Who Is James Ackerson? Halo Season 2’s Halsey Replacement Explained

Spoilers are ahead for Halo season 2, episodes 1 & 2.

While plenty of familiar faces return for Halo season 2, including Pablo Schreiber’s often-unmasked Master Chief, the Paramount+ show’s sophomore outing adds an important new character to the roster: James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan). At the end of Halo season 1, it’s revealed that Natascha McElhone’s Dr. Halsey has a sinister purpose for Cortana. Instead of forming one half of a team, the A.I. assistant is meant to overwhelm the Chief’s mind and take control of his body. For Dr. Halsey, John-117’s humanity is a flaw. Cortana comes clean about her directive, earning the Chief’s trust.

However, Halo season 1’s ending actually sees Master Chief instructing Cortana to take over his consciousness. The effort transforms John into an unstoppable fighting machine, though the Cortana implant is later removed from him. Meanwhile, Spartan program creator Dr. Halsey eludes UNSC capture: not only was a flash-clone assuming her duties, but, in a voice-over, the actual Halsey reveals herself to be something of a Halo ring fanatic. So, with an M.I.A. Halsey being branded a criminal by the UNSC and ONI, Halo season 2 makes room for a new director of the Spartan program.

Ackerson Is Halsey’s Replacement In Halo Season 2

In the sophomore outing’s first installment, Master Chief’s Halo season 2 return is defined by what he witnesses on Sanctuary. Before the Covenant glass the planet, the Chief fights off a battalion of energy sword-wielding Elites to save a Marine, Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo). As he reunites with Perez, the Chief sees the flickers of dozens of more energy swords igniting in the fog; they’re surrounded. A garbled transmission flits through the air and the Elites loom for a moment — but then they leave. Perez and John-117 escape intact, but are consumed by what they witnessed.

That’s where Dr. Halsey’s replacement, Colonel James Ackerson, comes in. The new director of the Spartan program, Ackerson clearly has a single-minded agenda. “I’m here because I believe in you, and I believe in this program,” he tells Master Chief and the rest of Silver Team upon meeting them. By his own admission, Ackerson isn’t keen to “dismantle” Halsey’s work or even “replace” her, but he also isn’t keen on listening to what John has to say about the oddities on Sanctuary. In fact, Ackerson doubts the Chief’s mental state and refuses to clear Silver Team for combat.

Colonel James Ackerson Is From The Halo Books

A colonel in the UNSC Army who’s employed by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) during the Human-Covenant War, James Ackerson appears in several Halo tie-in novels and comics, including The Fall of Reach, First Strike, Ghosts of Onyx, and Uprising. The ruthless and ambitious Ackerson of the Halo novels is locked in a rivalry with Dr. Halsey. While Dr. Halsey was creating the SPARTAN-II program, Ackerson pitched the SPARTAN-III program, proving that he was comfortable “trading lives for time.” Eager to disgrace Halsey, he attempted to kill John-117 during a field test.

John’s Mark V MJOLNIR armor, which was augmented by Cortana, protected him from Ackerson’s onslaughts, but the colonel’s actions certainly deepened the rivalry between himself and Halsey. Even Cortana isn’t above hacking into Ackerson’s files to seek revenge. Eventually, Ackerson is reassigned to the front lines where he’s captured and killed by Covenant forces. Clearly, Halo season 2 takes some liberties with the preexisting James Ackerson character. While the show’s Ackerson saw combat, served as an ONI intelligence officer, and developed a distaste for Halsey, he’s definitely a different person than his novel counterpart.

Who Plays Ackerson In Halo Season 2?

In Halo season 2, Joseph Morgan plays James Ackerson. Long before he was serving as Halsey’s seemingly sinister replacement, Morgan had a breakthrough moment as Klaus Mikaelson on The Vampire Diaries. Later, he ended up reprising his Vampire Diaries character as the star of the fantasy-supernatural drama’s spin-off series, The Originals. That said, he also shows up in The Originals‘ spin-off, Legacies. Outside of The Vampire Diaries universe, Morgan appeared in Titans as Sebastian Sanger (a.k.a. Brother Blood) and the Peacock adaptation of Brave New World.

Halo Season 2’s Ackerson Strengthens The Show By Opposing Master Chief

While Halo season 1 faced a bevy of backlash for its depiction of Master Chief, Halo lore, and fight sequences, the show’s second installment features a new showrunner and approach. Still, Halo season 2 doubles down on Schreiber spending most of his time sans helmet, which is disappointing in some respects. However, John’s clashes with Ackerson make this deviation from the source material a little bit more understandable. Without a doubt, Ackerson is one of Halo season 2’s more compelling characters. Halsey’s replacement stands in the Chief’s way at every turn and seems keen on creating friction with Silver Team.

At the end of Halo season 2, episode 2, “Sword,” it’s revealed that Ackerson is turning a blind eye to the Covenant’s imminent invasion of Reach. Clearly, he’s plotting something sinister. Perhaps Ackerson is like his book counterpart: unafraid to sacrifice lives for time — or a good story to sell to the public. When it’s revealed that Ackerson is holding Dr. Halsey captive in a kind of virtual reality prison cell (and pumping Cortana for information about her creator), Halo insinuates that Ackerson’s history with Halsey runs deep, making him a stellar addition to the floundering series.