Prepare for ‘Halo 4′ with these lore-changing Halo: Cryptum & Halo: Glasslands spoilers

Not everyone has the time to read through all the Halo novels before Halo 4 releases on November 4. Even more people simply don’t like reading, so we’ll spare you the trouble of having to pick up the first book in the Forerunner trilogy of novels and the first book taking place after the end of the Human-Covenant war. Obviously spoilers lie ahead, so if you plan on reading these books at any time, you probably want to stop reading now. You’ve been warned.

• Miranda Keyes is Catherine Halsey’s and Jacob Keyes’ daughter.

This isn’t nearly as impactful if you haven’t read the Halo novels. Until Halo: Reach, Halsey had failed to appear in any of the video games. In the novels, however, she happens to be one of the most prevalent characters. Why wasn’t this revealed earlier? Like I said, it never really mattered in the context of the video games, but Miranda and her mother weren’t exactly on good terms. In fact, Halsey knew she would make a bad parent so she gave sole custody to Jacob while she went about her treacherous actions with the Spartan program. One of the more memorable passages in Glasslands involves Miranda practically disowning her mother and showing just how much hate there is inside of her.

If you haven’t kept up with the Halo lore, both Keyes and his daughter have been killed in action while Halsey remains on the planet Onyx inside a shield world similar to the one Master Chief finds himself in.

• The Precursors came before the Forerunners.

Unsurprisingly, the Forerunners weren’t the first apex race. They too had to overcome a race which was greater than them. As far as anyone’s aware, there are no Precursors in existence.

In Cryptum, however, a mysterious entity is mentioned which even the Forerunners feared. It might have simply been the Flood, or it could have been something else. A Precursor perhaps?

•  The Huragok (commonly known as Engineers) have been around since the Forerunners.

Our beloved Engineers whom we came to cherish through ODST were created by the Forerunners with the sole purpose of maintaining their constructs after they had been wiped from the galaxy. They reluctantly served Covenant due threat of death, by suicide bombing. A less known fact is that the Huragok can repair each other, and all it takes is two in the same location. They can also construct more of themselves. How this is done is unknown.

• The Humans, Forerunners, and San’Shyuum (Prophets) existed millenia ago.

Long ago the Humans and San’Shyuum lived in peace. They actually had a pact together as they rose up against the Forerunners in an attempt to gain the right to colonize freely. Unfortunately for us, the Humans were devolved and sentenced to a meager life on planet Earth. The San’Shyuum on the other hand, made a deal with the Forerunners and agreed to be quarantined inside their own solar system. Ironically, during this time the Prophets cherished and valued their youth, a stark contrast to the elders whom they now revere and serve.

• The Flood originates from a powder-like substance.

Humanity first discovered the Flood on a derelict ship. A powdery substance was investigated and deemed to cause favorable mutations in what was the equivalent to today’s dogs. Humanity took great pride in these animals and repeatedly used this substance to gain the upper hand on their competitors. Over time, however, strange mutations began to arise. These culminated in violence, as the animals grew extremities and began to rebel against their owners. This, for all intents and purposes, turned the dog-like creatures into monsters. Humanity attempted to wipe out all traces of the substance and the animals as it began a worldwide epidemic. That was before it made the jump to humans. We all know what happened next.

• The Flood were created by the Precursors as a punishment against the Forerunners.

Later we learn that the Precursors didn’t go down easily. They decided that, rather than be defeated by an inferior race, they would create the Flood to destroy all life. The Forerunners barely managed to drive them out of the galaxy as they won their war. This peace was short-lasted, at least in galactic terms, as the Flood returned during the war with the Humans. Luckily for everyone else, the Humans somehow drove the flood back, effectively defeating them and doing what even the Forerunners couldn’t do. To repay us, we were eventually devolved and the Flood survived to live another day. What remains to be seen is if humanity can repeat this act and possibly destroy the Flood once and for all.

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