Taming of the Lekgolo

"While some were shortsighted and chose to reject the promise of our union, all were eventually swayed by the knowledge that those who joined the Covenant would be welcome on our Great Journey."

— Prophet of Truth

The Taming of the Mgalekgolo was an event in the history of the Covenant.

The Taming occured during a Covenant Age of Conversion, during their galaxy-wide search for remnants of Forerunner technology. Such technology was discovered on the planet Te, where the Covenant first encountered the native Lekgolo, or Hunters.

Appreciative of the Hunters' prowess, the Covenant invited them to join their ranks. When the offer was refused outright, war was declared. The Hunters won most, if not all, of the ground battles, in which the Covenant's forces were completely overwhelmed by the sheer size and ferocity of their foes. On the verge of defeat, the Covenant took desperate measures, threatening to orbitally bombard the planetary surface of Te unless the Hunters surrendered.

Facing the complete annihilation of their race, the Hunters submitted, and joined the ranks of the Covenant in .

In Halo: Contact Harvest, it is said that hives of Lekgolo were found in orbital rings surrounding their planet, a gas giant filled with Forerunner treasures. But the relics had been the Lekgolos food for millennia, the orbital rings around the giant were actually composed of digested-and-destroyed Forerunner relics that some of the Lekgolo had been consuming. Strangely, the Lekgolo colonies had very differing diets, as some would eat only only Forerunner alloys, while other would eat every except Forerunner materials. Initially, the Covenant Fleets, especially the Sangheili, wanted to destroy the Lekgolo for desecrating the holy Forerunner relics. They tried to eradicate the Lekgolo but found that it was impossible. Since the Lekgolo lived in the sacred relics that the Elites were trying to preserve, they faced destruction of their sacred relics along with their enemies. It was found that they could be tamed and put to better uses as part of the Covenant Hierarchy. Thus, those Lekgolo colonies which preserved Forerunner relics were incorporated into the Covenant, while those that destroyed relics were eradicated.
Individual colonies of Lekgolo exist in the Covenant as Mgalekgolo, Hunters whose armor defines the appendages the worms' take form of. Often, colonies become so large, that they cannot fit in a single suit of armor so they split up and form a bonded pair, evidenced by the shoulder spikes worn by pairs of Mgalekgolo.

Trivia

• The Taming of the Hunters is pictured on one of the 7 Covenant Murals in the Mausoleum of the Arbiter.

Related Links

• Arbiter
• Elites
• Hunters