Paramount+'s Halo series is inspired by a classic series of Xbox games, in which the heroic Master Chief is Earth's last defense against an alien group known as the Covenant - whose religious zeal for what's called the Great Journey threatens to extinguish all life in the galaxy. Set in the 26th century, Halo imagines a future where humanity's reach has spread across the stars. When first contact finally happened, though, the human race learned it shared the galaxy with hostile alien forces.
The Covenant is an alliance involving multiple alien races bound together by a religious belief in the guidance of their Prophets and the so-called "Great Journey." Humanity's very existence poses a threat to the Covenant's doctrines, and so the Prophet have called the Covenant to commit a genocidal war against the human race. The Covenant's advanced technology gives them a devastating advantage in fleet warfare, while many of their member races possess biological advantages over humans in ground combat. Fortunately the UNSC has developed the Spartan program, a group of genetically engineered warriors who wear powerful exo-armor. These Spartans - led by John-117, the Master Chief - are humanity's last effective weapon against the Covenant.
Seemingly, Paramount+'s Halo series will be faithful to the original games. Given this, it's possible for viewers to go in with a lot more knowledge about the Covenant than even the show's Master Chief himself. Here's everything viewers need to know about the Covenant, based on their already established lore.
Alien Species In Halo's Covenant
The leaders of the Covenant are a race known as the Prophets. They are few in number, and as a result it's very unusual for humans to encounter a Prophet. Rather, they're more likely to come across the other member races of the Covenant, who include:
- The Unggoy, nicknamed "Grunts" by the UNSC. These diminutive creatures are short, angry, and rather clumsy. They make up for their size and lack of skill in sheer numbers, and capable leaders can force them to advance in devastating waves. The Grunts may not be the most intelligent members of the Covenant, but they're capable of handling heavy artillery such as the Fuel Rod Cannon or piloting Covenant Ghosts, land-speeders with powerful weapons.
- The Yanme'e, nicknamed "Drones" by the UNSC. Winged insect-creatures, Drones tend to swoop down out of the heavens. They're rarely heavily-armed - the weight of Fuel Rod Cannons and the like would slow them down - but they can still overwhelm enemies beneath a fusillade of plasma. Spartans rarely worry about individual Drones, but where there is one there will probably be more.
- The Huragok, referred to as the "Engineers." Most Covenant races are warlike, but the Engineers are obsessed only with technology. They're able to interface with pretty much any computer system - ranging from human to Forerunner - and they don't care who they're working for so long as they get to play with tech.
- The Kig-Yar, often called "Jackals" by the UNSC because of their jackal-like physical appearance. More intelligent than the Grunts, Jackals also tend to focus more on defense, hiding behind shimmering energy-shields and using plasma weapons to chip away at enemy armor. In the timeline of the Halo games, the Human-Covenant War first began when a Jackal ship stumbled on a human vessel that had fallen out of slipspace due to a malfunction.
- The Mgalekgolo, or the "Hunters," are among the most dangerous Covenant races. These aliens are actually serpentine creatures who come together to create a single Hunter, and they're noted for being heavily-armored and well-armed. Hunters tend to work in bond pairs, with one Hunter protecting the other while it charges its plasma weapon and the monsters alternating in fire.
- The Jiralhanae, who are commonly called "Brutes," for understandable reasons. These vicious and animalistic killers take a sadistic pleasure in combat. They're ruthlessly intelligent, and their allegiance to the doctrines of the Covenant is far more questionable than with other members. A cornered or injured Brute will lose all tactical sense, tearing at everything around it in a frenzy - even allies.
- The Sangheili, nicknamed "Elites" by the UNSC. The Elites are the backbone of the Covenant, committed to the Great Journey with a religious zeal that borders on the fanatical. The best Elites are almost as formidable as Spartans, and they use cloaking fields and energy blades to devastating effect.
Halo's Prophets Explained - Purpose & Names
The San'Shyuum, nicknamed the "Prophets" by the UNSC, are the leaders of the Covenant. The Prophets are responsible for studying ancient artifacts to divine what they believe to be the will of the gods, and the Elites serve as their honorary protectors and champions. According to the Prophets, their original homeworld was destroyed long ago, and they have claimed a mobile base in the city of High Charity. At any one time the Covenant is led by a triumvirate known as the Hierarchs, and in the games the three in command were the Prophets of Regret, Mercy, and Truth. Other High Prophets have included the Prophets of Restraint, Tolerance, and Obligation.
What Is High Charity?
High Charity is essentially the Covenant's capital. It's a mobile planetoid with an artificial star at its apex that generates light and heat to sustain life. At its center is an ancient dreadnought known as the Anodyne Spirit, a Forerunner vessel that powers the entirety of High Charity - and even allows High Charity to jump through slipspace. The Prophets tend to reside on High Charity, and they are protected by a vast fleet whose sole purpose is to ensure no enemy ever sets foot on High Charity and no Prophet's life is ever at risk - for to threaten a Prophet is an act of the gravest heresy. These fleets failed in the Halo games, with the Master Chief himself managing to infiltrate High Charity to take down a Prophet.
The Great Journey & Halo Rings Explained
The Great Journey lies at the center of the Covenant religion. The Prophets teach that an earlier race, known as the "Forerunners," learned how to transcend the physical world and become spiritual beings through use of the sacred Halo Rings. In line with this belief, the overriding goal of the Covenant is to discover sacred Forerunner relics that will lead them to the Halo Rings, which they intend to use to ascend. It's all a garbled version of reality, of course, as the Halo Rings are actually a weapon designed to extinguish the galaxy of life forms that otherwise nourish a parasitic infection called "The Flood." Should the Covenant succeed in firing the Halo Rings, they could potentially wipe out all life in the galaxy. The very existence of human beings challenges the Covenant doctrines, because Forerunner technology recognizes humans as "Reclaimers" - a title that implies it is possible to be left behind when the Halo Rings are triggered. This is the true reason for the Human-Covenant War and the driving force for the entire Halo narrative.