The Covenant is a collection of species from across the galaxy that have all unified under
the vision of the “Great Journey”, that tells the story of the ancient race of forerunners
who spread across the starts, built an empire lasting millennia then ascended to the next
level of being. The San’Shyuum, known as the Prophet’s, acted as the leaders of this
holy order and guided the species through the use of forerunner relics but they were
not alone in their council. Alongside them for the longest time were the Sangheili, the
elites as humanity knows them. If the Prophets were the head of the Covenant, then the Sangheili
were the arms, the visible presence of authority on the battlefield. Until the Great Schism,
a sundering of beliefs and morals that tore the ancient covenant apart and at the centre
of it all, the truth. The truth that the Great Journey was a lie.
Hello, Ric here and this cultural index looks to illuminate the culture of those who fought
against and finally alongside humanity, the Elites of Halo. One of the Covenant’s founding
races, the Sangheili originally evolved on an oxygen-nitrogen world once protected by
the Forerunners, much as Earth and many other sentient species’ home planets had. Because
of this, the relics and ancient technologies left behind by the disappeared race sparked
a war with another power, the San’Shyuum. Ultimately this war ended in an alliance,
the restricted use of Forerunner artefacts and the absorption of the Sangheili culture
into the Covenant. The first of many races that would be indoctrinated into the prophet’s
crusade. The planet Sanghelios is slightly larger than
Earth. It has a higher gravity at 1.375G, two moons (Suban/Qikost) and a variety of
climates across its surface, though large tracks of it are desert like, especially inland
where the surface is baked by the three suns. It does have large expanses of ocean though
and many off-shore cities and complexes exist to supplement the habitable zones of the planet.
The species is also well established across a number of colony worlds, as expected from
and interstellar power though many of these colonies are still unknown.
Sanghelios orbits a trinary star system, an incredible phenomena. The stars are known
as Urs, Fied and Joori. The planet’s inhabitants are divided into
continents, regions and states, much like the topography of Earth and each state is
run by a powerful and influential family. For example, the Elite known as the Arbiter,
Thel ‘Vadam was born into the Vadam family, who held sway over the province of Vadam,
of the Iruiru area of the continent Yermo. The family has long been established as the
founders of this province, showing that family legacy and name carry great weight in Sangheili
society and the head of a family or clan is known as the Kaidon. Often the title is passed
to another male in the family in a line-of-succession style but has to be agreed upon by a council
of Elders. The mantle can be challenged by another who feels that they have a valid claim.
This challenge can be resolved in combat, civil strife or even assassination. In fact,
assassination of a Kaidon is regarded as a legitimate affair, one who sends assassins
often does not hide their identity as succeeding means that they can adopt the mantle, while
failure leads them to be executed. The women among the Sangheili are seldom seen. This
is because they are not permitted to serve in the military it seems. Although they are
taught to fight and serve their family’s honour in the same fashion, they remain planet
side for most of their lives. The Kaidon’s ruling style may vary but is
expected to obey the whim of its people though the voices of those people are based on a
sort of meritocracy where the weight of a familial name is taken into consideration.
Each family has its own traditions and a “battle poem” that is an Iliad-style saga of deeds.
As I’m sure is apparent by now, a great deal of merit is placed on a Sangheili’s
ability in combat, its martial prowess and understanding of warfare. The family name
usually carries great weight, however the children of the elites are taught in equal
measure, allowing for even a complete unknown to rise to greatness. I suspect however that
great families often maintained their legacy with personal lessons and training based upon
the tactics that had kept them in power in the first place, constantly trying to validate
their place in society. After all, a meritocracy rewards power to those who deserve, and none
to those who cannot prove themselves. The military of the Sangheili therefore is
present an many layers of a family’s history with every citizen taught how to fight at
some point, regardless of occupation, however the species eventually was absorbed into the
Covenant which simultaneously served to strengthen them and weaken them as a whole. Essentially,
their cultural love of battle led them to focus more and more on warfare, gradually
relying on others to supplement the other areas of their culture. Technology was reverse
engineered from Forerunner tech by the San’Shyuum, Unggoy to perform manual labour and so on.
This would become a problem later on in their history but for now, the Elites thrived under
the Covenant’s Empire. Many Elites pride themselves not only in their
tactical ingenuity, but their personal combat aptitude. Bladed weapons, especially energy
based magnetically-contained plasma blades, like the infamous energy sword are trained
with constantly and with the utilisation of personal shielding and cloaking are actually
viable weapons in a firefight. There are many orders and chapters of warriors, both within
the structure of the Covenant and outside, that carry a great deal of honour to serve
in. Starting at the bottom, there are the Minors.
Due to the species based caste system of the Covenant, even the lowest elite outranks most
others around him, often leading squads into battle. Proving themselves victorious many
times earns them a promotion from Blue to Red armour, and the status of veteran, a major.
Ultra’s wore white armour and were considered commanders in the field, assigned to run operations
and specific missions. Those in command wore Gold and included ship captains and generals.
Above this were the ranks of high command, Shipmasters, Fleet Masters, Field Marshals
and the like wore the purple of the Covenant and were often termed Zealots by UNSC f orces.
The Supreme Commander oversaw fleets of ships and was responsible for all operations conducted
within. At the very top, is the Imperial Admiral. These officers answer only to the Covenants
High Council, if you’d like to know more about the Covenant’s ruling structure, there’s
a cultural index on the San’Shyuum already you might want to take a look at too. As mentioned,
the entire Sangheili social structure is based on personal ability, it is safe to assume
those at the top are very capable of defending themselves, hence the reason even the Sangheili
Councillors bust out energy swords and wield plasma rifles.
There were many other divisions, such as numerous stealth and reconnaissance branches, often
equipped with specialist equipment, such as jump-packs and active camouflage. The Covenant
also adopted the Sangheili tradition of the “Arbiter”, a judge-warrior of the elites,
feigning respect for their customs by repurposing it as an instrument of the Covenant, until
branding it a role defined by failure. By far one of the most coveted positions was
that of Honour Guard. Only the best soldiers were selected to guard the councillors and
the San’Shyuum themselves. The handing over of this responsibility to the Jiralhannae
was therefore considered a great insult by many Sangheili, even if they never voiced
their concerns and a sign of the beginning of the Great Schism.
After leaving the Covenant, the Arbiter, Thel Vadam became the de-facto leader of the Sangheili
after his alliance with humanity was tentatively established. He recreated the “Swords of
Sanghelios”, using the title of an ancient sect of Kaidon warriors who had initially
led his people into the Covenant, a period of great change for the species. A stable
political structure for the Elites is yet to emerge as currently they are in the midst
of establishing a new way of life removed from the Covenant. Several factions, including
the Servants of Abiding Truth oppose the Arbiter’s efforts to establish a new government.
Theologically, many Sangheili are also unsure of their place. The exposure of the Great
Journey to be a fallacy has exposed the weaknesses of the race, their over reliance on the technology
and species of the Covenant so the backlash is understandable. Before the Covenant, the
Sangheili seemed to hold their ancestors in high regard, telling tales like the Ballad
of Kel’Darsam, First Light of Sanghelios, who is the son of the Sun-God Urs. These stories
are all that remains of their native religions and suggest a pantheon based around natural
elements such as the Sun and demi-god like individuals.
Names carry great power in their culture and to be nameless is the greatest disrespect
they can bestow upon an adversary, as they did with humanity. This cuts both ways however
as insults like Squid-head and even the term Elites aim to strip away the identity. The
first name is a birth name, given to them by their parents. As they age, they receive
a “badge name” made from their family name, or province name, a descriptive and
a suffix such as double “e” to show military service and “ai” and A I to represent
a great swordsman. Other titles can be included in a name but are very rare and usually reserved
for very special individuals such as Fleet Masters.
Overall, the meritocracy of the Sangheili is what defines their culture but fundamentally
could be their undoing. Without the support of the Covenant and the power that they had
enjoyed under its umbrella, a society based on military aptitude begins to fall apart
without a substantial infrastructure of civilian industry. This is the state the Sangheili
find themselves in currently, trying to rediscover and redefine what it means to be a Sangheili,
not just to be seen as the Covenant’s Elites. Hey, perhaps if you know a Sangheili, you
could show them this video to help, right? Thanks for listening to this cultural index.
Most of this deeper Halo lore is there, but in typical Bungie fashion, you have to go
digging for it. The next index might be something a bit different for Halloween. So rather than
the cultures of sci-fi species, let’s look at something more menacing. Let’s look at
either the feared force the forerunners fled from, the Flood. Of the Biggest, baddest threat
to Trek’s individuality the Borg Collective. Votes are in the comment’s below, I’ll
try not to forget to post them again, and I’ll see you next time for a villainous
version of the index. Thanks again and Wort wort wort!