Season 2, Episode 6 of Paramount Plus’ Halo moves the timeline around again.
This is a recap and review of episode 6. Spoilers to follow!
We begin the episode with Perez inside what I believe is a Helljumper suit, launching into space. She and her squad are to infiltrate a Covenant ship. The alien artillery attempts to pick them off, but most of the soldiers make it to the hull. They breach the shield and enter the ship. The entire team is picked off, leaving Perez the sole survivor. She approaches something, possibly their drive core, with a “spike.” Before she can do what she’s supposed to do with it, she’s disconnected from what we find out is a simulation. Perez is also in Spartan training, though clearly without augmentations. This explains why the soldiers reacted to their squadmates dying with such nonchalance, much like you do in a …. video game?
Kai enters and gives us, the viewers, some background information about the Covenant’s shields. She explains that the spike delivers a virus to the ship’s software, initiating a shutdown. How this works, I have no idea, but we’ll roll with it. To add some drama, Perez and Kai don’t seem to like one another, and we can guess where the resentment lies at least on Kai’s part.
We next find Parangosky and Ackerson having some tea and a tete-a-tete. Paragonsky uses a metaphor about the tea to question whether the truth about Reach is under wraps, given she suggests that John and Halsey have arrived on the planet.
John has indeed arrived on Onyx and explains to Soren that there’s not much known about the planet. Soren indicates that Kessler, based on information from Halsey, was taken to a training facility.
Kwan’s vision, that of the older woman in a red coat, appears, and she follows it. A squad of soldiers fire at her, but John takes them out while she escapes. More surround him.
Based on the vision’s suggestion, Kwan jumps down a large well. A forcefield catches her at the bottom. She finds Halsey there as well.
Next, across the galaxy, we find the Arbiter branding himself. He enters a room where another Sangheili, a priest, is asking why they’re in radio silence. The priest suggests that the Arbiter has lost favor with the Hierarchs because he listens to Makee. After the priest threatens to kill Makee, the Arbiter asks her whether she has made contact with the Keystone. She answers in the affirmative, and he seems satisfied with that. After he’s gone, Cortana appears and asks whether Makee believes the Arbiter knows she’s lying.
Back on Onyx, the new Spartans are in another simulation. Perez breaks protocol to try and complete the mission and they manage to succeed at shutting down the ship. Perez lingers, suspicious of the lack of enemies, and when she awakens from the simulation, she approaches Kai about it. Is the “spike” actually a bomb?
Meanwhile, John is brought into the facility in the manner of an unruly horse (he’s basically harnessed with thick cords). After an encounter with Briggs, John manages to whip one of the soldiers off-balance and then beats up the rest of them to escape. He then glares at a security camera.
Ackerson shows Kai the footage of John, then asks whether she’d lied before about John’s loyalty, particularly regarding Makee. Ackerson then argues that Makee and John are working together, that John escaped Reach on a Covenant ship. He tells her that the Covenant were at the Visegrad Relay to steal one of the forerunner artifacts, and the other one is on Onyx – suggesting that John is going after it for the Covenant.
Cortana suggests to Makee that if she uses the Keystone to send her to the Halo array, she could find the location of it using the constellations. Makee admits the artifact does nothing for her and she can’t go there without John. Cortana offers to help if she can access the ship’s transmission relay.
John is found by Kai and explains about Riz and Vannek, and how he was betrayed by ONI. She accuses him of working with Makee. He says he’s only here for Parangosky. She steps in to arrest him, and though. John tries to appeal to their friendship, she puts on her helmet instead. He tries to explain about Halsey and the indoctrination, but Kai isn’t having any of it. She throws him around a lot, which is painful to watch, given her extreme advantage. She knocks him out when he pointedly looks at the security camera.
Ackerson and Parangosky are, of course, watching. Parangosky shuts down Ackerson’s attempts to talk about how he feels about the betrayal, suggesting that she’s even more cold-hearted than he is. Does Ackerson feel guilt?
Meanwhile, Parangosky is told of a data wave incoming from outside their system. She kicks everyone out to greet Cortana.
John wakes up to find Cortana too. She explains how the Covenant is attempting to use the Halo and that she’s on ship with Makee. What really gets him moving is when she says she’s with the Arbiter (who killed Vannk). She tells him he needs to touch the other Artifact so he can transport. She opens a door for him.
Kwan and Halsey are still in the tunnel, where they find a wall that shouldn’t exist. She claims the cave system has shifted. Kwan sees the older woman again, who leads them to a room where Miranda (whom we haven’t seen since Season 1) is working. Her team has expanded on Halsey’s research.
On Onyx, Kai accuses Ackerson of letting the Spartans win the simulation. He claims it was to give them hope. She seems to accept this but then asks him about the betrayal of Reach. As usual, he tries to talk his way out of it. When it’s clear he can’t win, he ends the conversation but admitting he’s sent the Black Ops team to collect John. Kai races off.
Following Cortana’s breadcrumbs of unlocked doors, John enters a lab and finds the artifact.
Back on the Arbiter’s ship, the priest is accusing Makee of subversion. He brings up the Arbiter’s shame to try and convince him to kill Makee. The Arbiter activates his sword, and instead of killing her, kills the priest and his guards. He calls his loyal soldiers to him and a fight ensues. Makee crawls through it to the artifact, which has lit up.
John, at the same time, approaches his.
Overall Thoughts
It seems a pair-up I enjoyed from the game might be happening? Then again, this show has taken a lot of liberties with the source material, so it’s possible we might get something else entirely (but I hope not). I am glad that they seem to be pushing through John’s revenge arc quite quickly, as watching him mope would have chopped down the momentum. It is unclear how Perez became part of the Spartan program so fast (though maybe the medal had something to do with it).
What I’m really hoping for is an episode that focuses more on the Arbiter’s story, maybe even some time on Sanghelios, as their culture from the books is quite interesting, and I’m curious to see what the show does with it.
The training simulations in this episode were a fun way to harken back to the game itself, though it’s unfortunate the plot is so serious that there was no space for some fun banter between soldiers. Maybe down the line we’ll get an episode with a real laugh in it? As ever, the show takes itself far too seriously and could stand to lighten up in spots.
The next episode airs March 14 on Paramount Plus.
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