Great Schism
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Sangheili victory
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- "By the Prophets… what have these Brutes done? They have shed our brothers' blood… and for that, they must die!"
- — Sangheili on Installation 05.[4]
The Great Schism, also known as the Covenant Schism,[3] was a major civil war between the forces loyal to the Covenant (led by the San'Shyuum and the Jiralhanae) against the Covenant separatists (the Sangheili and their followers), which split apart on November 3, 2552. The High Prophet of Truth ordered the extermination of the entire Sangheili species,[5][6][7] forcing them out of the Covenant.[8] Battles during the Schism took place all throughout Covenant space, most prominently on High Charity, the heart of the alien empire. The Flood additionally played a tertiary role, when they took over the holy city in an effort to assimilate the other warring factions. The deciding battles were fought between the Sangheili Fleet of Retribution allied with the UNSC against the High Prophet of Truth and his remnants of the Covenant on the Ark. The Schism marked both the end of the Covenant and the partition of its client species for a thousand years.[3] For the UNSC, it served as a major turning point that led to the end of the war after their disastrous defeat on Reach.
The conflict went down in Sangheili history as the Great Betrayal, its deep wounds continuing to stir animosity between their kind and the Jiralhanae for years to come.[9]
Background[edit]
- Thel 'Vadamee: "We are strong, Kig-Yar. That is why we sit at the right hand of the Prophets."
- Reth: "One day that shall pass."
- — Conversation between Reth and Thel 'Vadamee in 2535[10]
For centuries over the course of the history of the Covenant, various high ranking Sangheili with great influence would use their power to ask questions, eventually coming close to discovering the truth about the Forerunners.[11] Discovering such a truth would falsify the Covenant religion and shatter the empire along with its power structure. As such, the San'Shyuum High Prophets perceived these influential Sangheili as a threat to their authority, and would send them on suicide missions decorated under the ostensibly honorary guise of Arbiters to discreetly remove their threatening presence.[11]
With this history of troublesome influential Sangheili well documented among the High Prophets, the threat the Sangheili posed was made even more apparent during the Human-Covenant War in 2552, when Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction spread information about the Great Journey being false.[13] Intending to prevent the Covenant from falling apart and losing power, the High Prophet of Truth secretly made plans to eject the entire Sangheili species from the hegemony, viewing them as untrustworthy and doubting their rel