Prophet of Truth

The High Prophet of Truth, formerly the Minister of Fortitude, was the leader of the three Hierarchs that led the Covenant High Council during the Age of Reclamation, and was one of the main instigators of the war against Humanity. In 2552, he plotted the ousting of the Sangheili from the Covenant, and replaced them with the Brutes after the death of the Prophet of Regret on Installation 05. After the demise of the Prophet of Mercy at High Charity, he became the de facto leader of the entire Covenant, from which position he lead their forces to the Portal in Africa and eventually to the Ark, where he was later killed by the Arbiter.

Biography

23rd Age of Doubt

During the Age of Doubt, 2525 by the UNSC calendar, Truth was known as the Minister of Fortitude. He had gained his standing during a stint as junior staffer in the Ministry of Concert. At that time, he unearthed a conspiracy by several Kig-Yar ship captains to poison several recreational narcotics often enjoyed by Unggoy, rendering them infertile, and serving as petty revenge for the displacement of Kig-Yar nests caused by a recent Unggoy overpopulation. Despite Fortitude's warnings, the matter was ignored and soon escalated into a bloody skirmish known as the Grunt Rebellion.

Fortitude found himself involved in a conspiracy when the Vice Minister of Tranquility, later known as the Prophet of Regret, informed him of the massive amounts of "Forerunner artifacts" which, was actually the human population of Harvest, a Luminary had discovered on that planet. Tranquility planned to use these artifacts to spring himself into a position of high power, as a Hierarch of the Covenant, and offered the same for Fortitude. This marked the first alliance between the Prophets and the Jiralhanae, as Tranquility wisely decided to use them to retrieve these artifacts, rather than upset the fine balance of power by allowing Sangheili to gain the treasures.

In order to push the three current Hierarchs, Tolerance, Obligation and Restraint from their positions, Fortitude utilized blackmail against the Prophet of Restraint. Tranquility had shown himself as a sympathizer for those blacklisted from reproducing due to inborn genes, after being urged to do so by Fortitude who was aware that Restraint had illegitimately fathered two children. The Prophet of Restraint offered Tranquility a high position if he would adopt the children, but the scheming Prophets instead used this to their advantage, blackmailing him and forcing the Prophet to step down or have his scandalous affair made public.

Before their coup, the Prophets visited an "Oracle" within the Forerunner Dreadnought, an ancient AI known as 032 Mendicant Bias, that had stored itself in the ship and had not spoken for several hundred years. When the Luminations of Harvest were inserted into its matrix, it suddenly came to life and revealed the symbols had been misinterpreted - that Humans stood as equals to the Forerunners, and the Covenant had been mistaken in their beliefs. When Fortitude realized that "reclamation" was really "reclaimer", he, and the Hierarchs-to-be agreed not to tell the masses, as they knew that the Covenant would shatter should the masses find out. As the Oracle tried to launch the Dreadnought from High Charity to find and bring the humans to The Ark, the two co-conspirators, along with the Philologist, leader of the ascetic priests and later the Prophet of Mercy, disconnected the Oracle from the ship and decided that the Humans must be eradicated once and for all, before any of the Covenant could learn of this and shatter their society as well as their religion. Fortitude chose the name "Truth" as a reminder to himself of the truths he must never tell and the lies he would have to in order to prevent the Covenant from fragmenting.

The three Prophets successfully implemented their plan and became the new rulers of the Covenant which heralded the beginning of the Ninth Age of Reclamation.

Battle of the Rubble

Almost ten years later, Truth was behind a plot to have a group of Kig-Yar "ally" themselves with Humans, in an attempt to find Earth. It was going well until Regret (who was not informed of the the plan) sent Thel 'Vadamee to investigate a series of modified Covenant weapons used by Humans, believed to have come from the Kig-Yars. Due a failure of the Humans providing Earth's location, the Kig-Yar in command, Reth, ordered an attack on the Rubble and Exodus asteroids, which soon failed along with Truth's plan. With the failure of the plan Truth called it's aftermath "a mess", and he was about to have Thel and his soldiers killed, until Thel saved him from a disillusioned Elite, and for that he spared Thel on the basis that he "never say anything of what happened here". After returning to High Charity, Truth looked on the positive side, saying they had purged possible human-sympathizing Kig-Yar and Unngoy, and because of the modified weapons, found two more Human worlds.

The Reach Campaign and The Arbiter

"The council decided to have you hung by your entrails, and your corpse paraded through the city, but ultimately the terms of your execution are up to me."

— Truth speaking to the new Arbiter, Thel 'Vadamee.

The Prophet of Truth became the deciding factor in all issues for the three Prophets, representing an inequality in power that put him at the top of the other two .

Truth was the first Prophet ever mentioned by name, at the end of Halo: First Strike. He waited in High Charity on the Step of Silence for Tartarus, Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, to arrive, with what remained of an ancient Forerunner Crystal that could manipulate time and space. He ordered the reward and secret execution of the remaining survivors from Operation: FIRST STRIKE, as not to cause any disruption in the Covenant by stories of how the Demons destroyed an entire fleet.

The Heretics

"This Heretic, and those who follow him, must be silenced."

— Truth

Thel 'Vadamee, the former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, was brought before the High Council to answer for his failure in protecting Halo from its destruction at the hands of the Demon. The Council called 'Vadamee a heretic for such a failure, and with a nod, Truth dismissed 'Vadamee from the Council Chamber and allowed the eager Tartarus and his Brutes to take the prisoner away, stating that when the Great Journey began, the disgraced Sangheili would be left behind for his heresy. 'Vadamee was later branded with the Mark of Shame by Tartarus. However, instead of executing Vadamee as the Council decided, Truth, backed by the High Prophets of Regret and Mercy chose to make him an Arbiter, knowing full well that the Council would have their corpse since the Arbiter's missions were suicidal and he would most likely die. He then sent his new Arbiter against the Heretic rebellion forming on the nearby Gas Mine on Threshold. This mission was considered the Elite's death sentence, but against the odds, the Arbiter survived to take on another mission.

The sparing of Vadamee's life was most likely due to the fact that Truth didn't wish to waste such a great warrior, preferring Vadamee to serve a purpose, even in death. However, Truth may have felt indebted to or biased towards the Arbiter, due to their previous encounters.

Personality

Seeing that during Thel Vadamee's trial he expressed little or no emotion whatsoever despite the fact that Installation 04 was destroyed, it seemed at first that Truth had a very calm and stoic nature, giving him a hardy, stone-faced personality. However, he was quick to become impatient and angry towards those, like his fellow Hierarch, Regret, who angered him, or did something foolish or reckless. An example of this was when Truth sent a transmission to Regret, scolding him on how rash he was to attack Earth.

However, the reason he is harsh on him is probably because he worries that Regret will end up dead or worse according to a letter he wrote to Mercy saying that he is "perhaps worrying too much". This is probably not the case because the Prophet has been very cold to his other allies, Tarturus, Mercy and Thel 'Vadam, possibly because he wanted to gain more power over the covenant by eliminating all possible limitations. After arriving on Earth, Truth appears noticeably more aggressive and impatient, possibly having grown more annoyed by the "Demon" interfering in his plans. Ironically, contrary to his name, Truth is very deceptive, often lying to accomplish his goals. He tells the Covenant that it was the Brutes who found the Sacred Icon instead of 'Vadamee, who truly discovered it in an attempt to boost the Brute's popularity among the lower races of the Covenant, although alienating the Elites. Truth also secretly orders the killing of Thel 'Vadamee by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus after he has finished using him, as well as the assassination of the Elite council members, knowing the Brutes' own rivalry to the Sangheili and manipulating them to follow along with his plans. Another example is the fact that he stated that the Prophet of Mercy was by his side in the level "High Charity", when in fact, Mercy had died in an attack by the Flood moments earlier. Truth mercilessly denied him help, stating that "the Great Journey waits for no one". During the events of Contact Harvest, however, he had acknowledged that he would have to be deceitful in order to "maintain the Covenant" by claiming that the humans were trying to destroy the Forerunner relics, when, in fact, it was mistranslated from "Reclaimer" to "Reclamation".

Another interesting thing to note is that throughout Halo 3 (and parts of Halo 2), Truth exhibits many psychopathic traits and even shows a slight sadistic side. It would seem that he loses his cool, calm behavior when face-to-face with a formidable enemy, such as Thel 'Vadam or the Master Chief, or that he enjoys the torture or death of his foes.

Although inspiring and charismatic, he is most likely insane considering how fanatical and manipulative he is. He essentially caused the Covenant Civil War, along with Mercy's and Regret's easily preventable deaths.

Motivation

Choices in allowing both the Prophet of Mercy and Prophet of Regret to die seem to suggest that he wanted supreme power over the entire Covenant, yet he already seemed to possess a high amount of power over the other Hierarchs.

After the death of the Prophet of Regret, the Prophet of Truth charged the Elites with no longer being able to guarantee their safety, and despite arguments that they could have stopped SPARTAN-117 if they had not been withdrawn due to his order, the Prophet began to set in motion a plan that seemed to be preconceived, the shifting of power within the Covenant that elevated the Brutes into the former Elite position of protector. He killed two birds with one stone, one giving himself greater power after Regret's death, and two, to pass power to the Brutes before the Schism.

Though the Prophet has questioned and learned from 343 Guilty Spark, it is not truly known if he believes in and desires to transcend on the "Great Journey". As the Minister of Fortitude he learned from the AI stationed on the Forerunner Dreadnought, Mendicant Bias, that the Humans were the true heirs of the Forerunners. Despite this knowledge, he had the AI's connections to the Dreadnought severed as much as possible and initiated the bloodbath that would become the Human-Covenant War.

Although it is only speculation, it seems likely that Truth always intended to journey to the Ark, explaining why he was so eager to allow both Regret and Mercy to perish, clearing his path. He may have sought to activate the rings while safe in the Ark to clear all of his nemeses, both Elites and Humans alike. This theory is supported by the fact that on the Halo 3 level, The Ark, in which he states that all the Covenant races will be saved from the rings, which also may lead to the fact that he told the Covenant the truth and what power the whole empire would wield during the beginning of the Covenant Civil War. An interesting note is that when Johnson asks Truth, "Can't start your own party?", Truth replies: "I admit. I need your help. But that secret dies with all the rest." This indicates that he ordered the Brutes to capture a human, but did not tell them why. Possibly he takes advantage of the fact that the Jiralhanae aren't as questioning as the Sangheili, and that the promise of the Great Journey would reach them if they obeyed.

Truth's animosity towards the Elites may stem toward the fact that both races competed in a bloody war many decades before the forming of the Covenant, forcing a resignation for the race in Truth. He did have a higher regard for the Brutes as they were able to move quickly through the ranks, the real reason they had the Elites as their guards.

Although a description for the Prophet describes him as "deluded, possibly insane" as well as a true believer, it is noted that he has always been far less ascetic in his views, accepting the dogma but not acting in reverence toward it.

Evidence for Truth's knowledge of the Rings exists in his confidential conversation with Sergeant Avery Johnson. He still strives to become "A god", but it is possible that the power he would gain from wiping out every contending race would garner him the kind of "godliness" he imagines.

Trivia

• Oddly enough, in First Strike both Truth and Tartarus are referred to as "it." While this could be a nod to the fact that Truth is truth personified, both he and Tartarus are confirmed as being males. Prophet, his title, is also a masculine word.
• The Prophet of Truth is voiced by Michael Wincott in Halo 2 and by Terence Stamp in Halo 3. There is no canon source at the moment stating why the voice actor changed, but it was probably done to make him seem more like a villain than a priest.
• Like other Prophets, his title is ironic. For Truth, it is that he lied constantly: the Human-Covenant War was started directly due to one of his lies. However, he himself acknowledges this as a necessity, as do the other two Prophets.
• Like the Prophet of Regret, the Gravemind comes to speak through Truth at some point. He took control of Regret in the Halo 2 level Gravemind (Level), and Truth in the Halo 3 level The Covenant (Level).
• The Prophet of Truth is the only Covenant who referred to John-117 as the "Master Chief". It is unknown as to how he knows this alternate name for John-117.
• Truth has one of the three remaining shards of the Forerunner Slipspace crystal, and it may have been used when he escaped High Charity to Earth in the Dreadnought.
• On the level The Covenant, after Thel 'Vadam impales Truth, his crown falls off, but the crown is still on the head of his lifeless body after the cutscene ends.
• It was stated that Truth (when he was known as Fortitude) occasionally smoked too much, yet he rarely used the hookah tobaccos favored by his senior staff.
• Truth makes a brief cameo after the epilogue in Halo 3: ODST after completing the game on Legendary. He confidently oversees a group of Engineers, as they move towards a Forerunner artifact, most likely the Portal.
• A large monument to Truth can be seen in the central chamber of the Halo 2 multiplayer map, Gemini.
• The Prophet of Truth is the only prophet you see walk in any of the Halo games. He walks on the mission The Covenant inside the Citadel after he kills Miranda Keyes.

Gallery

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  The High Prophet of Truth.

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  Truth's gravity throne.

• Truth.jpg

  A closeup of Truth's crown.

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  Truth forcing Johnson to activate the Ark.

Links

Internal

• Prophet of Mercy
• Prophet of Regret
• High Prophet
• Prophet