The second episode of Haloâs second season isnât bad, by any means, but itâs not quite as memorable as the previous episode. Instead, âSwordâ is a reminder that the Halo series is strongest when it focuses on the Spartansâ stories, whether itâs Johnâs attempts to set the record straight about what happened on Sanctuary, Rizâs efforts to physically and mentally bounce back from a near-death experience, or Kaiâs concerns for the Chiefâs wellbeing.
But like most modern television, there are several branching narratives playing out simultaneously, and Halo struggles to juggle them. Thereâs a slightly too obvious tension between building out the showâs side characters while also racing to ensure the narratives tidy up by the end of the season. The results are a bit disorienting; Halo episode 2 feels like itâs trying to clear several paths at once. It stumbles at times, but when it finds its stride, itâs like a Spartan sprinting across an open field.
Spartans on standby
The episode begins with Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone), who is very much alive and in a room with some gorgeous natural lighting. (How can I get this lighting in my NYC apartment?) Sheâs brought a tray of tea and cookies by a young girl, who Halsey attempts to pry for information. Sheâs clearly being held here by someone, but before she can get any answers, the girl drops dead in front of her. Flash clones man, they die faster than grunts.
Back on Reach, Riz (Natasha Culzac) is struggling with the injuries she sustained from the big battle six months ago and refusing to admit it. Even after Kai (Kate Kennedy) suggests putting her emotional control pellet back in to help with the pain, Riz says sheâd rather get a bullet put in her instead. Stubborn Spartan.
The ensuing conversation between Kai and John (Pablo Schreiber) again proves Haloâs strength is its Spartans. The concern that flits across her face as he tells her what happened on Sanctuary, the shift as she realizes heâs not just depressed because Cortana was ripped out of his head, but that he could be hallucinating (he says he saw Makee, who Kai herself killed), is top-tier stuff. She canât stay focused on whatever is going on with John, however, as it appears Ackerson has delegated another Spartan team to the âSTANDBYâ roleâexcept this one never returned from action. Now John is even more concerned than before, the opening credits roll, and the episode snaps to Gibraltar and Kwan Ha.
Though Kwanâs story gives us an excellently choreographed chase and fight scene (that includes a moment where she glasses a guy with a beer bottle and then pulls him headfirst into the corner of a bartop), it struggles. Sheâs running from indentured servitude (which I donât remember her getting thrust into, oops), and is being chased by two men who should be scary but arenât really. I donât know who they are, I donât understand the stakes, and the little bit of set dressing done to establish that theyâre henchmen for whoever doesnât land. Just take me back to the Spartans.
Spartans never die
We see even more of Rizâs struggle to get better in this episode, and itâs a great touch. Spartans are supersoldiers, sure, but theyâre humans, and watching them reckon with the limitations of their humanity after years of feeling invincible is incredibly emotional. As Riz struggles in the Spartanâs monochrome weight room (which looks like a gym Iâd love to attend, considering Planet Fitness and Blink Fitness have the garish color schemes of a fucking nursery school), a former Spartan named Louis-036 (Marvin Jones III) who went blind due to the required augmentation process, offers to help her. âDonât let them see,â she winces as he palpates her injured arm.
âSpartans never die,â she says when he tells her to find something else to do with her life. Moments later, James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) sneers the same saying through gritted teeth when heâs confronted by John, whoâs worried about the missing Spartan team. Ackerson and John have a dick-measuring contest, John losesâbut not before he finds out that Talia Perez (Cristina Rodio), the one surviving Marine from the Sanctuary attack, has refuted his account of the events. Time to make a home visit.
Sorenâs family is desperate to find him, but once again, I am struggling to care. The acting is very strong, and the writing is solid, but thereâs something about the pacing thatâs keeping me from connecting with the other characters here.
Elsewhere, Riz and the rest of Silver team are being put through their paces by John, who has turned to burying his feelings in training sessions. Itâs an intense scene, but also a visually stunning oneâset amongst grassy hills reminiscent of the ring in Halo: Infinite, with moss-covered rocks and a huge, awesome waterfall. As the Spartans argue over the mission, the water beads on their Mjolnir armor; as they scale the cliffs, their matte tones blend into the rocks. Itâs such a massive visual upgrade from last season, itâs almost unbelievable.
âThe Covenantâs on Reachâ
It all comes together in the latter half of the episodeâwe get a payoff for the Halsey story (itâs Ackerson holding her hostage, sheâs on Reach, and heâs using Cortana to exploit her, though itâs unclear why, and still reads a bit messy), and all the other side-plots fall away to center solely on the Spartans.
Riz goes to a healer and lets some of her anguish go, while Johnâs forced to eat dinner with the aforementioned Marineâs family members. (âYou are very large,â her mother tells him immediately.) There, one asks him his KDR (kill-death ratio) in the game âSpartan Attackâ which is, ya know, just Halo. After dinner, as he speaks to Perez on the rooftop of her apartment and she tells him what really happenedâthe comms went down, she could hear something in the mist but couldnât see it, and then boom everyone but her is dead.
âIt doesnât get better,â John says of the PTSD sheâs clearly struggling with. âIt just gets further away.â Once again, Schreiber is reminding us that in this world, Master Chief needs to remove his helmet, as we need to see pain play across his face, only to see stoicism rush in just as quickly to replace it.
Inspired by his conversation with Perez, John investigates the disappearance of the Spartan team and discovers they never left Reach. They went to investigate a downed comms relay and disappeared. Simultaneously, Ackerson is asking his captive Cortana about a problem heâs asked her to solve. She canât find any way to avoid the probability of an unnamed event happening, and we all know what that is: The Fall of Reach.
âThe Covenantâs on Reach,â John tells Silver team as they go off on an unsanctioned mission to rescue the mission Spartans. The Marines at the relay face off against a single cloaked elite, and weâre reminded yet again of the horror these aliens should inspire. A dark hallway, the glow of an Energy Sword as it slices through fleshâif youâre not scared, youâre not paying attention.
That singular elite (who is wearing Arbiter armor) is working with someone: Makee (Charlie Murphy) who is definitely alive and now has a new Halo keystone in her possession. The Fall of Reach is nigh.
Halo season 2 episode 3 airs February 15 on Paramount+.
