GhaleonEB:
I also think he is Gravemind, for a number of reasons. Some are listed in the OP. Another is the similarity used in these phrases:
Gravemind – Halo 2, Level 12: Chapter 01
There is much talk, and I have listened, through rock and metal and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen.
AdjutantReflex
The stain on his hands will not wash.
That damned spot as old as rock and time.
What has he learned in Eon’s slumber?
I think that wording is too similar to not be a clue.
I hope this hasn’t been said before… mods, please take the appropriate action, if it has.
Ghaleon, I agreed with you, when first I read these quotations. I certainly agree with your emphasis, that when AdjutantReflex (AR) paraphrased this statement, he was referencing Gravemind (GM).
However, I believe AR is referring to two entities in his quotation:
1. An entity not known to us, but known to AR. One that AR refers to in the third person familiar (he/him).
2. An entity familiar to us – GM.
When I reexamined the emphasis in AR’s quotation, I saw the following:
1. The quote is a play upon Lady MacBeth’s “…out damned spot…” soliloquy. There seems to be consensus, on A.B.O. that this is the case. Read more here:
http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/damned-spot
2. “The stain on
his hands will not wash.” In this case, the entity familiar to AR is complicit in some atrocity. Hence, the stain upon his hands:
Gravemind - Halo 2, Level 12: Chapter 01
I? I am a monument to all your sins.
I believe this quotation is proof that Gravemind is the spot/stain upon “his” hands. Guilt that cannot be washed away. Guilt that AR’s “he” perceives to be visible and known to all those around him. Essentially “undeniable” or “irrefutable” guilt.
3. AR then goes on to give this stain a name – Gravemind – by referring to the stain as “That damned
spot as old as rock and time.”
This leads me to believe that AR’s “he” is complicit or guilty in some way and Gravemind is the absolute proof of that crime in “his” eyes. Therefore “he” can’t be Gravemind.
Chilidog:
i don't think the PT would outrank AR. AR would clearly have more responsibilities being in charge of an entire array of halos. PT is just a monitor of one installation. That would be like a private telling a 4 star general to nuke everything.
From Dictionary.com
“adjutant” - "military officer who assists superior officers," 1600, from L. adjutantem (nom. adjutans), prp. of adjutare "to give help to," from ad- "to" + juvare "to help, give strength, support," probably from same root as juvenis "young person”
“reflex” - Physiology. noting or pertaining to an involuntary response to a stimulus, the nerve impulse from a receptor being transmitted inward to a nerve center that in turn transmits it outward to an effector.
I don’t think AdjutantReflex is a “higher” compound entity. I think AR is a more basic entity. One meant to function on basic “impulse” (like a computer’s POST process, as mentioned elsewhere). That is to say, a reflex.
His purpose is (was?) to function (assist) another entity (those of us he wished to keep informed, during the countdown) without question, fault or analysis. Perhaps he was meant to systemically initiate (POST) the countdown, inform his superior of its initiation and shut down. Part of his reflex was to protect the information he was disseminating from the threat that made necessary his activation (reflex). Hence the cloak and dagger posts.
In order for AR’s superior to understand his messages, AR’s superior must have the “encryption key”. In this case, I think the key is Gravemind’s speech in Halo 2, Level 12: Chapter 01 – “Gravemind”. It’s within that speech that we get the “rock and time” clue.
Now, according to the Halo 2 level transcripts on HBO, six entities were privy to Gravemind’s “rock and time” speech:
1. Gravemind, himself. As I believe Gravemind is the guilt personified by “his” spot/stain, I don’t believe AR is trying to inform Gravemind of the countdown.
2. 2401 PenitentTangent. Given that the events of AR’s posts revolve around Earth and that 2401 PT is the monitor of a distant fortress world, I don’t believe 2401 PT is “he” in AR’s posts.
3. Cortana, because she was with Spartan 117 during the speech. On the surface and assuming the language is as simple as it seems, Cortana cannot be “him”, for obvious reasons. While I can't support the theory, I believe Cortana is the communication link, further supporting that she isn't "him". She seems to be the only entity involved in the conversation with the capacity to transmit this encryption key between the parties involved. But I just don't know how or why, right now.
4. Regret (Covenant Hierarch and High Prophet). As far as we know, Regret was never released by Gravemind and is still located on Installation 05. This leads me to doubt whether AR intends to communicate with him.
5. The final two entities are Spartan 117 and The Arbiter of the Covenant. AR
might trying to assist and/or inform either of them.