What first seemed like a simple (if, rebellious) DIY hairdo, will soon become Kai’s Achilles’ heel. As Miranda reminded her in Ep 4, Halsey hates it when her Spartans are out of line, or well, more “human.”
Initially, Kai doesn’t think this is a big deal. But when she is unable to fight like she used to because of her pellet’s absence, her fate as a Spartan is up in the air.
When Dr. Halsey finds out that Kai has removed her emotion inhibitor pellet, she may suspend her as she’s not as valuable as Master Chief.
On the other hand, she might give Kai a second chance to continue as a Spartan if she agrees to put her pellet back on.
Everyone has been noticing Kai’s pink hair, Master Chief being the latest one. He immediately realizes that this is the consequence of Kai removing her emotion inhibitor pellet.
When he confronts her about it, Kai tells him that seeing him remove his pellet is what inspired her to do the same, and she’s glad to experience these vibrant feelings.
All that is true, except that Master Chief refuses to get caught up in all these poetic dialogues and reprimands her actions by ordering her not to fight in any upcoming battles until they go back to Reach.
I’m not going to lie, in that moment, it felt quite hurtful that Chief was so dismissive of Kai’s feelings or abilities, as she insists that removing the pellet doesn’t make her any less of a fighter.
Those words will come back to haunt her when in the second part of the episode, the UNSC get surprised attacked by the Covenant. Miranda gives Kai the go-ahead to join the fight, but she soon realizes she’s not the same warrior anymore.
At the sight of dead bodies and weapons, Kai starts having an anxiety attack and makes herself vulnerable to physical attacks that disarm her.
Master Chief, who’s trying to deliver the bigger Halo artifact to Halsey, sees Kai being left to die. He stoically disregards Halsey’s order and goes on to save Kai.
It’s at this moment that you realize why Chief ordered Kai not to fight. It was not because he doubted her abilities, but because he, too, knew what it was like to get overwhelmed with feelings like anxiety for the first time.
It’s fresh in his memory since he experienced it just a day ago.
Sadly, all of this resulted in Covenant snatching the bigger Halo artifact—which I’m sure Dr. Halsey and the rest of the UNSC generals will not be pleased about.
While Master Chief may be punished for disobeying direct orders, Kai’s fate might be even worse.
You see, Halsey is putting up with all of Chief’s wayward behavior (including him removing his pellet) because he is the only one who can activate the artifacts.
But Kai is of no similar use to her, and without the pellet, she may not able to control her emotions and fight as well as a Spartan is meant to.
Kai may only get saved if she bargains with getting the pellet re-installed in her. But the real question is, what does she want more: Being a Spartan, or being able to experience her feelings?
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.
No Comments on Halo Ep 5: Will Kai be suspended from being a Spartan?