Season 1 episode 5 of the science fiction series Halo follows Master Chief and his team of Spartans as they try to take the second artefact, discovered on Eridanus II, to Reach before Covenant can locate it. The series is currently streaming on Paramount+.
Recap
Halsey, accompanied by Jacob Keyes, came across John at the Reach for Life camp on Eridanus for the first time. In the very first encounter, they both were impressed by the remarkable strength shown by a young John.
In the present day, Jacob and Miranda have both arrived at Eridanus II as Halsey starts her testing on the second artefact which John found earlier. Cortana informs John about the enormous power the second artefact can generate. Halsey asks John to stay away from it until she completes further tests.
On Madrigal, Soren and Kwan Ha get stranded as their bike breaks down. Soren intends to catch a transport ship to escape the planet but Kwan shows resistance. Soren cuffs Kwan to the bike and leaves to find another set of wheels to reach the ship.
On Eridanus, Kai and the rest of the Silver team prepare with the marines to transport the artefact to the ship so that it can be safely taken to Reach before Covenant discovers it.
John notices the change in Kai and realises she has taken her pellet off. He denies to clear her for battle and grounds her on the ship. A brief confrontation follows between Kai and John about John’s decision to remove the pellet.
Makee has finally arrived on Madrigal as she searches for the artefact with the assistance of Elites.
John tells Jacob about his discoveries regarding Halsey’s involvement in his past. Although quick to console John with the promise to look into the matter personally, Jacob doesn’t waste any time before bringing the matter to Admiral Parangosky’s attention.
The admiral tries to cut off Halsey from the project, but Halsey’s cold resistance throws off Parangosky’s attempts.
At the excavation site at Eridanus, an experiment makes the artefact send an energy signal and reveal the second keystone. On Madrigal, Makee connects with the energy signal and is able to locate the keystone.
Miranda contemplates that the artefacts could be some other kind of device and not a weapon as Halsey presumed. However, Jacob shocks her by revealing that she’s been taken off the project.
John questions Cortana about any archives present in the UNSC database on the Spartan project. Failing to find anything about his history, John decides to touch the second keystone. Upon touching it, he sees glimpses of when he was taken by the UNSC from his home in Eridanus and comes to know of Halsey’s direct role in the same.
He questions Halsey and Halsey tries to calm him. An unconvinced and furious John prepares to attack Halsey, but Halsey uses Cortana to shut down John’s neural bridge, rendering him ineffective and unconscious briefly.
In Soren’s absence, Kwan manages to free herself. Soren returns to find Kwan gone. But, she tazes him from behind, leaving him unconscious. She gathers the strength to shoot him but finds herself failing to do so.
As John gains his consciousness back, the site is attacked by Covenant forces comprising of Jackals and Elites.
Kai also joins the defence but she gets distracted by the destruction around her and gets hurt. Halsey helps Miranda to get to a safe spot as the other three Spartans try to take the keystone to the ship. But Master Chief ignores Halsey’s orders to take a deviation in order to rescue Kai.
Following an explosive blast and some hand-on-hand combat, Master Chief tries to retrieve the artefact. But a Brute was able to take the artefact to the Covenant ship.
But before the ship leaves, Makee lands on the ground. As the smoke and dust clear away, Master Chief finds a human form amidst it. Before she faints, John comes face to face with Makee who’s disguised as a human survivor from the Covenant ship.
Review
- Possibly the best episode of the season so far.
- After the first episode, the action finally knocks on Halo’s door with some stylish combat and fun dialogues. Master Chief does some head bashing and it’s worth watching.
- Breaking the trend, much of the action centres at one location, providing an opportunity for the story to leap forward significantly by abandoning the simmering suspense the series has been treating the viewers with for the past episodes.
- There’s a brief banter between Cortana and Master Chief which will be fun to follow in coming episodes. Halsey is now clearly at odds with John and now he knows it too, providing great scope for escalation between the two main characters.
- The big meetup finally happens as the “demon” Master Chief comes across the “blessed one” Makee. A lot of the events of the previous episodes were leading up to the culmination served by this episode.
Rating: 4/5
Also Read: Halo season 1 episode 4 recap & review: Homecoming