A look at the Halo Array…
I often wonder if Bungie really places a considerable magnitude of significance on the things that hardcore fans pay attention to. When I walk away from these thoughts, I do so usually with the genuine satisfaction that they do, in fact, pay attention to the details and our attention to these same details is often well rewarded.
When capturing some images for the next article on the Terminals, I was perusing the interior of the Ark’s control citadel when I started to really pay attention to each individual ring. As you may remember, the main chamber of the Ark’s control citadel is a long, narrow walkway which is girded by the seven Halo installations. This platform, hovering precariously over the Ark’s foundry, is where the Forerunners activated the Halo Array one hundred millennia ago and where the Covenant’s leadership attempted to fire them during the events of Halo 3.
Upon close inspection, you can actually view the Forerunner name as well as the geographical terrain for each ring. While I’m certain this isn’t the first time someone has taken a close look at these items, it may well be the first or most distinctive time someone has spent to capture them for a meager directory. In each attached link, you’ll find an image of the Forerunner symbol for the ring’s name, as well as a capture of the installation’s surface.
- Installation 01
- Installation 02
- Installation 03
- Installation 04
- Installation 05
- Installation 06
- Installation 07
We’re allowing comments and reader interaction regarding each installation’s page - so feel free to express your own thoughts about these strange artificial habitats. They can take up to 24 hours to post, so be patient. Thanks and enjoy!
/vociferous
First things first, I would think the Terminal discussion from this blog it required reading. There’s so much excellent stuff regarding the indexing, the Mantle, the Librarian, etc. and it’s all relevant to what the Forerunner were doing, why they did it, and how it all ultimately unfolded.
I proposed in another forum that the Forerunner would have used the rings to house the sentient life they had indexed in preparation for the array activation, always their last resort.
We know that they charged themselves with guardianship of all sentient life on the galaxy, but it is also clear that they made great attempts to salvage all life. But clearly, their greatest concern was passing on their history, their technology, and ultimately defeating the cyclical pattern of destruction at the hungry jaws of the Flood.
That means sentient life is the priority.
That also means they needed to construct a safe place to hold and study sentient life while they made the rest of the preparations. As with our own species, we require proximity in order to understand behavior. We need to be exposed to the species routine in an environment they can not distinguish from the natural habitat. That’s where the ringworlds come in.
Why else would they have differing environments? The Flood studies were conducted in isolated simulations. There was no need to allow them to spread. The effects of that behavior were well known to the Forerunner in the most dire sense.
But sentient beings could not be held in small cages or pens. They would require space. Spaces that they could live and breed in. Spaces that they could survive in. Spaces where they would live out their lives undisturbed by outside influence so the Forerunner keepers could glean what information they needed from them in order to prepare for the activation of the array and the reseeding of the galaxy.
The question pops up again. Why else would they include sustainable environments? Why construct different habitats for each ring?
Comment by Urk — March 24, 2008 @ 10:01 am
Very interesting theories. As 343 GuiltySpark points out several times in Halo:CE the Halos were also designed to contain and study the Flood, aside from being the biggest WMD ever. In the Library he would often prattle on about how the research facilities were ‘most imppressive’. On the ‘tour’ he also talks about the flood as if he has done a good deal of research himself.
This plan seems somewhat flawed however, as some of the Halos seemed scarred and ravished, damaged you could surmise. Delta Halo, we know, was in considerably worse condition than installation 04. But it makes one wonder if any other Halos will get there scene in due time….
Comment by FoeHammer — March 26, 2008 @ 12:06 am
Well, the Halos no doubt sustained some sort of collisions with floating space-junk, which would give them scars and craters and whatnot. I mean, they’re at least 100,000 years old. As for the different states of repair (or disrepair), that probably has to do with the Ring’s environment and recent happenings. For example, the level of Flood infestation on Delta Halo was considerably worse than on Installation 04. As for the structures we see in Halo 2 on Delta Halo, Cortana remarks that she would love to study them. It seems that the Forerunner may have chosen a more rustic look, after all many of them are made from stone or something that looks like stone while all of the machinery seems to be in a similar state to the machinery and compounds on Installation 04.
Comment by Chips Dubbo — April 23, 2008 @ 12:45 am
I have seen that other fans seem stumped on why the Delta Halo was in worse condtion than Instalation 04. Well, I think that there is a simple explanation to this:
343 Guilty Spark is the monitor on Instalation 04 and was able to manage and oversee the proper care of that instalation. He could freely move about Instalation 04 and coordinate the efforts of the sentinels there.
However, on the Delta Halo, you will note that in Halo 2, we see that 2401 Penitant Tangent has been in the captivity of the Gravemind and seems a bit disfunctional (rampant of pissed off might be another word…). Because of this, 2401 cannot oversee to the care of the Delta Halo, and it is reasonable to suspect in the least that the outbreak on the instalation and the condition of the Delta Halo were thus considerably worse than on Instalation 04.
Comment by brian keim — April 24, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
The flood wasn’t re-released until the covenant let it out of installation 04. So Penitant tangent could not have been held captive for any extended period of time. Unless Penitant became rampant on his own it seems this could not explain the ring’s condition. One thing that confuses me is how the flood were kept alive during activation? And if sentient species were to be kept there for study how were they kept alive? If there were means of keeping life alive through the halo activation why wouldn’t some of the forerunners have placed themselves in such containment? Surely the variety of habitats was put in place intentionally, but for what purpose may be difficult to glean at this time.
Comment by Indy — May 3, 2008 @ 10:29 pm
Unless I have misunderstood or overlooked something; 300 years separated the initial discovery of the Flood and the creation of Mendicant Bias, and Mendicant’s search for the Gravemind and the dialogue that ensued lasted for 43 years. Three hundred forty-three years from the beginning of the war to Mendicant Bias’s betrayal…343…Guilty Spark? This is mere conjecture and I cannot support it with actual evidence without examining Spark’s dialogue more closely. But is it possible that 343 Guilty Spark was created after Mendicant Bias went rampant and was en route to the Maginot line? The Halo installations were obviously already in place by this time, but perhaps it was not until then that the surviving Forerunners realized that the rings would need to endure for untold millenia. And perhaps this realization prompted them to supply each installation in the Halo Array with its own caretaker.
There didn’t have to be a number before Spark’s name. Mendicant and Offensive Bias didn’t have them. Bungie pays way too much attention to detail for this to be a simple coincidence. Regardless of whether or not my theory is correct, the number is there for a reason.
Comment by Evan (GT: elmonoenfuego) — May 4, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
I think it’s merely coincidence that places 343 Guilty Spark’s name at the approximate years since the discovery of the flood. It’s assumed that the monitors numbers are degrees of seven - 343 Guilty Spark is 7 * 7 * 7 — 2401 Penitent Tangent on 05 is 7 * 7 * 7 * 7. So installation 06’s monitor’s name would include 16807, and finally installation 07’s monitor would have 117649. Being there seven rings, it makes sense that the monitors are named in degrees of seven. I’ve always wondered, though, why 343GS isn’t 2401GS. I suppose Installation 01’s monitor then is the number 0 or 1? But I digress.
Comment by Scooby Deezy — May 4, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
All this is very interesting indeed, but have you ever wondered about halo’s dimensions? In the Ark ’s control citadel they all have the same size. However, in the end of halo2, when 343GS activates the beacon, we can clearly see that 3 of the halos are a lot bigger in diameter than the other 4. So, If this is case, I guess that some halos are more important than others.
Comment by IsLaNdEr — May 5, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
Some of the theories here are manificent, i love the debate and work thats goes into them.
My real confusion of feelings comes from the fact that the human are not Forerunner, i was convinced ever since Halo 2 that we are indeed direct descendants. But it seems we are the Forerunner in a way, we have apparently similar biology(?) and perhaps ideas. I feel if you look at the Cheif as he activates the new Halo you get a real idea of what part we play as reclaimers. We are the heir to the Forerunner throne, we stand defiant in the face of the worst threat ever concieved with the light of the Forerunner shining behind us. I would really love to explore the Reclaimers more, the name itself is brilliant, we are the ones who will reclaim the Forerunner empire, know it or not.
Also this has cleared up my understanding of exactly why the Forerunner saw it fit to make the installations habitable. Because the indexed sentient life would live there until the Halo’s were fired! How simple.
Comment by Reclaimers Doubt — May 7, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
I know this page is for the major Halo array installations, but what about other installations that are canon?
Think about the Forerunner installation from Halo 2 that the heretics were using as a base. It was located in the atmosphere of what looked like a gas giant, hanging by a cable from something vaguely ring shaped, but was also a laboratory for studying the Flood. We saw a tank inside that looked to be full of liquid, and it had little flood swimming in it. That was obviously an isolated place to study the Flood in an environment that wasn’t earth-like. If the Flood escaped, they could only try to climb the cable or fall into the clouds.
I’d also like to see an Installation 00 writeup for further speculation.
Comment by Bradley — May 10, 2008 @ 9:25 am
Excellent theories here.
But I think that the 7 Halo Rings were not designed to be the home of the sentient beings until the rings were to be activated.
The Librarian said that various ships, dreadnoughts, massive carriers, capable of transport an entire world population.
Although the rings are massive constructions, it doesn’t looks capable of sustain so much sentient beings.
Comment by sangriaman — May 21, 2008 @ 5:09 am
the rings where meant to store the flood and to study it, and we all know that. And no they where never meant to be inhabited though they certainly could (I would want to). And as for the reason why the flood were not killed when the rings where fired goes back to what cortana said in the original halo “the ring doesn’t kill flood it kills thief food humans covenant whatever, we are all equally edible”. And as for the humans bieng reclaimers not forerunners that much is true, but if you bought legendary edition you would know that in the bestarium the chief is labeled as *gasp* Forerunner. Now how is this possible if all of the forerunners died in the aftermath of the halo array. Now you have to know that the forerunners said that humanity was special. And also that the humans evolved almost identically to the forerunners genetically and physically. So they were most likely compatible meaning of course reproduction somewhere along the line…
Comment by cormamin — May 21, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
this is a response to question # 7.
The number 7 is actualy a very important number. If you look in the bible, most things associated with god have the number 7 in the. For example, god created the world is 7 days, how many times was peter told to forgive someone, not 7 times but 7 times 70…there are more example but i don’t have time to find them. Whatever it is, it seams that biblically the number 7 has to do with god and creation, prehaps the Bungie team already knows about this (wouldn’t surprise me) and has cleverly made the story provide some kind of explaination for it. Whatever it is though the number 7 is an interesting and makes sense for the forrunners to have a similar obsession with it.
Comment by Andrew — May 23, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
I think I have solved the mystery of the glyphs.
First, the circles that make up the glyphs portray the the planet or sun that the ring is orbiting around. For Installation 04, this is the gas giant Threshold.
Each glyph has a smaller circle or circles. They represent the moon or moons (or other orbiting bodies).
In Installation 04, for example, the smaller circle near the center of the glyph represents the moon Basis.
When a glyph has two small circles, it depicts two ‘moons’.
The wavy lines could be features of the planet/sun, for example, solar flares, debris rings, surface storms, or radiation clouds.
Comment by Sev117 — May 23, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
even though the terminals say that mendicant bias(can’t spell it) was destroyed, perhaps he flashed his ai onto 343 Guilty Spark as a cover, but as just a monitor, he couldn’t do many things, as he was bound by protocol
so perhaps the whole halo story arc was his cration to try re-releasing the flood.perhaps?
Comment by Reuben — May 25, 2008 @ 5:41 am
The Symbols look more like depictions of Instuments…
Violin playing over Strings for example is Instillation 02s Symbol.
Comment by Verses Fatum — May 29, 2008 @ 5:38 pm
I think the symbols look like a kind of number or name for each ring. I think that if the Ark could turn them all on, I think it could do something else, too. Something bigger, something more important. I think it may have something to do with the Shield World. I think the Arc has an even bigger purpose than any of us could imagine.
Comment by BungieJump — June 11, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
Possible story for Instillation 05’s condition, 2401 went insane and started to let the rig fall into disarray. Then, when the Covenant arrived, the Gravemind captured 2401 and now could infest the entire ring and High Charity. Also, the Ark may have functioned as a huge shipyard for the Forerunners before activation of the rings. It’s very large and could have many hidden bays from which ships are built and launch from.
Comment by Spartan-039 — June 16, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Sorry, I meant ring in previous comment.
Comment by Spartan-039 — June 16, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
It would probably be a good idea to get a screenshot of the hologram at the end of halo 2 that showed the instillations. it would probably help
Comment by Irate Witness 142 — June 27, 2008 @ 11:46 am
it seems like the forerunners copied earths biomes(safari, rainforest, ocean, tundra, desert, etc, etc)… and copied the terrrain of other planets in the Sol system.
Comment by reclaim_ARK00 — June 28, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
or…maybe…maybe the halos were designed for experiments, not for habitibility… i mean, it seems like each halo installation has a flood laboratory. so, maybe its to see how they react to different extremes, like the planets…only problem, 7 rings, 9 planets. i saw mercury, venus, earth, mars, luna, pluto, and neptune or venus. that would make seven. it seems like the forerunner race had shield worlds for homes, and that would protect the main part of the species. so if something went wrong on one, t could be activated, wipe out life on the halo, but not the architecture, and the forerunners could start over, like…terraforming, in a sense. or maybe im just wrong. but, i think this might be pretty close.
Comment by reclaim_ARK00 — June 28, 2008 @ 5:54 pm