Editing Harbinger

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Character infobox

|image=[[File:HINF HarbingerRender.png|200px]]

|species=[[Xalanyn]]{{Ref/Game|HI|TACMAP|Detail=[[Silent Auditorium]] description|Quote=[The Harbinger] reveals the Auditorium was where the Forerunners passed judgment upon her species, the Endless [...]}}{{Ref/Reuse|enc22p25}}

|notable=Allied with the Banished during the [[Battle for Zeta Halo]].

{{Quote|Hear this, [[Forerunner]]s! Your [[Silent Auditorium (location)|Auditorium]] has fallen. The [[Xalanyn|Endless]] found. Your sins undone. Today WE return!|The Harbinger during the Battle for Zeta Halo{{Ref/Reuse|Silent Auditorium}}}}

The '''Harbinger''', or the '''Harbinger of the truth''', was a female [[Xalanyn]] who was active in the year [[2560]] during the [[Battle for Zeta Halo]].{{Ref/Book|Id=enc22p25|Enc22|Page=25}} The Harbinger was awoken from a [[Cylix]] by the [[Banished]] as they both sought to repair [[Installation 07|Zeta Halo]] in order to unleash the Endless.{{Ref/Quest|HINF|Graveyards|[[Pelican Down (Halo Infinite level)|Pelican Down]]}}

The Harbinger was a member of the [[Xalanyn]]'s ruling class.{{Ref/Book|Id=EN453|Enc22|Page=453}} She, along with the rest of her species, unexpectedly survived [[Great Purification|the firing of the Halo Array]] - a feat which alarmed the remaining Forerunners.{{Ref/Game|Id=af3|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Archaeological Findings 2|Banished Audio log|Detail=Archaeological Findings #03 - Xalanyn}} In 97,368 BCE, the Harbinger and several other Xalanyn delegates traveled to Zeta Halo to parlay with the Forerunners.{{Ref/Reuse|EN453}} The parlay, however, was in fact a ruse devised by the Forerunners in order to judge the Xalanyn, whom the Forerunners viewed as a threat to their plan to pass the [[Mantle]] to [[Human]]ity.{{Ref/Book|Id=EN486|Enc22|Page=486}} The Harbinger and most of her species were subsequently imprisoned on [[Installation 07]] by order of the [[Grand Edict]],{{Ref/Quest|HINF|Endless|Silent Auditorium|Quote=If Halo cannot end them, it must imprison them.|Quotee=Grand Edict, Legendary ending post-credits}} with only a small handful of Xalanyn managing to escape this fate.{{Ref/Book|Id=EN487|Enc22|Page=487}}

===Battle for Zeta Halo===

{{Main|Battle for Zeta Halo}}

After driving the UNSC away from the ''[[UNSC Mortal Reverie]]''{{'}}s crash site on February 2, [[2560]],{{Ref/Game|Id=r8tr|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Retaliation 2|Spartan Audio log|Detail=Retaliation #08 - The Retreat}} the Banished established [[Outpost Tremonius (location)|Outpost Tremonius]],{{Ref/Game|Id=iyh|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Outpost Intel 3|Banished Audio log|Detail=Outpost Intel #15 - In Your Honor}} which they used as an excavation site and storage facility for Forerunner artifacts.{{Ref/Game|Id=wlb|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Scattered 2|Spartan Audio log|Detail=Scattered #02 - What Lies Beneath}} Eventually, in April, the [[Jiralhanae Warlord]] [[Tremonius]] located and recovered the Harbinger's Cylix from beneath the Outpost.{{Ref/Reuse|et2}} Escharum then forced a UNSC [[Prisoner of war|POW]], [[Lucas Browning]], to [[Reclaimer|release]] the Harbinger from the Cylix.{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #02 - What was Inside}} Upon being released, she introduced herself as the Harbinger of the truth. While the surrounding Sangheili, Kig-Yar, and even Jiralhanae were terrified of her, Escharum expressed delight over the Harbinger's declaration.{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #03 - She was Smiling}}

After her release, the Harbinger told Escharum of the [[Reformation]],{{Ref/Game|Id=et5|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Escharum's Testimony 2|Banished Audio log|Detail=Escharum's Testimony #05 - Reformation}} which would expedite the ring's self-repair process by creating materials for repairs.{{Ref/Reuse|spire}} However, unbeknownst to Escharum,{{Ref/Reuse|et5}} the Harbinger sought to rebuild the Silent Auditorium,{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Escharum's Testimony 2|Banished Audio log|Detail=Escharum's Testimony #07 - Loyalties}} which was destroyed when Cortana detonated the ring, and use it to locate her fellow Xalanyn. Despite Escharum being distrustful towards the Harbinger,{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Escharum's Testimony 2|Banished Audio log|Detail=Escharum's Testimony #03 - Harbinger}} the two formed an uneasy alliance, bolstering the Banished forces with the Harbinger's [[Skimmer]]s.{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Outpost Intel 3|Banished Audio log|Detail=Outpost Intel #05 - Re: Damnable Eyes}} Eventually, the Harbinger told Escharum of her goal to rebuild the Silent Auditorium and locate the Endless.{{Ref/Quest|HINF|Graveyard|Pelican Down (Halo Infinite level)|Quote=When the Endless are found. And when you have your Ring. Then you will never question my worth and I will never question your judgment.|Quotee=The Harbinger}} In truth, however, the Harbinger not only desired to restore the Auditorium, but she ultimately intended to remake the entire Ring to suit her own purposes.{{Ref/Reuse|EN487}}

In order to initiate the Reformation, the Harbinger required the [[Encephalon]] of [[Despondent Pyre]], Zeta Halo's [[Monitor]], who resided in an underground Forerunner facility called the [[Conservatory (location)|Conservatory]]. The Banished subsequently accelerated their activity at [[Site Novem]], aiming to breach the Conservatory and capture the Monitor.{{Ref/Game|Id=The Prize|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Scattered 2|Spartan Audio log|Detail=Scattered #04 - The Prize}} At one point, the Harbinger herself inspected the site.{{Ref/Game|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Outpost Intel 4|Banished Audio log|Detail=Outpost Intel #06 - Secrets Below}} She modified a Banished mining laser, enabling it to pierce the Ring's [[Forerunner]] alloy.{{Ref/Quest|Id=excavation site|HI|Connections|Excavation Site}} By [[2560#May|May 15, 2560]], the Banished had used their modified mining laser to successfully breach the Conservatory.{{Ref/Game|Id=Infiltration|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#Scattered 2|Spartan Audio log|Detail=Scattered #07 - Infiltration}}  

Circa [[2560#May|May 28, 2560]], the Harbinger captured Despondent Pyre and forcibly extracted the Monitor's [[encephalon]], killing Despondent Pyre in the process. Using the [[Forerunner]] routines contained within Despondent Pyre's encephalon, the Harbinger constructed a protocol{{Ref/Quest|HI|Connections|Spire (Halo Infinite level)|Quote=This structure has been activated using a protocol that's far older than anything I've ever seen.|Quotee=The Weapon}} capable of summoning the [[Reformation Spire]]s across the fragmented section of Zeta Halo.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Conservatory|HI|Connections|Conservatory}} [[Master Chief Petty Officer|Master Chief]] [[John-117]], who had witnessed Despondent Pyre's abduction, followed the Harbinger to the top of the Conservatory and confronted her as she prepared to summon the Spires. The Harbinger initially told him that she wasn't his enemy, but John-117 recognized the threat posed by a repaired ring, and attempted to stop the Harbinger. The Harbinger initiated the Reformation, summoning dozens of Reformation Spires. She blasted John-117 out of the Conservatory, then escaped to the [[Command Spire]], where she tried to send the initialization sequence needed to fully activate the Spires. However, the Spire network resisted her attempts because the summoning protocol she'd constructed from Despondent Pyre's routines hadn't been entirely correct.{{Ref/Quest|Id=spire|HI|Connections|Spire (Halo Infinite level)|Quote=The protocol that triggered all this wasn't exactly correct. It worked... well, it started the process.|Quotee=The Weapon}}

After John-117 and the Weapon removed one of the Spires from the network and defeated the two [[Spartan Killer]]s [[Hyperius]] and [[Tovarus]], the Harbinger told Escharum to send all his forces against the human. Escharum, who desired to personally face the Chief in battle, replied that odds would not break the Spartan. The Harbinger noted that the Master Chief had [[the Weapon|an ally]] connected to the Ring, who could potentially be exploited. She then directed Escharum to have his forces defend the Command Spire while she initiated the Reformation. Escharum agreed, but warned her to prove her worth. The Harbinger rebuked him, assuring him that they would achieve their goals.{{Ref/Quest|Id=Pelican Down|HI|Graveyards|Pelican Down (Halo Infinite level)}}

When the Master Chief arrived at the Command Spire, the Harbinger altered the Forerunner sequence needed to open the Spire's door, thereby making entry impossible. The sabotage forced the Chief and the Weapon to gather data from a network of [[Forerunner]] [[Beacon tower|communication beacons]] in order to reconstruct a pure version of the sequence. During this time, the Harbinger spied on [[the Weapon]] and determined she could utilize the [[UNSC]] [[Artificial intelligence|AI]]'s routines in conjunction with those from Despondent Pyre's encephalon to break through the Spire network's resistance.{{Ref/Quest|Id=The Sequence|HI|Reformation|The Sequence}}

Initially, she harbored no ill-will towards [[human]]ity. She even showed sympathy towards [[Lucas Browning]] for the torture he was subjected to at [[Chak 'Lok]]'s [[Tower]], though she still drove him insane by showing him her "truth".{{Ref/Game|Id=Prisoner 5|HI|Audio log (Halo Infinite)#The Prisoner 2|UNSC Audio log|Detail=The Prisoner #05 - Barely Anything Left}} During her first confrontation with [[John-117]], she claimed that she was not his enemy.{{Ref/Reuse|Conservatory}} However, after the Master Chief's interference became too much of a liability, her attitude towards him became much more hostile.

*The Harbinger is voiced by [[Wikipedia:Debra Wilson|Debra Wilson]] in ''[[Halo Infinite]]''.

*The Harbinger was originally going to be called the Inquisitor.{{Citation needed}}

File:HINF Harbinger.png|Harbinger floating with her thrusters.

File:HINF Harbinger SA.png|Another view of the Harbinger's face.

File:HINF SA HarbingerBattle.png|The Harbinger with her energy shields.

File:HINF_SA_HarbingerBattle_Melee.png|The Harbinger performing a melee attack.