When it comes to the main villains in the Halo franchise, none are more memorable than the Covenant Empire. It is a religious military alliance composed of numerous alien races headed by the Prophets, whose goal was to eliminate humanity for its heresy against the universe and activate the rings to achieve a state of divinity.
Those who've played games like the original Halo trilogy and Reach will remember how fear-inducing the Covenant was, and how it almost succeeded in its goal. However, humanity prevailed, and the victory can somewhat be attributed to the dissonance within the religious order.
To understand what happened, we must look back at the plot of Halo 2. After the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, players are introduced to Thel 'Vadam, an Elite commander who failed to stop the Master Chief from destroying one of the rings. For such a travesty, the Prophets deemed him a heretic who must be publicly punished via branding, the task being appointed to Tartarus, chieftain of the Brutes.
It is here that players are introduced to the new faction, an ape-like species that played a major role in the Covenant civil war known as The Great Schism. The punishing of the Thel 'Vadam, who would later turn into the Arbiter, by the hands of the Prophets and Tartarus can be seen as the catalyst for the internal war within the alien alliance, as the action was a way of slowly taking away the Elites' role as the main military backbone.
Tartarus believed that he and his race were more deserving to be the hands of the Prophets, and their undying devotion to the Covenant's goal of The Great Journey, which is using the rings to enter a divine state, made them seem a fitting replacement. So began the quiet overtaking of the Brutes, biding their time until an opportunity presented itself that would allow them to take over the role of the Elites without question.
That came after the mission titled "Regret" in Halo 2, where Master Chief successfully managed to eliminate the Prophet of Regret, who was on Earth trying to uncover additional means of propelling The Great Journey. With the Elites failing to protect the high religious figure, the Prophet of Truth deemed them unreliable and replaced them with the Brutes, officially marking the start of the Great Schism.
By that point, the Elites were still loyal to the Covenant despite questioning the move and their beliefs, but that would soon change after the mission titled "The Sacred Icon". Here, Tartarus and the Arbiter were required to work together to find an artifact that would help activate a Halo ring. After retrieving it, the Brute Chieftain betrayed his partner, citing that the act was an order by the Prophets before blasting him into a chasm that seemed to mark his death.
From here, the Prophet of Truth deemed all Elites as heretics and ordered them to be eliminated. Carrying out the command, Tartarus and the Brutes achieved their betrayal and were now ready to move on to the next step of The Great Journey. However, this act caused the surviving Elites to side with humanity, which heavily turned the tide against the Covenant.
Because of this, Tartarus was eventually slain by the hands of the humans and a returning Arbiter, right before he was able to activate a Halo ring. While the Brutes continued despite the loss of their leader, they eventually fell together with the Prophets and the Covenant, as seen in the story of Halo 3.
Thus comes the tragic result of the Great Schism. Again, the civil war can be seen as responsible for allowing humanity to win the war, so in a way, we have Tartarus and his race's heinous actions to thank for ensuring that the Covenant didn't wipe out all sentient life. They met a tragic end, but one that was necessary.
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