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Shannon also has some clarifications to make regarding the Marathon plotline and more possible parallels and connections to it.
Justin Graham's post of January 17, 2002 goes in a direction I'd like to see explored more - Durandal's possible connection. Though I'd like to first politely point out a problem in his assumptions. (he seems not to have played Marathon himself, which is forgivable-I have to admit the sin of not fully playing Halo. I'm waiting for the Mac version. AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! snif* *wipes a tear*)
Justin writes "I believe, Durandal ordered his pet soldier to destroy a sun..."
Correct me if I'm wrong, fellow Marathon heads, but it was more like this: Durandal, as an AI, Identified with the S'pht, a cybernetic slave race of the Pfhor, and jumped to their home planet to liberate them from the slavers. The Pfhor, being an experienced and dedicated slaver empire, had specific policies regarding the revolt of their subordinates, up to and including the last resort of detonating the slave's native sun with a device known as the "trih xeem" or early nova. In Marathon II, the main character, (a Mjolnir Mark IV, as its pretty much been established. p.s. he looks EXACTLY like the MC in one of the terminal pics that shows him kicking an alien in the face) is the main tool of this revolt. Despite Durandal's work and his, the Pfhor, pushed to the brink of defeat, deploy the trih xeem.
It turns out that the Jjarro, who created the S'pht race in this system, also used its sun's gravity well to trap a vague and horrible creature or creatures, the W'rkncacnter, that embody chaos itself. (I'm not gonna say "FLOOD" cus clearly they're two different things, but the thematic parallels are obvious.) What follows, in Marathon Infinity, is Durandal's desperation and failure, with a hint that there may be a way to escape. The main character skips though different time lines until he finds one in which the nova can be contained and the chaos averted. Durandal & you save the system from destruction.
Justin speculated that Durrandal had, through his quest to become a "God" by escaping the closing of the universe, perhaps become what we know as the forerunners.
I'm going to instead suggest that we're not that far down the timeline from Infinity. I believe Durandal must have moved on in his explorations (He departs Lh'owon with the S'pht to search for a new homeward at the end of the marathon series).
Durandal would be at this point in an excellent position to search out other Jjarro artifacts and ruins, having become intimately familiar with a race they gave birth to on a planet they terraformed. He would have no doubt been attracted to the halo installations.
Here's where I veer into rampant speculation. Durandal, with his God aspirations, is exactly the kind of AI to start a religion, intentionally or not. If Durandal, with his S'pht and S'pht'kr in tow, searching for a new home planet, ran across another civilization or civilizations, he might deal with the situation by cultivating a mythos around himself. His disdain for his former masters, the human race, could carry over into his dogma.
On the other hand, It may be silly to use Durrandal to explain the Covenant. There is definitely room for other Jjarro-related offspring races - there are references made to "client" races of the Jjarro. They may have been very busy.
I suppose the end to all this groping in the dark will come with Halo 2. Till then, lets shadowbox!
We hope the answers will come with Halo 2, but really, will they? Did they after Marathon Infinity? ;-)
Still, great speculating! Keep smoking that crack-pipe, friends!
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-mnemesis
