Reversed messages

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There are several reversed messages in the Halo series, one in Halo 2, and three in Halo 3.

Destroyer's Invocation Message

In the Halo 2 song Destroyer's Invocation, (the first movement of the Mausoleum Suite on the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, a mysterious voice chants. If this mumbling is reversed (listen), a voice is heard saying:

...I have walked among men and angels for three thousand years. Time has no end... no beginning... no purpose.

I wander the earth, seeking forgiveness for my horrible crimes against God and man.

I live to see death, destruction, end, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished.

I live in a prison of my own demise.

I am lost...in time

The voice can be heard during the cutscene before The Arbiter, the level Gravemind when you rescue the Marines, and during The Great Journey when you fight Tartarus.

Recently, however, Marty O'Donnell, in a post on the Halo.Bungie.Org forums, stated that he wondered "why the transcript (of the reversed message) is still wrong." This seems to indicate that changes must be made to the transcript before it is accurate. However, some of the words can be distinctly mutated into other words; such as "against God and man" sounds like "and then." Also, "a prison of my own demise" sounds like a "prison of my own device."

There are many theories as to whom the voice belongs. The most plausible candidate is 032 Mendicant Bias.

Black Tower Message

In the Halo 3 soundtrack During the first few minutes of the track Black Tower There is yet another message that can be heard if you reverse the song. Here is a transcript:

I smote Death's dream kingdom,

Appearing as sunlight on a broken column.

There in Death's other kingdom walking alone,

Trembling lips form prayers to broken stone.

This message appears to be a reference to T.S. Eliot's Poem The Hollow Men. The first part of the transcript refers to lines 20-23.

In death’s dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There, the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column

The second part refers to lines 47-49.

Waking alone

At the hour when we are

Trembling with tenderness

Lips that would kiss

Form prayers to broken stone.

Gravemind/Dread Intrusion Message

Also in the Halo 3 soundtrack, a reversed message can be heard in the tracks Gravemind, and Dread Intrusion. The entire message is currently unknown, however, several lines are intelligible. Oddly, the voice during these messages sounds different from Gravemind. It echoes considerably, it is much deeper in pitch, and multiple other voices can be heard.

Side by side, we march as one,

Humans and Elites will die.

The Earth shall fall if we strike together,

So forth all life shall die.

The most plausible answer as to who speaks this is the Gravemind, thus the multiple voices heard in the message. It would also make sense since the voices talk about "marching as one" since the Flood is a collective, plus it talks about destroying all of life. 032 Mendicant Bias has been named as a possible candidate as well, though it would make no sense since he is heard from in the Terminals as helping the Master Chief stop the Prophets. However it is also a possibility that this message is Gravemind talking to the Prophet of Truth when he was absorbed into the Flood. This is supported by the fact that the speaker only mentions humans and Elites as enemies, and not the other members of the Covenant. It is possible this foreshadows an alliance between the Gravemind and the disembodied Truth, or rather that they act as one force now bent on the destruction of all life in the galaxy.

• These have been rumored to be current Cortana messages or unreleased Cortana messages