History Literature / HaloSilentium

* MindRape: [[spoiler: contact with the Gravemind is what changes the Ur-Didact from a benevolent warrior into a genocidal monster bent on enslaving all non-Forerunners in the galaxy]]

** [[spoiler: Actually, the Terminals' data are physically stored on Requiem. Cortana explained that the nodes are trying to upload the information to the Domain, but are caught in an infinite loop - because the Domain no longer exists.]]

* CameBackWrong [[spoiler: The Flood are the remains of Precursors made aberrant by being subjected to a TimeAbyss.]]

-->[[spoiler:"Our urge to create is immutable; we must create. But the beings we create shall never again reach out in strength against us. All that is created will suffer. All will be born in suffering, endless greyness shall be their lot. All creation will tailor to failure and pain, and never again shall the offspring of the eternal Fount rise up against their creators. No more will, no more freedom. Nothing but agonizing death, and never good shall come of it. We are the last Precursors. And now we are legion."]]

* ContinuitySnarl: Comes with reconciling ''{{VideoGame/Halo 3}}'' with ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', although it mostly succeeds. Of note, though [[spoiler: The Gravemind, in the form of Forthencho, tells the Librarian that by activating the Halo Array, the Forerunners have ensured the destruction of the Domain, including all the Forerunners' history. However, the Terminals of ''Halo 4'' are said to be accessed through the Domain.]]

** [[spoiler:The Ur-Didact is the Didact that was sealed inside Requiem.]] His plan [[spoiler: to subjugate the galaxy via the Composer in ''Halo 4'' was inspired by the Gravemind subjecting him to MindRape to put him into the same mentality as the Flood/Precursors.]]

** [[spoiler:The Ur-Didact is the Didact that was sealed inside Requiem.]] His plan [[spoiler: to subjugate the galaxy via the Composer in {{Halo4}} was inspired by the Gravemind subjecting him to MindRape to put him into the same mentality as the Flood/Precursors.]]

* FridgeHorror (deep breath)
** [[spoiler: The Domain is a Precursor. While it's supposedly going to be destroyed by the Halo firing, it can still be accessed via the terminals in {{Halo3}}, so it might serve as a villain in Halo 5 or 6]]
** [[spoiler: It is unknown whether or not the Halo firings will destroy all of the Precursors' star roads, meaning that they might still be able to be accessed by future Flood outbreaks]]
** [[spoiler: Just before the Halo firing, Forthenco tells the Librarian that the Precursors seeded ''many'' galaxies with life, meaning that their civilization was was not limited to the Milky Way and the Greater Magellenic Cloud/Path Kethona. They might very well have surviving members in other galaxies that could come knocking in the future.]]

** [[spoiler:The Ur-Didact is the Didact that was sealed inside Requiem.]]

* ScienceMarchesOn: Immediately, as a matter of fact, and to a degree that it's hard to find fault in the author. [[spoiler:The Precursors say that they have the accumulated knowledge of one hundred billion years, making them older than the universe. A short time after this book was published, the age of the universe was revealed to be [[http://news.yahoo.com/universe-ages-80m-years-big-bang-gets-clearer-111323707.html 80 million years older than that]]. However, that could be an estimation, and not an exact time frame.]]

* [[spoiler: RidingIntoTheSunset: Riser watches as Bornstellar, and Forerunners as a whole, do this, departing Earth never to return.]]

* DoomedByCanon: The Halos will be fired. The Forerunners and the Flood will both be wiped out.

** [[spoiler:The Ur-Didact will become a WellIntentionedExtremist and be sealed inside Requiem.]]

* DoomedByCanon: The Halos will be fired. The Forerunners and the Flood will both be wiped out. [[spoiler:The Ur-Didact will become a WellIntentionedExtremist and be sealed inside Requiem.]]

* CallForward: [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', Guilty Spark mentions that someone asked him if he would fire the rings. In ''Silentium'', we actually hear the [=IsoDidact=] ask that question.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: Comes with reconciling ''{{VideoGame/Halo 3}}'' with ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', although it mostly succeeds. Of note, though [[spoiler: The Gravemind, in the form of Forthencho, tells the Librarian that by activating the Halo Array, the Forerunners have ensured the destruction of the Domain, including all the Forerunners' history. However, the Terminals of ''Halo 4'' are said to be accessed through the Domain, yet Guilty Spark confirms it's destroyed in ''Halo: Anniversary'', so it's likely a contradiction.]]

* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler: The Gravemind, in the form of Forthencho, tells the Librarian that by activating the Halo Array, the Forerunners have ensured the destruction of the Domain, including all the Forerunners history. This appears to be BS, as the Master Chief and Cortana are able to access the Domain in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''.]]

* [[spoiler:CosmicHorrorStory: It's safe to say that Silentium finally has Halo cross this line. The sheer impossible might of the Precursors is truly a sight to imagine, and the devastation they bring by merely passing through a system unparalleled (the page image for this trope is actually very similar to what Precursor star roads do to planets). They even throw in some nice mind rape simply by talking to you. Add in being older than the universe several times over, and it makes one wonder just what hope in high heaven any of us mere mortals have in future stories.]]

* CosmicHorrorStory: It's safe to say that Silentium finally has Halo cross this line. The shear impossible might of the Precursors is truly a sight to imagine, and the devestation they bring by merely passing through a system unparalleled (the page image for this trope is actually very similar to what Precursor star roads do to planets). They even throw in some nice mind rape simply by talking to you. Add in being older than the universe several times over, and it makes one wonder just what hope in high heaven any of us mere mortals have in future stories.

A forty minute narrative read by Greg Bear entitled "Rebirth" acts as an epilogue, and can be found [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGR1V7IRLXs here]].

''Halo: Silentium'' is the third novel in Literature/TheForerunnerSaga trilogy set in the ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universe. It follows the Catalog, a Forerunner of the Juridical rate [[HiveMind made up of many "evidence-gathering agents"]], as he receives testimonies from the Librarian, the [=IsoDidact=], and the Ur-Didact, while the Forerunners wage all-out war on the Flood and prepare for the inevitable activation of the Halo Array.

* AIIsACrapshoot: The Domain appears to be coming alive... and it is not happy. [[spoiler:Subverted. All this time is was actually a Precursor.]]

* [[spoiler: RidingIntoTheSunset: Riser watches as Bornstellar, and Forerunners as a whole, do this, departing earth never to return.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: The Domain appears to be coming alive... and it is not happy. [[spoiler:Subverted. All this time it was actually a Precursor.]]

* [[spoiler: RidingIntoTheSunset: Riser watches as Bornstellar, and Forerunners as a whole, do this, departing Earth never to return.]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: The Domain appears to be coming alive... and it is not happy. [[spoiler:Subverted. All this time is was actually a Precursor.]]

* [[spoiler: RidingIntoTheSunset: Riser watches as Bornstellar, and Forerunners as a whole, do this, departing earth never to return.]]