Halo Worms: Lekgolo/Mgalekgolo Hunters Explained

Episode 3 of Halo continued to expand on the entire Halo universe that we have seen in the games, and that means that more and more of the different elements that we have seen in the Halo games were revealed in episode 3. Some of the elements that we saw in episode 3 were the wormlike aliens that attacked a UNSC ship in the scene that involved Makee, the Blessed One. So, what were those wormlike creatures in Halo?

Those wormlike creatures are the Lekgolo, a raise of sentient aliens that are part of the Covenant. The Lekgolo are individual worm creatures that can bind together to form a powerful singular creature composed of many different Lekgolos. These are called Mgalekgolo or Hunters.

One of the most important things that you need to know is that the Covenant is not a race of aliens but is actually a religion composed of different alien species. The Lekgolos are merely some of the aliens that belong to the Covenant, as the Halo series is steadily revealing all eight of them. That said, let’s look at what we know about those wormlike creatures in Halo.

What Were The Wormlike Creatures In Halo Episode 3?

Episode 3 of Halo continued to show us more and more of the elements that we know and love from the Halo games while also continuing a plot that is different from what we know from the source material. Of course, the Blessed One named Makee is set to become one of the most important characters in the Halo series, especially because of her involvement with the Covenant.

In the previous episode, we saw Makee volunteering to retrieve the artifact that was in possession of the UNSC after Master Chief retrieved it from Madrigal in episode 1. Because she is human, Makee believed that she had the biggest chance of retrieving the artifact by blending in with human society.

The third episode of the series allowed us to see how Makee unfolded her plan by using a UNSC refugee ship to lure in a fully manned UNSC ship. She basically tricked them into thinking that she was a refugee that had escaped from the Covenant and was seeking help from the UNSC.

When the UNSC forces allowed her to board their ship, that was when Makee unleashed a swarm of wormlike alien creatures that easily dealt with the UNSC soldiers on board the ship. She went on to capture the captain of the ship to retrieve valuable information from him as he refused to reveal anything to her.

Those wormlike creatures looked like something out of a nightmare and were powerful enough to quickly finish the job of killing the soldiers on board the UNSC ship. But what were those wormlike aliens in Halo episode 3?

Those wormlike aliens are called the Lekgolo. It is interesting to note that the Covenant is a religious group that’s composed of eight different alien species that have joined the Prophets in their crusade. In that regard, the Lekgolo are some of the aliens that joined the Covenant.

In the games, the Lekgolo came from the planet called Te and were able to evolve on that planet by burrowing through the ground and feeding on whatever they could find. They made contact with the Covenant when the group of aliens landed on Te in search of Forerunner technology but ended up meeting the Lekgolo instead, as these wormlike aliens were responsible for destroying what looked like a Forerunner space station.

The Prophets declared the act as heresy and waged war against the Lekgolo. During the war against the Lekgolo, the Covenant learned how to tame these wormlike creatures and allowed them to join the Covenant as official members of the religious order of aliens. As such, the Lekgolo colonies were preserved and were able to incorporate themselves with the Covenant. Meanwhile, those that destroyed the Forerunner relics were eliminated.

Nevertheless, the Covenant struggled against the Lekgolo due to the fact that, while a single Lekgolo worm was not very difficult for the best of the Covenant to defeat, they could combine and form into the Mgalekgolo, which are powerful entities that are composed of different Lekgolos. It is worth mentioning that “mga” is a Filipino term that’s used to refer to something that’s many. As such, Mgalekgolo basically means many Lekgolos.

As powerful as the Mgalekgolos are, they were able to overwhelm the best of the Covenant in ground combat. However, because of how massive the Covenant army was, the Lekgolo eventually surrendered.

Since then, the Lekgolos became important members of the Covenant because of their amazing ability to burrow and use their wormlike appendages to ensnare opponents and basically break their bones or suffocate them. Think of these worms as pythons that are made of pure muscle and are far stronger than humans.

Meanwhile, the Mgalekgolos ultimately became some of the strongest members of the Covenant and were given plate armor and assault cannons so that they could serve their purpose as shock troopers for the Covenant. The Mgalekgolos actually function on a hivemind because they are composed of several Lekgolos that combined with one another to form a body. They eventually earned the nickname “Hunters” in the Covenant ranks, as far as the UNSC was concerned.

What Are The Abilities Of The Lekgolo?

On their own, the Lekgolos are already strong enough because of the fact that these worms are made of pure muscle and can easily kill regular humans by wrapping and crushing them or by suffocating them. They can also burrow and hide in plain sight before surfacing at the right time to attack their foes.

However, the Lekgolos are at their most fearsome when they bind together and form a Mgalekgolo. The Mgalekgolos or the Hunters are Lekgolos that combined together to form a body and are able to function using a hivemind mentality that allows each Lekgolo in a single Mgalekgolo to act in unison according to what the hivemind wants them to do. They are not capable of speech in this form because of the fact that the Mgalekgolo are basically composed of several aliens in one single body.

The Mgalekgolos are often considered some of the strongest, if not the strongest, aliens that form part of the Covenant because you are basically looking at creatures that stand up to 12 feet tall and weigh thousands of pounds of pure muscle. Because of the fact that they are pure muscle, the Mgalekgolo are capable of wearing thick plate armor and wielding heavy assault cannons using one arm.

In the other arm, the Mgalekgolos wield a huge and nearly impervious metal shield that they can even use to kill Spartans in one strike. This makes the Mgalekgolos so fearsome in the entire Halo lore, as they are both offensive and defensive nightmares for any Spartan to handle. On top of that, because they are made of pure muscle, the Mgalekgolos are very swift and nimble on the battlefield.

All that said, these Covenant aliens are powerful creatures that are the perfect examples of what a collective of individuals can do. The Lekgolos on their own aren’t particularly powerful but will ultimately overpower almost any other creature in Halo by forming a Mgalekgolo or Hunter.