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Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Flood
Posted By: Empty Set <spikerags@hotmail.com>Date: 6/10/08 10:44 a.m.

In Response To: Halo Effect absolutely kills Flood (yakaman)


: The Halo Effect absolutely kills Flood. It kills Gravemind, warrior Flood,
: Carriers, whatever. The only one (IMO) not definitive is the infection
: form (the Flood SuperCell - is it the same thing?).

: The single best proof comes from the terminals in Halo 3, specifically
: Terminal 6's battle betweeen Offensive Bias and Mendicant Bias: "The
: [Halo effect] strikes our combined fleets. All ships piloted by
: biologicals are now [adrift].

: I can trade Mendicant ship for ship now and still prevail"

: Bird and fish exist on Delta Halo (for example) because they are under the
: radar (not enough biomass). Every other life form is wiped out.

This is how I always interpreted that terminal, but Urban Reflex makes an interesting point about differentiating between the infection and the host. I read three ways to interpret this information:

1. The Halo blast kills flood outright - at least, it kills flood forms of sufficient biomass. That matches the terminal account, but it conflicts with everything we were told about the flood previously.
2. The Halo blast only kills the host. This would leave Mendicant's ships adrift, filled with forerunner corpses and swarms of infection forms that removed themselves from the inert bodies. The infection forms live on, but are incapable of piloting the ship, and will be destroyed as OB destroys the fleet.
3. The Halo blast kills infected hosts, and the infection entity, since it is tied too deeply into the host's nervous system. (We see infection forms reanimate "dead" combat forms, but do we ever see infection forms retract themselves from a host in-game?)

For practical purposes, options 2 and 3 are distinctions without a difference - the flood are not killed by the Halo blast itself, but by the consequences thereof.

(What about pure forms?)

Where I'm going: where is it ever stated that the Gravemind was destroyed in the Halo blast? I think it is assumed, because the galactic flood infestation is halted (until Gravemind hijacks HC 100,000 some odd years later, at least), but I can't remember any dialog or terminal thread that stated it explicitly. Do we even know where the flood's "core Mind" is during the battle and ensuing Halo blast?

We really don't know the composition of the Gravemind - we know (at most) that the physical core is made up of at least one prophet, during Halo 2. Especially considering the debate about flood infection vectors, re: flora vs. fauna, is it possible that the core Mind of the Terminals survived the blast (even if some of its sentient "components" were destroyed), and retreated to some safe haven, to await the repopulation of the galaxy?

The Halo Array was built prior to the deployment of Mendicant Bias. If MB knew about the Array (did it?), we can probably assume that the Flood knew about it.

Perhaps the Gravemind "smuggled" itself aboard Installation 05 prior to the Halo's firing. Maybe it tried to sabotage the ring, maybe the ring was somehow shielded from its own blast (still under debate?), maybe because the rings are repositories of Forerunner knowledge, and GM wanted to study its enemy in the same way the Forerunner were studying the spores. Still doesn't explain how it would subsist for 100,000 years without any sentience to consume (on the ring), but it explains how it got there in the first place.

Message Index



Replies:

The Smuggler, Part 2?Avateur 6/7/08 4:00 a.m.
     Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Ze Møøse 6/7/08 1:05 p.m.
     Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Omega 6/7/08 4:26 p.m.
           Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Avateur 6/7/08 5:28 p.m.
           Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?De Laal 6/7/08 10:22 p.m.
                 Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?De Laal 6/7/08 10:26 p.m.
                 Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Avateur 6/7/08 10:43 p.m.
                 Correctyakaman 6/8/08 10:39 a.m.
                       Re: CorrectSPARTAN-034 6/8/08 11:01 a.m.
                       Re: CorrectBry 6/8/08 3:00 p.m.
                             Re: Correctyakaman 6/8/08 5:29 p.m.
                                   Re: CorrectBry 6/8/08 6:48 p.m.
                                         Re: CorrectCthulhu117 6/8/08 7:24 p.m.
                                               Re: CorrectBry 6/8/08 8:10 p.m.
                                               Re: CorrectAvateur 6/8/08 9:53 p.m.
                                                     Re: Correctelpolloguapo 6/9/08 10:09 a.m.
                                                           You Suck *NM*Don 6/9/08 11:44 a.m.
                                         No-Clipping FishSonofMacPhisto 6/11/08 12:50 a.m.
                                   Beating that horse, nice and hardDe Laal 6/8/08 11:47 p.m.
                                         Just some speculation...Free Weights 6/9/08 1:48 p.m.
                       Re: Correctasd1070 6/12/08 11:05 p.m.
                             Re: CorrectDirkgently 6/13/08 8:26 a.m.
                                   Re: Correctasd1070 6/15/08 3:41 p.m.
                                         Re: CorrectDirkgently 6/16/08 3:29 a.m.
     Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?General Vagueness 6/9/08 8:56 p.m.
           Sorry about the errorsGeneral Vagueness 6/9/08 8:58 p.m.
           Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Omega 6/9/08 10:11 p.m.
                 Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Kurk 6/10/08 12:41 a.m.
                       Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Speedhuntr 6/10/08 1:29 a.m.
                             Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Avateur 6/10/08 3:24 a.m.
                                   Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Urban Reflex 6/10/08 3:52 a.m.
                                         Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Cthulhu117 6/10/08 5:56 a.m.
                                         Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?yakaman 6/10/08 8:28 a.m.
                                               Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Urban Reflex 6/10/08 9:22 a.m.
                                         Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Speedhuntr 6/10/08 11:55 a.m.
                                               Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Don 6/10/08 12:09 p.m.
                                                     Re: The Smuggler, Part 2?Speedhuntr 6/10/08 12:12 p.m.
                       Halo Effect absolutely kills Floodyakaman 6/10/08 8:23 a.m.
                             Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodEmpty Set 6/10/08 10:44 a.m.
                                   Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodSpeedhuntr 6/10/08 11:52 a.m.
                                         Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Flood7he grunt w/a plasma pistol 6/10/08 3:11 p.m.
                                   Nice post.yakaman 6/10/08 12:50 p.m.
                                         Re: Nice post.GatchamanUK 6/10/08 1:30 p.m.
                                         Re: Nice post.Empty Set 6/10/08 4:11 p.m.
                                               All right, here's the problem here.Cthulhu117 6/10/08 8:16 p.m.
                                                     Re: All right, here's the problem here.yakaman 6/11/08 8:13 a.m.
                                                     Re: All right, here's the problem here.Empty Set 6/11/08 10:23 a.m.
                                                           Re: All right, here's the problem here.Dirkgently 6/12/08 6:11 p.m.
                                               Re: Nice post.yakaman 6/11/08 8:18 a.m.
                                         Keyes Wasn't a GM FormSonofMacPhisto 6/11/08 12:44 a.m.
                                               Re: Keyes Wasn't a GM Formelpolloguapo 6/11/08 9:59 a.m.
                                         Did GM survive the Array?Capt Spanish 6/13/08 1:37 a.m.
                                               I agree whole-heartedlyyakaman 6/13/08 12:23 p.m.
                                                     Re: I agree whole-heartedlyDHalo 6/13/08 2:52 p.m.
                                                           Re: I agree whole-heartedlyDirkgently 6/13/08 3:32 p.m.
                                                                 Re: I agree whole-heartedlyDHalo 6/13/08 4:03 p.m.
                                                           It absolutely kills Flood, and Gravemind.yakaman 6/13/08 4:33 p.m.
                                                                 Well said *NM*scarab 6/13/08 4:39 p.m.
                                                                 Re: It absolutely kills Flood, and Gravemind.DHalo 6/13/08 4:50 p.m.
                                                                       Halo: Story Evolvedscarab 6/13/08 5:44 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Halo: Story EvolvedDirkgently 6/13/08 6:14 p.m.
                                                                                   No, I misremembered. *NM*scarab 6/14/08 12:35 a.m.
                                                                       Re: It absolutely kills Flood, and Gravemind.Dirkgently 6/13/08 6:06 p.m.
                                                           Re: I agree whole-heartedlyStephen L. (SoundEffect) 6/13/08 8:30 p.m.
                                                                 Heh. It doesn't get more direct than that. *NM*yakaman 6/14/08 7:31 a.m.
                                               Re: Did GM survive the Array?Empty Set 6/13/08 6:30 p.m.
                                                     Re: Did GM survive the Array?DHalo 6/13/08 6:55 p.m.
                                                           Re: Did GM survive the Array?Dirkgently 6/13/08 7:01 p.m.
                                                     Re: Did GM survive the Array?Capt Spanish 6/13/08 7:21 p.m.
                             My opinion's out there on thiselpolloguapo 6/10/08 10:52 a.m.
                             Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodPeptuck 6/10/08 12:03 p.m.
                                   Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Floodyakaman 6/10/08 12:52 p.m.
                                   Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Floodelpolloguapo 6/10/08 2:05 p.m.
                                         Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodCthulhu117 6/10/08 8:27 p.m.
                                               Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Floodelpolloguapo 6/10/08 8:33 p.m.
                                                     Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodCthulhu117 6/10/08 8:51 p.m.
                                                           Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills Floodelpolloguapo 6/10/08 9:00 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodFree Weights 6/10/08 11:04 p.m.
                                                                       Halo effect uses Flood telepathy ;-)scarab 6/11/08 1:13 a.m.
                                                                             Re: Halo effect uses Flood telepathy ;-)free weights 6/11/08 8:00 a.m.
                             Re: Halo Effect absolutely kills FloodBry 6/10/08 6:16 p.m.
                                   Is that like being only slightly pregnant? *NM*scarab 6/11/08 1:16 a.m.
                                         HaBry 6/11/08 3:56 a.m.
                                         Re: Is that like being only slightly pregnant?elessar787 6/12/08 12:05 a.m.
                                               All together now: EEEWWWWWWWW *NM*General Vagueness 6/12/08 7:54 a.m.



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