The Terminals
This page is comprised of a series of articles covering the characters and events of the terminals as found within Halo 3’s campaign:
The complete storyline of the historic events which caused the fall of the Forerunner race. This is the backbone of the series and should be read first as a point of reference. You can find the annotated PDF version here, with citations leading back to The Index bibliography.
The tale of Didact and Librarian as told by the terminals. This is an in depth look into the lives of two beings that ignited a chain reaction which brought about the events of the Halo trilogy.
The story of Mendicant Bias, an AI construct through whom the galaxy was both lost and redeemed. He is the central character of the Halo trilogy, despite what many would believe, and this article explains exactly why.
- Terminal Visuals (Complete)
A brief glance at the symbols and images found within the terminals, their meaning and how they impact the story the which is told.
Disclaimer: The above articles, while cited with direct sources both within and without the terminal entries, are based on the amount of information currently available. As with any fictional story, certain elements have remained hidden, questions are yet unanswered and parts of the canon are still evolving. While the aforementioned articles offer a tremendous amount of supporting documentation, some elements may be found to be inaccurate or incomplete as Bungie continues to reveal the story. Please review the cited sources firsthand if you have any question about the validity of the content. A special thanks should go out to WikiBruce which seems to be the only other reservoir of information currently available about these matters – and was frequently cross-referenced to ensure accuracy.
interesting reads, they really clarified what the terminals meant
thanks for typing all this up for the general public =D
Comment by lostguru585 — March 31, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
These are the crowning jewels of this site ๐
Comment by Sephirose — March 31, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
A brilliant analasys and very good translation of the terminal entries. I only hope that Bungie, or someone will complete this story and fill in the gaps. It is truly an epic story, unsurpassed by any tale ever told.
Comment by Logzog — April 2, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
Enjoyed the first part. Any chance of a .pdf of the second part?
Thanks.
Comment by Red_Breast — April 8, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Very detailed and structured analysis of the Forerunners. I would really like to see more of this, especially the Precursors, predecessor of the Forerunner. Maybe you should also try making the Covenant History Analysis…
As quote goes:
A father’s sin passed down to his son…
Precursor >[Extinct]> Forerunner >[Extinct]> Human [Present]
Comment by Subtank — April 15, 2008 @ 4:36 am
RECON ARMOR THIS MAN ALREADY!!!
Great work on this stuff!
Comment by Drale — May 3, 2008 @ 3:13 am
Truly, truly amazing. Reading this filled in so many gaps for me. Thanks so much for creating such an epic translation behind the mysteries of the Forerunners and Terminals. BRAVO!
Comment by M0RG4N FR33M4N — May 3, 2008 @ 10:26 am
Awsome guys, even bungie stated that the information and the summary of ti was almost completely perfect!
Wow …. the entire forrurner mistery is so clear now … remember the past years when everyone was actually wondering about all this stuff?
Comment by whispo — May 3, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
I don’t know if, for me, this information is enough. Certainly I’d like to read the entire story, but along with that comes the abrogation of a mystery, which for many stories is the thing that, for myself, propels their status to legendary heights and breeds within me a reverence to the tale so profound that it alters the path of my thinking forever. The story of Halo, mostly which precedes what we’re allowed to witness, is a sobering tragedy which, though seemingly averted, leaves us haunted. As it is … I would leave it, despite the fact that I want to read much, much more. A book, the pages of which are easily in the thousands, would still leave me hungry. We must accept things as they are, even if we are left wanting. The story of Halo is something I wish could be experienced firsthand, despite its horror. Words cannot describe how I feel about this story. Sorry for ranting.
Comment by Embee — May 3, 2008 @ 9:18 pm
Fantastic work! Bungie’s next game should be about the Forerunners and they should hire you as a writer.
Comment by h0t d0ggy — May 3, 2008 @ 10:42 pm
You know guys, though I love the effort you went into, there’s one thing that was a real peeve to me.
Me and my father, both longtime Halo Universe fanatics, have known from the beginning that the Forerunners were… HUMAN. Not similar to, not related to, but actually humans. Honestly, seeing as how the third game says it, and Contact Harvest hits you on the head with it, I am surprised that there’s still people arguing other proposals.
I welcome open discussion about this topic, at which point I will explain my convictions. Don’t worry, I’m civil, honest, just… stubborn.
Oh, and, keep up the good work, your dedication makes me jealous.
Comment by Alex Kaminski — May 4, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Thank you for enhancing the Halo universe.
Comment by revmdn 73 — May 4, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
after reading through this there seemed to be one question that really needed answering and that is: why did the forerunners pick humanity, the nonfiction reason is because this is a creation of humanity and the vanity of humanity invades all of our creations, but in terms of the storyline i beliave the answer lies in our genetic makeup. by this i mean that perhaps the forerunners with there highly advanced technolagy had produced a why to make humans immune to the flood. you may be wondering where is this comming from, the basic idea is boren’s syndrome it is caused by high amounts of exposure to plasma anyone who has read first strike probably knows what i am getting at if the forerunners could duplicate the effects (the jumbuling of the neural system) the flood would not be able to infect them (the flood infects by forcing a resonant frequency to each host’s neural system) so because the only know case of this happining is in a human i belive that maybe it can only occur in humans causing them to be the only ones that could be immune this could also explane didact was reluctant to fire the rings perhaps the where close to a way to duplicate the effects.
this of course is just my idea i could be completely wrong but to me it seems at the worst plausable.
Comment by matt-lekegolo killer — May 5, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
I suspected some of this, but wow… well done on extrapolating so many elements of the story. Your work would really shine as a writer, Bungie should hire you.
..being so many biblical references here, parallels could be drawn. A million stories could pivot and expand along the time-frame given.
A few thoughts on the nature of the relationships between the Precursors, Forerunners and Reclaimers…
..I keep wondering about the original identification of humans as ‘Reclaimers’ from Guilty Spark. He made so many comments directly to the chief in recognition of him in first meeting; such as classification of the MJOLNIR armor’s “Combat Suit” category on a scale that 343 already had a reference for. Also, Guilty Spark was a very advanced AI: why would he address Master Chief directly when he began, “You asked me last time…” … this started an enormous mystery for me. 343 was, like many AI, precise to the point of banality in communication in many respects. I doubt somewhat that he would have misidentified the Chief, or at least misidentified the race the Chief was part of, if he had not had some degree of complex communication specifically with the Chief or that race… before… within his own timespan.
In some sense, during the first game I was convinced that part of Halo’s theme was that time was a circle… and that by some means, it would come to be shown that humans WERE the original Forerunners. I’m still not entirely convinced that this isn’t the case… although it looks to be now that by this theory, what the humans become later will be something before the Forerunners, perhaps even before the Precursors… especially if what the Forerunner recognized as being part of the Mantle was in a genetic marker.
…still too many loose ends, and that leaves more than enough mystery. But thanks for tying so many off for us.. I especially enjoyed the breakdown of the battle between Mendicant and Offensive, that was one of the most interesting parts of the Terminals to me in-game, and what I’d managed to put together a bit of.
Comment by RHAV3N — May 7, 2008 @ 9:16 am
This is fantastic. A lot of this might have been easier to piece together if there wasn’t a bit of a time limit on reading the terminals in the game.
One thing I noticed that I really love is the parallel between Didac and Librarian’s story and Master Chief and Cortana. Where as Didac did not act and lost his love and went into the darkness alone to dream of Librarian, the Chief was all about action, went to his “girlfriend” (as at least one Bungie employee would call her), and saved her and humanity, and now sleeps in the darkness with her at his side.
Not sure if it was an intentional parallel by the writers at Bungie, but one they should totally take credit for anyway.
Comment by Fearing — May 22, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
I just got finished reading everything on your site. Very impressive. A lot more about halo finally makes sense to me. Thanks…
Comment by P1FF — May 23, 2008 @ 2:23 am
I agree.
This titanic work decrypts so much about the Haloverse it simply is mind boggling.
Your analysis, no matter how (in)accurate they end up being, are worthy additions to the franchise.
Excellent work. My thanks.
Comment by Malignant Resolve — May 23, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
Thanks but,I need to know their exact location not what they mean. Thanks anyway!
Comment by JoeJoePack — May 26, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
I give unto these, a clue of preceding and proceding, to whom of those who seek knowledge, but knowledge has seeked you. What kindled mankind out of the woods, is what kindled Us from mankind.
Comment by Esoterica — June 2, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
Read them all, awesome, I wish Bungie come forth with the 4th canonic instalment.
Comment by fenix1003 — June 3, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
I meant to say wish Bungie came foward with the 4th canonic instalment, sorry
Comment by fenix1003 — June 4, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Simply amazing.I’ve only found two of the Terminals in game (both on the level, The Ark,) one because a friend told me about it, and the other because I got lost and stumbled into a room with it.
Anyway, I’ve got a few speculations about them.
Is it possible that the intelligence that logs and blocks 343’s access of the network is Offensive? I’d doubt that Mendicant would have control of the Sentinal network on the Ark due to his betrayal, and Offensive did return to the Ark… prehaps the Forerunners installed him for defense before they dissapeared?
As to what Mendicant did for the Chief… prehaps he reinforced parts of the ring that the Chief had to drive over to get to the Dawn. A bit farfetched, I realise, but an awful lot of stuff is blown up, yet there’s always a good path to the frigate, unless you linger too long…
Comment by xp194 — June 11, 2008 @ 11:31 am
Great stories–They all seemed to make so much sense!
A couple of things, though:
-To comment on #22, it is a possibility that Offensive Bias was the last defense inside the terminal system in the Ark. He did return there after defeating Medicant, but then, how did Medicant Bias gain access? It seems unlikely that Offensive Bias would just allow him access, after what he did.
-Also, allow me to point out that the good path to the frigate is the only help you get from Medicant Bias in the last level on H3, if that! I mean the first time I read his message on the terminal, I thought that he would bring in some heavy reinforcements, or something. It is possible for him to control the sentinals in that last level, but that wouldn’t explain why they attack you after you leave the control room with 343 Guilty Spark destroyed. I believe that since Spark was the Monitor of Installation 04, and this was a replacement 04, that he controlled all the sentinals, which would avenge him after destruction. This, though, doesn’t answer my question of why Medicant Bias wouldn’t just take over the sentinal network on the Installation, and help the Chief and Arbitor with the flood. It all just seems confusing to me why Medicant Bias doesn’t really help you at all when he said he would!
Anyways, this entry is open to comments of any kind, so please–EDUCATE ME!! =-)
Comment by Mark — July 10, 2008 @ 12:25 am
Also, if somebody can show me how to do a smiley face, I would really appreciate it. I’m not as good at the technoligical aspect of the computer as most people.
Comment by Mark — July 10, 2008 @ 12:26 am
Can’t thank you enough for doing this. Halo’s story is so complex it’s hard to wrap your head around sometimes. This site is LEGENDARY. Hope you keep it going!
Comment by DeMoose — August 14, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
Truly wonderful. You deserve praise worthy of a god. Your explanation, imagery, and fluid dynamics make this something that should be included officially into the Halo series.
Scott
P.S. Didn’t Halo 04 “shake itself to pieces” and the Ark get “badly damaged?”
Comment by Scott — August 15, 2008 @ 3:11 am
# Terminal locations
The following is a list of all seven Terminal locations. To accomplish the “Marathon Man” achievement, when you find each Terminal, press RB to view the journal. The screen will eventually start to turn red. Wait until it turns blue again and a new entry will appear. You need to view both entries in all Terminals for it to count towards the “Marathon Man” achievement. -From: Jared
The Ark
1. Start the mission, then once you enter the first building, go left into another door. You should now be in a curved corridor. On the inside is a Terminal.
2. After activating the bridge to let your comrades across the gap, turn 180 degrees, and you should see a Terminal (it does not open until you activate the bridge).
3. In the third building after defeating the Scarab, kill the group of sleeping Covenant, then follow the corridor downwards. Once you reach a door in front that is locked, immediately on the left there is an open door. Go through and walk straight off, then turn 180 degrees to find a secret room with a Terminal.
The Covenant
4. When in the first tower standing on the lift, face the access panel and turn left. Jump over to find a Terminal.
5. Land your Hornet on the second tower, walk towards the entrance, but when you see the locked door, turn 180 degrees. A Terminal should be right in front of you.
6. When in the third tower standing on the lift, face the access panel and turn right. Jump over to find a Terminal.
Halo
7. After reaching the end of the first cave, follow the right wall, and you will see a building. Jump up on the walkway, then go left once inside to find a Terminal
Comment by rebu neflof — September 6, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
Thanks very much for this site. I’ve tried to piece together the Forerunner story on my own, but you’ve summarized it here beautifully.
Comment by Derek — September 23, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
This site is amazing, the amount of information here is astounding and my understanding of Forerunner and how the Halo universe came to be is greater than I thought possible, very well done.
Comment by J TIEMO — September 26, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
I already said in the terminal visuals article what I’m about to say here but this place has had the most recent comment.
You know the insignia on the last image.
it has some forerunner letters along the left side going down.
I’m guessing this says:
S
E
V
E
N
The second letter and penultimate letter are the same just like the E’s in seven. Also they are both 5 characters long. I will take the time to start some translations of the characters.
If I’m right we might have a small piece of the Forerunner-Human Rosseta-stone.
Comment by Spartan 112 — September 29, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
What I truly wonder is who in Bungie came up with the wonderful backstory we’ve only glimpsed and speculated upon. And more importantly, if this person could expand upon the fiction through a novel and clear up some of the nagging questions we still have about the immense backstory behind a game most people dismiss as an avergae shooter.
Comment by R. Acosta — October 16, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
Man, Id Really Love To Read More. The Halo Story Just Compels Me In Many Ways, I Research And Havent Came Up With 3/4’s Of What You Have, If I Ever Meet You. Ill Buy You A Drink ๐ Or 3, Or 17 Halo Ftw John Wrong is My Gamer Tag, Incase Ye Ever Want To Battle Etc
Great Work You Have My Eternal [[Love]?]]
Comment by John Wrong — November 5, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
This is a pretty far-fetched theory, but what if the precursors are the flood. I mean, the gravemind tells Mendicant Bias that the flood is the next step in evolution. So what if the Precursors knew that this was going to happen to them, and they didn’t like it, but they knew it was inevitable. They would logically find the next strongest race in the galaxy, and charge them with a mantle of protecting the galaxy from what they were about to do. Then they left, right before they would have finally evolved, taking everything with them and mysteriously disappearing. But eventually they would have to come back, and they knew they would, so they made sure they could be stopped by passing on the Mantle to the Forerunners.
Anyway, its just a thought. Let me know what you think.
Comment by generalMADLee — December 20, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
Although there is much wonderful talk and discussion about the Forerunners, Flood and Gravemind here, I have a minor little nitpick that has bothered me with some time. The stunning pictures of the Ark that were included in these articles have only highlighted my concern: Where is High Charity on the Ark after it crashed?
The Ark’s core gives us a rough estimate of how big the entire installation is – and looking back at the smaller-than-moon-sized Alpha Halo, I’d say that the Ark’s diameter is small enough to have High Charity visible on the surface. Especially considering that the city is practically half a planet.
If anyone has any information regarding High Charity’s crash site, it’d be greatly appreciated if you posted it here.
Comment by ChRis — February 11, 2009 @ 9:55 pm
Wait. The rings destroy the flood? I was under the impression that it just starved the flood and they got really hungry. Where does it say that the flood remember their past memories? I’m really confused. Also why is there flood in Halo Wars?
Comment by Name — March 23, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
Cocopjojo, are you going to post where to terminals can be found? Oh, you did that in the hindsights. my bad!:(
Comment by Christian Bethel — April 23, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Sooo much info, it’s blowin my mind!
Comment by Halo 3 glitcher — May 3, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
vociferous your articles are ridiculously informative and i wouldn’t know half of what i know about the halo universe if it wasn’t for this site. hopefully bungie will eventually give us more information about the forerunners until then we can just wait. thank you for all the time you spend doing this
Comment by Max12345 — May 16, 2009 @ 12:43 am
This is my take. I don’t believe the ideas that humanity is directly descended from the Forerunner and that the original ring builders found them on Earth are mutually exclusive. Perhaps the Forerunner were astounded to find a people that they believed to be directly descended from themselves on Earth and decided to form a plan which involved the reclamation of their technology when they were gone. The AI constructs they left behind would know that humanity was descended from their makers, but their limited knowledge concerning the grander schemes of the Forerunner (as alluded to by guilty spark), would lead them to believe that humanity was the original builder of the rings. This would explain the cryptic statements from Guilty Spark in Halo CE and Mendicant in contact Harvest. This is just my take and while it is only speculation and may be far off the mark, it should be noted that the foundation for this theory is extrapolated from direct quotes from the AIs, Gravemind, and the Prophets along with the information provided in the terminals, all interperated quite literally with no speculation on possible figurative meanings within statements that were made by Guilty Spark in Halo 3 or Mendicant Bias in Contact Harvest. I should very much like to hear anybody’s opinion on this theory and its viability.
Comment by Jack — June 30, 2009 @ 10:06 pm
Thank you! Thank you for analysing all information regarding the Forerunners, their creations, their plans and their final doom. Thank you!
As a big fan of the Haloverse and its story, i have been seeking for a long time for more information about The Forerunners. I searched tons of sites, looking for more tales, interpretations and people who have the same kind of interest for the mysteries of the Forerunners as i do. Thank you.
@ Embee: I feel EXACTLY the same.
Comment by Harm — July 8, 2009 @ 4:04 pm
Maybe at the very end there, medicant sent chief to the same “great journey” that the forerunners partook on.
If it IS a shield world, then perhaps the paradise inside is essentially heaven…or the great journey…or nirvana or whatever you want to call it. So MC, along with the remaining spartans from ghosts of onyx and a few others, join the forerunners at the great journey…in heaven, as it were?
A much more fitting end.
Anyways, absolutely love the site. After reading the forerunner story and your analysis, I can imagine a massive epic movie beyond the scale of lotr dealing with it. A 2-3 part movie dealing with the forerunner, then a trilogy dealing with humanity/MC. Sigh…I can only imagine peter jackson directing these 6 movies, and end up having them outdo lotr or…anything.
I’m just blathering.
Comment by wazooty — July 19, 2009 @ 1:40 am
These records are fantastic! VERY thorough.
I was wondering if anybody else saw this.
I was playing split-screen co-op with a friend casually, and I was helping him get the terminals, on easy, or normal I think.
Amongst all the red writing that displays after the data corruption, there are little messages from someone inside the system.
One said something like “I know you’re there, I can see you”
And others were just as cryptic, but I didn’t take notice of them because they went away too fast.
But then, on the last one, on the new Halo, the red writing simply said:
“I win”
I was so freaked out, so I distracted myself by trying to get my friend into the corner with that weird guy, lol.
Anyway, has someone recorded these? I’m too into the story to record them whilst playing solo.
Regarding the epic double-trilogy to be directed by Peter Jackson and believed to surpass profits of Lord of the Rings, I say “HELL YEAH!”
Comment by PartnersInRhyme — October 21, 2009 @ 7:49 am
Oops, I meant to say:
“Anyway, has someone recorded these? Iโm too into the story whilst playing solo, that I get so scared”
๐
Comment by PartnersInRhyme — October 21, 2009 @ 7:51 am
Mr. V, Im glad to see things worked out for you. Your command of Halo lore is outstanding. I thank you for this summary of the terminals which have broken them down so well that even I can understand.
Thanks! Good luck at 343!
Comment by Shadowfox — February 17, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
I have mixed feelings on… well, this mixed with my hopes on Reach. I cant say much more now as I’m on my PSP and typing is a pain but I think revealing more on/durring thd theater of Reach would be inapropriate… thats where the mixed emotions lie… the thought of waiting for “H5 shield world” is excruciating. As for finding me in game, look me up. Online I am Nazaxprime. H3 MP Beta designated me E63… As such my moniker was “ODST Medic E63” … When ODST released, I became “RP Rook E63″…
Comment by Echo Six Three — May 2, 2010 @ 2:48 am
All that said, 343 having, for all intents and purposes, absorbed AJ… well implications to me are that AJ had to be, because through intel and passion, they ran the risk of revealing every plausible revelation. ๐ One day Ill have my $#!7 together and Ill be there with you but hopefully @ Bungie design. Tick tock.
Comment by Echo Six Three — May 2, 2010 @ 3:04 am
I loved this, but I amextremly agrivated that Reach is the last Halo. It means that planet at the end of H3 will not be explored in any thing but maybe a novel or even kless likely a movie. This leaves so many gaps I can’t stand it.
Comment by Matt — August 5, 2010 @ 2:51 am