Editing Mantle

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Article quote|Guardianship for all living things lies with those whose evolution is most complete. The Mantle of Responsibility shelters all.}}

[[File:Main-Forerunner.png|thumb|The [[Eld]], an ancient symbol associated with the Mantle.<ref name="requiem">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Requiem (level)|Requiem]]''</ref>]]

The '''Mantle of Responsibility''',<ref>'''[[Halo 4]]''', campaign level ''[[Epilogue (Halo 4 level)|Epilogue]]''</ref> commonly referred to simply as the '''Mantle''', is a philosophy originating with the [[Precursor]]s and later associated with the [[Forerunner]]s.{{Ref/Site|Id=CryptumGlossary|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Cryptum Glossary|D=14|M=03|Y=2014|LocalArchive=Halo: Cryptum/Glossary}} Bridging the social strata between an interstellar [[Wikipedia:Marshall Plan|Marshall Plan]] and a religious stewardship, the Mantle was the Forerunners' entitlement and responsibility for the protection and cultivation of the species and planetary systems within their [[ecumene]].<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]''', ''page 164''</ref> The core tenet of the Forerunners' belief in the Mantle was that the most developed species should hold stewardship over all other life. In theory, the Mantle allowed competition and conflict as long as this did not threaten biodiversity in the galaxy; in practice, the Forerunners' often draconian rule in the name of the Mantle entailed the subjugation of "lesser" species by force to keep them in line and preventing them from threatening Forerunner primacy.<ref name="waypoint guardian">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/tech/guardian '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Guardian'']</ref>

 

The Forerunners' culture and their [[Ecumene Council|central government]] was entirely dictated by the Mantle, as were the religious beliefs of individual Forerunners, though the interpretations of the philosophy often varied between [[rate]]s and individuals.<ref name="wp fr">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/species/forerunners '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Forerunners'']</ref> The Mantle was based around the concept of [[Living Time]]; "the joy of life's interaction with the Cosmos". This was also the origin of all of the complex rules involved in the Mantle.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 267''</ref>

The Forerunners' beliefs regarding the Mantle were largely fictitious, manufactured during eons long forgotten to justify their self-appointed position of superiority over other species. In truth, the Precursors had chosen [[human]]ity to carry the Mantle.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 364''</ref> Refusing to accept the Precursors' judgment, the Forerunners [[Forerunner-Precursor war|rebelled against their creators]] and drove them to extinction over [[10,000,000 BCE|ten million years]] before the present.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 173-175''</ref> At the final hour of their civilization, however, elements of the surviving Forerunners chose to hand the Mantle down to humans, as the Precursors had always intended. This is the origin of humanity's status as [[Reclaimer]]s, designated not only as the Forerunners' inheritors, but also destined to assume the Mantle. After the firing of the [[Halo Array]], the small number of surviving Forerunners exiled themselves, believing they should no longer meddle in the affairs of other species.<ref>'''[[Rebirth]]'''</ref> Not all Forerunners agreed with this decision, however. The [[Ur-Didact]] rejected the [[Librarian]]'s favoring of humanity and maintained his belief that only the Forerunners were worthy of the Mantle even 100,000 years later.<ref>'''Halo 4'''</ref>

Some Forerunners doubted the purpose and validity of their version of the Mantle. The [[Librarian]], in particular, had such doubts, and even went so far as to hold it responsible for the downfall of the Forerunners at the hands of the Flood. The then-[[Rampancy|rampant]] [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Mendicant Bias]] believed that the Forerunners used the Mantle to obstruct any change, even that which might eventually be beneficial; however, Mendicant Bias' perspective had been distorted by the [[Flood]]'s [[logic plague|manipulation]] as well as the intense hatred it developed for its creators.{{Ref/Reuse|terminals}} Even the Ur-Didact, after his death and resurrection within the [[Domain]], eventually came to the conclusion that the very existence of the Mantle was a test set by the Precursors to see if a civilization could resist the temptation of absolute power. Any who sought it or claimed to possess it had not only failed, but doomed themselves to destruction, whether by internal strife and corruption, or uprisings from vassal species as benevolent rule descended inevitably into brutal subjugation.{{Ref/Novel|ID=HEpi20|Epi|Chapter=20}} In hindsight, the Ur-Didact believed that the correct response to being offered the Mantle was to decline it.{{Ref/Novel|ID=HEpi26|Epi|Chapter=26}} In life, when he was captured by the [[Gravemind]] during the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], it went so far as to claim that the Flood existed specifically to punish species which held the Mantle, after they had reached the height of their hubris and corruption, and that millions of species stretching back to even before the dawn of time had been tested, failed, and consumed in this way.{{Ref/Novel|ID=HEpi20|Epi|Chapter=16}}

{{Quote|The Mantle. [[IsoDidact|You]] still hold to that [fairy tale] after all that has happened? After this thing has consumed a million worlds?<br>Can't you see? Belief in the Mantle sealed our doom! Weakened our [protectorates], bred dependence and sloth. Our [so-called Guardianship] has stripped those we would keep safe of any capacity for self-defense!<br>Were we such noble [Guardians] when [[Maginot Line|we drew our line]] and abandoned billions to [[Flood|the parasite]]?|The [[Librarian]]{{Ref/Reuse|terminals}}}}

Despite its ultimate ideal to preserve all life, some Forerunners also used the Mantle as a justification for several questionable practices. Forerunner dogma posited that their evolution was more "complete" than that of other species, deriving the entitlement for their rule from this belief.{{Ref/Reuse|requiem}} They considered it heretical for any other species, namely [[Ancient humanity|ancient humans]], to claim to be true inheritors of the Mantle.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 112''</ref> Because of their perceived superiority, the Forerunners sequestered themselves from other species; allegedly, this was done to protect and preserve all species, including themselves.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 113''</ref> As the Forerunners viewed themselves to be above all other species, their [[Warrior-Servant]]s would not hesitate to wipe out those who stood against them, believing that to defy the Forerunners was to show contempt for the Mantle itself.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 50''</ref> In addition, constructs known as [[Guardian]]s were used to police subject species where all-out warfare was not deemed necessary.{{Ref/Reuse|waypoint guardian}} Rather than allowing every species to rise on their own merits, the Forerunners, following the Mantle, gave them no chance to do so, serving as protectors against any threats that might have forced technological or cultural progression. An unforeseen side-effect was that only the Forerunners were able to hold their own against the [[Flood]], while their charges were unable to defend themselves; the Forerunners had unintentionally left the galaxy vulnerable to Flood infection.<ref name="terminals">'''Halo 3''', ''Terminals''</ref>

The ''Rule of the Mantle'' was the fundamental set of instructions involved with the Mantle and the origin of the Forerunners' most sacred rules regarding life.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 31, 312''</ref> The Forerunners' scripture surrounding the Mantle was divided into chapters known as Numbers. Notable Forerunners, such as the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], would apparently contribute to the Mantle and have their own Numbers, which contained short aphorisms or phrases known as Permutations.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''preface'' ("The peaceful one is at war without and within." —The Mantle, Fifth Permutation of the Didact's Number)</ref> The [[Twelve Laws of Making and Moving]] were a central religious text associated with the Mantle often recited in prayers.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 28''</ref> A [[Master of the Mantle]] was an individual, likely a religious official, whose duties included securing a Forerunner's [[mind transfer|mental patterns]] and physical remains into a [[Durance]] after an immolation ceremony.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 47-48''</ref>

The Precursors' views and practices regarding the Mantle were significantly more holistic than those the Forerunners subscribed to. The Precursors believed that the universe itself was an [[Wikipedia:Panentheism|animate entity]] on a vastly different scale and nature than organic beings; the foundation of [[neural physics]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 103''</ref> Through understanding and influencing this esoteric, living aspect of spacetime, the Precursors were able to manipulate reality and form virtually indestructible objects.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 40''</ref> In a notion echoed in the Forerunner concept of [[Living Time]], they believed that all things experienced by life, good or ill, were only "sweetness" to the living universe.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 365, 367''</ref> Consistent with these tenets, the Precursors wished to experience the hardships and struggles faced by all life firsthand by committing themselves to numerous cycles of evolution, technological advancement, death and rebirth over and over again.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 321''</ref>

 

 

The Mantle is represented by a [[Forerunner symbols|glyph]] comprising a series of angular, branching lines framed by a circle. This glyph is ubiquitous in Forerunner art, architecture and technology due to the Mantle's wholesome influence on every aspect of Forerunner life. Many Forerunners, mainly [[Builder]]s, referred to this symbol as the Tree-mark, due to its resemblance to a heavily stylized tree; among [[Lifeworker]]s, it was also known as the Eld. While the Forerunners had associated the symbol with the Mantle throughout their history, its origin had been long forgotten but it was known to predate the Forerunners themselves.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P317|Enc22|Page=317}} The symbol was also observed among the [[Sedaaro Forerunner|primitive Forerunner relatives]] in [[Path Kethona]], who were isolated from the mainline population living in the Milky Way galaxy over ten million years earlier.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 142-143''</ref>

*''[[Rebirth]]''

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[[Category:Forerunner culture]]