FEMALE NARRATOR: Peace settled on the galaxy.
But it would be a fleeting peace.
For the great sacrifice was in vain.
The end of one war did not signal an end to all wars.
It is a great irony that the nature of war...
...always reveals the true nature of those who fight.
And from their earliest days, humanity began to fight...
...war after war.
It swarmed over the earth and there was no ending in sight.
In the midst of the desire to shed blood...
...you accidentally stumbled upon the seeds of your salvation.
A great hope.
But you found something else, as well.
The seeds of your destruction.
There were many sacrifices.
Humankind was mired in horrific conflict...
...meaningless bloodshed...
...leaving the great Earth eternally scarred.
But finally...
...you looked up from the blood and from the dirt and from the dying...
...to the stars.
You had not given up on the idea of reaching out, yearning...
...seeking a new horizon...
...and finding a new space to grow and prosper.
For the first time, all of humankind was united in a shared vision...
...a common goal.
You realized that this once great planet was now too small for you.
There were too many souls...
...and so little a world.
So you sought other worlds.
Worlds where you could escape your addiction to destruction.
But the worlds you found were never enough.
Never enough to satisfy the age-old instincts.
Speed and distance did nothing to separate you from your nature.
Old resentments, ancient squabbles reemerged.
History began its terrible repetition...
...and once again, man fought man.
Like a virus, war was always lurking inside you.
No matter how hard you tried to suppress it...
...it just fought harder to get out.
It always got out.
Humankind had always looked to the stars, to the heavens for answers.
Sometimes you didn't like what you found there.
And while the galaxy revealed few answers...
...it was more than willing to confront you with new questions.
But there has always been one truly unifying force in human history...
...one call that would always unite you:
The emergence of a common enemy.
That enemy was the Covenant.
When this new foe emerged and declared war against humanity...
...you finally united, under a single banner.
And the weapons you so carefully constructed...
...to control your own baser instincts were now aimed not at yourselves...
...but against a deadly opponent...
...in pursuit of a shared goal:
The very survival of your species.
[WEAPONS FIRING]
Then, as if awakened by the arrival of the Covenant...
...a darker, far more ancient threat emerged from its slumber.
Darkness born in eons past...
[MUTED DIALOGUE]
...became a threat to all life once again.
And humankind and the Covenant...
...who had drowned for so long in each other's blood...
...were united, if only for the briefest moment...
...against a terrible enemy they both shared.
Righteous souls continued to fight...
...believing that they could defeat the darkness.
And as they fought together, they stumbled together into peace.
This galaxy is vast.
Its wonders and beauty are almost unfathomable.
But the galaxy also hides dark secrets...
...some of which have lain dormant since the beginning of time itself.
There is a danger in secrets...
...both in seeking and in knowing.
Some things are meant to be hidden from view.
You see, some mysteries defy understanding.
And sometimes even the things we think we know are untrue.
Some secrets should remain untouched.
Secrets can tempt your primal instinct...
...and lead you again into war.
The Halos were one such secret.
Chief, can you hear me?
I wonder why humans must continue to fight.
[HIGH-PITCHED MECHANICAL HUM]
I wonder if warriors will ever disappear from this world.
Never.
There will always be warriors...
...and there will always be war.
[ENGLISH SDH]