000 Tragic Solitude
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| 000 Tragic Solitude | |
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Some centuries after 97,445 BCE[1] |
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Ended service: |
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Gender: |
Male personality[1] |
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Keeper of Installation 00[6] |
- "My name is 000 Tragic Solitude. I am the keeper of the Ark."
- — 000 Tragic Solitude, introducing himself[6]
000 Tragic Solitude, often referred to simply as Solitude, was a Forerunner monitor that served as the caretaker of Installation 00. Originally the Forerunner politician Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns, the former First Councilor willingly chose to become a monitor with the intentions of aiding the Reclaimers once they arrived at the installation.[1] However, millennia of isolation following the firing of the Halo Array and damage the Ark incurred during the Battle of Installation 00 in 2552 led to Tragic Solitude falling subject to rampancy.[7]
Seeking to repair his installation and gain revenge on humanity for their role in damaging the Ark, Tragic Solitude used a captured human to initiate the Halos' firing sequence to eradicate life in the galaxy.[7] However, his scheme ultimately led to his destruction when a joint United Nations Space Command–Swords of Sanghelios team traveled to Installation 00 to stop him.[2]
Biography[edit]
Creation and early service[edit]
- "I name you the protector and guardian of the Lesser Ark. You will keep it safe for the true inheritors of the Mantle. Any thoughtlessness, or cruelty, or arrogance is washed clean from you now. Yours is not—cannot be—a happy end. And thus I name you Tragic Solitude… for you shall be alone, and your noble sacrifice shall aid the Reclaimers… but in doing so, it shall break what is left of your heart."
- — Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, upon 000 Tragic Solitude's creation[1]
After the firing of the Halo Array, in the dark time that followed the repopulating of the Milky Way, a group of surviving Forerunners attempted to repair the Domain by venturing on a mission to the abandoned capital of Maethrillian. During their mission, they encountered Abaddon, a Precursor construct who attempted to bring them to trial for the Halo Array's activation. While interacting with Abaddon, Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns — the former First Councilor of the Ecumene Council — felt an immense amount of guilt in the Forerunners' arrogance. Afterwards, Splendid Dust and other surviving Forerunners returned to Installation 00, the primary installation of the Halo Array utilized to index and preserve biological diversity in the galaxy during the Forerunners' war against the Flood. Seeking atonement for his actions, Splendid Dust wished to do something helpful for the humans that would succeed the Forerunners as the Reclaimers and inheritors of the Mantle of Responsibility, wanting to act as an interpreter for all the Forerunners had learned. After discussing this idea with Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting and Chant-to-Green, he had himself composed into an ancilla and became a monitor. Bornstellar named Tragic Solitude the caretaker and protector of Installation 00, where he intended to atone by staying behind on the Ark and awaiting the arrival of the humans, while the rest of the surviving Forerunners departed the installation to begin their self-imposed exile.[1]
Like most Forerunner ancillas, Tragic Solitude was only given information relevant to his duties; in his case, protecting Installation 00 and maintaining the nature balance of the facility's ecosystem.[7] Over time, his memories as Splendid Dust would fade.[1] Following the exodus of the surviving Forerunners, Tragic Solitude was left alone in isolation on Installation 00 for millennia.[8] He often found himself bored with little to do, aside from making improvements to his installation and the occasional minor system repair. While he continued to perform his duties admirably,[9] the long period of isolation had an adverse affect on the monitor and instilled a distrust and hatred of the Forerunners in the monitor, who felt betrayed by his creators.[8] In 29,823 BCE, Tragic Solitude dismantled a Despair-class fighter once apparently belonging to the Librarian, placing the fighter back into its original design seed form. The monitor found himself tempted to launch the fighter from its stasis, but instead chose to busy himself with other tasks as per his instructions.[10]
Battle of Installation 00[edit]
- 343 Guilty Spark: "I have told you who I am. Who are you?"
- 000 Tragic Solitude: "All our makers once held dear.
[Alexandria before the Fire]." - — A dialog between 343 Guilty Spark and 000 Tragic Solitude[5]
After millennia of relative peace, the Halo installations became a battleground for the ongoing Human-Covenant War in 2552. In the resulting conflict, Installation 04 was destroyed by humanity and Installation 05's surface was glassed by the Sangheili to quell a Flood infestation. These acts greatly disturbed Tragic Solitude, but he nonetheless began creating Installation 08 on the Ark to replace the destroyed Installation 04.[7] On December 11, 2552, Installation 00 became a place of conflict for the last battle of the Human-Covenant War. Utilizing the slipspace portal at Voi, Kenya on Earth, the Covenant and a joint United Nations Space Command and Sangheili fleet traveled to Installation 00.[11] When 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Installation 04 that had allied himself with the UNSC and Sangheili, attempted to gain access to the Ark's systems during the battle, Tragic Solitude addressed the former's lack of authority on the Ark and informed Guilty Spark that the facility housed the Librarian's archives of the Conservation Measure. When Guilty Spark persisted, Tragic Solitude threatened the monitor with the installation's complement of Sentinels.[5] However, Tragic Solitude was unable to intervene in the battle, as he watched Guilty Spark aid the humans and Sangheili in engagements across the installation.[12]
Later in the battle, Tragic Solitude watched in horror as Installation 00 was severely damaged after the incomplete Installation 08 was fired at the Ark in an effort to eradicate the Flood's presence on the installation.[12][13] This action also damaged Tragic Solitude and inflicted a state of rampancy upon him.[14] While horrified by the dama