History Literature / HaloSilentium

** The [[spoiler: Ur-Didact, when the Gravemind fully reveals the nature of the precursors, itself, and the Flood, drives him insane while also turning him into the Flood's puppet, subtly causing him to act just like the Flood are. He's vaguely aware of what has happened to him, but is no longer capable of caring or willingly changing back.]]

''Halo: Silentium'' is the third novel in Literature/TheForerunnerSaga 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.

* TheObiWan: Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished, an ancient female Forerunner who was Didact's predecessor and his main teacher, plays a role in the war.

** [[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. Furthermore, due to [[AIIsACrapshoot the logic plague]], his justification that ArtificialIntelligence is TheImmune to infection is actually a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies]].

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:The powder found by humanity that mutated into the Flood was mummified Precursors.]]

* AndIMustScream / GoMadFromTheIsolation: [[spoiler:When the Librarian sealed her husband in Requiem, she expected he'd at least still have access to the Domain. But the Halos unexpectedly destroyed it, resulting in him being alone inside his Cryptum for over a hundred millennia.]]

* WhatOtherGalaxies: In a non-marketing example, the Precursors claim to be [[spoiler:[[TimeAbyss hundreds of billions years old]], far older than the universe]]. Then what were they all doing in the same galaxy, [[spoiler:to be wiped out by the Forerunner]]?

** The Librarian realizes when she arrives at Requiem that the [[spoiler: Gravemind's MindRape of her husband has made him adopt the same mentality. Endurance-Of-Will undergoes a HeelFaceTurn when the Librarian makes her realize that his plan wipe out and or enslave and potential threat to the Forerunners is identical to the Timeless One's plot to control all non-Precursor life.]]

* AndIMustScream / [[spoiler:GoMadFromTheIsolation]]: [[spoiler:When the Librarian sealed her husband in Requiem, she expected he'd at least still have access to the Domain. But the Halos unexpectedly destroyed it, resulting in him being alone inside his Cryptum for over a hundred millennia.]]

* [[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.]]

* [[spoiler:DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The Precursors have decided that this time, ''no one'' will inherit the Mantle; instead they will merely wipe out anyone who resists and enslave the rest. Their perfect world will be one where the Precursors can create and destroy as they wish.]]

* [[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.]]

* HiddenInPlainSight: [[spoiler:The mythical Organon that Forerunner treasure hunters believed could activate all Precursor artifacts turns out to have been the Domain. On top of that, ''the Domain ITSELF is a Precursor.'']]

* OhCrap: This is the Librarian's reaction when she learns that [[spoiler:the Domain is a Precursor, which means that it will be destroyed by Halo; not only does this mean that the Forerunners' legacy will be mostly lost, but this also ruins her plan for the Ur-Didact's meditation (see GoMadFromTheIsolation above).]]
* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Precursors are discovered to be able to take a multitude of forms, including powder, the Flood, and ''the Domain''. The latter two are assumed to take revenge on the Forerunners.]]

** [[spoiler:The Domain is the mythical Organon that could activate all Precursor artifacts, because ''IT'' is a Precursor.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:ArtificialIntelligence is not immune to the Flood as previously thought. Also, the Flood, the powder that makes the Flood, and even the Domain? ''All Precursors''.]]

* BittersweetEnding / DoomedByCanon: It's been known since the beginning of the Halo canon that the Forerunners are rendered extinct by their defeat of the Flood. But this book brings light to the specifics, namely: [[spoiler:The Greater Ark sheltering the last of Forerunner civilization has been smashed, the Ur-Didact driven mad and imprisoned by his wife, the Librarian left on earth as the Halos are fired, and Guilty Spark listens as communications across the galaxy- including an undiscovered (read: not indexed by the Librarian) alien civilization that has just begun transmitting messages into space- go silent. However, the Librarian's indexed populations on the Lesser Ark are preserved and reseeded, including Riser and Vinnerva, and humans and Forerunners are able to stand with each other as friends, and Riser gets to say goodbye to the [=IsoDidact=].]]

** The Forerunners themselves are this, to a lesser extent. They existed in a hyper-advanced technological state more than [[spoiler: ten million years ago]], not to mention however many years it took for their species to evolve and develop all of their technology in the first place.

* 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: 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.]]

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding: The Greater Ark sheltering the last of Forerunner civilization has been smashed, the Ur-Didact driven mad and imprisoned by his wife, the Librarian left on earth as the Halos are fired, and Guilty Spark listens as communications across the galaxy- including an undiscovered (read: not indexed by the Librarian) alien civilization that has just begun transmitting messages into space- go silent. However, the Librarian's indexed populations on the Lesser Ark are preserved and reseeded, including Riser and Vinnerva, and humans and Forerunners are able to stand with each other as friends, and Riser gets to say goodbye to the [=IsoDidact=].]]

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

** The Flood use something referred to as the "logic plague", which is capable of converting most every AI to their cause. Only a few notable AI avoid this.

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

** Some parts of the canon claimed that the Halos destroy bodies, others claimed they just destroy the nervous system and leave the dead bodies. ''Silentium'' thus introduced the chemical solute, which is added to a targeted planet's atmosphere to cause the bodies there to disintegrate. Any non-disintegrating instances are thus times when there was no solute.

* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Catalog is awed by the Librarian's beauty, but notes that physically her face does have flaws and she is not perfect in appearance. Rather it's more of a spiritual beauty emanating from her.

-->[[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 new but agonizing death and never good shall come of it. We are the last Precursors. And now we are ''legion''.]]

* HiddenInPlainSight: [[spoiler:The mythical Organon that Forerunner treasure hunters believed could activate all Precursor artifacts turns out to have been the Domain.]]