Ur-Didact

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"The peaceful one is at war without and within."

— The Mantle, Fifth Permutation of the Didact's Number

The Didact is a Forerunner Promethean who held an extremely high status in the Forerunner society as supreme commander of the entire Forerunner military. He wholeheartedly believed in the Mantle the Forerunners held to protect life, and initially opposed the Halo Array as a sin beyond measure. He was also the lover and husband of the Librarian, and the one who eventually activated the Halo Array. Following this, he was exiled in a Cryptum on Requiem, awakening in 2557 and rising to oppose humanity, the descendants of his ancient enemies.

Originally thought to have been physically killed by the former Master Builder Faber, the Didact effectively existed as two individuals during the final days of the Forerunner-Flood war; his original self, as well as his implanted consciousness within a young Forerunner known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. To differentiate these two incarnations, the original Didact was referred to as the Ur-Didact, while his other incarnation was known as the Bornstellar-Didact.

Biography

Warrior-Servant career

The Didact was a Promethean, a member of an extremely powerful class of Warrior-Servant. He gained his name while teaching at the College of Strategic Defense of the Mantle. On Charum Hakkor, he met a Lifeworker named the Librarian and married her. They had several children, who followed their father's footsteps and became Warrior-Servants. During the Human-Forerunner War, the Didact led the Forerunner military against the humans. His way of carrying out campaigns in interstellar war involved a strategy referred to as "star-hopping"; isolating and besieging points of strategic importance while ignoring any less significant targets. Though all of his children died in the war, the Forerunners were victorious. After the Charum Hakkor campaign, he and a group of Prometheans, including the Confirmer, discovered a stasis capsule on Charum Hakkor which contained the Primordial, the last of the Precursors. After a brief exchange with the Primordial, the Didact sealed its timelock for nearly the next ten thousand years.

Following the end of the war and the first discovery of the Flood, he advocated a policy of vigilance and research in the event of a Flood resurgence. He also proposed the construction of shield worlds across the galaxy in order to monitor the galaxy for Flood outbreaks and provide military support should they occur; this strategy was to involve the characteristic star-hopping tactics he had utilized in the war with humankind. However, a faction of Builders led by Master Builder Faber proposed the construction of a series of superweapons to deal with the Flood instead, and they were successful in convincing the Council to sanction their plans. Having lost the political battle, the Didact was stripped of his power and forced into exile.

Revival and capture

In his exile, the Didact entered a state of meditation inside of a Cryptum, which was later placed by the Librarian in Djamonkin Crater on Earth. The war sphinxes containing the last essences of the Didact's children were placed to guard the Cryptum. Over one thousand years later, he was discovered and revived by a young Forerunner Manipular, Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, who had come to Earth in search of Precursor relics. The Didact, while greatly displeased by his revival, deduced that it had to be the work of his wife. The Didact's awakening summoned a fleet of Forerunner ships in the area, but they were unable to pinpoint his precise location due to a baffler that cloaked the crater's central region. Instead of turning himself in, the Didact made a timely escape using a ship constructed from a design seed planted in the crater's central mountain by the Librarian, taking Bornstellar and the Manipular's human guides, Chakas and Riser, as well as his war sphinxes, with him.

Seeking to find out what had happened in his absence, the Didact set course for Charum Hakkor, where he discovered that one of the Master Builder's Halo installations had already been tested, eradicating all sentient life, as well as Precursor structures, in the system. Upon landing on Charum Hakkor, the Didact discovered that the Primordial had escaped from its timelock and was nowhere to be found. For Chakas and Riser, visiting Charum Hakkor stirred ancient memories which had been imprinted in their genetic material by the Librarian. Intending to trigger more of these memories, they traveled to the system where the San 'Shyuum, once humanity's allies, had been quarantined after their defeat by the Forerunners.

During the journey, the Didact made several irregular slipspace jumps in order to prevent Forerunner core authority from tracking them. Before arriving in the San 'Shyuum home system, the Didact performed a brevet mutation on the young Manipular to allow him access to the Domain. With the mutation, the Didact transferred his consciousness, along with all of his memories and knowledge to Bornstellar, although they would not awaken within the Manipular until later on. Shortly afterward, they arrived in the San 'Shyuum system and met with the Confirmer, one of the Didact's Promethean comrades, on the Fortress-class vessel Deep Reverence, in order to gain access to the quarantined region of the system.

However, in orbit over Janjur Qom, the primary San 'Shyuum world, the Didact's ship was intercepted and dismantled by the Master Builder's forces who had been present in the system quelling a San 'Shyuum rebellion. The Didact and the others were taken prisoner; in the subsequent interrogations, the Didact refused to divulge information on the shield worlds or the control codes for the Contender-class ancillas. Although other Forerunners, including the Librarian, believed that the Didact had been executed, he had in fact merely been left to die in a Flood-infested system by the Master Builder's forces.

Bornstellar-Didact

Believing the original Didact to be dead, the Didact's personality imprint in Bornstellar's body took full control of the Manipular, effectively making him a reincarnation of the Didact. After surviving the assault by Mendicant Bias on the capital, the Bornstellar-Didact reunited with the Librarian on Installation 00 and resumed his duties as supreme commander of Forerunner military due to the present threat of the Flood.

Soon after, the Bornstellar-Didact tracked down the Halo installation carrying Mendicant Bias and the Captive from Charum Hakkor, as well as the humans who had accompanied him after his revival. His fleet intercepted the Halo ring, on a pre-determined collision course with a planet in a distant system. He proceeded to deactivate Mendicant Bias using his control codes and save the Halo and its research data on the Flood.

After the Halo had been successfully transported to the greater Ark, the Didact, accompanied by a wounded Chakas, interrogated the Captive, now imprisoned once again. Over the course of the exchange, the entity revealed the true nature of the relationship between the Precursors, the Flood as well as the Forerunners and humans, stating that the Forerunners were never meant to inherit the Mantle and that there was no cure for the Flood. Furious, the Didact then executed the creature by fully activating its slipspace stasis chamber, forcing it to live through a billion years in complete sensory isolation and causing it to decay to a state of total physical entropy.

Following his temporary victory, the Didact's power rose as he returned to the favor of the re-established Ecumene Council, also elevating the status of his wife. The debate on the Didact's plans for strategic solutions against the Flood was restored and the use of the Halos was delayed for a time.

Endgame

"Mendicant Bias is trying to prevent us from firing the Array. He speeds back to the Ark, but he won't succeed. Offensive Bias will stop him, and I will burn this stinking menace in your name. And then? I will begin our Great Journey without you, carrying this bitter record. Those who came after will know what we bought with this [false transcendence] - what you bought, and the price you paid."

— The Didact's final transmission.

Later on, during the war, the Didact was constantly trying to convince the Librarian to give up on her mission to save other sentient life from the Halo Array's inevitable activation, and return to him to safety inside the Maginot Line. His pleas, however, were unsuccessful and the Librarian ended up destroying her own fleet, stranding herself on Earth to live out the rest of her days in a place she referred to as "Eden".

After the Didact learned the Librarian's location, he prepared a rescue party to retrieve her. However, before they could depart, Mendicant Bias' fleet breached the Maginot Line and destroyed the rescue party. Stricken by grief, the Didact then activated the Halo Array, wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy and stating that he would begin "[their] Great Journey" without his wife. Under unknown circumstances, he went into exile in a Cryptum on the shield world known as Requiem, guarded by legions of mechanical Promethean forces.

Return

"I have long dreamt of this day, Reclaimer."

— The Didact

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John-117 facing the Didact.

In July 2557, the wreckage of the UNSC frigate Forward Unto Dawn, carrying the Spartan John-117 and his AI companion Cortana arrived in the orbit of Requiem, followed by a fleet of Covenant remnant warships. The shield world's defenses detected the intruders and caused them to crash on the surface of Requiem. After landing, both the Spartan and the Covenant forces faced opposition from the occupying Promethean forces, until eventually discovering the Didact's Cryptum on what was originally thought to be a communications relay satellite.

The Didact was awakened immediately following his discovery, and he began to actively oppose both the human and Covenant forces on Requiem. John-117 and Cortana immediately recognized the danger posed by the Promethean and after the UNSC Infinity had crash-landed on Requiem, they attempted to convince Captain Del Rio of the Infinity to take more drastic action against the Didact before he regained his full strength. However, Del Rio instead opted that they leave Requiem as soon as possible. At one point during the conflict on Requiem, the Didact's Prometheans and the Covenant remnants joined forces against humanity.

The Didact, after being forced to retreat, left Requiem for Installation 03, where he successfully took control of the Composer and wiped out everyone in the area aside from the Master Chief, who was augmented by the Librarian. The Didact then set course for Earth, intending to prevent humans from threatening Forerunner dominance. However, the Master Chief boarded his ship with a fusion bomb, intending to destroy the ship from the inside. The Promethean general confronted him, but Cortana was able to hack into the system and use strands of the light bridge to immobilize him. The Chief then planted a grenade on the Didact, blowing him off the bridge. With little time left, the Chief detonated the fusion bomb and destroyed the ship, though Cortana was able to teleport him away from the blast.

However, the Didact survived and intends to return to finish what he started.

Personality and traits

"But what I would not give to have earned a single company of Prometheans here right now. They would most certainly restore order with their trademark lethality, although...that would mean he would have to be here, too. And without the Librarian around to temper his rage, well... These Reclaimers might almost prefer the Flood."

— 343 Guilty Spark before Installation 04's destruction, referring to the Didact.

As the leader of the Prometheans, the Didact is immensely experienced and powerful. Generally, he is stoic and calm, but quick to anger if provoked. The Didact adhered strictly to Warrior-Servant precepts and traditions, and fiercely opposed anything that clashed with his ideals. This was the reason for his opposition to the Halo Array, as he viewed it as an affront to everything the Mantle stood for. He was also a follower of the Warrior-Servants' interpretation of the Mantle, believing that defying the Forerunners was tantamount to defying the Mantle itself. In his view, however, the Mantle accepted everyone, even contemporary humanity who conquered other species, although this did not change his condemnation of such actions or the strong resentment he felt toward humanity.

The Didact rarely showed any fear, although he openly admitted to being afraid to confront the Primordial, due to what it represented and the potential implications it may have had on his deepest-held beliefs. The subsequent revelations shook him to the point that he was unable to contain his fury and executed the creature out of anger.

When first meeting with Bornstellar, the Didact viewed the Manipular as foolish and naive, cursing him for waking him from his hibernation, but over the course of their travels he would begin to share some of the wisdom gained as a result of his experience, effectively becoming a mentor figure to the young Forerunner. This continued even after the two had been separated, with the Didact's imprinted consciousness offering his view on various matters and making occasional wry comments to Bornstellar, until fully subsuming his consciousness in order to continue the original Didact's work.

Views on humanity

The Didact was considered in his time to be the supreme enemy of humans, viewing mankind as a grave threat and considering them to be extremely contentious, bigoted and self-centered. However, in his own mind this animosity was not driven by hatred or malice; rather, it was a largely rational reaction to humanity's actions. His later actions though, such as killing and imprisoning humans with the Composer to combat the Flood were viewed by the Librarian with horror.

While dismissive of the potential for humans to take on the Mantle, he also respected humans as warriors and regarded them as honorable, unlike their San 'Shyuum allies who had surrendered earlier in the war. This was demonstrated when he met with his main opponent, Forthencho, the Lord of Admirals, in person after the humans' defeat, speaking to him as a fellow warrior and reassuring him about the future despite humanity's grim predicament. He also understood humanity's motives for aggressive expansion after studying their records of their struggle with the Flood. Nonetheless, he felt it necessary to eradicate the contemporary human civilization entirely to ensure they would not rise to challenge Forerunner dominance again.

The Didact's antipathy toward humans was at least partially curtailed by the Librarian, who was, in contrast, regarded as humanity's greatest protector. It is likely, however, that his opinion of humanity has changed little as of the present, and indeed it can be assumed he would now hold some resentment towards humanity for indirectly causing the death of the Librarian. In any case, he resents the Librarian's "meddling".

He appeared to regard Chakas and Riser, the two humans who accompanied Bornstellar, with relative indifference, viewing them as mere annoyances, although he tolerated them because they were part of his wife's plan. By the point the Bornstellar-Didact reunited with the two, he appears to have had more of sympathy for them; he trusted Chakas enough to connect with him to Installation 07's control interface and enlist his aid in saving the ring, and later treated Chakas and the other humans gently, expressing condolence for everything they had been forced to go through.

Physical description and appearance

A full-rate Promethean, the Ur-Didact was a physically imposing presence. He stood approximately twice a Manipular's height and weighed four or five times as much, and had massive, heavily muscled limbs and hands with six digits. It was said that he could easily have crushed a human with his bare hands. His skin was grayish pink in color and he had patches of bluish white fur on the top of his head and shoulders, as was common with Warrior-Servants. He had strong, serious facial features and deep-set, gray eyes. The Bornstellar-Didact was mostly similar to the Ur-Didact in appearance and stature and had a "broad, grotesque face", although upon closer examination, his comparative physical youth was apparent in his appearance.

The Didact's personal armor, which bore the mottled gray and blue colors of a Warrior-Servant, was despite his lofty status considered austere in contrast to more lavishly decorated Builder armor.

Behind the scenes

Check out our collection of quotes related to Ur-Didact on its quotes page.

• The Didact is the main antagonist of Halo 4, in which he is voiced by Keith Szarabajka, and he will be a "pivotal character" in subsequent media. Before the official confirmation that the Didact was to be the antagonist, a number of sources made several suggestions that this may be the case. The final terminal of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary contains a foreboding reference to the Didact's possible return, and there are hints throughout Halo: Primordium that humans are once again faced by the Didact; most prominently in the very end of the novel. A symbol very similar to that of the Didact's appears in the Halo 4 Cinematic Trailer, in which the icon is shown overtaking the UNSC Infinity's monitors while a wave of orange light scans throughout the ship. The icon is later seen turning over in the end of the trailer, superimposed by the text "An ancient evil awakens," while an unknown voice is heard saying "I have long dreamt of this day, Reclaimer." Near the end of Origins, Part 1, the Didact's empty armor is seen being placed into storage by another Forerunner after the activation of the Array, with his body nowhere to be seen; however, as this is based on the semi-rampant Cortana's interpretation of the available data, it is possible that such an event never really occurred.
• A centuries-long series of conversations between Didact and the Librarian can be found inside Forerunner terminals in Halo 3. When the terminals are accessed, the player is eventually moved to a conversation that was recorded before the Halo rings were fired but after he had transferred his consciousness into Bornstellar. The Didact's last words to the Librarian moments prior to the Array's activation are featured in the Iris campaign Server Episode 1.
• The title Didact is a back-formation of the word didactic, which means to instruct others, especially with regard to morals. This is ironic because the Didact, who sought the dismantling of the Halo Array to protect the galaxy, ultimately activated the rings, defying his morals.

Gallery

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  The Didact symbol in its "unbound" state.

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  An unbound variation of the Didact's symbol appears on a crewman's comm screen aboard the UNSC Infinity.

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  The Didact, based on Cortana's visual interpretation.<ref group="note">The Didact's depiction in Origins is not entirely accurate, regardless of which Didact the image is meant to represent. As the Bornstellar-Didact had six fingers instead of five, it can be assumed that the same is true to the Ur-Didact. Though his armor's color scheme matches its description in Halo: Primordium, Cortana's interpretation of the Didact seems to have a slimmer, narrower frame than either of his incarnations.

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  Symbol representing the Didact

List of appearances

• Iris (First appearance)
• Halo 3
  • Terminals
• Halo Legends
  • Origins
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, Volume 1
  • Soma the Painter (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Cryptum
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
  • Terminals (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Primordium
• Halo: The Thursday War (Mentioned only)
• Scanned
• Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (Mentioned only)
• Halo 4
• Halo: Silentium