Reclaimer
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
- "The Oracle calls them "Reclaimers". But what do they reclaim? These machines? These cities? These worlds? Or, as I fear, are they to reclaim the Mantle we so terribly squandered?"
- — Minister of Discovery[1]
"Reclaimer" is a Forerunner term used to refer to a species (or a member of said species) chosen to be the inheritors of the Mantle,[2] the stewardship over all life originally held by the Precursors. Following the activation of the Halo Array and the ensuing Reintroduction, this refers to humans, whom the Forerunners (more pointedly those allied with the Librarian) regarded as their rightful successors. In particular the term is applied to humans who carry the requisite Lifeworker-created geas that allow them to activate Forerunner technology;[3] indeed, a great deal of the Forerunners' abandoned technology may be activated only when used by a Reclaimer. For most of their history, however, the Forerunners considered themselves the rightful inheritors of the Mantle from the Precursors, who had originally intended to pass the Mantle down to humanity.
Overview[edit]
Generally speaking, the term "Reclaimer" refers to humans (as a species or as individuals) retaking stewardship of the Mantle. However, technically the term denotes humans who are capable of activating Forerunner technology.[4] This is due to the presence of geas implanted by the Librarian,[3] which give at least some humans an instinctive familiarity (often a feeling of déjà vu) when encountering Forerunner technology. For example, Spartan John-117 simply "knew" how to activate a holographic control panel on Halo Installation 04, despite it being the first piece of Forerunner technology he had ever encountered.[5] Marvin Mobuto[6] and Charlie Collins also displayed this ability.[7] This innate knowledge extends to Covenant technology as well, as Covenant technology is crudely reverse-engineered from Forerunner designs.[8] In the same vein, Forerunner technology responds to human presence much as it would have done in the presence of its creators, though it will not do so for other species. An imprint of Birth-to-Light once told Rion Forge of the Librarian and the mark that she had left on the human race that "all of humanity carries remnants of her work from times past - passed along from generation to generation, becoming dormant but never gone. It is what propels our technology to recognize your status and allow interaction."[9] Joyeuse explained to Lucas Browning that the Librarian had used technology to place a genetic imprint on humanity that could be instructions or subconscious orders that might pertain to a single individual or passed down through generations. As the Librarian had placed these within the humans seeded on Earth, in a way all humans have some remaining geas built into their DNA which is why they're recognized as Reclaimers by Forerunner systems.[10]
Though it is unclear how commonly the geas may be found among humans, it is known that at least some are incapable of properly interfacing with Forerunner technology.[4] In contrast to Mobuto, Charlie and John-117's ease with operating Forerunner systems, Gabriel's touch to a control dais had no effect, causing him to hit and kick at it, suggesting that he lacked the instinctive understanding of how to operate Forerunner systems.[11] However, Gabriel's touch as a Reclaimer was still enough to activate a translocation pad after it had already been initialized by Charlie and programmed by Seelior 'Andolee. Interestingly, Gabriel's severed hand being touched to the panel appeared to be enough a touch from a Reclaimer to trigger the activation of the pad.[7] While choosing Mobuto as the Reclaimer to activate Halo, 343 Guilty Spark stated that the presence and pitch of his geas was strong indeed while Mobuto's companions -- including Charlie and Gabriel -- only possessed mere embers of potential.[12]
Along with implanting the geas necessary to utilize Forerunner relics, the Librarian planted "seeds" that led to some of humanity's most important technological achievements. Specifically, this genesong led to the creation of the SPARTAN programs and their MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, as well as Smart AI.[13] These developments enabled humanity - primarily through the efforts of John-117 and Cortana - to defeat the Ur-Didact during his renewed campaign to compose humanity into Promethean Knights.[14] Despite this tragedy, the Librarian originally hoped that the Didact would emerge from stasis after millennia of meditation to guide humanity; he was to give them the Janus Key, thereby providing the location of all Forerunner technology in the galaxy and securing the Reclaimers' ascendancy.[15]
The status of Reclaimer was conferred upon humanity as an emergency directive on the authority of the remains of the New Council (namely the Librarian and the IsoDidact) during the events surrounding the firing of the Halo Array. This overrode the Builder-controlled Old Council's previous ruling from ten thousand years earlier which involved humanity's biological and technological regression as punishment for their part in the Plague War. However, following the enactment of this punitive measure, the Librarian had been secretly modifying humanity's geas for thousands of years to prepare them to take on the role of Reclaimers — against the direct orders of the Council.[3]
Strangely, 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Halo Installation 04, once insisted to John-117, "you are Forerunner."[16] This is presumably metaphorical, as Mendicant Bias likewise claimed the Reclaimers as its makers,[17] despite humanity being genetically and culturally distinct from the Forerunners. Alternately, this may be due to the onset of rampancy; Spark had previously treated the Master Chief as if the latter were the IsoDidact, responding to a question the IsoDidact had asked 100,000 years prior.[18][19]
Some Forerunner technology appeared to only require the touch of a Reclaimer for initialization or activation after which anyone could use it, at least to a certain extent. After Charlie initialized the translocation pad on Installation 04, 'Andolee was able to access and program the controls on where the pad would send the travelers, but the pad still required the touch of a Reclaimer to initiate activation for each traveler afterwards. 'Andolee attributed this particular feature to the pad being less advanced than the one previously used by Spark to teleport Mobuto which could activated remotely by the Monitor.[7] Once Rion Forge powered up the Builder facility on Triniel, Spark was able to access and use the systems at will.[20] Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee and the Prophet of Regret at least believed that the Covenant would be able to use the fleet of Sojourner-class dreadnoughts on Trove after Ellen Anders' touch at the Apex Site activated them.[21]
Failures to recognize Reclaimer status[edit]
As the UNSC Spirit of Fire was pulled inside of Trove on February 23, 2531, the ship and her crew were scanned by the installation's decontamination network. In addition to detecting a high-order Flood infestation, the ancilla in charge of the network's cleansing rings failed to recognize the crew as Reclaimers. As the Spirit of Fire's crew and complement were regarded as an "unknown alien intrusion", they were forced to engage a bevy of Sentinels</