has any1 ever thought of the fact that we maybe weren't the first highly intelligent species on this planet? but that maybe the ring wiped out the previous life on this planet? it brings me to another idea, what if the forerunners where from earth? the sample of the flood DNA given by server 4 is an EXACT match to alligator mitochondria (the part of the cell that gives the cell life) so we know the flood are related to alligators, that OR alligators are from the flood and where put here, as if earth was an containment planet, then the thing that was built in the halo teaser comic might have been to contain them, and they might have evolved from there... i know the time line is off a little, but who says the rings where built BY the forerunners, could there be forerunners to the forerunners who actually made all of the artifacts... how can we be sure that all life in the galaxy hasent been started over and over dozens of times, each time a species became intelligent enough to learn how to use the tech, and then fire, how many covenant-like species thought firing the rings would take them on the "Great journey"?