Then it isn't a test. It is merely waffle.

: I think the first analogue that springs out to me from other fiction is the
: Prophecy from Harry Potter. The prophecy itself could have meant nothing,
: except Lord Voldemort specifically interprets it in a way that essentially
: causes the prophecy to fulfill itself.

Are they just giving the effectiveist fightingist races an opportunity to doom themselves? Only the most effective races get the poisoned chalice offered to them?

: In Halo 4 Cortana translates the inscription on the Eld as "Guardianship
: for all living things lies with those whose evolution is most complete.
: The Mantle of Responsibility shelters all."

: I think it's a simple matter that Cortana asserts herself and the other smart
: AIs as the true evolution of humanity and thus skipping past them.

: Whether or not humans are reclaimers is sort of irrelevant, as that term
: itself means something apart from the Mantle, and like the mantle means
: something different to a bunch of people. The Librarian wanted humanity to
: reclaim the Forerunner's legacy, but *not* the Mantle. The Ur-Didact saw
: them as inseparable ("We are Forerunners, guardians of all that
: exists. The roots of the galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending.
: Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated
: the soil.")

Reclaimers don't inherit the mantle?

I can't keep track of all this. I don't know how much effort I should invest in trying to keep track. Will there be a pay off or will it never really matter?

: The whole point seems to be that it doesn't matter how you translate the
: Mantle. It's bad juju all the way down, the only winning move is not to
: play, etc.

My impression is that it comes with a threat: it is an obligation rather than a gift. Or it is a gift but it is a poisoned chalice. If you don't live up to it then you will be judged by beings older than the universe. So choosing not to play once they have volunteered you for their test isn't likely to be a winning move. Unless they have secretly decided that declining IS the winning move.

But the game is a shooter and MS wants us to keep on shooting for years or decades so the pacifist option: isn't (an option).

Whatever galaxy sized threat is thrown at us: the way to win is to shoot mooks with assault rifles :-)

If the story message is to curb your aggression then that conflicts with the nature of the game. The game will win because the makers want to continue making money.