Whether you watched Master Chief and the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) fight against the Covenant Halo TV series or play halo games in orderyou may be wondering what is going on with the religious alien hegemony that threatens humanity. We’ve collected the highlights of their history here to give you a quick overview of who they are and what their goals are.
While most of the images of Halo come from the United Nations Security Council, halo vehicle and the military, more importantly, Spartans (Not just the Master Chief), the Covenant is probably one of the most unique hostile alien factions in science fiction. The fact that the Halo series has been quite successful in both novels and comics certainly helps flesh out its universe. However, the games themselves do a good job of painting a complex picture of a massive alien threat.
Once you’ve read this article and learned about your enemy, grab your battle rifle and head to our list Halo games, ranked from worst to best. When you’re in the “war on humanity” realm, you feel the need to check out The best alien invasion movies ever and The best alien invasion game ever also. Don’t be too prepared!
Warning: From now on, there will be spoilers for most of Halo game series.
Halo Covenant: Who are they?
The Covenant, also known as the Covenant Empire or the Hegemony, is a massive religious faction composed of multiple alien species that controls much of the region. Orion Arm in the Milky Way For thousands of years.
It started as an alliance between the San’Shyuum (seers) and the Sangheili (elites), but later expanded to “assimilate” other species, including Huragok (engineers), Mgalekgolo (hunters), Unggoy (Guru people), Kig-Yar ( Jackals), Yanme’e (Drones), and Jiralhanae (Beasts).
All are united in their fervent worship of the technology and artifacts left by their ancient forerunners. Although initially conflicted over disagreements over how to interact with Forerunner relics, the Covenant eventually became an unstoppable force spanning the Arms of Orion.
The Santheium and Sangheili, the founders of the Hegemony, ruled over other species they considered inferior and disposable. The vast theocratic cultural hegemony finally began to chase the great journey triggered by the halo (which they called the Holy Circle) to achieve the mission of transcendence.
Halo Covenant: The War Against the United Nations Security Council
In 2525, humans encountered the Covenant for the first time on the Harvest Planet. Many leaders believed that the species would be a good addition to the Hegemony, but the Archbishops (Truth, Mercy, and Regret) knew of humanity’s place as descendants of the Forerunners and chosen successors. Because a leak of information could plunge the Covenant into chaos and cause the San’Shyuum to lose their personal power, they declared that humanity (the prophesied Reclaimers) would be wiped out.
After decades of war, some Sangheili began to question why humanity was not given a chance to join the Covenant, especially when they proved to be surprisingly determined and difficult to defeat, largely thanks to their Spartan super-soldiers. At the same time, splinter factions began to rebel, chief among them the Outcasts, led by a Jiralhanae tracker named Atriox. They did not agree with the Prophet’s rule but still waged war against humanity.
In 2552, the United Nations Security Council suffered a major blow, and the stronghold of Reach fell into the hands of the Covenant. However, a ship called the Pillar of Autumn escaped the battle and reached one of the seven Halos sought by the Hegemony. A battle ensued on the ring world, with Spartan II John 117 (Master Chief) aka “The Demon” leading the remaining UNSC forces; they were victorious by destroying the ring after realizing the Covenant’s plans.
Fleet Supreme Commander Sangheili Telvadam, who emerged from the first Halo battle, was initially labeled a heretic for his failure to save Halo. However, Selvadam later became the Arbiter (the highest possible rank among his race) and was charged with purging the heretics to prove his loyalty.
Meanwhile, the regretful Senior Prophet stumbles upon the human homeworld on Earth and, by creating a jump space Jump. Following closely behind was the UNSC frigate Amberjacket, slipspace guiding both sides to the second Halo ring. The Master Chief ended Regret’s life and successfully closed the second ring.
Due to recent rumors of unreliability and heresy, the remaining Hierophants replaced the Sangheili with Jiralhanae as their military leaders. This resulted in the Sangheili revolting after being targeted by the Jiralhanae, thus Great Schism here we go.
Meanwhile, the UNSC frigate Amberjacket, now controlled by the Flood (the Forerunners attempted to use the Halos to eliminate this organic threat and lead to their extinction) crashed into the moving holy city of High Charity, a place swallowed by the chaos and ruthlessness of the Flood.
The Prophet of Mercy was killed in this attack and Truth fled to Earth. The new conflict, with many losses suffered on both sides, led to a temporary alliance between the Sangheili and humans to stop the Jiralhanae, the armies of truth, and the Flood. On Earth, Truth discovered the Precursor structure in Kenya, which spawned a portal to the Ark Device, a massive device located on the outer reaches of the galaxy that could activate all of the Halos at the same time.
Truth barricaded itself within the Citadel, the Halo Ring’s control center, but combined UNSC and Sangheili forces, along with a flood-infected High Charity, breached the Covenant’s defenses. John-117 and the Arbiter found and killed Truth, then deactivated the ring.
After the events of Ark, the Covenant was disbanded. The San’Shyuum went into hiding, the other species scattered, and an alliance was formalized between humans and Sangheili. However, there were issues of factionalism, and the Banished’s repeated attacks on the Sangheili and the United Nations Security Council in an attempt to finish the unfinished work of the late Covenant.
Halo Covenant: Legacy of Hegemony
Most Jiralhanae have always opposed the Sangheili, but some have chosen to serve as laborers for them. The power vacuum following the Covenant allowed the Outcasts to accrue a considerable degree of control. This will continue to cause many problems for the Sangheili and the UN Security Council, who are busy shutting down other major threats, such as the rogue artificial intelligence Cortana.
Meanwhile, the former Arbiter Selvadam restored the pre-covenant government known as the Sword of Sanghelios, based on their ancient homeland. This leads to more struggles within their own ranks about faith and how to move forward.
Other former Covenant races – those who wanted no further interstellar involvement – returned to their homelands or disappeared into the unknown of space. However, there are many former Covenant members who have sought refuge on Earth.
Later conflicts over the Halo ring and Forerunner technology would be sparked by Atriox’s lasting banishment. They became experts in guerrilla warfare and dealt major blows to UNSC forces, including John-117. Atriox’s Exile also managed to free a creature known as the Harbinger from imprisonment. This creature is a member of another ancient species that was able to survive the launch of the Halo Array, imprisoned by the extinct Precursors.
This is where the current video game timeline ends with the ending of Halo Infinite. It’s an ongoing conflict and storyline, but we’ll have to wait for the next issue to find out more.