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Great Purification: Difference between revisions
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{{Quote|Activation is murder. A genocide larger than [this galaxy] has ever known. We are sworn to protect life, not destroy it! That is the [[Mantle]] we were given to carry.|The [[IsoDidact]], protesting the firing of the rings.<ref name="terminal">'''Halo 3''' - ''[[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminal 2]]''</ref>}} | {{Quote|Activation is murder. A genocide larger than [this galaxy] has ever known. We are sworn to protect life, not destroy it! That is the [[Mantle]] we were given to carry.|The [[IsoDidact]], protesting the firing of the rings.<ref name="terminal">'''Halo 3''' - ''[[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminal 2]]''</ref>}} | ||
The '''Great Purification'''<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 205''</ref> was the culminating act of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], when the seven rings of the [[Halo Array]] were fired. The rings' combined pulses scoured the entire [[Milky Way]] galaxy, disabling the [[Flood]] and wiping out all vertebrate life that was not safely outside its range at [[Installation 00|the Ark]]. The effects of the firing had lasting effects on the galaxy for the next 100 millennia, marking the end of the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]] and eventually leading to the rise of the [[Covenant]]. | The '''Great Purification'''<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 205''</ref> was the culminating act of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], when the [[seven]] rings of the [[Halo Array]] were fired. The rings' combined pulses scoured the entire [[Milky Way]] galaxy, disabling the [[Flood]] and wiping out all vertebrate life that was not safely outside its range at [[Installation 00|the Ark]]. The effects of the firing had lasting effects on the galaxy for the next 100 millennia, marking the end of the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]] and eventually leading to the rise of the [[Covenant]]. | ||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
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The Flood eventually returned to the galaxy, but as the war escalated and the parasite spread even further, the Didact (now two individuals) remained steadfastly opposed to firing the rings. Both of them viewed galactic genocide as a violation of the [[Mantle]], the Forerunner code of doctrine. While the IsoDidact refused to fire on moral grounds, not wanting to kill billions of innocents, the Ur-Didact rejected the Halos on societal grounds, certain that the Great Purification would cause the end of Forerunner dominance over the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo 4''' - ''Terminal''</ref> Both of them delayed activating the rings by attempting alternate plans to defeat the Flood, including the anti-Flood AI [[Mendicant Bias]] (who went rogue and defected to the Flood) and the creation of [[Promethean Knight]] droids, which were created from unwillingly transformed humans, thereby causing genocide to prevent genocide. Neither of these measures succeeded in defeating the parasite. | The Flood eventually returned to the galaxy, but as the war escalated and the parasite spread even further, the Didact (now two individuals) remained steadfastly opposed to firing the rings. Both of them viewed galactic genocide as a violation of the [[Mantle]], the Forerunner code of doctrine. While the IsoDidact refused to fire on moral grounds, not wanting to kill billions of innocents, the Ur-Didact rejected the Halos on societal grounds, certain that the Great Purification would cause the end of Forerunner dominance over the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo 4''' - ''Terminal''</ref> Both of them delayed activating the rings by attempting alternate plans to defeat the Flood, including the anti-Flood AI [[Mendicant Bias]] (who went rogue and defected to the Flood) and the creation of [[Promethean Knight]] droids, which were created from unwillingly transformed humans, thereby causing genocide to prevent genocide. Neither of these measures succeeded in defeating the parasite. | ||
By 97,445 BCE, the Forerunners were badly losing, most of their population had been lost, and the Flood had reached almost complete control of the galaxy. With much reluctance, the IsoDidact fired the Array, initiating the Great Purification.<ref>'''Halo 3''' - ''Terminal 7''</ref> The blast resulted in the death of the Flood | By 97,445 BCE, the Forerunners were badly losing, most of their population had been lost, and the Flood had reached almost complete control of the galaxy. With much reluctance, the IsoDidact fired the Array, initiating the Great Purification.<ref>'''Halo 3''' - ''Terminal 7''</ref> The blast resulted in the death of the Flood and everyone else in the galaxy, including the [[Librarian]] herself. | ||
The Great Purification was not the first time a Halo had been fired. A ring of the original array had been fired by the [[Master Builder]] at the [[Charum Hakkor system]] to test its effect on the native wildlife.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 245''</ref> Later a pulse was fired on [[Janjur Qom]] to punish the [[San'Shyuum]] there who rebelled against the Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 192''</ref> At the [[Battle of the Capital]] Mendicant Bias took control of five of the nearby rings (which had been assembled for decommissioning) and fired them all.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 307''</ref> The last use before the combined wave from the Array was at the [[Battle of the greater Ark]], when [[Omega Halo]] was fired, damaging a [[Precursor]] [[star road]] and wiping out all life in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 273''</ref> Neither of the Halos were used again until 2552, when the [[Jiralhanae]] [[Tartarus]] attempted to fire [[Installation 05]],<ref>'''Halo 2''', ''campaign level ''[[The Great Journey]]''</ref> followed a month later by [[John-117]] activating [[Installation 04B]] in order to cleanse the Ark of the Flood infestation there.<ref>'''Halo 3''', ''campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''</ref> | The Great Purification was not the first time a Halo had been fired. A ring of the original array had been fired by the [[Master Builder]] at the [[Charum Hakkor system]] to test its effect on the native wildlife.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 245''</ref> Later a pulse was fired on [[Janjur Qom]] to punish the [[San'Shyuum]] there who rebelled against the Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 192''</ref> At the [[Battle of the Capital]] Mendicant Bias took control of five of the nearby rings (which had been assembled for decommissioning) and fired them all.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 307''</ref> The last use before the combined wave from the Array was at the [[Battle of the greater Ark]], when [[Omega Halo]] was fired, damaging a [[Precursor]] [[star road]] and wiping out all life in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 273''</ref> Neither of the Halos were used again until 2552, when the [[Jiralhanae]] [[Tartarus]] attempted to fire [[Installation 05]],<ref>'''Halo 2''', ''campaign level ''[[The Great Journey]]''</ref> followed a month later by [[John-117]] activating [[Installation 04B]] in order to cleanse the Ark of the Flood infestation there.<ref>'''Halo 3''', ''campaign level ''[[Halo (Halo 3 level)|Halo]]''</ref> | ||
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{{Quote|This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and one actual. It is ready to fire on demand.|[[2401 Penitent Tangent]]<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Gravemind (level)|Gravemind]]''</ref>}} | {{Quote|This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and one actual. It is ready to fire on demand.|[[2401 Penitent Tangent]]<ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Gravemind (level)|Gravemind]]''</ref>}} | ||
The Great Purification marked the end of the Flood-Forerunner war. Just before the firing, the galaxy had been teeming with Flood, who had progressed to an interstellar threat, consuming whole star systems, forming advanced Flood intelligences called [[Key Mind]]s, and able to interact with the fabric of the universe itself, halting slipspace travel across the galaxy. Immediately after the firing, the Flood was neutralized. Flood and sentient lifeforms on planets that had been seeded with [[solute]] beforehand were disintegrated.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 19''</ref> Forms in starships and non-soluted sites were killed but not melted, their bodies remaining but their nervous systems irreparably destroyed. The remaining Flood spores and combat forms that were left were taken to the Halos and other sites for study, in hopes that a cure could be found should the Flood ever return.<ref>'''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''' - ''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminal 6]]''</ref> | The Great Purification marked the end of the Flood-Forerunner war. Just before the firing, the galaxy had been teeming with Flood, who had progressed to an interstellar threat, consuming whole star systems, forming advanced Flood intelligences called [[Key Mind]]s, and able to interact with the fabric of the universe itself, halting slipspace travel across the galaxy. Immediately after the firing, the Flood was neutralized. Flood and sentient lifeforms on planets that had been seeded with [[solute]] beforehand were disintegrated.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 19''</ref> Forms in starships and non-soluted sites were killed but not melted, their bodies remaining but their nervous systems irreparably destroyed. The remaining Flood spores and combat forms that were left were taken to the Halos and other sites for study, in hopes that a cure could be found should the Flood ever return.<ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''' - ''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminal 6]]''</ref> | ||
The ongoing space battle of the Forerunners and the Flood, the [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]], had its order completely reversed. Mendicant Bias' Flood-controlled fleet had been fighting with Offensive's Forerunner-and-mechanical fleet, but within moments the rogue AI suddenly found itself with ships without any living crew. Offensive used Mendicant's momentary confusion to gain the upper hand, commanding his remaining ships directly and destroying the majority of the Flood's fleet in under 90 seconds. Mendicant was subsequently captured and imprisoned at Installation 00.<ref>'''Halo 3''' - ''Terminal 6''</ref> | The ongoing space battle of the Forerunners and the Flood, the [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]], had its order completely reversed. Mendicant Bias' Flood-controlled fleet had been fighting with Offensive's Forerunner-and-mechanical fleet, but within moments the rogue AI suddenly found itself with ships without any living crew. Offensive used Mendicant's momentary confusion to gain the upper hand, commanding his remaining ships directly and destroying the majority of the Flood's fleet in under 90 seconds. Mendicant was subsequently captured and imprisoned at Installation 00.<ref>'''Halo 3''' - ''Terminal 6''</ref> | ||