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Primordial: Difference between revisions
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===Destruction=== | ===Destruction=== | ||
{{Quote|It is your task to kill this servant. That another may be freed.|The Primordial speaking to the Didact.}} | {{Quote|It is your task to kill this servant. That another may be freed.|The Primordial speaking to the Didact.}} | ||
After reclaiming Installation 07, the [[IsoDidact]] imprisoned the Primordial within a reverse-[[Timelock|stasis chamber]], and alongside the wounded [[Chakas]], interrogated the entity. During the course of their conversation, they came to realize that the Primordial was not what they initially thought it was. Even as it was being broken down by the reversed stasis chamber, the Primordial claimed that the Flood and the Precursors were synonymous, though despite the Didact's queries, it did not disclose the precise nature of their relationship. The Primordial provided further clarification on the subject of the Mantle, the purpose of the Flood, and the role of the humans in its ancient plan: the Forerunners were never meant to inherit the Mantle, and that humanity would succeed them in order to be tested for inheriting the Mantle.<ref name="prim362">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 362-365''</ref> | After [[Battle for Gyre 11|reclaiming]] Installation 07, the [[IsoDidact]] imprisoned the Primordial within a reverse-[[Timelock|stasis chamber]], and alongside the wounded [[Chakas]], interrogated the entity. During the course of their conversation, they came to realize that the Primordial was not what they initially thought it was. Even as it was being broken down by the reversed stasis chamber, the Primordial claimed that the Flood and the Precursors were synonymous, though despite the Didact's queries, it did not disclose the precise nature of their relationship. The Primordial provided further clarification on the subject of the Mantle, the purpose of the Flood, and the role of the humans in its ancient plan: the Forerunners were never meant to inherit the Mantle, and that humanity would succeed them in order to be tested for inheriting the Mantle.<ref name="prim362">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 362-365''</ref> | ||
It also implied that there is no true cure for the Flood, but that it could choose whether or not a victim was infected. Once this conversation was complete, the Didact, enraged about the revelation, fully activated the reverse stasis chamber, forcing an artificial decay process equivalent to a billion years to transpire over the course of several seconds, killing the Primordial, and breaking its body down to a state of complete physical entropy.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 364-367''</ref> | It also implied that there is no true cure for the Flood, but that it could choose whether or not a victim was infected. Once this conversation was complete, the Didact, enraged about the revelation, fully activated the reverse stasis chamber, forcing an artificial decay process equivalent to a billion years to transpire over the course of several seconds, killing the Primordial, and breaking its body down to a state of complete physical entropy.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 364-367''</ref> | ||
However, as later demonstrated during the [[Ur-Didact]]'s encounter with the [[Gravemind]], the Primordial's consciousness had survived the destruction of its physical body, having [[mind transfer|transferred]] itself into the Flood's compound mind intact.{{Ref/Reuse|mythos 32}} Intent on exacting its vengeance on the Didact in its new form, the Primordial inflicted unspeakable horrors upon the Promethean before releasing him and allowing him to return to the ecumene, aware that the Didact's resulting madness would demoralize the Forerunners and engender chaos and indecision among their ranks.<ref name="s167">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 167'' (''"This being was not the Primordial I encountered on Charum Hakkor, but something else entirely-though it retained the Primordial's motives and thoughts and memories. It was a Gravemind-the Gravemind, more accurately. It was the Primordial's final act of revenge."'')</ref> Now synonymous with the Gravemind, the Primordial had ensured its consciousness would survive for as long as the Flood prevailed.{{Ref/Reuse|mythos 32}} | However, as later demonstrated during the [[Ur-Didact]]'s encounter with the [[Gravemind]], the Primordial's consciousness had survived the destruction of its physical body, having [[mind transfer|transferred]] itself into the Flood's compound mind intact.{{Ref/Reuse|mythos 32}} Intent on exacting its vengeance on the Didact in its new form, the Primordial inflicted unspeakable horrors upon the Promethean before releasing him and allowing him to return to the ecumene, aware that the Didact's resulting madness would demoralize the Forerunners and engender chaos and indecision among their ranks.<ref name="s167">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 167'' (''"This being was not the Primordial I encountered on Charum Hakkor, but something else entirely-though it retained the Primordial's motives and thoughts and memories. It was a Gravemind-the Gravemind, more accurately. It was the Primordial's final act of revenge."'')</ref> Now synonymous with the Gravemind, the Primordial had ensured its consciousness would survive for as long as the Flood prevailed.{{Ref/Reuse|mythos 32}} The Didact later suspected that the Primordial had opened a crack in his mind during their meeting on [[Charum Hakkor]] that the Gravemind exploited to corrupt him.{{Ref/Novel|Epi|19}} | ||
==Appearance== | ==Appearance== | ||
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Later, aboard Installation 07, the being was described as having a large number of legs which it held in a curled-up position similar to a spider.<ref name="p108">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 108-109''</ref> The creature's torso was described as "grossly fat," and its skin was covered in a glassy, crystalline coating; a fine powder often fell from its body, perhaps Flood spores or the same powder responsible for the original Flood outbreak. As a Gravemind, the Primordial was capable of shifting its physical form to an extent, such as rearranging its limbs.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 363''</ref> | Later, aboard Installation 07, the being was described as having a large number of legs which it held in a curled-up position similar to a spider.<ref name="p108">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 108-109''</ref> The creature's torso was described as "grossly fat," and its skin was covered in a glassy, crystalline coating; a fine powder often fell from its body, perhaps Flood spores or the same powder responsible for the original Flood outbreak. As a Gravemind, the Primordial was capable of shifting its physical form to an extent, such as rearranging its limbs.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 363''</ref> | ||
==Production notes== | |||
[[Greg Bear]], the author of ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' where the Primordial is first described, took inspiration for its appearance from the cover art of [[Wikipedia:John Brunner (author)|John Brunner]]'s ''The Atlantic Abomination'' which features a monstrous alien creature with many legs being dragged on a plank by hundreds of humans while it radiates a psychic energy.{{Ref/YouTube|Id=PodcastEvolvedGreg|dH77pv2ZqG8&t|Halo Evolved|Greg Bear <nowiki>|</nowiki> Guest Interview Series|D=26|M=08|Y=2023}} | |||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
File:GregBearPrecursor.jpg|A preliminary sketch of | File:GregBearPrecursor.jpg|A preliminary sketch of a Primordial drawn by Greg Bear. | ||
File:Enc22 Primordial.png|A | File:PrecursorWF.jpg|Artwork of the Primordial used in ''[[Halo: Warfleet]]''. | ||
File:Enc22 Primordial.png|A colored version of the previous Primordial artwork used in the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition)]]''. | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
==List of appearances== | ==List of appearances== | ||
*''[[Halo 3]]'' | *''[[Halo 3]]'' | ||
**''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]'' {{C| | **''[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminals]]'' {{C|First mentioned as [[Flood Super Cell|"LF.Xx.3273"]]}} | ||
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}} | *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}} | ||
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' | *''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' | ||
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**''[[Untitled story (Halo: Fractures)|Untitled story]]'' {{Mo}} | **''[[Untitled story (Halo: Fractures)|Untitled story]]'' {{Mo}} | ||
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}} | *''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}} | ||
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]'' | |||
==Sources== | ==Sources== | ||