Shadow-of-Sundered-Star

''This article is about the Didact encountered in Halo 4. For the Didact responsible for activating the Halo Array, see Bornstellar-Didact.''

"The peaceful one is at war without and within."

- Mantle of Responsibility, Fifth Permutation of the Didact's Number

Shadow-of-Sundered-Star, more commonly known as the Ur-Didact (Ur- meaning original), is a Forerunner Promethean who held an extremely high status in the Forerunner society as supreme commander of the entire Forerunner military. He wholeheartedly believed in the Mantle of Responsibility the Forerunners held to protect life, and initially opposed the Halo Array as a sin beyond measure. He was also the lover and husband of the The Librarian. He serves as the primary antagonist in Halo 4.

Originally thought to have been physically killed by the former Master Builder Faber, the Didact effectively existed as two individuals during the final days of the Forerunner-Flood war; his original self, as well as his implanted consciousness within a young Forerunner known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. To differentiate these two incarnations, the original Didact was referred to as the Ur-Didact, while his other incarnation was known as the Bornstellar-Didact or Iso-Didact. The Ur-Didact was eventually exiled on Requiem, not to be awakened until 2557, while the Bornstellar-Didact served during the final days of the Flood conflict, and was also the individual responsible for activating the Halo Array.

Biography
"We are Forerunners, guardians of all that exists!"

- Ur-Didact

Warrior-Servant career
The Didact was a Promethean, a member of an extremely powerful class of Warrior-Servant. He gained his name while teaching at the College of Strategic Defense of the Mantle. On Charum Hakkor, he met a Lifeworker named the Librarian and married her. They had several children, who followed their father's footsteps and became Warrior-Servants. During the Human-Forerunner war, the Didact led the Forerunner military against the humans. Though all of his children died, the Forerunners were victorious. After the Charum Hakkor campaign, he and a group of Prometheans, including the Confirmer, discovered a stasis capsule on Charum Hakkor which contained the Timeless One, the last of the Precursors.

Following the end of the war and the first discovery of the Flood, he advocated a policy of vigilance and research in the event of a Flood resurgence. He also proposed the construction of Shield Worlds across the galaxy, in order to monitor the galaxy for Flood outbreaks and provide military support should they occur. However, a faction of Builders lead by Faber proposed the construction of a series of superweapons to deal with the Flood instead, and they were successful in convincing the Forerunner Council to sanction their plans. Having lost the political battle, the Didact was stripped of his power and forced into exile.

Discovery on Erde-Tyrene
In his exile, the Didact entered a state of meditation inside of a Cryptum, which was placed by the Librarian in Djamonkin Crater on Earth. Over one thousand years later, he was discovered and revived by a young Forerunner Manipular, Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, who had come to Earth in search of Precursor relics.

During his subsequent travels with Bornstellar, the Didact performed a brevet mutation on the young Bornstellar to allow him access to the Domain. With the mutation, the Didact transferred all of his memories and knowledge to Bornstellar. This made Bornstellar essentially a copy of the original Didact. The original Didact, or the Ur-Didact, was later left in a Flood-infested system by the Master Builder. After surviving the 032 Mendicant Bias' assault on the capital, Bornstellar Didact would reunite with his wife, the Librarian on Installation 00 and resume his duties as supreme commander of Forerunner military due to the present threat of the Flood.

Forerunner-Flood war
At some point during the Forerunner-Flood war, the Ur-Didact began to experiment on himself in an attempt to gain immunity to Flood infection. When his efforts ended in failure, a subordinate suggested the Composer as a solution. Since the Composer did not work on his new form, his Prometheans all volunteered to undergo the process, becoming the first Promethean Knights.

"Humans, your kind brought the Flood to our shores. Now you will aid in ending its threat."

- Ur-Didact

"I have led you, my Prometheans, for thousands of years, and I shall continue to lead you. Rise. Rise and protect the Forerunners. Rise, and protect the galaxy!"

- Ur-Didact to his newly formed army of Promethean Knights, on their task to remove the Flood threat from the galaxy

Despite this new army of soldiers no longer susceptible to Flood infection, their numbers were too few to prevent the parasite from continuing to spread. Seeking to both increase the size of his army and exact a measure of revenge for their actions during the previous conflict, the Ur-Didact would turn the Composer upon humanity; planning to eventually have the entire species composed and turned into new Prometheans.

After seeing the results of his "conscripting" one human village on Omega Halo, the Librarian would remove the Composer from the Ur-Didact's custody and seal both him and his Knights away inside Requiem; putting an end to the Ur-Didact's plans and sentencing the galaxy to the activation of the Halo Array.

Return
"Time was your ally, Human, but now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners have returned."

- The Ur-Didact to John-117, after his awakening.

"You humans sought the Didact... You will have him."

- The Ur-Didact's response to humanity's fascination with him and the Forerunners.

In 2557, the Ur-Didact is awakened on Requiem when he tricked John-117 into releasing him by manipulating transmission signals from the, and leading him to the center of Requiem under the pretense that it was a transmission network when it was his Cryptum that sealed him within, and required a Reclaimer to activate it so he could leave. Stating that Humans were not fit to uphold the Mantle of Responsibility, he calls The Librarian 'meddlesome' in attempting to protect humanity.

The Didact, with the Covenant Remnant now at his command, then launches an assault on the grounded but UNSC forces, aided by John-117, are able to push back the assault and even drive the Didact's vessel away. The Didact then begins a search for "The Composer", a device that could turn a living being into digital form. Eventually, he learns it is located at Ivanoff Research Station orbiting Halo Installation 03. Gathering his Covenant and Promethean forces, he departs Requiem for Installation 03, unaware that Master Chief and Cortana are stowed away aboard a Lich. After arriving at his destination and fighting the UNSC forces there, the Didact is able to obtain the Composer and fires it at Ivanoff Station, instantly killing all UNSC personnel aboard with the exception of the Master Chief who, due to the Librarian's genetic manipulation, was made immune to the effects of the Composer.

The Didact then departs for Earth to create a new Promethean army by transforming the human race into a new race of Prometheans, but once again the Master Chief follows him, this time aboard a Broadsword fighter hidden in the Didact's ship. Upon arriving at Earth, the Didact is immediately attacked by a UNSC fleet led by Infinity. Co-ordinating with Infinity, Master Chief is able to make a hole in the Forerunner vessel's hull and board it.

Defeat and Death
"So misguided. Humanity's imprisonment… is a kindness."

- The Ur-Didact's final words to John-117

"Your compassion for mankind is misplaced"

- The Ur-Didact to Cortana after she rises to defend John-117

John-117 eventually fights his way to the Didact; however he is too late to prevent the Didact from firing the Composer at Earth, specifically at the city of New Phoenix, which is instantly depopulated. John and the Didact engage in a brief battle, the Didact then claims that using the Composer on humanity to turn them into Prometheans is in truth 'a kindness' to them for destroying his people in the past. At which point Cortana and several of her copies manage to manifest themselves from the hardlight bridge that the Didact was on and bind him to it, restraining the Didact long enough for John to plant a Pulse Grenade on his chest. It detonates, wounding him and causing him to fall off the light bridge and into the Slipspace event below. John then destroys the Composer and the Didact's vessel with a Havok nuclear bomb as Cortana shields him from the blast with hardlight, ultimately sacrificing herself, and saving John-117.

Trivia

 * The title "Didact" is derived from the word didactic, which means to instruct others, especially with regard to morals.
 * Didact is the first Forerunner whose face is shown in the series.
 * Keith Szarabajka, also known for his performances as Dr. Kyne in Dead Space and Harbinger in Mass Effect 2, voices the Didact in Halo 4.
 * Shortly after his awakening in Halo 4, the Didact refers to the Sangheili nearby as primitives, while speaking to the Master Chief as a peer, if not an equal. This is curious, as the Sangheili are higher technology tier than humanity.
 * This can be explained one of two ways; either it is because when the Didact had last been awake, the Sangheili were a Tier 7 civilization or not even sapient. That, or Humanity is perceived as equal to Forerunners in genetic evolution or care of the Mantle.
 * Another reason could be that humanity was the only civilization that directly challenged the Forerunners supremancy over the galaxy, and only lost due to fighting on two fronts in the Human-Flood War as well as the Human-Forerunner war.
 * Another reason could be the fact that the Sangheili saw the Forerunners as gods, and that they had no idea who or what the Forerunners were. But also the fact is that the Sangheili only repurpose Forerunner technology, where as the Humans learned how to reverse-engineer Forerunner technology to better suit themselves, which the Ur-Didact feared and is why he proclaimed that "Refusing to eradicate them [Humans] is a fools gambit".
 * A final explanation is that the "primitives" that the Didact was referring to were actually the Prometheans that he took control of shortly before: this is backed by two points. First, it is established earlier in the level that the Prometheans are essentially highly aggressive A.I. constructs, capable of little more than warfare. Second, Didact says, "...that you have not mastered these Primitives" and then takes control (thus mastery) of the Prometheans (a relatively basic and therefore primitive group of A.I.s) with a wave of his hand.
 * His current status is unknown, for he could have been killed by the HAVOK Tactical Nuke, or he could have survived somehow. His speech in the ending cinematic of Halo 4 has further supported his supposed survival, but they could also be his last words, as it would appear unlikely for him to survive a nuclear explosion.
 * The Didact possibly has two helmets, as seen in the Halo teminal videos and the Halo 4 campaign.
 * McFarlane Toys will release a Didact figure in September as part of the Halo 4 Series 2 line.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3
 * Terminals
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Terminals
 * Halo 4
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Soma the Painter
 * Forerunner Saga
 * Halo: Cryptum
 * Halo: Primordium
 * Halo: Silentium
 * Halo: The Thursday War