Gravemind (Form)

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"I'd rather not piss this thing off."

- Master Chief John-117

A Gravemind (inferi sententia) (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is a major stage in the life cycle of The Flood. A Gravemind is born when a Proto-Gravemind reaches a certain critical mass. It is the Flood personified, and carries with it the genetic memory garnered from millennia of feasting and slumber, making it practically all-knowing. Since the intent of a Gravemind is to consume and absorb every sentient creature in the Galaxy, it is a collection of fallen Flood and other lifeforms. The Gravemind has complete control over other forms of Flood and can even speak through them.

Only one Gravemind has manifested (in our galaxy) before the Gravemind that appeared in Halo 2. The first was stopped by the first activation of the Halo rings, by the Forerunners.

The Gravemind in Halo 2
Due to the briefness of its appearances in Halo 2, only a small amount of data about it and the nature of the Flood parasite can be inferred. The Gravemind is made of countless bodies that were unsuitable as Combat forms or Carrier forms. The Art of Halo states that Gravemind is “literally built from the bodies of its enemies and its own fallen warriors reassembled into a massive, tentacled, and intelligent entity." This can also be assumed, because when he speaks he refers to the place he inhabits as an empty grave. A grave being a burial ground, were the dead are "stored", but since he is 'alive' he simply infers that where there should be many graves; there is just the Gravemind. Even his name, "Gravemind" suggests this, as he is the "mind" of the "grave". Gravemind is the controlling intelligence behind the parasitic Flood hive . In this way, he appears similar to a puppet master. Gravemind is located far beneath the Library of Installation 05, and has tentacles that reach for many miles. Gravemind also seems to harbor an intelligence approaching omniscience, since he appears to be capable of absorbing the knowledge of all Flood hosts.

The Gravemind we see in the game appears to be capable of utilizing Halo's teleportation grid to transport anything, and indeed himself (or at least a part of himself), anywhere on the ring and beyond to a limited distance. Being a Flood organism, how he uses the grid has been speculated on. The most common theory is that since he holds 2401 Penitent Tangent, Monitor of Delta Halo captive, that he can use it to access the teleportation field on Delta Halo. Players have speculated that this is the way that Gravemind gets aboard High Charity, while others say he rode in on the In Amber Clad that collided with it. Still, there is much more about this enigmatic character that we do not know. Gravemind more than once speaks in rhyme, specifically iambic heptameter. In the post-credits end cinematic of Halo 2, Gravemind recites this verse to Cortana:


 * Silence fills the empty grave now that I am gone,
 * But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on.
 * Now I will ask and you will answer.

His interest in her is unknown.

Strangely enough, in Gravemind, the level named after him, there is no contact at all with him, apart from the cutscene he is introduced in, or his Flood minions.

However things turn out, the Gravemind appears to be a very dangerous creature as Halo 2 ends. He has assimilated the Prophet of Regret, possibly giving him full knowledge of Covenant history, locations of Covenant worlds, and Covenant fleet positions. Consequent to his capture of a Hierarch, he is also aware of the location of Earth. The Flood appear to be in control of High Charity as well as several Covenant ships at the end of Halo 2. Also, with the new abundance of bodies on Installation 05, coupled with the Flood's apparent ability to adapt rapidly to enemies, and their capture of 2401 Penitent Tangent, they could easily gain complete control of Installation 05. The Gravemind is in a good position to infest the entire galaxy if immediate action is not taken.

It was believed up until these events in Halo 2, that the Flood was simply an unintelligent/non-sentient virus. Just like any other we see today, it exists simply to infect other organisms, to feed, and to carry on living. However, the origin of the spread is still unknown other than the hints from the ARG Iris, which states that Gravemind was formed and the Flood were discovered before the Forerunners encountered them.

Role in Halo 3
The Gravemind is one of the two primary antagonists in Halo 3, the other being the Prophet of Truth. His presence can be felt earlier in the game, as he speaks through Cortana in periodic visions to John-117.

The Gravemind himself turns up later on in the game when first, a Covenant battle cruiser taken over by the Flood crash-lands on earth and promptly begins to infect the city of Voi. After the Master Chief and the Arbiter clean up the mess, High Charity (along with the Gravemind) arrives at The Ark via Slipspace jump. Master Chief and Arbiter take a detour through High Charity to retrieve Cortana, destroying the city in the process, and the Gravemind is seemingly killed. However, it is discovered that he is attempting to rebuild himself on the replacement Halo built by the Ark. He is presumably destroyed once and for all when the Chief activates the replacement Halo, destroying the Halo, the Ark, the Gravemind, and the Flood.

It should be noted that the Gravemind never appears in-game in his physical form, as was the case in Halo 2, except for a brief appearance of his tentacles in the control room on the Ark. Gravemind's head is never seen in Halo 3, and you never see him in full, only his head and his tentacles are ever seen in either game.

Trivia

 * It is speculated that the voice in the Reversed Message is Gravemind's. This is likely, as the voices are very similar, and that it plays during the level Gravemind.
 * The current Gravemind may have had a burgeoning disgust for the Forerunners, telling the Arbiter to not mistake what they had created. The idea of the Halos being a tool of salvation may have disgusted it, since it was the weapon used to try and destroy its race.
 * In several Forerunner data logs, the controlling intelligence of the Flood is referred to as a "Compound Mind." This is probably the Forerunner term for the Gravemind phenomena.
 * In both Halo 2 and Halo 3, he says "We exist together now. Two corpses in one grave." Both sentences are said in Flood-infested High Charity.

Halo 2
"There is much talk, and I have listened, through rock and metal and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen.." Gravemind
 * "I? I am a monument to all of your sins.." -Introducing itself, said on Gravemind
 * "This one is machine and nerve, and has its mind concluded. This one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded." -About the Master Chief and the Arbiter, respectively, said on Gravemind
 * "This one's containment... (gestures to 2401 Penitent Tangent)...and this one's Great Journey...(gestures to Regret)...are the same. Your Prophets have promised you freedom from a doomed existence, but you will find no salvation on this ring. Those who built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent, or all will perish as they did before..." -said on Gravemind
 * "If you will not hear the truth, then I will show it to you. There is still time to stop the key from turning, but first it must be found.(gestures to the Arbiter.) You will search one likely spot...(gestures to the Master Chief.) ...and you will search another. Fate had us meet as foes, but this ring will make us brothers." -said on Gravemind
 * "Arrogant creature! Your deaths will be instantaneous while we shall suffer the progress of infinitude!" -said on High Charity
 * "We exist together now. Two corpses in one grave." -About the Prophet of Regret, said on High Charity
 * "Silence fills the empty grave, now that I have gone. But my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on. I will ask, and you will answer." -To Cortana, after Halo 2's credits roll.

Halo 3

 * "Do not be afraid. I am peace; I am salvation." -said on Floodgate
 * "I am a timeless chorus. Join your voice with mine, and sing victory everlasting." -said on Floodgate
 * "Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside. Corpses shift and offer room; a fate you must abide." -said on The Covenant
 * "Child of my enemy, why have you come? I offer no forgiveness, a father's sins pass to his son. " -said on Cortana
 * "Of course, you came for Her. We exist together now, two corpses in one grave... "-said on Cortana
 * "And yet perhaps a part of her, remains." -said on Cortana
 * "Time has taught me PATIENCE! But basking in new freedom, I WILL KNOW ALL THAT I POSSESS!!!" -said on Cortana
 * "SUBMIT! END HER TORMENT AND MY OWN!!!!" -said on Cortana
 * "You WILL! show me what she hides! Or I shall feast upon your BONES!" -said on Cortana
 * "(Flood Roar) Now, At last I see, her secret is REVEALED!!" -said on Cortana
 * "DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED!?" -said on Halo
 * "I have beaten fleets of Thousands! Consumed a Galaxy of Flesh, and Mind, and Bone!" -said on Halo
 * "Do I take life or give it? Who is victim, and who is foe?" -said on Halo
 * "Defeat is merely the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved. But you imposed." -said on Halo
 * "Resignation is my virtue, like water I ebb." -said on Halo

Related Links

 * The Flood
 * Brain Form