Summary
Halo rebounds with “Homecoming,” which feels slightly off-kilter and has some satisfying reveals.
Read the season 1 review of Halo.
Halo season 1, episode 4 recap
The episode “Homecoming” starts with children, who cannot be more than ten years old, jogging in military formation. One of them is John-117, our Master Chief. He later tries to escape again, and a young Dr. Halsey asks him why? He wants to go home but doesn’t remember where home is. That’s when Dr. Halsey tells him how he has such unique leadership skills, and she is counting on it to save all of us. It’s the kind of thing kidnappers do when manipulating their victims to become indebted to them.
The Madrigal object may not be a weapon, per Dr. Halsey, but there is the intelligence behind it and may lead to a greater one somewhere she wants to meet. But why does it respond to only Master Chief’s touch? That is something Dr. Halsey intends to find out. Meanwhile, Cortana tells Master Chief he is experiencing anxiety, something he has never felt before. “I’m going home,” he says. They then fly out of slip space and land outside his home planet of Eridanus II.
Back at UNSC headquarters, everyone on the Spartan team wants to be like Master Chief. Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy) has also taken out the hormonal pellet in her back that blocks the team members from having elevated emotions. She then colors her hair with streaks of red, which look like blood from her hands, and ties it back. Kai-125 is finally showing some rebellion.
Meanwhile, Dr. Keyes begins her testing on the object and will use the rest of the Spartan team to run tests. Kai-125 is especially interested, but the good doctor first uses one of the other warriors. Keyes finds out that Vannak is unworthy as the object does not light up when he touches it. Kai gives Keyes some attitude because she knows she doesn’t like them. Kai knows she won’t activate the object and feels it without fear. It stays silent.
Soren and Kwan Ha land on Madrigal, where Vinisher Grath has taken over the colony with an iron fist. Kwan attends the memorial for her father, but there is a bounty on her head. She soon finds out her father’s second in command has made a deal with Grath, and his men break up the memorial for him. They take over Soren’s ship, and he warns Kwan there are no more heroes. He tries to leave, but Kwan stops him. She promises to pay him when they locate Kwan’s Aunt.
As they make their way to Aunt Soojin, Grath recruits a woman named Franco to eliminate them before becoming trouble for him. Soren soon discovers that they scrapped his entire ship and ripped its guts for parts. Meanwhile, Kwan is told by her Aunt there is no more money. And she has this little tidbit — Kwan’s father visited a group called the Mystics, and he came back changed. He comes back convinced their true purpose will be revealed to Madrigal when Franco enters and kills Aunt Soojin and is saved by Soren’s golden gun when he comes back for her.
Master Chief and Dr. Halsey find his old home, and he remembers how he had to bury something while his mother watched from the balcony. When they start to dig, they find a capsule full of Master Chief’s drawings as a child. Dr. Halsey wants to go back to the ship, but he moves on into the house. Cortana begins to project memories and his movements, which Dr. Halsey hopes will lead them to a discovery of the second object.
Soon, they find John is doing this on his own. His mother is letting him play. His father shows him he can grow plants with a flick of his wrist. He runs around with his faithful golden retriever, Ellie. Then, John sees his mother drawing those endless pictures of the objects and hanging them. She looks concerned. His father demands to know what he is drawing next. (One looks like several hands holding a round object). Then Master Chief sees himself as that young lad and goes down into an underground cavern. He touches something on the wall, and it shakes. A light then flashes, and he watches himself run away.
His last vision has him approaching his pubescent self, talking to Dr. Halsey in his own parent’s home. He questions why she was there, but she tells him trauma can muddle his memories. After Cortana runs some tests, they find Master Chief mixes his emotions with memories and releases neural clusters that will make it nearly impossible to predict what he may remember next. Master Chief comes over and says he knows where the second object is.
The ending
The final scenes show Kai and Dr. Keyes going over the recording from Makee. As they talk about Kai’s bit of rebellion in her new hairstyle, she hears something. She translates the words as “sacred ring,” and Kai knows what she said.
Halo.
Finally, as Soren and Kwan head out to jump on a ship out of town, Master Chief leads them to the second object. When we hear Dr. Keyes to Kai, Dr. Halsey could see her act of rebellion as a glitch in the system.
And Dr. Halsey doesn’t tolerate glitches.
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