Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns

Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns, more commonly known as Splendid Dust or simply Dust, was a young Forerunner politician who served as First Councilor of the Ecumene Council in the final years of the Forerunner-Flood war.

Council career
Unlike the generations before him, Splendid Dust's mutation was based on a new pattern in which he underwent a single mutation over a single year, as opposed to many such procedures over several centuries. This led in a more natural end result, with less distortions - both physical and mental - from the Forerunner baseline. One of the differences was Dust's ability to smile, unusual in mature Forerunners; Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting was somewhat unsettled by this, seeing Dust's smile as more of an awkward rictus.

After the Master Builder, Faber, used a Halo installation to punish the San'Shyuum for rebelling, the Builders stripped Faber of his title, and a political revolution occurred. Though only a first-form, Splendid Dust and other first-form Councilors like him were brevet appointments intended to curb the abuses of the Council that Faber controlled.

Fate of Maethrillian
After his appointment, Splendid Dust went to Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting's homeworld to speak with Bornstellar's father about Faber's fall, and to retrieve the young Bornstellar, who now hosted the memories of the Didact, supposedly executed by the Master Builder at Janjur Qom. During Faber's trial at Maethrillian, the capital of the ecumene, Splendid Dust served as First Observer of the Court to the Supreme Mantle Court. However, the proceedings were interrupted by Mendicant Bias, who had defected to the Flood and attempted to use the Halo he had been given control of, taking control of the metarchy and shutting down everyone's armor. When the Didact's imprint within Bornstellar managed to temporarily shut down Mendicant Bias, a Warrior-Servant known as Glory-of-a-Far-Dawn rescued Splendid Dust and Bornstellar aboard a Falco-class space pod.

As the trio escaped through the chaos of the battle around the Capital, Glory of a Far Dawn asked Splendid Dust for permission to subdue Bornstellar, as she was unable to direct the pod due to Bornstellar being in control. Splendid Dust harshly rebuked the Warrior-Servant for this, revealing that it was the imprint of the Didact himself - not Bornstellar - piloting the craft. Thanks to the Didact's skill, the small ship successfully escaped to the greater Ark via one of the Capital's slipspace portals. In the damaged pod over the Ark, Splendid Dust and the Bornstellar Didact discussed the attack and Mendicant Bias' defection, before falling into unconsciousness. They were eventually recovered by the installation's resident Lifeworkers and given medical care.

Splendid Dust was among the surviving Forerunners who took shelter on Installation 00, or the lesser Ark, during the Great Purification. He subsequently took part in the reintroduction phase of the Conservation Measure along with the other Forerunners.

Return to the capital
"I name you the protector and guardian of the Lesser Ark. You will keep it safe for the true inheritors of the Mantle. Any thoughtlessness, or cruelty, or arrogance is washed clean from you now. Yours is not - cannot be - a happy end. And thus I name you Tragic Solitude... for you shall be alone, and your noble sacrifice shall aid the Reclaimers... but in doing so, it shall break what is left of your heart."

- The IsoDidact to Tragic Solitude upon his creation.

Well over a century after the Halos' activation, Splendid-Dust-of-Ancient-Suns reluctantly agreed to accompany the IsoDidact and a number of other Forerunners to Maethrillian on a mission to to repair the Domain, which had been rendered inactive by the Halos, as well as retrieve vessels and intact slipspace flakes for the Forerunners' eventual exile from the galaxy. As former First Councilor, Splendid Dust possessed knowledge of a Precursor relic housed deep within the capital's Mysterium—one that was believed to control the Domain itself. Furthermore, his councilor regalia included a device known as a deadbolt key, which could supposedly interact with the Precursor artifact.

Upon arrival at the capital, Splendid Dust and the other Forerunners were confronted by Abaddon, a powerful Precursor construct that desired to bring the Forerunners to trial for their crimes. Awestruck by the majesty of the being and overwhelmed with guilt, Splendid Dust broke down before Abaddon's enormous holographic projection and waited for his sentence; Glory-of-a-Far-Dawn and Keeper-of-Stone-Songs remained with him even as the other Forerunners forced their way into the Mysterium. Both Glory and Keeper were killed by Abaddon, but before the Precursor intelligence could render judgment on Splendid Dust, Growth-Through-Trial-of-Change successfully used the deadbolt key to restore the Domain, causing Abaddon to vanish and saving Splendid Dust.

Splendid Dust subsequently returned to the lesser Ark with the other survivors of the expedition. Wishing to atone for the Forerunners' many crimes, he chose to be composed, becoming the monitor of Installation 00 and intending to serve as a guide for the Reclaimers once they arrived. He was given the name 000 Tragic Solitude by Bornstellar, who was greatly saddened by Dust's fate. In time, Tragic Solitude would forget his former identity and even the circumstances of his creation.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo: Fractures
 * Promises to Keep