The Covenant is a religiously zealous group of alien species, controlling a large portion of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. They waged a genocidal campaign against humanity until they were defeated due to many complications, one of which were internal conflicts. The Covenant was presumably disbanded after its defeat by the UNSC and Covenant Separatist forces.
[Covenant Back round] The Covenant was first formed by two species, the Elites and the Prophets.
The name "Covenant" was taken from the binding pact that forged the
peace between the Elites and the Prophets they are combined forces of
alien races, and act as the main antagonists in the game. The war which
had devastated their respective races for years, was fought over the Forerunners
artifacts on the Elite home world, with the Elites wishing to preserve
them, and the Prophets wishing to use the artifacts to explore the
galaxy. The Elites held a distinct strategic upper hand, as their
militaristic society was ready for a war, but the Prophets had one
massive advantage; an immensely powerful Forerunner construct known as
the Dreadnought. After the Prophets decided to use the Forerunner Dreadnought
against the Elites, the Prophets destroyed the Sangheili forces, while
the wise and prudent Elite Commanders, realizing their peril, laid
their arms aside and likewise cast their hatred away from the war. When
the Prophets found evidence of the Forerunners and their "Great Journey",
hoping to create a peace between them, told the Elites of their
discovery and promised to find the means of the Forerunners'
transcendence. The Prophets would share this knowledge with the Elites
who in turn would protect the Prophets from harm as they searched for
transcendent Forerunner artifacts to activate all the Halo Installations. These ideas would be put into the Covenant's founding document, the Writ of Union.
At first, the Covenant were only a loose non-aggression pact of
two races held together by a common need to avoid mutually assured
destruction[1]; but, as their society advanced, so did their technology, culture, and religion. By the time of the Halo games, the Covenant controlled a large part of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
Their society had evolved into a complicated caste system, with the
Prophets governing the Covenant, and the Elites left in charge of the
military. The Covenant was a theocracy, based on prophecies about the
Sacred rings and The Great Journey. The primary belief of the Covenant
was that the Halos will allow them passage into the "Divine Beyond",
where they might join the Forerunners as gods, while those who did not
believe in the Great Journey would be left behind to die by the power
of the Halo rings.
