Solving this mystery in Halo 2's soundtrack may foreshadow Halo Infinite's Storyline and more

Ever since the launch of Halo 2 in 2004, it has been hailed as one of the series' best. It seems there are some things that not many fans noticed. On our last post about Halo, we talked about the mysterious message that can be heard by reversing one of the soundtracks in Halo 2. Today, we attempt at solving this mystery, and once again bring light to this very fascinating detail from the game which broke records nearly 16 years ago.

Read the original post here if you missed it. We discussed about where you can hear the specific music and other things.

The Xbox Games Showcase, where Halo Infinite will be showcased, is scheduled for July 23 2020 from 9 a.m. PT/12 pm ET. Tomorrow, basically.

And thus today, we are here across the possibilities about the origin of the voice and the possibility of solving this enigma, which might very well play some part into Halo Infinite.

1. An Arbiter

“The Taming of the Hunters, the Grunt Rebellion. Were it not for the Arbiters, the Covenant would have broken long ago!”

— Prophet of Mercy.

This may be the first thing many think as the origin. Sure, it plays in High Charity, and the suite itself is named "Mausoleum Suite". The track is named "Destroyer’s Invocation". Words that go well with the Arbiter, doesn't it? Perhaps this is an Arbiter who has long died, and his words are still echoing through the city:

I live to see death and destruction.

Evil over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished.

Perhaps the Arbiter, who ever he was, is talking of the Great Schism, otherwise known as the Covenant Civil War, between the Elites and the Brutes. He sees the Brutes killing his species, he says although the evil (The Brutes) are over the light (The Elites), the light cannot be extinguished:  A symbolism for the Sangheili's resolve and honor that cannot be stopped by the Jiralhanae.

One that Thel 'Vadam would support.

At surface level, this seems very plausible, until the lore comes into play. 

The Arbiter's title was meant for the apex of the Sangheili, who would lead all the clans and be a master of the battlefield. It became the highest possible honor bestowed upon a Covenant Sangheili by the Hierarchs during a time of great need. 

This was until Fal 'Chavamee,  once such an enforcer, believed that his people discarded their adherence to honor in exchange for power, and firmly believed that the Great Journey was a lie propagated by the manipulative San'Shyuum. For this act of heresy, the Prophets ordered his execution via duel. To forever tar Chavamee's legacy, the Prophets gave the title of Arbiter to disgraced Sangheili as a means of regaining their family honor by performing suicidal missions. 

Thus, each subsequent Arbiter after Fal 'Chavamee has been "created and consumed in times of extraordinary crisis" in the words of the Prophet of Truth; it is not for nothing that the current Arbiter once considered the role as penance for failures.

Herein lies the problem. Although the Covenant itself was established in 852 BC by signing of the Writ of Union,  Fal 'Chavamee was the first shamed Arbiter, and he died in circa 2125. It was after his death that the title of Arbiter had the shame and suicidal devotion to the Great Journey we saw in Halo 2. Halo 2 takes place in the fall of 2552, as evident by the game's opening sequence:

That means there was only a gap of 427 years, which falls far short of the 3,000 years the voice says. It means the voice cannot be of Fal 'Chavamee, or any other arbiter after him. Infact, there are only 182 caskets in the Mausoleum. If we go by the time period, 3,000 years before 2552 is 448 BC. High Charity itself was completed in 648 BC. That leaves exactly 200 years for an Arbiter to die, and be preserved in the Mausoleum. Now, the 3,000 year mark could be a general indication to the time, so a few centuries here and there wouldn't matter. 

What also goes against this theory is what is said before:

I have walked among men and angels for 3,000 years.

Men, and angels? Humanity wasn't discovered by the Covenant until 2525. That fails the time period in itself. What is more interesting is the word "Angels" Halo doesn't have anything that could be classified as "Angels" The closest we have is the Forerunner named the Librarian, but it is unlikely.

Thus, the theory of the Arbiter being the voice's origin stands questionable which may or may not be proven true by new lore. 

2. The Gravemind

"There is much talk, and I have listened, through rock and metal and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen."

The poetic nature and tone of the words go very well with the grave mind. The Gravemind's intellect, and his understanding of the universe is far beyond any other in the universe, and so perhaps the words in the track have deeper meanings, only that can be understood in context of the Precursors/Flood philosophy.

Also to note that in Halo 3, it is the Gravemind that speaks in reversed voices within the soundtrack, most notably "Floodgate" and "The Black Tower". This is confirmed cannon, and interpreted as the Gravemind's thoughts. Very similar to the one we are talking about, eh?

Well, they are quite different from this track, usually referencing directly the events of the game by saying the words 'Elites' and 'Humans'. The closest we get to it is this:

"Eyes from death's dream kingdom 

appear as sunlight on a broken column.

 There, in death's other kingdom walking alone, 

trembling lips form prayers to broken stone."

The voice speaking is also different, and this is actually from a poem by T.S. Elliot., while the track we are discussing about is not from any poem, to the best of our knowledge (correct us if wrong). The issue of the 3,000 years is also ever present, and although this can be explained to some extent as the Primordial and the first Gravemind's shared intellect and memories, it appears the gravemind is the one least likely to be

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

 He is also unlikely to say "I am lost in time", as while interrogating Cortana between the events of Halo 2 and 3, this is what he says:

"I have pity within me and infinite time. But I also have impatience -because I am all things.

However,  as the Flood are a shared mind, and each Gravemind has the memory of the previous one, the lines can be relegated to some individual within the Gravemind, if not the Gravemind itself. Most of us know the case of Pvt. Wallace Jenkins, who was infected by the flood in Halo CE, and turned. Due to some complications, he was able to retain his consciousness, and it was a pretty depressing state of mind, as Flood infection is not just physical pain and breaking of bones, but also the breaking of one's mental processes, chipping away memories. This was most vividly seen in the case of Captain Jacob Keyes. 

Perhaps some individual was infected in the Forerunner Flood War, or even the Human-Flood War, only to be assimilated into a Gravemind and left there for eternity, only to reemerge again after the forming of the Gravemind we encountered in Halo 2 and 3.

This is the most conflicted candidate of the ones we have presented here.

3. 032 Mendicant Bias

This one is the most widely accepted theory of them all, that it was 032 Mendicant Bias who speaks these lines, to its credit, it does have some credit. But so do all the others on this list, and here we are. 

He was the most advanced Forerunner AI at the time of his creation, and was charged with organizing the Forerunner defense against the Flood.

Since Mendicant has been left in the Forerunner Ship in a highly secured state by the Covenant, the words that run are spoken backwards, subtly. He interrogated The Gravemind for over 43 years, which led to it developing the Logic Plague, and betraying the Forerunners, which he tells the Master Chief in a Terminal on the Ark, in Halo 3:

“And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions.”

Also, note the name 'Mendicant Bias'. Mendicant means 'given to begging' or 'a beggar', depending on whether one sees it as an adjective or noun. So in a sense, the meaning of his name is "Beggar after Knowledge." Isn't the voice in the track sort of begging, to free him of this 'prison of my own demise'?

When 032 went rampant, he said,

“What has taken you millennia to create, I erase in seconds.”

which relates to

I live to see death and destruction.

Most of the other lines have been generally accepted as a result of Mendicant's rampancy. However, we run into some (and some same) problems here too. 

The Forerunner-Flood War itself lasted from 98,379 BCE and definitively ended at 97,445 BCE. That is 934 years (and quite a feat on its own, one has to give the Forerunners some credit), and not 3,000 years by any means. However, 032 Mendicant Bias itself was created by Master Builder Faber and the Ur-Didact in 100,043 BCE. 

032 sought to stop the Rings from firing

That gives us a more relaxing figure of 2598 years if we count the end of the war. While it falls sort of 400 or so years, it may be attributed to other events, like when 032 was taken to the Ark and taken apart. So perhaps some parts of the ancilla still has the Logic Plague, and this is why we hear it in Halo 2? This still is an stretch.

Other questions still remain even if we accept this: Does this mean 032 still has the Logic Plague? This would mean he does not have full control over itself yet, while still managing to control new systems, like how he saved the Master Chief and the Arbiter escape from the doomed Halo at the end of Halo 3 (In the famous Warthog Run) and activate the portal, making half of the Forward Onto Dawn slipspace jump somewhere near Requiem, for the events of Halo 4 to take place. 

Who are the Angels he refers to then, in this context? Many would consider it obvious, that they are the Forerunners, however, if he truly has the plague, the 'angels' might very well be the Flood, and 'God' may refer to the Primordial. 

I have walked among men and angels for 3,000 years.

And again, how can he 'walk' among men and angels?

4. Someone else? 

So if the words spoken are not by The Gravemind, or by some Arbiter or by 032 Mendicant Bias, who in the Halo Universe could it possibly be?

Well, here are some other theories.

IsoDidact

“Mendicant Bias is trying to prevent us from firing the Array. He speeds back to the Ark, but he won't succeed. Offensive Bias will stop him, and I will burn this stinking menace in your name. And then? I will begin our Great Journey without you, carrying this bitter record. Those who came after will know what we bought with this [false transcendence] - what you bought, and the price you paid.”

Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting, or more commonly known as the IsoDidact, was a Forerunner Builder, who later had all of the memories of the Ur-Didact, the one we encountered in Halo 4 transferred to himself. This effectively made him another Didact. 

And how is this related? It has been a theory for a long time that the Master Chief, John 117 has a Geas (generations-long genetic command imposed on an organism or species, under whose influence an organism can be given a set of subconscious orders that will be passed on to their children, in some cases lasting several generations) of the Iso-Didact. This is merited by two instances within the games:

One, during the very first game in Halo: Combat Evolved, when 343 Guilty Spark tells Master Chief,

"Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice. We must activate the ring." This is a reference to when Bornstellar asks 343 Guilty Spark if he would light the Halo array were it his choice, to which he doesn't reply.

Another instance is when in Halo 4, on the level 'Shutdown', these lines can be heard from the Didact, and it is made very clear that there is no sound transmission coming in.

"The Mantle of Responsibility for the galaxy shelters all, human. But only the Forerunners are its masters."

"Your actions tread between honor and foolishness."

This is very similar to the way other Geas talk to the organism they're in. (See the Forerunner Trilogy). Many speculate that this is in fact because the Librarian has 'unlocked'  or 'Awakened' Master Chief's Geas. 

So perhaps, the lines in the track were from the IsoDidact? And since he hadn't fully awakened yet, it appeared reversed and in enigmatic words? Keep in mind that Geas 'activate' over generations. John's famous Spartan II program is named after the ancient Greek warriors from classical antiquity. Around 650 BCE, it rose to become the dominant military land-power. Halo 2 takes place in 2552. 

Now that suspiciously comes very close to the 3,000 years mark. As a Geas, 

Time has no end, no beginning, no purpose.

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

Bornstellar activated the Halo. Even he considered it a grave crime (The Didact was a much bigger fan of Shield Worlds). 

I live in a prison of my own demise. I am lost in time.

He doesn't know when he will awake. Perhaps this is it? Even more to credit, the Halo 2 Anniversary track, "Cryptic Whisper", the reversed audio plays the Didact's speech from the end of Halo 4.

But nothing can be confirmed, and to our knowledge, no has really presented this point of view, and so this is basically our theory, and the closest we at The DXR Script are to solving it. Add to the discussion if you think otherwise, in the comments.

049 Abject Testament

"We deserve to be forgotten"

Tens of thousands of years prior to Installation 03's discovery by humans in the twenty-sixth century, Testament stopped directing the functions of the ring. 

For this one, we are continuing and adding on the theory by Installation00's video. Watch it here. In short, it is theorized that 049 Abject Testament had gone off his installation, abandoning it, and was caught by the Covenant, who used it to build their own AIs. 

Thus, depending on how one sees it, he may either be destroyed on Installation 04 with the Truth and Reconciliation or left somewhere on the Ark, with the remains of flood infested High Charity.

If we go with the theory that he was not destroyed on Installation 04 (or maybe survived, just like Sargent Johnson, but that's another theory for another day), then 049 can be quite a contender for the mystery. 

He might have been a human before, and by staying so long on the Installation, as well as being captured by the Covenant, his mind is not working properly, and thus, the lines of the track. There is no issue of the 3,000 years either, and as far as  

I live in a prison of my own demise.

is concerned, isn't the Monitor Casing some sort of prison itself? And quite obviously he's lost through time. 

The shortcomings of this is the assumptions we have made.

Beyond the game and the franchise?

Lastly, a very tinfoil hat-ish hypothesis. 

Are the lines even meant to be connected to the game? It is unknown who actually has voiced these lines, and the reversed voice itself sounds nowhere near the kind of voice we hear of Elites, of The Gravemind, of Abject Testament or the Didact. Only thing closest is 032 Mendicant Bias, but that's because we have never heard his voice in the franchise's history. 

Is this even connected to Halo? God and Angels? Quotes of Time, of evil and light? Is this some prophecy made by the Heirarchs? What horrible crimes? Is this referring to ancient humanity? 

Was this track designed to infect the mind of all the players who hear it, subconsciously guiding them towards hell? No wonders Gamers are so oppressed! Its all because of Halo 2, and Halo 2 is hell! Wait...this does make sense!

It was all a plot by these @#$@@#&

"Jackals may be superior marksmen and they're very sneaky, but that doesn't make them excellent snipers — they’re a little too bloodthirsty for that."

Shut up marine! You don't die in one shot like the pathetic being I am in Legendary Difficulty! Do you know how much a Mjolnr Mark VI suit-

Conclusion: Regarding Halo Infinite...

Halo Infinite will be a fresh coat of paint, and according to 343, "A Spiritual Reboot". And although not much is known story wise, save that the Brutes are coming back in the form of the Banished (See here!), there is much speculation that perhaps one of the characters we wrote in this article will return, and play a vital part. 

The Arbiter (Thel 'Vadam) may very well be present, back to aiding his human friend, leading The Swords Of Sanghelios, and perhaps he will be involved in finding out about an ancient Arbiter, who may be the one theorized about.

The Flood coming back is a highly controversial topic among the community,  however, 343 has brought back the flood in Halo Wars 2, and so may be present, and so will perhaps, the Gravemind. Mendicant Bias wanted to 'atone' for his sins. Will be there to help Chief out, finally revealing himself, and saying how he was always speaking to him, since Halo 2?

Also, given how closely Mendicant and the Flood are connected, as well the fact that ancient humans may be present on the Halo Ring, there has to at least be some reference to the two.

As for the Didact, many fans speculate that since he was composed, he might return as an AI. and then we might get to see Master Chief's geas acting out finally, aiding the Chief to combat the Created.

049 Abject Testament may make an appearance, as we are very likely to see a new Monitor, as Infinite takes place on a Halo Ring.

Make sure to share this article if you found it interesting! Did you miss something? Agree or disagree somewhere?Have your own theory? Share your opinion in the comments!

We are hyped to see more of it, and many will be crossing fingers for the July 23 event, and waiting for Halo's return as the King of the Industry------ But only if Sniper Jackals don't return.

Thanks For Reading!

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