Canon

Covenant measurement system

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The Covenant measurement system, also described as the old Covenant measurement system, was a system of measurements employed by the Covenant, and often by its remnants.[1] These measurements were often used as a timekeeping system, forming the foundation of the Covenant Battle Calendar the military employ, with a broader historical framework of prophetic "Ages" tied to theological and cultural milestones.[2]

Overview[edit]

The Covenant primarily use four units of measurement: Age, Cycle, Unit, and Cental, with various other units used depending on the context, such as Revolution. A cycle is broken down into units, then units further into centals.[2] Some units of measurement share a name with a Forerunner equivalent, with Cycle[3] and Revolution.[4] The units of measurement often don't translate one to one with human Earth time, often leading to large significant figures during measurement conversions.[2]

A version of the timekeeping system had been implemented and utilized by the San'Shyuum Reformists by at latest 876 BCE.[5] After the fall of the Covenant Empire in 2552, a version of the system was still used by the Sangheili,[6] with many individuals such as various Jiralhanae occasionally reverting back to the system.[1] The calendar also remained in use by the Ussans by 2552.[7] By 2559, according to Veta Lopis, she described the system as the "old".[1]

Units of time[edit]

Age[edit]

Main article: Age

The Covenant have seven ages that form the progression of Covenant history: Abandonment, Conflict, Reconciliation, Discovery, Conversion, Doubt, and Reclamation.[8] These ages may not run sequentially, and are broad overall themes of the period the Covenant are in.[2] According to the Progression of the Ages ceremony, each age is represented by a stone: Abandonment - Obsidian, Conflict - Iron, Reconciliation - Jade, Discovery - Geodes, Doubt - Opal, and Reclamation - Forerunner alloy.[8]

Cycle[edit]

A cycle is equal to an artificial day on High Charity. A cycle has 265 units, which is equal to 265.2 hours or 11.05 days in human Earth time.[2][9][10] The term "cycle" is often reused in conjunction with other units of time, though on its own it primarily refers to an artificial day on High Charity.[2]

Unit[edit]

A unit is equal to a hundred centals, which is equal to approximately one hour (60.046528302 minutes) in human Earth time.[2][1] However, the meaning of the term is also dependent on the context in which it is used. A unit also refers to distance,[11] with one meter being approximately equivalent to 3.3 units.[12] A unit is also a measurement of temperature.[13]

Cental[edit]

A cental is equal to approximately 36 seconds (36.0279169812 seconds) human Earth time.[2][1]

Miscellaneous measurements[edit]

The Covenant and its remnants also use various versions of cycles and other terms separate from the High Charity version, these can vary in context:[2]

  • Day-cycles[2]
  • Annual cycles, also known as "revolutions"[2][14][6] - Similar in length to a Human Earth year.[15]
  • Lunar and solar cycles[2][16][17]
  • "sleep cycles"[18][19]
  • "weekly cycles" - Similar in length to an Earth week in human terms, with roughly four weeks and three days equalling four and a half weekly cycles.[6]
  • "monthly cycles"[6]
  • "daily cycle"[20]
  • Step of Silence[21]

Covenant Battle Calendar[edit]

Main article: Covenant Battle Calendar

The Covenant Battle Calendar was the standardized timekeeping calendar employed by the Covenant military. It is a system of Ages, Cycles, Units, and to a lesser extent Centals using High Charity time, where when combined form a standardized military calendar for operational coordination with a broader historical framework of prophetic "Ages" tied to theological and cultural milestones. It is the Covenant equivalent of the military calendar employed by the United Nations Space Command.[2]

Examples[edit]

Below is a few examples of how to use cycles, units, and centals in relation to human Earth time:

  • Five centals is roughly equivalent to three minutes.[1]
  • Five cycles equates to 1326 hours, or 55.25 days.[2]
  • Ten cycles equal 2652 hours, 110.5 days[2]

Production notes[edit]

The system was first introduced in Halo: The Flood with "Seventh Cycle, 49 Units".[22] with various glimpses over the years expanding upon it in various media. However there was not a uniform or consistent system with how it all fit together,[2] with several media not working with one another. Below are a handful of examples detailing these inconsistencies:

  • There is one case of Cycles and Units in the same Age being shared. Both Halo: The Flood and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx used "Seventh Cycle, 49 Units" despite both being set on different days.[22][23]
  • Very common in media throughout Halo in Covenant settings, human terms were used such as "hour", "minutes", with at most "cycle" used in a loose context.[24] For example, Halo: Contact Harvest forgoes “Units”, opting for human terminologies such as "hours".[25]
  • Early media often described Cycles closer to a human day, with Halo: Contact Harvest implying this throughout the novel with several descriptions such as “early hours of a cycle” supporting this.[25]
  • Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Halo: Silent Storm and Halo: Oblivion all use Cycles and Units differently to one another.
    • Halo: Ghosts of Onyx has Units rapidly going up throughout November 3 rapidly, with it starting at 49 Units[23] and getting up to at least 265 Units.[26] If calculated using surrounding dates and times to chapters that have cycles and units, a unit would equal to around one or two minutes in human time. The final Unit count of 265 may have been the cause of a Cycle equalling 265 Units in the Halo Encyclopedia and subsequent 2011 edition,[9][10] a fact that stuck in the updated version of the measurement system.[2]
    • Halo: Silent Storm has Cycles lasting days.
    • Halo: Oblivion has cycles lasting one day, similar to Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.
  • Halo: Silent Storm mentioned a "First Annual, Second Month" in one chapter.[27] This was based on author Troy Denning's interpretation of how the calendar worked. He was asked to remove them, but this one example remained by accident.[28]

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 2
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Midnight Oil (Retrieved on May 29, 2026) [archive]
  3. ^ Halo: Blood Line, issue 5
  4. ^ Halo 2, Conversations From the Universe
  5. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, Prologue
  6. ^ a b c d Halo: Hunters in the Dark, chapter 3
  7. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, chapter 15
  8. ^ a b Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 12
  9. ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition), page 31
  10. ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 31
  11. ^ Halo: The Flood, Prologue
  12. ^ Halo: Oblivion, chapter 14: notes that 10 kilometers is approximately 33 thousand units. Simple math indicates one meter equals 3.3 units.
  13. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, chapter 7
  14. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Wages of Sin
  15. ^ Halo: Anvil Accord
  16. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, chapter 20
  17. ^ Halo: Fifth Cantile
  18. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 6
  19. ^ Halo: The Cole Protocol, chapter 54
  20. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, chapter 6
  21. ^ Halo: First Strike, Epilogue
  22. ^ a b Halo: The Flood, chapter 7
  23. ^ a b Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 27
  24. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 3
  25. ^ a b Halo: Contact Harvest, chapter 9
  26. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, chapter 38
  27. ^ Halo: Silent Storm, chapter 21
  28. ^ X.com, Troy Denning (@TDenningauthor): "Yikes! I missed that! Iwas supposed to take the "annual, month" references out, so don't put too much weight on them. It was just my interpretation of how the calendar worked. Since I was asked to remove them, I'm assuming it wasn't correct.😰" (Retrieved on Sep 14, 2018) [archive]
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