Xytan 'Jar Wattinree

"The Great Schism is upon us. The unbreakable Covenant Writ of Union has been split asunder. This is the end of the Ninth, and final, Age."

— Xytan 'Jar Wattinree

Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was a very high ranking Covenant Elite military officer. He was the Regent Command of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose. He is the only Elite holding the rank of Imperial Admiral.

Background

Xytan was over eleven and a half-feet tall, a giant even among the average 8' 6" Elites. It may be that this is an illusion, given his image is projected by a holographic generator, or that he wears a ceremonial headdress, like the Councilor. The former theory has been debunked: Xytan is present physically alongside a holographic image of himself. The hologram is 30 meters tall. However, the headdress most likely boosts his height; it has even been explained by Eric Nylund himself, that Xytan is wearing a larger pair of "platform shoes" along with the headress and therefore is more likely around the normal height of 8' 6", boosting his height for aesthetic intimidation purposes.

He was legendary and extremely illustrious amongst the soldiers of the Covenant. He had never been defeated in battle, he had never failed at any task, no matter what the challenge, and he was never wrong. His only flaw was that he had been so revered, some respected him above any Prophet and for that he had been exiled to lead a fleet only at the fringes and outskirts of the vast Covenant empire.

Commanding his fleet he played a considerably large role in the Civil War of the Covenant. Xytan was one of the first Elite leaders to take command of the confused Elites and rally them at Joyous Exultation. There, they moved in to ambush the Brutes and destroy them, putting an end to the Civil War before they could destroy the Flood. The Imperial Admiral had no illusions about the true nature of the Halo Rings or the Flood.

Unfortunately, his flagship, Sublime Transcendence, was destroyed by a NOVA bomb they had taken from Reach and activated by a curious Grunt named Kwassass after the Covenant Engineers (Huragok) reconnected the detonator to the NOVA bomb. Whether or not he was aboard the ship at that time is unknown.

Rank

The armor he wears is described as "silver armor covered with the gold Forerunner glyphs of sacred mystery." Such silver-and-gold Elite armor has yet to be seen or mentioned elsewhere, and may be superior in quality to the gold armor of a Zealot or even a Councilor. Such questions about this have been spun and this armor combination maybe belonging to the fabled rank of Zealot Ultra. It is comparable to see who outranks who, the Supreme Commander or the Imperial Admiral, this could be a plausible equivalent rank between the Arbiter's rank and Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. Silver metals are rare among the Covenant, so armor with such appearance is highly valuable.