Reversed messages

In the Halo 2 song Destroyer's Invocation, (the first movement of the Mausoleum Suite on the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack), a mysterious voice chants. If this mumbling is reversed ([[Media:Reversed_message.ogg|listen]]), a voice is heard saying:


 * ...I have walked among men and angels for three thousand years. Time has no end... no beginning... no purpose.


 * I wander the earth, seeking forgiveness for my horrible crimes against God and man.


 * I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished.


 * I live in a prison of my own device.


 * I am lost in time...

Most speculate that this voice is Gravemind, however, the debate surrounding this message is furious-other theories include one of the Prophets, the Arbiter, Cortana, the Forerunner Dreadnaught (or something aboard it), or even the Master Chief himself. The voice is heard during the cutscene before The Arbiter, the level Gravemind when you rescue the Marines, and during The Great Journey when you fight Tartarus.

Recently, however, Marty O'Donnell, in a post on the Halo.Bungie.Org forums, stated that he wondered "why the transcript (of the reversed message) is still wrong." This seems to indicate that changes must be made to the transcript before it is accurate.

More recently, a new theory has arisen that the voice is in fact Mendicant Bias, the entity from the Terminals in the Halo 3 campaign.

Here is the voice in video form: 71JdQiXLTBk