Reclaimer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:45, July 16, 2006

A "Reclaimer" is an individual who, whether by chance or by precedent, has been placed in charge of retrieving an item known as the Index and returning it to, and subsequently placing it into a control panel within, a control center on a Halo structure to activate a massive superweapon. The word is first used as a title bestowed upon Master Chief by an artificial intelligence construct, designated 343 Guilty Spark by its creators, the Forerunner.

History

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The only known role of a Reclaimer is to recover the "Index" and return it to the Halo control center. Doing this would activate Halo's ability to destroy all sentient life within twenty-five thousand light years, and would also activate other Halos, causing the entire galaxy to be purged of sentient life. This would be done to prevent the spread of The Flood, which can only be accomplished by destroying all sentient life with a biomass sufficient enough to sustain the Flood, this would then destroy the Flood via starvation.

343 Guilty Spark assumed, for unknown reasons, that the Earth soldier Master Chief was a Reclaimer. However, Commander Keyes and Sergeant Johnson were also called Reclaimers by 343 Guilty Spark. In addition, in Halo: The Flood the Master Chief encounters the corpse of Sergeant Marvin Mobuto in the Library, whom Spark also refers to as a Reclaimer.

Other Interpretations

The above is one possible interpretation. It is not stated explicitly in either gameplay or literature that Reclaimer is even a title. Neither The Master Chief nor Commander Keyes are ever referred to as the Reclaimer. The Monitor always uses the terms Reclaimer, a Reclaimer, or this Reclaimer.

Reclaimer is another word for human

Another interpretation is that a Reclaimer is the Forerunner terminology for a human. From this it is possible to assume that the Forerunners had knowledge of humans and delegated to them the task of reclaiming Indices and activating the rings, among many other speculative duties.

Forerunners are human

Another interpretation is that the Forerunners were human, or at least, very closely related, perhaps being direct ancestors or future form of humanity. There is evidence to prove this, such as 343 Guilty Spark's statements in the first game, and the fact that the Covenant have not asked humanity to join them. This could infer that as the humans learn more about the Forerunners, they are in fact reclaiming their lost technology and or position in the universe.

In Conversations from the Universe, the Monitor has a list of slang used by human forces to describe Covenant troops entitled "Cross reference Reclaimer terminology/nomenclature/slang for hegemonizing swarm "Covenant" against self-descriptors." As the Master Chief is rarely seen to speak throughout the games, and never in combat, this seems to suggest that all humans may be Reclaimers.

Enhanced means Reclaimer

Another interpretation is that is not the species, but their cybernetic implants that mark the Master Chief and Commander Keyes as Reclaimers. Gravemind also referred to the Master Chief's "machine and nerve" mind as "concluded", which may mean it is closer to some arbitary standard (the Forerunners?) than a merely organic mind. This, as is much of the Halo universe, all highly speculative.

Forerunners evolved into humans

Another possibility is that the Forerunners interbred with humans passing on their genes. Master Chief, Johnson, Mobuto, and Commander Keyes would then be genetic descendants of the Forerunners. This is also supported by 343 Guilty Spark's reactions to Master Chief in Halo: Combat Evolved, where he assumes that Master Chief understands everything that has happened on Halo in the book The Flood and he also states that the Master Chief is the one that activated Halo the first time in the level Two Betrayals (Levels). "Why do you hesitate to do what you've already done?" This could mean that Master Chief's ancestor was the Forerunner that activated Halo. Also supporting this theory is that in the book The Fall Of Reach, Dr. Halsey chose candidates for the Spartan program based on certain genes they carried. It is probable that those genes are those of the Forerunners. But as always, this is highly speculative.

Time Travel

Working with the same quote, from the Two Betrayals (Levels). "Why do you hesitate to do what you've already done?"this line perhaps suggests time travel is involved, and that Master Chief in some future game travels back in time to activate Halo, and the story comes full circle.

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-== Summary ==
+A "'''Reclaimer'''" is an individual who, whether by chance or by [[Wiktionary:precedent|precedent]], has been placed in charge of retrieving an item known as the [[Index]] and returning it to, and subsequently placing it into a control panel within, a control center on a [[The Halos|Halo]] structure to activate a massive superweapon. The word is first used as a title bestowed upon [[Master Chief]] by an artificial intelligence construct, designated [[343 Guilty Spark]] by its creators, the [[Forerunner]].
-The term "'''Reclaimer'''" has been used by [[343 Guilty Spark]] when refering to [[Master Chief]] and other [[humans]]. The following is a collection of theories as to the meaning of the word. It should be noted that this is all highly speculative.
-==Theories and Speculation==
+==History==
-Reclaimer is a title, possibly bestowed by the [[Forerunners]]. The task of a Reclaimer is to recover the "[[Index]]" and return it to the Halo control center. Doing this would activate Halo's ability to destroy all organic life within twenty-five thousand light years, and would also activate other Halos, causing the entire galaxy to be purged of organic life. This would be done to prevent the spread of [[The Flood]], which can only be accomplished by destroying all organic life it can survive on (in essence, destroying the Flood by starving them).
-[[343 Guilty Spark]] assumed, for unknown reasons, that the [[UNSC]] soldier [[Master Chief|John 117]] was a Reclaimer.
+{{spoiler}}
+The only known role of a Reclaimer is to recover the "Index" and return it to the Halo control center. Doing this would activate Halo's ability to destroy all sentient life within twenty-five thousand light years, and would also activate other Halos, causing the entire galaxy to be purged of sentient life. This would be done to prevent the spread of [[The Flood]], which can only be accomplished by destroying all sentient life with a biomass sufficient enough to sustain the Flood, this would then  destroy the Flood via starvation.
-According to the Halo novels, there is a possibility that Reclaimers are chosen by someone who is still alive and active somewhere.
+[[343 Guilty Spark]] assumed, for unknown reasons, that the [[Earth]] soldier [[Master Chief]] was a Reclaimer. However, [[Commander Keyes]] and [[Sergeant Johnson]] were also called Reclaimers by [[343 Guilty Spark]]. In addition, in [[Halo: The Flood]] the Master Chief encounters the corpse of [[Sergeant Marvin Mobuto]] in the [[Library]], whom Spark also refers to as a Reclaimer.
-----
-The above is one possible interpretation. It is not stated explicitly in either gameplay or literature that Reclaimer is even a title.  Another interpretation is that a Reclaimer is the Forerunner terminology for a human.  Neither The [[Master Chief]] nor [[Commander Miranda Keyes|Commander Keyes]] are ever reffered to as <em>the</em> Reclaimer. "Reclaimer", "A Reclaimer", and "This Reclaimer" have been used to refer to both characters. From this it is possible to assume that the Forerunners had knowledge of humans and delegated to them the task of Reclaiming Indexes and activating the rings, among many, many other speculative duties. It is also speculated that the Forerunners <em>were</em> human, or at least, very closely related, perhaps being direct ancestors or future form of humanity. There is evidence to prove this, such as 343 Guilty Spark's statements in [[Halo: Combat Evolved]], and the fact that the [[Covenant]] have not asked humanity to join them.
-----
-Even this may assume too much, however.  The Forerunner's plan to ensure the survival of civilization even after their own destruction was dependant on some sub-intelligent organic life surviving the activation of the [[Halo]] weapons.  It was assumed that, given enough time, some life forms somewhere in the universe would evolve into a sapient form, rediscover space flight technology, and find the artifacts left behind. [[343 Guilty Spark]] and his kind were created to oversee the plan and to serve as time capsules for the [[Forerunners]].  Presumably, in the the "Master Plan", the sapient creatures who eventually would discover the [[Monitor|monitors]] were referred to as "Reclaimers", the newly evolved replacement intelligence that would reclaim [[Forerunner]] technology and history.
-The Forerunners would not need to know the reclaimers' place of origin, what they would look like, or anything else about them.  The time frame is not known. If, as [[343 Guilty Spark]] says, the rings are in place over one hundred millennia, then when they were constructed mankind would have no civilization as yet.  This assumes that the years referred to are terrestrial years.  Gas Giants like [[Threshold]] are generally farther from their parent stars, and thus have a longer orbital period.  The planet Neptune has a period of 164.9 years, for instance.  Assuming an even hundred for [[Threshold]], the length of time that [[343 Guilty Spark]] was on [[Halo]] could have been over ten million years.  This means that humanity's ancestors would have been just learning to jab sticks at things.
+==Other Interpretations==
-The ecosystems on the rings themselves and the life support on the Forerunner starships do suggest that the Forerunners were protein-DNA life forms, like humans and presumably all other life in the '''Halo''' universe (and all known life in the real universe).  It may have been hoped, by the designers of the [[Forerunner]] plan, that a different form of life would evolve to replace them. A form that was immune to biological agents like the [[Flood]].  Regardless, it seems that "Reclaimer" is a term that [[Forerunner]] [[AI]] programming applies to any new sapient species it encounters.  This does not explain why the term is not applied to the [[Covenant]] lifeforms, though it may be a sign of their link back to the Forerunners.
+''The above is one possible interpretation. It is not stated explicitly in either gameplay or literature that Reclaimer is even a title. Neither The Master Chief nor Commander Keyes are ever referred to as '''the''' Reclaimer. The Monitor always uses the terms '''Reclaimer''', '''a Reclaimer''', or '''this Reclaimer'''.''
+===Reclaimer is another word for human===
-[[Category:Characters]]
+Another interpretation is that a Reclaimer is the [[Forerunner]] terminology for a human.  From this it is possible to assume that the Forerunners had knowledge of humans and delegated to them the task of reclaiming Indices and activating the rings, among many other speculative duties.
-[[Category:The Forerunner]]
+===Forerunners are human===
+Another interpretation is that the Forerunners were human, or at least, very closely related, perhaps being direct ancestors or future form of humanity. There is evidence to prove this, such as 343 Guilty Spark's statements in the first game, and the fact that the [[Covenant]] have not asked humanity to join them. This could infer that as the humans learn more about the Forerunners, they are in fact ''reclaiming'' their lost technology and or position in the universe.
+In ''Conversations from the Universe'', the Monitor has a list of slang used by human forces to describe Covenant troops entitled "Cross reference Reclaimer terminology/nomenclature/slang for hegemonizing swarm "Covenant" against self-descriptors." As the Master Chief is rarely seen to speak throughout the games, and never in combat, this seems to suggest that all humans may be Reclaimers.
+===Enhanced means Reclaimer ===
+Another interpretation is that is not the species, but their cybernetic implants that mark the Master Chief and Commander Keyes as Reclaimers. [[Gravemind]] also referred to the Master Chief's "machine and nerve" mind as "concluded", which may mean it is closer to some arbitary standard (the Forerunners?) than a merely organic mind.  This, as is much of the Halo universe, all highly speculative.
+===Forerunners evolved into humans===
+*Another possibility is that the Forerunners interbred with humans passing on their genes. Master Chief, Johnson, Mobuto, and Commander Keyes would then be genetic descendants of the Forerunners. This is also supported by 343 Guilty Spark's reactions to Master Chief in [[Halo: Combat Evolved]], where he assumes that Master Chief understands everything that has happened on [[Halo: The Flood|Halo in the book The Flood]] and he also states that the Master Chief is the one that activated Halo the first time in the level [[Two Betrayals (Levels)]]. ''"Why do you hesitate to do what you've already done?"'' This could mean that Master Chief's ancestor was the Forerunner that activated Halo. Also supporting this theory is that in the book The Fall Of Reach, Dr. Halsey chose candidates for the Spartan program based on certain genes they carried. It is probable that those genes are those of the Forerunners. But as always, this is highly speculative.
+===Time Travel===
+Working with the same quote, from the [[Two Betrayals (Levels)]]. ''"Why do you hesitate to do what you've already done?"''this line perhaps suggests time travel is involved, and that Master Chief in some future game travels back in time to activate Halo, and the story comes full circle.
+[[Category:Forerunners]]
+[[Category:Halo]]
 [[Category:UNSC]]