User blog comment:James12708/Reapers VS. Forerunners VS. Angels from Darksiders VS. Humanity from Halo VS. Council and humanity from Mass Effect VS. Imperium of Man/@comment-4721065-20130112104250/@comment-1786741-20130113003245

The flood is a hive mind, just saying. The rings actually destroy all organic life, if it wasn't for the Forerunners reseeding said life, that area of the universe would be barren. As an example, the rings destroyed most of the precursor technology which was seen as borderline organic.