Season 1 episode 8 of the sci-fi series Halo follows Master Chief as he takes the help of Makee to track down the Covenant while Catherine Halsey puts her devious plans into action. The series is currently streaming on Paramount+.
Recap
John is still trying to put together what he saw upon touching the artefact. He’s curious to know more about his connection with Makee.
Halsey asks Cortana whether John trusts Makee. Cortana replies by saying that Chief doesn’t trust anybody at the moment.
He takes Makee out of captivity to explore Reach City. But Admiral Parangosky and Captain Jacob maintain a keen eye. Parangosky worries whether John knows about their involvement in his abduction. Captain Jacob reassures her.
Makee explores the city and tells John about her childhood friend who read to her from a book about such a place where people lived joyful lives and there was grass to walk on. John takes her to a secluded spot and tells her about his vision of the Halo.
On questioning Makee, she reveals the prophecy that forces the Covenant to chase the Halo. The prophecy suggests the cleansing of humanity from the world and Makee seems to agree that humanity is not worth saving.
But John, based on the few memories he gathered, suggests that there’s something special in humans.
The conversation is interrupted when two soldiers arrive to inform Chief about a situation that has developed on Criterion. The Covenant had attacked Criterion leading to the death of 11 million people as the city of Agade lay in ruins.
Master Chief joins Admiral Parangosky and Captain Keyes telling them that they should take the fight to the Covenant instead of waiting around. He suggests that Makee can help track the Covenant and the location of the second artefact using the one in their possession.
John tries to convince both of them saying that Makee has been turned against humans but she is still a human. Captain Jacob although hesitatingly agrees to the idea under Miranda’s supervision.
Meanwhile, Kai seems to have recovered from her injuries as Miranda gets the artefact ready for the test in order to capture any signals to and from the artefact. Miranda is still trying to translate the Sangheili message she intercepted.
John heads to inform Makee that she will get to interact with the artefact. As a gift, he also brings the book Makee mentioned earlier.
Makee gets emotional and kisses John before heading to share some intimate moments, which are closely observed by Cortana, who shares the information later with Halsey.
Later, when John’s asleep, Makee closely observes him and contemplates killing him using the weapon in her finger. Moments after, she takes out the weapon from her finger in a very painful manner.
Captain Jacob informs Haley that Admiral Parangosky wants her off the planet by noon. A bitter goodbye follows but Halsey is not one to back off so easily. She manages to gain access to Makee by faking Miranda’s authentication code.
She talks to Makee and tells her that the UNSC must never gain possession of Halo if it’s a weapon because humans will only use it to destroy themselves just as they caused destruction everywhere they went.
Halsey employs manipulative techniques to make Makee convince John to remove the artefact and take it to her.
Halsey tells Makee that she has a ship waiting and they can escape with the artefact to find Halo and unleash the true potential of the human species. Makee, who has probably heard such things in a similar vein during her time with the Covenant, asks Halsey to leave.
Cortana bears witness to this conversation and she had looked concerned ever since she saw John bonding with Makee. Cortana is finding it difficult to choose sides, but she sticks by Halsey, her creator.
Halsey goes ahead with her plan. She activates Zed Protocol and takes full command of the Spartans. She tasks Riz, Vannak and Kai with bringing the artefact, along with Master Chief and Makee, to her ship. On Kai questioning about Chief’s absence, Halsey tells them that he has been compromised.
Kai, sensing something fishy, tries to convince the other two that Chief cannot be compromised. Halsey, recognising that Kai is also a risky asset, orders Riz and Vannak to neutralise her.
Cortana asks Halsey about her plans with John once she has him in her possession. Halsey replies that John will be no longer needed once she has Makee. So, Cortana will be allowed to take over John’s consciousness and body. Cortana doesn’t show much enthusiasm but goes along.
Halsey gets Riz and Vannak ready to capture Chief as he heads down the elevator with Makee on their way to the artefact.
Meanwhile, Miranda understands that it’s Makee’s voice in the intercepted message. She tries to contact Captain Keyes but fails as Halsey has cut off the communication system. She rushes to warn Captain Keyes and Admiral Parangosky.
Halsey tells Cortana to put Chief in stasis once he comes face to face with Riz and Vannak. But Cortana instead leaves Halsey’s side and warns Chief about Halsey’s plans.
Chief leaves Makee’s side and asks her to find a marine and seek help. Chief then confronts Riz and Vannak who attack him according to Halsey’s commands.
Makee finds a marine who does not pay attention to Makee’s requests and takes her to Admiral Parangosky who was waiting for them at the test site. She tells them about the attack on Chief by the other two other Spartans. Parangosky asks her to wait there and sends marines to find Chief.
Kai, meanwhile, regains consciousness and manages to escape. She orders the marines to capture Halsey’s ship.
Cheif battles it out with Riz and Vannak. Cortana tries to assist him, but the two Spartans weigh heavy against Master Chief. In the nick of time, Kai manages to come to his rescue.
Makee was trying to explain the situation to Admiral Parangosky and Captain Keyes just when Miranda appears and tells them about how Makee slaughtered the soldiers on the UNSC ship. Makee responds by saying she had no choice agreeing to her crime.
Captain Keyes orders marine Malya to arrest Makee. Malya pushes Makee to the ground and brands her back with a weapon evoking Makee’s memories of her first encounter with the Sangheili soldiers who also did the same to her.
To escape, Makee touches the artefact sending a huge power surge through the base.
Master Chief, who was in a standoff with Riz and Vannak at this moment, gets transported again to Halo where he witnesses Makee bidding farewell to him. John tries to stop her but she vanishes. The episode ends with John falling unconscious.
Review
- The episode successfully establishes the conflict and gets all the characters involved in the action. It’s tough to drop the series at this point.
- The long exposition and character build-up finally pay off. The episode answers many questions and most importantly, sheds light on Covenant’s true motivations behind pursuing Halo.
- It’s interesting to see the many shifts that happen throughout the episode with Halsey taking control and Makee changing allegiances, in addition to Cortana also picking a side between John and Halsey.
- The episode only falters by sacrificing the storyline of Kwan Ha’s journey again to focus on the action ensuing at Reach. This creates an imbalance when the episodes return to Madrigal every time, resulting in inconsistencies in the graph of the story.
- The writing for Halsey is brilliant and adds immense character to this white coat wearing evil genius mastermind that the series has been pushing all this while.
Rating: 4.5/5
Also Read: Halo season 1 episode 7 recap & review: Inheritance