Arbiter Thel 'Vadam

Lore & Background

Thel 'Vadam was a commander in the Covenant military before being shamed for failing to stop Master Chief from destroying the first Halo ring. The High Prophets spared his execution and bestowed upon him the rank of Arbiter, a position typically given to shamed Elites to regain honor through suicide missions. His first mission was to silence a renegade Elite who had been preaching that the Prophets had lied to the Covenant. He was then sent to the newly discovered Delta Halo to retrieve the key necessary to activate the ring. Though he succeeded, he was betrayed by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus, who revealed that the Prophets had ordered the replacement of the Elites with Brutes in the Covenant power structure. Rescued by the parasitic Flood intelligence Gravemind, the Arbiter learned that the Halo rings were weapons of mass destruction, not salvation. He then allied with the humans Miranda Keyes and Avery Johnson, and together they killed Tartarus and stopped the activation of Delta Halo, triggering a failsafe that put the remaining Halo installations on standby from remote activation at the Ark. In Halo 3, the Arbiter assists human forces alongside Master Chief, follows Covenant forces through a portal to the Ark, and kills the final surviving High Prophet. After the war, novels and other works detail his efforts in the subsequent civil war among the Sangheili. In Halo 5: Guardians, his forces—the Swords of Sanghelios—remain locked in combat with a faction of Covenant on Sanghelios. After being rescued by human soldiers, he assists them in an assault on the final Covenant stronghold of Sunaion, and is finally reunited with Master Chief.

In Their Own Story

Thel 'Vadam's story begins in disgrace after failing to stop Master Chief from destroying the first Halo ring. Made the Arbiter by the High Prophets, he first silences a renegade Elite, then retrieves the activation key for Delta Halo. Betrayed by Tartarus and the Prophets, he is rescued by Gravemind, who reveals the Halo rings are weapons of destruction. The Arbiter allies with humans Miranda Keyes and Avery Johnson, kills Tartarus, and stops Delta Halo's activation. In Halo 3, he assists human forces, follows Covenant through a portal to the Ark, and kills the final High Prophet. He crashes safely to Earth while Master Chief is presumed lost. In Halo 5: Guardians, his Swords of Sanghelios are fighting a Covenant faction on Sanghelios. Rescued by human soldiers, he helps assault the final Covenant stronghold of Sunaion, and is reunited with Master Chief after the AI Cortana begins subjugating the galaxy.

Reader's Guide

Thel 'Vadam is a playable character in Halo 2, where his missions include silencing a renegade Elite, retrieving the activation key for Delta Halo, and stopping Tartarus from activating the ring. As a playable character, he is identical to Master Chief except that his flashlight is replaced with an active camouflage system. In Halo 3, he is a playable character only during cooperative gameplay (the second player controls him); the story never switches to his point of view as in Halo 2. For much of Halo 3, he assists human forces alongside Master Chief. In Halo 5: Guardians, he is not a playable character but appears as an ally, leading the Swords of Sanghelios against a Covenant faction on Sanghelios. His armor was redesigned for Halo 5, explained in-universe as a tribute to previous Arbiters and a symbol of transition for the Elites, with a medieval and antiquated look incorporating brass and leather accents.

Did You Know?

• The Arbiter's name was originally 'Dervish', but was changed late in development due to concerns that it reinforced a perceived United States-versus-Islam allegory in the game's plot.
• The Arbiter's inclusion as a playable character in Halo 2 was kept so secret that Bungie's Frank O'Connor never included it in the weekly development updates posted at Bungie's website.
• Actor Keith David voices the Arbiter in Halo 2, 3, and 5, and noted in 2008 that he had become more known for his work as the Arbiter than for his other roles.
• A different Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee, appears in the 2009 real-time strategy game Halo Wars, which takes place 20 years before the events of the main trilogy.
• The Arbiter makes a non-canon appearance as a guest playable character in Killer Instinct: Season Three, voiced by Ray Chase.