Why Humanity Wasn't Allowed to Join the Covenant | Halo Lore

Most species the Covenant encountered were at least extended an offer to join the Covenant, but not Humanity. Today we explore why.
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[@a-drewg1716]

Humans: Exist Covenant: "So anyways, I started glassing"

[@Wolfman7870]

Actually lol'd at that. Alas I have but one thumbs.

[@_Cato_]

A-DrewG "But I don't see so good so I glassed everything"

[@domainexpansion-boosiefade]

this is the best

[@NameName2.0]

Covenant: Exists Humans: So anyway we woke up this green dude. Chief: So anyway, I started committing mass genocide.

[@isaachinds3736]

@@NameName2.0 Chief: It only fair.

[@machina5]

Cause the Prophets realized that humanity was a plothole in their religion

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

Or we have Wonder woman 😂

[@mastersadchild9223]

@@IronWarhorsesFun ew

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

@@mastersadchild9223 we also have LIBERTY PRIME!

[@mastersadchild9223]

@@IronWarhorsesFun that's better

[@IronWarhorsesFun]

@@mastersadchild9223 RED CHINESE COVENANT DETECTED!

[@knife1852]

Ironic, if the Covenant actually let Humanity into the Covenant, they could have achieved their "Great Journey", a whole shit ton faster

[@DeltaDanner]

“By your hand, Reclaimer, commence our ascension into the divine beyond!” *gets annihilated*

[@crusaderking8277]

@Blessed are the Wicked The ranking of prophet isn't inherently who is mentally superior or whatnot in Covenent society, it's just that they were able to get lucky and were willing enough to use any and all resources they had at their grasps to rise in a theocratic based government, which included blackmail. They were ambitious to gain power, and keep it for as long as possible, which is why they saw humanity as a major threat. The prophets we see, more likely than not, cared about the great ascension, and the purging of the galaxy with the Halo rings, but that still took a backseat to their power driven natures. TL;DR: The religion aspect was an excuse. The prophets are more caring about power and their personal ambitions, which is why they covered up humanity's true origins as best they could, and wanted them wiped out. Religion helped them keep their power.

[@nethan1176]

@Blessed are the Wicked they're power tripping cripples created through generations of inbreeding

[@noobslayerxxx]

@@DeltaDanner I laughed, but true, Halo rings kill all Sentient life with a Galaxy-Radius, Therefore the Covenant gotten their selves Annihilated.

[@dvlnightshaderlr96]

If they exterminated humanity to extinction they would never gotten their great journey

[@FullerAbyss]

short answer: The Forerunners left space to humanity in their will.

[@catman5136]

And the prophets didnt like this

[@GnosisZX]

No the forerunners didn’t want to give that away the precursors did as they found the forerunners lacking so they wanted to give it to the humans the forerunners threw a massive fit and killed them all

[@Lexinyxia]

(Comment cleared due to false information and false knowledge, which is now corrected. Thank you! Edited 08/11/21 DD/MM/YY)

[@GnosisZX]

Lovecraftia I have and I’m right the reason the precursors died by forerunner hands is cause they were going to give the mantle to humans as they saw the forerunners as unworthy of it And yeah I know why old humanity got devolved

[@Lexinyxia]

(Comment cleared due to false information and false knowledge, which is now corrected. Thank you! Edited 08/11/21 DD/MM/YY)

[@Bugeye0704]

I can’t remember where I heard it from, but I remember an elite stating that they would prefer humans as on field allies since they were much braver and better at combat than that of the grunts.

[@dougsmith6262]

That was from the book, The Cole Protocol. One elite was wondering aloud to his buddy why species that were less technologically advanced, and are less physically capable, than humans were when the Covenant met them were allowed to join other Covenant races on the great journey. They were attacking a human station in an asteroid, and he was surprised by a mortally wounded soldier that stayed behind to hold them off to give the others a chance to escape. He said that he found that noble, and that the human might have killed him had it not been for his shield. He was also taken aback by an unusually large and armor clad human that was actually able to fight an elite hand-to-hand, lol.

[@Bugeye0704]

Necro Mancy Cole Protocol was early war, (at least before the halo event) the name demon didn’t really catch on till master chief destroyed the first halo. And is mainly referring to him, since the covenant can’t tell the Spartans apart it kinda just transformed into a name for Spartans

[@necromancy5032]

Zerebrat Eightyseven Haha, that reminds me of DOOM for some reason but that’s interesting. I didn’t even know that. But doesn’t some elites have masks? Like the Halo Reach ones for example? Do they think the Spartan is a robot or a human as well?

[@necromancy5032]

Bugeye0704 In Halo Reach, I remember playing s firefight versus and invasion match on thr Elites side and the commander said to wipe out all of the demons or something like that.

[@Bugeye0704]

Necro Mancy I’d assume that’s just the devs using previous game assets. But for a story explanation, the Spartans had a reputation before halo 1 so I can assume some covenant would call them it, it just wasn’t a widely used thing until chief earned the title.

[@TheInfiniteSheldon]

Sgt Johnson: "The Covenant won't let us join 'em and I think I know why." Cortana: "Why?" Sgt Johnson: "Because we keep sending their ashes to their wives and children! OORAH!" Marines: "OORAH!"

[@dylanwoods8509]

Infinite Sheldon this ^ 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@josephgomez2249]

This is so freaking perfect, it sounds exactly like something the sarge would say.

[@IsraelCountryCube]

@kotonpap OORAH!!!!!

[@misterkaos.357]

He knows what the ladies like

[@heinzke8512]

OORAH!

[@zedabo1099]

So if the Covenant existed for 3000 years, and the Human-Covenant war lasted 30 years, then it only took humanity 1/100 of the Covenant's existence to beat them. Makes the war seem not so bad when you put it like that.

[@dukes1993724]

J.R. Grant The humans only won because they got extremely lucky with the great schism timing

[@ICEMAKERM14]

Humanity was gunna lose the war. Oni and halsey made it very clear. The only reason they survived was because of the elites.

[@juantsu2000]

@@dukes1993724 But to be honest, the Great Schism was largely produced by the humans and the destruction of the rings.

[@juantsu2000]

@@ICEMAKERM14 I personally think that the Spartans were the main reason why humanity won the war. Think about it. Their mere existence proved to be controversial among the elites who found them to be amazing rivals and thus sparked doubts among them which culminated in the destruction of Halo (by a Spartan) and the creation of the new Arbiter.

[@ICEMAKERM14]

@@juantsu2000 I agree with that but disagree at the same time. The arbiter played a big role as well. But for the most part yes. The Spartan 2s and 3s did save humanity.

[@TOTALLYsup]

I never knew the Halo 3 CO-OP characters were actually named. I thought they were just Blue Elite 1 and Red Elite 1

[@Hakuru15]

they got their own book too

[@Ractrin]

The campaign for Halo 3 was actually supposed to change and include them as a part of the story when players were playing them. however that lead to there being 3 campaigns (1-2 player, 3 player, and 4 player) which Bungie didn't have enough time to make.

[@Gunplabro]

Blue toad and red toad

[@Jedi_Spartan]

@@Gunplabro blue dinosaur and red dinosaur.

[@KuraMad2000]

Was one of them named Caboose?

[@gfcmoto4843]

"Humans too OP pls nerf" -prophets

[@ElDrHouse2010]

they werent 343 fucked the story up. supposedly its cannon but to me it isnt.

[@luisd.4411]

@@ElDrHouse2010 Bungie did this, not 343. 343 was given scraps and had to dig deep for a new story.

[@amelarose2546]

Lol, the story being clusterfuck? Not entirely, that would be star wars now. Bungie are the once retrofited that before 343 was next in charge of the development.

[@Dabomb1237]

The covenant knew that humans used micro-transactions.

[@DuelingFrog]

Honestly don’t blame em

[@BullFrogFace]

Understandable

[@xivuarath5247]

at that point genocide is pretty reasonable.

[@andrewgentry2411]

@@xivuarath5247 Yeah

[@-Cheif]

@@xivuarath5247 100%

[@chosenmaple99]

Random Elite: So, what is the Great Journey, anyway? Truth: *Good question.*

[@leonidas0242]

Truth: *proceeds to lie*

[@Engieman909]

@@leonidas0242 the senate: _ironic_

[@kwc0435]

@@Engieman909 I love democracy

[@vexcine]

@@kwc0435 I love the Republic

[@orage8332]

Ironically, the prophet of truth was a liar, and the prophet of mercy was shown no mercy so he died.

[@nicoletremblay3217]

Hmm, imagine if humans were inducted into the Covenant. Maybe if the story of Halo turned into a group of humans and Elites finding out the truth about the Great Journey and rebelling against the entire Covenant. The game would be very different. Master Chief himself might not even exist in this alternate universe.

[@youronlinegirlfriend5508]

I want it

[@johnwotek3816]

@Zerebrat Eightyseven spartan were already there for the first contact with the covie, and pretty much complete... i don't think John or the other would be that different... they would just serve an another version of humanity.

[@nicoletremblay3217]

@@johnwotek3816 They probably would not be augmented but might have some Forerunner armour in placd of Mjolnir. I don't think the Prophets would want one client race becoming too powerful for them to control in case of an uprising.

[@johnwotek3816]

Spartan augmentation and first official contact with the covie happenned the same year, in 2525... the first contact was before the augmentation program, John being born in march and described as being 14 at the time, while the first contact happened in ferbuary... Knowing ONI shaddy stuff, there is no way they would have immediatly dropped the program.

[@ICEMAKERM14]

@Zerebrat Eightyseven i think the Covenant would deem the spartans Blasphemous creations because of there augmentations.

[@GnosisZX]

Elites actually argued for there integration into the covenant respecting there determination and fighting spirit

[@johnsontheguy5177]

*their

[@jonlorax2090]

@@johnsontheguy5177 u corrected a 2 year old comment 🤓

[@001choctaw]

@@jonlorax2090 lol

[@wittyjadee29]

@@jonlorax2090 Can't blame them, I'd do it too

[@nvender9062]

@@johnsontheguy5177 Bruh

[@thomasgreen9513]

Not only were humans a threat to their "faith" but also a direct threat to their technological power. ALL of High Chairity, the Covenant spacefairing capital city was powered by a Forerunner ship at one point. (The one chief flew off in at the end of Halo 2) The darn thing tried to fly off to give humanity a free ride as soon as the local Oracle read the "reclaimer" symbol/scans.

[@dinodude6992]

Like a hitch hiker saying: oh hey this my stop

[@LAZERAK47V2]

Forerunners: "We bestow the Mantle of Responsibility upon you, Humans, and name you Reclaimers." Humans: "It was already ours, you killed our makers and stole it from us, but ok."

[@marcuslesesne6239]

The Flood: "Yeah, we changed our minds..."

[@angelcabeza6464]

@@marcuslesesne6239 *2300 flamethrower*

[@angkhoanguyen6114]

@@marcuslesesne6239 Humans: "We defeated you in the past, and we shall do so again!"

[@henrydimmock2691]

What's funny is that the forerunners genocided the precursors because the precursors were going to select humanity as their heirs.

[@shef8764]

​@@henrydimmock2691forerunners ARE humans

[@jilldelcroix3393]

If the Prophets knew about ancient humans fighting against the Forerunners, they could've used that as the reason to attack the humans.

[@Katokhann]

I was just thinking that. Could have just said that humans are the ancient enemy of the gods r sum like that

[@fanio9413]

Actually the humans were allied with the prophets during the forerunner war.

[@baron2062]

No one would actually know that, maybe the prophets, but they just wouldn’t talk about it

[@elijahwatson3474]

That was lost to everyone until the awakening of the Didact.

[@jilldelcroix3393]

@@elijahwatson3474 Key word: if.

[@Perinski93]

Why humanity wasn't allowed to join the covenant Because the covenant are racist

[@o_o-037]

Their whole religion is based on racism. The brutes & elites hated eachother because the elites were too proud to think of the brutes as equals. And the Hrunts & Jackals hate eachother coz the grunt rebellion was caused by an unauthorised jackal experiment to sterilise & kill the grunt population on high charity. And the prophets believe themselves to be holier than everyone.

[@EastlakeRasta7]

Its all based on lies and the great journey is blinding/dumb religion, looking at it from the outside. But classic power and corruptions play.

[@thaneros]

Its Xenophobia or Speciesism.....

[@o_o-037]

@@thaneros That's the exact definition of racism.

[@thaneros]

@@o_o-037 Not exact. Their is a difference.

[@sharkfacemlg]

In my head canon one of the excuses the prophets used is that humans were corrupted entirely and had even summoned demons into suits of armour, wgich is why they call spartans demons.

[@androidproductions5327]

SharkFace MLG not gonna lie, I like that idea too

[@lenhop88]

Didn’t they only call John 117 demon? (Masterchief)

[@evanlight671]

They called ODSTs imps, who are depicted as smaller demons

[@lenhop88]

Melissa Waterman I see ty

[@juststuff9796]

Head Canon 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@dirtyblonde1011]

The way I see it, the Covenant missed out on a HUGE opportunity; if they had inducted the humans: they would have been more readily able to utilize Forerunner tech, had improvements made to personal shielding, improved power armor, and a race that is uncannily adept at reverse engineering higher tier tech to suit it's own needs and advancements And culturally speaking, chances are that the humans would have gotten along pretty well with the majority of the other races

[@wchan39]

Too bad their ultimate goal was to activate Halo which is...let's say, a very bad thing to do.

[@a-drewg1716]

hahahaha humans getting along with anything they consider a seperate race from them...... funny

[@dirtyblonde1011]

Think about it. The elites openly respected the humans while still being enemies, and even questioned why the humans weren't extended the offer to join. The engineers and drones didn't care who/what they were interacting with as long as they got to fool around with tech. The jackals were pretty much in the covenant for personal profit and were already trading with humans during the war, which means there was a relationship at some level. Humans would probably get along with the grunts over recreational drugs. Aside from the prophets, the only species I can't see getting along with humans would be the brutes; it was actually canon that the brutes would hunt humans for sport and eat them after tenderizing the still living human (aka -beat the shit out of them and possibly eat them alive)

[@JoeMartinez18]

But since humans are so adept to Forerunner tech, they would have replaced the rulers

[@dirtyblonde1011]

Perhaps on a military level, but it would be next to impossible for that on the religious and cultural levels. The reason being is that the humans, while able to interact with the "holy relics", would likely be allowed to only on rare occasions unless they were of very high ranking in the covenant and unquestionably loyal to their higher-ups. Chances are, they would have been sent on missions that involved the engineers and/or hunter worms; engineers were bio-mechanical organisms supposedly created by the forerunners and would be best off with others that can interact with the tech. The hunters were known to eat the tech and would likely be put under human command as a way to reduce the chance of the relics being eaten. But that's only if the humans had good standing rank as a species. It's sad to say, but even the grunts are superior as a whole species in terms of physical capability (and the average grunt is the size of a full grown human), and may even outrank humans for a while.

[@flawless_Cowboy]

Nobody: Covenant: *GLASSES PLANETS*

[@VeeTOHFan]

nobody: covenant: *lies*

[@fallable]

Nobody: Covenant: BURN THEIR WORLDS, TAKE THEIR HOLY RELICS! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG BUT THEY ARE EVILLLL!

[@flawless_Cowboy]

Me: *Bruh moment.*

[@VeeTOHFan]

covenant: UNSC: I SWEAR TO FUCKING CHRIST I WILL FUCK YOU UP FOR HARVEST REEEE

[@TheTendermen]

Keisu *Nobody: Prophet of Truth: Lies

[@elipsorange]

I remember reading about when the three prophets found this knowledge out, the shard of Mendicant Bias tried to launch the Dreadnought. In turn the Prophets had the Lekgollo disconnect the main drive before MB could take the ship away from High Charity. Very interesting stuff indeed. Also Broken Circle gives a ton of history of the Covenant and thier misleading teachings.

[@yousmeel9127]

So, pretty much space hitler

[@kR-qj7rw]

no? more like space crusades 'oh this makes our religion looks bad, fucking kill it''

[@christopherrivera1673]

Part of it reminds me of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The heretics destroying religious artifacts designated for genocide. That's at least how Leftist media portray the Israel and Palestine dynamic (while pushing for a two-state solution for (an anti-semitic) people who are Lebanese in origin). Because richer, whiter people = bad; poorer, darker people = good.

[@DarthNicky]

@@christopherrivera1673 this is several levels of incorrect

[@dakotasimms7270]

yeah...

[@dakotasimms7270]

Space crusaders is more accurate

[@machina5]

[Enters the 23rd Age] Prophets: *DOUBT*

[@ShinigamiSamaH]

Please press X

[@machina5]

@@ShinigamiSamaH X

[@panzerknackerauto8227]

Braaah

[@CountArtha]

In the original _Halo,_ 343 Guilty Spark immediately seems to recognize you as his creator. In one cutscene he even seems to have you confused with the individual Forerunner that ordered him to fire the ring: _"Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done? Last time you asked me, 'If it were my choice, would I do it?' Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed."_ I still say that the Forerunner were heavily implied to be prehistoric humans. It was a fan theory for years because of lines like the above. 343 Guilty Spark seems to find humans very familiar, unlike the Covenant whom he sees as intruders. Retconning the Forerunner to be a separate, long-dead species is kind of a letdown by comparison.

[@catman5136]

I believe the original intention was that forerunners were ancient humans, it is heavily implied and the original trilogy has a lot of Noah's parallels which dont really work with the forerunners as a different species imo

[@pinstripecool34]

Bryan Stevens It would also make alot more sense since in the games we always see that only humans can access forerunner technology.

[@phantom117b4]

Halo 4: I'm about to end this theory whole career

[@MapleLeafAce]

People blame 343 for this retcon but Bungie retconned it in Halo 2 and 3. The whole forerunner/humans being the same was only truly present in Halo 1, and was mentioned far less and with more ambiguity in Halo 2, and ultimately abandoned in Halo 3. Even Bungie themselves have admitted this. 343 calling you forerunner in Halo 3 was canonically meant to imply guilty spark had gone loopy.

[@TheSchnieder6]

I always got the impression that Guilty Spark was at least a little crazy in CE. His humming and laughing to himself during The Library, general disregard for the Chief's safety and lax behavior concerning their progress to the Index. He acknowledged that Chief's suit and weapons were ineffective to combat the Flood. Yet was slow to call up Sentinels for assistance. Along with his assumption that Chief was aware of protocol, while acknowledging that he was a Reclaimer, seemed like a broken logic loop to me. Chief is present > Chief knows Halo's purpose > Chief wants to activate Halo > Chief is a Reclaimer > Reclaimers can activate Halo > Activating Halo kills all sentient life > Activatees would be dead > Reclaimers came after the first activation > Reclaimers can't know what Halo does without being at one of the installations > Chief is present There's enough leeway imo, that allows the Forerunners to be separate from Humanity in CE. And I'd say that with the limited information available in CE that thinking they are the same is a big assumption. Especially when that information comes from an ancient unhinged AI.

[@LeadingMole058]

The keepers are definitely my favourite post war covenant faction. I'd like to hope they'll appear in a future game but given 343's promise of simpler stories in the games the chance of them appearing in practically 0%.

[@SpartanK4102]

I like the Banished a little better, but the Keepers are cool.

[@old5026]

Simpler stories... yeah im gonna go stop you right there

[@dr.boring7022]

*Simpler stories* *Halo 4* Pick one

[@granmastersword]

@@dr.boring7022 the promise was stated after the compains of Halo 5's story tho

[@jacobschneider3975]

@@granmastersword halo 5 was likely a poor attempt to appease SJWs by kicking the white heterosexual male to the side and empowering a proud woman of color, but thats just a theory, a game theory.

[@mn73211]

*Its because we wouldn't have a fun game if we joined the Covenant*

[@deathphantomdaredevil]

We could. thinking about the humans and elites finding out the truth about the rings and 343 guilty spark told them the truth and the humans and elites were attacked by the flood when they escape they leave the covenant and go to war with them.

[@grahamlopez6202]

Halo: peace evolved You play as John. Hes just John. Works at a Walmart in South Carolina.

[@zd_5907]

@@grahamlopez6202 with angry grunt customers too short for the checkout line.

[@grahamlopez6202]

@@zd_5907 and brutes who aren't smart enough to work the chip reader on the register

[@snowleopard9907]

I dont think the humans wouldve joined anyways so there still would probably have been a war

[@SlightNegative]

Covenant: humans cannot join the covenant Forerunners: but they're the only ones who can activate the rings Covenant: then I guess we'll just have to kill em

[@ThatsJustMid]

Lmao.

[@bruhgod123]

forerunners are humans

[@KH4444444444N]

​@@bruhgod123 no.

[@bruhgod123]

@@KH4444444444N Yes, until 343 ruined the entire franchise.

[@collaborisgaming2190]

4:30 Humans and forerunners were once the same species, Genetically split by precursors the speed up the process of handing down the Mantle of Responsibility.

[@TmanTheTdog]

Collaboris Gaming Source?

[@collaborisgaming2190]

@@TmanTheTdog kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5C9qpyseZx1jrM

[@collaborisgaming2190]

guilty spark was originally human (a thief too, he was only saved by a forerunner he tried stealing from multiple times before getting composed when his old body got destroyed during an incident on Halo ring installation 07).

[@RageUnchained]

Incorrect halo.fandom.com/wiki/Human-Forerunner_war

[@johnredi7060]

Not anymore. They changed the cannon. Now Forerunners ans Humans existed at the same time and even fought each other.

[@coltforceplayer]

“Chose to impede our progress” Humans in 2525: yeah let’s name a planet fuckin HARVEST

[@braydent.609]

When I should be studying for my next final, but then see Halo Canon post...

[@mxb3ar886]

William O’Brien literally me rn

[@HoHhoch]

I miss the good old days, when the lore was simpler. This particularly case is a nice detail, but it ties into the change they made between Forerunner and humans. For those who don't know/remember, at the end of Halo 3 Guilty Spark specifically says Master Chief is Forerunner. "You (humanity) ARE Forerunner. Inheritors of all they left behind." I've never liked how Forerunners and humans existed together, and fought each other.

[@HoHhoch]

@Melissa Waterman There are a lot of lore tidbits in the first three games that don't make a whole lot of sense anymore simply because of the changes they've made. Complicated doesn't always mean better. To me, having humanity exist previously as an ultra powerful space faring race diminishes the accomplishments made by humanity throughout the game. They've done this before. Rather than simply being some long lost cousin (genetically) that the Forerunners decided would take over when the time came when they realized they needed to fire the rings to stop the Flood.

[@uHaveNiceKeys]

I thought Forerunner was a title, not a species.

[@savethebees275]

@@HoHhoch ​ Two things, one, I disagree: humanity's whole title as "Reclaimer" and the lore behind it is a lot more interesting then "YOU ARE THE FORERUNNER!". That writing is a lot more simple and kinda, cliche. HOWEVER, I will agree that I miss the mystery surrounding forerunners. We know too much about them now, I prefer whenever they weren't physical enemies, rather when they were some technological aura that is guiding the fate of the galaxy. We only know about them from the records they left behind. Biggest mistake, lore-wise, 343 ever did was introduce them as the main villains. Also the lore isn't totally fucked, it's got some.. interesting... retcons/holes. But for a franchise that's 20 years old, it's doing pretty decent with consistency. Take a look at WoW or Star Wars. Retconning shit is just another Thursday for them.

[@MapleLeafAce]

@Melissa Waterman no Bungie was responsible. Bungie openly admitted they abandoned the idea of humans and forerunners being genetic descendants after Halo 2. The guilty spark forerunner line in Halo 3 was attributed to him going mad. People need to stop blaming 343 for Bungie's own fuck up

[@MeepChangeling]

That was meant to be spiritual, not literal. The Forerunners gave Humanity their mantle. The Forerunners are dead, long live the Forerunners.

[@nfldend501]

If you have an empire on a verge of civil war (brutes vs elites) (grunts vs jackals) a way to keep this empire functioning war must become a priority only during peace can philosiphy and sciences etc prosper....

[@a-drewg1716]

I mean it entirely matters. A preiod of endless war (such as the dark ages) simply lead to stagnation while a scenario similar to the world wars (a war followed by a period of peace and rebuilding) foster extreme scientific growth. I mean think about it. At the beginning of the first World War planes were just basically barely powered gliders but by the end there were some basic monoplanes coming into fruition. At the start of WW2 bi-planes were being used in numerous countries and even mono planes were mostly radial engine based with the in-line engines having problems but by the end we had rockets and jet planes. Many other fields were the same such as war causing people to actively seek to treat diseases and perform surgeries (what were the #1 killer of troops), telecommunications were also big as military's needed better communication lines and many other advancements. Really the biggest thing a war does if done properly is create extreme nationalistic thought which can unite a fractured nation (happens to the USA basically every war) but a war going on to long can lead to fracturing as-well (happened in Vietnam to the US) while a long period of peace can cause also cause fracturing as people have time to worry about other things such as their own personal well-being/life conditions beyond what they already have.

[@lackusshock]

Huh. Its interesting when you think about how Halo is one of those few series where intelligent alien civilizations are less technologically advanced than humanity. I mean, the Covenant as a whole is definitely beyond human tech. But the individual races are way less so. At best are the Sangheili and their medieval-esque society and at worst we have the Lekgolo's giant cavern of a planet.

[@MkrTheOne]

If you take legends as any example the Sangheili live in space japan

[@Seriona1]

The Covenant only are successful because of the Prophets. The Arbiter mentioned to the UNSC after Halo 3 how bad the Elites were for relying on the Covenant instead of weaponizing their own tech. The Swords war with the Brutes drained up the remaining resources the Swords had and they realized they didn't have the ability or technology to build ships and continuing making Covenant weapons they got used to using. And the Swords continued to see human weapons as trash so the UNSC had to supply the Swords with captured Covenant weapons they had stocks of.

[@古明地恋-s9c]

Pre-Covenant Sangheili ships design are still better than some of the UNSC ships and packs quite a punch, and most of Covenant technology are San Shyuum reverse engineered Forerunner technology. BTW San Shyuum also were advanced, but not as so after their defeat by Forerunners, and after that they ironically worship them as gods.

[@amog8202]

Sangheili, San'Shyuum, and the Lekgolo are the three actual spacefaring civilizations in the covenant. They all got their junk off of the Forerunners, though. We just are the Forerunners.

[@sparta2705]

Can you do a video about all the times a member of the covenant either showed respect for humanity, or questioned the war against them.

[@someone-eo1zf]

Man I thought everybody already knew this but hey who doesnt want a new video from you!

[@theoneandonlymsg991]

some one well I kinda had a somewhat vague Idea of what was going on but it’s good to see videos like this to give me a better idea of what’s really going on.

[@Robertthachickenwrangler]

some one you don’t have to flex on us with your useless knowledge of a video game

[@someone-eo1zf]

@@Robertthachickenwrangler oh yeah yeah its halo oh yeah yeah

[@BanishedSilentShadow3318]

San shyuum: lets unite the specious it the galaxy! Elites: we will serve. San shyuum: great Jackels: if the pay is good then we can serve. San shyuum: good Brutes: if there's blood then we're in. San shyuum: ok... you're in Grunts: we'll pass San shyuum: *holds a gun over their heads* you'll serve us you little shits Grunts: ok.... Humans: can we join? San shyuum: NO!! YOU'RE A DISGRACE AND SHOULD BE HUNTED DOWN UNTIL NONE OF YOU EXIST!!! Master chief: wanna go bitch?

[@sand0decker]

Humanity: u wot m8

[@ilikesaying]

(gun cocking sounds)

[@nightwolf8428]

Just imagine chiefs voice with the "wanna go bitch? " Ahhhh I can see it now

[@angelbelmares126]

Imagine if they put a scene of chief confront Cortana in halo infinite and she's talking shit about humanity, and he actually says that to her lmaooooo

[@jeremyallen492]

@@BrodasaurusRex1492 Drones: we signed on because we're morons M'ga Lekgolo (Hunters): we joined the covenant? The eyebally ones just showed up one day and told us to write something on a slip of paper Huragok: We were forced into service by these assholes HELP.

[@Soundwave3591]

4:19 I feel it's worth mentioning that the pre-343 lore was definitely pointing to the Humans being descended from the Forerunners, and only with the new trilogy did the difference between the two become fixed.

[@TotallyNotAFox]

So in theory all it takes to make an accurate Halo series is to watch KZbinrs explaining it.... and yet Paramount even fails to do that!

[@koa2306]

Fast forward to 2022 where there’s a human on high charity

[@frew208]

She’s dead now so it’s all fixed.

[@fogfullofsilhouettes5842]

I only just realised after being a Halo fan for over 15 years, that the Human-Covenant War actually started because of a mistranslation in their ancient texts. The war was a basically an accident.

[@everythingsalright1121]

"One often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it" By declaring genocide on humanity in order to try and hold power and keep the Covenant from fracturing due to the species of the Covenant not being reclaimers, the Prophets basically got themselves killed

[@kaismith9878]

We're too good looking. We'd take the elites place

[@ChrissieBear]

4:05 This was actually going to be canon at one point, early story drafts of Halo 2 were meant to reveal that the Forerunners were ancient humans.

[@phillip_iv_planetking6354]

Even in real life we are a warrior race with a rich history of warfare in every epoch in Human History. We are destined to rule the Cosmos.

[@GhostlierQ82]

@Phillip Habsburg Realistically speaking, other alien species would mop the floor with us, crush us like tiny pathetic bugs and then mop the floor again with our worthless remains, if we tried to "rule the Cosmos". We have our place already here on Earth, so why to spread all over the place like a disease? Also, do you know how big the Cosmos is? It is still expanding at an astounding speed.

[@phillip_iv_planetking6354]

@@GhostlierQ82 Assuming they exist and are far more advanced. I do not see it that way. First we conquer the Sol System then to Alpha Centauri. Step by step we will continue to advance until one day we become like the Q or something like it using our technology. Disease? So we are a disease but Aliens aren't? Only Aliens have the right to the Cosmos? Fuck you. In 2024 we are going to the Moon. Then by 2030 Mars. Nothing will stop us especially not people like you.

[@GhostlierQ82]

@Phillip Habsburg Suit yourself.

[@Graymenn]

@@phillip_iv_planetking6354 lol you can not leave the earth, it is an enclosed system hahahahahah, keep dreaming though if it helps you get along in this horrible place.

[@phillip_iv_planetking6354]

@@Graymenn Whatever you say.

[@Jnor116]

This was brought up in the halo 2 special edition instruction manual. The elites couldn't understand why humans weren't offered the chance to join.

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Two questions: 1) what would the Covenant name for Humanity and Spartans be if they joined? (Eg: Sangheili = Elites, Jiralhanae = Brutes etc. I know they're not what their actual names in the Covenant but still) 2) would the Unggoy be part of the Covenant Fringe if it wasn't for one of the many Grunt Rebellions

[@haydenstinchfield1134]

Jedi Spartan Demons

[@Jedi_Spartan]

@@haydenstinchfield1134 I doubt they'd keep the same name from the Covenant War

[@HaloCanon]

1. I couldnt begin to speculate. 2. Possibly. We don't really know what the Unggoy were used for before the Rebellion.

[@5xg378]

1 the name would be humans because those names where made by the humans.

[@Jedi_Spartan]

@@HaloCanon I'd guess the Unggoy were used for cheap labour prior to their rebellions

[@sparta2705]

I would love to see an elite and a human just talking while the great war was still going on... that would be interesting.

[@cxvii6812]

It would be just like that scene in Halo 2 with Chief, the Arbiter and Gravemind

[@adaada2408]

actully the bigger question is has there ever been a human elite realtionship

[@CombineWatermelon]

@@adaada2408 shut up

[@DressedRunner]

Hmmm the Halo TV series showrunner should've watched this video before making that show

[@HolyCross9]

It's all because of a conspiracy established by the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret.

[@ObiWanBockobi]

The Covenant armor for humans would have been sick! Jackal-Human hitsquads would be cool too.

[@notfunnydidntlaugh3916]

I think there's already a Covenant-made armor for humans as well as the Human-made armor for Elites

[@jlitodelcid326]

@@notfunnydidntlaugh3916 where did you see/read about it?

[@notfunnydidntlaugh3916]

@@jlitodelcid326 In Master Chief Collection, of course. The Elite-made Human armor is called Helioskrill while the Human-made Elite armor is Accord.

[@jlitodelcid326]

@@notfunnydidntlaugh3916 thanks, I'll have a look at them

[@notfunnydidntlaugh3916]

@@jlitodelcid326 Unfortunately there's no Helioskrill armor in the MCC after checking everything. Accord is the only one available.

[@bakerz129]

We are essentially their gods. That's why.

[@Frank_but_with_a_C]

Nice pfp, lol

[@sharonbraselton4302]

yes befurévgud came in later tmne chrst iny 30⁰ years Soo bhth gid jesús kigerb furerber q huibß are kyrßbif gudß

[@muwuny]

Humans are supposed to be the descendants of the forerunners if you go by Bungle (true) canon, it wasn't until 343i took over when they started to do the meme of "we wuz aliens an shieeet" in their weird fascination of explaining and revealing anything and everything, especially stuff that was meant to be mysterious and unanswered on purpose.

[@SnowySleet]

Bomber Harris the books explained this while Halo was still under Bungie, first mention was in “Contact Harvest”. Joe Staten was the mostly responsible for the story. The books are worth a read if you get a chance 👍

[@muwuny]

​@@SnowySleet I've read contact harvest, it merely states that humans are "reclaimers", which probably was intended to mean that they were surviving/reseeded forerunners who were meant to reclaim the forerunner empire. Obviously this is an issue for the covenant because their core belief was that all the forerunners embarked upon the great journey upon firing the halo rings, the existence of surviving "reclaimers" proves this wrong. The invention of the "mantle of responsibility" and the idea of forerunners being a completely separate alien species was invented later, and kinda conflicts with the whole point of the war, if humans aren't related to forerunners at all, then that means that the covenant idea of the great journey could still be true and there would be no reason to genocide humans. The covenant belief system had nothing really to do with the mantle, so there's no reason for them to hate humans over them being reclaimers of it. The war only makes sense if "reclaimer" means reclaimer of the forerunner empire itself, not the mantle. But like I said, the idea of who or what the forerunners were was meant to be left a mystery on purpose. 343i doesn't seem to understand the concept of mystery and they're intent on writing a piece of lore about every single little insignificant thing. It's starting to get like the starwars EU now where the gender identity of the death star garbage monster has it's own lore and story explanation now. Anything to sell books or get lore nerds excited.

[@catman5136]

The original story had the forerunners ancient humans and they were retconned into a different species, which I find rather disappointing because if partially ruins the Noah's Ark parallels in the original trilogy

[@The_InfantMalePollockFrancis]

"stuff that's supposed to be mysterious" No. No. Absolutely not. Get that fucking lazy shit OUT. I bet you liked the last season of Game of Thrones too. The LORE of Halo is BETTER than the GAMES. S I M P L E T O N.

[@generizze6243]

But i love ancient human vs forerunners war. Forerunners is lucky that ancient humans fought 2 wars.

[@ebookjapan8054]

Humans ARE forerunner in Bungie lore, this is why the Prophets hate them. 343i requires complicated expanded universe explanations because of the retcon.

[@generaljeanmoreau6853]

share this to paramount writers

[@Memory815]

No! This isn’t true anymore! Tiny white women can very easily become leaders in covenant ranks! Need to update this asap!

[@dr.boring7022]

Oh god please no 😂

[@realityisntachoice1483]

Humans put up too much of a fight. If the war started with end war tech humans would have won hands down. Also they atleast later found out humans were atleast next for the mantel of the universe. Soo jealous and petty

[@HelenKellerDenier]

They only got that tech because of the war after allying themselves with the sanghelli due to the great schism. Also any forerunner tech probably wouldn't have been found and implemented, along with Sanghelli tech, when it was had the war not started. Also, the Pillar of Autumn wouldn't have had to make such a random jump if they weren't trying to flee the invasion of Reach and subsequently maybe Halo never discovered. That being said maybe with enough time given Humans would have discovered more forrunner tech. Keys made a decision to jump to that location based off forerunner numbers found previously but he was making a series of random jumps before heading back to Earth, i.e. standard protocol. He didn't know what was there but had the war taken place many years down the road and humanity explored those coordinates then maybe they would have reclaimed their former technological prowess. Would make for an interesting alternate timeline.

[@realityisntachoice1483]

@@HelenKellerDenier , Semantics. Humans would've created it eventually. No matter how many humans they would test them on in the name of security. When humans don't have anyone or thing to attack and make captive. They will do it to other humans by mystery executions, sudden wars , police attacks and political attacks.

[@romainlettuce118]

I miss the days when humanity were descendants of forerunners...

[@weberman173]

you mean the short time period of Halo 1? like, Bungie retconed that humanity are descendants of forerunners starting with halo 2 and 3..the line "your a forerunner "of 343 guilty spark is, canoicly, just him being loopy, considering he also trys to kill you right after

[@CriminalizeObesity]

@SGT_Weber Bullshit, Bungie never retconned it, that was single handedly done by Fanklez the monkey, Halo's village idiot. Even after 3, Staten continued to acknowledge Forerunners as Antideluvian humans in his works.

[@flatarthur3161]

​@weberman173 "For eons I have watched. Listened to you misinterpret. This is not reclamation. This is reclaimer, and those it represents are my makers. I will reject my bias and make amends. My makers are my masters. I will bring them safely to the Ark." - Mendicant Bias

[@RedSteel10]

Really wish the creators of the tv series watched this video.

[@kieranstrachan7886]

that is the best intro title i have ever seen in my 12 years of youtube... nice job.

[@amog8202]

343 fans spreading misinformation (Guilty Spark calls Chief Forerunner verbatim in Halo 3):

[@Thextoastxisxbob]

even if the humans wernt proclaimed as heritics the problem with humanity is that we were to big and also unwilling and independent

[@saayanbiswas209]

Unconsciously, Flood was actually on the side of the humans. When forerunners defeated the ancient humans. The flood launched an all in attack on forerunners

[@gagongflip389]

Yeah because the flood came from the precursurs dead body after the Forerunners betrayed them. They wanted to give humanity the mantle and the forerunners were salty about that.

[@grantdelosangeles5357]

Gravemind: How's it going with humanity are they fine? Primordial: The Forerunners beat the shit out of a weakened humanity Gravemind:THEY WHAT?!

[@DreadnoughtHvor]

Actually, the Flood were introduced as the corrupted dust from what was left of the precursors was introduced in experiments to a domesticated animal used as pets by humans and at the time their allies---the San'shyuum, of all Empires. With time, the animals became infected and the Flood developed and began infecting human and San'shyuum worlds. Humanity began a campaign of eradicating the Flood using planet glassing methods. They did this to a few Forerunner worlds which pissed the Forerunners off. They didn't believe them about the Flood until later. The Flood then suddenly retreated and the Forerunners thought humanity had a cure (which they didn't). The Didact later reflected that this was an intentional strategy on the Flood's part to cause humanity and the Forerunners to fight amongst themselves instead of it. But the Forerunners de-evolved humans to pre-stone age stages as punishment for their "war crimes" of glassing Forerunner planets. The Flood resurged in an attack against the Forerunners and only then did they realize why humanity was glassing shit. Then they began building the Halos while the Didact started doing his immoral weird composer shit.

[@grantdelosangeles5357]

@@DreadnoughtHvor Yeah but there's a theory floating around the community that The Flood isn't a corrupted form but one of the precursors forms, That's why those Space-Age ancient humans killed themselves when they asked The Primordial what the flood is, And The Primordial answered that it is one of The Precursors True Forms,

[@DreadnoughtHvor]

@@grantdelosangeles5357 Well his initial point was that the Flood was on the side of humans, which isn't really true regardless of the validity of that. Flood is on the side of Flood.

[@danielbeck2739]

And to further add, as it's not completely important but still an interesting little tid-bit, the significance to why each prophet held the names they did. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it but want to. For those who don't want to read but would like to know this is a spoiler alert. During the discovery of truth one of the prophets they managed to have the A.I. shut down, however the shock of what had transpired left an effect on the three. The prophet of Regret was given such title as he bore some regret for his actions and the discovery of the information. The prophet of Mercy, the oldest of the three, was given his title because he did not show any for what had been done to the A.I. And the prophet of Truth, he choose this title for himself for he knew that he could never allow the real truth to escape. A truth that he would be charged to take to the grave and for the sake of the Covenant as he knew it. Each of their titles as a constant reminder of the their responsibilities to the Covenant, and their actions upon finding out the truth. Least that's what I can recall, it's been years since I've read it. I just remember that each had their titles bore a significance to their actions and ultimately their need to maintain the Covenant's believes.

[@r.e.z9428]

Sergeant Johnson won us the war, being a proto-spartan and flood hybrid and badass incarnate.

[@rabnadskubla8594]

The Halo TV show ignores all of this.

[@brandonking5111]

I don't consider that show as canon.

[@fumbledblades3282]

Forerunners: *Exist* Covenant: So anyways, i started praying

[@MagmaProductions1948]

Right off the top of my head. I remember reading either a comic or novel where the Prophets learned that activating Halo was a universal death sentence, not a path to holiness. They also learned that only Humanity was capable of truly gaining control of Forerunner technology. This meant that Humanity would have been able to not only usurp them in importance in their own empire, but would have been able to expose that tiny detail about the rings, which would have led to the destabilisation of the Covenant.

[@koraanjamar]

Coming here after watching almost 2 seasons of Paramount's Halo TV show debacle to say I wish you were right.

[@insertname9736]

The Covenant knew if humans joined them, the writers would give humans too much spotlight and transform the faction into a human one and had some aliens sidekicks with not much attention focused on them. They did a good thing to do Exterminatus on humanity instead.

[@I_am_a_cat_]

343: "How do we make the ancient humans look ancient?" also 343: "Paint on their faces, duh."

[@facelesshalo5174]

This video: *Exists* Halo TV Show: "The human Makee, an orphaned human raised by the covenant"

[@jamescampbell4416]

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t expecting a brute faction to allow humans

[@Seriona1]

I don't know how well you know the lore but the Brutes were the first ones to make contact with humanity and even tried to trade with us. The Brute Chopper was supposed to be a gift to humanity as a symbol of peace. We also know that Brutes like human weapons. So there is something there.

[@XenoRaptor-98765]

Rumor has it in the upcoming Halo tv series featuring a human who was raise by the covenant.

[@coltforceplayer]

Prophet of Regret: Regrets facing a Spartan in some yee ass chair Prophet of Mercy: Doesn’t rhyme with Percy Prophet of Truth: Lied

[@user-st5ir6ge4u]

Tell it to fucking paramount and its halo adaptation

[@Bratzernnjr]

But ,why did the Propheth of Truth sacrifice himself for the destruction of the human race? Did the three Hierarchs believe in the great journey? Even after gaining the knowledge of humans being the rightful reclaimers of Forerunners?

[@cee9110]

Would you want to be the one to destroy 3000 years of religion over a misspelling

[@granmastersword]

@Christopher Ochoa so basically Truth still believed the Halo rings would turn him and his followers into gods

[@fede98k54]

I think quite ironically, The Prophet of Truth died believing his own lies.

[@klutzy2605]

I never realized that this series has such good lore, I always played it only to shoot aliens and blocked out a lot of the lore. I’ve gotta replay the series again.

[@bruhgod123]

shortened version: humans werent allowed to join the covenant because humans were worshipped by the covenant

[@cashwat210]

When your 3000 year old space empire gets destroyed in 30 years by highly evolved great apes.

[@juliobrian4757]

Yeah...tell that to Paramount +

[@StarboyXL9]

In an alternate Halo universe somewhere, humans joined the Covenant and got busy making unstoppable warrior half-breeds with the Sangheili. :P

[@oppressormk2op547]

*wAiT*

[@jamesgrose510]

Now this is the direction of video game franchises executives need to be discussing

[@bera580]

humans with mandibles would be pretty freaky

[@PackHunter117]

Didn’t Eckartstelader make a video on this just recently?

[@Scotter95]

I was thinking the same thing

[@AlindBack]

I found this to be a more straight forward explanation that better presented the relevant information.

[@PackHunter117]

AlindBack I agree but still

[@fernie5.0]

Every halo channel already made a video on this

[@EthanThomson]

Fairly sure another channel made one yesrs ago

[@superiorsoldier57]

This was one of your better lore videos. GREAT JOB GUYS.

[@Nick-bk7es]

It's funny to think that the San'Shyuum used to hold a very strong relationship with Ancient Humans back when the Forerunners were still alive. Much of that history was forgotten during the activation of the Halo Arrays but it crazy to think how it would've been way different if that history wasn't forgotten.

[@dtstar331]

If you look at websites like Twitter or Tumblr, you'll get your answer

[@moneymatton2369]

DTStar underrated comment

[@evanschmidt6316]

The oracle literally says that humans are descendants from forerunners and even says “ you are forerunner”

[@weberman173]

you mean 343 guilty spark? the AI monitor who has gone loopy over the time he was left on instalation 04? that oracle..... yay.. the line "you are forerunner" dosnt mean that humanity actualy are forerunners descendants, its there to show that guilty spark is loopy. everything about him shows him being loopy, his disregard for chiefs safety, his humming etc..

[@allninelivez7631]

The Brutes and Humans are kinda similar. They’re both primates and both use weaponry that deals devastating damage to any poor soul on the other end of it. But brutes are brutes so.

[@T__TheWhite_Bearded_Gamer]

Humans: can we join? Covenant: No we already have monkeys!!!

[@Jammermaker]

The Prophets knew they couldn’t integrate the humans without the humans eventually gaining control over the covenant.

[@chocolatelightning]

they knew the humans where the real god race in the universe and thicc covenant was jelly

[@Graymenn]

we are much prettier than they are too.

[@nutyyyy]

I love how much you have to stretch the definition of reclaimer because of 343s retconns. When both Mendicant Bias and the Prophets are very clear that humanity are forerunners. The change is so pointless and silly. Humans still existed 100,000 years ago as a spacefaring civilisation, so why complicate it by changing the forerunners. It also proves that bungie still intended for the forerunners to be human even after Halo 3. Contact Harvest was written by Joseph Staten and couldn't be more clear about it. The irony is that the entire human covenant war is effectively justified by the retcons. Humanity were the enemies of the forerunners. So the Covenant are correct. Their destruction is the will of the gods, and they were their instrument in that destruction. Oh, the wonderful irony....

[@Nephalem2002]

It honestly confuses me. THEY WERE THE THINGS THAT COULD LIGHT THEIR SALVATION!

[@sharonbraselton4302]

yes it iß

[@imperialhistati2348]

I swear you have one of the best intros on KZbin.

[@JKAzrael247]

Didn't know about the Keepers of one Freedom, that was cool to learn about that even briefly. Keep up the work! :)

[@hisenadedo]

The covenant’s attempted genocide of humanity was the first step in the rise of the imperium of man. For the Emperor!

[@scottm8292]

That's where the Xenophobia began? Even with the Elites (later) being instrumental in humanity's success?

[@ICEMAKERM14]

It would be cool to see an humanity included covenant vs the flood.

[@skilledwarman]

didnt Eckhardt's ladder just make this?

[@kennynito235]

I was thinking the same thing

[@MoRNiNGSTaR14125]

That's like saying someone stole a question. Pretty sure a good portion of halo players have wondered about this at one point.

[@TheFearsomeRat]

Half the time on KZbin it's just a coincidence, I know I'm not gonna bother @ ing Halo Cannon and Eck on Twitter simply because it's probably just a odd coincidence, since the odds of them watching each other's content is fairly slim, if you want to go ahead and ask them you can I'm not gonna guarantee a reply from either of them though since both videos are now 2 months old and they honestly are probably busy making content, etc. If you want to believe he stole the video idea, then be my guest I can't control your thoughts and opinions and frankly even if I could do that it wouldn't be worth do so over something so relatively small, since that'd just be being petty and unreasonable.

[@TheFearsomeRat]

You say you have but didn't provide a link, or reference, I assume this was on twitter? EDIT: but yeah posting a link for any kind of internet debate generally does help your argument no matter what as it provides a source of information :P

[@TheFearsomeRat]

I was just saying about the evidence part more for future reference, that and I just got up and the pillow still looks comfy and I hadn't been expecting a response as quickly :P

[@rapidpigz8238]

If the prophet of Regret did know, he sure acts like he is still just a mere zealout after being killed by the Master Chief and taken by the flood.

[@HoiPolloiNtertains]

I always assumed it was because of how unifying a Great War can be. There were consistent rebellions and instability in the Covenant, and by going to war with a powerful enemy it would help prevent factions from rebelling. It would be far too risky to tear apart the Covenant while at war with the humans (which ultimately ended the Covenant).

[@m.t.fguard8309]

Did you all know that there was a fleet of covenant ships that rebelled against the covenant and worked with the humans And no I'm not talking about arbiters play it was a different fleet during the first human and covenant war