My hypothesis is that Master Chief is Didact reincarnated. Not literally or spiritually, but in that their genetic makeup is similar enough for an AI to mistake one for another. This would lead me to also hypothesize that the Forerunner and Humans are the same race. The below is my basis (or bias, however you would like to see it). Firstly, from [b]Halo CE[/b] we all remember 04-343 GS’s cryptic quotes: [i]343 Guilty Spark: ...More or less. Technically, this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of up to 25,000 light years. But, once others follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life. Or, at least any life with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood. But you already knew that. I mean... how couldn't you? Cortana: Left out that little detail, did he? 343 Guilty Spark: [to the Chief] We followed outbreak procedure to the letter. You were with me each step of the way as we managed this crisis. Cortana: [bows her head] I'm tracking movement, we have to go! 343 Guilty Spark: [still talking to the Chief] Why would you hesitate to do what you've already done? Cortana: We have to go! We have to move now! 343 Guilty Spark: [four Sentinels appear behind him] Last time you asked me, if it were my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your querey, my answer has not changed. [/i] What could be the significance of GS mistaking Master Chief to be someone he had previously communicated with? Further, how is it possible for GS to mistake MC to have been there when Installation 04 was previously fired many millennia ago? The explanation most probable to me is that MC is Didact. How? I would like to explain first why I think Forerunners and Humans are the same. To do that it might be easiest to investigate where the Precursors fit in all of this. There must be a reason we are provided with yet another race in the Bestiarum, the Precursors. This is a race that even the Forerunners believed to be mythical. There are several instances in the Terminal conversations between Didact and the Librarian in which I believe the Precursors are referenced. [b]Terminal Two [/b] [i]… D: No. Activation is murder. A genocide larger than [this galaxy] has ever known. We are sworn to protect life not destroy it! That is the Mantle we were given to carry. L: The Mantle. You still hold to that [fairy tale] after all that has happened? After this thing has consumed a million worlds? … D: The Mantle has not failed! I've already razed scores of worlds--sterilized systems, routed and [disintegrated] the parasite! We're learning its tricks and strategies. We can halt this thing! And we can follow in Their footsteps! [/i] So, we discover from this conversation that there is such a thing as The Mantle, and that it is considered, largely or maybe only partially, to be a fairy tale. Then Didact refers to Their footsteps, with a capital T. From this dialogue, in adjunction to the Bestiarum, I have established, to myself in the least, that the Precursors are a mythical race even to the Forerunners. More importantly though, it seems to me that there must have been a great threat of some sort in the time before the Forerunners under which The Mantle was a necessity to pass on to begin with. I believe this was also The Flood based on the following quote. [b]Iris Episode 2 [/b] [i]{//} (BUT WHEN THE MIND REALIZED WE HAD ITS MEASURE) it spoke to us {//} (MOCKINGLY, DISMISSIVELY) It has done this before {//} (ELSEWHERE) [/i] Now what makes me think that Humans are Forerunner? I will give some direct quotes followed by some quotes and sources that are open to interpretation. [b]Contact Harvest [/b] [i]AI (Which I believe to be a fragment of Mendicant Bias, but mostly irrelevant to the validity of my hypothesis): < THIS IS NOT RECLAMATION ... THIS IS RECLAIMER ... AND THOSE IT REPRESENTS ARE MY MAKERS >[/i] [b]Halo 3 [/b] [i]343 Guilty Spark: You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You are Forerunner. [/i] It doesn’t get any more direct than this. GS says without question that the MC is Forerunner. Also according to the AI from Contact Harvest, Forerunners made the AI, the AI identifies humans on Harvest as its makers. Therefore the humans on Harvest are Forerunner. I think the logic holds whatever “it” represents. Just substitute “it” with “the glyph” or “reclaimer” or what have you. [b]Iris Episode 5 [/b] [i]The anomalous world is in a perilous location beyond the line. {//} (THE SECRETS IT HOLDS MUST BE PRESERVED) {//} (PLANS WITHIN PLANS WITHIN PLANS) The inhabitants; these unique denizens, must be researched. They may hold answers to our own mysteries. [/i] [b]Terminal 6 [/b] [i]L: My work is done. The portal is inactive, and I've begun the burial measures. Soon there'll be nothing but sand and rock and normal ferrite signatures. You should see the mountain that watches over it. A beautiful thing--a snowcapped sentinel. That's where I will spend what time is left to me. Did I tell you? I built a garden. The earth is so rich. A seed falls and a tree sprouts or a flower blooms. There's so much...potential. We knew this was a special place because of them, but unless you've been here, you can't know. It's [Eden]. [/i] [b]Halo 3: The Cradle of Life [/b] [i]“And he watches the Gods as they build their machines.” [/i] These three are more of the indirect sources to support my hypothesis. I believe the anomalous world referenced in Episode 5 is Earth, and the unique denizens are human. The world is anomalous because the Forerunner discovered a race identical to themselves yet technologically primitive. I cannot think of any other reason why human beings would be considered so unique and still tie in to my previous evidence. This may hold answers to the Forerunners’ own mysteries of where they come from and how they got here. This is where the Precursors fit in, but before I get to that… From the Librarian’s log in Terminal 6 we find that she has completed burial measures of the portal, which I believe is the portal to the Ark we see in Halo 3. The beautiful, snowcapped sentinel of a mountain she mentions is Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Kilimanjaro is in the border between Tanzania and Kenya, and just west of Mombasa, which would be very near to where New Mombasa would be built sometime in the future. Most importantly however, her reference to ‘them’ is no doubt the human beings she found on Earth. It is very unlikely that ‘them’ refers to anything else previously mentioned in her log since if so, grammatically it should be a reference to the trees or flowers, which I personally rather doubt would make the planet so special. Once again, the only reason I can think of why human beings would make a place so special, and still tie into my other evidence, is that we are genetically identical to Forerunner and therefore hold the answers to their own mysteries. In the Cradle of Life we see N’Chala watching as machines dig deep into the earth. I believe this is the portal to the Ark they are building near New Mombasa. N’Chala is obviously not a party of the Librarian’s since he is very unaware of what is being built or of what origin the machines are. This indicates that his kind was already present on Earth when the Librarian discovered the planet and began construction of the portal. The significance of this is that, if you have bought into my theory that humans are Forerunner, it raises the question of just how the hell did we seemingly originate from two separate worlds and still evolve into genetically identical species? The Precursors. The most plausible way for me to be able to explain the introduction of Precursors with the fact that humanity is Forerunner, is that we were put into this world by Precursors. How is a story for another time… Let’s look at the flipside. If humanity were not Forerunner, there would be no reason for the existence of Precursors in the storyline. The Mantle could simply be a fact and not a fairy tale. There would be no reason for the Forerunner to have mysteries about themselves without Precursors, but even if there were a reason, there would be no reason for human beings to hold the answer to those mysteries. So I’ve thoroughly convinced myself and hopefully at least another poor soul who has read through this wall of text, that humanity is Foreruner. But why is Spartan 117 Master Chief a reincarnation of Didact? Well, first of all I need to explain why I believe it was Didact who triggered Halo 04. First off we know that it was a humanoid being who triggered Halo 04 based on 04-343 GS’s dialogue in Halo CE. Feel free to read it at the beginning of this post to refresh your memory. We know the humanoid was a Forerunner since only reclaimers are allowed to activate the Halos, and reclaimers = Humans = Forerunner. Now why do I think it was Didact who fired Halo 04? [b]Terminal 2 [/b] [i]Librarian to Didact: Please. Activate the Array. [/i] [b]Terminal 4 [/b] [i]Librarian to Didact: This may be our last communication. I'm begging you. Fire the Array. Light the weapon, and let it be done. [/i] [b]Terminal 7 [/b] [i]Didact to Librarian: It's over. We're activating the [destruction arrayed matrix], our shameful last resort. I can picture you in your garden, surveying all you have created--surveying all you have preserved. And I curse the circumstance that keeps my finger on the trigger. [/i] Hmmm… I wonder who has the authority to activate the Halo arrays. I could be wrong, and/or the Librarian and Didact might be completely delusional, but my money’s on Didact. You get the idea. Furthermore… (continued below) [Edited on 12.30.2007 1:24 AM PST]