Halsey Is Wrong: She Saw Much More Than A City In Halo Season 2 Episode 7

Spoilers are ahead for Halo season 2, episode 7.

Although Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone) is an accomplished UNSC scientist and the creator of the Spartan-II program, she was wrong about the so-called “city” that viewers caught a glimpse of in Halo season 2, episode 7. After Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) and Halsey follow Kwan’s visions to the UNSC research site at the center of the underground Forerunner installation, the unlikely duo reunite with Commander Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray). Like her estranged mother, Miranda has been trying to solve a cryptic Forerunner puzzle and open a seemingly unyielding door. Luckily, Kwan’s visions of The Flood pay off.

Using her memory of the cave art from Halo season 2’s first episode, Kwan is able to arrange the Forerunner star map in accordance with how the galaxy once looked. Once the door opens, Dr. Halsey charges ahead. Previously, she found research-altering DNA (both “theirs and ours“) at the Forerunner site. Inside, a glowing bridge suspended over darkness guides the trio to a laboratory. Inside, they find an “almost human” scientist’s body. The being died clutching a mysterious device, which Halsey guesses is part of their research. However, the Forerunner lab isn’t the biggest discovery the characters make.

Dr. Halsey, Miranda Keyes & Kwan Discovered Onyx’s Forerunner Shield World

Although Halo season 2 teased Onyx’s secret Forerunner connection before, episode 7 confirms that the artificial planet will serve nearly the same purpose in the Silver Timeline as it does in the core canon. In addition to being a well-kept ONI secret, and the site of the Spartan-III training program, Onyx is a Forerunner Shield World. In their war with the all-consuming Flood, the Forerunners built several devices to thwart the parasitic entity. First, the Halo Array is a galaxy-sterilizing superweapon; in destroying all sentient life in the galaxy, the Halo Array effectively starves The Flood.

Shield Worlds, on the other hand, are defensive measures. Suspended in slipspace bubbles, they are safe from the Halo Array’s might. Moreover, Shield Worlds and their slipspace bubbles are generally hidden within artificial planets. Onyx is a perfect example: although it seems like a regular planet, Onyx was constructed by the Forerunners to hide the Shield World from The Flood. That said, Dr. Halsey’s remark about seeing an entire city upon exiting the laboratory is wrong, because what she’s actually seeing is just one part of something much larger. Where Halsey sees a city, there’s actually an entire Shield World.

Onyx’s Forerunner Shield World Will Be Crucial In Halo Season 3

When Dr. Halsey calls the Forerunner site “a library,” Halo sets up The Flood in its most substantial way yet. From the inclusion of the Forerunner Library and laboratory to Halsey’s discovery of genetic material at the site to Kwan’s increasingly dark visions of an all-consuming monster, The Flood are definitely arriving in Halo season 3. In order to safeguard sentient beings from The Flood’s onslaught, Shield Worlds like Onyx’s will be crucial. Plus, several characters are primed to arrive at the Halo, hinting at the superweapon’s activation, which is yet another reason why the Shield World is vital.