“Homecoming” is a good title to describe what’s up in the latest Halo episode: John has set foot on Eridanus II, where he grew up. Kai removes the chip that was inhibiting her emotions and starts being at “home” with herself. Also, Kwan returns to her home planet, Madrigal, to organize a rebellion.
Here’s how it all goes down.
In Halo Ep 4, Master Chief and Halsey finally find the second Halo artifact. Back on Reach, Miranda starts decoding the Sangheili language with Kai’s help, while Kwan and Soren land into some big trouble in Madrigal.
In two of these three distinct sub-plots, Halsey’s incompetence as a parent to her biological daughter Miranda, and her “adopted” kids, the Spartans, is highlighted like none other.
While the show makes me wonder if Halsey is the real enemy, it also gets closer to uncovering some major Halo lore.
Master Chief’s Childhood Memories
Master Chief sets foot on what he believes is his home planet, Eridanus II. With information deduced from his first visions, he is able to dig up a case his father buried. I was on the edge, wondering what precious item might’ve been hidden, only to find more of John’s drawings being revealed in the case.
Using Cortana’s help in recreating his childhood home, John is able to unlock more of his memories and I must say, the scenes were quite emotional to watch—especially the bit about him experiencing anxiety for the first time. This eventually leads him to an underground passage where they finally find the second half of the mysterious artifact.
Halsey, who looks in awe at this artifact, also looks at John with hints of betrayal. You see, Master Chief also unlocked his memory of meeting Halsey right there in his house, which is the complete opposite of the story she had fed him—that she first met him at an orphanage.
Despite Master Chief once again trusting Halsey about “getting his memories muddled,” this line of questioning will ultimately lead him to the truth of how she turned him into a Spartan. Knowing this, Halsey is now prepared to watch her back and keep Master Chief on a leash.
With John being the only one who can activate the artifacts, Halsey will strive to uncover what this mysterious object is, be it through voluntary means or coercion.
Kai Bonds with Her “Sister”, Miranda
The episode begins with Kai cutting out her inhibitor chip, John-style. (But why? We don’t know!) Her surge of emotions comes out in actions of dying her hair pink, being more talkative than usual, and bonding with Miranda.
Let’s talk about that last one: Miranda now has access to the artifact and calls in the Silver Team to touch it and see if it reacts to them as it does for John. It does not, making Miranda conclude that there is indeed something special about him.
During this time, Miranda overhears the Silver Team discussing some Sangheili words and Kai’s overenthusiasm gets to them translating one very important word: Halo. I’m betting in the next one or two episodes, both Master Chief-Halsey and Miranda-Silver Team will figure out the gravity of this four-letter word.
We cannot move on without mentioning how once again Halsey’s bad parenting is brought up in this plotline. If it wasn’t enough that she blatantly lied to and continues to deceive her best Spartan, John, who trusts her with his life, the Silver Team also divulges just exactly how brutal and emotionally cruel her training was.
After hearing this, Miranda, who resents her mother, should be able to admit internally that Halsey being absent from her life was probably a good thing.
Side note: Kai is slowly turning out to be my favorite character, and her calling Miranda her “sister” is the right amount of absurd and endearing.
Kwan’s Return to Madrigal Does Not Go as Planned
Kwan has that Young Adult dystopian protagonist vibe to her—it worked for Katniss Everdeen, but with Kwan, it is plain annoying.
As if to prove my point, Kwan’s return to her home planet Madrigal goes horribly wrong. First, she finds out that not only is Vinsher properly in charge, but her dad’s former allies are either unwilling to help or are now working for him. Second, Soren’s ship gets confiscated and scrapped. Third and the worst, her visit ultimately gets her aunt killed.
Before dying, her aunt reveals that the only reason her father started the insurgence is that some “mystics” told him that his family was the chosen people. What does “chosen people” mean anyway? Is this an entirely new Halo subplot? Or will this tie in with John and Makee being the Blessed Ones?
I know Kwan’s reckless actions are just her trying to deal with the grief of her father’s death, but she has to realize that she is trying to organize a rebellion without even understanding its principles, its objectives, or what’s at stake for people who join.
Hopefully, we will see some much-needed character development in the coming episodes.
About Halo
Halo is an American live-action sci-fi television series based on the Halo video game franchise. It is developed by Steven Kane and Kyle Killen for Paramount+.
The series follows a 26th-century war between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, a theocratic-military alliance of several advanced alien races determined to eradicate the human race.
The series stars Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Charlie Murphy, Jen Taylor, Shabana Azmi, Bokeem Woodbine, Kate Kennedy, Natasha Culzac, Yerin Ha, and Bentley Kalu.
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