I have a theory as to the whole 'timeless one' deal. Well, what if he isn't the last precursor and he lied? Now, why would he lie? Well, If we look back to the Forerunner-Precursor war, the forerunners had won, they obliterated the Precursors, with the timeless one stating he was the last one left. But also, didn't the precursors also have the ability to create lifeforms, Also the timeless one seemed to have knowledge of the origins of the flood. So my theory is that the Precursors did create the flood to be unstoppable, but why? Again, Precursors were being wiped out, which leaves me with two extension theories. 1- They invented the flood to be unstoppable as a way of being...solipsistic? So "If im going down, im taking you all with me!". 2- They had plans for this, What i mean is, the Precursors, allowed thier numbers to dwindle, then went into hiding, allowing the forerunners to believe they were long dead, However the Precursors then create the flood to wipe out the Forerunners, then the precursors could use failsafes in thier flood creation to destroy the flood and retake thier place as overrulers of the galaxy. This kind of links to the religious theme of Precursors being god-like, who sent the flood to 'wash away' thier enemies. But the 'enemies' fought against the gods by building thier own boats...with blackjack...and hookers! But forget the blackjack...ahh forget the whole thing. (cookie for reference) Of course my second theory there would mean they already are in charge and ruling, So doesn't quite add up unless you add that perhaps the Precursors were unaware of the purpose/existence of the Halo rings, So a lot of them got wiped out, ruining thier plans to dominate except maybe a few who did have access to a shield world (which were unoccupied because of Mendicant Bias' betrayal, caused by the Timeless one) so then they had to attempt to repopulate and perhaps reclaim thier knowledge of destroying the flood. So perhaps the 'shield world' Chief may be heading to, Could have a regrowing population of precursors Im not really 100% on my theories to be honest, they're just a bunch of ideas swilling in my head that im trying to jam together to see what happens XD