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 Dr. Henry Glassman

Jul 'Mdama, known to his followers as the "Didact's Hand" or the "Hand of the Didact", is a Sangheili shipmaster previously in the service of the Covenant during the war against humanity. Fueled by hatred for humanity, 'Mdama became the supreme leader of the revived Covenant in the wake of the Great Schism. Despite years of eluding the public light, his activities on the shield world Requiem re-established him as a highly valued target for the United Nations Space Command.

Early life and military career
Jul was born March 5, 2489 in the state of Mdama on Sanghelios. Years later he would marry Raia 'Mdama, having two sons, Dural and Asum. At some point, he became the elder of Bekan keep in Mdama. During the Human-Covenant War, he served in the Covenant military as a shipmaster (presumably under the name 'Mdamaee) and had once commanded an unknown cruiser. While he was away, he left the management of his ancestral estate of Bekan keep 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 would not stop their colonization efforts. He did, however, grudgingly admit that while they were not the best at anything, they were good enough at everything to survive. In January 2553, he attended a meeting with Kaidon Levu 'Mdama and 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 would try to make peace with the humans, he and fellow shipmaster Forze 'Mdama decided that humanity would not change and that they must stop them.

Jul later met with Levu in private. Although the kaidon disliked humanity and believed they were a threat to the Sangheili, Levu did not believe that the Sangheili had the capability to wipe out the entire species and peace was currently a better option. '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. 'Telcam took them on a tour of the Temple of the Abiding Truth, pointing out the symbols that may lead to the Halo Array. The three met with Buran 'Utaral, another member of the Abiding Truth and a former shipmaster. Together, the four travelled to the Aanrar Shipyard to steal Buran's former frigate, Unflinching Resolve. After simply going to the bridge of the ship and stealing the frigate, telling the shipyard's dockmaster they were taking the frigate for assessments, Unflinching Resolve was brought to Mdama and hidden in Bekan quarry near Jul's keep. Shortly after, 'Telcam left to meet with his weapons supplier. 'Mdama suggested that they should move the Unflinching Resolve to the planet where 'Telcam received his weapon shipments, but 'Telcam refused to reveal its name or location. '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 Spartan Naomi-010.

Imprisonment on Trevelyan
Detained aboard the, Jul was interrogated by Professor 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 plotted his escape. While he no longer believed that the Forerunners were gods, he pretended to remain a devout follower of the religion as a cover for visiting Forerunner sites, enabling him to learn about 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; he learned about the Didact and how he was sealed away on a shield world, Requiem, as well as that Requiem's location was kept from the Huragok. During this time, he also learned of the Office of Naval Intelligence's plans to eradicate the Sangheili. During his imprisonment, he once again met with Evan Phillips. Jul asked Phillips for news about his wife Raia, whom Phillips had last seen in company with Forze. Phillips promised him that he would find out what had happened to her.

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. Given the colony's isolation from the galaxy since before the Great Schism and devout religious practices, Jul was able to win them over by portraying his experience on Trevelyan in a religious light. After contacting Sanghelios and learning of his wife's death, Jul was enraged by humanity's role in her death and grieved by the Forerunner ruins he had arrived in. He eventually identified the markings on the ruins as coordinates to Requiem and convinced the inhabitants of Hesduros to aid him in his search for the Didact and the eradication of humanity.

Requiem and the Didact
"Requiem's treasures shall be ours."

- 'Mdama after discovering Requiem

In 2554, 'Mdama and his followers arrived at Requiem. Over the next three years, the Covenant tried to enter the planet, without success. In July 2557, several of his ships identified a human vessel,, drifting toward the planet. 'Mdama ordered his troops to board the ship and keep the humans away from Requiem. They were unsuccessful as the human and Covenant ships in the area were pulled inside Requiem's outer shell. Jul and his forces were eventually able to find their way to the core, where the Didact's Cryptum was located. Jul landed near the Didact's Cryptum and personally engaged Promethean forces under the Librarian's control. Spartan John-117 unknowingly opened the Cryptum, releasing the Didact. 'Mdama and his forces stopped fighting immediately to bow to the Promethean; Jul quickly recognized the Forerunner and called out his name. The Covenant later engaged the crew of after the ship's arrival and eventually followed the Didact to ONI's Ivanoff Station, though it is unclear whether Jul accompanied the Didact or remained on Requiem.

The Librarian
After the Didact's attack on Earth and 's return to Requiem in February 2558, 'Mdama continued to lead the Covenant forces on the shield world. A Forerunner artifact secured by Spartan Fireteam Crimson and brought aboard Infinity transported Dr. Henry Glassman to a Covenant base on the planet. '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 correctly 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 the "Didact's Hand". Fireteam Crimson was 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 Commander Sarah Palmer called in an airstrike on 'Mdama's location. He managed to escape, but not before dropping another Forerunner device. 'Mdama oversaw the Covenant's attempt to retrieve the device from Galileo Base with his lieutenant, Gek 'Lhar, 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 to spy on the UNSC Infinity. After Halsey was removed from the room by Palmer and Lasky, Glassman managed to activate something in the shrine, prompting all the present Sangheili (save him) to bow before the artifact. With his captors distracted, Glassman escaped from the antechamber. After the artifact's energy sphere rejected Jul, the Sangheili Commander directed his fury at a now-gone Glassman; half-dozen Sangheili went to pursue the scientist in the tunnels but Jul held Gek back. Stating that Glassman's escape was unacceptable, Gek reassured Jul that he would deal with the matter personally, leaving Jul and his two guards alone with the artifact. Some time later, 'Mdama was contacted by Catherine Halsey, informing him that she had deduced he was her helper but that their alliance could free the Librarian. However, the ship's AI, Roland, was able to restore himself to his normal state and cut off the connection. After this, 'Mdama ordered the Covenant and Prometheans to board Infinity through the artifact to capture Dr. Halsey. Despite significant losses, the Prometheans managed to capture Dr. Halsey. She was then taken to "Librarian's Rest", where 'Mdama had her disable the shield previously erected by Doctor Glassman's attempts to access the shrine. As the shield deactivated, she quickly entered the beam of light being produced by the shrine, and vanished, to 'Mdama's great anger.

When Halsey returned from the shrine, she was clutching the Librarian's gift: the Janus Key. She flew out right into 'Mdama, who grabbed her hand and saw half of the Key. Thinking that it was actually the whole gift, 'Mdama seemed disappointed and frustrated that the gift that he had sought at great lengths was nothing more but a useless artifact. At that moment, however, Spartan Gabriel Thorne and Fireteam Majestic managed to infiltrate Copernicus Base and kill 'Mdama's guards, with Halsey quickly tossing to Thorne her half of the Key, leaving 'Mdama with only his stolen half. 'Mdama quickly summoned several Promethean Knights to protect him, just as Spartan Palmer arrived with orders to kill Doctor Halsey. She shot Halsey in the shoulder, wounding her, before 'Mdama managed to grab Halsey and summon another Knight to teleport him and Halsey away. Following this, 'Mdama put Requiem on a collision course with the sun and announced that any Covenant who did not flee the planet would die with it. After fleeing Requiem, Jul learned of the Janus Key's nature—specifically that the UNSC had the other half of the key. He confronted Halsey over her betrayal, saying he should have let her bleed to death from her injury. Halsey retorted that the UNSC had tried to kill her, and that he would need to offer her more than threats if he wanted her to help him. 'Mdama asked her what she wanted, to which Halsey replied that she wanted revenge.

Post-Requiem
Approximately one month after the destruction of Requiem, the Infinity had yet to locate 'Mdama or Halsey. The was subsequently given the task of tracking down 'Mdama, while the Infinity was reassigned to provide security for a diplomatic conference between Thel 'Vadam and the Jiralhanae on Ealen IV.

At some point on Requiem, Jul's forces had recovered a Forerunner artifact that would be able to "speak" to the engine systems of Infinity, and therefore the artifact would be able to blockade the engines of Infinity and allow Jul to steal the other half of the Janus Key. On July 15, 2558, Jul's forces attacked Oban, a human colony in the midst of settlement. The attack was advocated by Halsey, who believed that a bold move was the only way to attract Infinity. After the attack failed, 'Mdama's lieutenants called for Halsey's head, however Jul seemingly defended her actions. After Infinity attempted to enter slipspace for Galileo II base, 'Mdama's Forerunner artifact forcefully brought it back into normal space and trapped the vessel in an uncharted system. Aboard a, Halsey informed Jul that they do not need to attack the ship, as the crew of Infinity would now be willing to hand over the other half of the Janus Key directly. One of 'Mdama's commanders revealed to him that a group of traitors conspiring against 'Mdama were discovered. While some were killed and one was captured, many of them escaped to nearby planet Aktis IV's surface. 'Mdama briefly interrogated the captive and learned that Sali 'Nyon led the rebellion, before killing the captured insurgent himself; Jul ordered for all other rebels to be killed on sight.

Meanwhile, at the urge of Halsey, 'Mdama had a fake Forerunner artifact placed in a Forerunner structure on Aktis IV. As per Halsey's plan, Glassman and the SPARTAN-IVs of Infinity discovered the artifact and believed that it was related to the Janus Key. Halsey and Jul watched Glassman's investigation from Song of Retribution and when 'Mdama expressed mock abhorrence at creating a copy of a "holy" Forerunner object, Halsey revealed that she knew Jul's public persona is a mere façade. Glassman requested for Infinity to deliver their half of the Janus Key to him on the planet's surface for further analyzing. Anticipating this, 'Mdama had troops ready to ambush the UNSC convoy carrying their half of the Key. Much to 'Mdama's surprise, the Pelican carrying the half were shot down before he could give an order. In the confusion, the rest of the Covenant ambush group began the attack. 'Mdama decided to scourge the Pelican crash-site himself, and he ordered Halsey to remain aboard his carrier. Unbeknownst to him, Sali 'Nyon was responsible for shooting down the Pelican and he claimed half of the Janus Key for himself.

Personality and motives
"Irena Magnusson"

Jul 'Mdama's hatred for humanity initially stems not from any religious issues, but from a fear that humans will eventually overrun the galaxy and ultimately drive the Sangheili to extinction. He compares humans to the Flood in this regard. When Thel 'Vadam proposes making peace with the humans, 'Mdama is skeptical and insists humans can't be trusted. His distrust and antipathy for humanity is only reinforced by his subsequent abduction and captivity by the Office of Naval Intelligence. After the death of his wife, however, 'Mdama's primary motivation for destroying humanity changes from a matter of species survival to personal vengeance for their (indirect) role in her demise. Despite his hatred and distrust for humanity as a whole, 'Mdama is still willing to work with certain human individuals, such as Dr. Catherine Halsey, when necessary. Likewise, he also has no qualms over using human languages such as English if it will achieve his objectives.

Although 'Mdama often displays typical Sangheili aggression and does not hesitate to use force or the threat of force to accomplish his goals, he can be both patient and highly manipulative at times. During his captivity on Onyx, 'Mdama placates his human captors by behaving according to their expectations of his species, while simultaneously gleaning information on ONI's plans whenever possible. He also convinces Prone to Drift to give him key information about Requiem and the Ur-Didact, then later forces Prone to aid him in his escape by threatening to detonate his explosive vest and damage the installation—something he anticipates Prone is unwilling to risk. Later, during the Requiem campaign, 'Mdama deliberately allows the crew of the Infinity to take possession of the slipspace artifact—playing on their assumption that the Covenant want the artifact for themselves. The artifact later enables his forces to invade Infinity and abduct Catherine Halsey, and also physically binds Infinity to Requiem. Prior to attacking Infinity, 'Mdama attempts to gain Halsey's trust by sending her anonymous messages offering information about the Prometheans. He further appeals to her scientific curiosity by delivering to her the "soul" of a Promethean Knight. He is surprised—but not too upset—when Halsey contacts him and reveals that she knew his identity all along.

'Mdama is mostly disillusioned with the Covenant's religion. Not only does he no longer believe in the Great Journey, but he has come to accept the fact that the Forerunners were never gods. While he would like to believe they were gods, he sees the fact that the Forerunners made mistakes as proof that they were not gods. He further reasons that the Forerunners never expected or intended to be worshiped as gods in the first place. As such, 'Mdama has no qualms with exploiting or even destroying Forerunner artifacts to achieve his goals. He has also broken other taboos, such as acquiring and using human weapons.

Despite his personal loss of faith in the Forerunners as gods, 'Mdama has managed to put on a convincing public image of a devout religious leader in the eyes of his followers. 'Mdama's awareness of the many loopholes and contradictions regarding Sangheili honor and religion allows him to bend or circumvent cultural rules without sullying his reputation. On Hesduros, he garners support from the colonists there by touting his knowledge of the Forerunners and later playing on the colonists' belief that the "gods" had sent him. Though uncomfortable with this charade, he rationalizes it by telling himself that not only is the deception necessary, but the only thing he is truly lying about is his own faith (or lack thereof)—something he considers a personal issue.

Equipment
As the leader of the Covenant, 'Mdama wears armor commonly used by the Zealots of the new Covenant order. However, it is painted blue, similar to the coloration worn by 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

 * Jul 'Mdama is voiced by Travis Willingham, who also provided the voice of Paul DeMarco.
 * 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".
 * Jul 'Mdama was known as the "Black Elite" during Halo 4's development; his armor was originally meant to be jet black and significantly more ornamental than typical Sangheili armor.
 * Despite holding the rank of Supreme Commander within his faction, 'Mdama is referred to simply as "Shipmaster" by his subordinates.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4
 * Terminals
 * Spartan Ops
 * Halo: Initiation
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata