The Flood Still Out There?

[Halochief89]

What really got me is that originally the forerunners' demise was the flood having a full galactic war with them. Creating 7 rings to defeat them in an odd way but still effective. If Installation 04 and 05 had flood on them already why does Cortana think even though the ark and Installation 04 II are destroyed that all the flood in the galaxy are gone? Of course the only gravemind form we know of is gone but what about Installation 01,02,03,06,07 considering each are different environments as shown in the Ark's Control room what makes us so sure there aren't other flood loose on other forerunner installations including Halo wars odd shield world with the flood on it.



So I don't think Halo 3 actually ended the flood threat to the galaxy. In the back of everyone's minds they have a sneaking fear there is more flood out there. But another part of them doesn't want to search for them because if they do they might just let it loose.



So what do you guys think are there more flood in containment on other installations doesn't have to be the rings it could be more gas harvesting factories as well.

 

[ACDCrockr209]

Well, in Halo 1 and 2, the covenant unleashed the flood. The remaining rings would have them contained.



High charity landed it's entire flood army on the ark. The cheif later destroyed High charity.





So all in all. The flood threat IS destroyed...for now.







-Pony

 

[SPYK30]

I don't think so either, if I recall it was said in Halo 2 that the rings were fired before and didn't kill the flood. I have always, well since Halo 2 anyway, thought it odd that the rings were built to kill off the lifeforms the flood would use as hosts, yet in the "present" time the flood and numerous other races are still around but the Forerunners are not. Well their civilization anyway, if I recall correctly Humans are the direct descendants of the Forerunners. Guess the Forerunners lost that "galactic war" lol, someone who read the books would have to answer that one.

 

[Halochief89]

Well, in Halo 1 and 2, the covenant unleashed the flood. The remaining rings would have them contained.



High charity landed it's entire flood army on the ark. The cheif later destroyed High charity.





So all in all. The flood threat IS destroyed...for now.







-Pony

Thats the flood we know of, I just said there could be more flood on the other installations humans and covenant never found. Being as the forerunners had a galactic war with the flood, the flood were spread across the entire galaxy so somewhere the flood are still around waiting for humans or elites to find them. And they are extremely simple right now without a gravemind because they don't have hosts to grow from but when a URF group finds something a gravemind could appear once more. And from the ships data from a UNSC Ship or URF the flood could spread once more.

 

[ARCsaber987]

Wouldn't the flood have a homeworld anyway? They had start out somewhere.

Well their civilization anyway, if I recall correctly Humans are the direct descendants of the Forerunners.

Wasn't it that the forerunners (the librarian wasn't it) came to earth while cataloging spieces. Then the portal to the Ark was built by them incase we needed it... or at least I think how it goes

 

[Trooper Cooper]

I think it's worthwhile noting that one of the rings looks flood infested, looking at it in the ark control room.

 

[SirPalesAlot]

http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/



reading all of the info from the terminals helps grasp a little bit more of what happened than the normal campaign tells you....but then again reading the books would help out a lot too lol.



Regardless I found that an interesting take on it all.

 

[mattmann1]

In my opinion I always had the sneaking feeling that the flood were created by the forrunners by accident, but I also more on topic they probably meant the flood threat was over.

 

[Sangheili811]

If I'm not mistaken the Halo rings were built not only to destroy all sentient life in the event of a flood outbreak, but also to contain the flood so that they may be studied. If that's the case, then every ring has flood on it, but it is also well contained.

 

[Caboos318]

the forrunner made the flood and made the rings as "holding cells", if you will, as well as a place to study them. So, yes, there are still flood out there. asuming all the other rings didnt explode or something like that. So, i agree with Sangheili811

 

[Tafumi]

My take on the rings was two fold. First, to destroy as many flood as possible. The second, to destroy their host so they can't expand.



Regardless, it is very safe to assume that there are still flood out there in the Halo universe. And nothing is to say that there aren't flood in other galaxy's as well. I have not read the books as of yet so I am unsure as to how much of the Forerunner's technology is explained. But anyone that can build that level of technology is likely capable of travel between galaxy's. Flood might be out there perhaps.



I do agree with Squirtle though. I've always had this feeling that the Flood were something created by the Forerunners, and not simply stumbled upon in a dark cave on some backwoods planet. Then again, I watch too much Stargate where the Ancients seemingly have a habit of building things and having it backfire terribly.

 

[adventchildmatrix]

th forerunners discovered the flood on a planet somewhere within the galaxy

my guess is they did the same thing as they did in halo 3 (take over a ship)

The forerunners built the rings to kill all sentient life forms with enough mass/intellegence (i can't remember exactly)

The rings do not kill flood (as stated by 343 Guilty spark in Halo 1)



The ark is beyond the reach of the halo pulse but was destroyed by instilation 4.2 because of the proximity of the blast.

so theoretically the flood on the ark and all known loose flood are dead.

 

[Halochief89]

The flood are extragalactic, they came into the milkyway by other means probably on an alien ship. Forerunners found them on the planet and the all out war began. The idea the forerunners created the flood is dead after the terminals and I think halo 2.

 

[P40 Warhawk]

The flood have been stated as being extra galactic before. So I doubt the Forerunners made them. I am wondering if any of the remaining military forces of the Elites or humans will attempt to destroy the remaining rings, thus eliminating any potential flood on them.

 

[Velveeta]

I beleve that not only are the flood still alive and well, infesting the Delta Halo of Halo 2, but Gravemind is also still alive. I persnally do not think that Gravemind was just one entity, but several entities that developed a singular consciousness ( yes, like the aliens in Toy Story).

Since the rings did not fire in Halo 3, this means that the Gravemind and flood that were encountered on the Delta Halo are still all alive, feeding off of the remnant corpses from the siege of the ring in Halo 2.



I also agree with the theory that the flood was some sort of twisted creation of the forerunner.However, there is the possiblity that the flood is just an alien race that the forerunner encountered in interplanetary exploration. the ability of the flood to reproduce as massively as they do suggests that even a small team that went to the flood home planet could have brought down the entire Forerunner civilization. and,there is the quote by Shipmaster in Halo 3, "a single spore can destroy a world," so this builds on this theory. this would also explain the copious flood presence on the rings.

 

[ACDCrockr209]

"a single spore can destroy a world,"

You wrote it wrong. The quote is, "One single flood spore can destroy a spieces".



-Pony

 

[Halochief89]

The Flood are extremely adaptive, dangerous, and expendable parasitic lifeforms. They were first encountered in the Milky Way Galaxy by a Forerunner pioneer group on planet G617 g1. It is a highly infectious viral supercell, and the cause of the "Forerunner-Flood War", which lasted approximately 931 years. They were the reason that the Halo Array was constructed; as a last final effort by the Forerunners to preserve biological diversity in the galaxy. After exhausting every last strategic option, the Halos were fired, resulting in the elimination of the original Flood infestation.



The Flood exists in a fairly stable state in the absence of a Gravemind. They lack the ability to spawn spontaneously and form around sentient life forms, specifically those that are self-aware and capable of introspection. This stage of a Flood outbreak is known as the Feral Stage.



During its Feral Stage, the Flood is only capable of local coordination through use of pheromone-based communication. Research indicates that the content of said messages are of very limited complexity. Individual Combat and Carrier Forms have access to the skills and memories of their host; however, once an outbreak establishes a viable Gravemind, the Coordinated Stage begins—and it is at this point the Flood becomes truly dangerous.



Synchronization among remote groups of varied forms and the use of occupational specializations by members within local and remote groups can no longer be accounted for by the use of pheromone-based communication. Group reactions to situational changes at a strategic level are instantaneous or near-instantaneous with no perceptible time lag attributable to distance. It has been theorized that post Feral Stage Flood have some form of telepathy, although this has not been scientifically verified.



A Gravemind (like the Proto-Gravemind that gave rise to it) is the fusion of pure Flood Super Cells and the evolved complex neuro-system of one or more sentient entities. The control it exerts over the more mobile forms it creates is accurately likened to an entity's control over its own limbs. Ergo, during the Feral stage, control is localized at the individual level, but once an outbreak enters the Coordinated stage control is assumed by, and broadcast from, a central compound intelligence.

So yes there could be flood on the other halos though dormant in their feral stages until the UNSC or the new covenant come along to try and destroy the other rings.

The Flood are believed to have arrived in the Milky Way Galaxy more than 100,000 years prior to 2552[7] when they encountered the Forerunners on the planet G617g. The Flood used unarmed civilian assets to penetrate planetary defense groups, first striking at the Forerunner-held planet of LP 656-38 e, bypassing the Forerunner Orbital Fleet, and infesting the planet below. They soon moved to similarly infest the planet DM-3-1123b. They were perceived as hostile by the Forerunners, whose ground forces were overcome by the sheer numbers of Flood forms on the planets. While at first the Flood demonstrated a lack of even "basic cohesion", they had "numerical superiority"; billions of forms dedicated to the assault, and every member of the Forerunner population a potential Flood host. In desperation, the Forerunner's armada was ordered to immediately commence full planetary bombardment on infested worlds, although at a great cost - many Forerunners were unable to be evacuated before bombardment commenced, leaving the Forerunner military with shallow victories against the Flood. In events where the naval garrisons were unable to commence bombardment, major Forerunner population centers appeared to activate localized weapons of mass destruction, effectively committing mass suicide, but stopping the growing infestation.

So the flood grew just because of that small planet. It took 931 years for the flood finally make the forerunner kill themselves.

 

[ForgedReclaimer]

They are still out there, i think as long as halo (franchise or ring) is around, the flood wont be far away. the fact that they survived for so long and survived a war with a highly advanced race says that the flood wont go away without one hell of a fight. although, if the remnants of the Covenant and the Humans aligned to fight the flood together... maybe. the flood also absorb intelligence from things they kill... i think, might be wrong.

 

[Sangheili811]

They are still out there, i think as long as halo (franchise or ring) is around, the flood wont be far away.

My guess is that we've seen the last of the Flood for a while. If they were brought back into the franchise now, it would just be redundant. Once the novelty of the flood wears off, they're actually pretty annoying.

 

[ACDCrockr209]

If they were brought back into the franchise now, it would just be redundant. Once the novelty of the flood wears off, they're actually pretty annoying.

I agree. I sure as hell don't want to see the little dudes in Reach while killing covies.



-Pony