Joseph Morgan Breaks Down Halo Season 2 Finale, The Flood’s Introduction & Season 3 Hopes

Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Halo season 2, episode 8, “Halo”!

After two seasons of building up to it, the Halo season 2 finale has finally brought the show to the titular homeworld. The episode saw Master Chief racing against both the Covenant and Makee and the Arbiter to make it to the Halo array in the hopes of preventing any of them from using it to wipe out humanity. Meanwhile, Colonel Ackerson finds himself reluctantly working with Soren in the hopes of escaping ONI’s Onyx base as an outbreak of the Flood threatens to take all of their lives.

The Halo season 2 ending effectively served as a bridge between the divisive season 1 and a closer adherence to the lore of the games, namely with Master Chief regaining his suit and acknowledging its use as a symbol for humanity’s fight against the Covenant. While still delivering some changes from the games, including Makee successfully making it into the Forerunner structure on the ringworld and Chief killing the Arbiter, a key ally in later titles, it’s clear that new showrunner David Wiener is eager to remedy many of audiences’ issues with the first season.

In honor of the ending, Screen Rant interviewed Joseph Morgan to discuss the Halo season 2 finale, his enthusiasm for the introduction of the Flood, Ackerson’s alliance change, and what everything means for a potential season 3. The star also reflected on the legacy of his Vampire Diaries character Klaus and shared why he almost didn’t return for his Legacies cameo.

Morgan Didn’t Know Ackerson’s Full Halo Season 2 Arc

Screen Rant: I’m very excited to talk about the Halo season 2 finale. I find it interesting to see Ackerson starting to move away from this UNSC bureaucrat who loves his power to someone who is almost an ally to Chief and Soren. What was it like for you, and did you know about that from the start?

Joseph Morgan: No, I didn’t know fully about it. I knew that Ackerson was going to be painted as the villain in the beginning, and then we were going to find out that he wasn’t actually the antagonist and that he’d been led to a certain extent. But no, I wasn’t aware of the unlikely allies that he would have later, I think sort of allies of convenience when in the situations with them, so that was exciting to me. And then also, of course, the new threat that comes in the finale.

I wasn’t aware of that until I read the script and was like, “Oh my God.” Yeah, very, very excited about that. And who knows, should we go for a season 3, where Ackerson will end up, because he’s been left on this ship with Soren, and he’s got no organization anymore. He’s got no allegiance, he’s got no job. So he’s in the market for a new career, and I think he’s also been through something which is quite life-changing, he’s sacrificed everything for an organization that ultimately betrayed him. I’m really interested to see where it could go from here.

You mentioned he started as a villainous type of character for Chief and everybody else. Do you feel that he has started the path of redemption come the finale? Or do you think he can even be fully redeemed given the cloning situation with his sister and the assisted suicide of his father?

Joseph Morgan: I don’t know, it depends what redemption means to you really, because I feel like those two things were justified. [Laughs] But that’s maybe because I’m very much seeing things from Ackerson’s point of view, but the cloning of his sister was to show Halsey how much she took from his family and to demonstrate to her what she was doing time and time again, stealing these children away from people, ultimately most of whom wouldn’t survive. And then his father, that was asked for by his father. It was a mercy, I think. I don’t know.

I mean, you have to see things from the point of view of your character, I think, when you play them, or at least try to understand where they’re coming from. But yeah, I do think that what happened on Reach has had a huge influence on Ackerson. I think it’s changed the way he thinks about everything. The way that Parangosky hung him out to dry, I think that changed his world view. So yeah, I think there is hope for redemption. He’s just got to find someone or something that he cares about now.

The Flood’s Introduction Was A Treat For Halo Game Fan Morgan

You mentioned the big threat in the finale, and as a huge fan of the games, I was so excited to finally see the Flood come in, and the blend of practical effects and visual effects for those characters was pretty exciting to see. What was it like for you on set, seeing that sort of meld and having to act against them?

Joseph Morgan: Oh, it was great. I mean, having played the games as well, I had an idea of what I was supposed to be imagining, and then the effects makeup that they did, the special effects makeup and stuff, was pretty intense and incredible. So yeah, it was really exciting. There’s a certain element of using your imagination, which is part of the job anyway, so you just have to more vividly imagine what’s happening.

But yeah, it was exciting, mostly as well, because I knew how much introducing that element would mean to the fandom of Halo, being one of those fans myself, how excited I was to read the script and go, “Oh, we’re doing the Flood? Oh my God, we’re doing the Flood!” [Chuckles] So, being on set and being a part of that, I would’ve been devastated if I wasn’t in some way a part of that storyline as it starts to affect the characters.

Most of the show, we don’t get to see that side of you, but what was it like actually getting to be a part of some action in this very action-heavy show?

Joseph Morgan: It was great. I love the action stuff, and I’ve done a fair bit of it in the past. I’ve always really enjoyed the physical side of it. So yeah, I was excited to do that and explore it. I couldn’t really complain earlier in the season, because I felt like my scenes were so terrific that were written for me, and the character was so interesting and layered and dynamic and complex. I was just really excited to have those opportunities. But yeah, I did feel a bit like throughout filming, “Throw me the ball, I want to do some of the action.” [Chuckles] So yeah, it was nice to do that a bit in the finale.

New Showrunner David Wiener Was Key To Halo Season 2’s Better Reviews

This season has seen far better reception from both critics and audiences as it moves closer to the games. I know you weren’t on board for season 1, but what’s it been like seeing that shift in reception towards the more positive side rather than a mixed side?

Joseph Morgan: It’s been very pleasing to me. I watched season 1 right around when I was offered the role, it was right after season 1 came out. I watched the first two episodes of season 1, and then I read the first couple of scripts of season 2 on the same evening, I think. First of all, I think it’s a better show. I think it’s a grittier, more grounded show, and it certainly introduces more elements of the canon, and is more the Halo that I remember and love. So it’s really pleasing for me to see people coming around to it, and realizing it’s actually a terrific show now, and really much more like what we sat on a sofa with a controller in our hand and watching a little small 2D screen playing. It’s great.

I love where this season has gone as far as getting closer to that lore. I’m hopeful for Halo season 3. You mentioned it at the top that you’re hopeful as well, but have you heard any possible progress on it?

Joseph Morgan: Have you heard anything? Because if you know something, and you’re here to tell me, then… [Chuckles]. No, look, I know that the show was well received critically, and I know that we’ve had a very passionate and positive response from the fandom, and I know that it got some great numbers in terms of viewing figures, so that’s it. That’s all I know. I’m waiting for the phone to ring, man. I would love to come and do another season, especially because I feel like there was a changing of the guard for season 2 and the new showrunner, David Wiener, brought me on.

He was responsible for me being a part of the show, and he was responsible for changing the vision of the show and the direction of the show. But he also had the cards dealt to him from season 1 of like, “Here’s where you start. You have to play off this.” But now, I feel like, especially with the introduction of the Flood now, season 3 is going to be epic if we get to do that. So yeah, I am very hopeful.

Morgan Is Grateful To Vampire Diaries Fans For Their Klaus Love (But, Also, “Shame On You“)

I know I have many people at Screen Rant who are big Vampire Diaries fans and who still are saddened about Klaus’ death all these years later. Do you have any words of consolation for them as the universe continues to possibly expand with future stories?

Joseph Morgan: First of all, thank you to everyone who came with me on that journey, because that was a hell of a ride, and I invested a lot of energy and emotion in that character, and I’m really glad people responded to it and to him. I think that character’s story is told. I wasn’t even going to come back to Legacies, I just did that final episode, because it was the final ever episode, and I thought, “Go on, then, it’ll be nice to bring him back once more.” It was such a beautiful speech Julie wrote for me. So I did that, but I feel like his story is told.

I would, however, like to do something in that world, like the vampire world again. My wife and I have a little production company, and we have a project in development that does take place in those sort of darker realms, so I would be excited to do something like that, certainly. More than anything, I just appreciate the fandom that invested in that terrible, terrible vampire-werewolf hybrid who did awful things. Shame on you all, by the way, for supporting him. [Laughs]

About Halo Season 2

In season two, Master Chief John-117 leads his team of elite Spartans against the alien threat known as the Covenant. In the wake of a shocking event on a desolate planet, John cannot shake the feeling that his war is about to change and risks everything to prove what no one else will believe – that the Covenant are preparing to attack humanity’s greatest stronghold. With the galaxy on the brink, John embarks on a journey to find the key to humankind’s salvation, or its extinction — the Halo.

Check out our previous Halo season 2 interviews with:

• Pablo Schreiber
• David Wiener & Kiki Wolfkill

The first two seasons of Halo are streaming in their entirety on Paramount+.