True, but it's unlikely the Precursors made both races from scratch.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Old Salty27 Ten million years ago both species ancestors would have been apes, not even beginning to walk upright.[/quote] We don't know that though, we have pretty much no details on what was going on 10 million years ago beyond the fact that an act of barbarity served as the origin of the Flood and humans/Forerunners were made by the Precursors.

That can't be right. Ten million years ago both species ancestors would have been apes, not even beginning to walk upright. If that's the case Humans are about as closely related to Forerunners as we are to Chimps. I thought Forerunners as a species were only a few million years old. It would be interesting if Humans and Forerunners do share a direct ancestry. It would seem that the Precursors had a general interest in Human stock and creating the Forerunners and Humans as Forerunners 2.0 could be their way of experimenting to create the most advanced species from the Homonid gene pool. For what purpose exactly remains a mystery.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Old Salty27 Humans and Forerunners descended from the same species? I thought they were genetically and physically similar because of their shared Precursor DNA. Hence Humans and Forerunners only resemble one another because they really resemble Precursors. I could be wrong, the next Forerunner book is supposed to have some big revelation about the Forerunners. [/quote] It's [i]implied[/i] in both Cryptum and Primordium that both humanity and the Forerunners were once the same species, but that would have been over 10 million years ago. We don't know what the Precursors who created the Forerunners looked like, the only physical description we have of one is the Timeless one - and he says he's not part of the race that created the Forerunners. Silentium supposedly has a massive revelation about the Flood's origin. [quote][i]The Precursors created many technological species, including humanity and the Forerunners. But the roots of the Flood may be found in an act of enormous barbarity, carried out beyond our galaxy ten million years before...[/i][/quote]

Humans and Forerunners descended from the same species? I thought they were genetically and physically similar because of their shared Precursor DNA. Hence Humans and Forerunners only resemble one another because they really resemble Precursors. I could be wrong, the next Forerunner book is supposed to have some big revelation about the Forerunners.

Thanks for the clarification. I think Halo 4 became more enjoyable now that I know whats going on.

It was Prophets, not Elites that were around in the past. Otherwise, the Geas in humans are what allows us to use Forerunner tech. When John activates the lightbridge on 04, he did by instinct, just pressing a random button. His Geas told him what button to press. In addition, both humans and forerunners were both created by the precursors. Once our species had more similarities, but the forerunners embraced mutations. Forerunners who have undergone no mutations look pretty similar to humans. As they go through more mutations, they look less and less human like. Before a mutation, Didact looked like Voldemort wearing a combat skin, after a mutation he looked like a cross between Voldemort and a vampire, for example.

They grossly reverse-engineered it from forerunner relics. The only select things can be activated by humans and that was because they share majority of the same DNA.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. If you don't mind me asking another question: If most of the technology that the Covenant utilize were originally Forerunner tech, how are they using said tech? Can they use Promethean weapons?

The Librarian implanted a geas in humanity (a series of genetic commands that get passed down over generations and compel the subject to fulfil a specific purpose), this allows humanity to use Forerunner technology. It is also implied in the Forerunner novels that humans and Forerunners were once the same race, their genetics being remarkably similar, both having been made by the Precursors, but were split into different races eventually.