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Primordial: Difference between revisions
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The exact origins of the Primordial remain a mystery. It is known that following [[Forerunner-Precursor war|their defeat]] at the hands of the [[Forerunner]]s circa [[10,000,000 BCE]], many of the remaining Precursors transmuted themselves into organic particles that would re-constitute their original forms—themselves highly variable—at a later time. Over the millions of years that followed the Precursors' fall, this powder degraded and became defective; instead of re-forming the Precursors as they used to be, it instead resulted in misshapen life-forms that ravenously assimilated biomatter they came in contact with - the earliest stages of the Flood parasite.<ref name="s174">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 174''</ref> | The exact origins of the Primordial remain a mystery. It is known that following [[Forerunner-Precursor war|their defeat]] at the hands of the [[Forerunner]]s circa [[10,000,000 BCE]], many of the remaining Precursors transmuted themselves into organic particles that would re-constitute their original forms—themselves highly variable—at a later time. Over the millions of years that followed the Precursors' fall, this powder degraded and became defective; instead of re-forming the Precursors as they used to be, it instead resulted in misshapen life-forms that ravenously assimilated biomatter they came in contact with - the earliest stages of the Flood parasite.<ref name="s174">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 174''</ref> | ||
Not all Precursors chose this fate; some entered deep suspended animation without reducing themselves as thoroughly.<ref name="s174"/> The Primordial, however, was evidently not a Precursor as they appeared at the time of the Forerunners' campaign against them.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 222'' (''"What were they like-the Precursors-when we sent fleets to hunt them down and destroy them?" -"Unlike the Primordial, unlike the Gravemind on the rogue Halo. Unlike the Flood, almost certainly."'')</ref> It instead appears to have been an artificial being,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 120'' (''"An ancient construct ... or a captive"'')</ref> perhaps a very early form of [[Gravemind]], created from several creatures; the exact number was never determined, but [[Forthencho]] theorized that there had been at least twelve.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 326''</ref> At the same time, Forerunner researchers were unable to conclusively determine whether the entity was truly connected to the Flood,<ref name="p190">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 190-192''</ref> suggesting that it may have represented a considerably different, more primitive form of what would eventually become the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 224'' (''"The Graveminds suck experience from all sentient history. One of them did everything but absorb me. Saw right through me, understood every strategy I've ever devised. They've advanced far beyond the Primordial."'')</ref> Whatever its actual nature or origin, the Primordial's consciousness was synonymous with that of the later Gravemind.<ref>'''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> | Not all Precursors chose this fate; some entered deep suspended animation without reducing themselves as thoroughly.<ref name="s174"/> The Primordial, however, was evidently not a Precursor as they appeared at the time of the Forerunners' campaign against them.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 222'' (''"What were they like-the Precursors-when we sent fleets to hunt them down and destroy them?" -"Unlike the Primordial, unlike the Gravemind on the rogue Halo. Unlike the Flood, almost certainly."'')</ref> It instead appears to have been an artificial being,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 120'' (''"An ancient construct ... or a captive"'')</ref> perhaps a very early form of [[Gravemind]], created from several creatures; the exact number was never determined, but [[Forthencho]] theorized that there had been at least twelve.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 326''</ref> At the same time, Forerunner researchers were unable to conclusively determine whether the entity was truly connected to the Flood,<ref name="p190">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 190-192''</ref> suggesting that it may have represented a considerably different, more primitive form of what would eventually become the Flood.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 224'' (''"The Graveminds suck experience from all sentient history. One of them did everything but absorb me. Saw right through me, understood every strategy I've ever devised. They've advanced far beyond the Primordial."'')</ref> Whatever its actual nature or origin, the Primordial's consciousness was synonymous with that of the later Gravemind.<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> | ||
The Primordial was placed in dormancy within an asteroid outside the margins of [[Milky Way|the galaxy]] around [[9,000,000 BCE]]; a million years after the Forerunners wiped out the Precursors.<ref name="s173">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 173'' (''"The one the Didact questioned on Charum Hakkor arrived on the margins of our galaxy nine million years before. That one was discovered by humans decades before the end of the war. We are the same."'')</ref> According to the Gravemind, the Primordial "arrived" in this location at this time;<ref name="s173"/> who was responsible for placing the being in stasis is unclear, though it is most likely to have been early Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 181-182'' (''"We were not then powerful enough to erase all evidence of the Precursors, to destroy their star roads and citadels and other artifacts. And so we left at least one Precursor behind, to live out dreams of vengeance and hatred, to lay down plans in cold and darkness at the heart of a lost asteroid-over millions of years."'')</ref> | The Primordial was placed in dormancy within an asteroid outside the margins of [[Milky Way|the galaxy]] around [[9,000,000 BCE]]; a million years after the Forerunners wiped out the Precursors.<ref name="s173">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 173'' (''"The one the Didact questioned on Charum Hakkor arrived on the margins of our galaxy nine million years before. That one was discovered by humans decades before the end of the war. We are the same."'')</ref> According to the Gravemind, the Primordial "arrived" in this location at this time;<ref name="s173"/> who was responsible for placing the being in stasis is unclear, though it is most likely to have been early Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 181-182'' (''"We were not then powerful enough to erase all evidence of the Precursors, to destroy their star roads and citadels and other artifacts. And so we left at least one Precursor behind, to live out dreams of vengeance and hatred, to lay down plans in cold and darkness at the heart of a lost asteroid-over millions of years."'')</ref> | ||
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After reclaiming Installation 07, the [[IsoDidact]] imprisoned the Primordial within a reverse-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"/> | After reclaiming Installation 07, the [[IsoDidact]] imprisoned the Primordial within a reverse-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"/> | ||
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 the | 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 completely intact. 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"/> | |||
==Appearance== | ==Appearance== | ||