Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Halo season 2, episode 4, “Reach”
Paramount’s Halo season 2 has finally depicted the plasma pistol as a strong and brutally effective weapon. While it might not be the most powerful weapon in the original Halo games, the Covenant’s most commonly used gun is still a deadly weapon that can be used to great effect. As such, this is finally confirmed in Halo season 2, episode 4 during the Covenant’s invasion of the planet Reach.
While the plasma pistol is most often used by lower-ranking members of the Covenant such as Grunts or Jackals, there are a few Sangheili Elites who also use the semi-automatic sidearm as well. This includes the Elite who fires his plasma pistol at Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schrieber) to great effect. To that end, here’s why Halo season 2’s plasma pistol was so powerful, and why the alien gun shouldn’t be taken for granted.
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Plasma Pistols Are Typically Viewed As Weak In The Halo Games
They Have To Be Charged
In the original Halo games, plasma pistols are easy to find in the hands of Grunts and Jackals, though in terms of power they don’t seem to offer much in the way of damage. However, the key advantage of the pistol is its ability to charge shots. This can then deplete an opponent’s shield and well as disable certain vehicles. That said, the plasma pistol is generally considered to be weaker than other Covenant and UNSC weapons that can be used in the games, such as the Covenant Needler.
However, the books confirm the plasma pistols true power and its ability to cause third-degree burns when striking marines and its ability to cause damage even from near-misses. Likewise, it’s established in the original canon of the games and books that a Marine not wearing armor could instantly be killed by a single shot from a plasma pistol. This is something that Halo season 2 finally reveals at the end of its fourth episode.
Halo Season 2 Proves How Brutal The Plasma Pistol Can Be
One Shot Takes Out A Spartan
As seen in Halo season 2, episode 4, the remaining UNSC force on Reach are doing all they can to help civilians evacuate the planet during the Covenant’s invasion of the colony world. This includes John-117 and his fellow Spartans, even though their typical Mjolnir armor was taken off-world by ONI’s Col. James Ackerson who fled Reach before the invasion began. As such, the episode ends with Master Chief taking a brutal end from Sangheili Elite’s plasma pistol just before he was about to have an energy sword duel Var ‘Gatanai.
While the plasma shot doesn’t kill the Spartan, John-117 is completely out of the fight and unable to stand. He’s then helpless to watch as fellow Spartan Vannak-134 is killed by the newly revealed Covenant commander. As a result, Halo season 2 tragically proves the true power of the easily dismissed plasma pistol in brutal fashion.
Halo
A live-action adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, Halo follows Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Pablo Schrieber) as he fights his part in a war between humanity’s United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and the Covenant, an alliance of multiple hostile races of aliens intent on destroying the human race. The Master Chief is supported by Cortana (Jen Taylor) – an AI construct based on the personality of Dr. Catherine Halsey, who created the Spartan supersoldier program – implanted in his brain.
