Warning! Spoilers ahead for Halo season 2, episode 5, “Aleria”
Halo season 2 features a very different aftermath in the wake of the Fall of Reach. With the UNSC stronghold world having been attacked and glassed by the alien Covenant, the end of the Human-Covenant War is drawing to a close as both sides get even closer to finding the first of the Halo rings. However, there are some notable differences between what happens after reach in the games compared to what’s been seeing the new show streaming on Paramount+.
As seen in Halo season 2, episode 4, the Covenant was already on Reach before the public was made aware. Although Fleet High Command knew an invasion was imminent, they also knew that nothing could stopping, electing instead to keep the attack secret so as not to create a panic. This resulted in some major deaths as well as Reach being lost, just as it was in Halo’s core canon. However, the aftermath of Reach as revealed in Halo season 2, episode 5 (titled “Aleria”) is quite different.
Halo Cast, Character & Video Game Comparison Guide
Paramount+’s Halo TV show cast is led by Pablo Schreiber as the Master Chief – and here’s all viewers need to know about the rest of the cast!
What Happens To Master Chief And His Allies In Paramount’s Halo After Reach
Finding Refuge on Aleria
With Vannak-134 having died during the Fall of Reach and John-117 incapacitated by a plasma pistol, all was seemingly lost before the timely arrival of Soren’s wife Laera piloting his ship in Halo season 2, episode 5 (along with Kwan-Ha). As a result, John-117, Riz-028, Soren, and Doctor Catherine Halsey were all rescued as multiple ships carrying civilians also managed to escape before the Covenant glassed the planet. Landing on Aleria, Laera and Soren begin searching for their missing son while Halsey tends to Riz’s wounds. Eventually, the decision is made to burn rather than bury Vannak’s body.
Meanwhile, the advanced AI Cortana is in the hands of the Covenant’s Blessed One Makee and the Arbiter Var’ Gatanai who seeks redemption via the death of John-117. Having apparently convinced Cortana that being useful was better than termination, Makee and the Arbiter choose to go rogue using Cortana’s data, defying the judgment of the Covenant’s Hierarchs and heading in search of the first Halo ring. At the same time, Halsey is urging John-117 to help locate the first ring as well, rather than seeking revenge on ONI and UNSC’s High Command.
To that end, the fate of Kai-125 is finally revealed on Onyx, the secret UNSC world with ONI’s Colonel James Ackerson. She’s apparently agreed to train Ackerson’s new force of Spartan-IIIs, the implication being that she’s become his right-hand woman. All in all, it’s a very different sequence of events compared to what’s seen in the core canon of the games and novels when it comes to Reach’s aftermath.
What Happens To Master Chief and The UNSC In The Halo Games/Novels
Straight To The First Halo Ring
There are key differences following The Fall of Reach as seen in the games and books. Firstly, John-117 and the UNSC ship known as the Pillar of Autumn head straight from Reach’s demise to the first Halo ring, a somewhat blind jump using coordinates from Cortana upon studying a Forerunner artifact. Likewise, the Covenant is close behind, resulting in the conflict on the first Halo ring known as Installation-04 (as seen in the franchise’s first game Halo: Combat Evolved). Additionally, Admiral Keyes is in command, having survived Reach as opposed to his death in Halo season 2, episode 4.
Rather than being captured by the Covenant, Cortana is safely delivered to John-117 and The Pillar of Autumn by Noble Team (the squad of Spartans from the Halo: Reach prequel game who are notably absent in the show). Likewise, the Covenant would continue to attack other colony worlds such as Tribute and Coral. Furthermore, no Covenant leaders went rogue against the Hierarchs, and instead Reach’s supreme commander Thel ‘Vadam was tasked with securing Installation-04, a mission he failed, resulting in his new role as an Arbiter as seen in Halo 2 and beyond.
Additionally, Ackerson’s secret Spartan-III program was already in development long before Reach, though Halsey did discover its existence shortly after the Fall (which will likely happen in the Halo series as well). Likewise, Halsey was escorted off Reach by UNSC forces in the games, though she wasn’t with John-117 or the Pillar of Autumn. Instead, she continued to have a contentious relationship with the UNSC High Command to the point that she even defected and joined forces with the remains of the Covenant in the years that followed (due to her obsession with the Forerunners and all they left behind).
Will Halo Season 2 Finally Bring Master Chief To The First Ring?
What About Cortana?
Regardless of all the changes between the Halo show’s new “Silver Timeline” and the franchise’s core canon with the game and books, it does look as though all points are converging on the first Halo ring. With any luck, both the Covenant and John-117 will finally on the ring’s surface by Halo season 2’s finale. This would then mean that a potential Halo season 3 could adapt the events of the first Halo game, something that would undoubtedly be very entertaining alongside the long-awaited reunion between Master Chief and Cortana.
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.
- Cast
- Jen Taylor , Bokeem Woodbine , Charlie Murphy , Shabana Azmi , Kate Kennedy , Natascha McElhone , Yerin Ha , Bentley Kalu , Pablo Schreiber , Danny Sapani , Olive Gray , Natasha Culzac
- Release Date
- March 24, 2022
- Seasons
- 2
- Franchise(s)
- Halo
- Writers
- Kyle Killen , Silka Luisa , Richard Robbins , Steven Kane , Justine Juel Gillmer
- Directors
- Otto Bathurst , Jonathan Liebesman , Roel Reiné , Dennie Gordon , Debs Paterson , Craig Zisk , Jessica Lowrey
- Showrunner
- Kyle Killen
- Creator(s)
- Kyle Killen , Steven Kane
- Where To Watch
- Paramount+
