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Nice.
Posted By: MakeMineRedDate: 5/17/02 1:40 p.m.

In Response To: *Halo Spoiler* The trap. (Rick Blaine)

: The first is to let the Flood escape
: the ring, resulting in the destruction of all intelligent species alive
: within the galaxy at that time. The second choice is to pull the trigger
: of the Halo pulse generator. Doing so will eliminate the Flood threat by
: killing all intelligent species alive within the galaxy at that time.
: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The classic 'no-win' scenario. We
: have defined the nature of the trap.

This is what puzzled me - the nature of the essential difference, in the story, between the Forerunners and the Flood. Our preferences lay with the Forerunners because of their technological advances and because of their attempt to save the universe, yet both are destroyers. The Forerunners have killed off all sentient life in the galaxy in order to prevent the Flood from killing off all sentient life in the galaxy.

: And, yet, Cortana and John 117 escaped the trap. They beat the 'no-win'
: scenario. Because we can show that the the trap has an easily determined
: means of escape, it is not a trap at all, it's a test.

Not so. A bear trap has an easily determined means of escape as well (just gnaw your leg off). But the idea of a test is consistent with the type of story being told (space opera), and neatly answers the question I posed above by making it irrelevant. Unfortunately, there is one flaw with this argument, and that is 343 GS's familiarity with the MC and the human race. The Forerunners used the Halos once before. They presumably killed off humanity, if we were at a suitably sentient level. It is extremely unlikely that humanity would have re-evolved. The same is true for any other firing of the Halos. However, 343 GS knows the MC and also has knowledge of humanity's history, implying that humanity was around when the Forerunners, or at least 343 GS, were still striding the galaxy. This further implies some special link between the Forerunners and the human race, which means that the test doesn't apply to us. The Halos could still very well be an intelligence test, but maybe humanity's role is that of a spoiler - we just disrupted one part of their test, leaving this part of the galaxy to evolve without undue influence by the Forerunners.

MakeMineRed

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Replies:

*Halo Spoiler* The trap.Rick Blaine 5/14/02 5:59 p.m.
     Re: *Halo Spoiler* The trap.Claude Errera 5/14/02 6:39 p.m.
     Re: *Halo Spoiler* The trap.archon 5/14/02 11:14 p.m.
           Re: *Halo Spoiler* The trap.archon 5/14/02 11:20 p.m.
                 Re: *Halo Spoiler* The trap.Dan Johnson 5/15/02 10:01 p.m.
     not intelligent life...Napalm Boy 5/17/02 11:52 a.m.
           Re: not intelligent life...archon 5/17/02 12:32 p.m.
           *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...Rick Blaine 5/17/02 1:04 p.m.
                 *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...Napalm Boy 5/17/02 2:41 p.m.
                       Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...PfhorSlayer 5/24/02 8:17 p.m.
                             Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...Mark Levin 5/24/02 9:41 p.m.
                                   Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...John Denton 5/25/02 5:57 p.m.
                             a terrifying possibiltyJohn Denton 5/25/02 12:18 a.m.
                                   Re: a terrifying possibiltyTru7h 5/25/02 6:06 a.m.
                                         Re: a terrifying possibiltyzudo 5/25/02 7:39 a.m.
                                               Re: a terrifying possibiltyTru7h 5/25/02 10:07 a.m.
                                                     Re: a terrifying possibiltyBoomer 5/25/02 10:47 a.m.
                                                           You must read the Dirk Gently books.John Denton 5/25/02 5:55 p.m.
                                                     Physics >> BiologyCow Mutilator 5/26/02 11:29 a.m.
                                                           Re: Physics >> BiologyTru7h 5/26/02 8:05 p.m.
                                                                 Watch outJohn Denton 5/27/02 8:06 p.m.
                                                                       Re: Watch outTynskel 5/31/02 4:59 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Watch outTru7h 6/1/02 5:43 a.m.
                                                           Re: Physics >> BiologyJohn Denton 5/27/02 7:57 p.m.
                                                                 but we know how to do those calculationsTru7h 5/28/02 2:13 p.m.
                                         well...John Denton 5/25/02 5:50 p.m.
                                               Re: well...Tru7h 5/25/02 7:07 p.m.
                                                     Re: well...Boomer 5/25/02 8:34 p.m.
                                                           They are pretty zombieesque. *NM*John Denton 5/25/02 10:03 p.m.
                                                           Re: well...Tru7h 5/26/02 6:44 a.m.
                                                                 Re: well...Boomer 5/26/02 7:25 a.m.
                                                                       You Mean Armor *NM*REB 5/26/02 8:07 a.m.
                                                                 Re: well...Elite Spartan II 5/26/02 8:57 a.m.
                                                                       Re: well...Djof 5/26/02 4:55 p.m.
                                                                             Re: well...Elite Spartan II 5/26/02 5:44 p.m.
                                                                       they cant if ther Dead!!! *NM*Tru7h 5/26/02 8:06 p.m.
                                                           Re: well...Elite Spartan II 5/26/02 8:46 a.m.
                                                                 Re: well...Tru7h 5/26/02 8:08 p.m.
                                                                       Re: well...Tynskel 5/31/02 5:07 p.m.
                                                     Re: well...Tynskel 5/31/02 5:02 p.m.
                                                           Re: well...Tru7h 6/1/02 5:45 a.m.
                 Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...Hydroconcil87 6/28/02 1:49 a.m.
                       Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: not intelligent life...Hydroconcil87 6/28/02 2:11 a.m.
     Nice.MakeMineRed 5/17/02 1:40 p.m.
           *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.Rick Blaine 5/17/02 3:11 p.m.
                 Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.archon 5/17/02 6:01 p.m.
                 Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.PesTiLenCe 5/21/02 1:46 p.m.
                       Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.archon 5/21/02 6:47 p.m.
                             Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.archon 5/21/02 6:50 p.m.
                 Re: *Halo Spoiler* Re: Nice.•M 5/26/02 5:30 a.m.
     Re: *Halo Spoiler* The trap.John Denton 5/23/02 4:57 p.m.
           Um, Correct Me If I'm Wrong...ATMantis 5/26/02 6:40 a.m.
                 Re: Um, Correct Me If I'm Wrong...ATMantis 5/27/02 7:51 p.m.
                       Re: Um, Correct Me If I'm Wrong...John Denton 5/27/02 8:25 p.m.
                             Re: Um, Correct Me If I'm Wrong...ATMantis 6/1/02 1:03 a.m.
                 Re: Um, Correct Me If I'm Wrong...John Denton 5/27/02 8:19 p.m.



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