task force, carefully selected, to ensure complete loyalty and a tight strategic control over units being sent. The Didact would use his expeditionary fleet as a shadow force. A secretive fleet, prowling the outer fringes of the Milky Way, sending small teams across the galaxy. The Didact's greatest concern would, of course, be the Flood and the Flood Gravemind(s) The secrecy and ultimately clandestine nature of his movements in the Milky Way, were unknown to the UNSC for some time, also; until the Flood began to grow in numbers in the outer colonies of the UNSC. At this point, the Didact revealed himself again to the Spartans. By this time, Master Chief, being very old, was not necessarily fighting on the front lines. However, he could be pulled out of retirement. The undisclosed numbers of Forerunners, all of which using hyper-advanced suits and cloaking tech, would always follow the Didact's protocols regarding dealing with the Flood. They would _not_ directly engage the Flood. Not yet. They would only appear at critical moments of battles between the humans and the Flood, to decisively and overwhelmingly shift the balance of power in favour of the humans. Even ONI could not piece together an understanding of Forerunner activity. It wasn't even known to be Forerunner activity at first. Not until a pattern emerged after several battles and reports of a figure resembling the Didact came to light. Master Chief searches for the Didact and the Didact searches for him; they find each other, on a space station which is beginning to fall to the Flood. Mid-battle, the Didact evacuates those that can be before torching the station with the full, up-until-then concealed might of his cloaked warships in his task force. The Didact will only engage if he knows the Flood cannot escape in any numbers. The Didact explains to Master Chief that he shall never risk bringing the Flood back to Nexus. He doesn't even tell Master Chief about the name of the planet within Nexus; Halcyon. He never tells anyone. The entire force the Didact brings from Nexus into the Milky Way, numbering around 12,000 Warrior servants (two elite legions), and a million Forerunner sentinels, is sworn to secrecy. Their fleet, numbering only a dozen capital ships, has more firepower than any human fleet in the galaxy. Hundreds of ships were left at Nexus. Hundreds of thousands of Warrior-servants and millions of sentinels, too. Each and every soldier is a precious asset, a precious, accountable unit. Not a single one of them is _allowed_ to die lightly or for their bodies to remain unaccounted for. Even after 5 battles involving the Flood, the elite force the Didact takes with him, suffers _zero_ casualties. Clinical strikes on Flood targets, full force, out of the blue, allow for this. These are not massive campaigns fought for months or years. The Didact's hit and run tactics are devastating to numerous Flood vanguards which are simply burnt off the face of the galaxy before the Flood can follow up. As the Didact knows, all too well, this is about purging the Flood from the galaxy with as much efficiency as possible. Unfortunately, for Humanity, they are necessarily allowed to be the ones taking most/all of the losses. Master Chief himself becomes disgruntled with the Didact, when it becomes clear the Didact knew about several situations where he could have intervened and saved many human lives; letting the Flood overrun them, because it was not a good time for his own forces to intervene without loss. The Didact reminds Master Chief about what is at stake. If even _one_ of his troops falls, he will be made aware of it. Master Chief considers it cruel to Humanity, and that this strategy can't go on forever before, no matter how careful he is with his troops, he will start to suffer losses. The Didact tells Master Chief that he knows that, and is just trying to minimise risk. He doesn't want a single one of his 12 warships in the expeditionary fleet to be lost. If any one ship is overrun, it will begin a self-destruct process (which cannot be stopped even by himself, as planned) all the others will open fire on it as a rule. In any scenario where half or more of the fleet is simultaneously being overrun, the entire fleet's engines are auto-immobilised and self-destruct measures are enacted on every single ship. Escape craft are permissible but only for the Didact and a few other high ranking figures. The entire fleet's crew and legionary forces volunteered, knowing _all_ of this during the 3 year build up process after the Didact took control of Nexus. As for whom was ruling in the Didact's stead on Nexus and Halcyon/Nexus Halcyon, the leader of the radicals whom had sided with the Didact since he arrived, acted as the Didact's second-in-command in his new rule on Nexus. He would manage the affairs of Nexus Halcyon for the time being. The campaign of the Didact would last for years to come, weakening Flood forces and infuriating the Gravemind(s) Eventually the Flood would catch onto this happening, and attempts to lure the Didact into traps of their making, would be made. However, the Didact would know their tricks, and perceive strategy on a different level, after his many millennia of coming to terms with the nightmare of the Flood. During a huge naval battle between humanity and the Flood, the Didact stands off, refusing to show himself, observing the battle with reluctant patience. Afraid of the Flood merely having used the attack as a diversion to lure out the Didact's fleet, the Didact does not act. UNSC losses mount as the Flood slowly works it's way through the fleet. Master Chief and other Spartan forces hold the line and Master Chief, using a special communication device, asks for the assistance they need. Seeing the battle turning, the Didact reveals his fleet - only to try and rescue Master Chief - and in massive displays of precise and thunderous firepower, sends the Flood reeling back with immense losses. However, they stand off at long range in two stacked lines of six, barraging the Flood infected warships of humanity into oblivion. The Didact personally leads a Promethean strike team of his own into the heart of the UNSC fleet and rescues Master Chief against his will, along with several dozen other Spartans. The rest of the fleet either evacuates or is destroyed by the Flood. As the Flood desperately try and reach the clearly non-human warships, they escape (just after Master Chief and the Spartans come aboard) Master Chief is furious at the Didact, though understands his logic. It is a cruel calculus though one which must be adhered to, for the safety of Nexus. Even at this time, the guns of Nexus bristle out into the Void, awaiting potential calamity. The Didact shall not reward the loyalty of the people of Nexus, with careless abandon. The sad price of this, for humanity, comes in the form of tens of thousands of lives, knowingly forsaken to the Flood, at - for the Didact - inopportune moments. After successfully driving the Flood back from the Outer Territories, at terrible cost in human life, the UNSC (aided by the Didact and his task force) takes stock. They have lost dozens of warships and tens of thousands of lives. The Forerunner task force, on the other hand, lost a few self-destructing sentinels and _no_ actual Warrior-servants. It was an incredible feat; though the Didact knew that many humans had died to make such things possible. He was trying to wear the Flood down, to then risk deploying larger forces of Forerunners against them. Only then, he thought, could they think about destroying them forever...
[part 4/4] - The 26 spherical defence spheres ('armoury moons') of Nexus/Nexus Halcyon/Halcyon Nexus, out in the Void, are as following named: 'EQUATORIAL' 1. *Nexus Lantern* - primary node, 1st built of 26, stationed over the central Equator of Nexus, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'. 2. *Loyalty* - 6th built of 26, stationed directly over the central equatorial forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; marshalling point. 3. *Wisdom* - 9th built of 26, stationed directly over the central and Eastern plains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; naval training facilities. 4. *Consequence* - 12th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern mountains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; prisons. 5. *Deliverance* - 15th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern seas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; biological laboratories. 6. *Mercy* - 18th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western mangroves of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; luxury residences. 7. *Memory* - 21st built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western deserts of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; museums abundant. 8. *Legacy* - 22nd built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western canyons of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; memorial moon. 9. *Epiphany* - 23rd built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungles of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; religious monuments. 10. *Alacrity* - 24th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungle deltas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds. 11. *Promise* - 25th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungle deltas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; many shipyards. 12. *Responsibility* - 26th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern ocean of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; special armouries. 'TROPICAL' - NORTH 13. *Nexus North* - North Tropics node, 2nd built of 26, stationed over the central North Tropic, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'. 14. *Vindication* - 7th built of 26, stationed directly over the Northern temperate forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds. 15. *Watchword* - 10th built of 26, stationed directly over the Northern inland sea of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; major engineering sites. 16. *Redemption* - 13th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Eastern shores of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; major factory sites. 17. *Retribution* - 16th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Western meadow-plains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; law schools. 18. *Restoration* - 19th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Western volcanic zone of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; builder schools. 'TROPICAL' - SOUTH 19. *Nexus South* - South Tropics node, 3rd built of 26, stationed over the central South Tropic, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'. 20. *Aurora* - 8th built of 26, stationed over the central South oceanic region of Halcyon, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; artisan colonies. 21. *Fidelity* - 11th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Eastern tropical forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; legal courts. 22. *Arcadia* - 14th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Eastern ocean of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds. 23. *Mitigation* - 17th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Western shores of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; weapons testing. 24. *Solace* - 20th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Western hills of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; luxury residences, veterans. POLAR - NORTH 25. *Void North* - 4th built of 26, stationed over the North Pole of Nexus/Halcyon Nexus. Massively fortified; 'overseer' and alternating naval review point. POLAR - SOUTH 26. *Void South* - 5th built of 26, stationed over the South Pole of Nexus/Halcyon Nexus. Massively fortified; 'overseer' and alternating naval review point.
This was a really wonderful reading, quite a story that made me appreciate the Ur-Didact a lot more as a character (and understand the Forerunner era a lot better). Thanks for making this!
I have another theory about Halo: The Endless. Since Mendicent Bias was interrogating the Gravemind for 43 years on Zeta Halo, who says that Offensive Bias couldn't suffer a similar change of alliance with The Endless. The last we heard of Offensive Bias, he was being put in charge of research on the Endless.
Even though you still mostly cover older lore, I still enjoy you content. I found myself coming back to your content over the past couple years and it's a shame that I haven't subscribed. Thanks for putting in the effort and making great content.
I need to read the newer book and all the forerunner books again. The diadact has become one of my favorites so I live seeing anything new involving him.
Ive only ever played Halo PvP at friends houses so i never got to experience the story or lore within the Halo universe. This to me is amazing and will be looking into your content with eager!
Abbadon? (Sp?). That's one of the missions in doom sigil, which most doom missions are named after verses in the bible bc it's a demonic game. Like, thy flesh consumed
How is this channel not known by every halo fan. More than a million of us, all halo mam need to subscribe the detail in these videos is 10/10, clearly spoken an so much content
You are the best lore channel on TH-cam I swear. The way you make these makes halo constantly more interesting and other series could only dream of having a content creator of your talent
I loved this video. As a huge Halo 4 and Didact fan I love how the lore was expanded. I’ve read some of the books and looked more into the terminals but it’s great having it all laid out like this.
I think it's just par the course for Halo at this point. Bungie did this quite a lot. They were on record for hating much of the original trilogy of novels, but then adapted loads of it for Halo 2 and 3.
Thanks for the vid, and I'm looking forward to the Didact's return. I felt that Halo 4 rushed the story for such a potent and influential character, but it is good to see that his story is not finished.
I just don’t understand how this super advanced species carrying the mantle had no idea their own worlds were infected by the flood and couldn’t process or understand that the humans were doing it for a reason.
I imagine the Flood was hiding on those worlds. It would have known the Human-Forerunner war was to it’s benefit. The Humans could identify it because they knew what they were looking for.
Oh ! I thought it was an old video, as I am consistently now going through your channel's content. But it's a new one, right on time :D Outstanding work, I love these long lore videos. This channel and a few others are keeping the Halo flame alive and well, thanks for everything you do here.
Such a wasted character I really wish 343 would have kept him as the main antagonist of the reclaimer saga instead of the whole AI rebels against humanity cliché, The Didact had so much potential a shame well probably never see any of it.
I love these videos, always listen to them while working. Please keep it up, you are one of my favourite halo youtubers i like your content more than the games even.
53:00 they did black team so damn dirty. I read the comic covering black team, one of the best halo comics and a damn good comic on its own right, and I loved the team. And they killed them off in like 7 panels. I hate that comic. I bought it a book fair and threw it out after I finished it.
My question is how did the Forerunners take so long to notice the flood were overrunning humanity and infecting Forerunner worlds when they are supposed to be the "protectors of the galaxy"?
They didn't notice at first. Ancient Humanity "won" by genetically altering their own populations with bad genes to sacrifice to the flood. It didn't really work, just that the flood retreated on purpose to give humanity the illusion of victory.
After that, the human-forerunner war, which the primordial had a hand in, and then the rest goes from there. If you want more details, try listening to the forerunner trilogy by Greg Bear.
So, how hard would it have been for the humans to say to the Forerunners "we are fighting the flood." I've always tried to understand how, in a thousand year war, the humans and Forerunners never talked?
39:13 lol not to mention the fact a builder somehow manages to out maneuvera warrior every step of the way, should be proof enough for them to consider alternative leadership
A thousand year war and yet no one bothered to pick up the phone and explain to the Forerunners what was going on for five minutes. It's just dumb writing, like just about everything 343 has made.
@@nagger8216Political and public climate was tense at that time. If the humans were to explain the Flood to the Forerunners, they would give the Flood time to spread while also going nowhere with the discussion.
If the forerunners or humans were so advanced of panspermia across the galaxy then why couldn't they communicate about flood being the main reason they bombed and encroached the forerunner space?
Even though my dislike of the current direction Halo is evident, The Didact's character and story are beyond captivating, and your narration work Sir, is astounding. My thanks.
Keep in mind he is an enemy of the Endless if he returns in any form he would want the Endless prevented or permanently rid of. We could potentially see a war between the Endless and the Didact. We would have new promethean variants Didact creates to fight the Endless similar to how the original were created for the flood.
I love how the Didact had every advantage and the Chiefs still beat him twice not like you did it alone like I said he had every Advantage including numbers
@@xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme7 If I had to guess knowing MS 2/3s of the pending DLC was cut from the initial release so it shouldn't take them that long to finish and polish it.
Makes me wonder why Ancient Humanity, as the story is told, didn't attempt to get the "Forerunners on the horn" so to say, and simply tell them what was going on with the Flood as soon as it looked like they had to start running. I'm sure some did try, but probably would have been a really good thing to do before starting to orbitally bombard Forerunner worlds. Sure, odds are the Forerunners wouldn't have listened to them, but I mean, it ain't like Ancient Humanity didn't have literal planets worth of evidence to present to prove their case to have merrit. Makes me wonder did unmentioned cooler heads try to work things out, but because of the long held dislike between the two galactic superpowers, they didn't prevail? Surely, even if the Forerunners and Ancient Humanity weren't anywhere near buddy-buddy, they musta still had some diplomatic channels for talking to one another? Considering the end result that did happen, even in the case of Ancient Humanity having to in essence take the blame for the Flood outbreak, and thus becoming more a client state or vassal state to the Forerunners as an end result, this would have been a better outcome than fighting a two front war? Seems oddly stupid of Ancient Humanity for being such an advanced sort to not be able to pick the lesser of the two evils when presented with a situation that really demands careful contemplation on which is the worse scenario, as even a regular civilian can probably sit down and ponder which would be a better end result if presented the following options: Fighting a two front war with an unknown alien parasite that's succeeded in destroying a large portion of human controlled space, plus seems to be acting in a deliberate and intelligent manner, that came from mystery powder aboard a nondescript unknown spaceship on one side, and the current number one Galactic superpower on the second. OR! Trying to talk to said superpower, despite not having a good history with them, and to show them what was going on seeing as that alien parasite has already decimated a large section of human controlled space, being humbled in the process, suffering a loss of power on the galactic stage, but hopefully managing to still stay alive and kicking while avoiding a war with them so the both of you can focus your effort on the matter at hand with the utmost urgency above all else. While also warning them as a bit of a gesture of good intent that several of their planets are also infected by this parasitic hostile entity, and they should really, really deal with that before things get out of hand, as they already have in a large sector of human space. Sure does feel like they only had saber rattlers sitting in attendance at the particular meeting that took place to figure out which option to pick, because even if ignored, probably better to be persistent rather than take "Sorry, we aren't taking your calls right now." as an answer, and then suddenly start burning their infected planets to become a "killer of our children".
If the Didact was allowed to use his Promethean warriors to fight off the Flood he would have been able to exterminate them and defeat them without having to give up their civilization.
Anything that happened in that damn comic taking place after halo 4 I consider non-canon. The murder of a whole squad of spartan 2's like they were ants is stupid.
Not really. It shows how powerful the Forerunners are. Last thing I want is the lore going stale because of Spartans kicking arse & chewing bubble gum. You need stakes.
@@tristanbackup2536 I disagree with you adamantly. In fact I'd say what we got removes and ruins any and all sense of stakes. The already severely injured Didact having a knock down drag out fight with a full team of spartans Chief's physical, and combat prowess equal, but still winning, and pushing them back, would have easily established stakes, and not done a massive disservice to the lore, or the spartans and their capabilities. Instead we got the lamest thing possible to have happened in the comic. He comes out, despite having just been nuked, and knocked through slipspace unshielded, and insta-kills these new spartan 2's. Now instead of realistic, and weighty stakes, that feel realistic, we just know chief is just gonna win only because he's chief, instead of because he's a highly capable, and combat effective warrior, with luck on his side.
Halo 4 was great, can't believe people actually disliked it. I liked how human Cortana had become and 5 and infinity basically had no plot and didn't know what they were doing.
i've said this before in other videos and i'll say it again.. humans had to deal with the flood AND the forerunners for 1000 years in conflict... that ain't no small feat that's for sure!
The Didact was the lesser of 3 evils, composing and enslaving a whole race to be used as slave soldiers isn’t as bad as the entire galaxy being exterminated or turned into a zombie parasite. Given the severity of the situation I don’t know what else they could’ve done. All those poor humans the Didact composed would’ve been vaporised anyway by halo…..,surly it was the less harsh option.
Anyone else look at the screen for the first 10 seconds and think ‘god I need to clean this screen’ Then you realize the sun, and it’s the video of a galaxy
I dont think it was ever established which battles the Didacts children died in, it certainly it wasn't said they'd all died in the last siege of Charum Hackor.
After listening to the history of the Didact I actually respect him more he didn’t want to destroy humanity until he sat in nothing for years and years with his corrupted mind!
This is just a thought that occured to me, but what if the didact that'll return in the novel isn't Ur Didact, but Iso Didact? It'll be a good way of introducing friendly Forerunners into the story. And while I wouldn't mind to see Ur Didact getting a redemption arc, I also would love for him to stay as a villain rather than coming back to aid humanity. Just as the Prophets represent all the wrong things about the Covenant and the Arbiter represents all the good things, I fell like Ur Didact represents all the bad things in the Forerunners just as Iso Didact and the Librarian represent the good things.
So the Ur-Didact was sent to purgatory only to re-live and remember every moment he spent with his wife who literally destroyed him, after she imprisoned him for 100,000 years. J.F.C. What a terrible way to go.
I think I figured out how to save the beings within the Flood and stop the flood once and for all and didac didn’t even realize it! All he had to do was lure them to that location put up a shield wall on both sides with his troops and dig in as the Flood attacks, knocking them into the multiple composers that were down there to break them up into data from physical data to machine data, bc if didac isn’t protected from the process, I highly doubt the Flood would survive either then you add that data to the machines like they originally did with the original promethians that were made off the living of other species….they would only be flood in their mind, they are set free and a separate entity after that point bc they were shoved into a machine and then I could demand answers and knowledge bc they aren’t connected to the hive mind anymore due to having their consciousness shoved into a machine after having their body atomized into data,the answer was staring him in the face the entire time, he didn’t need the rings…..you may even separate the beings apart of the original flood bc they combine and we don’t know how many ppl/aliens are actually apart of the flood, that may separate them and their minds from the Flood as well so you can extract data on the flood from them up to the point they were set free and removed from the Flood, you don’t use the composer to just change anyone from physical raw data in our world to computer data in the data space, bc there’s even a way to kill The Flood, you have to alter your genetics to the point they are incompatible bc you altered your DNA, now if I can cause a collapse of my DNA bc it’s so different or something, what do you think is gonna happen to that hive mind? They share all knowledge and information, it’s gonna feel the collapse within me, it will feel my pain and suffering through me bc I’m apart of it, no no, there is no immunity or cure but you need a “weapon” if I die bc of a mutation or something bc they tampered with DNA that wasn’t there anymore bc I removed the segments or replaced the data with other species that aren’t in relation to the Primordial, I would have been the first human to leave the Milky Way to get more DNA from species none of the halo species have ever met before, would probably take from “The Endless” some so I become something of an odd entity to the Flood combining DNA from all these other beings into one being, something that looks human but isn’t human or anything they’ve ever encountered before biology wise, but lil did they know, I was the WEAPON, the thing to attack them from within knowing that if I tinkered with my DNA too much, that I could cause a collapse or a form of decay within my DNA strand, something to obliterate my DNA or cause it to become corrupted, thus corrupting them as well, contradicting my own DNA code so it crashes or decays causing death bc it can’t heal or reset the DNA code bc it’s corrupted, bc it will also effect the Flood.
I wonder if the vessels containing the precursor dust might have belonged to a race that may have aided some precursors in their flight from the forerunners. Also if this unknown species might have been wiped out along with them. While the precursors seemed to allow their own extinction, I imagine they might be angered by the destruction of one of their "children" (to greatly oversimplify). Not because it's necessarily against the mantle as an act of violence but perhaps in that it was needless and without purpose. Perhaps some precursors did directly care for the life they reared (though not to an extent we would understand as caring). I wonder if the total erasure of a species would anger the "stewards of the universe" if it was counter to the enrichment of the universal consciousness. Like gardeners looking down upon pests attacking their crop, perhaps some precursors viewed the forerunners in such a light. This disdain for such needless slaughter growing, festering and darkening into the hatred held for all life by thr flood as we know them today. For if one species could have the capacity to be so bloodthirsty, so disgusting, then surely all would have the same potential. Eh, I've talked out my ass for long enough. Just a thought, because I've always wondered about any origin of those ships (as I'm sure is the point).
Though very little is stated to indicate the precursors had any sense of morality as we would know it, let alone what may be viewed by them as "good" or "evil". After all, joy and suffering contribute to the enrichment of the universe. Seemingly in equal measure. Like the quote says: "all the sweeter".
This kind of lore makes me realize how much interesting stuff 343 added early on, but over time it's now just simple and random stuff, like Halo Infinite and current books are just kinda simple stories, nothing heavy in lore (except Infinite's ending which may never end up going anywhere). I kinda feel like it's because of the fans' feedback, which have caused Halo 4, 5, and Infinite to all tell completely different stories, and currently tell more simple stories. I actually wanted to know what the original "Reclaimer Saga" was gonna be, with all this Forerunner stuff. But now we may never know.
So a main villain in a game did the whole "I'm technically not dead" trope... but not in a game... Am I missing something? Why is it being written like this? I mean I know that the books fill us in and expands the world more but that's for stuff like origins and not so much continuing a main narrative.
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Begin to learn the Didacts journey and pick up a copy of Halo Cryptum; book 1 of the Forerunner Trilogy!
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I read that trilogy before Halo 4 was released. Glad someone finally explained the Didact and those books because they were as confusing as ever.
41:40 sounds like your talking about dark souls lore.
You neglected a few extremely important details when talking about the Forerunner Human war and I have to mention it. Especially since I went through the books again for the infinite number of times yesterday and today. A long comment. Get some popcorn.
1. While Ancient Humanity put up a strong fight against the Forerunners in which Ur-Didact repeatedly acknowledges that strength, the grand admiral himself never considered themselves ever being close to defeating the Forerunners. One of the few things he claims is that they never got close to the heart of the Forerunner's empire during the entire war. Specifically saying they were more than 15,000 light years away. Whenever Ur-Didact spoke about their backs and forths, he talks and behave as if they were his toughest opponents but never shows any feelings that Forerunners would ever lose and were close to losing. It gives off the impression that Ur-Didact was playing chess while Lord Admiral was fighting for the survival of his entire species.
2. Ancient Humanity fought on two fronts yes, but to say that they had a chance to get rid of Flood if they didn't instigate an entire war against the Forerunners instead of establishing any communications with them, is false. They never had a chance of winning against Flood even if they had no one else to fight.
The most important detail about the entire war in which you neglected to mention is that the Flood SEEMED to be retreating. SEEMED to be pushed back by Ancient Humanity. Ancient Humanity stopped getting infected. It's even detailed that Flood would suddenly run past Ancient Humans, ignoring them and running straight to the Forerunners instead.
At that point suddenly Forerunners were fighting on two fronts instead and this is a detail everyone misses. Forerunners would think a cure existed. But turns out it was all a ruse! Turns out Primordial AKA Flood purposely retreated, purposely stopped infecting Ancient Humans and tricked everyone into thinking there was a cure. EVEN Ancient Humanity themselves thought they had found a cure or immunity to the Flood! But no. There is no cure, never was. Primordial AKA Flood was scheming nonstop. At some point Ancient Humanity was manipulated into accepting an offer Primordial AKA Flood offered to them in which Ancient Humanity wouldn't be wiped out according to what was offered but Forerunners would be. At that point Ancient Humanity would help Primordial AKA Flood to wipe out Forerunners. These are important details people never pay attention to.
All in all, I have faith that Kelly Gay can fix the shit Frank Pieceofshit'Connor caused. She managed to create the best and most logical possible solution to The Flood in her books series so I have full faith in her being able to repair the injustice Ur-Didact got.
Well... I definitley think it's time to update this video, 00! And I'm looking forward to it too!
The Didact, for having so little time in the actual games, has quite the impressive amount of great lore on him.
All that backstory presents such a grand number of dynamics to his past present and possible future.
I likewise hope to see him return to the mainline elements of Halo as there is still much potential for him as a character. Imagine what all the knowledge he possesses could do for Humanity in the Halo universe.
Not to mention that he or did not have meeting with The last living Precursor .
I loved the Forerunner trilogy. Much respect for the Ur-Diadact
Di-dact. Didact. DI DACT. Not diadact. Didact.
@@bable6314ok nerd
Oh i suppose that includes infinite now right
Meh, Halo was always a trilogy, it stopped being halo when it went past '08
The didact was so noble, and since I read the forerunner trilogy I hope that he can be redeemed. That's probably my biggest hope from the new book, rather than him being another one note villain
I think the best ending he can get is realize the evil of his actions right before dying, and passing on his genetic material onto Master Chief through an improvised Mutation Ritual ala-Iso-Didact, transforming Chief into a Second-Form Warrior Servant.
@@markricheard1870 That's something I could live with, though I do think a human would be compatible with forerunner mutations. Plus it'd change the chief we know and love
@@jinsai8064 Technically, aren't forerunners and humanity the same but different?
@@stuperman117 Nope. The precursors did create both, but they are ultimately separate species. Kinda like humans and Neanderthals. Maybe more distantly related. Read point of light, some super fascinating stuff was said on that subject
What's truly amazing to me is when I bought my xbox on November 15 of 2001 just to check out this new game Halo CE, it was intended to be a "1 and DONE" game. Now look at us. Almost 21 years later and still actively and enthusiastically involved in the lore and game.
I remember seeing HiddenXperia get really upset at the idea of the Didact being Composed, as potentially coming back as a Corrupted, Partially-Broken Forerunner Ancilla, and I dont agree with him that the Didact should stay organic, him becoming a Promethean himself is perfect in my opinion for his character. He became so obsessed with Composing Humanity and turning them all into Prometheans, that his ultimate punishment is to experience that pain himself and lose his prestige title as 'the last Forerunner' Although other Forerunner have become Ancilla just to survive the Halo's, the should Didact become one out of his own arrogance, hatred and hubris.
I guess we will see what new form he takes come Kelly Gay's new book, Halo: Epitaph...
Probly just the mental pain of being torn from yourself and set in or reprogrammed into..... I dunno, it's a terrifying thought.
He(Hidden) was so upset because it broke literally all of the established lore regarding the Didact. The whole point of the Ur-didact being imprisoned was because he couldn't be composed due to the experiments he preformed on himself. He was made immune to being composed, which was the didact's original plan for himself should it seem like flood infection was inevitable.
he wasnt upset because of the corrupted part, he was upset because the writer literally disregarded pre-established lore; the Didact himself is immune to the Composer after what he did to try and immunize himself to the Flood
them coming out of nowhere and saying; 'o but uhh...we nuked the Didact with an armory of exploding Composers! Of course it work!' was utter bs, you'd think the Didact and his team would've tried a focused blast of Composer energy long ago if this was the case...
@@johncarver357 Probably because he didn’t want to become a robot? Plus, look at his Composed form in the Halo 5 Concept Art, it clearly didn’t work properly, as massive chunks of his body are gone.
@@johncarver357 Probably because he didn’t want to become a robot? Plus, look at his Composed form in the Halo 5 Concept Art, it clearly didn’t work properly, as massive chunks of his body are gone.
I always got the idea that the didact was a foil to the chief in the sense that he represented what chief could have become if he never regained his humanity
Am I one of the only people that actually genuinely liked halo 4? I legit like it. It’s a good game
Dont worry a lot of people really like it in retrospect.
no you aint the only one, io loved halo 4 from the start, its still my fav game for story, the struggle of chief and cortanas humanity was great, the didact was a great antagonist and it fleshed out the forerunners more, i wish 5 had followed more of 4's story and could have even seen a potential 6th game having a didact redemption arc in which chief possibly having to recover the didact in some form to combat the flood controlled banished
I felt it was a good story, an epilogue to Chief’s story, but a good one nonetheless
halo 4 was a good game just alot of things changed in halo 4 that made it feel different and alot of ppl hate it cause it's the start of the slide in quality, it's good but it's not as good as 3, at least in my opinion.
The main problem I had with it was the gameplay balance. I was constantly running out of ammo, even more than when I played ODST, and it really made the later parts of the game frustrating. The prometheans are way too bullet spongey for the numbers they show up in.
RIP Greg Bear.
His trilogy is still one of the most breathtaking and wonderfully written parts of the lore for this series, his impact on halo will always be gigantic.
I'm still a fan of forerunners being advanced humans, but the forerunner trilogy was a fantastic read.
@@xXx_Regulus_xXx i prefer humans being a separate species that evolved from a common ancestor alongside the forerunner’s, which is now confirmed canon
I read his trilogy back when it came out before Halo 4. Bear is a skilled writer but the books were confusing as heck. There were so many new terms and technology and new concepts that weren't really explained, I was lost a lot of times in the books. Regardless the books were still cool, but it took a lot of TH-cam lore videos for me to understand everything.
@@AudraT
I really disliked how the narration was different in each book. Just keep it consistent. I was struggling to keep up in silentium.
Silentium is rough, because it follows the Forerunners themselves, and this during the last wave of the Flood. It is a scramble, but I loved that it reflected Halo 3.
That was a game with plenty of scrambling and hectic action that only got more, and more hectic as the game progressed.
I loved Silentium, because it ramped up that hectic feel 1000 fold, because the Flood was at its worst.@@jediflip2515
Every time I hear about the Forerunner-Human war, I'm impressed with our ability to do what they did.
Old comment but it only makes sense knowing they also were a creation of the Precursors. They were bound to become technologically advanced just by that fact alone and according to the Primordial, they wanted to pass the Mantle of Responsibility to Ancient Humanity so they had to become technologically advanced for that purpose.
I hope at some point 343 leans into the ancient humans part of the lore, like maybe have an armour core in infinite based off their armour designs, or have chief encounter a settlement/ship of ancient human design.
There was a ancient human armor design in Halo 5. I think it was called Hellcat
I prefer a game or two. A space opera RPG.
Borrowing from Dune for it's mystical themes.
@@DadsRUs Yeah but it was just a bit of a let down and I feel a lot of other armors overshadowed it.
I've a hunch the Endless are a more recent, Halo-immune incarnation of the Precursors, as they share design motifs with Abaddon and the last Precursor known (Primordial) - something missing from this recollection of the history of Iso-Didact in paritcular is the Criterion - their brief governing group to oversee their galactic reseeding and restoration efforts.
I imply simply, the Endless are a derivative backup form of the Precursors, seeking to right the wrongs they perceived and continue to see in how the Forerunners had handled matters before, since, and soon - should there be Shield Worlds out there that had succeded in their purpose (and thus were not logged in known history, due to the Didact still having the likes of Requiem unblemished by the Flood).
Considering Bastion, mentioned in Halo 5, and the Forerunner colony in Path Kethona.
Beyond this point is a wild ramble - a what-if that may lead to a Mass Effect or MMO style continuation of the Halo universe, with Infinite being the 'base game' used to build this on as a continuous expansion to Infinite rather than making more Halo titles - a harkening back to Halo 4's Spartan Ops campaigns. Which were a novel idea, but deserved more time.
Unfiltered theoretics, guesswork, and hopefully lore-viable content/fanfiction/??? follow.
Way I imagine Ur-Didact coming back is, as he has spent longer in the Domain looking about (sightseeing with echoes of his wife, friends, children, and others - perhaps even convening with the Knight-souls who uploaded themselves to the Domain before their forms failed them, which would explain the constant stream of Knights without need for further Compositions, not unlike how the Necrons can copy themselves to new bodies should their current ones be beyond restoration), he would inevitably liberate Warden Eternal, and also learn other Precursor secrets.
To that end he would figure out how to return in organic form, but also remain in The Domain, and pass this on to his Prometheans - who'd do the same.
He would have Warden block off Offensive Bias, who would be on the offensive against all parties until he meets Adjutant Resolution and - after a duel with Chief - accepts him as a worthy assistant against the Endless and on a campaign to incite a Great Schism (2) on the Banished to garner additional units to quarantine the Endless before they escape and start committing temporal warfare to cancel out currently accepted history with one where the Forerunners lost their war on the Precursors.
That is to say, when Warden intervenes in the duel between Off-Bias and Chief, Didact and his Prometheans emerge and surround them, with a combination of Warrior-Servants proper, Cavalier Mimics controlled by Essences still in The Domain (basically smaller Warrior-Servant-shaped versions of Warden, devoid of face besides a Didact helmet like mask that would part for the face weapon to fire), and Knights.
And then a bigger number of Armigers phasing in on command of Off-Bias, but instead of taking aim, they kneel, and Off-Bias dips its head after turning to the Ur-Didact after Warden T-posed in its way.
A brief exchange ensues, Warden ambiently shrugs to Chief, very subtly, then whispers to him on comms about having work to do.
Warden would be later seen fighting the Harbinger, despite us seeing her dead earlier, as to imply time isn't quite linear with the Endless, or that death isn't the same. She would shout cryptic orders at Warden which are ignored by him, as The Domain was restored by a Forerunner and thus does not possess the Precursor codes she remembers. She'd probably become increasingly frustrated and sloppy, before being restrained, and likely reimprisoned in a Cylix - still able to talk outside of it in a ghostly tone thanks to her Domain connection; this would be a good moment for her to go over a brief history of why she is screaming about Forerunners being wrong - giving Chief an in-depth allusion to the Precursor angle on things.
She'd continue to haunt Chief in a ghostly holographic form akin to Abaddon, only to find herself wrapped up in chirpy discussions with Weapon (theory on her name: Durandal?) which leads her to get Domain-memories of why humanity is actually pretty adorable when you get to know them on better terms. This results in her giving a layman's-terms rundown of Neural Physics and how her kind are able to use it because they're a 'spare evolution' the Precursors had but 'got bored of', then 'got stuck in' because their equivalent of the Promethean Rate were at war with the Forerunners and went overboard on a vengeful crusade, resulting in what we know.
Weapon in contrast would be giving Harbinger the Forerunner history she had a spare copy of thanks to Cortana's 'ghost' still doing things in the background.
At this point the Endless/Precursor/Flood relation would be exposed and we'd be fighting Flood and fully fledged Precursor war engines, Banished, and wayward green-lit Prometheans that had been hijacked by the Precursor/Endless via Logic Plague, who have a more organic/zombie gait. During this, Harbinger would be leading Chief behind their lines and trying to get her kin to reevaluate the present tense.
Didact, Warden, Off-Bias and their combined Promethean/Builder arsenal would overwhelm the Flood/Endless forces, but not kill the Endless themselves - instead restraining them as to show their adherence to the Mantle in action. The end of such a hypothetical(ly free) DLC campaign if taken in this way would introduce alerts that reward credits, with Flood, hijacked Sentinel swarms, and rogue Promethean forces, attacking your firebases - or trying to take and reestablish defeated enemy bases.
Furthermore, the Spires would also be revealed to be repurposed partitions of the Palace of Pain, with 'forbidden' configurations implying that the Master Builder had tormented the Xalanyn for longer than the Forerunners-since had realised, or something to this end.
DLC weapons in the campaign would include a classic Carbine, the entire Promethean arsenal with the ability to swap between 'combat models' (i.e: Halo 4 versions and Halo 5 versions), with some functional adjustments to give the arsenal a clear array of distinct uses. Things like the Brute Shot and armour abilities like the Hardlight Shield would return as pickups, with modes where you have loadouts, like in Reach.
As for further content after on this narrative path, we would likely see the Precursors trying to reassert their position, and coming into political bouts with the Forerunners while rebuilding destroyed worlds and restoring life via The Domain - with, much to the Precursors' disgust, Forerunner help, because The Domain's functions are recoded to a Forerunner, not a Precursor. Chief would be still following with Harbinger and pursuing a major lead from Ur-Didact regarding Atriox and that he must be brought to judgement for trying to exterminate mankind, as well as other leads regarding pockets of noncompliant Created remnant forces (a gathering of Armigers and Covenant forces, with the occasional human acting as a commander with their Ancilla at their side being the norm, more a 'cult' worshipping the Mantle's ideologies and trying to enforce them without appripriate supervision, leading to needless hostilities and immunity to reason).
Didact would continue to discover unregistered Shield Worlds, unleashing dense Forerunner civilian populations on the galaxy and resulting in further galactic political strangeness - with humans putting their things back together, the Covenant leftovers trying to figure out what to do with all these gods running around, and the galaxy at large reeling from the fact that the Precursors - as Xalanyn - are back in the picture.
All the while, the Harbinger would continue to find herself fascinated with Chief and his relation to Cortana and humanity - and be 'trapped' in conversations with the Weapon which continue to reveal lore tidbits as they scour the other Halos or something else. Harbinger would still be locked in her Cylix due to trying to incite civil unrest as per neo-Ecumene law.
Halsey would likely ask to be Composed, after becoming sufficiently aged, wanting to continue her own agenda which has Didact intrigued. After Composition, Halsey would probably have a form reminiscent of herself and Librarian in some respect, but with the back-parting of a Promethean Warrior-Servant's helmet. This would catch Didact's interest and have him send Chief after her for the sake of security... Only to find she reassembled Cortana into several 'sister' copies from her ghostly leftovers, and is exploring the galaxy, citing Star Trek references.
This results in the Didact and Harbinger both being interested in human fiction, which does not help Chief as he continues to do what he enjoys - sightseeing, stopping serious galactic plots of villainous intent, blowing up ancient machinery, and making a friend or two.
Nice idea, store it somewhere.
I've always wanted a forerunner sage style pov chapter of the didact of when he scanned infinities systems in halo 4
Thank you for another great lore and theory. I love the intricate story-lore that Halo has about the Forerunners and especially the Ancient Humans [Archeohomina] and hope there's more eventually about them as well. I hope to be looking forward to more added about them. Thanks again!
I need a game of that period, halo need this to revive as a master piece sci-fi saga
I didn't know all this about him. Starting off as a noble character and then being corrupted by a gravemind is tragic. I think he is due a huge redemption arc.
Personally I think he lost his nobility with how he handled the ancient humans. His hatred and vengefulness seemed to be the beginning of his downfall.
The Ur-Didact is a noble, yet tragic character. He loves his wife, The Librarian, and would die defending her. However, he was corrupted through grief, brought forth by the loss of his children, the rage he had towards Ancient Humanity, and the Gravemind’s/ Primordial’s logic plague. This ultimately led to the birth of the Promethean AI constructs. But, deep down, he truly wanted to protect all sentient life, as per the tenets of the Mantle, and he still had a sense of honor. Again however, it’s overrun by psychosis. Now that he’s in the Domain, with his memories shattered, maybe his journey might finally cleanse his mind of the Gravemind’s influence, and return him to what he once was, just in time for the Precursors’s final test.
The theory you gave near the end gave me chills.. can't wait for the novel and future story content in infinite.
Just opened this and saw how long this is. I haven't even watched it yet but I can already say this will be amazing
"The Halos fired perfectly and sterilized all life in the galaxy."
The silence that followed that sentence was so perfect. We often talk about the destructive force of the Halo Array but just take a moment to think about what that means. All life. All thought, all desires, all memory of past and present - gone. Think about how preciously you hold your life. And now think about how hundreds of billions feel the same way. All erased.
The realization of such an event is daunting.
I literally felt deep down on the journey Ur-Didact had to go through. If not for Master Builder's failed plan, Ur-Didact could've actually make the galaxy a probable peaceful living space with the librarian's advice.
But unbeknownst to all that he was captured by the gravemind and subsequently reduced to the lowest of madness stage, all of it could've been prevented.
That aside, thankfully Iso-Didact had his peaceful final moments with his wife and son nonetheless.
I enjoyed all the main halo games/stories. Played in order is once in a lifetime experience.
Ideas of mine in addition to what you said about the Didact's future potential in the story:
- The Didact does go through a redemption arc as you suggest.
- The Didact does save Master Chief from Offensive Bias.
- The Didact and Master Chief do work together against the Endless.
- The situation with the Endless is at least temporarily 'resolved' though not necessarily with a complete victory or resolution over them.
- The Didact and Master Chief continue to talk after this and the Didact tells him some information concerning the Forerunner-Flood War.
- The Didact then parts ways with Master Chief, expressing a desire to find the Forerunners thought to be in exile beyond the galactic plane.
Bonus round:
- The Didact _does_ find them though their civilisation has become more monastic and unrecognisable to the Didact, albeit still technological.
- It takes the Didact years to find the colony because they are deliberately masking their presence from discovery, in a way which is clever enough to make them practically invisible even to the best efforts of the Forerunner and Covenant-tech ascended capabilities UNSC and the initial attempts by the Didact.
- Eventually the Didact realises the tell-tale signs of the use of bafflers and cloaking technology on a massive scale, and methodically works to understand and interpret the sources of the cloaking devices, scouring areas of space in the intergalactic void to try and pinpoint a main source.
- After finding a few sub-nodes and eventually landing on an asteroid with a large, hyper-advanced baffler (which had in itself been cloaked and made largely invisible) the Didact begins to predict and plot a map of such outposts and, while doing so, lets out a constant beacon signal in the language of the Forerunners and signals the presence of a Forerunner ship (that which he is using to travel the Void) The process takes several years though he does eventually find a likely source of the Forerunners.
- Strategic analysis through his own immense tactical and strategical intelligence, narrowed down the initial search area and saved him a lot of time, as he may well have known all along the likely sectors of space which the Forerunners may have fled into if they had to. The number of seemingly unrelated - but he'd know, were actually _entirely_ interlinked - automated masking stations and bafflers, would then create a form of cordon around a small sector of space into which the Didact would exhaustively search for two further years. Then he would find the main source, in the darkness, after nearly crashing into it.
- Hidden behind various cloaking fields and made to look like empty space dotted by a few random asteroids, the truth behind the illusion would be revealed as a large, shield-world-like megastructure spanning 24,000 km wide. Around it are positioned a number of smaller, 'satellite-megastructures', all over 1,000 km wide, which are cloaked on their outward appearance like the main structure, from the direction of the galactic plane, though aligned together in perfect unison around the main megastructure. There are 12 of these around the 'Equator' and 6 each around both of the 'Tropics' of the spherical megastructure, as well as even larger nodal defence megastructures for each of the polar approaches (so 26 spherical defence nodes in total) Note: the two polar moons are both over 2,000 km in diameter each.
- Girdling the entire megastructure is a gigantic ring megastructure which is hundreds of kilometres thick and over 30,000 km wide. This, singular megastructure ringing the main 'planetary' megastructure', is a massive docking facility and defensive structure. It it's own right, it is a masterpiece and exhibits the terraforming wonders of the Forerunners. Each of the 24, moon-sized spheres stationed in fixed positions around the ring and the planetary megastructures, are themselves guard bastions protecting all approaches of the entirely Forerunner constructed system. They also act as listening posts and defensive nodes with massive ground-to-orbit cannons and vast fortifications. Together, they also emit gigantic defensive energy fields around the entire system, with energy barriers and shields going out way beyond the outer spheres, enveloping everything within for a hundred thousand kilometres in radius.
- Seeing the scale and beauty of these structures, The Didact is brought to silent tears on the bridge of his starship, seeing the majesty and spectacle of the Forerunners in it's sincerity and tenacity once again. But he also recognises the significance of what structures of this scale, must mean, in terms of the potential Forerunner population within. A new class of Forerunner destroyer - based on the Sojourn-class - is docked in large numbers on each of the 24 nodal spheres/bastions, and a very great number are docked in the ring around the planetary megastructure. Keyships are found all over the planetary body.
- Under dense defence layers on the exterior of the metallic looking megastructure, there is a heavily miniaturised 'star' providing light, and ample warmth, to the surface of a smaller spherical body locked in stasis within; permanently shrouded under massive energy fields and shields yet again. The paradise contained below these massive defences is veiled, though once seen, never forgotten. A masterpiece, even by the standards of the Forerunner Builders.
- Numerous Forerunner Warrior-servant Legions guard the entire system, and Builder Security numbers are even greater. However, the sentinels here are very much more advanced than anything ever seen before, and they are designed to be more difficult to be controlled by any central AI; decentralised AI is the norm. The situation here is that there is a fear of AI since the Forerunner-Flood War, and a serious number of protocols exist in any sanctioned use of AI for literally anything. Automation and AI integration does exist, in a widespread form, even with that in mind; though it is used much more carefully and each AI sentinel is more of a 'bespoke' unit. There are still millions of them, all the same.
- The majority of systems here are maintained by living Forerunners. Here, technological and spiritual advancement is seen as 'Returning to the Mantle'. The ruling elite of the defence-and-secrecy paranoid Forerunners here, are bound by various laws and protocols to uphold their solemn duties and to further the arts, sciences and technologies of the Forerunners. Here, they have continued to advance Forerunner technology.
- The entire system is known to these Forerunner survivors as, 'Unyielding Spirit in the Darkness of the Sundering Void', or more functionally as 'Nexus'. Within the armoured shell of the defence sphere, the planetary body formed inside the energy shields, is itself often referred to by the Forerunners there, as 'Heart of the Mantle', or simply, 'Halcyon'. Some combine the terms, referring to the entire system as 'Nexus Halcyon'. More commonly, it is one or the other.
- The beautiful oceans of the planetary structure, entirely Forerunner-made, are full of subaqueous cities and carefully tended to marine life, in perfect harmony. The land masses of the planetary structure are similarly well-tended to, and cities are built with a respect for 'nature' (as 'natural' as it can be here) The architecture is interwoven with the biological elements of the trees and other flora, and the architectural styles of the Forerunners merge with natural, flowing forms. They build tall, elegant spires and typically Forerunner, utilitarian buildings, yet structures which play host to waterfalls and gardens wherever they can excuse them being. The Lifeworkers work closely with both the Builders _and_ the Warrior-servants, to make for a closer resonance with nature, in all things; not just the architectural. This manifests most obviously in their armour and suits, because these are even more elegant (think Tolkien's Elves)
- Forerunner society here is more religious and obsessed with the Mantle of Responsibility, and the ruling elite is focused on purging dissenting voices. This has caused a number of tensions with the Warrior-servants and the Builders, though pacification campaigns and purgation phases have seen small civil insurrections ended here several times, with somewhat brutal oppression enforced by the ruling class. However, numerous Forerunners now argue they should return to the galaxy, in growing strength of voice and numbers.
- The ruling elite, forming the Council of Elders, with representatives from all the sects and castes of their system, monitor the situation with growing concern as dissent continues to emerge over their self-imposed exile. Civil disobedience and elitist suppression of the lower orders, is common. Although the Didact does not know it, he has discovered a monastic, religious colony of the Forerunners in exile. The presence of a Forerunner starship of an ancient class, emerging from out of the galactic plane to hail the system, has caused a huge uproar amongst both the loyalists of the 'conservative traditionalist isolationists' and the 'radical exploratory reformists'. This division in the society of the several dozen million Forerunners present, is dangerous. However, plenty of Forerunners are excited at the news of a Forerunner vessel arriving after having found them. It was not supposed to be possible after all this time.
[part 1/4]
[part 2/4] - The Didact's arrival is not welcomed by the ruling Council of Elders, however, and they issue orders for the immediate arrest of the interloper. Before long, a dozen squadrons of advanced Forerunner warships surround the Didact, on all sides, emerging from not only Nexus, but also from stationary positions out in the darkness of the Void, through slipspace portals (some Forerunner warships, acting like preservational arks in their own rights, rotate between tours of duty defending Nexus, and being 'anchored' - that is, held in fixed positions - out in the galactic Void, at various points of distance away from Nexus/Halcyon.
- The Didact surrenders himself willingly to the Forerunners, and he is brought before the Council of Elders. The ruling class attempt to deny the general public being privy to the identity of the visitor and the nature of the conversations held. It soon becomes more of an interrogation, concerning the Didact. However, rivals of the ruling class have informants inside the council and information is relayed to opposing figures in Forerunner society; figures whom would rather help the Didact in his endeavours and bring him to see all of Nexus and Halcyon, and to see all of what they had wrought in the darkness.
Those whom understand the nature of the Didact are in awe of his ancient presence in the council chambers, while others fear and resent him. The ruling council oppose the Didact's intentions, which are made clear to return to the galaxy at the head of a number of Forerunners to work with his allies in the UNSC. The role of the Endless is explained and instead of embracing the Didact upon learning of this, some wish to execute him on the spot for risking bringing them to Nexus.
The Didact insists that his movements in the galactic Void beyond the Milky Way and Path Kethona, were impossible for the Endless to have known, after the recent actions of himself and the UNSC remnants. The fact the Flood are returned to the Milky Way galaxy is also revealed, and this terrifies many members of the ruling council into abject refusal to allow the Didact to leave. Knowing this would be their response, and not intending to leave for the time being anyway, the Didact didn't care that this would be their obvious reaction. The fact that the Flood had initially escaped after 100,000 years, from storage facilities on Installation 004 is made clear to the Council of Elders. The outrage, caused by a combination of factors, during the Human-Covenant War. The Didact must detail to the Council, the true state of affairs and history in the Milky Way (spanning the events, in-game, from HALO:CE to HALO Infinite)
Alarmed at the survival of the Flood - largely thanks to ancient Forerunners keeping and storing specimens needlessly 100,000 years earlier - the decision is made to keep the Didact inside Nexus upon the surface of Halcyon, for the foreseeable future. A knowledgeable 'guest', rather than a prisoner; but a prisoner in all but name. The Didact is happy to oblige, wiser and more ancient than every single Forerunner around him. Impressed at the technological innovations, yet disturbed by the extremism of some of the more pious Forerunners, the Didact deftly understands that this society is on the verge of splitting in half, once he realises that splinter factions are beginning to emerge (informants make their masters known to the Didact in secret, and information is passed to him of their whereabouts on Nexus) The movements of all citizens, including now the Didact, are tracked. Made aware of this, the Didact strategizes.
The monastic culture at the head of Forerunner society in this sanctuary system, has stagnated over as innovators and pioneers are suppressed from naturally returning to the galaxy to explore anew. The issue of the Flood terrifies all and even the spectre of their memory holds this paranoid, elitist, theocratic society together. That it is known the Flood survived and are once again plaguing some parts of the Milky Way galaxy, shocks and offends numerous Forerunners.
The ruling elite begin to use this as a means of doubling down on oppressing the secessionists and radicals, determining that their path could only ever lead to the eventual loss of any colony in the Milky Way and worse, the Flood finding their way back to Nexus after destroying them. Scaremongering about the Flood overrunning the system, becomes a new stick the Didact unwittingly gave the Forerunner Council of Elders, to beat the dissenters with.
Undeniably powerful amongst their kind, the Didact soon gains position and status on Halcyon, and many great speakers and educators flock to hear his oratory and learn from his lectures. He teaches them of ancient knowledge and Forerunner lore, long since forgotten by their own kind here. However, a number of radicals want him to represent them. Inversely, some of the more tactically minded Forerunners amongst the Council of Elders, wishes for the Didact to become a conduit of their own policies, and knowing he is too beloved, famous and respected to simply do away with, they wish to use him to suit their own ends. As such, the Didact is afforded more of the trappings of a Forerunner of his standing; the latest and greatest of Forerunner combat suits, the latest augmentations, the best of everything they can afford to give him. The Didact's ship is brought closer to Nexus, and literally tens of thousands of Forerunners study and investigate it under official training regimens, while the Didact is inside Nexus.
Radical reformists within Forerunner society inform the Didact that this is happening, and the Didact angrily confronts the council. However, the Council of Elders explains that it had been done to ensure no Flood had stowed aboard his vessel, as a safety measure. The Didact is told he can return to his ship under a massive force of armed guards if he so wished, and that he was still a 'guest' of Nexus and Halcyon. In his own thoughts, the Didact knows this society is a paradox and that it's contradictions and flaws will one day rip it apart through civil strife, if the people are not united under one banner. At this point, the Didact loses his patience with the Forerunner Council of Elders, and secretly plans to supplant the entire council under his own dictatorship.
The radicals whom support the Didact separately, offer their own arms and means to his cause, later on. And those radicals whom stand in his way, share the same fate as those traditionalists whom do as well; obliterated. The Didact is seen as a 'hero of the ancient world' and his survival inside the Milky Way in the face of the new inheritors of the Mantle, is seen with a form of amazement. The Didact quickly becomes the most popular figure on Halcyon, and his vast knowledge and age leaves few in any doubt that it is he whom deserves to lead their people.
His coming to the citadel spires and memorial gardens of Halcyon, was no accident; it was by his own skill, tenacity and wisdom. His own strategic brilliance. His own mastery of the stars. There was simply no Forerunner amongst them whom could truly match him. Not as a warrior, not as an admiral. Not as a genius. They had many geniuses, but the Didact came from an era when the galaxy was swarming with the Forerunner geniuses of the Ecumene of old. He now walked as though a King-Emperor among Kings in Nexus, and he was unstoppable by sheer force of will and the gravity of his voice. He was a poet-orator of grand repute and an inspiration to all of Nexus, all of Halcyon. Everywhere he went, crowds thronged around him, wanting to speak to him.
Upon realising the scale of his popularity and the reach of his influence, the previously manipulative angle the Council of Elders had taken, soured, and turned. Now, most had gone back on that idea and decided it best to execute the Didact, for stirring dissent. They had initially hoped to use the Didact as a lightning rod to capture the anti-radical zeitgeist they themselves had espoused and pushed on their people. However, discerning the manipulation immediately for what it was, the Didact had merely played along; biding his time, before leading the revolution which toppled them.
[part 3/4] Just 2 years after arriving on Halcyon, the Didact emerged as the leader of the entire system. It had not taken him very long to turn the wheels of change in favour of the radicals, and the Council of Elders was dismantled. The Mantle of Responsibility was not their burden to bear, though they could aid Humanity in it's own battle against the detractors within it's ranks and enemies from without. Now, the Didact was the leader of the Forerunner colony. Now the Didact was in full control. His sheer might and presence of will, uniting the majority of Forerunners under his banner.
Entire legions renamed themselves in his honour, such was the love for the Didact amongst his species. The legendary leader of the Warrior-servants, rising to the fore in this forgotten colony, at a time when the Warrior-servants were generally pro-revolution considering the stagnation and corruption going on in Forerunner society due to the Council of Elders, blatantly hiding behind the cloak of religiosity to excuse their silencing of critics and the disappearances of dissenting voices. Ironically, the Didact would 'disappear' the Council of Elders; that said, by popular demand.
Taking over in a relatively short time, the Didact would rule over Nexus and Halcyon for 3 years before deciding to return to the Milky Way at the head of an expeditionary force. This task force, carefully selected, to ensure complete loyalty and a tight strategic control over units being sent. The Didact would use his expeditionary fleet as a shadow force. A secretive fleet, prowling the outer fringes of the Milky Way, sending small teams across the galaxy. The Didact's greatest concern would, of course, be the Flood and the Flood Gravemind(s)
The secrecy and ultimately clandestine nature of his movements in the Milky Way, were unknown to the UNSC for some time, also; until the Flood began to grow in numbers in the outer colonies of the UNSC. At this point, the Didact revealed himself again to the Spartans. By this time, Master Chief, being very old, was not necessarily fighting on the front lines. However, he could be pulled out of retirement. The undisclosed numbers of Forerunners, all of which using hyper-advanced suits and cloaking tech, would always follow the Didact's protocols regarding dealing with the Flood.
They would _not_ directly engage the Flood. Not yet. They would only appear at critical moments of battles between the humans and the Flood, to decisively and overwhelmingly shift the balance of power in favour of the humans. Even ONI could not piece together an understanding of Forerunner activity. It wasn't even known to be Forerunner activity at first. Not until a pattern emerged after several battles and reports of a figure resembling the Didact came to light. Master Chief searches for the Didact and the Didact searches for him; they find each other, on a space station which is beginning to fall to the Flood. Mid-battle, the Didact evacuates those that can be before torching the station with the full, up-until-then concealed might of his cloaked warships in his task force. The Didact will only engage if he knows the Flood cannot escape in any numbers.
The Didact explains to Master Chief that he shall never risk bringing the Flood back to Nexus. He doesn't even tell Master Chief about the name of the planet within Nexus; Halcyon. He never tells anyone. The entire force the Didact brings from Nexus into the Milky Way, numbering around 12,000 Warrior servants (two elite legions), and a million Forerunner sentinels, is sworn to secrecy. Their fleet, numbering only a dozen capital ships, has more firepower than any human fleet in the galaxy. Hundreds of ships were left at Nexus. Hundreds of thousands of Warrior-servants and millions of sentinels, too.
Each and every soldier is a precious asset, a precious, accountable unit. Not a single one of them is _allowed_ to die lightly or for their bodies to remain unaccounted for. Even after 5 battles involving the Flood, the elite force the Didact takes with him, suffers _zero_ casualties. Clinical strikes on Flood targets, full force, out of the blue, allow for this. These are not massive campaigns fought for months or years. The Didact's hit and run tactics are devastating to numerous Flood vanguards which are simply burnt off the face of the galaxy before the Flood can follow up.
As the Didact knows, all too well, this is about purging the Flood from the galaxy with as much efficiency as possible. Unfortunately, for Humanity, they are necessarily allowed to be the ones taking most/all of the losses. Master Chief himself becomes disgruntled with the Didact, when it becomes clear the Didact knew about several situations where he could have intervened and saved many human lives; letting the Flood overrun them, because it was not a good time for his own forces to intervene without loss.
The Didact reminds Master Chief about what is at stake. If even _one_ of his troops falls, he will be made aware of it. Master Chief considers it cruel to Humanity, and that this strategy can't go on forever before, no matter how careful he is with his troops, he will start to suffer losses. The Didact tells Master Chief that he knows that, and is just trying to minimise risk. He doesn't want a single one of his 12 warships in the expeditionary fleet to be lost. If any one ship is overrun, it will begin a self-destruct process (which cannot be stopped even by himself, as planned) all the others will open fire on it as a rule. In any scenario where half or more of the fleet is simultaneously being overrun, the entire fleet's engines are auto-immobilised and self-destruct measures are enacted on every single ship. Escape craft are permissible but only for the Didact and a few other high ranking figures.
The entire fleet's crew and legionary forces volunteered, knowing _all_ of this during the 3 year build up process after the Didact took control of Nexus. As for whom was ruling in the Didact's stead on Nexus and Halcyon/Nexus Halcyon, the leader of the radicals whom had sided with the Didact since he arrived, acted as the Didact's second-in-command in his new rule on Nexus. He would manage the affairs of Nexus Halcyon for the time being. The campaign of the Didact would last for years to come, weakening Flood forces and infuriating the Gravemind(s) Eventually the Flood would catch onto this happening, and attempts to lure the Didact into traps of their making, would be made. However, the Didact would know their tricks, and perceive strategy on a different level, after his many millennia of coming to terms with the nightmare of the Flood.
During a huge naval battle between humanity and the Flood, the Didact stands off, refusing to show himself, observing the battle with reluctant patience. Afraid of the Flood merely having used the attack as a diversion to lure out the Didact's fleet, the Didact does not act. UNSC losses mount as the Flood slowly works it's way through the fleet. Master Chief and other Spartan forces hold the line and Master Chief, using a special communication device, asks for the assistance they need. Seeing the battle turning, the Didact reveals his fleet - only to try and rescue Master Chief - and in massive displays of precise and thunderous firepower, sends the Flood reeling back with immense losses.
However, they stand off at long range in two stacked lines of six, barraging the Flood infected warships of humanity into oblivion. The Didact personally leads a Promethean strike team of his own into the heart of the UNSC fleet and rescues Master Chief against his will, along with several dozen other Spartans. The rest of the fleet either evacuates or is destroyed by the Flood. As the Flood desperately try and reach the clearly non-human warships, they escape (just after Master Chief and the Spartans come aboard) Master Chief is furious at the Didact, though understands his logic. It is a cruel calculus though one which must be adhered to, for the safety of Nexus. Even at this time, the guns of Nexus bristle out into the Void, awaiting potential calamity. The Didact shall not reward the loyalty of the people of Nexus, with careless abandon. The sad price of this, for humanity, comes in the form of tens of thousands of lives, knowingly forsaken to the Flood, at - for the Didact - inopportune moments.
After successfully driving the Flood back from the Outer Territories, at terrible cost in human life, the UNSC (aided by the Didact and his task force) takes stock. They have lost dozens of warships and tens of thousands of lives. The Forerunner task force, on the other hand, lost a few self-destructing sentinels and _no_ actual Warrior-servants. It was an incredible feat; though the Didact knew that many humans had died to make such things possible. He was trying to wear the Flood down, to then risk deploying larger forces of Forerunners against them. Only then, he thought, could they think about destroying them forever...
[part 4/4]
- The 26 spherical defence spheres ('armoury moons') of Nexus/Nexus Halcyon/Halcyon Nexus, out in the Void, are as following named:
'EQUATORIAL'
1. *Nexus Lantern* - primary node, 1st built of 26, stationed over the central Equator of Nexus, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'.
2. *Loyalty* - 6th built of 26, stationed directly over the central equatorial forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; marshalling point.
3. *Wisdom* - 9th built of 26, stationed directly over the central and Eastern plains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; naval training facilities.
4. *Consequence* - 12th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern mountains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; prisons.
5. *Deliverance* - 15th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern seas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; biological laboratories.
6. *Mercy* - 18th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western mangroves of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; luxury residences.
7. *Memory* - 21st built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western deserts of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; museums abundant.
8. *Legacy* - 22nd built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western canyons of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; memorial moon.
9. *Epiphany* - 23rd built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungles of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; religious monuments.
10. *Alacrity* - 24th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungle deltas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds.
11. *Promise* - 25th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Western jungle deltas of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; many shipyards.
12. *Responsibility* - 26th built of 26, stationed directly over the central Eastern ocean of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; special armouries.
'TROPICAL' - NORTH
13. *Nexus North* - North Tropics node, 2nd built of 26, stationed over the central North Tropic, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'.
14. *Vindication* - 7th built of 26, stationed directly over the Northern temperate forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds.
15. *Watchword* - 10th built of 26, stationed directly over the Northern inland sea of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; major engineering sites.
16. *Redemption* - 13th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Eastern shores of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; major factory sites.
17. *Retribution* - 16th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Western meadow-plains of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; law schools.
18. *Restoration* - 19th built of 26, stationed directly over the North Western volcanic zone of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; builder schools.
'TROPICAL' - SOUTH
19. *Nexus South* - South Tropics node, 3rd built of 26, stationed over the central South Tropic, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; 'gatekeeper'.
20. *Aurora* - 8th built of 26, stationed over the central South oceanic region of Halcyon, directly. Extremely heavily fortified; artisan colonies.
21. *Fidelity* - 11th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Eastern tropical forests of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; legal courts.
22. *Arcadia* - 14th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Eastern ocean of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; training grounds.
23. *Mitigation* - 17th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Western shores of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; weapons testing.
24. *Solace* - 20th built of 26, stationed directly over the South Western hills of Halcyon. Extremely heavily fortified; luxury residences, veterans.
POLAR - NORTH
25. *Void North* - 4th built of 26, stationed over the North Pole of Nexus/Halcyon Nexus. Massively fortified; 'overseer' and alternating naval review point.
POLAR - SOUTH
26. *Void South* - 5th built of 26, stationed over the South Pole of Nexus/Halcyon Nexus. Massively fortified; 'overseer' and alternating naval review point.
You put a lot of thought into this, good job. But where does the story go after part 3?
Nice story, please copy this into somewhere
This was a really wonderful reading, quite a story that made me appreciate the Ur-Didact a lot more as a character (and understand the Forerunner era a lot better). Thanks for making this!
I have another theory about Halo: The Endless. Since Mendicent Bias was interrogating the Gravemind for 43 years on Zeta Halo, who says that Offensive Bias couldn't suffer a similar change of alliance with The Endless. The last we heard of Offensive Bias, he was being put in charge of research on the Endless.
Not research, containing
Even though you still mostly cover older lore, I still enjoy you content. I found myself coming back to your content over the past couple years and it's a shame that I haven't subscribed. Thanks for putting in the effort and making great content.
I need to read the newer book and all the forerunner books again. The diadact has become one of my favorites so I live seeing anything new involving him.
Ive only ever played Halo PvP at friends houses so i never got to experience the story or lore within the Halo universe. This to me is amazing and will be looking into your content with eager!
Abbadon? (Sp?). That's one of the missions in doom sigil, which most doom missions are named after verses in the bible bc it's a demonic game. Like, thy flesh consumed
How is this channel not known by every halo fan. More than a million of us, all halo mam need to subscribe the detail in these videos is 10/10, clearly spoken an so much content
You are the best lore channel on TH-cam I swear. The way you make these makes halo constantly more interesting and other series could only dream of having a content creator of your talent
I loved this video. As a huge Halo 4 and Didact fan I love how the lore was expanded. I’ve read some of the books and looked more into the terminals but it’s great having it all laid out like this.
Yessssss just in time
Agreed!!!! But so much info and work put in! I love these long versions so so much!❤️
Can 343 pick a lane? I feel like the constant adding and removal of great characters between the games and books is annoying.
They kept changing the story because people didnt like it at first. Now people like the Didact so they are bringing him back.
I think it's just par the course for Halo at this point.
Bungie did this quite a lot. They were on record for hating much of the original trilogy of novels, but then adapted loads of it for Halo 2 and 3.
Bungie honestly didn't give a huge fuck about the lore and just kinda winged it for most of the run
That's one thing I really appreciate from 343i. They pay a lot of attention to detail. Just wish they made better halo games 🧑🦼
Thanks for the vid, and I'm looking forward to the Didact's return. I felt that Halo 4 rushed the story for such a potent and influential character, but it is good to see that his story is not finished.
I just don’t understand how this super advanced species carrying the mantle had no idea their own worlds were infected by the flood and couldn’t process or understand that the humans were doing it for a reason.
I imagine the Flood was hiding on those worlds. It would have known the Human-Forerunner war was to it’s benefit.
The Humans could identify it because they knew what they were looking for.
Oh ! I thought it was an old video, as I am consistently now going through your channel's content.
But it's a new one, right on time :D
Outstanding work, I love these long lore videos.
This channel and a few others are keeping the Halo flame alive and well, thanks for everything you do here.
The Didact is one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise so I'm stoked for this video!
I love your videos man. I love the Halo universe and your videos are like a gold mine into deeper parts of the story. Thank you!
Such a wasted character I really wish 343 would have kept him as the main antagonist of the reclaimer saga instead of the whole AI rebels against humanity cliché, The Didact had so much potential a shame well probably never see any of it.
Fantastic work making this! Am excited to see the didact return.
I love these videos, always listen to them while working. Please keep it up, you are one of my favourite halo youtubers i like your content more than the games even.
Great video too my man!!! Super deep, you had my imagination going wild!!! So many details I did not know
53:00 they did black team so damn dirty. I read the comic covering black team, one of the best halo comics and a damn good comic on its own right, and I loved the team. And they killed them off in like 7 panels. I hate that comic. I bought it a book fair and threw it out after I finished it.
My question is how did the Forerunners take so long to notice the flood were overrunning humanity and infecting Forerunner worlds when they are supposed to be the "protectors of the galaxy"?
They didn't notice at first. Ancient Humanity "won" by genetically altering their own populations with bad genes to sacrifice to the flood. It didn't really work, just that the flood retreated on purpose to give humanity the illusion of victory.
After that, the human-forerunner war, which the primordial had a hand in, and then the rest goes from there. If you want more details, try listening to the forerunner trilogy by Greg Bear.
So, how hard would it have been for the humans to say to the Forerunners "we are fighting the flood." I've always tried to understand how, in a thousand year war, the humans and Forerunners never talked?
Holy crap. the ancient humans were freaking powerhouses
39:13 lol not to mention the fact a builder somehow manages to out maneuvera warrior every step of the way, should be proof enough for them to consider alternative leadership
Had they just had a conversation, humans forerunners and san'shyuum may have defeated the flood.
A thousand year war and yet no one bothered to pick up the phone and explain to the Forerunners what was going on for five minutes. It's just dumb writing, like just about everything 343 has made.
@@nagger8216Political and public climate was tense at that time. If the humans were to explain the Flood to the Forerunners, they would give the Flood time to spread while also going nowhere with the discussion.
It seems like the for runners really hate being told the mantle wasn’t meant for them 😅
It is believed that the primordials conscious had transferred into a the gravemind form so he essentially reincarnated himself.
44:50 so that’s what a halo sounds like when firing.
If the forerunners or humans were so advanced of panspermia across the galaxy then why couldn't they communicate about flood being the main reason they bombed and encroached the forerunner space?
@rishabhthakur8112 it was stated humanity was cruel and uncompromisingly arrogant
Would you be doing a history & lore video about the librarian?
That would be interesting!
Even though my dislike of the current direction Halo is evident, The Didact's character and story are beyond captivating, and your narration work Sir, is astounding. My thanks.
Keep in mind he is an enemy of the Endless if he returns in any form he would want the Endless prevented or permanently rid of. We could potentially see a war between the Endless and the Didact. We would have new promethean variants Didact creates to fight the Endless similar to how the original were created for the flood.
The accent just makes the story telling that much better.
I love how the Didact had every advantage and the Chiefs still beat him twice not like you did it alone like I said he had every Advantage including numbers
Didact was cool and h4 was a good game. And theb Bam, he never heard from in game. And even then H6 drops h5's evil cortana. Oof.
When does the first DLC for Infinite come out???
In 5 Centuries.
@@xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme7 If I had to guess knowing MS 2/3s of the pending DLC was cut from the initial release so it shouldn't take them that long to finish and polish it.
@@AKlover What evidence do you have that their DLC is in a "finish and polish" state?
Makes me wonder why Ancient Humanity, as the story is told, didn't attempt to get the "Forerunners on the horn" so to say, and simply tell them what was going on with the Flood as soon as it looked like they had to start running. I'm sure some did try, but probably would have been a really good thing to do before starting to orbitally bombard Forerunner worlds. Sure, odds are the Forerunners wouldn't have listened to them, but I mean, it ain't like Ancient Humanity didn't have literal planets worth of evidence to present to prove their case to have merrit. Makes me wonder did unmentioned cooler heads try to work things out, but because of the long held dislike between the two galactic superpowers, they didn't prevail? Surely, even if the Forerunners and Ancient Humanity weren't anywhere near buddy-buddy, they musta still had some diplomatic channels for talking to one another? Considering the end result that did happen, even in the case of Ancient Humanity having to in essence take the blame for the Flood outbreak, and thus becoming more a client state or vassal state to the Forerunners as an end result, this would have been a better outcome than fighting a two front war?
Seems oddly stupid of Ancient Humanity for being such an advanced sort to not be able to pick the lesser of the two evils when presented with a situation that really demands careful contemplation on which is the worse scenario, as even a regular civilian can probably sit down and ponder which would be a better end result if presented the following options: Fighting a two front war with an unknown alien parasite that's succeeded in destroying a large portion of human controlled space, plus seems to be acting in a deliberate and intelligent manner, that came from mystery powder aboard a nondescript unknown spaceship on one side, and the current number one Galactic superpower on the second. OR! Trying to talk to said superpower, despite not having a good history with them, and to show them what was going on seeing as that alien parasite has already decimated a large section of human controlled space, being humbled in the process, suffering a loss of power on the galactic stage, but hopefully managing to still stay alive and kicking while avoiding a war with them so the both of you can focus your effort on the matter at hand with the utmost urgency above all else. While also warning them as a bit of a gesture of good intent that several of their planets are also infected by this parasitic hostile entity, and they should really, really deal with that before things get out of hand, as they already have in a large sector of human space. Sure does feel like they only had saber rattlers sitting in attendance at the particular meeting that took place to figure out which option to pick, because even if ignored, probably better to be persistent rather than take "Sorry, we aren't taking your calls right now." as an answer, and then suddenly start burning their infected planets to become a "killer of our children".
If the Didact was allowed to use his Promethean warriors to fight off the Flood he would have been able to exterminate them and defeat them without having to give up their civilization.
Oh man this is exactly what I needed 😍
Anything that happened in that damn comic taking place after halo 4 I consider non-canon. The murder of a whole squad of spartan 2's like they were ants is stupid.
Not really. It shows how powerful the Forerunners are. Last thing I want is the lore going stale because of Spartans kicking arse & chewing bubble gum. You need stakes.
@@tristanbackup2536 I disagree with you adamantly. In fact I'd say what we got removes and ruins any and all sense of stakes.
The already severely injured Didact having a knock down drag out fight with a full team of spartans Chief's physical, and combat prowess equal, but still winning, and pushing them back, would have easily established stakes, and not done a massive disservice to the lore, or the spartans and their capabilities.
Instead we got the lamest thing possible to have happened in the comic. He comes out, despite having just been nuked, and knocked through slipspace unshielded, and insta-kills these new spartan 2's.
Now instead of realistic, and weighty stakes, that feel realistic, we just know chief is just gonna win only because he's chief, instead of because he's a highly capable, and combat effective warrior, with luck on his side.
@@tristanbackup2536 ...even though no one on Blue Team died and the Chief handed the Didact's ass to him twice. Right...
I’ve waited so long and am happy it’s finally here
Halo 4 was great, can't believe people actually disliked it. I liked how human Cortana had become and 5 and infinity basically had no plot and didn't know what they were doing.
i've said this before in other videos and i'll say it again.. humans had to deal with the flood AND the forerunners for 1000 years in conflict... that ain't no small feat that's for sure!
I F-ing love this channel
I loved it. My favorite halo game and the last good halo honestly
Imagine how bad master cheif's armor stinks. He never takes it off.
Imagine the smelj
The Didact was the lesser of 3 evils, composing and enslaving a whole race to be used as slave soldiers isn’t as bad as the entire galaxy being exterminated or turned into a zombie parasite. Given the severity of the situation I don’t know what else they could’ve done. All those poor humans the Didact composed would’ve been vaporised anyway by halo…..,surly it was the less harsh option.
I always thought if he wasn't killed but composed they'd bring him back as a promethean boss or something
I dont understand how Didact learned from Prometheans...Are they different than the ones we fought in h4? Like those robot things?
Prometheans were originally The highest ranking Elite Forerunner Warrior servants.
Prometheans were originally biological Forerunner soldiers - it was the Didact who turned them into robots
Yay!
Just imagine a show or movie series is created telling this story. A Forerunner saga. I swear Disney and Star Wars would have a run for their money!
Anyone else look at the screen for the first 10 seconds and think ‘god I need to clean this screen’
Then you realize the sun, and it’s the video of a galaxy
I dont think it was ever established which battles the Didacts children died in, it certainly it wasn't said they'd all died in the last siege of Charum Hackor.
After listening to the history of the Didact I actually respect him more he didn’t want to destroy humanity until he sat in nothing for years and years with his corrupted mind!
Oh hell yeah!
We need an addendum to this video to cover Epitaph!
It should be possible for Didact to be reanimated, just as the humans are reanimated as Promethean Knights.
This is just a thought that occured to me, but what if the didact that'll return in the novel isn't Ur Didact, but Iso Didact? It'll be a good way of introducing friendly Forerunners into the story.
And while I wouldn't mind to see Ur Didact getting a redemption arc, I also would love for him to stay as a villain rather than coming back to aid humanity. Just as the Prophets represent all the wrong things about the Covenant and the Arbiter represents all the good things, I fell like Ur Didact represents all the bad things in the Forerunners just as Iso Didact and the Librarian represent the good things.
I'm pretty sure the cover for the novel is the Ur Didact in his armor from Halo 4
halo may be dying in games, but in books its seems to survive
these videos are a masterpiece
Every time you say "forerunner" it sounds like you're saying "foreigner."
He is British
I feel like almost no one ever talks about how powerful the ancient humans were
So the Ur-Didact was sent to purgatory only to re-live and remember every moment he spent with his wife who literally destroyed him, after she imprisoned him for 100,000 years. J.F.C. What a terrible way to go.
That it is. He was corrupted by the primordial. It would have been better to just put him out of his misery at thar point.
Am I the only one who actually thought didact was a dope villian, and wished they would have made a proper boss fight in a sequel
This was awesome.
I remember being so pissed for the lord of admirals when I played this game
Should I read any previous books before I read the book about the didact?
To think, the Didact turned his fellow Promethians into Necrons… to wage battle against the Old Ones in the War in Heaven… 🧐
I think I figured out how to save the beings within the Flood and stop the flood once and for all and didac didn’t even realize it! All he had to do was lure them to that location put up a shield wall on both sides with his troops and dig in as the Flood attacks, knocking them into the multiple composers that were down there to break them up into data from physical data to machine data, bc if didac isn’t protected from the process, I highly doubt the Flood would survive either then you add that data to the machines like they originally did with the original promethians that were made off the living of other species….they would only be flood in their mind, they are set free and a separate entity after that point bc they were shoved into a machine and then I could demand answers and knowledge bc they aren’t connected to the hive mind anymore due to having their consciousness shoved into a machine after having their body atomized into data,the answer was staring him in the face the entire time, he didn’t need the rings…..you may even separate the beings apart of the original flood bc they combine and we don’t know how many ppl/aliens are actually apart of the flood, that may separate them and their minds from the Flood as well so you can extract data on the flood from them up to the point they were set free and removed from the Flood, you don’t use the composer to just change anyone from physical raw data in our world to computer data in the data space, bc there’s even a way to kill The Flood, you have to alter your genetics to the point they are incompatible bc you altered your DNA, now if I can cause a collapse of my DNA bc it’s so different or something, what do you think is gonna happen to that hive mind? They share all knowledge and information, it’s gonna feel the collapse within me, it will feel my pain and suffering through me bc I’m apart of it, no no, there is no immunity or cure but you need a “weapon” if I die bc of a mutation or something bc they tampered with DNA that wasn’t there anymore bc I removed the segments or replaced the data with other species that aren’t in relation to the Primordial, I would have been the first human to leave the Milky Way to get more DNA from species none of the halo species have ever met before, would probably take from “The Endless” some so I become something of an odd entity to the Flood combining DNA from all these other beings into one being, something that looks human but isn’t human or anything they’ve ever encountered before biology wise, but lil did they know, I was the WEAPON, the thing to attack them from within knowing that if I tinkered with my DNA too much, that I could cause a collapse or a form of decay within my DNA strand, something to obliterate my DNA or cause it to become corrupted, thus corrupting them as well, contradicting my own DNA code so it crashes or decays causing death bc it can’t heal or reset the DNA code bc it’s corrupted, bc it will also effect the Flood.
Master Builder was the one whom helped the flood infestation beginning?
Ancient Humanity in halo was fucking awesome
Somehow, The Didact returned
That 'Somehow' is more like a 'i know how'
He never died. Being Composed is not death.
It's not like Sidous in Star Wars. Gotta pay attention to the story, John clearly stated "contain" for a reason.
Didact - "I have died before"
I have a question is the one last precursor still in cold storage on that planet nd where does the new enemy from 6 come in or is that some 343 bs
I wonder if the vessels containing the precursor dust might have belonged to a race that may have aided some precursors in their flight from the forerunners. Also if this unknown species might have been wiped out along with them.
While the precursors seemed to allow their own extinction, I imagine they might be angered by the destruction of one of their "children" (to greatly oversimplify). Not because it's necessarily against the mantle as an act of violence but perhaps in that it was needless and without purpose. Perhaps some precursors did directly care for the life they reared (though not to an extent we would understand as caring).
I wonder if the total erasure of a species would anger the "stewards of the universe" if it was counter to the enrichment of the universal consciousness.
Like gardeners looking down upon pests attacking their crop, perhaps some precursors viewed the forerunners in such a light. This disdain for such needless slaughter growing, festering and darkening into the hatred held for all life by thr flood as we know them today. For if one species could have the capacity to be so bloodthirsty, so disgusting, then surely all would have the same potential. Eh, I've talked out my ass for long enough. Just a thought, because I've always wondered about any origin of those ships (as I'm sure is the point).
Though very little is stated to indicate the precursors had any sense of morality as we would know it, let alone what may be viewed by them as "good" or "evil". After all, joy and suffering contribute to the enrichment of the universe. Seemingly in equal measure.
Like the quote says: "all the sweeter".
This kind of lore makes me realize how much interesting stuff 343 added early on, but over time it's now just simple and random stuff, like Halo Infinite and current books are just kinda simple stories, nothing heavy in lore (except Infinite's ending which may never end up going anywhere). I kinda feel like it's because of the fans' feedback, which have caused Halo 4, 5, and Infinite to all tell completely different stories, and currently tell more simple stories. I actually wanted to know what the original "Reclaimer Saga" was gonna be, with all this Forerunner stuff. But now we may never know.
So a main villain in a game did the whole "I'm technically not dead" trope... but not in a game...
Am I missing something? Why is it being written like this? I mean I know that the books fill us in and expands the world more but that's for stuff like origins and not so much continuing a main narrative.
God damn is it really nearing 10 years old?