Minister of Etiology

Legate: An official emissary, especially an official representative of the pope.

This character is introduced in the Halo Graphic Novel when Rtas 'Vadumee's battle group boards the Infinite Succor. He appears to be a Minor Prophet and is called the Minister of Etiology.

In Context

The Legate appears in the Halo Graphic Novel, in the story "Infinite Succor" when SpecOps Elite Rtas 'Vadumee and a Covenant Strike Team boards the ship in orbit over Installation 04 after a Covenant Spirit dropship filled with Flood-infected humans crashes into the ship's docking bay. The group fights its way through several new Flood types (as the ship contains an infected hunting ground) all the way to the bridge, only to find Infinite Succor's controls disabled.

Here they meet the Prophet Legate, Minister of Etiology who reveals to them that he has disabled the controls, and locked-out the self-destruct sequence over-ride from another part of the ship. The Minister orders the entire group medically scanned before he will meet with them, due to the situation of Flood outbreak aboard the ship.

The group meets with the Legate in a secret location on the ship, where a plan is devised to get everyone off of the ship and have the ship vaporized by the nearby Covenant Fleet. During this time it also becomes apparent that the Flood have gained the access codes to Infinite Succor through one of the infected Elites from Rtas party. As the Flood continue to spread throughout the ship, they gain access to the bridges and engineering room and have begun fortifying the engineering room. The Flood were attempting a Slipspace jump to escape the system. At this time, Rtas realizes the Legate is only concerned with his own safety, which has been costing the group precious time. In anger, Rtas 'Vadumee slams the Legate into the floor, telling him that their prime concern is the Covenant's safety, not his.

The Minister absorbed by the Flood.

Although the Minister is eventually absorbed by Flood, Rtas 'Vadumee is able to set Infinite Succor on a Slipspace course, directly into the nearest star (Threshold System). It was also here that Rtas 'Vadumee, in a fight against the Flood-infected Elite, Sub-Commander Kusovai, lost his left mandibles to Kusovai's Energy Sword. Rtas escapes the Infinite Succor just prior to the doomed Slipspace jump, and is apparently the only survivor of the mission.

Rtas 'Vadumee goes on to eventually become the Leader of the Covenant Special Operations in Halo 2 and a Shipmaster in Halo 3.

Quotes

From Halo Graphic Novel: The Last Voyage Of The Infinite Succor.

• "That is because I have disabled all primary systems onboard the Infinite Succor." - To Rtas 'Vadumee, by the screens, when self-destruct system was offline.
• "I will not, Commander." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him to re-enable the self-destruct system.
• "On that, we agree, Commander. But how can I trust you are not infected yourself? If I open up one system, you may be able to reach other systems, such as slipspace controls." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "The Flood cannot be allowed to escape, and you may be assisting it. I do not have accurate information on how quickly the Flood spreads. Thus you and your men are suspect." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "While in an other circumstance I would take your word for this, Commander. I cannot now." - When Rtas 'Vadumee told him, that he and his men are not infected.
• "Head to the Medical Bay where I can examine you remotely. If you are free from infection then I will meet with you."
• "Yes, I can see that. Go the primary Hydroponics Chamber one deck down, I will contact you there." - When Rtas 'Vadumee showed him that he's free from the infection.
• "And make sure the Flood does not follow you."
• "Excellent, Commander, please enter." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Do hurry, and close the door. Don't want to give away our location."
• "Lacking a full security complement, I had this installed in case we were boarded. None of the crew knows about it, which is especially valuable now."
• "I see, you never studied, Commander. They are the Flood, one of the many tests and obstacles we must pass to activate the Holy Rings and begin the Great Journey." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him what Flood is.
• "They are mentioned in several of our religious texts, but the details are woefully inadequate given current circumstances. They arrived in one of our Dropships from Halo, but managed to destroy it in their rather crude attempt at landing here. They are now trapped here, on the Infinite Succor." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "As soon, as the boarding alarm was sounded, I locked down the primary systems and came here to await reinforcements."
• "Unfortunately, I feel now retaking the ship is not an effective course of action. The Flood infects any living or dead animal tissue they come into contact with. Taking control of an infected creature. The infection process also makes this creatures very resilient."
• "In the last half hour since they consumed your comrade, their behavior has changed dramatically. They have grown far more organized and shunted the atmosphere for some areas to the ship to create a defensive perimeter around Engineering and the primary cargo hold in the rear of the ship. In addition, they have set up patrols throughout the Infinite Succor. Thus it seems they also absorbed the knowledge of those they infect.." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Now that they have destroyed the Bridge, the Flood have set guards in Engineering - I believe, they plan on using the slipspace drive to flee this system, and Engineering is the only place they can activate it from."
• "Thay have already absorbed the pilot, so they know how to plot a slipspace course. Using the command codes your underling knew they have begun trying to bypass my security lockout, and I have no doubt they will succeed in less than an hour."
• "The creature they are building I believe serves as their leader and organizer. They keep bringing it corpses and other flesh and it has been growing quickly by absorbing them."
• "So, Commander... How are you going to get me safely off this Infinite Succor and then destroy the Flood?" - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Commander?" - When Rtas 'Vadumee was silent.
• "Not from this location. I only have minimal access from here, and the Bridge controls are destroyed." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him if he is able to pressurize the vacuum areas.
• "No, we had no Sangheili on our crew, and so no suits for them." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him about vacuum suits for Sangheili.
• "Commander! I must protest! There is no point in you going to Engineering - we can escape this ship and have the Fleet destroy it remotely." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Also, splitting your forces in hostile territory seems a bad move, considering you are responsible for my safety, which should be your foremost concern after destroying the ship. I am the Minister of Etiology after all.."
• "Your comrades... Part of us. We know... They knew." - Already infected, to Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "We...have command codes. We will soon leave, spread."
• "The Forerunners... Not defeat us. What chance... you?"

Trivia

• The word "etiology" means "the study of causes, origins, or reasons", meaning he most likely is associated with studying the history of the Covenant races, the Forerunner, or even the Flood. This can be confirmed by the fact that he explained the history of the Flood to the Commander, implying he knows a lot about history.
• In one scene of the Graphic Novel, the Legate is grabbed in a choke hold by Rtas 'Vadum, then slammed to the floor. In the next "slide" he is seen just fine, his headpiece unbroken and his being is robustly frail as any other Prophet. This is just a simple printing glitch, meant to be in a prior page.
• The Minister of Etiology is one of the two KNOWN prophets whose names make sense, due to his understanding of the flood. The only other prophet being the Prophet of Objection, who objected at the Supreme Commanders trial.

Sources

• Halo: Graphic Novel