Prophet of Truth

"If you would give in to fear, know this - I am the Prophet of Truth, and I am not afraid!"

- The Prophet of Truth

Prophet of Truth, Halo 2, High Charity (level).

The Prophet of Truth was the leader of three Hierarchs that lead the Covenant High Council. Since the Prophets of Mercy and Regret's death, he became the de facto leader of the entire Covenant.

The Reach Campaign and The Arbiter
Before receiving the position of Prophet of Truth in 2525 (or the beginning of the Ninth Age of Reclamation), he was Minister of Fortitude.

Truth was much younger than the High Prophet of Mercy, but only slightly older than the High Prophet of Regret.

Justification of the belief that he is the most powerful of the three High Prophets comes from scenes such as the opening cinematic sequences in 'Heretic', and scenes during the opening of 'The Arbiter'. His authority is also clearly exhibited in other ways, for example, it is he who airs the transmission informing the Covenant that the Great Journey is about to begin (before being interrupted by Master Chief at the start of 'Gravemind (Level)').

Truth was the first Prophet ever mentioned by name, at the end of Halo: First Strike. He waited in High Charity on the Step of Silence for Tartarus to come and report on the status of the teams searching for the Forerunner Crystal. He then ordered the teams that searched for them to be executed.

Truth did not think highly of the Prophet of Regret's inexperience. It is not clear just how much younger Regret is than Truth, but neither of them were born when the Prophet of Mercy was elected to the council. He wrote letters to Mercy complaining of Regret's rashness, one of which appeared, albeit in code, in the Conversations from the Universe.

The Heretics
Truth was first seen in Halo 2, during the trial of the Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. With a nod, he ignored the requests of Regret and the council to execute the Commander, and instead chose to make him an Arbiter. He then sent his new Arbiter against the Heretic rebellion forming on the nearby Gas Mine.

Punishing Regret
While on Installation 05, Regret transmitted an apology to Truth, apologizing for his reckless attack on Earth. Truth responded angrily, saying that it was only Mercy who had stopped Truth from publicly condemning Regret. Nevertheless, High Charity and its fleet rushed to Installation 05 and released a fleet of Phantom dropships full of forces to save Regret from the humans who had overwhelmed Regret's own army. His sermons were interrupted when the Chief burst in, and managed to attack and kill him. The rescue Phantoms were called back by Truth, and instead a Covenant ship had the temple quickly destroyed with an unknown energy-based weapon. It is likely that Truth allowed Regret to be killed as part of his plan to sever the Covenant as an Elite commented that he called back their Phantoms before Regret was killed.

Locating the Sacred Icon
After Regret was killed by the Master Chief, Truth began replacing the Elites with the Brutes as the Prophets' protectors. This ultimately led to a civil war throughout the Covenant. Shortly thereafter, while Truth was addressing the Covenant about the Flood, The Index, and The Great Journey, the Chief, who was teleported to High Charity by Gravemind, attempted to assassinate him and the High Prophet of Mercy, but their Brute bodyguards covered their escape.

Schism
He, Mercy, Tartarus, and the captured Commander Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson were about to take Phantom dropships to the surface of Installation 05 when they were attacked by Flood infection forms. Truth allowed Mercy to die when he was infected, and instead, as it looked as though High Charity would fall to the Flood, he fled in the Forerunner Dreadnaught. When the Chief questioned dying Mercy, he said that Truth was going to Earth "to finish what we started". This implies that Truth might have been trying to activate The Ark or finish off all the humans.

At the end of Halo 2, Truth remained the only High Prophet alive.

Assault on Earth
Truth would be stationed on Earth until the Ark portal was activated, after that, he landed on the Ark and had the Brutes capture Johnson to activate the Ark

Activating The Ark
"My feet tread the path. I shall become a god!"

- Prophet of Truth

Shortly after, a Brute Chieftain is attempting to make Johnson activate The Ark. A Pelican piloted by Miranda Keyes crashes through the large exterior facing window. After she killed several Brutes and decided to go down fighting the rest with Johnson, Truth pulls out a Brute Spiker. Truth then fires five spikes into her back killing the Commander practically instantaneously.



Truth was infected by the flood during the attack by the Master Cheif, the Arbiter and the flood. However, he managed, with some difficulty, to resist the the effects of the parasite until the Arbiter found him lying on the ground. Whilst the Arbiter was preparing to kill him with an energy sword, Truth revealed that he never thought the Elites truly believed in the Covenant religion. The Flood in his body caused horrific mutations, with his body quickly changing. Even while infected, he believed he was destined to become a god. The Gravemind was able to speak through Truth, telling the Prophet that he was merely food for the Flood. The Arbiter finally skewered the leader of the Covenant through the chest with the Sangheili's sword.

With his death, the Covenant collapses, finally bringing the Human-Covenant War to an end.

Personality
Seeing that during the Arbiter's trial he expressed little emotion whatsoever despite the fact that Halo was destroyed, it would seem like Truth has a very calm and stoic nature. However, he is quick to become impatient and angsty towards those like his fellow Hierarch Regret whenever they do something utterly foolish. An example of this is when Truth sends a transmission to Regret scolding him on how rash he was to attack the humans' homeworld. However, the reason he is harsh on him is probably because he worries that Regret will end up dead or worse according to a letter he wrote to Mercy saying that he is "perhaps worrying too much". After arriving on Earth, Truth appears noticeably more aggressive and impatient, possibly having grown more annoyed by the "Demon" and the Humans interfering in his plans. Interestingly, contrary to his name, Truth is very deceptive, often lying to accomplish his goals, such as saying that the Brutes found the Sacred Icon instead of the Arbiter, who truly discovered it. Another example is the fact that he stated that the Prophet of Mercy was by his side in the level "High Charity", when in fact, Mercy died in a totally preventable attack by the Flood. Truth denied him help, stating that "the Great Journey waits for no one".

Another interesting thing to note is that throughout Halo 3 (and parts of Halo 2), Truth exhibits many psychopathic traits, and even shows a slight sadistic side. It would seem that he loses his cool, calm behavior when face-to-face with a formidble enemy, such as the Arbiter or the Chief.

He is most likely insane considering how fanatical he is, and he is manipulative and charismatic. He employed into play the Covenant Civil War, along with Mercy's and Regret's preventable deaths.

Motives
The motives for Truth's actions have been called into question as one of the biggest mysteries of the Halo universe. His choices in allowing both Mercy and Regret to die seem to suggest that he wants supreme power over the entire Covenant, yet he demonstrates throughout the storyline that he already has supreme power, even over the other High Prophets.

Another action of his that was the replacing of the Elites with the Brutes in Covenant society. Truth's reason for why Brutes replaced Elites was that Elites "could no longer guarantee the safety" of the Prophets due to the death of Regret, but it is already clear that Regret's death was allowed by Truth's recalling of the Phantom dropships that were on the way to save Regret. It should be noted that Truth's "reason" for changing the guard was merely an excuse for upgrading the troublesome Elites with a stronger and more loyal force of Brutes. Letting Regret die was part of his plan to wield stronger power, as well as doing away with the Elites. Truth's belief in the Covenant religion is also in question. He appears to have had ample time to scrutinize 343 Guilty Spark after it was captured from the Gas Mine, and it is likely that Spark "edified" Truth in the same way as Sesa 'Refumee, who led a rebellion against the religion. If this is the case, it is also unclear then exactly why Truth wishes to activate the Halos and kill all life, including himself and his own empire, if he knows there is no Great Journey. However it is revealed in Halo: Contact Harvest that he does believe in the Great Journey and he knew all along that the humans were the Forerunners. This is why he wanted to have them all killed because he knew if word got out te Covenant would break into civil war. Although perhaps Truth already knew of the purpose of the rings, as the Prophets were the original discoverers of the information regarding the Halos and of the Forerunners that built them. They then used this to stop their war with the Elites and form the Covenant with them at the top. This may have been part of a plot to use the Halos and The Ark/Shield world, as a means of destroying all their enemies in a single blow, while they survived. Obviously such a plot would have been kept very secret, within the higher ranks of the Prophet Hierarchs. Regret was confirmed to be a newer Hierarch and may not have known of the truth yet. But in truth Mercy, Regret, and Truth all became prophets at the same time. This explains why Truth and Mercy were so focused on stopping him, thinking he may have interfered with their plan, and thus called off any rescue and had him killed when he refused to stop and return to High Charity.

One such speculation is that perhaps the Prophets want the Elites eliminated after their recent questioning as to why the Prophets do not consider humans fit to join the Covenant. The Prophets know that the humans are the ones that are supposed to interpret and discover the Forerunner's creations. This is because humans can better utilize their own technology and Forerunner objects. For example, some Spartans can read ancient Forerunner writings in the Ghosts of Onyx. Another possibility for wanting the Elites killed could be a deeper animosity towards the Elites from the beginning of the Covenant; before the Covenant formed, after all, the Elites and Prophets were at war with each other.

His reasons for leaving in the Forerunner ship bound toward Earth, the location of Portal, also suggests that he may know something else about the rings, something he is hiding. Why would a zealot, focused on beginning the "Great Journey", head to Earth right as Tartarus was about to begin it? And why to Portal which leads to the Ark, of all places? It is a structure speculated to counter the rings. Mercy's explanation left it wide open to much speculation, as he said to the Chief, "Earth, to finish what we've started, and this time none of you will be left behind." Now this can be interpreted as simply the Covenant finishing off humanity, but why right when the Great Journey is about to begin. Perhaps Mercy is referring to something else involving the Prophet Hierarchs, and possibly their true motives. And his statement "this time, none of you will be left behind" refers to the Halos firing and the fate of humanity.

But his description on Halo3.com (an official information site by Bungie on Halo 3) described him as "Deluded, possibly insane" as well as a true believer. It could also be possible that if he knows the true purpose of the Rings he is in denial.

According to Halo 3, part of Truth's motives stem from the fact that the human race is indeed the Forerunner's 'legacy' (either physically or metaphorically due to the efforts made to preserve Earth) making them by extension the gods of the Covenant. He has an odd view of the human race as seen by his conversation with Johnson, secretly admiring their traits, yet seeing them as mere shadows of the Forerunners and unworthy of the Covenant's worship. That, is reserved solely for himself it would seem. He even admits that he needs humans to activate the Ark (telling Johnson that this would remain a secert between them) and cannot do it himself as he clearly has to force Johnson to activate the Control Panel. Stranger still, Truth tells Johnson that this secret would "die with all the rest," indicating that he knows that activating the rings will kill all life in the galaxy, and yet shortly thereafter is convinced that he "shall become a god". Whatever his motives the galaxy is lucky that the Master Chief with the help of the Arbiter and the Flood destroyed his remaining forces then deactivated the Control Panel forcing the Prophet of Truth to witness his own failure just before the Arbiter finally killed him with an Energy Sword through the back.

Quotes

 * "You were right to focus your attention on the Flood. But this demon, this 'Master Chief'..." -To the future Arbiter (note that the Covenant refers to the Master Chief as the "Demon" but Truth was the first Covenant who referred to the Master Chief by his rank)
 * "You are one of our most treasured instruments. Long have you led your fleet with honour and distinction, but your inablity to safeguard Halo was a colossal failure." -To the future Arbiter
 * "The Council decided to have you hung by your entrails and your corpse paraded through the city. But ultimately...the terms of your execution are up to me." -To the future Arbiter
 * "Here rest the vanguard of the Great Journey. every Arbiter from first to last. Each one created and consumed in times of extraodinary crisis
 * "Politics. How tiresome."
 * "The Great Journey waits for no-one, brother. Not even you." -To the Prophet of Mercy, as the Flood infects him.
 * "There are those who said this day would never come. What have they to say now?" -Addressing the Covenant
 * "No enemy has ever withstood our might."
 * "My Dreadnaught, the vessel that has so long been the focus of our worship. Now rests on its true pedastal. Now, its holy engines spark greater ones below. Relics long without power are ready to fufill their divine purpose, Stand fast! Keep our enemies at bay. Soon my brothers we will all have our reward."- from Holo pad on the Highway
 * "You are, all of you, vermin. Cowering in the dirt, thinking... what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? No, your world will burn until its surface is but glass! Not even your Demon will live to creep, blackened, from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage; the culmination of our Journey, for your destruction is the will of the gods! And I? I am their instrument!" - Truth in a transmission to Crow's Nest, part of this quote is similar to the first Covenant transmission to the UNSC: "Your destruction is the will of the Gods... and we are their instrument."
 * "My faithful, stand firm. Though our enemies crowd around us we tread the blessed path. In a moment, I will light the rings, and all who believe shall be saved." - said just before Master Chief and the Arbiter enter the Ark control room
 * " How could I have known the Parasite would follow?!" - said during Flood attack on the Ark
 * "I - am - Truth...! The voice of the Covenant!"
 * Arbiter: "And so you must be silenced!" - immediately before Truth's death.

Trivia

 * The Prophet of Truth is voiced by Michael Wincott in Halo 2 and by Terence Stamp in Halo 3.
 * Even though Truth's head-piece falls off right before the Arbiter stabs him, it will still be on the head of Truth's corpse after the cutscene.

Related Links

 * Prophet of Mercy
 * Prophet of Regret