Summary:
- Halo season 2 episode 5 has introduced Onyx but we are yet to see the Forerunner connection.
- The concept of Shield Worlds plays a pivotal role in Onyx’s story and significance in the franchise.
Halo season 2, episode 5 gives viewers a glimpse of Onyx and reveals much about the planet’s future forerunner connection. Most of the episode occurs in Aleria after Dr. Catherine Halsey, Master Chief, Kwan Ha, and Riz-028 land on the outer colony.
In the climax of episode 5, we learn about Kai’s whereabouts during the pivotal Fall of Reach. It is revealed that Kate Kennedy’s Silver Team Spartan was in pursuit of Halsey’s successor, James Ackerson, as he evacuated Reach.
Even before Silver Team’s mission to Visegrad, Ackerson tries to break the camaraderie between her and John-117. Therefore, the episode ends with Kai looking over the battalion of freshly recruited Spartan-IIIs outside the UNSC base in Onyx. However, Onyx’s importance lies beyond Ackerson’s fresh batch of soldiers.
Onyx, also called XF-063, is extremely important because of the planet’s stability for human habitation.
Moreover, the planet assumed importance when it became the home base for Ackerson’s Spartan III program during the Human-Covenant War. Although the UNSC Engineering Corps discovered Onyx before the war, they couldn’t colonize the planet as much as their counterparts.
However, the presence of alien technology coerced the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to snatch control of the planet, and they subsequently erased the planet from the UNSC databases and shrouded its existence for nefarious purposes.
However, Ackerson prompted Vice Admiral Parangosky to approve the construction of the Spartan III facility on the planet Onyx. Thus, Onyx is vital in the series because it is the crucial venue for Ackerson’s program.
However, the UNSC and the ONI have deciphered more than just mere traces of alien technology on Onyx.
As fans believed previously, Onyx isn’t a natural planet. Actually, it is a colossal Forerunner construct known as a shield world.
To counter the existential threat posed by the Flood, the Forerunners implemented a dual-strategy defense system. It included the creation of the Halo array, weapons of mass destruction designed to purge all sentient life, and the construction of shield worlds and strategic defense.
These colossal structures serve two purposes: safehouses for living creatures and military shields so that they would protect the army from the incessant Halo arrays.
This is where Onyx’s role is extremely crucial. Also referred to as Shield World 006 or Sarcophagus, Onyx conceals the entrance to the actual Shield World.
The Onyx has a core that houses the elusive Dyson Sphere. It is an enormous habitable space within a slipspace dimension and provides a safe habitat for the inhabitants.
The introduction of this Shield World in Halo is pivotal to the lore, especially before the revelation of the Sacred Ring in the first Halo Game.
In Halo: Combat Evolved, we’ve learned that the Master Chief is responsible for the destruction of Installation-04 after Cortana discloses the disastrous effects of the Sacred Rings.
However, John-117’s failed attempt at the firing of Installation-04 activates the Onyx Sentinels, and this ultimately escalates to the Onyx Conflict.
The fight between the Forerunner Sentinels and UNSC’s Spartan-III soldiers reveals the place’s true nature.
Amid the madness, both the Covenant and the UNSC teams dispatch squads to revive the Forerunner tech from Onyx before it is ruined. It leads to a full-on triangulated attack between the three forces.
Eventually, the Sentinels lay waste to the surface of Onyx, wiping out the last of the Covenant and any humans left behind. A debris pattern rings the former location of Onyx, signifying that the slipspace bubble and the Forerunner shield world have endured the conflict.
The Office of Naval Intelligence, intrigued by the site of their Spartan-III training facility, repurposes the shield world into a research center, now known as the Onyx United Research Project, in homage to the artificial planet.
Therefore, Onyx has been pivotal in bringing the concept of shield worlds to the franchise.
About Halo
Halo is a media franchise that started with the video game Combat Evolved in 2001. The franchise’s success and popularity led to its expansion and soon the games were being adapted to other media platforms. The tv series will revolve around the epic war between the alien Covenant and the United Nations Space Command.
Halo is one of the most successful media franchises of all time, with 65 million copies of the games sold worldwide.
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