The newest episode ofHalois the best episode of the season so far, despite the fact that the series still has a severe lack of action. Instead of any kind of fighting breaking out between theCovenant and the Spartansthe episode focused mostly on the journey of the Spartans and the turmoil that continued on Madrigal. Most of all, the episode focused on filling out what the Spartans are and where they came from. It also humanized those super soldiers and showed just how bad their lives really have been as the UNSC worked to dehumanize them at all costs.
The show opens much the same way thatHaloEpisode 3kicked off, showing the young Spartans when they were still in training. Once again it showed that when these people were kids, they were not anywhere near as loyal as they appear to be now. John, in particular, is struggling to come to terms with having to do everything that Dr. Halsey tells him to do. There is also a bit of a foreshadowing for later in the episode when the young John confronts Halsey about why he and the rest of the children are there.
RELATED:Modder Turns Halo Infinite Into A Third-Person Shooter
The episode then flashes forward toHalo’s present where John, Halsey, her assistant, and Cortana are all traveling to his former homeworld in order to solve the mystery of the artifacts and find what might be a second one. It is of course, more than a little interesting that the planet they journey to appears to be completely uninhabited despite the fact that it appears to be able to support life without much of a problem. There have been mentions of the planet and what happened in previous episodes. Of course, the show has also already explained that Halsey is not a reliable narrator when it comes to things that have happened in the past.
WhileMaster Chief is taking a walk down memory lane, big things are happening when it comes to another Spartan. Kai saw John remove the chip that tamped down his emotions. Because the other Spartans have had it beat into their heads that he can do no wrong and should always be followed, she does the same thing. And like Master Chief, she soon starts to change.
It is certainly interesting that the changes that Kai goes through are actually good ones. She’s able to help Dr. Miranda Keyes solve several different mysterieswhen it comes to the Covenantbecause she’s thinking on her feet is something that the other Spartans are not built for. The show does indeed do a very good job of coloring in the lines when it comes to these supersoldiers, especially when Kai and the rest of the Spartans tell Keyes a story about when they were training.
The soldiers were all assigned pets but they didn’t get to keep them all that long. The fact that the story is being told without any emotion, despite it being quite appalling to Keyes shows that these soldiers have had a large part of their humanity stamped out of them by Halsey and UNSC. It seems as though this is going to come into play in the rest of the season and could eventually evenmean that the Spartanswill be at odds with each other or the Master Chief in the very near future.
While the Spartans are finding the true nature of themselves in very different ways, the show also spends more time than it has since thefirst episode ofHaloon Madrigal. Kwan Ha and Soren have journeyed back to Kwan’s homeworld to try and take it back from the government that has been installed by UNSC after Kwan’s father was killed by the Covenant. Once there, she finds that the planet and the towns on it are not nearly as welcoming as they once were. In fact, she’s found out that she is now persona non grata and needs to keep a very low profile.
Because she’s not exactly someone who knows how to keep a low profile and because she can’t quite believe that theUNSChas really taken such complete control of her world, she is in fact, discovered by the people who are looking for her and more than a few hijinks ensue. All of this is apparently working to set up what’s going to be more than a short fight for the hearts and minds of the people of Madrigal.
There is a question as to why this particular story arc is included in thelarger story ofHaloat all. If there is one thing that can be used as a strike against the first season overall, it’s that there is a sense that everything is a setup for later in the series. There’s been quite a bit of talk about setting up the cheese pieces and while the game seems to be starting to some degree, at other times it still feels like the board is being stocked.
Considering the season is now four episodes deep, “setting things up” becomes a bit more annoying than it was just a few episodes ago. It’s even fair to say that Episode 3 was worth the time and effort to continue putting chess pieces on the board. However, it feels like it’s time to start the game, especially the one between theUNSC and the Covenant.
In fact, if anything it feels like the episode was a step back when it came to actually advance that particular plot. There were a few discoveries here and there that could come in very handy when it comes to future episodes. While this episode was likely the best of the season when it came to filling in some of the blanks, it’s also worth pointing out thatHalois now heading towards the midpoint of the season. At some point, the action needs to pick up a bit more. This particular installment would have absolutely been helped if it had a bit more action-packed into it as well.
Halois now available on Paramount Plus with new episodes launching every Thursday.
MORE:How Halo Infinite Season 2 Is Taking Fan Feedback Into Account
