Honor Guard of the Covenant

The Honor Guard was a special unit within the Covenant tasked with providing security for the High Council. It mainly consisted of Sangheili until the Great Schism, when they were replaced by Jiralhanae.Halo 2, level Gravemind They are the most skilled of warriors and are hand-picked for the duty of protecting the High Prophets and members of the High Council from any danger. Wherever a High Prophet is located, Honor Guards are always by their side, perhaps up to as many as 300 Honor Guardsman for each Prophet.Halo: First Strike, page 339
==History==
===Before the Great War===
After the Sangheili-San'Shyuum war, the two sides formed the Covenant. The San'Shyuum were to be the governmental leaders and scientists, with the Sangheili as their protectors and main soldiers.Halo: Contact Harvest, page 47Halo 3, Bestiarum
===Human-Covenant war===
During the 30 years of the Human-Covenant war, the Honor Guard didn't see much combat up until 2552, at the Battle of Installation 05.
In 2531, the Honor Guard was present at the Battle of Shield 0459, where they defended the Prophet of Regret in his attempt to reactivate a fleet of Forerunner ships in spite of the interference from the crew of . In the battle, the Honor Guard, alongside the Arbiter, fought the humans as they prepared to destroy the Shield World. They were defeated by the Spartan-II supersoldiers of Red Team.Halo Wars cutscene "Monsters" The Honor Guards in this did not wear the traditional ceremonial armor.
Between 2542 and 2552, the Honor Guard were charged with defending a Lesser Prophet on a Covenant-controlled planet that served as a major logistics base. A team of ODSTs infiltrated the planet and sniped the Prophet from a distance of two miles before the Honor Guard could intervene.Halo Legends - The Babysitter
On October 20, 2552, Covenant Ground and Naval forces invaded Earth.Halo 2, level Cairo Station The High Prophet of Regret and his fleet came to Earth to find The Ark,Halo Graphic Novel, Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa, page 95 a facility where they could fire all of the Halo Installations and complete The Great Journey. Being pursued by United Nations Space Command forces, Regret and his flagship went into slipspace in New Mombasa, Kenya.Halo 2, level Metropolis
When they arrived on Installation 05, Regret and his Sangheili Honor Guardsmen went to a temple in the middle of a lake near the Quarantine Zone of the Library.Halo 2, level Delta Halo
Much to the Prophet's surprise, the Humans followed him to the ring world. There, forces led by Commander Miranda Keyes and MCPO John-117 tried to capture or kill the Prophet of Regret.
And a few hours later, SPARTAN John-117 and a few Marines initiated an assault on the temple. The Sangheili Honor Guardsmen fought furiously to protect their Prophet from the SPARTAN, though they were overpowered. This allowed for the Human to kill the Prophet of Regret.Halo 2, level Regret However, it is revealed later that the High Prophet of Truth refused to send Regret reinforcements, thus letting John-117 kill the Covenant Hierarch, and discrediting the Sangheili at the same time. By doing this, Truth killed two birds with one stone, he eliminated any struggle for power that Regret may spark within the Covenant and discredited the Sangheili simultaneously.
===Changing of the Guard===
Due to their mistakes in allowing the killing of a High Prophet, the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy ordered the Sangheili to step down as the protectors of the Prophets. The Jiralhanae filled in the void left by the disgraced Sangheili.Halo 2, level Sacred Icon
===The Great Schism===
At the Battle of the Quarantine Zone in November 2552, Chieftain Tartarus retrieved the Index from the Arbiter, and moments later sent him to his death which he survived.Halo 2, level Quarantine Zone
This action, given to Tartarus by the High Prophets, started the short Covenant Civil War, that would last until the end of the Human-Covenant war in Spring 2553.Halo 3, Epilogue
During the First Battle of High Charity, the Jiralhanae Honor Guardsman were put into more of an infantry role fighting the Covenant Separatists still on the capital world and on ships in orbit.
===Death of Mercy and the Dreadnought===
Later during the battle on High Charity, the Prophets of Truth and Mercy along with their personal Jiralhanae honor Guards fled towards a landing pad where they would leave on the Dreadnought in the middle of the city.Halo 2, level High Charity
During this, the Flood, led by the Gravemind, began their invasion of High Charity. A lone Infection Form that slipped past the Jiralhanae, grasped onto Mercy's throat and began the process of turning him into a Proto-Gravemind. Truth, not wanting any potential threat to his ultimate supremacy, allowed the old Prophet to die.
==Sources==
==See also==
*San'Shyuum
**High Prophets
*Sangheili
**Sangheili Honor Guardsman
**Sangheili Honor Guardsman Commander
*Jiralhanae
**Jiralhanae Honor Guardsman
**Jiralhanae Bodyguard
Category:Covenant Military Units