: My interpretation has always been that the Prophets were lying about the
: destruction of their original homeworld, for reasons they kept to
: themselves. Why wouldn't their first act, after the formation of the
: Covenant, be to use their newfound legions of devoted warriors to attack
: the Stoics and try to reclaim their homeworld? I HAD assumed that they
: used the Dreadnought in this attempt, and triggered the stellar collapse
: themselves accidentally, and claimed it was natural. Now that we know the
: Dreadnought was decommissioned as soon as the Writ of Union was signed,
: that doesn't seem likely, unless that weapon got bolted onto a cruiser or
: something. Is Janjur Qom still potentially out there or not? I have no
: idea anymore. But leaving it ambiguous leaves open the possibility of
: interesting stories to resolve that question.

It's interesting comparing headcanon :P

I see no reason for the Prophets to particularly lie, but I think it's possible given what we saw in Broken Circle that the Stoics might have expanded beyond their homeward without the aid of the Forerunner legacy. In Broken Circle they appear to be at a mid-20th century Earth technology level, plus a knowledge of genetics that far surpasses anything a 26th century power has at their disposal.