Jul 'Mdama

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"I know what the Librarian will say, Glassman. She will tell us where all things sacred are hidden in this galaxy. Ships, weapons, bounties beyond our imagining. And she will tell us how to make those miracles... our own."

— 'Mdama rallying his troops after speaking with Dr. Henry Glassman.

Jul 'Mdama, known to his followers as the "Didact's Hand,"^[1] is a Sangheili shipmaster previously in the service of the Covenant during the war against humanity. Fueled by hatred for humanity, 'Mdama became the supreme leader of the revived Covenant in the wake of the Great Schism. Despite years of eluding the public light, his activities on the shield world Requiem reestablished him as a high-valued target for the UNSC Defense Force.

Biography

During the Human-Covenant War

Jul was born March 5,2489 in the state of Mdama on Sanghelios. Years later he would marry Raia 'Mdama, having two sons, Dural and Asum, and a few daughters. He served in the Covenant military in the Human-Covenant War as an Shipmaster. While he was away, he left the management of his ancestral estate to Raia and her grandbrother, Naxan.

Post-war

After the Human-Covenant War, 'Mdama still felt mistrust and resentment toward humanity, comparing them to the Flood in some respects, believing the species would not stop their colonization efforts. He did, however, grudgingly admit that while they were not the best at anything, they were good enough at everything to survive. In January 2553, he attended a meeting with Kaidon Levu 'Mdama and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. He asked the Arbiter what his plans were for the humans and expressed his desire to finish them off while they were still recovering. After Vadam announced he would try to make peace with the humans, he and fellow shipmaster Forze decided that humanity wouldn't change and that they must stop them.

‘Mdama and Forze then allied with Avu Med 'Telcam purely out of pragmatism, as the Servants of the Abiding Truth were best-equipped to assassinate Thel 'Vadam. After stealing the frigate Unflinching Resolve, ‘Mdama became suspicious of 'Telcam's benefactors, and secretly followed him to New Llanelli. After he discovered 'Telcam receiving weapons from the Office of Naval Intelligence, ‘Mdama was discovered and captured by Spartan Naomi-010. Detained aboard the Template:UNSCship, he was interrogated by Dr. Evan Phillips and the shipboard AI, Black-Box. ‘Mdama was then transferred to ONI Research Facility Trevelyan, where he was placed in captivity under the supervision of Dr. Irena Magnusson.

Meanwhile, 'Mdama plotted his escape. While he no longer believed that the Forerunners were gods, he pretended to be a devout follower of the religion as a cover for visiting Forerunner sites, enabling him to learn about various parts of Forerunner history. During his stay on the planet, he was fed genetically modified versions of food from Sanghelios, causing him to feel very sick. 'Mdama had several conversations with his Huragok escort, Prone to Drift; he learned about the Didact and how he was sealed away on a shield world, Requiem, as well as that Requiem's location was kept from the Huragok. Eventually, after regaining his strength, he forced Prone to disable his explosive collar and to allow him through a malfunctioning portal that he found. This led him to Hesduros, a Sangheili colony world. Given the colony's isolation from the galaxy since before the Great Schism and devout religious practices, Jul was able to win them over by portraying his experience on Trevelyan in a religious light. After contacting Sanghelios and learning of his wife's death, Jul was enraged by humanity's role in her death and grieved by the Forerunner ruins he had arrived in. He eventually identified the markings on the ruins as coordinates to Requiem and convinced the inhabitants of Hesduros to aid him in his search for the Didact and the eradication of humanity.^[2]

Requiem and the Didact

"Requiem's treasures shall be ours."

— 'Mdama after discovering Requiem.

In 2554, 'Mdama and his followers discovered Requiem. Over the next three years, the Covenant tried to enter the planet, without success. In July 2557, several of his ships identified a human vessel heading to the planet. 'Mdama ordered his troops to board the ship and keep the humans away from Requiem.^[3] They were unsuccessful as the human and Covenant ships in the area were pulled into Requiem. Jul and his forces were eventually able to find their way to the core, where the Didact's Cryptum was located. Jul landed near the Didact's Cryptum and personally engaged Promethean forces under the Librarian's control. John-117 unknowingly opened the Cryptum, releasing the Didact. Jul and his forces stopped fighting immediately to bow to the Promethean; Jul quickly recognized the Forerunner and called out his name.^[4]

The Librarian

Over six months after the Didact's attack on Earth and after the UNSC Infinity returned to Requiem, 'Mdama still led the Covenant forces on Requiem. A Forerunner artifact secured by Spartan Fireteam Crimson and brought aboard the Infinity translocated Dr. Henry Glassman to a Covenant base on Requiem. 'Mdama came to oversee his soldiers when Glassman, alive but injured, was brought before to him by several other Sangheili.^[5] 'Mdama put Glassman to work at a Forerunner "shrine," which he believed contained the remnants of the Librarian's consciousness in AI form. He intended to use Glassman to reactivate the shrine, allowing him to communicate with the Librarian and ask for her aid in reclaiming the Forerunners' technological wonders.^[6]

Jul 'Mdama approaches the Librarian's "shrine".

After Fireteam Castle was shot down and killed by Covenant forces under 'Mdama, UNSC forces began searching for the "Didact's Hand". Fireteam Crimson was sent to Two Giants, 'Mdama's location; however, soon after Crimson engaged Promethean forces 'Mdama escaped through a slipspace portal. When Crimson followed him to the Fortress, he escaped through yet another portal to the Cauldron. When Crimson tracked 'Mdama through the Cauldron he tried to escape again, but not before Commander Sarah Palmer called in an airstrike on 'Mdama's location. He managed to escape, but not before dropping another Forerunner device.^[7] 'Mdama oversaw the Covenant's attempt to retrieve the device from Galileo Base with his lieutenant, Gek, but was only creating a show for the humans. It was later revealed that 'Mdama was using the artifact recovered by Fireteam Crimson as a form of communication terminal, allowing Jul to anonymously communicate with Dr. Catherine Halsey via her datapad and to spy on the UNSC Infinity.^[8] After Halsey was removed from the room by Palmer and Lasky, Glassman managed to activate something in the shrine, prompting all the present Sangheili (save him) to bow before the artifact. With his captors distracted, Glassman escaped from the antechamber. After the artifact's energy sphere rejected Jul, the Sangheili Commander directed his fury at a now-gone Glassman; half-dozen Sangheili went to pursue the scientist in the tunnels but Jul held Gek back. Stating that Glassman's escape was unacceptable, Gek reassured Jul that he would deal with the matter personally, leaving Jul and his two guards alone with the artifact.^[9]

Jul 'Mdama talking with Dr. Halsey.

Some time later, 'Mdama was contacted by Catherine Halsey, informing him that she had deduced he was her helper but that their alliance could free the Librarian. However, the ship's AI, Roland was able to restore himself to his normal state and cut off the connection. After this, 'Mdama ordered the Covenant and Prometheans to invade the Infinity through the artifact to capture Dr. Halsey.^[10] Despite the huge losses, the Prometheans managed to capture Dr. Halsey. She was then taken to the site of the Librarian, where Jul 'Mdama had her disable the shield previously erected by Doctor Glassman's attempts to access the shrine. As the shield deactivated, she quickly entered the beam of light being produced by the shrine, and vanished to an unknown location, to 'Mdama's great anger.^[11]

When Halsey returned from the shrine, she was clutching the Librarian's gift: the Janus Key. She flew out right into 'Mdama, who grabbed her hand and saw half of the Key. Thinking that it was actually the whole gift, 'Mdama seemed disappointed and frustrated that the gift that he had sought at great lengths was nothing more but a useless artifact. At that moment, however, Spartan Gabriel Thorne and Fireteam Majestic managed to infiltrate Copernicus Base and kill 'Mdama's guards, with Halsey quickly tossing to Thorne her half of the Key, leaving 'Mdama with only his stolen half. 'Mdama quickly summoned several Promethean Knights to protect him, just as Sarah Palmer arrived, with orders to kill Doctor Halsey. She shot Halsey in the shoulder, wounding her, before 'Mdama managed to grab Halsey, who was still holding her half of the Janus Key. 'Mdama quickly ran to the shrine as his Promethean Knight lance was killed by Fireteam Majestic and quickly summoned another to teleport him and Halsey away.^[12] After that, 'Mdama put Requiem on a collision course with the sun and announced that any Covenant that did not flee the planet would die with it. After fleeing Requiem, Jul talked with Dr. Halsey, telling her that he should have killed her for betraying him. Halsey told Jul the UNSC tried to kill her and for that reason, she would help the Covenant if 'Mdama would help her seek revenge against the UNSC.^[13]

Appearance

As the leader of the Covenant, 'Mdama wears armor commonly used by the Zealots of the new Covenant order. However, it is painted blue, similar to the coloration worn by less experienced Sangheili soldiers. His high position is indicated by a holographic symbol that hovers over the forehead of his helmet. His armor features multiple painted white handprints with Didact's unbound symbols on the palm, indicating his status as the "Didact's Hand."

Personality and motives

Irena Magnusson: "They're your gods."

Jul 'Mdama: "Not mine. Gods don't die or forget to return. Gods choose better prophets than the San'Shyuum, too."

Irena Magnusson: "Do you believe in any gods?"

Jul 'Mdama: "No, but I’m prepared to be persuaded if one should appear."

— 'Mdama telling Dr. Magnusson about his beliefs on the Forerunners.

Jul 'Mdama's hatred for Humanity initially stems not from any religious issues, but from a fear that humans will eventually overrun the galaxy and ultimately drive the Sangheili to extinction. He compares humans to the Flood in this regard. When Thel 'Vadam proposes making peace with the humans, 'Mdama is skeptical and insists humans can't be trusted. His distrust and antipathy for Humanity is only reinforced by his subsequent abduction and captivity by ONI. After the death of his wife, however, 'Mdama's primary motivation for destroying Humanity changes from a matter of species survival to personal vengeance for their (indirect) role in her demise.

Despite his hatred and distrust for Humanity as a whole, 'Mdama is still willing to work with certain human individuals, such as Catherine Halsey, when necessary. ^[14]

Although 'Mdama often displays typical Sangheili aggression and does not hesitate to use force to achieve his goals, he can be both patient and highly manipulative at times. During his captivity on Onyx, he placates his human captors by behaving according to their expectations of his species, at the same time gleaning information on ONI's plans whenever possible. He convinces Prone to Drift to give him key information about the Ur-Didact, then later forces Prone to aid him in his escape by threatening to detonate his explosive vest, which would damage the installation - something which he knew Prone would not allow. Later, during the Requiem campaign, 'Mdama deliberately allows the crew of the Infinity to take possession of the Requiem translocation artifact - playing on their assumption that the Covenant want the artifact for themselves. The artifact later enables his forces to invade Infinity and abduct Catherine Halsey. Prior to this, he attempts to gain Halsey's trust by sending her anonymous messages offering information about the Prometheans. He further appeals to her scientific curiosity by delivering to her the "soul" of a Promethean Knight. He is surprised - but not too upset - when Halsey contacts him and reveals that she knew his identity all along.

'Mdama is mostly disillusioned with the Covenant's religion. Not only does he no longer believe in the Great Journey, but he has come to accept the fact that the Forerunners were never gods. While he would like to believe they were gods, he sees the fact that the Forerunners made mistakes as proof that they were not gods. He further reasons that the Forerunners never expected or intended to be worshiped as gods in the first place. As such, 'Mdama has no qualms with exploiting or even destroying Forerunner artifacts to achieve his goals. He has also broken other taboos, such as acquiring and using human weapons.

Despite his personal loss of faith in the Forerunners as gods, he has managed to put on a convincing public image of a devout religious leader in the eyes of his followers. 'Mdama's awareness of the many loopholes and contradictions in Sangheili tradition allows him to bend or circumvent cultural rules without publicly sullying his honor. On Hesduros, he garners support from the colonists there by touting his knowledge of the Forerunners and later playing on the colonists' belief that the "gods" had sent him. Though uncomfortable with this charade, he rationalizes it by telling himself that not only is the deception necessary, but the only thing he is truly lying about is his own faith (or lack thereof) - something he considers a personal issue.

Trivia

Jul 'Mdama is voiced by Travis Willingham.^[15] Willingham also voices Paul DeMarco.
After 'Mdama's capture, Malcolm Geffen joked that it sounded like 'Mdama was saying "blarg". This is a reference to the Red vs. Blue machinima series, in which the Sangheili say only "blarg" and "honk".^[16]