The Return Shipmaster- Is he on our side or not?

[Seeker of Truth]

So I just watched the motion comic of The Return (practically no difference between it and the original comic). Anyway, this Shipmaster is probably in my top five favorite Covenant characters, even though where he stands isn't exactly clear.

Okay, so he clearly supports the Arbiter, is overwhelmed with guilt and shame at the loss of life at his hands (especially when he comes across the remains of the human civilians) and generally seems to be very sympathetic towards humans. However, at the end, it sounds as though he plans to forcefully interrogate the human for answers, which seems to contradict his previous behavior.

So is he on the side of the humans or not? Opinions?  

[Caboose The Ace]

You are talking about Rtas 'Vadum the Sepratist shipmaster in Halo 3 and the Covanant commander in Halo 2 ?
 
Well anyway Rtas was last seen....

Rtas was last seen aboard the Shadow of Intent after the end of the war, where he gave Thel 'Vadam the command of the Carrier and stated that he would like to see his own world to know that it is safe. The Assault Carrier then departed for Sanghelios.

 

 

So yes he is very much supporting Arbiter.

 

EDIT

 

 

After Halo 3 Rtas took a lot of Arbiters fleet to fight the Brutes.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Caboose the Ace

[rrhuntington]

He isn't talking about Rtas Vadum. This is a different shipmaster from the old covenant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1kUy8MmBKY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rFw5ZFddAI

 

I feel as if this Elite just does not want to accept the lies of the prophets. He still believes the forerunner's are gods, which makes it seem that he does not follow the arbiter. I feel as if he is misguided, and the way he speaks makes him sound more like a Storm Covenant.

[BaconShelf]

Well, this Shipmaster clearly regrets his actions in the war. He is horrified when he sees human skeletons in the bunker, and constantly expresses guilt and sadness at the glassing and taking orders of a prophet.

 

 

However, what becomes a slightly more mysterious part is the end. For those not in the know, SM (I'll be referring to him as this) sees a human encampment under fire from Jackal troops. He kills the invaders and ignores the sole survivor to go and look in a tent. He finds schematics and info about Monitors. He ends as he explains that he still knows how to interrogate a human as he takes the survivor.

 

 

However, why is this significant? Well, the novel Halo: Primordium is set on a UNSC ship- the UNSC Rubicon- sent in 2559 to the remains of the lesser Ark. What it finds is extraordinary; they find 343 Guilty Spark amidst the wreckage (Monitors can self-repair) and he begins to tell the memories he experienced as a human on a Halo Installation. This comprises the majority of the novel as it mainly is told from Chakas/ 343GS' POV.

 

At the end of the novel, Spark takes full control of the Rubicon, claiming he now knows where to find the 'Elusive Librarian'- presumably Chant-To-Green (Although he believes it is the Librarian which died on Earth) and hijacks the ship- we have no information on what happens next.

 

(Note that Halo 4 takes place in 2557, with Spartan Ops and Escalation in 2558- presumably placing H5 in late 2558/ early 2559 which coincides perfectly)

 

 

Anyway. Notice the similarities? The Return shows the UNSC having schematics of a Monitor and one is shown captured in Primordium. It is likely that with two additional H2A cutscenes, terminals and the newly announced Halo: Broken Circle coming out this year all of which will tie into the events of the next game, you simply cannot believe it's a coincidence.

 

343 has been planning the story since 2009- and were only just starting to see references in Legends that are starting to come true now such as the Ark and Absolute Record. 343 knows what is going to happen In the future, and to say the two events are not linked in any way is idiocy.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that shed some light on the overall story, though most of it was irrelevant to the question you asked.

 

He isn't talking about Rtas Vadum. This is a different shipmaster from the old covenant.

 

 

 

I feel as if this Elite just does not want to accept the lies of the prophets. He still believes the forerunner's are gods, which makes it seem that he does not follow the arbiter. I feel as if he is misguided, and the way he speaks makes him sound more like a Storm Covenant.

 

 

One of the Storm, and Jul's- primary beliefs is the eradication of Humanity. The Shipmaster expresses regret and guilt for killing humans.