Mantle: Difference between revisions
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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> | 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}} | 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}} | ||
==Interpretation and practices== | ==Interpretation and practices== | ||