Timeline of Events

*Warning May Contain Spoilers To Halo Storyline*

 

1,000,000,000 - 150,000 BC

  • Precursors are the pre-eminent species in the galaxy, moving beyond sentience into practical godhood. they can traverse galaxies in seconds, control evolution and create life.
  • The Precursors seed the milky way with life, looking to raise a species worthy carrying on their stewardship of the galaxy.
  • The Precursors create the forerunners and look to elevate them to rule the galaxy, but eventually deem them unworthy of  the role. they also create humans.
  • The Forerunners go to war with the precursors.
  • The Precursors create the flood as a final test for both first generation humanity and forerunners.
  • The Precursors are annihilated by the forerunners. it isnt clear how this happened.

 

150,000 BC: Rise of the Forerunners

  • Forerunners have colonised much of the milkyway thanks to precursor technology. they are a now peaceful race and help elevate undeveloped reaces.
  • The first generation of humans begins colonising the galaxy using more technology left over from the precursor era. Their civilisation grows to rival that of the forerunners.

 

110,000 BC: The Fall of Man

  • Humanity and the prophets make first contact with the flood and go to war.
  • humanity retreats into forerunner space and forerunners strike back.

 

109,000 BC

  • Forerunner general The Didact leads his people to victory against humanity. Humanity is developed into several different species and its colonies are destroyed.
  • Unbeknownst to the forerunners, the humans/prophet alliance had successfully driven the few surviving flood from the galaxy at the expense of victory against the forerunners.

 

Between 109,000 and 101,300 BC: The Prelude to War

  • The Forerunners learn of the flood and begin olanning construction of the halo array as a "plan b" in case the flood return.
  • The Didact opposes construction of the halo array and is sentenced to imprisonment on the newly-primitive earth where his wife. the librarian makes her new home.
  • Construction of 12 halo rings begins, together with shield worlds intended to protect organic species from the halo's devestating firing effect.
  • The Librarian begins archiving species from across the galaxy. placing samples of every species in sarcophagi on the ark, far outside the halos' effect.

100,300 BC: The Flood/Forerunner War

  • Forerunners make first contact with the flood on planet G617 G1. the investigating team are killed and the flood escapes.
  • The Flood/Forerunner war begins. the librarian hastens her work.

 

100,043 BC: Mendicant Bias

  • Forerunners create the mendicant bias AI to combat the flood. it is placed in charge of halo 07 and tasked with hunting the flood gravemind.
  • Halo 07 is test-fired, freeing the last surviving precursor sealed away millenia earlier by humanity. He is recaptured and imprisoned on Halo 07.
  • Mendicant Bias begins questioning the last precursor on Halo 07. Their conversation lasts 43 years.

 

100,000 BC: The Beggining of the end

  •  The Didact is freed by the forerunner bornsteller after 1,000 years of imprisonment. they travel the galaxy together with the proto-humans Chakas ad Riser. The didact dies, but not before transferring his memories to bornsteller who becomes the new didact. (Halo: Cryptum)
  • Manipulated by the last precursor, Mendicant Bias returns on Halo 07 and turns on its creators, smashing the forerunner capital. The new didact takes control of the forerunners' military.
  • Mendicant Bias seizes control of five of the 12 Halos. The forerunners destroy them, leaving only seven.
  • Riser and Chakas journey to Halo 07 and help the didact reclaim thr installation, restoring it to the Halo network. Chakas' mind is used as the template for 343 Guilty spark. the last precursor is revealed to be a flood gravemind and is killed by the didact. (Halo: Primordium)
  • A Forerunner artefact bridging earth and the ark is buried in africa by the librarian.
  • Conversations between the didact and the librarian are recorded and stored on the arks terminals (Halo 3).
  • Forerunners create the offensive bias AI to counter and fight the Mendicant Bias.

 

100,000 BC: The end of everything

  • The following plays out in hours.
  • Mendicant bias and the flood fleet breach the forerunners' defensive line and move onto the inner forerunner colonies. Mendicant Bias commands a fleet of almost five million ships against offensive bias' tens of thousends.
  • The didact fires the halos, killing all sentient life within three radii of the milkyways centre.
  • Mendicant Bias' organic flood ships are destroyed by the halo array. offensive bias now outnumbers mendicant bias 6-1 and the battle swings offensive bias' way .
  • Four minutes later the Flood/Forerunner war ends.
  • Mendicant Bias' AI is shattered by offensive bias. Parts end up on the Ark and on the prophets' homeworld.

Sometime soon after 100,000 BC: A Fresh Start

  • Species archived by the librarian on the ark and various shield worlds are returned to the home planets by the surviving forerunners.
  • The forerunners exit the galaxy. Humanity is given the "keys" to the halo arrays in the forerunners absence.
  • The whereabouts of the librarian and the didact are unknown.

 

30,000 BC: Humanity Returns

  • homo sapiens rise to become the dominant human species, eventually killing off the forerunners' other human species on their journey out of africa. the neanderthals are among the last to die out.

 

8,500 BC

  • The second generation of human civilisation emerges on on earth.

 

938 BC: The Prophet/Elite War

  • Elsewhere in the galaxy, the prophets and elites already have vast interstellar empires thanks to knowledge inherited from the precursors and forerunners.
  • Humanity has developed numerous civilisations, but is thousends of years behind.
  • the prophets and elites go to war.

876 BC

  • The elites abandon their beliefs and begin studying forerunner artifacts, accelerating their technology development.

852 BC: The Covenant

  • The Prophet/elite war ends and the factions form a union called the covenant. the covenant adds further races over the next millennium as they colonise the galaxy.

1962

  • Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space for 100,000 years.

2080

  • Humanities off world colony is settled on mars.

2164

  • Humanity forms the united nations space command. the UNSC puts down rebels on mars.

2291

  • Humanity masters faster-than-light with the shaw-fujikawa slipspace drive.

2490

  • Humanity has colonised over 800 worlds, including the planets of Reach and Harvest.

2506

  • The UNSC Abandons project orion - the first generation of spartan super soldiers - because of expense and time.

2511

  • Master Chief John 117 is born.

2524

  • The human freighter "Horn of Plenty" makes first contact with the covenant. It is immediately destroyed.

 

2525: The Human/Covenant War Begins

  • Though it wont be revealed for many years, the covenant attacked humanity only after learning that humans, not the prophets were the forerunners favourated race.
  • the 14-year-old spartan-IIs undergo extensive cybernetic and genetic modification. thirty die and 12 are disabled.
  • the spartans, equipped with Mjolnir Mk IV armour engage the covenant above Chi Ceti IV, boarding and destroying a covenant capital ship with the loss of only one man.

 

2531: Halo Wars

  • Troops from the UNSC Spirit of Fire engage covenant troops of the partially-glassed planets harvest and colony world arcadia.
  • A gateway opened from arcadia leads the Spirit of Fire to an isolated forerunner shield world where humanity makes first contact with the flood.
  • Sergeant John Forge detonates the Spirit of Fire's slipspace drive and destroys the planet. the Spirit of Fires crew escapes and begins its long journey home in cryosleep. as of 2553, it has not made it back.

2532: Spartan-III

  • The first 300 volunteer spartan-IIIs enter training. Cheaper and weaker than than spartan-IIs, the IIIs are to be produced in much greater numbers with fewer casulties.

2547

  • Despite for a propganda victory, the UNSC makes the spartan-II program public. spartan-IIs become legendary. when killed, they are listed as missing in action to maintain the image of their invincibility.

 

2552: Halo: Reach

  • While earth still eludes them, the covenant still find humanities second home of reach.
  • August 14 - Noble team takes down a covenant supercarrier. it is immeadiately replaced by hundreds more.
  • August 23 - Noble team helps evacuate city of new alexandria. the city is glassed.
  • August 30 - Noble 6, Emile-A239 and Carter-A259 die evacuating Cortana's AI core to the UNSC pillar of autumn. then the pillar of autumn takes a slipspace jump using secret forerunner data entrusted to cortana.

2552: Halo Combat Evolved

  • September 19-22 - The forerunner data leads the pillar of autumn to Halo 04. John 117 is awoken from cryosleep and tasked with protecting cortana and the location of earth. the pillar of autumn crash lands.
  • September 19-22 - John 117 makes contact with with the flood imprisoned in Halo 04's reasearch centres. Halo's monitor, 343 guilty spark, attempts to use john to activate the halo array. cortana prevents the activation and john detonates the crashed pillar of autumn's engines destroying installation 04.
  • September 19-22 - In Halo: Anniversary, 343 guilty spark suggests the destruction of the halo will awaken and anger the didact.

2552: Halo 2 & Halo ODST

  • October 20 - John 117 arrives on cairo station and is eqquipped with Mjolnir Mk VI armour.
  • October 20 - Searching for the ark, the covenant accidenatally discover the location of earth. John returns home but quickly follows the covenants high prophet of regrets retreat back to Halo 05.
  • October 20 - Earth is assualted by covenant forces looking for the arks. an ODST squad in the city of new mombasa engages in a series of skirmishes with covenant ground forces.
  • November 2 - John 117 arrives in Halo 0, assassinates the prophet of regret and ecounters the flood gravemind.
  • the relevevation of the halo arrays true purpose creates a schism in the covenant, turning the doubting elites against the true believers from the prophet controlled races. the gravemind uses it as an oppurtunity to seize the covenant capital.
  • November 2 - John 117 returns to earth.

2552: Halo 3

  • November 17 - John 117 ejects from the covenant controlled forerunner dreadnaught and falls to earth. the forerunner artifact buried near the ocean near voi is activated by the covenant, opening a portal to the ark.
  • December 11 - Human and elite ships arrive above the ark and engage covenant forces trying to activate the Halo array.
  • December 11 - John 117 and the arbiter activate the replacement Halo 04 and escape through the voi portal aborad the UNSC frigate forward unto dawn, Halo 04's activation wipes the covenant forces, the flood and the flood gravemind.
  • December 11 - The activation closes the portal mid-transit. the arbiter returns to earth on december 23, John 117 is lost in space and enters cryosleep.
  • December 11- The elites seize control of the covenant. the Human/Covenant war ends.

2556: Cortana

  • Cortana enters her seventh year of service: the average age for a "smart AI" before it begins to downgrade.
  • Master chief remains in cryosleep.

 

2556: Lost in Space

  • Cortana files a report aboard the Forward unto Dawn concerning the shared history of the forerunners and humanity. she is showing sign of madness. (Halo Legends: Origins)

 

Beyond 2556

  • A duplicate of 343 guilty spark recounts Chakas' story from the flood/forerunner war. he later seizes control of an office naval intelligence ship, puts the crew to sleep and sets course for the librarians last known location, claiming she is still alive. (Halo: Primordium)

 

Beyond 2556: New Dangers

  • An ancient threat rises

2557: Halo 4

  • Covenant ships converge on forerunner planet requiem where they believe their gods are still stationed.
  • The forward unto dawn along with multiple covenant forces drift into requiems orbit and is granted access through the planets shielded interior.
  • The UNSC infinity arrives at requiem where its systems are scanned by the didact. humans lose control and it crashes into requiems surface.
  • Master chief encounters hostile promethean AI sentries in requiems jungles. The AI is similary hostile towards covenant individuals.