Editing Covenant murals

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<div class="thumbcaption">Covenant Murals after the 3:00min mark</div>
</div>In the deleted scenes on the [[Halo 2: Collectors Edition DVD|Collector's Edition DVD]], [[Joseph Staten]] describes and shows some of the [[Covenant]]'s history. Specifically, he displays a pre-render [[:Category:Cinematics|cinematic]] of the [[Covenant]] Murals. 


{{BigQuote|'' We have this fantastic story arc that we're trying to get across and we have all this back story that we're trying to get across. And there comes a point where we look at the amount of time we have left to finish this game and we realize that we're just crazy and we're not going to be able to do all of this. So we pick our battles with what we can cut out...'' 
-[[CJ Cowan]]}}


The seven murals show the seven "ages" of [[Covenant]] history. There are a number of scenes that were cut from the game that show some murals that depict the [[Covenant]]'s history. 
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<TD>[[Image:Seven Murals.jpg|300px]]</TD><TD>[[Image:Seven Murals2.jpg|300px]]</TD>
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{| style="border:1px solid black" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|+'''Murals'''
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|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|[[Image:First Mural BG.jpg|center|200px|thumb|<CENTER>First Mural</CENTER>]]
|style="border:1px solid black"|'''[[Joseph Staten]]:''' So when you look at the first Mural you see it's a representation of the conflict between the Prophets and Elites, and this one shows the Elites function in the Covenant, which is as the enforcers. 

This age is also known as the [[Age of Conflict]]. This Age may have lasted for thousands of years, because the war went on for an extremely long time, but it definitely ended with a truce, when the [[Prophet]]s told the [[Elite]]s of the [[Forerunners]].

Note the [[Forerunner]] structure behind the three [[Prophet]]s, perhaps symbolic of the [[San Shyuum's]] revelation of the [[Forerunners]]' existence to the [[Elite]]s. It may also be a representation of the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] which played such a pivotal role in the [[Age of Conflict]].
|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|[[Image:TamingOfHunters.jpg|200px|thumb|center|<CENTER>Second Mural</CENTER>]]
|style="border:1px solid black"|{{Main|Taming of the Hunters}}The [[Taming of the Hunters]] was a period in the history of The [[Covenant]] when the [[Prophet]]s and [[Elite]]s used force to obtain new species/races of the [[Covenant]]. The "Taming" is when the [[Hunter]]s were forced to join [[The Covenant]]. This is a progressive movement towards a new age, the [[Age of Conversion]], though this would have been one of the shortest ages. However, it was probably recorded as an age because of its major significance.

|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|[[Image:Third Mural.jpg|center|200px|thumb|<CENTER>Third Mural</CENTER>]]
|style="border:1px solid black"|This mural clearly shows the [[Prophet]]s and [[Elite]]s having power over the other species as the new species of the [[Covenant]] are bowing to them. It depicts the [[Age of Conversion]], which was the time that the [[Elites]] and [[Prophet]]s incorporated the other races into [[The Covenant]], either through conquest or religious conversion. 
Notice the large unknown [[Covenant]] species, possibly a [[Drinol]], although this has not been confirmed.

|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|Fourth Mural
|style="border:1px solid black"| 
This mural is hard to understand, yet we speculate that it is indeed the [[Age of Discovery]], and that the mural stands for the [[Elite]]s and [[Prophet]]s either finding, or understanding the technology left by the [[Forerunners]]. The picture depicts a hidden [[Energy Sword|sword]], which could symbolize hidden technologies. The [[Elite]]'s and the [[Prophet]]'s hand are reaching for it together in harmony. Notice the [[Elite]]s weapon in this mural, and the ones before, a simple, almost crude, spear. In all the other murals after this point, the weapon of the [[Elite]] is replaced by the more complex [[energy sword]]. The reasoning behind our speculation is that in the First, Second, and Third Mural/Age of the [[Covenant]], no [[Forerunner]] technology is found. Only very simplistic weapons like knives, and spears are shown. The Fourth Age is the turning point for the [[Covenant]], the point in time in which technology is found. Between this age, and the current [[7]]th age, complete understanding of the technology is understood, thus the ability to start the [[Great Journey]]. 


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|style="border:1px solid black"|Fifth Mural
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The 5th mural is not available for viewing, since it is not seen clearly on the on the video, yet it is believed to show the locations of each of the [[seven]] [[Halos]]. This fact most likely means that while in the fourth age of the [[Covenant]], when this group was finding the long-lost [[Forerunner]] technology scattered across the Galaxy, they stumbled across the locations of the [[Halo]] array. This discovery likely led to the religious doctrine of the "[[Great Journey]].". (i.e. being transformed into a God when activating the [[Halos]]). The 5th age of the [[Covenant]] would have been full of rumors, dreams, and new found religions of the [[Halo]] Prophecy.

|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|[[Image:Second Mural.jpg|center|200px|thumb|<CENTER>Sixth Mural</CENTER>]]
|style="border:1px solid black"| After learning about the [[Halo]]s and the locations, this mural depicts the races of the [[Covenant]](In the form of [[Forerunner]] glyphs) under a glowing, activated [[Halo]] ring with an eye in the middle. This symbol may reflect the [[Covenant]] belief that the [[Forerunners]] were watching their actions, and that by activating the [[Halo]]s the [Covenant] could achieve godlike status, following the the [[Forerunner]]'s footsteps. Ironically, activation of the [[Halo]] Rings would have made the [[Covenant]] much like the [[Forerunner]]s: dead by their own hand.

|-
|style="border:1px solid black"|[[Image:Seventh Mural.jpg|center|200px|thumb|<CENTER>Seventh Mural</CENTER>]]
|style="border:1px solid black"|The last Mural shows the [[Elite]]s and [[Prophet]]s embarking on [[The Great Journey]].

Note the glyph of the eye and the glowing (activated) [[Halo]] Ring similar to the one in the image seen above, and the stylized [[Energy Sword]] held by the [[Elite]], another example of [[Covenant]] advances at this time.

|}

Se7en has created re-renders of them on the [[Bungie]] forums, and [[Bungie]] acknowledges them as correct, you may view them here: http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/hallofmurals.html

[[Category:Deleted Material]]