View source for Unidentified shipmaster (Righteous Vigilance)

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Cov
|name=Unidentified shipmaster
|image=[[File:TheReturnShipmaster.png|275px]]
|homeworld=
|birth=
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Sangheili]]
|gender=Male
|height=
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|eyes=Orange{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}
|affiliation=*[[Covenant]] {{C|formerly}}{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}
*[[Covenant separatists]]{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}
|rank=[[Shipmaster]]{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}
|sn=
|notable=
}}
{{Quote|[[Sangheili|We]] had done so much in the [[Covenant|service]] of the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]]' [[Covenant religion|lies]]. I had done so much... all of it lies. I had [[Human-Covenant War|so much]] to answer for, for my service to their lies. So after all these years I brought my ship back to [[Kholo|this place]] of my [[Battle of Kholo|greatest victory]], now my greatest shame, to find a new purpose for my crew and my clan.|The Shipmaster}}{{Ref/Anthology|Id=Return|Evo|The Return}}

This '''unidentified [[shipmaster]]''' was the [[Sangheili]] commander of the [[Fleet of Righteous Vigilance]], who fought in the [[Human-Covenant War]] and later seceded from the hegemony along with his Sangheili brethren when the [[Great Schism]] broke out.{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

==Biography==
===Early life===
{{Quote|My people were the chosen ones, we enforced the will of our Prophets. The holy seers who led our great Covenant believers along the path to transcendence; the path to the Great Journey.|The Shipmaster}}
The Shipmaster was a member of the Covenant. He believed fervently in the Great Journey, and deemed the Sangheili the "chosen ones". He usually trained [[martial arts]] on Sanghelios alongside his brethren. One day, while training, he bested his rival, who fell into a lake. The other Sangheili was then captured by a sea creature, though the Shipmaster did not aid him.{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

===The war on humanity===
{{Quote|This planet is buried in war, and I know. For so long i've known how every soldier here dies, how every battle here ends. But I don't know who won.|The Shipmaster recounting [[Battle of Kholo|the events]] on Kholo}}
[[File:Ritual Glassing.png|250px|thumb|right|The Shipmaster personally etches the glyph meaning "Faith" into the surface of Kholo.]]
In [[2539]], the Shipmaster served in the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance, under the command of the [[Prophet of Conviction]]. After discovering the location of the [[human]] colony [[Kholo]] by interrogating a human [[freighter]] pilot, the Shipmaster led his fleet to the planet and deployed forces on the surface. After the [[Battle of Kholo|ground engagement]], the Shipmaster hand-guided his ship's [[energy projector]] to carve the glyph representing "Faith" on the planet surface in a ritual glassing. After successfully carving the glyph, the fleet completed the glassing and the Shipmaster was bonded to the Prophet of Conviction.{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

The Shipmaster fought at the [[Fall of Reach]], where he destroyed three [[orbital defense platform]]s. He claimed that he saw the best of humanity's combat prowess at [[Reach]].{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

===Great Schism===
{{Quote|'''Betrayal!''' Our people have been betrayed by the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]] and their [[Jiralhanae|savage puppets]]! You have seen what they have done, how they have struck down our faith and our leaders! And you know what we must do in the face of such betrayal. Our war against these deceivers starts '''now!'''|The Shipmaster to his soldiers before killing the Prophet of Conviction}}
When the Great Schism began, he confronted the Prophet of Conviction, whose species, the [[San'Shyuum]], had attempted to kill the Sangheili. The Prophet had heard of the start of the Schism and locked himself in his room, armed with his plasma pistol. On the way the Shipmaster was confronted by the Prophet's Honor Guards, with one raising his energy sword but the shipmaster only gently moved him aside and engaged the armed Prophet. The Shipmaster, however, overpowered the Prophet after dodging his overcharged shot and brought him forward in front of the crew, who were exposed to images of the [[Sangheili Councilor]]s assassinated by the San'Shyuum's [[Jiralhanae]] "puppets". He then executed Conviction and left with the crew to join other [[Sangheili]].{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

===Post-war===
{{Quote|It was [[Sangheili-Jiralhanae war|a terrible war]]. The [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]] provided the [[Jiralhanae|Brutes]] with powerful new weapons, hoping that they would in turn defend their Prophets against our wrath. But when the Prophets went into hiding, the lack of strong leadership allowed the Brutes to revert to their savage natures and they soon began to fight against each other. This lack of solidarity made them much easier prey. Some of my fellow commanders continue that fight even now, but not enough. After generations spent obeying the [[The Covenant|Covenant]] and the [[Covenant religion|words]] of the Prophets, we no longer know how to find out what [[Forerunner|our gods]] want us to do. We don't know what our gods want... at all. We have no scientist, no clergy, no law and no reason to be. We risk extinction for the lack of a purpose and that is why I came to [[Kholo|this planet]] where I last felt the touch of those gods; for guidance.|The Shipmaster on the continuing [[Great Schism]], the mysterious disappearance of the San'Shyuum and his return to Kholo during the [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|post-war era]]}}
[[File:EvoMC KholoHorizon.jpg|250px|thumb|left|The Shipmaster sees smoke on the horizon as he wanders the surface of Kholo.]]
From that day until at least [[2559]], he had been fighting the Jiralhanae in the ongoing [[Sangheili-Jiralhanae war]]. That year, the Shipmaster returned to Kholo so that he could atone for the sins he felt that he had committed. On Kholo, he discovered a human excavation operation among the ruins of a city. There, he observed humans in a firefight with a small group of [[Kig-Yar]] raiders, eventually fighting the Kig-Yar himself. Shortly thereafter he encountered two humans, one dead from multiple plasma shots in the legs and torso, and another who had been wounded. Thinking that the human would die from his wound, the Shipmaster moved on, but then stumbled upon pictures of humans observing [[Forerunner]] artifacts, including an [[Monitor|"Oracle"]]. He then returned to the wounded human; realizing that the [[Type-51 Carbine|carbine]] round had passed through the latter's body, the Shipmaster decided to try to save the human, calling in a medic from his ship, as well as a security squad, the ship's chief engineer, and a patrol of the surrounding area for Kig-Yar or human ships. It was his intention that once the human recovered, he would interrogate him in order to discover the reason for the excavations on the planet.{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

==Personality and traits==
The Shipmaster of Rightous Vigilance was a firm believer of the Great Journey until the Great Schism began, but this did not stop him from  revering the Forerunners as gods. He vowed revenge on the San'Shyuum, whom he labelled as "deceivers", when he found out that the Great Journey was a lie, and that lie resulted in the "death of the Covenant". Fighting alongside his fellow Sangheili, he took it upon himself to hunt down as many Jiralhanae he could, for their role in the Covenant's sudden betrayal of his race. As a warrior, he respected humanity's prowess, claiming he saw the best of it during the [[Fall of Reach]]. While it is unknown whether he became a [[Swords of Sanghelios|Sword]], he evidently held high regard for [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]], once referring him as the Sangheili's "Champion". By the time of his walking on Kholo's surface, he felt great shame and sorrow for his role in the genocidal campaign he committed during the [[Human-Covenant War]], and wished to atone for his sins, while also believing his people are slowly declining as a people and as a society. Since the San'Shyuum's betrayal and subsequent disappearance, he believed the Sangheili have lost their purpose and messenger between them and their gods. Not wanting his race to lose their way, he vowed to find himself a new purpose in life, even it meant reaching out to his gods, but he did not know what his gods wanted him to do nor did he know if they were still out there.{{Ref/Reuse|Return}}

==Production notes==
The shipmaster's identity is deliberately kept vague in ''[[The Return]]'' - something that [[343 Industries]] has intentionally kept in place. This is due to the literary value of having the shipmaster represent a wider view of the Sangheili and their relationship with war, and a wish to preserve this value.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFEE|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-encyclopedia-extravaganza|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Encyclopedia Extravaganza|D=01|M=06|Y=2022}} A similar scenario was repeated with the [[unidentified Sangheili Minor]] found at the start of the level [[H2:Uprising|Uprising]] in ''[[Halo 2]]'', who was the central point-of-view in the short story ''[[Halo: Age of Retribution]]''.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Thereturntraining.jpg|The Shipmaster during his training. He is dueling with another [[Sangheili]] on their home world, [[Sanghelios]].
File:Thereturntraining2.jpg|The Shipmaster succeeded in training. 
File:TheReturn - Battle.jpg|The Shipmaster personally participates in the Battle of Kholo.
File:HTRmc-Destruction-of-Prophets.jpg|The Shipmaster killing the Prophet of Conviction.
File:Evo Return Beaudoin.jpg|The Shipmaster, after the Human-Covenant War, returns to Kholo. Art by Rachel Beaudoin.
File:Curveblade01.png|The Shipmaster wielding his [[curveblade]].
File:Returncarbine.jpg|The Shipmaster wielding a [[Type-51 Carbine]].
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[The Return]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: The Return]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Sangheili characters]]
[[Category:Covenant military personnel]]
[[Category:Unidentified content]]