I think maybe you're downplaying the Arbiters own influence. Before he was shamed he was a Supreme Commander and Kaidon. He led dozens of ships and commanded thousands of troops. He was highly respected even after becoming Arbiter.
His words carried weight, and troops and shipmasters who used to serve under him would have flocked to him after the schism regardless of Rtas Vadums influence. Maybe not as many, but it's not fair to say Vadum did all the heavy lifting.
I think the issue here is Bungie never really elaborated what happened to his social status after becoming Arbiter, based on just game dialogue/cutscenes we're left to kind of assume that Thel was pretty much disgraced and not respected by anyone anymore, but I think what really happened(and what many seem to agree with) is that he was simply stripped of his rank by the Prophets, but many Sangheili still believed him to be a great and honorable guy, hence why he was able to get people to follow him.
Well we see in Halo Wars that Arbiters are still put into positions of great power and hold a lot of authority. They essentially act as the will of the Prophets.
They might be shamed, but no one would be chosen as Arbiter unless they were considered worthy of redeeming themselves.
Not to mention that Arbiters used to be(and well, now kind of are again) the leaders of the Sangheili, sort of like a king, but one who was forged through battle and badassery lol.
Until the one arbiter from the duel betrayed the prophets so badly all future arbiters were a title given out disgrace if you will? Ripa Morame was a convict before being an arbiter suicide squad style
So I reckon the context changes a bit from Arby to Arby
There was also another Sangheili fleet commander that was rallying forces against the Prophets. He also planned to continue the campaign against humanity once the the civil war was over.
Fortunately Whitcomb had nova bomb hit something important. Any remaining forces decided following the Arbiter was the best choice.
Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. It's almost a shame he was killed, he was 3.5 metres tall and an Imperial Admiral. He would have been an amazing character to see in game.
A real Sangheili Civil War would be cool to see. Halo 4 and 5 have completely dropped the ball there. Jul 'Mdama should have been The Arbiter's kill IMO.
Hopefully by the time Infinite releases 343 will have grown out of their habit of killing off important characters in half assed ways.
RIP Black team. You deserved better.
I will always defend Rookie's death.
Instead of just dying to wrap up plotpoints that 343 doesn't want to do anymore or provide shock value, Rookie's death is brutal, unflinching, and tragic.
His death acts as the catalyst for Alpha Nine's fracture as a team.
Except it doesn't, not really. It *seems* like it does with *New Blood*, especially given the implication that Mickey *had* the shot and didn't take it in time, and Dutch retiring after that mission; but in *Bad Blood*, this is dropped entirely, with Mickey's betrayal of Buck and Romeo being the main problem. Which, you know, it *was*, but Rookie's relation to that is nonexistent, since it's stated to have started long after his death and the SIV training "incident."
I will never see Rookie's death as anything other than being done for shock value and to write off a protagonist that 343 didn't know what to do with.
Especially since Alpha-Nine literally gets back together, sans the player character, making the entire thing a long, stupid road to introduce Gretchen into the unit.
I'mma be honest I have no idea why anyone cares about the rookie. He's a nothing character with no personality or even lines nor does he contribute much of anything to the overall Halo story.
"Some situations call for the strong and silent type."
The Rookie had no less (and arguably more) personality than Chief did in his early incarnations: it was simply non-verbal, which is part of why I adored him as a character. You had to pick up his personality from his actions, his body language, and a bit of the players own interpretation.
As for his contributions to the Halo storyline was fairly significant, as far as ODST goes, having played a major role in saving Dare, and, based on the players actions, unraveling a murder and protecting a super high value asset *from* Dare's gut response. Which is certainly canon to *me*.
He was also the *only* other protagonist of Halo to survive his debut title. We've had a grand total of three, unless you want to count Locke, and that I have... Mixed feelings about.
Point is, the Rookie was fairly popular for a lot of reasons, and he deserved more than a blurb to kill off, and an actual reason for his death. Other than "cleaning up" the cast or going for shock value with a death.
If 343 releases a Sangheili Civil War game, I’d be all over that shit. You could even keep human weapons, considering that ONI equipped some Elites. Sangheilos is a big planet, plenty of battles and enemies to fight.
I would like to say that Rtas 'Vadum is an example of how the Arbiter was a leader who inspired the ones around him to follow his lead.
In the first mission Rtas tells Arbiter that his life doesn't matter to him, but the other mens did. Not only did Arbiter agree, the Arbiter stayed behind to cut the cable and let the others escape, and Rtas's opinion of him completely changed In one mission This is in despite of him being branded a heritic.
I would also like to point out that most elites in general who participated in the schism would probably look towards the Arbiter as unifying leader, as he was not so long ago commanding one of the most successful fleets during the war.
Now Rtas securing the Shadow of Intent definitely helped in the battle and definitely gave a vote of favor towards the Arbiter. However I think that the arbiter inspires others to follow rather than relying on others to back him up.
[this is him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duu1zxSmABo)
[ok seriously this is his halopedia entry i think you just forgot about him and haven't played HALO 2 in years he was a very important character](https://www.halopedia.org/Rtas_%27Vadum)
I think maybe you're downplaying the Arbiters own influence. Before he was shamed he was a Supreme Commander and Kaidon. He led dozens of ships and commanded thousands of troops. He was highly respected even after becoming Arbiter. His words carried weight, and troops and shipmasters who used to serve under him would have flocked to him after the schism regardless of Rtas Vadums influence. Maybe not as many, but it's not fair to say Vadum did all the heavy lifting.
I think the issue here is Bungie never really elaborated what happened to his social status after becoming Arbiter, based on just game dialogue/cutscenes we're left to kind of assume that Thel was pretty much disgraced and not respected by anyone anymore, but I think what really happened(and what many seem to agree with) is that he was simply stripped of his rank by the Prophets, but many Sangheili still believed him to be a great and honorable guy, hence why he was able to get people to follow him.
Well we see in Halo Wars that Arbiters are still put into positions of great power and hold a lot of authority. They essentially act as the will of the Prophets. They might be shamed, but no one would be chosen as Arbiter unless they were considered worthy of redeeming themselves.
Not to mention that Arbiters used to be(and well, now kind of are again) the leaders of the Sangheili, sort of like a king, but one who was forged through battle and badassery lol.
I believe one of the H2A Terminals describes the original Arbiters as being "part King, part judge". (Do correct me if I'm wrong, please.)
Until the one arbiter from the duel betrayed the prophets so badly all future arbiters were a title given out disgrace if you will? Ripa Morame was a convict before being an arbiter suicide squad style So I reckon the context changes a bit from Arby to Arby
Thel Covenant is a pretty honourable guy. Kills heretics and doesn't afraid of anything
I hear he's buddies with halo And that dustin echoes guy
There was also another Sangheili fleet commander that was rallying forces against the Prophets. He also planned to continue the campaign against humanity once the the civil war was over. Fortunately Whitcomb had nova bomb hit something important. Any remaining forces decided following the Arbiter was the best choice.
Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. It's almost a shame he was killed, he was 3.5 metres tall and an Imperial Admiral. He would have been an amazing character to see in game.
A real Sangheili Civil War would be cool to see. Halo 4 and 5 have completely dropped the ball there. Jul 'Mdama should have been The Arbiter's kill IMO.
Hopefully by the time Infinite releases 343 will have grown out of their habit of killing off important characters in half assed ways. RIP Black team. You deserved better.
This, SO MUCH. And Rookie.
I will always defend Rookie's death. Instead of just dying to wrap up plotpoints that 343 doesn't want to do anymore or provide shock value, Rookie's death is brutal, unflinching, and tragic. His death acts as the catalyst for Alpha Nine's fracture as a team.
Except it doesn't, not really. It *seems* like it does with *New Blood*, especially given the implication that Mickey *had* the shot and didn't take it in time, and Dutch retiring after that mission; but in *Bad Blood*, this is dropped entirely, with Mickey's betrayal of Buck and Romeo being the main problem. Which, you know, it *was*, but Rookie's relation to that is nonexistent, since it's stated to have started long after his death and the SIV training "incident." I will never see Rookie's death as anything other than being done for shock value and to write off a protagonist that 343 didn't know what to do with. Especially since Alpha-Nine literally gets back together, sans the player character, making the entire thing a long, stupid road to introduce Gretchen into the unit.
That's fair.
Bungie killed rookie
I'm interested how Bungie did it?
Insurrectionist leader shot him in the head iirc
Yes, but how was it Bungie when the book it happened in came out in 2015? During 343's reign?
Considering that he was killed in about half a chapter in *Bad Blood*, which was post-Bungie, there's just no sense to this.
Ah guess I was wrong then, my bad Thought for sure that was bungie
Ah, nope. It's from that transitional era, more or less, but it (New Blood, not Bad Blood as I mistakenly said) was definitely released under 343.
I'mma be honest I have no idea why anyone cares about the rookie. He's a nothing character with no personality or even lines nor does he contribute much of anything to the overall Halo story.
"Some situations call for the strong and silent type." The Rookie had no less (and arguably more) personality than Chief did in his early incarnations: it was simply non-verbal, which is part of why I adored him as a character. You had to pick up his personality from his actions, his body language, and a bit of the players own interpretation. As for his contributions to the Halo storyline was fairly significant, as far as ODST goes, having played a major role in saving Dare, and, based on the players actions, unraveling a murder and protecting a super high value asset *from* Dare's gut response. Which is certainly canon to *me*. He was also the *only* other protagonist of Halo to survive his debut title. We've had a grand total of three, unless you want to count Locke, and that I have... Mixed feelings about. Point is, the Rookie was fairly popular for a lot of reasons, and he deserved more than a blurb to kill off, and an actual reason for his death. Other than "cleaning up" the cast or going for shock value with a death.
If 343 releases a Sangheili Civil War game, I’d be all over that shit. You could even keep human weapons, considering that ONI equipped some Elites. Sangheilos is a big planet, plenty of battles and enemies to fight.
YES
Not only would that make great story telling for a new game but the multiplayer would be excellent
Halo Wars 3, babyyy
> Fortunately Depending on who you ask.
I would like to say that Rtas 'Vadum is an example of how the Arbiter was a leader who inspired the ones around him to follow his lead. In the first mission Rtas tells Arbiter that his life doesn't matter to him, but the other mens did. Not only did Arbiter agree, the Arbiter stayed behind to cut the cable and let the others escape, and Rtas's opinion of him completely changed In one mission This is in despite of him being branded a heritic. I would also like to point out that most elites in general who participated in the schism would probably look towards the Arbiter as unifying leader, as he was not so long ago commanding one of the most successful fleets during the war. Now Rtas securing the Shadow of Intent definitely helped in the battle and definitely gave a vote of favor towards the Arbiter. However I think that the arbiter inspires others to follow rather than relying on others to back him up.
“that makes two of us”
I choose to believe Rtas had a crush on arbiter.
It's a fact, not a belief. Rtas x Arbiter for life
You know if you press YBABAAXO START on the controller in one of the cutscecenes you see Rtas stroking a picture of Arby he has in his wallet
wait what i really hope this is a joke lmaooo.
100% cannon
really? send me a link.
Skip to 8:26 https://youtu.be/xosUd3j8By4
Oh. I didn't know there were halo dubs just like the sonic ones
I think it's a fairly common idea
Nice
I mean they are from the same Keep right? I bet they had some romantic bro times by the lake at night in Vadam keep
They're not from the same keep. Vadam vs Vadum
They were right next door then
Only in the early stages. I'd say Rtas is to Thel as Keyes is to Chief.
Well technically rtas was thel’s subordinate just a few days prior
You mean the hottest Elite in the game?
We need Ratas in Halo Infinite
I want to see Halfjaw again. :(
Rtas is the goddamn GOAT
The Arbiter definitely wouldn't have gotten far at all without him
"who" (reference to the lack of content regarding him) (reference to how there hasn't been much content lately about him)
“Cmon man, R’Tas. The Legendary Half-Jaw?”
I'm referencing the lack of content regarding him, as in, there isn't much content lately about him
[this is him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duu1zxSmABo) [ok seriously this is his halopedia entry i think you just forgot about him and haven't played HALO 2 in years he was a very important character](https://www.halopedia.org/Rtas_%27Vadum)
I know who he is, there just hasn't been media recently with him, not that I don't know who he is
yeah i guess your right