Gravemind (Form)
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Template:Flood Species Infobox
The Gravemind[1] (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is a major stage in the life cycle of The Flood.
Summary
As it turns out, a Gravemind is born when a Flood reaches a certain critical mass. It is the Flood personified, and carries with it the genetic memory of millenia of slumber. The purpose of a Gravemind is to consume and absorb every thinking creature in the Galaxy.
Only one Gravemind has manifested before the Halo 2 Gravemind. The first was stopped by the first activation of the Halo rings, by the Forerunners.[2]
Halo 2's Gravemind
Halo 2's Gravemind remains mostly unknown; however, due to its short appearances in Halo 2, only a small amount of data about it and the nature of the Flood parasite can be inferred. Gravemind is either made of countless bodies that were unsuitable as Combat forms or Carrier forms or may be the last Forerunner Flood form in existence. The Art of Halo: Creating a Virtual World states that Gravemind is “literally built from the bodies of its enemies and its own fallen warriors reassembled into a massive, tentacled, and intelligent entity." This can also be assumed, because when he speaks he refers to the place he is seen at as the empty grave. A grave of course being for dead things and since the flood makes thing turn alive again, he is using his intelligence to say that nothing is dead there now, but dead things were stored there.
Gravemind is the controlling intelligence behind the parasitic Flood hive[3]. In this way, he appears similar to a puppet master. Gravemind is located far beneath the Library of Installation 05, and has tentacles that reach for kilometers. Gravemind also seems to harbor an intelligence approaching omniscience, since he appears to be capable of absorbing the knowledge of all Flood hosts. Whether there is more than one Gravemind is open to speculation, it is possible that on each Halo ringworld, assuming each one has a Flood infestation, a controlling Gravemind could be formed.
The Gravemind we see in the game appears to be capable of utilizing Halo's teleportation grid to transport anything and indeed himself (or at least a part of himself) anywhere on the ring and beyond to a limited distance. Being a Flood organism, how he uses the grid has been speculated on. The most common theory is that since he has control of Penitent Tangent, Monitor of Delta Halo, and that he can use it to access the teleportation field on Delta Halo. Players have speculated that this is the way that Gravemind gets aboard High Charity, while others say he rode in on the In Amber Clad that collided with it. Still, there is much more about this enigmatic character that we do not know.
Gravemind more than once speaks in rhyme, specifically iambic heptameter. In the post-credits end cinematic of Halo 2, Gravemind recites this verse to Cortana:
- Silence fills the empty grave now that I am gone,
- But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on.
- Now I will ask and you will answer.
His interest in her is unknown. This could be the start of a partnership with Cortana and the end of her alliance with the Master Chief.
Strangely enough, in Gravemind, the level named after him, there is no contact at all with him, apart from the cutscene he is introduced in, or his Flood minions. The only time you actually may see him is in the broken window with the tentacles dangling there.
However things turn out, the Gravemind appears to be a very dangerous creature as Halo 2 ends. He has assimilated the Prophet of Regret possibly giving him full knowledge of Covenant history, locations of Covenant worlds, and Covenant fleet positions. Consequent to his capture of a Hierarch, he is also aware of the location of Earth. The Flood appear to be in control of High Charity as well as several Covenant ships at the end of Halo 2. Also, with the new abundance of bodies on Installation 05, coupled with the Flood's apparent ability to adapt rapidly to enemies, and their capture of 2401 Penitent Tangent, they could easily gain complete control of Installation 05. Gravemind is in a good position to infest the entire galaxy if immediate action is not taken.
It was believed up until these events in Halo 2, that the flood was simply an unintelligent/non sentient virus. Just like any other we see today, it exists simply to infect other organisms, to feed, and to carry on living. However, it is fair to say now that the Gravemind itself may be the flood, or at least the origin of the spread, whether it be from an experiment by the forerunners, or a virus they were studying.
Speculation: The effects of killing the Gravemind, if any, are unknown. One possibility is that it would kill the Flood under its control as it acts as the central intelligence. If the Flood were to somehow reach Earth in Halo 3, that would be an effective way to save humanity and make for a spectacular boss fight.
Trivia
- It is speculated that the voice in the Reversed Message is Gravemind's. This is likely as the voices are very similar, and that it plays during the level Gravemind.
Sources
- ^ High Charity (Level), Cortana: "Flood controlled dropships are touching down all over the city! That creature beneath the Library, that 'Gravemind', used us. We were just a diversion."
- ^ halo3.com, characters section.
- ^ http://bungie.com/Games/Halo3/content.aspx?link=Halo3AboutPage
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