Summary
While some of the talking drags on unnecessarily, Episode 2 ramps up the tension with a Covenant invasion seemingly looming on Reach. Chief is overly pushy with his allies, preventing him from being caring. Joseph Morgan’s Ackerson continues to shine.
The first episode of Halo Season 2 reintroduced audiences to Master Chief, a genetically engineered super soldier who is the United Nations Space Command’s best hope of defeating the alien Covenant. It pivoted away from some controversial elements of Season 1, though still featured some of its flaws. Episode 2 is similar, with the conflict on Reach heating up, and the show dragging audiences away every so often to issues elsewhere in the galaxy.
But this is minimized, and the conflict occurring on Reach is broadly compelling. The SPARTANs around Chief are fleshed out further, though Chief himself spends the episode annoyed and hot under the helmet. Probably why he keeps taking it off.
Doctor Halsey is in an unknown location, trying to figure out who her captor is. A young girl walks in with tea and cake, even stopping to play Backgammon. Halsey questions the girl about the rooms outside; she says that there are hallways and doors but is more interested in playing the game. Her nose bleeds profusely, a tell-tale sign that this girl is a flash-clone, who have short lifespans. Before Halsey can get any more out of the girl, she dies, her head slamming on the table.
In training, Riz-028 experiences intense pain in her left arm. Kai-125 attempts to say that she needs to tell Ackerson and take a break, but Riz-028 flatly refuses. Kai-125 then talks with Chief, who says that Ackerson won’t let Silver Team on combat operations, as he thinks Chief is mentally unstable. Chief also mentions that he thinks Makee is alive, something that Kai-125 rejects as she shot Makee on Aspero.
As the pair talk, a marine changes the status of Cobalt Team to Standby, only to get yelled at by Chief to say that Cobalt isn’t back yet, so the marine must undo his changes. The poor guy explains that he doesn’t really know what’s happening, and that orders came from above to change the status. Orders from Ackerson.
What’s going on with Kwan?
Cutting to the Rubble, Kwan makes her way through the tagging center where refugees are turned into slaves. She swipes a cutting device and goes to a back alley to remove her tag. Her owner follows, so Kwan is forced to run, escaping down a trash chute. She hides as her owner and a guard come to get her. As the pair split up, she forces the guard out of an airlock and stabs her owner.
On Reach, Riz-028 insists on training. Her instructor stops her offers his help, and even eases the pain for a moment. Riz-028 tells him that he shouldn’t help her, at least not in full view of the other SPARTANs. She refuses to display weakness, something military members struggle with. Her instructor says that there are other ways to live and not be a SPARTAN, but Riz-028 throws the idea back in his face, and she apologizes when she realizes she offended him.
Where is Cobalt Team?
Chief strolls into Ackerson’s office, demanding to know where Cobalt Team is. Ackerson dodges the question, saying that SPARTANs never die, referencing the famous phrase and Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) propaganda line “SPARTANs never die, they’re just missing in action.” This enrages Chief, who urges Ackerson to let Silver Team find them, but Ackerson refuses, saying that he is the one running the show. He questions Chief’s report on Sanctuary, saying no one corroborated it, not even Perez. Ackerson then calls into question Chief himself, saying that he’s just a guy in a suit, revealing the fakeness of the Master Chief propaganda ONI peddles.
Laera visits Soren’s ship, which the crew are attempting to fix. She complains that it would be fixed by now, but Soren’s second-in-command says it was more damaged than they thought. She demands they speed up to find Soren, leaving. Kwan warns Kessler they’re all in danger, but how she got this premonition isn’t explained.
Silver Team engages in training. Riz-028 struggles with the demands, and then is shot by Chief and falls from a cliff. Chief forces her up, and demands they go again. Riz-028 falls again, prompting Kai-125 to tell Chief not to push too hard, but he just says the Covenant is coming to Reach and to prove it he will find Cobalt. He seems more robotic like his pellet is back.
Halsey tries to get information out of another clone, but it dies as comically as before. Riz-028 is brought to a masseur by her instructor, who reveals he used to be a SPARTAN before he went blind. The therapy helps ease Riz-028’s pain. Kai-125 seemingly betrays her team by talking to Ackerson about Chief’s state but changes her mind midway when Ackerson asks if Chief is a threat, saying no.
Chief meets Perez and her family and has a meal with them. Her cousin thinks war is just a game, even asking about Chief’s kill-death ratio. They toast to the bravery of marines. Perez’s cousin mocks it, prompting Perez to leave. Later, Chief and Perez talk about Sanctuary, with Perez saying she heard a message in the interference, that’s how she knew her team wasn’t alone. Now they’re all gone, and Perez is there, ashamed she lived, which is why she lied to Ackerson. Chief isn’t comforting, saying she’ll forever see ghosts of her unit.
Who captured Halsey?
Halsey finds out her captor is Ackerson. He taunts her with a story that only Cortana knew about a pomegranate tree from Halsey’s childhood, leaving Halsey begging if Cortana is safe. As Ackerson leaves, Halsey taunts him with the story of how his sister died during SPARTAN-II augmentation, explaining why Ackerson hates Halsey and her work. He goes to meet Cortana, who runs an unexplained simulation, which has a 97% chance of happening. Ackerson is disappointed and unable to change the outcome. While leaving, he says he’ll see Cortana again, but she sees through the lie.
Chief searches for Cobalt’s flight plan, but their callsign has been purged. He calls up all SPARTAN flight plans, cross-checking with comms relays, and eventually finds an unknown flight plan in the Epsilon Eridani system, to Visegrád Relay on Reach. Chief realizes Cobalt never left the planet. When Chief and Silver Team leave for training, Chief hijacks the Condor to fly them to the relay. Silver Team is unsure. Chief explains the relay on Sanctuary went down before the Covenant attacked, drawing a link. Kai-125 isn’t convinced the mission is authorized, but Chief simply states “The Covenant are on Reach.”
In a bunker, marines fight an unseen enemy. When the Sangheili leader ignites his energy sword, audiences are treated to a brief massacre. Out behind him, Makee, somehow alive, reveals herself. The warrior complains about sneaking, but Makee ignores him. They find a Forerunner artifact, and the episode ends when Makee touches it.
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