Jul 'Mdama

"I know what the Librarian will say, Glassman. She will tell us where all things sacred are hidden in this galaxy. Ships, weapons, bounties beyond our imagining. And she will tell us how to make those miracles... our own."

- 'Mdama rallying his troops after speaking with Doctor Glassman.

Jul 'Mdama, known to many as the "Didact's Hand," is a Sangheili shipmaster previously in the service of the Covenant during the war against humanity. After being held captive on Trevelyan, 'Mdama enlisted his services to the Covenant remnant leading ground and naval forces as one of their senior commanders. After years of eluding the public light, his activities on Requiem established him yet again as a high-valued target for UNSC forces.

Biography
Jul was born in the state of Mdama on Sanghelios. Years later he would marry Raia 'Mdama, having two sons, Dural and Asum, and a few daughters. He served in the Covenant military in the Human-Covenant War. While he was away, he left the management of his ancestral estate to Raia and her grandbrother, Naxan.

Post-war
After the Human-Covenant War, 'Mdama still felt mistrust and resentment toward humanity, comparing them to the Flood in some respects, believing the species wouldn't stop their colonization efforts. He did, however, grudgingly admit that while they weren't the best at anything, they were good enough at everything to survive. In January 2553, he attended a meeting with the Kaidon Levu 'Mdama and the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam. He asked the Arbiter what his plans were for the humans and expressed his desire to finish them off while they were still recovering. After Vadam announced he will try to make peace with the humans, he and fellow shipmaster Forze decided that humanity wouldn't change and that they must stop them.

‘Mdama and Forze then allied with Avu Med 'Telcam purely out of pragmatism, as the Servants of the Abiding Truth were best-equipped to assassinate Thel 'Vadam. After stealing the frigate Unflinching Resolve, ‘Mdama became suspicious of 'Telcam's benefactors, and secretly followed him to New Llanelli. After he discovered 'Telcam receiving weapons from the Office of Naval Intelligence, ‘Mdama was discovered and captured by Naomi-010. Detained onboard the, he was interrogated by Evan Phillips and the shipboard AI, Black-Box. ‘Mdama was then transferred to ONI Research Facility Trevelyan, where he was placed in captivity under the supervision of Dr. Irena Magnusson.

Meanwhile, 'Mdama was plotting to escape. While he no longer believed that the Forerunners were gods, he pretended to be a devout follower of the religion as a cover for visiting Forerunner sites, enabling him to find out about the Didact and various parts of Forerunner history. During his stay on the planet, he was fed genetically modified versions of food from Sanghelios, causing him to feel very sick. 'Mdama had several conversations with his Huragok escort, Prone to Drift, and learned about the Didact and how he was sealed away on a world, Requiem, and that Requiem's location was kept from the Huragok. Eventually, after regaining his strength, he forced Prone to disable his explosive collar and to allow him through a malfunctioning portal that he found. This led him to Hesduros, a Sangheili colony world. Seeing that its inhabitants were very religious and weren't aware of recent events in the galaxy, Jul put on his religious façade and manipulated them into joining him on his quest to find the Didact and eradicate humans once and for all.

Requiem
In 2554, 'Mdama and his followers found the shield world Requiem. Over the next three years, the Covenant remnant tried to enter the planet, without success. In 2557, several of his ships identified a human vessel heading to the planet. 'Mdama ordered his troops to board the ship and keep the humans away from Requiem.

Over six months after the Didact's attack on Earth and after the returned to Requiem, 'Mdama still lead his Covenant remnant. The Forerunner artifact secured by Spartan Fireteam Crimson and brought aboard the Infinity translocated Doctor Henry Glassman to a Covenant-held base on Requiem. 'Mdama came to oversee his soldiers when Glassman, alive but injured, was brought before to him by several other Sangheili. 'Mdama put Glassman to work at a Forerunner "shrine," which he believed contained the remnants of the Librarian's consciousness in AI form. He intended to use Glassman to reactivate the shrine, allowing him to communicate with the Librarian and ask for her aid in reclaiming the Forerunners' technological wonders.

After Fireteam Castle was shot down and killed by Covenant forces under 'Mdama, UNSC forces began searching for him. Fireteam Crimson is sent to Two Giants, 'Mdama's location, however, soon after Crimson engaged Promethean forces 'Mdama escaped through a Slipspace portal. When Crimson followed him to the Fortress he escaped through yet another portal to The Cauldron. When Crimson tracked 'Mdama through the Cauldron he tried to escape again, but not before Sarah Palmer called in an airstrike on 'Mdama's location. He managed to escape, but not before dropping a Forerunner device. 'Mdama oversaw the Covenant's attempt to retrieve the device from Galileo Base with Gek, but was only creating a show for the humans. It was later revealed that 'Mdama was using the artifact recovered by Fireteam Crimson as a form of communication terminal, allowing Jul to anonymously communicate with Dr. Catherine Halsey via her datapad and spy on the UNSC Infinity.

Appearance
As the leader of the Covenant remnant, Jul 'Mdama wears armor commonly used by Zealots of the new Covenant order, though it is painted in the standard blue worn by younger, less experienced Sangheili soldiers. His high position is indicated by a holographic symbol that hovers over the forehead of his helmet. His armor features multiple painted white handprints with Didact's unbound symbols on the palm, indicating his status as the "Didact's Hand."

Trivia
After 'Mdama's capture, Malcolm Geffen joked that it sounded like 'Mdama was saying "blarg". This is a reference to the Red vs. Blue machinima series, in which the Sangheili say only "blarg" and "honk".

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4