Mausoleum of the Arbiter

"Here rests the vanguard of the Great Journey. Every Arbiter, from first to last. Each one created and consumed in times of extraordinary crisis."

— Prophet of Truth

Exterior view of the Mausoleum

The Mausoleum of the Arbiter is a massive room within High Charity which houses the remains of the previous Arbiters.

A large suspended sarcophagus holds the special Arbiter armor until it is needed again.

The Mausoleum of the Arbiter also contains the (recoverable) remains of every Elite that has ever been designated the Arbiter. A total of 182 caskets are present spreading far up into the ceiling. Arbiters are only appointed in times of dire need, such as the Taming of the Hunters, the Grunt Rebellion and the Heretic Rebellion.

Appearances

The Mausoleum of the Arbiter initially appears in the cutscene before The Arbiter. The future Arbiter is taken there by Tartarus and his two Brute ushers. Truth and Mercy order Tartarus to release the future Arbiter and leave. They start to converse with him about the Heretic Leader, the past Arbiters, and give him the ornate armor of the Arbiter there.

It is next seen some time later, near the end of Gravemind, where the Master Chief must engage in a large-scale battle in order to go further into High Charity and find the platform with the Phantoms that are to be used to transport Truth, Mercy, Tartarus, Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson to their respective locations.

It is in here that Breaking Benjamin's Blow Me Away is played, during the fight. It sounds like an instrumental but is actually the real song. If you listen closely, you will notice that the music volume has been greatly increased.

After that, it is seen for the last time in Halo 2 on the level High Charity. When you get into the huge tower look down and you can see it surrounded by a layer of clouds and a storm.

The Mausoleum is last seen visible in Halo 3 during the level Cortana. It is seen at different points through the "windows" formed by the Flood's consumption of the city. Energy cascades across the surface which leans dangerously to the side and cables hang from the shattered bridges around the tower. It can be assumed that the Mausoleum and the Vanguards of the Great Journey entombed within were destroyed when High Charity's reactor went critical, as spurred by Spartan-117 in the previous raid.

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Mausoleum of the Arbiter on Halo 3

Trivia

• In the early version of the level Cortana, Master Chief would've passed through the Mausoleum, encountering an army of Flood-infected arbiters. This idea was scrapped however, when both Flood levels were redesigned, possibly because the Arbiters would have been armorless. Another reason could be that over time, the Arbiter bodies could have decomposed like normal bodies after being in the caskets for so long.

Related Links

• High Charity
• Arbiter