History of the Covenant: Difference between revisions

{{Status|Canon}}

{{New content|[[Halo: Broken Circle]]}}

[[File:H2A Terminals - Working scribe.jpg|300px|thumb|A San'Shyuum scribe documenting the history of the Covenant.]]

The [[Covenant]], like almost all cultures, kept a record of their '''history''' using their own methods of timekeeping. Significant time periods in Covenant history were divided and categorized based on a system of ages,<ref name="halosm">[http://halosm.bungie.org/story/staten102204.html '''Halo.Bungie.Org''' - Halo Story Page]</ref> which were assigned into seven categories based on notable events within each.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest'''</ref> Shorter spans of time were measured based on the [[Covenant Battle Calendar]]. Certain time periods within the ages were also given names, an example of which is the [[Step of Silence]].<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 338''</ref>

Each age was broken up into [[cycle]]s and [[unit]]s, the former consisting of 265 of the latter and corresponding to a single artificial day within the Covenant's holy city ''[[High Charity]]''.<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 31''</ref> The last of the ages was the 9th Age of Reclamation, which saw the fracturing of the Covenant during the [[Great Schism]].<ref name="goo240">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 240''</ref>

Rather than following one another in a succession, the ages represent designated periods of time which were defined by a major event during each age and named based on seven main categories. For example, the 23rd Age of Doubt was followed directly by the 9th Age of Reclamation because of the events that occurred during those ages.

The Covenant traces its history back at least 100,000 years, when an ancient species called the [[Forerunner]]s activated the [[Halo Array|Halo installations]], disappearing from the galaxy. This is referred to as the Age of Abandonment by the Covenant.{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}}

The Ages of Conflict were periods of time when the Covenant was embroiled in major conflicts. The first such age occurred directly preceding the formation of the Covenant, when the [[Sangheili]] and [[San'Shyuum]] [[Sangheili-San'Shyuum war|waged war against each other]] in a power struggle.{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}} Additionally, the [[Unggoy Rebellion]] took place during the 39th Age of Conflict.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 151'' (''"No one had known that the infusion incident, as it came to be known, was the most important of many small grievances that precipitated the Unggoy rebellion, a civil war that ushered in the Covenant's 39th Age of Conflict"'')</ref>

What is known is that the San'Shyuum's discovery of ancient Forerunner artifacts during an Age of Discovery{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}} and the end of the war between the Sangheili and the San'Shyuum during an early Age of Reconciliation,{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}} became the foundation on which the Covenant was founded upon. The San'Shyuum promised to find the means of the Forerunners' [[Covenant religion|transcendence]] and the Sangheili promised to protect the hierarchy. These ages marked the beginnings of the Covenant, the start of the Covenant's search for Forerunner artifacts and presumably the Covenant [[Writ of Union]].

The Ages of Conversion were defined by the Covenant subjugating other species in their search for Forerunner artifacts, incorporating them into their society, adding their strengths to their own.{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}} It is likely that the [[Taming of the Lekgolo]] occurred during one such age, requiring the creation of another [[Arbiter]] and defeated them only by threatening to destroy the [[Te|homeworld]] of the Lekgolo. Separate Ages of Conversion also likely included the incorporation of the [[Unggoy]], [[Kig-Yar]], [[Yanme'e|Yanme’e]] and [[Huragok]].

The Ages of Doubt are periods during which the Covenant suffered from varying degrees of internal dissent and began to lose faith in their mission.{{Ref/Reuse|halosm}} The last Age of Doubt, the 23rd, was preceded by the 39th Age of Conflict, during which the [[Unggoy Rebellion]] occurred. The 23rd Age of Doubt ended in the year 2525, in human counting, leading into the 9th Age of Reclamation.

The Ages of Reclamation were marked by the discovery of major Forerunner artifacts. The 9th,<ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', campaign level ''[[The Heretic]]''</ref> and final, Age of Reclamation began simultaneously with the onset of the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2525]] and lasted until the Covenant's defeat at the Ark in late [[2552]]. Originally, the war had been started by the Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret to prevent the majority of the Covenant learning that the humans were "[[Reclaimer|descendants]]" of the Forerunners, their gods, and that the Covenant religion was based on a lie.