[quote]Why was he in requiem?[/quote] - [i]"The Librarian left little to chance, didn't she? Turning my own guardians... my own world... against me."[/i] ~ Ur-Didact, Forerunner - [i]"He would have encrypted your entire race if we had not removed the Composer from his care and imprisoned him here."[/i] ~ Librarian, Reclaimer - [i]"This was meant for my husband to help your people when his meditation was complete."[/i] ~ Librarian, Spartan Ops (Episode 9) Further explained in the Terminals. - [i]"Spend these ages ahead of you in meditation on your choices. When you wake, you will find the humans. I have ensured that they will grow strong and vibrant... They will be our rightful heirs. Their gene plan dictates that the galaxy will be theirs to care for by then. I beg of you... Find the strength to help them learn from our mistakes. And my husband? Let them teach you as well. Please."[/i] ~ Librarian, Terminal 7 [quote]Why is he still alive?[/quote] - [i]"Spend these ages ahead of you in meditation on your choices. When you wake, you will find the humans. I have ensured that they will grow strong and vibrant... They will be our rightful heirs. Their gene plan dictates that the galaxy will be theirs to care for by then. I beg of you... Find the strength to help them learn from our mistakes. And my husband? Let them teach you as well. Please."[/i] ~ Librarian, Terminal 7 (again) - [i]"This was meant for my husband to help your people when his meditation was complete."[/i] ~ Librarian, Spartan Ops (Episode 9) This is [i]really[/i] a non-issue. You can see that the Cryptum clearly has something to do with the Ur-Didact's preservation, along with the fact that the Librarian imprisoned him with the expectation that he would be a leader for humanity's path to attaining the Mantle. [quote]Why is he so damn ugly?[/quote] - [i]"Did it work? Run the simulation... The procedure is a failure, I am still susceptible to Flood infection."[/i] ~ Ur-Didact, Terminal 5 [quote]Is he a forerunner?[/quote] How is this [i]EVER[/i] in doubt? - [i]"If you haven't mastered even these primitives, then Man has not attained the Mantle. Your ascendance may yet be prevented. Time was your ally, human, but now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners... have returned."[/i] ~ Ur-Didact, Forerunner - [i]"The Mantle of Responsibility for the galaxy shelters all, human. But only the Forerunners are its masters."[/i] ~ Ur-Didact, Shutdown - [i]"In this hour of victory, [b]we[/b] taste only defeat. I ask, why? [b]We are Forerunners[/b], guardians of all that exists. The roots of the galaxy have grown deep under [b]our[/b] careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of [b]our[/b] countless generations has saturated the soil. [b]Our[/b] strength is a luminous sun, towards which all intelligence blossoms... And the impervious shelter beneath which it has prospered. I stand before you, accused of the sin of ensuring Forerunner ascendancy. Of attempting to save [b]us[/b] from this fate where we are forced to... recede. Humanity stands as the greatest threat in the galaxy. Refusing to eradicate them is a fool's gambit. [b]We[/b] squander eons in the darkness, while they seize [b]our[/b] triumphs for their own. The Mantle of responsibility for all things belongs to Forerunners alone. Think of my acts as you will. But do not doubt the reality: the Reclamation... has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it."[/i] ~ Ur-Didact, Epilogue [quote]How did cortana know his name upon meeting him?[/quote] The Covenant terminal in the opening of the second mission which has a Sangheili repeatedly saying "Didact". Jul 'Mdama kneels before the Ur-Didact when he is awakened and shouts "Didact". Here's a better question: how did Cortana know what Gravemind was called in Halo 2?

Are you sure that was Jul 'Mdama in that cutscene and not just a random blue elite?

It was confirmed in a Waypoint bulletin last year.

[quote]Here's a better question: how did Cortana know what Gravemind was called in Halo 2?[/quote] here's the best question: where the hell was the scarab in metropolis even going?

It was going for a swim! It was probably deployed for excavation reasons, and then got pushed around by Human forces all over the city. The other thing that really interests me, is that Evolutions says Regret deployed multiple Scarabs in New Mombassa.

... but why would it move [i]towards the ocean?[/i] like... did they think it would be safer to drown or something?

I think it didn't know the layout of the city and was trying to avoid Humans and ended up getting stuck. Not surprising given the Covenant's tactical ability to provide valuable intel to each other...

... with the whole "banshees and phantoms literally everywhere and a giant goddamn assault carrier hovering over the city" thing the covies had going on?

Hey, let's not forget the second fleet to arrive at Reach thought it'd be great to let the Fleet of Particular Justice charge blindly into Reach, and get more than half their numbers taken out by SMACs while they dilly dallied glassing one half of Reach.

The Covenant underestimated the humans alot. They really just viewed them as flies getting in the way of their project.

ohhh i get it now bungie was just trying to create a suspension of disbelief for the entire series! it all makes sense now! /all bungie games are now perfect /everything is suspension of disbelief

"Hey, remember how we made that Forerunner Slipspace portal 117km in diameter?" "Yeah?" "Well what if High Charity were to fly through it?" "Wait, isn't High Charity like three times bigger than that?" "Yeah." "And wouldn't that doom the Earth?" "Yeah, but we'll just say they didn't." "Sounds good to me!"

wait really High Charity goes to the Ark through the portal on Earth? I always thought it just used it's own slip space drives or something. If it went through the portal on Earth, after everyone else already did, couldn't it infect Earth again except without anything to really oppose it?

[quote]High Charity goes to the Ark through the portal on Earth?[/quote] We try to assume that but nobody ever says anything about HC rolling through. Not to mention pieces of the Structure would have broken off and the flood would have spread. Even if it wasn't their main intention, which it should have been. So we have no effing clue how HC got to the ark because what we try to reason doesn't fully make sense. [quote]I always thought it just used it's own slip space drives or something.[/quote] Another reason we tried to use. The issue with that is They are not anywhere near powerful enough to travel outside the Galaxy and even so it would take hundreds if not thousands of years. The Flood Improving them would make sense but it wouldn't happen over night. It was taking the flood an ample amount of time to improve a UNSC ship (The Mona Lisa) and they didn't even finish. More than a few weeks would be needed to improve HC

Huh, so we really have no solid idea how it gets to the ark, lol. That's kinda funny actually.