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{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW}}
{{Status|Canon}}
[[File:H2A Terminals - Luminary.jpg|thumb|300px|A Luminary.]]
[[File:H2A Terminals - Luminary.jpg|thumb|300px|A Luminary.]]
A '''Luminary''' is a [[Forerunner]] device designed to scan for and identify Forerunner relics. The [[Covenant]] reverse-engineered their own Luminaries, modeled and sculpted after an original Forerunner device recovered from the Covenant-controlled [[Forerunner Dreadnought]]. The Luminary is an essential piece of equipment on all Covenant vessels.
{{Quote|A Luminary does not lie.|A Holy Writ of the Covenant, as quoted by [[Chur'R]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=CH6|CH|Chapter=6}}}}
A '''Luminary''' is a [[Forerunner]] device designed to scan for and identify Forerunner relics. The [[Covenant]] reverse-engineered their own Luminaries, modeled and sculpted after an original Forerunner device recovered from the Covenant-controlled {{Class|Supernal Spiral|keyship}}, ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]''.{{Ref/Site|Id=Glossary|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/the-new-halo-encyclopedia-is-out-today|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=The New Halo Encyclopedia is Out Today|D=11|M=03|Y=2023}}


==Background==
==Overview==
Luminaries are [[Forerunner]] devices capable of detecting technology and artefacts left by the long-dead civilisation.{{Ref/Reuse|Glossary}}{{Ref/Book|Id=fb5|Halo: Fleet Battles - The Fall of Reach campaign guide|Page=4-5}} When used, they are capable of scanning an entire [[planet]], identifying signatures of suspected Forerunner relics and assigning them with various glyphs.{{Ref/Reuse|CH6}}
 
===Design details===
There are several different forms of Luminary. The original designs were created by the [[Forerunner]]s, and are considered holy artefacts within themselves; they are the greatest Luminaries, and were jealously guarded by the Covenant's leaders and rarely allowed to leave [[High Charity]].{{Ref/Reuse|fb5}} These devices (the earliest being the one found aboard ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]''){{Ref/Novel|Id=CH16|CH|Chapter=16}} were reverse-engineered by the Covenant to serve as the basis for Covenant-built Luminaries,{{Ref/Reuse|Glossary}} which are mass-distributed as a mandatory piece of equipment on all [[Covenant starship]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|CH6}} However, the security of the Luminary is paramount; as such, during the [[Human-Covenant War]] they were covered by a piece of Covenant scripture recalled by [[Kip Silas]] as named something akin to the "Writ of Security" or "Writ of Sanctity". Under the Writ, Covenant soldiers were ordered to prevent sacred objects (including Luminaries) from falling into [[human]] hands - with the Luminary's destruction a priority should a Covenant ship be at risk of being [[Naval boarding|boarded]] and captured by human troops.{{Ref/Novel|SaS|Chapter=5}}
 
Standardised Covenant-issue Luminary models are shaped like a series of three silver pyramids: two smaller ones supporting an upside down, larger one in the center. The Luminary is connected to a given vessel's communications systems, with a given [[shipmaster]] required to report its findings to the vessel's controlling organisation (such as a sponsor [[ministry]]). As such, should a given shipmaster wish to steal the relics on a given planet for their own gain, they must first disconnect the Luminary from the communications systems, then reactivate it once they have taken their share - ensuring the Luminary reports a consistent number of relics. However, tampering with Luminaries is a serious crime under Covenant law, and punishable by death or worse.{{Ref/Reuse|CH6}}
 
Alongside the detection of Forerunner technology, Luminaries are notable for also detecting [[human]]s and registering them as Forerunner technology. This was the initial catalyst for the Human-Covenant War, and spurred [[Mendicant Bias]]' revelation that humans were the [[reclaimer]]s designated to inherit the legacy of the Forerunners. The [[Hierarchs]] covered up this knowledge in an effort to prevent the empire from breaking apart in civil war, though the [[Prophet of Truth]] noted that the Luminaries' ability to detect humans was not a hindrance, but in fact a help. By so reliably detecting the presence of humans, it would make the Covenant's mission to wipe out the entire species much easier.{{Ref/Novel|Id=CHE|CH|Chapter=Epilogue}}
 
==History==
[[File:H2A Terminals - Luminary activated.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A Luminary depicting the Halo Array.]]
[[File:H2A Terminals - Luminary activated.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A Luminary depicting the Halo Array.]]
A standard Covenant Luminary is shaped like a series of three silver pyramids: two smaller ones supporting an upside down larger one in the center. There are apparently several models of Luminaries, more advanced versions (presumably a better reconstruction of the original Forerunner devices), as it was noted that primitive versions of Luminaries led the Covenant to discover the [[Lekgolo]], shortly after the formation of the Covenant.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 269''</ref>
The Luminary aboard ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]'' was used by the [[San'Shyuum]] [[Reformists]] during their exodus from [[Janjur Qom]]. During the [[War of Beginnings]], it was used by the Reformists to locate valuable relics, which ultimately put them into conflict with the [[Sangheili]] and resulted in battles such as the [[Battle of Anvarl|battle]] on [[Anvarl]].{{Ref/Novel|BC|Chapter=Prologue}}
 
After the end of the war and the formation of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum continued to experiment with ''Anodyne Spirit''{{'}}s Luminary. By attempting to copy it, they were drawn to the gas giant [[Te]] in the [[Svir system]], relatively close to [[Sanghelios]]. The Luminary detected a trove of relics in the system only to find the remnants of a Forerunner [[space station]] that had been eaten by the [[Lekgolo]] worms. This ultimately led to the Lekgolo joining the Covenant, after being "tamed" by [[Arbiter]] [[Jeht 'Lcmutee]].{{Ref/Reuse|CH16}}
 
For much of their history, the Covenant attempted to acquire new Forerunner Luminaries. In [[850 BCE]], [[Prophet of Inner Conviction|Mken Scre'ah'ben]] led a mission back to Janjur Qom in an attempt to recover a Luminary believed to reside on the San'Shyuum homeworld.{{Ref/Novel|BC|Chapter=3}}{{Ref/Novel|BC|Chapter=8}} However, the Luminary - thought to contain the location of the [[Halo Array]] - was lost when the [[dropship]] carrying it, ''[[Vengeful Vitality]]'', was attacked and destroyed.{{Ref/Novel|BC|Chapter=12}}
 
===Role in starting the Human-Covenant War===
Luminaries were instrumental in the outbreak of [[Human-Covenant War|war]] between [[human]]ity and the Covenant. The first detection of humanity by a Luminary was by that aboard the [[Kig-Yar]] missionary vessel ''[[Minor Transgression]]'', which initially drew the vessel to the [[Human colonies|colony world]] of [[Harvest]], claiming to have detected millions of Forerunner relics. In reality, the Luminary had detected the presence of millions of humans on Harvest's surface, though this fact remained unknown to ''Minor Transgression''{{'}}s crew. [[Shipmaster|Shipmistress]] [[Chur'R]] intially severed the Luminary from the ship's communication systems in the hopes of skimming some of the relics from the find to sell on the black market. The Kig-Yar attempted to board the [[freighter]] ''[[This End Up]]'' to steal its cargo of "relics" but ultimately found nothing.{{Ref/Reuse|CH6}} While later boarding a second freighter, the Luminary aboard ''Minor Transgression'' was reconnected to the signals equipment by the [[Unggoy]] [[Deacon]] [[Dadab]], resulting in the Luminary transmitting its findings to the [[Ministry of Tranquility]].{{Ref/Novel|CH|Chapter=8}} While ''Minor Transgression'' was ultimately [[self-destruct]]ed by Chur'R, the information discovered by its Luminary was passed to Minister of Fortitude and Vice-Minister of Tranquility, who used the information to begin plotting their ascension to [[Hierarchs|Hierarch]].{{Ref/Novel|CH|Chapter=9}} The Vice-Minister dispatched the [[Jiralhanae]]-crewed vessel ''[[Rapid Conversion]]'' to investigate the find, with the ship reporting back that not only had it detected relics, but even an [[Monitor|Oracle]].{{Ref/Novel|CH|Chapter=15}}
 
The two San'Shyuum brought the Luminations to the [[Prophet of Mercy|Philologist]] aboard ''Anodyne Spirit'', with the hopes of presenting them to [[Mendicant Bias]] - the dormant [[Metarch-class ancilla]] that had silently inhabited the vessel for millennia. While discussing the findings, Mendicant Bias awoke for the first time in living memory, noting that the Covenant had misinterpreted the Luminary;s sign as "Reclamation", rather than the actual translation "[[Reclaimer]]" - and that the symbol represented the ancilla's makers. The revelation that humanity were connected to the Forerunners disturbed the trio of San'Shyuum present, resulting in the realisation that were the news to spread, it could be the undoing of the empire. As such, they endeavoured to blackmail their way into becoming Hierarchs, with the goal of steering the Covenant on a new path - the complete and total genocide of humanity.{{Ref/Reuse|CH16}}{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=193}} At their ascension to the throne, the newly-crowned [[Prophet of Truth]] noted that he had covered up the lie by claiming that the [[glassing]] of [[Harvest]] was the result of humanity's attempt to destroy the relics on their world, and a potent of what they would do to the [[Halo Array]], were they to find it. Using this as a ''casus belli'', the Covenant declared war, and began to use Luminaries to find humans and hunt them down.{{Ref/Reuse|CHE}} This event began the thirty-year war that would ultimately culminate in the [[Great Schism]] and the empire's collapse into [[Covenant remnants|disparate warlord states]].
 
===Use in the war===
During the [[Human-Covenant War]], Covenant commanders used Luminaries to both hunt down humans{{Ref/Reuse|CHE}} and uncover new Forerunner relics. In the early war, a delay in installing Luminaries on newly-constructed ships resulted in an edict being issued by the Prophet of Truth dictating that on each vessel lacking a Luminary, one in 64 Unggoy were to be executed by Kig-Yar death squads, with choice of executee done by a [[Sangheili]] overseer. This practice would continue daily for every ship until a Luminary was installed.{{Ref/Game|HW|Halo Wars Timeline Events|Timeline Event|Detail=Edict of the Office of the High Prophet of Truth|Quote=It is known that there is a delay installing Luminaries upon newly constructed vessels of war. On each vessel still lacking a Luminary, 1 Unggoy worker out of every 64 is to be executed. To preserve discipline between the Sangheili overseers and Unggoy, choice of victim and execution is to be by Kig-Yar death squads. This is to continue daily until that vessel's Luminary is installed.}}
 
{{Pattern|Makar|light corvette}}s were installed with Luminaries as standard and used as scouts with the purpose of both locating Forerunner artefacts and keeping a watchful eye over their own fleet for signs of disloyalty.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=268}}


Luminaries are of great religious significance to the Covenant and tampering with them was punishable by death. A Holy Writ, essentially the Covenant equivalent of folk wisdom, concerns the Luminaries, namely, "''A Luminary does not lie.''"<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 94''</ref> A writ (either the Writ of Sanctity or the Writ of Security) also ordered the destruction of any luminaries onboard a ship that was compromised in battle, so that they would not fall into enemy hands.<ref>''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]''</ref>
Upon his promotion to [[Supreme Commander]], [[Rho 'Barutamee]] was entrusted with a rare Forerunner-built Luminary with which to use as part of [[Fleet of Valiant Prudence|his fleet's]] duties as a long-ranged scout for the empire.{{Ref/Reuse|fb5}} Rho hoped to use his Luminary to eventually uncover [[Maethrillian]], the long-lost capital of the Forerunner [[Ecumene]];{{Ref/Book|Id=fb35|Halo: Fleet Battles - The Fall of Reach campaign guide|Page=35}} however, it ended up ultimately leading him to the [[Beta Eridani system]], and ultimately [[Reach]] itself - beginning the climactic [[Fall of Reach]].{{Ref/Reuse|fb5}}


As the presence of a Luminary is required on all Covenant vessels, there are likely at least tens if not hundreds of thousands of them in existence, depending of course on the number of ships the Covenant control. The Luminary of the ''[[Minor Transgression]]'' is significant as it led the Covenant to the [[UNSC]] colony [[Harvest]], and precipitated the [[Human-Covenant War]]. It identified Harvest with several thousand Forerunner glyphs (referred to as Luminations in this context and called relics by the Covenant) that led the Covenant to believe the world held innumerable Forerunner treasures. Unfortunately, they misinterpreted the sign as "Reclamation," rather than the actual translation, "[[Reclaimer]]s."<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 155''</ref>
In [[2551]], Covenant forces under the [[Prophet of Regret]]'s command discovered a Luminary on [[Meridian]] cataloguing the astrogration data for the entire Halo array, the Ark, and the network of [[slipspace portal]]s connecting to it.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=346}} Choosing the [[Portal at Voi|closest portal]], Regret ordered the [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration]] to head to a planet known as [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]], unaware that Erde-Tyrene was actually [[human]]ity's homeworld, Earth. Regret sought to outdo his fellow [[Hierarchs]] by claiming the monumental discovery for himself, but ultimately found himself overrun and quickly routed.{{Ref/Game|H2A|Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminal #14}}


Although the newly appointed [[Prophet of Truth]] was aware of the mistake caused by this "misinterpretation", he refused to let the Covenant know of the human ties with the Forerunner and instead used this as motivation to begin the Human-Covenant War in order to ensure the survival of the Covenant, as the very basis of their faith is that there are no more Forerunners alive. Instead, he claimed that the Luminaries were all incorrect, despite a Covenant mantra stating that a Luminary does not lie. As a result, he claimed that the "filth" were out to destroy the holy [[Forerunner]] relics and most importantly, the [[Halo Array|Halo rings]]. He also planned to use this as a means of getting the location of all the [[human]]s so he could exterminate them.
===Post-war use===
The [[UNSC]] developed the [[VECTOR-class Mjolnir]] armor based on Covenant technology, for [[Spartan-IV]]s to commune with Luminaries. This was notably used to seek artifacts among the debris of [[Installation 04|Alpha Halo]] on [[Basis]].{{Ref/Game|H5G|Armor customization (Halo 5: Guardians)|Armory|Detail=[[VECTOR-class Mjolnir|Vector]] helmet description|Quote=VECTOR features a Covenant dataport and dummy plug, allowing the user to commune with artifact-seeking Luminaries.}} The UNSC also installed a Luminary alongside a Covenant [[hyperscanner]] aboard {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}.{{Ref/Book|HWF|Page=42-43}}


On very rare occasions, the Covenant would also find original Forerunner Luminaries pointing to specific artifacts of high importance. For example, [[Mken 'Scre'ah'ben]]'s expedition party discovered a Forerunner Luminary pointing to the Halo rings' locations on [[Janjur Qom]], only for the device to be lost before the expedition could return to ''[[High Charity]]''.<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle'''</ref> In [[2551]], Covenant forces under the [[Prophet of Regret]]'s command discovered a Luminary on [[Meridian]] pointing to [[Installation 00]] and [[Portal at Voi|the Portal]] on a planet known as [[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]]. Seeking to outdo his fellow [[Hierarchs]] by claiming the monumental discovery for himself, the Prophet of Regret took the [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration]] to the Portal's location, unaware that Erde-Tyrene was actually [[human]]ity's homeworld, Earth.<ref>'''Halo 2: Anniversary''', ''Prologue Terminal 1''</ref>
The high rate of Luminary destruction (both by hostile action and Covenant self-destruction) in the Human-Covenant War means that they are a rare prize for post-war scavengers, with [[Rion Forge]] considering acquiring one her ticket to an early retirement.{{Ref/Novel|SaS|Chapter=1}}


The [[UNSC]] developed the [[VECTOR-class Mjolnir]] armor based on Covenant technology, for [[Spartan-IV]]s to commune with Luminaries. This was notably used to seek artifacts among the debris of [[Installation 04|Alpha Halo]] on [[Basis]].<ref>'''Halo 5: Guardians''', ''[[VECTOR-class Mjolnir]] armor description''</ref>
==Non-canon and dubious canon appearances==
===Silver Timeline===
{{Notice/Silver|category=no}}
As a child, [[Makee]] was discovered on [[Oban]] by two [[Sangheili]] warriors who were using a Luminary to search for a Forerunner artifact. Instead, the Luminary proved to be leading them to Makee herself, a [[Reclaimer]].{{Ref/Film|TV|Episode=[[Emergence]]}}


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
Line 21: Line 50:
File:H2A Terminals - Meridian Relic.jpg|A Luminary found on [[Meridian]].
File:H2A Terminals - Meridian Relic.jpg|A Luminary found on [[Meridian]].
File:H2A Terminals - Stewards.jpg|[[Steward]]s present a Luminary.
File:H2A Terminals - Stewards.jpg|[[Steward]]s present a Luminary.
File:HTV-Emergence-Luminary.jpg|A Luminary in ''[[Halo: The Television Series]]''.
</gallery>
</gallery>


Line 28: Line 58:
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''  
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''  
**''[[Terminal/Halo 2: Anniversary|Terminals]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' {{Mo}}
Line 34: Line 64:
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]''
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]''
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series]]''
**''[[Emergence]]''
**''[[Reckoning]]''


==Sources==
==Sources==
<references/>
{{Ref/Sources}}


{{Forerunner|artifacts}}
{{Forerunner|artifacts}}


[[Category:Sensors]]
[[Category:Sensors]]
[[Category:Covenant technology]]
[[Category:Forerunner technology]]

Latest revision as of 19:04, August 9, 2024

A Luminary.

"A Luminary does not lie."
— A Holy Writ of the Covenant, as quoted by Chur'R.[1]

A Luminary is a Forerunner device designed to scan for and identify Forerunner relics. The Covenant reverse-engineered their own Luminaries, modeled and sculpted after an original Forerunner device recovered from the Covenant-controlled Supernal Spiral-class keyship, Anodyne Spirit.[2]

OverviewEdit

Luminaries are Forerunner devices capable of detecting technology and artefacts left by the long-dead civilisation.[2][3] When used, they are capable of scanning an entire planet, identifying signatures of suspected Forerunner relics and assigning them with various glyphs.[1]

Design detailsEdit

There are several different forms of Luminary. The original designs were created by the Forerunners, and are considered holy artefacts within themselves; they are the greatest Luminaries, and were jealously guarded by the Covenant's leaders and rarely allowed to leave High Charity.[3] These devices (the earliest being the one found aboard Anodyne Spirit)[4] were reverse-engineered by the Covenant to serve as the basis for Covenant-built Luminaries,[2] which are mass-distributed as a mandatory piece of equipment on all Covenant starships.[1] However, the security of the Luminary is paramount; as such, during the Human-Covenant War they were covered by a piece of Covenant scripture recalled by Kip Silas as named something akin to the "Writ of Security" or "Writ of Sanctity". Under the Writ, Covenant soldiers were ordered to prevent sacred objects (including Luminaries) from falling into human hands - with the Luminary's destruction a priority should a Covenant ship be at risk of being boarded and captured by human troops.[5]

Standardised Covenant-issue Luminary models are shaped like a series of three silver pyramids: two smaller ones supporting an upside down, larger one in the center. The Luminary is connected to a given vessel's communications systems, with a given shipmaster required to report its findings to the vessel's controlling organisation (such as a sponsor ministry). As such, should a given shipmaster wish to steal the relics on a given planet for their own gain, they must first disconnect the Luminary from the communications systems, then reactivate it once they have taken their share - ensuring the Luminary reports a consistent number of relics. However, tampering with Luminaries is a serious crime under Covenant law, and punishable by death or worse.[1]

Alongside the detection of Forerunner technology, Luminaries are notable for also detecting humans and registering them as Forerunner technology. This was the initial catalyst for the Human-Covenant War, and spurred Mendicant Bias' revelation that humans were the reclaimers designated to inherit the legacy of the Forerunners. The Hierarchs covered up this knowledge in an effort to prevent the empire from breaking apart in civil war, though the Prophet of Truth noted that the Luminaries' ability to detect humans was not a hindrance, but in fact a help. By so reliably detecting the presence of humans, it would make the Covenant's mission to wipe out the entire species much easier.[6]

HistoryEdit

 
A Luminary depicting the Halo Array.

The Luminary aboard Anodyne Spirit was used by the San'Shyuum Reformists during their exodus from Janjur Qom. During the War of Beginnings, it was used by the Reformists to locate valuable relics, which ultimately put them into conflict with the Sangheili and resulted in battles such as the battle on Anvarl.[7]

After the end of the war and the formation of the Covenant, the San'Shyuum continued to experiment with Anodyne Spirit's Luminary. By attempting to copy it, they were drawn to the gas giant Te in the Svir system, relatively close to Sanghelios. The Luminary detected a trove of relics in the system only to find the remnants of a Forerunner space station that had been eaten by the Lekgolo worms. This ultimately led to the Lekgolo joining the Covenant, after being "tamed" by Arbiter Jeht 'Lcmutee.[4]

For much of their history, the Covenant attempted to acquire new Forerunner Luminaries. In 850 BCE, Mken Scre'ah'ben led a mission back to Janjur Qom in an attempt to recover a Luminary believed to reside on the San'Shyuum homeworld.[8][9] However, the Luminary - thought to contain the location of the Halo Array - was lost when the dropship carrying it, Vengeful Vitality, was attacked and destroyed.[10]

Role in starting the Human-Covenant WarEdit

Luminaries were instrumental in the outbreak of war between humanity and the Covenant. The first detection of humanity by a Luminary was by that aboard the Kig-Yar missionary vessel Minor Transgression, which initially drew the vessel to the colony world of Harvest, claiming to have detected millions of Forerunner relics. In reality, the Luminary had detected the presence of millions of humans on Harvest's surface, though this fact remained unknown to Minor Transgression's crew. Shipmistress Chur'R intially severed the Luminary from the ship's communication systems in the hopes of skimming some of the relics from the find to sell on the black market. The Kig-Yar attempted to board the freighter This End Up to steal its cargo of "relics" but ultimately found nothing.[1] While later boarding a second freighter, the Luminary aboard Minor Transgression was reconnected to the signals equipment by the Unggoy Deacon Dadab, resulting in the Luminary transmitting its findings to the Ministry of Tranquility.[11] While Minor Transgression was ultimately self-destructed by Chur'R, the information discovered by its Luminary was passed to Minister of Fortitude and Vice-Minister of Tranquility, who used the information to begin plotting their ascension to Hierarch.[12] The Vice-Minister dispatched the Jiralhanae-crewed vessel Rapid Conversion to investigate the find, with the ship reporting back that not only had it detected relics, but even an Oracle.[13]

The two San'Shyuum brought the Luminations to the Philologist aboard Anodyne Spirit, with the hopes of presenting them to Mendicant Bias - the dormant Metarch-class ancilla that had silently inhabited the vessel for millennia. While discussing the findings, Mendicant Bias awoke for the first time in living memory, noting that the Covenant had misinterpreted the Luminary;s sign as "Reclamation", rather than the actual translation "Reclaimer" - and that the symbol represented the ancilla's makers. The revelation that humanity were connected to the Forerunners disturbed the trio of San'Shyuum present, resulting in the realisation that were the news to spread, it could be the undoing of the empire. As such, they endeavoured to blackmail their way into becoming Hierarchs, with the goal of steering the Covenant on a new path - the complete and total genocide of humanity.[4][14] At their ascension to the throne, the newly-crowned Prophet of Truth noted that he had covered up the lie by claiming that the glassing of Harvest was the result of humanity's attempt to destroy the relics on their world, and a potent of what they would do to the Halo Array, were they to find it. Using this as a casus belli, the Covenant declared war, and began to use Luminaries to find humans and hunt them down.[6] This event began the thirty-year war that would ultimately culminate in the Great Schism and the empire's collapse into disparate warlord states.

Use in the warEdit

During the Human-Covenant War, Covenant commanders used Luminaries to both hunt down humans[6] and uncover new Forerunner relics. In the early war, a delay in installing Luminaries on newly-constructed ships resulted in an edict being issued by the Prophet of Truth dictating that on each vessel lacking a Luminary, one in 64 Unggoy were to be executed by Kig-Yar death squads, with choice of executee done by a Sangheili overseer. This practice would continue daily for every ship until a Luminary was installed.[15]

Makar-pattern light corvettes were installed with Luminaries as standard and used as scouts with the purpose of both locating Forerunner artefacts and keeping a watchful eye over their own fleet for signs of disloyalty.[16]

Upon his promotion to Supreme Commander, Rho 'Barutamee was entrusted with a rare Forerunner-built Luminary with which to use as part of his fleet's duties as a long-ranged scout for the empire.[3] Rho hoped to use his Luminary to eventually uncover Maethrillian, the long-lost capital of the Forerunner Ecumene;[17] however, it ended up ultimately leading him to the Beta Eridani system, and ultimately Reach itself - beginning the climactic Fall of Reach.[3]

In 2551, Covenant forces under the Prophet of Regret's command discovered a Luminary on Meridian cataloguing the astrogration data for the entire Halo array, the Ark, and the network of slipspace portals connecting to it.[18] Choosing the closest portal, Regret ordered the Fleet of Sacred Consecration to head to a planet known as Erde-Tyrene, unaware that Erde-Tyrene was actually humanity's homeworld, Earth. Regret sought to outdo his fellow Hierarchs by claiming the monumental discovery for himself, but ultimately found himself overrun and quickly routed.[19]

Post-war useEdit

The UNSC developed the VECTOR-class Mjolnir armor based on Covenant technology, for Spartan-IVs to commune with Luminaries. This was notably used to seek artifacts among the debris of Alpha Halo on Basis.[20] The UNSC also installed a Luminary alongside a Covenant hyperscanner aboard UNSC Infinity.[21]

The high rate of Luminary destruction (both by hostile action and Covenant self-destruction) in the Human-Covenant War means that they are a rare prize for post-war scavengers, with Rion Forge considering acquiring one her ticket to an early retirement.[22]

Non-canon and dubious canon appearancesEdit

Silver TimelineEdit

 
 This article contains information about the Silver Timeline, and is not a part of the established Halo canon.

As a child, Makee was discovered on Oban by two Sangheili warriors who were using a Luminary to search for a Forerunner artifact. Instead, the Luminary proved to be leading them to Makee herself, a Reclaimer.[23]

GalleryEdit

List of appearancesEdit

SourcesEdit

  1. ^ a b c d e Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 6
  2. ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, The New Halo Encyclopedia is Out Today (Retrieved on Mar 11, 2023) [archive]
  3. ^ a b c d Halo: Fleet Battles - The Fall of Reach campaign guide, page 4-5
  4. ^ a b c Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 16
  5. ^ Halo: Smoke and Shadow, chapter 5
  6. ^ a b c Halo: Contact Harvest, Epilogue
  7. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, Prologue
  8. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, chapter 3
  9. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, chapter 8
  10. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, chapter 12
  11. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 8
  12. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 9
  13. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 15
  14. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 193
  15. ^ Halo Wars, Timeline Event: Edict of the Office of the High Prophet of Truth "It is known that there is a delay installing Luminaries upon newly constructed vessels of war. On each vessel still lacking a Luminary, 1 Unggoy worker out of every 64 is to be executed. To preserve discipline between the Sangheili overseers and Unggoy, choice of victim and execution is to be by Kig-Yar death squads. This is to continue daily until that vessel's Luminary is installed."
  16. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 268
  17. ^ Halo: Fleet Battles - The Fall of Reach campaign guide, page 35
  18. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 346
  19. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, Terminal #14
  20. ^ Halo 5: Guardians, Armory: Vector helmet description "VECTOR features a Covenant dataport and dummy plug, allowing the user to commune with artifact-seeking Luminaries."
  21. ^ Halo: Warfleet, page 42-43
  22. ^ Halo: Smoke and Shadow, chapter 1
  23. ^ Halo: The Television Series, episode Emergence

The Forerunners
For a complete list, check out our Forerunner category.

Navigation

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