Editing Ur-Didact

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The '''Didact''', true name unknown,{{Ref/Reuse|Epi11}} renamed '''Shadow-of-Sundered-Star'''{{Ref/Reuse|H4EVG}} at a young age,{{Ref/Reuse|Epi11}} is a [[Forerunner]] [[Promethean]] who held an extremely high status in the [[Ecumene|Forerunner society]] as [[protector of the ecumene]],<ref name="protector">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 233''</ref> head of the [[Warrior-Servant]] [[rate]] and supreme commander of the entire Forerunner military.{{Ref/Game|Id=h3terminals|H3|Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals}} He wholeheartedly believed in the [[Mantle]] the Forerunners held to protect life, and fervently opposed the [[Halo Array]] as a sin beyond measure. He was also the lover and husband of the [[Librarian]].

Originally thought to have been killed by the [[Master Builder]], [[Faber]],<ref name="c339">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 339''</ref> the Didact effectively existed as two individuals during the final days of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]]; his original self, as well as his implanted consciousness within a young Forerunner known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. To differentiate these two incarnations, the original Didact was referred to as the '''Ur-Didact''', while his other incarnation was known as the [[IsoDidact]].<ref name="amazon">[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765323982/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=heaprcom05-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creativeASIN=0765323982 '''Amazon.com''': ''Halo: Silentium official description'']</ref> The Ur-Didact was eventually exiled on [[Requiem]], not to be awakened until [[2557]];<ref name="true Didact">[http://www.gregbear.com/blog/display.cfm?id=6897 '''Gregbear.com:''' ''HALO 4 DIDACT'']</ref> meanwhile, the IsoDidact served until the final days of the Flood conflict and was responsible for activating the Halo Array.{{Ref/Novel|Sil|Chapter=String 38}}  

After being released from his [[Cryptum]] many millennia later, the Ur-Didact resumed his war against humanity. [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan]] [[John-117]] and [[Cortana]] fought him on [[Mantle's Approach|his ship]], and sent him falling into [[Slipstream space|slipspace]], seemingly defeating him. After surviving slipspace, John-117 faced him again, this time with the rest of [[Blue Team]]. After a long and perilous battle, the Ur-Didact's biological form was destroyed under the combined power of several [[Composer]]s{{Ref/Reuse|HE10}} which was too much for even the resistance that the Didact's mutations gave him to their power.{{Ref/Reuse|Epi5}}

The Forerunner that would become known as the Didact was born to [[Didact's father|a father]] who was a [[Warrior-Servant]] by rate, but was also a descendant of the lost and forgotten [[Interpreter]] rate, while [[Didact's mother|his mother]] was one of the greatest Warrior-Servants in existence, from a family with a long lineage of greatness and strength. Interpreters had been assimilated by the [[Builder]]s in their rise to power, but they had been experts in the study and interpretation of the [[Mantle]], acting in conjunction with the [[Juridical]]s in crimes against the Mantle with Interpreters judgments often taking precedence.{{Ref/Novel|Id=Epi11|Epi|11}}

The Didact's father, as a descendant of the Interpreters, had the need to uphold the Mantle and bring to light the misuse and misinterpretation and corruption of its laws imprinted on his very essence. The Didact's father became outspoken and passionate about his lost history, his innate ability to stir a crowd on par with the [[Speaker]]s of old and the best silver-tongued Builders of the Capital. His eloquence appealed to the true heart of the Forerunners, namely their desire for glory, their joy in the diversity of rates and the tremendous loss felt to Forerunner culture when identities and rituals were forgotten. The Didact's father evoked the [[Twelve Laws of Making and Moving]], its Upper and Lower Tenets of Authority, and the Rules of Virtue. As a result, millions of Forerunners began to believe that reparation was in order, calling for the restoration of the lost rates and bringing back the immense knowledge and rituals that had been confiscated and hidden away by the Builders. The Builders saw this movement as a threat, but couldn't silence him thanks to the Didact's mother and together, they united half of the occupied worlds to their cause, leading to the [[Kradal conflicts]] when the Didact was just a Manipular. However, the Didact's parents lost the conflict and were executed with a special variant of the [[Z-130 Suppressor|Suppressor]] which left nothing behind of them, not even an essence for the [[Domain]].{{Ref/Reuse|Epi11}}

As part of the punishment, the Didact, who was just a few domestic years beyond a decade at the time, had his memories of his early life erased and he was renamed Shadow-of-Sundered-Star, his true name and history left forgotten. The Didact would only know about this because the tale had been revealed to him in his later life by those seeking to cause the Didact pain and humiliation. However, the Didact had never wanted to believe that it was true. He was subsequently raised by [[Silence-in-the End]] who honed the Didact's skills while [[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]] oversaw his training, both of whom were present and prevented the young Didact from interfering in his parents' execution.{{Ref/Reuse|Epi11}}

Later in life, the Didact became a [[Promethean]], a member of the highest and most powerful class of [[Warrior-Servant]]s. He was trained by [[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]], a legendary Promethean far older than the Didact himself.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 246''</ref> Early in his career, the [[Confirmer]] provided Shadow a [[Forerunner mutation|brevet mutation]] to a new [[form]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 178''</ref> He gained the name "Didact" while teaching at the [[College of Strategic Defense of the Mantle]]; his students gave him the name because they found him to be a strict and demanding teacher.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 227-228''</ref> As a cadet, he apprenticed on ''[[Deep Reverence]]''.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 145''</ref>

The Didact was elevated to the rank of [[protector of the ecumene]] around 2,000 years before the war with the humans.{{Ref/Reuse|protector}} He had a romantic relationship with another Promethean commander, known as [[Endurance-of-Will]], and would most likely have married her had he not met the [[Librarian]], a [[Lifeworker]]. Despite the unconventional practice of marrying outside one's own rate, the Didact ultimately married the Librarian.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 284, 290-291''</ref> They lived on [[Nomdagro]], a world populated mainly by Warrior-Servants, in a mansion designed by the Didact himself in a grandiose style traditional of Warrior-Servants.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 49-50''</ref> They had several children, all of whom followed in their father's footsteps and became Warrior-Servants.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 219''</ref>

The Ur-Didact, lulled into a sense of security within his greatest fortress, was then confronted by the Librarian aboard the ''Mantle's Approach''. After a brief exchange, the Librarian incapacitated the Didact through force and placed him in a combat Cryptum previously maintained on ''Mantle's Approach''. Sealing the Cryptum in the core of Requiem, the Librarian hoped that the Ur-Didact would spend his time in meditation reflecting upon his past misdeeds, and that the damage wrought on his mind by the Gravemind would be corrected with the aid of contact with the [[Domain]].{{Ref/Reuse|string34}} Eventually, once awakened, the Didact might help humanity ascend to be the new caretakers of the galaxy by educating them on the Mantle as well as the Forerunners' technological achievements with the [[Janus Key]].{{Ref/Reuse|h4terminals}}<ref>'''Spartan Ops''', [[S1/Key|S1E9 ''Key'']]</ref> The Librarian sealed Requiem and took over the Promethean Knights stationed there,{{Ref/Reuse|h4terminals}} giving them orders to prevent the Ur-Didact from being reawakened until his meditation was complete.{{Ref/Reuse|h4}}

However, at the close of the Flood war, the Librarian learned the Domain's true nature as a Precursor creation, and that by activating the [[Halo Array]], the Domain would be lost along with all Precursor architecture. As the Halo Array was fired, the Domain was evidently destroyed and as a result, instead of his mind being healed in his meditation, the Ur-Didact would spend the next 100,000 years in complete silence, dwelling on his own insanity and rage.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''String 37''</ref>

{{Main|Skirmish on Installation 03}}

Prior to his transformation, while dismissive of the potential for humans to take on the Mantle, the Didact also respected humans as warriors and regarded them as honorable, unlike their San'Shyuum allies who had surrendered earlier in the war.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 134''</ref> In fact, he regarded them as the second greatest military power in the galaxy at the time. His respect for the humans was demonstrated when he met with his main opponent, [[Forthencho|Forthencho, the Lord of Admirals]], in person after the humans' defeat, speaking to him as a fellow warrior and reassuring him about the future despite humanity's grim predicament.{{Ref/Reuse|speech}} Furthermore, prior to being imprisoned after his fall from grace in the Ecumene Council, he stated that had the humans repented for their crimes, they would've been a civilization worthy of joining their own.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 54''</ref> Though disgusted to see [[Chakas]] as he looked too much like the humans who had nearly destroyed his fleets and murdered his children, the Didact was pleased to see [[Riser]], a [[Florian]]. The Didact commented that he had specifically requested that the [[Librarian]] save the Florians because he saw them as peaceful yet full of cleverness. However, the Didact made it clear that this just made them worthy pets to him.<ref name="c82">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 82''</ref> The Didact also regarded [[John-117]] with some grudging respect for his determination and persistence in fighting him against impossible odds.{{Ref/Reuse|h4}}

After reuniting with Forthencho in the Domain, the two ancient enemies worked together to defeat the [[Warden Eternal]] and the Didact welcomed Forthencho and the Composed humans to join the Forerunner essences in the Domain.{{Ref/Reuse|Epi25}} Now at peace with each other, the Didact and Forthencho planned to engage in some friendly competition with each other while hunting down rogue [[Created]] AIs who had managed to escape being evicted from the ancient repository.{{Ref/Reuse|Epi27}}

The new form assumed by the Didact near the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, caused by a failed attempt to decipher Flood immunity,{{Ref/Reuse|h4terminals}} had a more grotesque, bestial appearance, with more pronounced facial features, much less prominent lips and the addition of large fangs. His eyes also became more deep-set and red as opposed to the original grayish blue, and his fur changed from pale blue to dark brown.{{Ref/Reuse|h4}}

File:H4 Didact Composer beam.jpg|The Ur-Didact at the Composer aboard the ''Mantle's Approach''.