Reclaimer

This article is about the Forerunner term. For articles of the same name, see Reclaimer (disambiguation).

"The Oracle calls them "Reclaimers". But what do they reclaim? These machines? These cities? These worlds? Or, as I fear, are they to reclaim the Mantle we so terribly squandered?"

— Minister of Discovery^[1]

"Reclaimer" is a Forerunner term used to refer to a species (or a member of said species) chosen to be the inheritors of the Mantle, the stewardship over all life originally held by the Precursors. Following the activation of the Halo Array and the ensuing Reintroduction, this refers specifically to humans, whom the Forerunners (more pointedly those allied with the Librarian) regarded as their rightful successors. The Forerunners left behind an abundance of their technology, some of which will only activate when used by a Reclaimer. For most of their history, however, the Forerunners considered themselves the rightful inheritors of the Mantle from the Precursors, who had originally intended to pass the Mantle down to humanity.^{[note 1]}^{[note 2]}

Overview

Generally speaking, the term "Reclaimer" refers to humans (as a species or as individuals) retaking stewardship of the Mantle. More specifically the term seems to denote humans who are capable of activating Forerunner technology.^[2]^{[note 3]} This is presumably due to any number of geas implanted by the Librarian, which give at least some humans an instinctive familiarity (often a feeling of déjà vu) when encountering Forerunner technology. For example, Spartan John-117 simply "knew" how to activate a holographic control panel on Halo Installation 04, despite it being the first piece of Forerunner technology he had ever encountered.^[3] This innate knowledge extends to Covenant technology as well.^[4] In the same vein, Forerunner technology responds to human presence much as it would have done in the presence of its creators, though it will not do so for other species.

Along with implanting the geas necessary to utilize Forerunner relics, the Librarian planted "seeds" that led to some of humanity's most important technological achievements. Specifically, this genesong led to the creation of the SPARTAN-II supersoldiers and their MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, as well as the AI Cortana.^[5] These developments enabled humanity - primarily through the efforts of John-117 and Cortana - to defeat the Ur-Didact during his renewed campaign to compose humanity into Promethean Knights.^[6] Despite this tragedy, the Librarian originally hoped that the Didact would emerge from stasis after millennia of meditation to guide humanity; he was to give them the Janus Key, thereby providing the location of all Forerunner technology in the galaxy and securing the Reclaimers' ascendancy.^[7]

Strangely, 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Halo Installation 04, once insisted to John-117, "You are Forerunner."^[8] This is presumably metaphorical, as Mendicant Bias likewise claimed the Reclaimers as its makers,^[9] despite humanity being genetically and culturally distinct from the Forerunners. Alternately, this may be due to the onset of rampancy; Guilty Spark had previously treated the Master Chief as if the latter were the IsoDidact, responding to a question the IsoDidact had asked 100,000 years prior.^[10]^[11]^{[note 2]}

Failures to recognize Reclaimer status

As the Template:UNSCship was pulled inside Shield World 0459 on February 23, 2531, the ship and her crew were scanned by the installation's decontamination network. In addition to detecting a high-order Flood infestation, the ancilla in charge of the network's cleansing rings failed to recognize the crew as Reclaimers. As the Spirit's crew and complement were regarded as an "unknown alien intrusion", they were forced to engage a bevy of Sentinels in addition to fighting the Flood on the surface of the ship.^[12]

During the Battle of Onyx in October - November 2552, the SPARTAN-III Ash-G099 failed to provide the appropriate counter-response to a Sentinel that was attempting to determine whether he was a Flood vector. This, combined with the Spartans of Gamma Company being inundated with illegal performance-enhancing drugs, caused the Sentinel to catalog Ash as a "non-Reclaimer", as well as a member of a "aboriginal subspecies" of humanity.^[13]

Humans identified as Reclaimers

Given that all known bestowals of the "Reclaimer" title have occurred during military engagements, all individuals identified as such have been either military personnel or civilian advisers.

Professor Ellen Anders - Kidnapped by Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee in February 2531, Anders was forced to activate a fleet of Forerunner dreadnoughts on Shield World 0459.^[14]
Marvin Mobuto - Recruited by 343 Guilty Spark to fire Alpha Halo during the Flood outbreak. Killed in the installation's Library while attempting to retrieve the Activation Index.^[15]
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 - Arguably the most significant Reclaimer, John-117 is the realization of a geas seeded by the Librarian which apparently manifested in the SPARTAN-IIs' creator, Dr. Catherine Halsey.^[5] He is responsible for the destruction of Halo Installation 04^[16] and its replacement, as well as the latter's activation and the ensuing defeat of an active Gravemind; the near-destruction of Installation 00;^[8] and the apparent death of the Ur-Didact.^[6]
Commander Miranda Keyes - In November 2552, the Jiralhanae Chieftain Tartarus forced Commander Keyes to fire Delta Halo and thereby the rest of the Array, though he was soon killed and the firing process was aborted.
Sergeant Major Avery Johnson - Similarly to Keyes, Johnson was nearly forced by the Prophet of Truth to activate the entire Halo Array from the lesser Ark's control room, though he was rescued before this could occur.^[17] He was killed shortly thereafter while attempting to activate the incomplete Installation 04B, though John-117 successfully completed this mission.^[8]

As understood by the Covenant

The Reclaimer glyph was one of the holiest icons in the Covenant religion, as well as the source of one of its greatest flaws. For millennia, the Covenant's leadership misinterpreted the "Reclaimer" glyph (which they read upside down) as "Reclamation". The Prophets took misconstrued this as the Covenant's divine mandate to procure "holy" Forerunner technology from areas of space known as reliquaries; the Ages of Reclamation were designated as periods of significant Forerunner discoveries. While incorrectly understood by the Covenant as their quest for Forerunner relics, the Reclamation is an actual concept pertaining to the Reclaimers' process of reattaining the Mantle.^[18] Like the Forerunners, the Covenant (if only the Prophets) considered themselves the inheritors of the Mantle.^[1] However, because the Covenant's member species are not recognized as Reclaimers (being referred to as "intruders" and "meddlers" by 343 Guilty Spark) they require human captives to activate certain Forerunner technology, most notably the Halo rings, the Ark, and shield worlds. One notable exception is Jul 'Mdama, who gained the allegiance of the Promethean Knights on the shield world Requiem following the Didact's apparent demise; he was able able to set Requiem on a collision course with its star, though is seems he was given the Didact's override to accomplish this.^[19]

History

For many Ages the Covenant used luminaries (crude AIs based on Forerunner ancillas) to pinpoint concentrations of Forerunner artifacts. At the turn of 2524 - 2525, the luminary aboard the vessel Minor Transgression led the ship's crew to the human colony world of Harvest. Ultimately communications between the planet's government and the Covenant broke down, leading to the first major conflict between the two civilizations and the planet's eventual glassing. A trio of mid-level San 'Shyuum ministers consulted the "Oracle" aboard the Forerunner Dreadnought on High Charity about the "Reclamation" glyphs encountered in such large numbers on Harvest; these San 'Shyuum hoped to use the clout gained from this discovery to oust the current triumvirate of Hierarchs. The Oracle, which was actually the AI Mendicant Bias, informed the party that the luminations found on Harvest were actually the world's human population, and that the symbol the Covenant had long held to mean "Reclamation" actually meant "Reclaimer"; following this revelation, Mendicant Bias attempted to leave High Charity and make contact with its so-called "makers", though the ship was disabled and the AI quarantined before this could happen.^[9]

The schemers interpreted the Oracle's words to mean that the humans actually the living remnants of Forerunner civilization; this would directly contradict the Covenant's dogma regarding the Great Journey, which held that the Forerunners used an artifact known as Halo to transcend to godhood. Accordingly, the newly ordained Prophet of Truth declared a war of extermination upon humanity, secretly hoping that genocide would prevent humanity's relation to the Forerunners from coming to light.^[9] In the wake of commencing the Ninth Age of Reclamation, Truth also revealed that the Reclaimer glyph could help the Covenant scour the galaxy for any other human colonies.^[20]

Trivia

File:Marathon.png

The Reclaimer symbol as seen in Bungie's games.

The original Reclaimer glyph is actually the logo of Bungie's Marathon trilogy. Due to the Marathon franchise remaining Bungie's intellectual property, the Reclaimer symbol in media by 343 Industries has the same basic design, though it is much more abstract. Curiously, the original symbol appears on holographic terminals in the Spartan Ops chapter The Hammer.
The Bestiarum associates the Latin "Homo sapiens augeous" with its "Reclaimer" entry. This is probably intended to mean "augmented intelligent man", though augeous is conjugated incorrectly; the proper conjugation is aucto. Given the context of the entry in the Bestiarum, it seems that this entry refers specifically to John-117 as opposed to all Reclaimers, and that "Homo sapiens augeous" refers only to Spartans. However, due to Halo 4's retcon that not only certain humans are technically Reclaimers, this binomial nomenclature may refer to humans carrying the "genesong" planted by the Librarian.
"Reclaimer" is one of the second-highest rank in Halo: Reach.

Notes

^ Bungie originally intended that the Forerunners were prehistoric humans. In this regard the title of "Reclaimer" would indicate modern humans salvaging the relics of their ancestors, thus giving the term a rather literal meaning. This is corroborated by dialog in Halo 3: 343 Guilty Spark insists that John-117 is the "child of [his] makers" and that he is Forerunner, while the Gravemind refers to the Master Chief as "child of my enemy". Halo: Contact Harvest further evidences this with Mendicant Bias' claim that the Reclaimers are its makers.
With The Forerunner Saga's retooling of the "prehistoric spacefaring humans" concept (casting them as contemporaries of the Forerunners), the definition of the title was revised. It thus no longer refers to humanity's recovery of Forerunner technology, which was never theirs and could not, by definition, be reclaimed. Instead it denotes humanity's reclamation of the Mantle from the Forerunners, who had wrongly asserted their claim to it for eons.
^ ^a ^b The term "Reclaimer" has never been used directly in reference to the Forerunners. However, in Halo: Primordium, 343 Guilty Spark identifies humans as "the true Reclaimers" which suggests that the Forerunners also held the title; the distinction of humans as "true" Reclaimers corroborates the Precursors' intent for humans to inherit the Mantle. This also explains why Mendicant Bias assumed the Reclaimers on Harvest to be its creators: the "Reclaimer" glyph would have been originally associated with Forerunners who wrongly considered themselves Reclaimers.

In contrast, the very title of "Reclaimer" suggests that the Mantle's rightful stewardship (real or imagined) must have been lost or denied and later regained. There is no evidence of the Forerunners losing their erroneous claim to the Mantle, yet this accurately reflects humanity's history. Specifically, the Forerunners refuted humanity's claim to the Mantle during the conflict between their two species; humans would later accept their metaphorical birthright in the 26th century, primarily by exploiting Forerunner technology discovered in the war with the Covenant.
^ In the Spartan Ops level The Hammer, Roland states that Reclaimers are humans who can activate Forerunner technology. For the first time in the series it is made clear that not all humans can do so, as the Covenant kill at least one member of Hawk Squad for his inability to use a Forerunner holo-terminal. If Roland's definition is indeed correct then humans who lack the requisite geas may not be Reclaimers in a technical sense, though the term is still generally used in regard to all of humanity. Alternately, Roland might mean that the Covenant are looking specifically for Reclaimers who can access Forerunner technology, not that Reclaimers by definition have this ability, though his semantics suggest otherwise.

List of appearances

Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
  - Terminals
Halo: The Flood
Halo 2
- Conversations from the Universe (Mentioned only)
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo 3
- Terminals
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo Wars
Halo: Helljumper
Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
Halo: Glasslands
Halo: Primordium
Halo 4
Terminals
- Spartan Ops

Sources

^ ^a ^b Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe volume II, page 299
^ Spartan Ops - Episode 9, Chapter 5: “Elites were here, trying to find Reclaimers: humans who can operate Forerunner technology."
^ Halo: The Flood, page 84
^ Halo: First Strike, page 142
^ ^a ^b Halo 4, campaign level Reclaimer
^ ^a ^b Halo 4, campaign level Midnight
^ Spartan Ops, Key
^ ^a ^b ^c Halo 3, campaign level Halo
^ ^a ^b ^c Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 274-278
^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level 343 Guilty Spark
^ Halo: Silentium, page 314
^ Halo Wars, campaign level Repairs
^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 133
^ Halo Wars, campaign level Beachhead
^ Halo: The Flood
^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Maw
^ Halo 3, campaign level The Covenant
^ Halo 4, campaign level Epilogue ("The Reclamation... has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it.")
^ Spartan Ops, Exodus - This is evidenced by the appearance of the Ur-Didact's sigil when 'Mdama gives inputs the self-destruct order.
^ Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 381-382

[definition-2] Bungie originally intended that the Forerunners were prehistoric humans. In this regard the title of "Reclaimer" would indicate modern humans salvaging the relics of their ancestors, thus giving the term a rather literal meaning. This is corroborated by dialog in Halo 3: 343 Guilty Spark insists that John-117 is the "child of [his] makers" and that he is Forerunner, while the Gravemind refers to the Master Chief as "child of my enemy". Halo: Contact Harvest further evidences this with Mendicant Bias' claim that the Reclaimers are its makers.
With The Forerunner Saga's retooling of the "prehistoric spacefaring humans" concept (casting them as contemporaries of the Forerunners), the definition of the title was revised. It thus no longer refers to humanity's recovery of Forerunner technology, which was never theirs and could not, by definition, be reclaimed. Instead it denotes humanity's reclamation of the Mantle from the Forerunners, who had wrongly asserted their claim to it for eons.

[explanation-3] The term "Reclaimer" has never been used directly in reference to the Forerunners. However, in Halo: Primordium, 343 Guilty Spark identifies humans as "the true Reclaimers" which suggests that the Forerunners also held the title; the distinction of humans as "true" Reclaimers corroborates the Precursors' intent for humans to inherit the Mantle. This also explains why Mendicant Bias assumed the Reclaimers on Harvest to be its creators: the "Reclaimer" glyph would have been originally associated with Forerunners who wrongly considered themselves Reclaimers.

In contrast, the very title of "Reclaimer" suggests that the Mantle's rightful stewardship (real or imagined) must have been lost or denied and later regained. There is no evidence of the Forerunners losing their erroneous claim to the Mantle, yet this accurately reflects humanity's history. Specifically, the Forerunners refuted humanity's claim to the Mantle during the conflict between their two species; humans would later accept their metaphorical birthright in the 26th century, primarily by exploiting Forerunner technology discovered in the war with the Covenant.

[5] In the Spartan Ops level The Hammer, Roland states that Reclaimers are humans who can activate Forerunner technology. For the first time in the series it is made clear that not all humans can do so, as the Covenant kill at least one member of Hawk Squad for his inability to use a Forerunner holo-terminal. If Roland's definition is indeed correct then humans who lack the requisite geas may not be Reclaimers in a technical sense, though the term is still generally used in regard to all of humanity. Alternately, Roland might mean that the Covenant are looking specifically for Reclaimers who can access Forerunner technology, not that Reclaimers by definition have this ability, though his semantics suggest otherwise.

[Covie_Mantle-1] Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe volume II, page 299

[4] Spartan Ops - Episode 9, Chapter 5: “Elites were here, trying to find Reclaimers: humans who can operate Forerunner technology."

[6] Halo: The Flood, page 84

[7] Halo: First Strike, page 142

[H4_Reclaimer-8] Halo 4, campaign level Reclaimer

[Midnight-9] Halo 4, campaign level Midnight

[10] Spartan Ops, Key

[H3_Halo-11] Halo 3, campaign level Halo

[Oracle-12] Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 274-278

[13] Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level 343 Guilty Spark

[14] Halo: Silentium, page 314

[15] Halo Wars, campaign level Repairs

[goo-16] Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 133

[17] Halo Wars, campaign level Beachhead

[18] Halo: The Flood

[19] Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Maw

[20] Halo 3, campaign level The Covenant

[21] Halo 4, campaign level Epilogue ("The Reclamation... has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it.")

[22] Spartan Ops, Exodus - This is evidenced by the appearance of the Ur-Didact's sigil when 'Mdama gives inputs the self-destruct order.

[23] Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 381-382

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