LITTLE LEVEL

I mean the all electric version is still going to be here.

Warning, this post contains spoilers for the Halo TV show Note: Sorry for taking so long to do an episode 4 recap! Things have been real busy lately but I'll make sure to make the recap posts more consistent so don't worry if you are behind on the show. S2 E4: Reach Key Characters: James Ackerson, Master Chief, Kai, Vannak, Riz, Captain Keys, the Arbiter, Makee, and Catherine Halsey Key Locations: Reach Important Media: Recap: Reach: Vannak-134 brings food for the birds that have settled high up on the roof of the FLEETCOM headquarters, but they fly away in distress as explosions suddenly erupt across the city. The Master Chief and Corporal Perez hurry through the streets as panic begins to set in. Perez breaks off to get her family, but the Chief holds her back as peoples’ homes are destroyed—her family seemingly dead from the blasts. As Perez breaks down over the loss of her family and friends, the Chief says that he needs to get back to FLEETCOM to get his gear, and while working their way through Reach’s undercity markets the civilians are attacked by cloaked Sangheili forces. Taking cover in a shop, Perez is stunned by the Chief’s reaction to the events unfolding. The Chief tells Perez about a woman he met when he was a child—she flipped a coin, which he called eleven times. Every time he goes into battle, he knows that he might lose somebody, but it’s not going to be him. As they head into the next room, a woman fires a shotgun that narrowly misses the Chief. She tells him to be careful with the axe he has picked up, as it’s over six-hundred years old, along with an assortment of other historic items in the shop. They try to convince the shopkeeper to come with them to FLEETCOM, but she resolves to stay and look after her artifacts (some of which, like a certain box, may look familiar). Meanwhile, Soren sits with Dr. Halsey in her cell, noticing that the tea on the table is shaking from the distant explosions, surmising that something is going on. Halsey says that it’s good to see him and know that he is still alive, to which Soren says that he has played the moment of seeing her again in his mind a thousand times—what to say and how to say it, and what he would do if they were ever in the same room. They are interrupted, however, by the holographic projection of the house being disabled, revealing the cell’s exit. Halsey tells Soren that she knows the way out and asks him to trust her, which he denies. She then asks about how Kessler is, wondering how much of Soren there is in his son, and says that she remembers Soren as the most driven of the Spartans—the others had to be “recruited,” but he wanted to be one from the very beginning, which made it difficult to let him go. Perplexed by this phrasing, Soren insists that he escaped and made a life for himself in spite of Halsey, which she dismisses to be as good a story as any before finding dead FLEETCOM personnel in an adjacent room. Handing Soren a pistol, Halsey asks him not to shoot her in the back. Upon entering the chamber that previously held the Forerunner artifact (Halsey taking notice that it is missing), Cortana appears and tells her to run. Arbiter Var ‘Gatanai then appear, forcing Halsey and Soren to retreat as Makee takes Cortana and a grenade goes off, knocking Halsey out. On the run: The Master Chief and Corporal Perez run through an active battlefield in the streets, finding Riz-028 on a turret with Louis and his husband Danilo. Alongside a group of Marines, the group pushes forward to reach FLEETCOM, fighting an onslaught of Covenant forces through a series of damaged buildings where Danilo is killed. After learning of his husband’s fate from Riz, Louis saves the group from being pinned down by sacrificing himself to destroy a Wraith with his grenade belt, allowing the others—now down to just the Chief, Riz, and Perez—to escape. Arriving at the FLEETCOM barracks, the Chief orders Riz—who is momentarily stunned by the suffering around her—to get suited up. Parting ways with Perez, the Chief tosses her a coin for luck. Vannak arrives and informs them that he’s been clearing out the lower levels of cloaked Sangheili that snuck in. Riz asks Vannak where Kai is, to which Vannak says that he was about to ask the same thing, and reveals that their Mjolnir armor is gone, along with high-ranking personnel—including Ackerson. Finding Admiral Keyes, who is leading the defence of FLEETCOM, he admits that the Chief was right all along, and that Cobalt Team were KIA at Visegrad, having been taken by surprise and thus creating a blind spot for the Covenant to slip in. For now, it’s a ground game as the Covenant target power stations, and if those go down then so do Reach’s orbital defences, which will allow the alien fleet to move into range and start glassing the planet. Keyes resolves to make the Covenant pay for every inch of Reach they intend to claim and calls the Marines to attention, rallying them with an inspiring speech as they see to evacuation efforts. Convergance: Halsey regains consciousness and Soren asks her what she meant by saying that she “let him go.” Halsey recalls how all the Spartans—including the Master Chief—looked to Soren. But after Soren’s augmentations failed, Halsey says that she needed the Chief to look to himself for inspiration, and so she ensured that the shipyard that Soren was planning to use to escape Reach was left unguarded. Halsey and Soren then meet with Keyes who escorts them to a civilian transport in the upper hangar. While in an elevator, Keyes tells Halsey that their daughter Miranda is not here, and Halsey informs him that the Covenant has taken Cortana. On the landing platform, Soren notices cables at the edge of the hangar that are climbed by a group of Kig-Yar, starting a firefight as Perez attempts to get civilians aboard the transport ship. The Spartans take up position on the FLEETCOM bridge with Marines and a Scorpion tank, which fires a round that reveals a legion of camouflaged Sangheili already well across the bridge, but Keyes radios in to inform the Chief that the civilian transport is under attack and the Spartans head off to assist. Aboard the transport, Perez informs Keyes that the civilians are all aboard, but as Keyes prepares to ignite the engines to take off an error message says that fuel lines are still connected. Keyes heads out to detach the fuel lines but finds himself surrounded by Kig-Yar and orders Perez to take off, pulling out a pipe as he embraces a noble end. Soren drags Halsey away from the scene as she desperately wants to help Keyes, but is distracted by seeing the Chief, but they are all blasted back as Perez successfully takes off and causes a subsequent explosion in the hangar. More Kig-Yar and Sangheili arrive, with the Spartans, Soren, and Marines holding the line while Halsey takes cover. The Arbiter arrives, taking the Chief in a one-on-one fight amidst the chaos and slicing his assault rifle apart. The Chief picks up an energy sword but gets hit by a plasma pistol from another Sangheili, prompting the Arbiter to slice its head off for denying him a fair and honorable fight. The Arbiter prepares to deal the killing blow against the Chief but is prevented by Makee’s intervention. Vannak charges in, taking down a Kig-Yar and firing on the Arbiter with a Needler, who wrenches the crystals out of his own armor and stabs Vannak with them, detonating in his chest and instantly killing him. In a hole blasted through the ceiling, a bird circles in flight as the night passes.

Me personally as a casual gamer, try not to play more than 2-3 hours. Of course those are those rare occasions I stay up late playing with friends on the weekend but other than that I remain pretty consistent.

Recap: Visegrad Relay: The episode begins with Silver Team approaching the Visegrad relay in the woods at night. Riz attempts to raise Cobalt Team and Visegrad station personnel, but hears nothing. When Kai asks if they’ll be getting air support, the Chief states that FLEETCOM doesn’t believe the Covenant are on Reach and that this is a search and rescue operation for Cobalt Team. When they enter the comms relay, it seems abandoned. Half eaten meals are scattered throughout and equipment lockers are left open, almost as if it was abandoned in a hurry. Suddenly the radio comes on and it plays a sound heavy with static but an unintelligible second noise hidden in the static. Chief points out this is the same noise he heard on Sanctuary but suddenly he hears movement. Following the noise to a jammed door trying to shut, Silver team is suddenly ambushed by and ONI Black-ops team. Captain Briggs orders the Master Chief to stand down and reveals to Silver Team that there was no mission authorized here—the Chief stole a Condor, falsified a flightplan, and they aren’t even authorized to be in their Mjolnir armor. After a tense standoff, the Chief pushes past the officer and into the room with the jammed door, finding it to be empty. Back at FLEETCOM, Admiral Jacob Keyes admonishes the Master Chief for going AWOL, operating outside the chain of command based on a delusion, and declares that Silver Team are suspended from combat operations. As the Chief continues to insist that Cobalt Team were at Visegrad, Keyes pulls up a flightplan that shows their deployment to Aktis IV and relieves the Master Chief from duty, confining him to the barracks until he clears a psychiatric evaluation. Enraged by the decision, the Chief says Ackerson put Keys up to this but Admiral Keys says he was the only reason the Chief isn't facing a court martial. Family Business: In a residential apartment, James Ackerson tends to his father, who is suffering from dementia. Ackerson says that he may have to go away soon and can’t bring his father along. His father asks when Julia is coming—James Ackerson’s sister, who he has flash cloned as Dr. Halsey’s attendant—to which Ackerson reminds him that she’s dead. Before departing, Ackerson’s father makes him promise not to let them take him alive. Later we find Riz and Vannak angered that Chief would lie to them about a mission and walk off. Master Chief keeps insisting to Kai that the covenant was on reach and what just happened was a setup by ONI, but Kai doesn't agree with the Chief and starts to question his mental health. After the talk with Chief, Riz visits Louis in his home with his husband, Danilo, and joins them for dinner, saying that she realized once she got out of her bunk that she had nowhere to go. Recalling their conversation from the other day, where Louis told her that there are other ways to live and other things to be beyond being a Spartan, Riz asks what those are. Kai speaks with Ackerson, telling him that Silver Team were left in the dark by the Chief, but that he was doing what he thought was right, noting that Spartans are not built to sit around and wait. Kai then suggests that she be deployed alone, temporarily, until the Chief is cleared for duty, but Ackerson asks if the Chief shared his plans with her—as, twenty minutes ago, he incapacitated the soldiers ordered to monitor him and escaped the facility. Thinking of his father’s degrading condition, Ackerson tells Kai that sometimes people don’t get better, and that sometimes we do more damage to them by holding on when Kai suggests that the Chief just needs time. The Setup: On the Rubble, Laera walks through the markets and finds that she is being stared at. Ducking into a side passage, she is snatched by Kwan, who tells her that she is in danger from Soren’s crew—they got rid of her husband, and now they’re coming for her. Returning home, Laera finds her son Kessler playing with Antares and Carina—two of Soren’s crew who betrayed him. Antares informs Laera that the ship is fixed and they can leave, to which Laera says that she was told it would take several days. Antares insists that they worked all night because they care about Soren. When Kessler asks if he can come as well, Antares says no but Carina insists that he does, though Antares eventually manages to get Carina to stand down and allows Laera to meet them at the ship. Later, Kwan, Laera, and Kessler watch refugees pouring in at the docks from a catwalk. Kwan says that the survivors from Madrigal left with four ships, but only one made it out, pointing out the processing center where refugees become indentured servants—the price of being “rescued” from Outer Colonies that have been glassed. Kwan tells Laera that she feels she deserves this for having failed the mantle of responsibility she inherited as a protector of her people, as the Ha family have been for countless generations. As another wave refugees comes in, the trio join the crowd to blend in with them. Ducking out to board Soren’s ship, Laera takes off but the hangar bay’s blast doors get sealed shut, blocking their escape. Laera gives Kwan her necklace, telling her that it’s worth enough to get her and Kessler onto an outbound refugee ship, asking Kwan to promise that she will protect Kessler before causing a distraction to allow them to escape—starting a fight with Antares and Carina. Taken back aboard Soren’s ship, Antares demands to know where Soren’s stash from Madrigal is hidden, and when Laera threatens him with what Soren will do once he’s back Antares taunts that Soren was on a prisoner transport bound for Reach. A repetitive tapping sound echoes through the ship and Antares sends two of his group to investigate while Carina hauls Laera into an airlock, Antares gives her one last chance to change her mind as the oxygen is drained from the room. Laera passes out as blood splatters on the airlock. Awakening, she finds that she has been rescued by Kwan, who also cuts Carina’s throat. Asking where Kessler is, Kwan tells her that she left Kessler on the transport vessel, or else Laera would be dead. Winter Contingency: Ackerson and Admiral Keyes examine the bodies of Cobalt Team, which were found in the trees near Visegrad. Captain Briggs informs them that plasma scoring was spotted in the area, and upon asking Ackerson what he would like to do with the bodies, he says that Cobalt Team will be marked as missing in action. Keyes asks if Ackerson knew that the Master Chief’s concerns were valid when he sent Cobalt Team into hostile territory and is incredulous when Ackerson tells him to calm down, as the Covenant is already on Reach. Ackerson says that this was a matter of time, a mathematical inevitability, and tells Keyes that plans are in place that will require some hard choices because they’re not going to win this battle, but they will live to fight another day. Keyes declines Ackerson’s offer to assist him. Ackerson later meets with Halsey, criticizing her for how fragile she made her Spartans by conditioning them to ultimately rely solely on her, before informing her that he’s come to say goodbye and wanted her to know that her efforts weren’t in vain—even though she won’t be around to see it, her Spartans will be the foundation for something extraordinary which he hopes will give her some comfort. Halsey tells Ackerson before he leaves that she gave the same speech to his sister Julia before she died. Ackerson’s hatred of Halsey derives from Julia’s involvement in the SPARTAN-II program, where she washed out of the augmentation procedures and ultimately perished. Halsey says that she knew that Julia loved her brother very much, her expression hardening as she concludes that she hopes this will give him some comfort. As Ackerson leaves, he walks back in and says that he didn’t want to leave her alone. Standing aside, Soren walks in escorted by two guards, and Ackerson departs to let them get reacquainted. Ackerson then returns home to his father, giving him a capsule to swallow before bringing in the flash clone of Julia so that he and his daughter could die in comfort. Threats on Reach: The Master Chief meets with Margaret Parangosky, having earlier activated the tracker she gave to him, and he informs her that the Covenant are already on Reach but ONI is covering it up. Parangosky warns that if he makes himself ONI’s enemy it won’t matter that he’s the Master Chief and advises him to return to FLEETCOM, smooth things over, do his time in the brig, and they’ll proudly give him another medal for going along with it. Spotting two agents nearby, the Chief surmises that Parangosky has played him—she never left ONI. Parangosky cautions the Chief that if he walks out of here, she will not be able to help him, advising that he stands down. The Chief refuses and departs to find Corporal Perez, her mother telling him that she’s not at home. Finding Perez in a church, the Chief confides in her that he saw something in the fog on Sanctuary, and Perez asks if he means the woman—Makee—which confirms to the Chief that he was not delusional. Perez says that she can’t sleep because she can’t get the sound she heard out of her head, handing him a pair of headphones with a recording from Sanctuary which contains words beneath the interference. It is a prayer, saying: “I bring you blessings, people of Reach. Know that I have come without mercy, without pity. Know that I am the instrument of your extinction. I bring this planet forth as a burned offering. Upon this altar, I place the head of the demon. May his blood mark the way to the sacred ring and consecrate the Great Journey for my people. Know that I am death.” As Perez concludes that the Covenant are already here on Reach, an explosion erupts outside, shattering the windows of the church.

Warning, this post contains spoilers for the Halo TV show Note: Sorry for taking so long to do an episode 3 recap! Things have been real busy lately but I'll make sure to make the recap posts more consistent so don't worry if you are behind on the show. S2 E3: Visegard Key Characters: James Ackerson, Master Chief, Kai, Vannak, Riz, Captain Keys, the Arbiter, Makee, and Catherine Halsey Key Locations: The Rubble, Reach, and Sanctuary Important Media:

I'll put that on my watchlist then.

I mean even grown adults can be unsafe on the internet and will get exposed to terrible content all the time, but this defiantly is a step in the right direction.

Recap: Halsey: Doctor Catherine Halsey is sat at a table in what appears to be a comfortable living room where she is visited by a young girl who brings her “gifts” and they begin to play a board game. As Halsey questions the young attendant about the man behind all this, the young girl’s nose begins to bleed and she seemingly loses consciousness. Recovery: If you remember last season in the final battle Riz was injured by her shoulder, and in the start of the episode she is seen struggling with her injury. Kai her teammate notices this but Riz insists she needs to keep training. It then cuts to Riz training with her instructor Lois (who may I add is blind....) who can tell Riz is struggling. Louis tells her that she won’t be able to serve forever and that there are other ways to live, encouraging her to think about life beyond being a Spartan, which she flippantly says is a life that doesn’t matter—something she immediately regrets saying, as Louis is a “washout” from the Spartan program. Later we see the spartans training on a planet. The point of the exercise is to ring the bell on the top of the mountain without getting shot by the fake bullets. Riz, obviously struggling gets shot and falls off the cliff. The Chief orders them to go again, but when Kai interrupts to point out Riz’s condition—concerned that she is being pushed too far—Riz insists that she is fine. Though Riz is still struggling. Despite Master Chief holding back and allowing Riz to climb the mountain, she loses her grip and falls down again. The Chief orders her to get back up, insisting that this is necessary because the Covenant are training for something, before ordering them to go again. Afterwards Riz is waiting with her trainer Lois to go to a physical therapist to help with her arm. During the wait Lois tells Riz his story. He started out as a spartan, but one day he slowly started losing his vision. Over time he was losing more and more of his sight until he could only see a little well everything else around him was black. He kept this quiet because he didn't want to be kicked out of the spartan program but eventually he fully lost his sight.Before losing his sight altogether—the last thing he remembers seeing being how proud and beautiful he saw his fellow Spartans to be. ONI runs the show: The Master Chief looks at the Spartan deployment roster and sees that Silver Team are being held on standby, confiding to Kai that Ackerson believes something is wrong with him and revealing that he saw Makee on Sanctuary. Kai denies the possibility of this, as she shot Makee herself on Raas Kkhotskha. Though something seems off because Cobalt teams status is set to standby despite recently being deployed. The Chief, wanting to know what is wrong go meets with Ackerson. Ackerson mockingly says that as far as he knows Spartans never die, prompting the Chief to demand that he clear Silver Team for action or he will find somebody else who will, but Ackerson makes it clear that the Office of Naval Intelligence is running the show—and that he represents ONI. Taking a more direct tact, Ackerson says that the Chief’s account of events on Sanctuary are dubious and could not be corroborated by Corporal Perez, upon the Chief’s insistence that he speak with her, only to be told that she has no recollection of the events that transpired. The Chief says that she must be lying, to which Ackerson asks the Chief to put himself in his position. Given the Chief’s recent behavior, would he trust him? The Chief concludes that Ackerson can’t win this war against the Covenant without Silver Team, which Ackerson confirms, pointedly saying that he—and everybody else—needs the Master Chief. But at the end of the day, John is just “a guy in the suit.” Perez: Dr. Halsey plays a board game with her young attendant, who has seemingly recovered, but as Halsey asks once more who the man that sent her was, the girl’s nose begins bleeding again. Halsey tells the girl that she is dying and insists on her saying the man’s name, but the girl dies before she can say anything. Meanwhile, Chief goes and visits Perez at her families house and is invited in to eat dinner. Perez relates her story to him about what she remembers: she heard something when the comms went down and could feel that something was with them, but she didn’t see anything—and then all of her fellow Marines were killed. She asks the Chief to explain why she wasn’t killed as well, explaining that this was why she didn’t tell Ackerson, because she was given a medal and doesn’t know what it’s for beyond simply surviving. The Chief tells Perez that what she heard was a message from the Covenant and that it will happen again, and then confides that she will think about her squad every day, see their faces when she least expects, and that it doesn’t get better—only further away. Back with Halsey, Ackerson meets with her in person as the body of her attendant—a flash cloned girl—is taken away. Halsey asks where Cortana and the Master Chief are, but Ackerson introduces her to a new flash cloned girl named Julia who will serve as Halsey’s next attendant. Departing the room, it becomes clear that Halsey is being held inside a simulated prison cell. On the run: Kwan, is seen in the bustling streets of the rubble and seems to be trying to blend into the crowd. Sneakily she steals a fruit from a stand and then goes off into a hidden corner. On her ear seems to be a tracking device used on indentured servants. Slowly she tries tearing it out of her ear but suddenly two people start chasing her. Running into a service duct, Kwan uses the environment to her advantage to take both of them out. Laera wants to take Soren’s ship to find him, but the crew that abandoned him tell her that it needs repairs that will take at least a couple of days. Laera insists that Soren is alive and reprimands them for not saving him themselves, as he would never have left them behind. Kwan then returns to her cave and tells Kessler she is going to leave. Ackersons Problem: Ackerson enters a room where the smaller piece of the artifact from season one, which remains inert when he touches it. Cortona (who has a new look) appears and Ackerson asks if she has made any progress with the problem that he gave her to solve, to which Cortana says that there is a ninety-seven percent probability based on the data he has given her. Asking if there are any viable strategies that she would recommend to prevent this outcome, Cortana states that all simulations return the same result regardless of any action taken, leading Ackerson to conclude that there is nothing to be done. As Ackerson departs, he says that he will come back, but Cortana notes that—according to the simulations—he won’t be able to. The cover-up: Master Chief goes and tries to figure out where Cobalt was sent but is told that Cobalt never even went on one and he grows suspicious. Secretly sneaking onto a computer, the Chief Cross-checks missions concerning communications relays. Two results for active missions are returned: one on Meridian, and another located in the Epsilon Eridani system—here on Reach itself. The Chief surmises that Cobalt Team never actually left the planet. Suspicious, the Chief steals a Condor and takes Silver team on a "training mission." When they arrive the Chief tells them they are actually going to Visegrad Relay, where Cobalt Team was sent, and they’re going to get them back. Kai asks if they’re cleared for combat, to which the Chief lies and confirms that they are. When Kai inquires as to the specific nature of their mission, the Chief simply responds: “The Covenant is on Reach.” At Sword Base on Reach, a group of Marines move through a darkened corridor, but they are all cut down by a Sangheili warrior. Makee then appears, and asks the Sangheili to open the door, finding the other part of the keystone artifact within.

Warning, this post contains spoilers for the Halo TV show S2 E2: Sword Key Characters: James Ackerson, Master Chief, Kai, Vannak, Riz, Captain Keys, the Arbiter, Makee, Louis, and Cobalt team Key Locations: The Rubble and Reach Important Media:

I mean the best anime I have seen lately (and really in general) was Death Note, but I am pretty late to the party (17 years to be exact.)

1. They don't really dive much into AI in the series. After that encounter with the fake Cortana you don't see much AI. 2. Makee again. She somehow survived, and her intentions are to get to the Halo ring. 3. It reflects on Ackerson wanting to make the spartan program his own and invest in the Spartan 3 program. If you remember Ackerson is actually a character in the books and his goals in the show align (mostly) with what he wanted in the books. Ackerson does actually take a more ethical approach to spartans and cares for them, that is why he doesn't want chief running rampant (and for another reason I will reveal in a later recap.) Well I'll have the episode 2 and maybe 3 recap coming tomorrow so be ready for those.

Recap: Cortona: If you remember, last season Chief was severely injured Cortona was forced to take over the Chiefs body, but this isn't a sustainable state. In the start of the episode the Chief awakens to a special medical procedure to remove Cortona. Now the Chief has full control over his body and is ready to get back into action but Cortona mysteriously disappears. Operation Shepherd: The covenant is making an advance and is planning to glass Sanctuary. In the Cross fire stands thousands of innocent civilians, so Master Chief and silver team are tasked with evacuations. Though complications arise when multiple civilians refuse to leave the planet. They claim to have deep connections with the planet and they will not stand to lose another planet to the covenant. Refusing to move Chief confronts the colonies leader, but leads to nothing. As time runs out Vannak and Kai notice a flickering light in the fog. Curios, the Chief investigates the disturbance, discovering that communications in this area are suffering from significant interference. After encountering a group of Marines who were stationed at the communications outpost, they are snatched through the fog one by one by an invisible enemy until only the Master Chief and a young woman (Corporal Perez) are left. Suddenly large amounts of Sangheili attack Perez and Chief catching them off guard. In an intense battle, the Chief fights off large groups of Sangheili but suddenly a strange figure appears in the distance and the elites retreat. After grabbing Perez the glassing starts and Sanctuary erupts in a fiery flame. Civilians are evacuated to Condors, but the Mother (the leader of the outpost) leaves the chief with an ill omen about how his fate and that she has seen his death coming soon. Ackerson: Back on Reach at the FLEETCOM headquarters, Silver Team debriefs with the recently promoted Admiral Jacob Keyes who informs the Spartans that Covenant attacks have been increasing across the Outer Colonies, though Master Chief insists this case was different due to the covenant already being present. While the Chief is voicing his concerns a new face enters the room: James Ackerson the new director of the spartan program. Shocked by the news Silver team is critical of Ackerson and how he will fit into the spartan program as a whole. After the debrief the Master Chief decides to visit Ackerson in his office and discuss his suspicions about Sanctuary as he feels that there is more at play. When he gets there he addresses his concerns. He feels that the covenant were on Sanctuary for training, though he doesn't exactly know what they were training for. Ackerson though doesn't believe the chief and brings up the chiefs mental health. He believes that Cortona being implanted in the Chief could have negatively impacted him mental health and is damaging the Chief as an asset. Cobalt Teams Mission: Silver and Cobalt Team banter back and forth but the Chief catches something in their conversations. Cobalt team seems to be escorting a tech team to a damaged comms relay. Seeing the Similarities between this mission and Sanctuary the Chief feels he needs to voice his concerns to Ackerson yet again. He feels Cobalt team should know what they are getting into and that Cobalt team should be made aware about the events on Sanctuary. Ackerson then throws the Chief’s mission report into doubt, questioning how he could have prevailed against so many Sangheili warriors alone who then disappeared, portraying the Spartan as a victim of Halsey’s experiments that have compromised him, meaning that he cannot authorize them for combat missions. The Chief relents, but asks that Ackerson just tell Cobalt Team what they’re walking into. After the confrontation with Ackerson, the Master Chief heads into the city, but on his way he meets Margaret Parangosky, who is no longer serving as an admiral following the events of Season One. She wants Master Chief to go and collect evidence about possible Covenant activities and bring it to her. The Chief accepts and takes a tracking device given to him. Soren's Obsession: On the Rubble, a network of habitable hollowed-out asteroids where piracy thrives, Soren and his wife observe an event for refugees to become indentured servants. One refugee catches Soren's attention though. It seems he may know the location of Dr.Halsey. Though Soren acts like he doesn't care he sends one of his men to go and speak to the refugee. Upon returning home, they find their son Kessler playing with a toy of the Master Chief. Laera criticizes Soren for playing the role of pirate king dreaming of bringing Dr. Halsey to justice while the galaxy burns around them. Laera says that the other syndicate families don’t fear Soren the way they used to and suggests that the three of them should go away, but Soren insists that they don’t run. Soren meets with Felix and departs with his crew, the Harvest refugee relates a story about a salvage job where he saw a cryo tube containing Dr. Halsey when a side panel fell off a crate before the ship went missing, with Felix being the only one who knows the course it plotted. An alarm interrupts them as they find the wrecked remains of the ship, and Soren orders Felix to accompany him alone to investigate. As Felix recounts his knowledge of Halsey’s actions and questions Soren’s past as a Spartan, he surmises that the pirate leader’s investment in capturing her isn’t about the money but what she did to him. Upon finding the crate that Felix claimed held Halsey’s cryo tube, Soren begins questioning Felix’s story, only to see his crew steal his ship and jump out of the system, stranding him. Finding the crate empty, Soren is the surrounded by troops that were hidden in the room and Felix states that he is under arrest for the crimes of piracy, kidnapping, extortion, and treason. Stories collide: After conversing with an AI that takes on the form of Cortana and Dr. Halsey, the Chief fears that a piece of him is missing now and recalls seeing the figure of Makee on Sanctuary, saying to him “You should have stayed with me.” As Soren’s crew returns to the Rubble, Laera sees that Soren is not among them and fears that her husband is either lost or dead. A Sangheili observes a vast fleet of Covenant ships rising through the clouds, prepared to embark on their next conquest. Kessler enters an asteroid cavern where he is greeted by Kwan Ha, who tells him about an ancient monster that is coming—markings on the cavern wall showing a circular maw…

Warning, this post contains spoilers for the Halo TV show S2 E1: Sanctuary Key Characters: James Ackerson, Master Chief, Kai, Vannak, Riz, Captain Keys, the Arbiter and Cobalt team Key Locations: The Rubble, Reach, and Sanctuary Important Media:

Honestly the flood episode actually gave me some hope for the show. The way they introduced the flood was really cool and actually for the first time, added real tensions to the story. Now the episode didn't save the show by any means but it defiantly gave it some hope.

What are your predictions for the 3rd season? Personally I think the Gravemind will make his debut next season. I saw a theory that Kwan Ha's mother is actually gravemind and they are manipulating her to help out the flood.