Editing Gravemind (level)

{{Status|Gameplay}}

Strangely enough, apart from the opening cutscene, there is no contact with the [[Gravemind]] or the [[Flood]]. Also, the word "Gravemind" is not mentioned until two levels later in [[High Charity (level)|High Charity]]. This is the first level where Jiralhanae are fought, and is one of only four missions where there are no [[human]] weapons. This is the first level in which you can use the [[Type-25 Grenade Launcher|Brute Shot]] and the [[Kewu R'shi'k-pattern plasma rifle|Brute Plasma Rifle]].

[[File:HTMCC-H2A NoSalvationOnThisRing.png|thumb|275px|The Gravemind reveals itself to John-117 and the Arbiter.]]

''The Master Chief fights his way through many Jiralhanae and Unggoy, including an [[Unggoy Heavy]] operating a [[Shepsu-pattern plasma cannon|plasma turret]] and eventually makes it to the ledge where Thel 'Vadamee was tortured and branded with the [[Mark of Shame]]. Here, more Covenant troops, including Kig-Yar try to stop the Spartan's progress. Reinforcements soon arrive from a gravity lift at the far end of the ledge. Eventually a group of three Jiralhanae arrive, one with a red flag attached to its harness.''

''The team enters another corridor, and sees a pair of Jiralhanae and a group of Kig-Yar attacking three Sangheili Honor Guardsmen. They manage to eliminate the warring Covenant and continue onward, passing another dead Mgalekgolo as they leave the area. They enter another area, patrolled by a pair of live Mgalekgolo, who are eventually eliminated by the Chief after a struggle.''

''The door in front of the team opens, revealing a duel between an energy sword-wielding Sangheili Honor Guardsman and a Jiralhanae on a platform on the top floor of the first [[Valley of Tears A|Valley of Tears]]. Eliminating the victor of the duel as well as the [[Kig-Yar Sniper]]s in the distance, the team continues downwards, finding more Sangheili fighting a Jiralhanae under a [[Covenant watchtower]]. A group of Yanme'e fly down and attack another Mgalekgolo on the lower floor, but are soon intercepted by a pair of [[Sangheili Ranger]]s. The team hikes up and finds a door, guarded by a single Jiralhanae. They eliminate it and exit the Valley. Behind the door reveals a wide and long staircase, splattered with purple [[blood]]. They walk down the slope.''

[[File:H2A-Brutes vs Elites.jpg|300px|thumb|A bitter rivalry erupts into all-out war.]]  

''The teams exits and finds a [[gravity conveyor]]. They step into it and begin to convey to the other side. A [[slipspace]] rupture opens on their far left, and the {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} emerges from it.''

[[File:H2A-In Amber Clad In High Charity.png|thumb|300px|The {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}}, now overrun by the Flood jumps inside ''High Charity'' as the Flood prepare to crash it into the city.]]

''They move on to the other side, reaching the second [[Hanging Gardens B|Hanging Gardens]]. Panicking Unggoy run around it, soon coming under attack by a pair of berserking Jiralhanae. The team kills all Covenant present and continues to the next Gravity Conveyor, and enters a door. Now on the bottom of another wide and long staircase, the UNSC forces are attacked by a trio of Jiralhanae, who fill the air with grenades from their [[Type-25 Grenade Launcher|Brute Shots]]. Moving up as they eliminates the Jiralhanae, they reach the door at the top and arrives at the second [[Valley of Tears B|Valley of Tears]]. A single Sangheili defends itself from a Jiralhanae and a Kig-Yar Sniper, while another Jiralhanae attacks a pair of Unggoy near the pond below. Several more Unggoy are present nearby, trying to fend off the Jiralhanae. The opposite door opens, and three Sangheili, one of them an Honor Guardsman, along with a [[Type-33 fuel rod gun|fuel rod gun]]-wielding [[Unggoy Heavy]], who proceeds to fire at both the UNSC forces and the Jiralhanae. Scaling the Valley, the team hikes up a slope, meeting two energy sword-wielding [[Stealth Sangheili|camouflaged figures]], followed by several [[Special Operations Unggoy]]. After eliminating the troops, the team enters another door into an area held by the Sangheili-led Covenant. A Sangheili as well as several Unggoy patrol the area.''  

''The team kill the Covenant present, silently or not and continue into the next room, meeting more patrolling Sangheili and Unggoy, who are all Special Operations units. Shortly after, a Jiralhanae and two Kig-Yar launch an attack on the area from the opposite door. Caught in a crossfire, the Sangheili-led forces are wiped out before the humans and Jiralhanae-led Covenant turn their attention to each other. The team eventually emerges victorious and opens the next door. They find a long bridge leading to the Mausoleum of the Arbiter. On the team's side, a pack of Jiralhanae supported by a Kig-Yar Sniper launch an attack on a Sangheili position in the center of the bridge.''

[[File:H2ainambercladcrash.png|300px|thumb|Taken prisoner by Tartarus, Commander Keyes gazes upon the wreckage of the ''UNSC In Amber Clad'' as she is led to a Phantom.]]

''Tartarus and his Jiralhanae take Keyes, Johnson and [[343 Guilty Spark]] toward a platform where the Prophets of Truth and Mercy wait for them, with three [[Kez'katu-pattern Phantom|Phantoms]].''

[[File:H2A - Tartarus smashing Flood.jpg|300px|thumb|Tartarus and the Honor Guards defend the Prophets from a swarm of Pod infectors.]]

[[File:H2A - Reluctant Tartarus.jpg|thumb|300px|The Prophet of Truth betrays Mercy and orders Tartarus to abandon him to the Flood before they flee ''High Charity''.]]  

*One of the easiest ways to die is at the hands of a berserking Brute. The best way to prevent this is to have the Master Chief jump on to a scenery object or ledge higher than the berserking Brute. If the Brute is smart, he'll run around the room searching for a new target. If he's dumb, he'll try to melee you, not realizing you're higher than he is, which makes for an easy kill with a dual Plasma Rifle and/or [[Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher|Needler]] barrage or headshots with the Beam Rifle or Covenant Carbine. Also, they charge in a straight line and have to stop to redirect themselves.

*Sometimes, if the player kills a [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] in an [[Sangheili|Elite]]'s presence, the Elite will congratulate the player as if they were the [[Thel 'Vadam|Arbiter]].

*If a Hunter falls into the area behind the Sarcophagus in the middle of the last room then it won't attack the player, no matter how close they are, although if it is in the more open area of the space behind the Sarcophagus then it will melee the player eventually.

*Any surviving marines at the end of this level will not appear in the level ''[[High Charity (level)|High Charity]]''. They were likely not supposed to have survived in terms of the storyline.

===Easter eggs===

{{Main|Easter eggs}}

*The [[Halo 2 skulls#Anger|Anger Skull]] can be found on this level.

* The tenth terminal is a Covenant terminal in the first Valley of Tears. At the top of the cliff on the far side of the valley, near the exit door, on the wall behind where a Kig-Yar Sniper spawns, it can be found on the wall.

*It is possible to jump up to the roof of the council chambers by jumping into the gravity lift at the right moment as it brings a couple of Brutes in to kill the player. Jump in at the right time and one will fly up to the top. If one lands on the right part of the wall,  one won't die, but if one miss, one will fall to their death.

* Due to the country's censorship restrictions, Blur had to hide the Gravemind in the Anniversary version of the mission's opening cutscene in Chinese version of the game.

File:HTMCC-H2A ThisRingWillMakeUsBrothers.png|The Gravemind speaking to John-117 and the Arbiter.