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This article is about the Didact responsible for activating the Halo Array. For the Didact encountered in Halo 4, see Ur-Didact.

“Bornstellar is marked to become a great Builder, just like his father — but this Manipular has other plans.”
— Description[1]

Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting (commonly known as "Bornstellar") was an untried Forerunner Manipular whose family and ancestors came from a long line of Builders, the highest and most powerful rate in Forerunner society.[1] He effectively became another incarnation of the Promethean known as the Didact after being imprinted with the latter's consciousness and memories; this incarnation was known as the IsoDidact.[2]

Biography

Of all his father's children, Bornstellar was the most rebellious, refusing to follow in his footsteps and become a Builder. As a result of this, his father sent him to learn discipline in a step family of Miners on Edom in the distant Sol system. There, his assigned ancilla taught him of the near-mythical Precursors. Three years later, at the age of twelve, Bornstellar snuck aboard a supply transport and traveled to Erde-Tyrene to hunt for Precursor relics. In the city of Marontik, he met two humans, Chakas and Morning Riser, who would serve as guides in his search for Precursor artifacts.

His guides led him to Djamonkin Crater, where he found a Forerunner Cryptum surrounded by inactive War Sphinxes and a baffler. After penetrating the baffler, he opened the Cryptum, revealing the Ur-Didact in suspended animation within.

It was later revealed that the ancilla he had been assigned was assigned to him by the Librarian and that the ancilla purposefully encouraged him to go to Erde-Tyrene with instructions from the Librarian. He later regained the ancilla as a partner but this time he was her master, not the Librarian.

As the Second Didact

During his subsequent travels with Bornstellar, the Didact performed a brevet mutation on him to allow him access to the Domain. Shortly before, the Didact transferred all of his memories and knowledge to Bornstellar, essentially merging his personality with the young Forerunner. The Didact was later abandoned in a Flood-infested system[3] However, Bornstellar, possessing the Didact's imprint, had become a Didact as well.

As the second Didact, he led a fleet to Halo Installation 07 and disabled Mendicant Bias before aiding Chakas in moving the Halo as it passed the fail-safe planet it was going to collide with.

After saving the Halo, the IsoDidact had the injured Chakas composed and reborn as a monitor before proceeding to interrogate the Primordial, questioning it about the Flood. Upon learning that there was no cure for the Flood and that the Forerunners were never meant to inherit the Mantle, the IsoDidact activated the reverse timelock, destroying the Primordial. After doing this, he began to lead Forerunner forces against the Flood, as well as assist the Librarian. Despite his efforts, the IsoDidact and the Forerunners failed to prevent further Flood expansion. Soon, all remaining semblances of Forerunner civilization would be concentrated at the "Greater Ark." But this would not last long as the Flood soon overtake and destroy this final bastion of the Ecumene; resulting in the IsoDidact escaping to Installation 00 in order to fire the Halo Array.

Activating the Halo Array

Mendicant Bias is trying to prevent us from firing the Array. He speeds back to the Ark, but he won't succeed. Offensive Bias will stop him, and I will burn this stinking menace in your name. And then? I will begin our Great Journey without you, carrying this bitter record. Those who came after will know what we bought with this [false transcendence] - what you bought, and the price you paid.”
— The Bornstellar-Didact's final transmission.[4]

While awaiting the final preparations to be made for the activation of the Halo Array, the IsoDidact constantly attempted to convince the Librarian to give up on her mission to save other sentient life from the Array's inevitable activation, and return to him to safety inside the Maginot Line. His pleas, however, were unsuccessful and the Librarian ended up destroying her own fleet, stranding herself on Earth to live out the rest of her days in a place she referred to as "Eden."[5] After the IsoDidact learned the Librarian's location, he prepared a rescue party to retrieve her. However, before they could depart, Mendicant Bias' fleet breached the Maginot Line and destroyed the rescue party. Stricken by grief, the IsoDidact then activated the Halo Array, wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy and stating that he would begin "[their] Great Journey" without his wife.[4][6]

Bornstellar would survive the activation of the Halo Array and later oversaw the re-seeding of humanity on Earth, sharing a few last words with Riser.

Over 100,000 years later, a record referred to as the "Bornstellar Relation," supposedly containing a testimony or archived personality of Bornstellar, was discovered by the UNSC on Onyx.[7]

Physical description and personality

Presumably like all Manipulars, Bornstellar was young, inexperienced, and was close to the age of becoming an independent member of society. However, despite his noble class, he was quite rebellious in nature, even to the point of defying the history and trade of his family as builder. Because of this, Bornstellar had become increasingly interested in the Precursors, an ancient race of sentient beings far predating his own people. Physically, like other Manipulars, Bornstellar bore a moderate but noticeable resemblance to Humanity than he did to other Forerunner forms, such as a Second or Third-Form. He possessed a thin, pale fuzz over much of his body, such as his arms, along with the partially-furred body and hair that was a notable feature of his kind.

After his brevet mutation at the hands of the Didact, he began to resemble those of the Warrior-Servant caste than he did of the Builders, with grayish-white skin, thicker, a more muscular physique, and thicker, harsher facial features. Even with these characteristics, he still bore traces of the Builder caste, resulting in him possessing a blend of physical features of both.

Trivia

  • A centuries-long series of conversations between Bornstellar-Didact and the Librarian can be found inside Forerunner terminals in Halo 3. When the terminals are accessed, the player is eventually moved to a conversation that was recorded before the Halo rings were fired. Also, in the Iris campaign Server Episode 1, Didact's last words to the Librarian moments prior to the Array's activation can be read.
  • Catalog refers to Bornstellar as the Iso-Didact.
  • Bornstellar as a Didact could be considered to be ironic. The original Didact hated humanity and wished to see it destroyed while Bornstellar became closely attached to two humans (Chakas and Riser) in the events of the Forerunner saga.
  • Bornstellar asks 343 Guilty Spark if he would light the Halo array were it his choice, to which he doesn't reply. This is later referenced in Halo: Combat Evolved where the monitor tells John-117 "Last time, you asked me, if it was my choice, would I do it? Having had considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed. There is no choice. We must activate the ring." 

Appearances

Gallery

Notes

  1. A Forerunner individual is shown activating the Halo Array in Origins, it can be inferred that this is Cortana's imagination of the IsoDidact. However, as stated by Frank O'Connor in the episode commentary, the visuals shown in Origins are not entirely accurate as a result of Cortana's incomplete data stores and her progressing rampancy. The Didact's depiction in Origins has only five fingers per hand; canonically, both Didacts had six fingers on each hand. His armor most closely resembles the first set of armor the Ur-Didact is shown wearing in the Halo 4 Terminals.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Halo: Cryptum, forward jacket description
  2. Amazon.com: Halo: Silentium official description
  3. Amazon, Silentium Book Description
  4. 4.0 4.1 Halo 3 - Terminal 7
  5. Halo 3 - Terminal 6
  6. Halo: Silentium, page ??
  7. Halo: Primordium, page 230
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