In “Sword” John pushes Silver Team to its limit as he searches for missing Spartans. Kai worries about John's stability. Kwan finds the Rubble is a far more dangerous place in Soren's absence. John thinks the missing Spartans haven’t left the planet. On Reach we see a batch of Marines get killed by a big Covenant Alien. Makee is also there, apparently the Marines were defending another object, which Makee has now access to. Halsey seeks the identity of her captor; at first sight this seems to be Ackerson himself. Note - Ackerson is a real bastard, at least, that is how we should see him I guess and that is working! He doesn’t trust the Chief, because Perez, which he saved, doesn’t corroborate the Chief’s explanation of events.

“Visegrad” is a great episode, John goes rogue with Silver Team. Laera, Kwan and Kessler attempt escape from mutineers. Cortana gives Ackerson alarming intel. Perez tells Chief she saw too, Makee, at Sanctuary. Ackerson and higher up military personnel already know that the Covenant is on Reach, Keyes didn’t. They will fight but they believe they cannot win, so the high placed personnel flee Reach, as also Ackerson, but Keyes stays put. Ackerson brings Soren to Halsey. Note - I thought this was one of the best episodes. The magnitude of it all, how the government is willing to let millions of people get slaughtered, while they themselves flee. The prayer of the enemy, Perez heard, was also impactful.

“Reach” is the best episode of the series in my opinion! The Covenant start their assault on Reach, John and Perez fight to join up with Fleetcom. Halsey and Soren were in some kind of a bunker, on Reach, they form an unlikely alliance to get to the top. The Covenant now have Cortana, Halsey also sees Makee. While the Silver team and the marines try to help flee as many civilians as possible, they are in heavy fighting with these big aliens. Keyes gives his life so that the last transport can leave with Perez on it. Halsey is devastated as she is unable to help her ex-husband. Chief gets badly hit, before he gets the final strike, Makee stops the alien general, but Vannak gets killed. Soren, who joined the fight, tries to save the Chief. Note - The best episode of the whole series, all 17 episodes! 😊 From minute one till the final minute, this episode grabbed me by the throat, a rollercoaster ride from the get-go. The SFX looks phenomenal too.

In “Aleria” Chief, Soren and the others are still in heavy fights but are saved by Soren’s wife Laera and Kwan. Soren and Laera decide to go to Aleria to find their missing son Kessler. John is trying to cope with the loss of his friend Vannak. Riz, who went back to get Vannak, is wounded and is overthinking her next steps. Kai is serving Ackerson. Makee wants answers from Cortana but so far, she isn’t getting any. Kwan wants a ceremony for Vannak, Chief reluctantly agrees. Note – After the previous episode, this one is perhaps less interesting for some, but I don’t mind these kinds of stories in between action pieces, time to breathe and getting more into depth into the characters.

In “Onyx” John seeks revenge on a secret ONI planet. Perez trains to become a new kind of soldier with Kai as their trainer. Kai finds herself torn between her Spartan code and her loyalty to Master Chief. Makee turns to Cortana for help in her search for the Halo. Kai is manipulated by Ackerson, she beats Chief to a pulp because it was an order. Chief tries to challenge her and in part succeeds. Halsey is back where it all started, underground, there she finds her daughter. Soren and his wife are still searching for their son, it appears he has been taken by the UNSC. Most likely to become one of the next generations of Spartans. Cortana helps Chief get to the object, sends a signal from the covenant ship to the ONI planet. Makee and John Simultaneously touch the object! Note – Another great episode in my opinion. Disturbing how easy the ONI people manipulate and misuse everyone. Was very annoying to see how Kai was manipulated by Ackerson and beating her former chief to a pulp. Only because she was wearing the suit she was able to of course.

In “Thermopylae” As humanity and the Covenant race to control the galaxy's ultimate weapon, John comes face to face with Makee. A disturbing revelation leads Ackerson to question his loyalties. Admiral Margaret Parangosky does not have any remorse about sending thousands of people to their deaths, including the newly formed Spartan team. Soren and Laera's relationship begins to fracture under the weight of Soren's past. Kessler is brought to a place where Spartans are made. Soren feels an urge to become a Spartan again. Halsey, Kwan and Miranda work to solve the mystery within an alien archaeological site. They find human and alien DNA. Note - This was another gem of an episode, I know I will rewatch this show for many years to come, it consumes me, I love it.

The series finale (hopefully this will change) is almost as good as “Reach”! The climactic battle for the Halo begins. John makes a fateful choice. He chooses his comrades first. After this, he is going to save Cortana and while doing that, he arrives inside the Halo. Kai sacrifices herself by ramming into the lead Covenant ship. Soren and Kwan undertake a rescue mission, to find Soren’s wife and Kessler. Something is happening, the device Miranda found, turns out to be deadly. If infected, people turn into sort of zombies. Soren is able to help escape his wife and child, and also Ackerson, who saved his wife and child from such a zombie. Laera sacrifices herself when she realizes she is infected too. The whole base is infested with these human to zombie turned creatures, even Halsey is infected, Miranda puts her in stasis to prevent her from turning. In the Halo, Chief kills the Arbitrary, he and Makee proceed but as opposites. Note – As I said, I never played the game, so I have no reference, so for me, it doesn’t matter if it deviates from it. For me a perfect episode with some nice twists. Didn’t see these zombie creatures coming!

Final Word:

I got my wife to watch it with me and she really loved it also! Really enjoyed both seasons, different from each other but both exciting seasons, I do think I favor the second season, this was one big rollercoaster ride. The Chief becomes more and more human, we get more insight into these Covenant Aliens. I so hope we get a 3rd season from Netflix, really love to see more of this universe without needing to check out the game, because I never was and never will be a gamer.

Blog written with IMdB / Screencaps taken from: cap-that.com