Key of Osanalan

The Key of Osanalan was a simple imaginary skeleton key, seemingly fashioned from tin-foil, that Ruwan and James Ackerson used in make-believe games when they were both children.

Background
During their childhood, James and Ruwan Ackerson used the imaginary Key of Osanalan to rescue a "Princess" as part of their make-believe games.

During the Human-Covenant War, James Ackerson, now a colonel in the UNSC Army, was captured after the Battle of Mare Erythraeum. While he was being interrogated by the Jiralhanae Shipmaster Lepidus, he said that the Halos would not properly activate without the Key of Osanalan, causing the Covenant to go on a misleading search for the "Key". Ruwan, after realizing the importance of the Covenant's belief in the key, contacted the Covenant, saying that he would give them the Key when they met. Once they arrived, Ruwan then told them that he was the Key. Confused, the Covenant brought Ruwan to their ship. Unbeknownst to them, Ruwan had been implanted with Tykos 30, an organic tracking compound. Moments before Nassau Station used its Magnetic Accelerator Cannon to destroy the ship, Ruwan told the Minister of Inquisition to "kiss [his] ass".

After the destruction of Harbinger of Piety, James Ackerson openly mocked the Covenant about the key's non-existence, which resulted in his death.

Trivia
In Issue 4, when the Prophet asks, "Tell us, creature...what do you open?", Ruwan appears to say that he can open Halo. However, the panels span across the two pages and are not meant to be read in that order. Ruwan was in fact answering the Minister's demand of, "Tell us what you know of the Halo.".

Appearances

 * Halo: Uprising