Arbiter (Halo)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Arbiter | |
|---|---|
 The Arbiter wielding an energy sword. |
|
| Game series | Halo series |
| First game | Halo 2 |
| Voice actor(s) | Keith David |
Arbiter is a ceremonial and political rank bestowed upon special Covenant Elites in the fictional Halo universe. The current Arbiter is one of the protagonists in Halo 2.
Contents |
[edit] Role
The rank of Arbiter is bestowed upon a Sangheili (Covenant Elite) by the High Prophets during a time of extraordinary crisis. The Arbiter acts as an agent of the Prophets, going on missions specifically dictated by the Prophets to resolve whatever difficulties the Covenant is experiencing. During incidents such as the Taming of the Hunters, the Grunt Rebellion, and most recently, the threat of heresy, and but not including, the Covenant Civil War, the Arbiter of the time has emerged to lead the Covenant to victory. Many, especially Grunts, see the Arbiter as their Savior or protector. The Arbiter is commonly referred to as "The Will of the Prophets" or similarly "The Blade of the Prophets". The Arbiter wears ancient armor that differs from other Covenant Elites.
Every Arbiter was "created and consumed in times of extraordinary crisis", and each has been martyred in the undertaking of his momentous tasks. The corpses (or perhaps only memorials of some sort) are housed in identical caskets stacked upon each other in the great Mausoleum of the Arbiter, located on High Charity. In the center of this room a floating pod contains the sacred armor of the Arbiter, highly decorative and fully functional (although some subsystems are out-dated, such as the active camouflage) despite its apparent age. The mausoleum houses 168 visible caskets (and more may be set underground), reaching high into the air, and references of Arbiters settling the Grunt Rebellion and aiding the Taming of the Hunters would indicate that the office has existed for quite some time - before the Covenant as we know it was fully formed and its castes defined. The Arbiter can only be a Sangheili (the characteristic armor is tailored to the Sangheili anatomy), as they are traditionally seen as the guardians and protectors of the Covenant.
As a member of the Covenant, it is believed that the Arbiter is held in the capacity of maintaining the integrity of the Covenant, and his creation is necessitated only in momentous events like those mentioned above. Of course, he also serves as a political tool, an embodiment of the Hierarchs' power as well as an example of true faith, a warrior-martyr showing loyalty at times of division.
[edit] The Arbiter in Halo 2
The current Arbiter (at the time of Halo 2) (voiced by actor Keith David) is the "incompetent" Elite Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, the fleet that destroyed Reach and followed the Pillar of Autumn to Halo. This was due to the fact that a minor Prophet on one of the first ships to engage the Pillar of Autumn refused to allow the ship to be destroyed with plasma torpedoes due to the danger it could represent to the "sacred ring" and instead ordered the human cruiser to be captured by boarding parties.[1] This allowed the humans to fend off the attack long enough to land on the ring and establish a foothold. Subsequently, the Flood parasite was released, the Covenant lost control of the situation, and the Master Chief was able to detonate the Pillar of Autumn's reactors and destroy Halo. In Halo: First Strike, it was also hinted that he was also responsible for the loss of the Ascendant Justice. Mainly because he failed to protect the "Sacred Ring" from the humans, and because a vast majority of the council branded him a heretic, he was stripped of his ranking and armor leaving him naked and branded with the Mark of Shame over his left pectoral by Tartarus in front of a large crowd of Covenant and, though many of the Covenant wanted to see him hung by his entrails and his corpse paraded through the city to make an example of him, the decision as to his fate was held by the High Prophets alone, particularly the Prophet of Truth. During a meeting with Truth and Mercy within the Masoleum of the Arbiter, it was revealed that neither believed him to be heretic, and that the council was overzealous for a scapegoat- branding the Supreme Commander a heretic was only to quell their malcontent. Rather than have him slain outright, the Prophets of Truth and Mercy gave him a chance to regain his lost honor and serve the Covenant again; he would be set loose against the true 'heretics', lead by one Sesa 'Refumee, and quell this uprising before it caused further division amongst the Covenant.
The tasks you must undertake as the Arbiter are perilous- suicidal! You will die as each Arbiter has before you! The council will have their corpse.
—Hierarchs (Halo), The High Prophet of Mercy
As the Arbiter, the Prophets expected him to die early in his tour of duty, completing his apparent "death sentence", but he survived both the destruction of the Heretics (political separatists in the Covenant) and the storm that followed. Dispatched to the Library on Delta Halo, a seemingly certainly fatal mission, he was then to be killed by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus in the unlikely event that he survived. The Arbiter was thrown down the central shaft of the library, and would have appeared to have hit the bottom, but was some how rescued by the Flood form Gravemind for his own purposes.
During the game, the Prophets slowly begin to replace the Elites with Brutes, a species that has shown to be both stronger, more resilient, and more devoted to the commands of the Prophets than Elites. Once there are enough Brutes in place, they instigate a bloody genocide, wiping out the Elites. This sparks a massive civil war, disguised as a Brute insurrection to the Elites and their allies, and as an Elite revolt to the other Covenant factions. On one side, there are the loyalists: the Brutes, the Drones, and the Jackals, covertly sanctioned by the Prophets. On the other, the Elites lead the Hunters and the Grunts.
The Arbiter, after meeting his human counterpart, the Master Chief, while being held captive by the Gravemind, discovered the Brutes' massacre of a number of his fellow Elites and received word that the Elite Covenant High Council members had been murdered. He joined forces with the separatists and became a central figure in the Covenant Civil War. This massive breakaway faction may have secured an uneasy alliance with their enemies, the human United Nations Space Command to stop the mutual threat of Delta Halo being fired.
At the end of the game, the Arbiter engages Tartarus in combat over the Index and the activation of Delta Halo. While he had originally, and perhaps stubbornly, refused to believe the truth about Halo, the common belief of the heretics, Master Chief, the Gravemind, and Sergeant Major Johnson that Halo would bring devastation finally convinced him to ask 343 Guilty Spark the truth about the rings. After finally understanding Halo's purpose, and with the aid of Sergeant Johnson, the Arbiter triumphs in killing Tartarus and stopping the activation of Delta Halo. It is unknown how the humans and the separatists (Elites, Grunts, and Hunters) will co-exist with each other given the enormous likelihood of an alliance between them, though this is thought to be a major theme of Halo 3. Much fanfiction has been written with this alliance as a premise.
The Arbiter, like the Master Chief, is playable in the campaign. An Elite player model is also present in Multiplayer as an alternative to the SPARTAN II model. The controls and handling of both models are identical, however in campaign mode Active Camouflage replaces the flashlight function of the white controller button (On the original Xbox controller. It is the left bumper button on the Xbox 360 controller). The SPARTAN model is widely favored however, because of the belief that Elite players are more easily sniped due to the larger size of their skull.
Unlike other Elites, whose camouflage lasts for as long as the user wants it, the Arbiter's camouflage is outdated and only works for about 10 seconds (approximately 5 seconds on Legendary). It will disperse when the Arbiter attacks or gets attacked, requiring the player to use it wisely. In Multiplayer the white button simply activates the team communication channel the same way it does for SPARTAN II models.
[edit] Appearance in Halo 3
According to the casting of Halo 3 on IMDB.com, Keith David has been listed to play once more as the Arbiter, so it is very likely that he will return in Halo 3. Though not confirmed, in the recent Video Documentary by Bungie (Et Tu Brute?), an Elite wearing armor very similar to the Arbiter's can be seen being attacked by a pack of Brutes.
[edit] References
- ^ The Flood, W. C. Dietz, pg 6
|
Halo: Combat Evolved • Halo 2 • Halo 3 |
