‘Halo: Episode 8: Allegiance’ Review
Image Source: Gamespot
Things are finally coming to a head in the penultimate episode of Halo on Paramount+. Storylines are wrapping up, for better or worse. Some are getting more complex, and the tension builds to a brutal, emotional cliffhanger that promises a banger of a finale next week.
The connection between Makee and Chief takes center stage in this episode. She and Chief take a stroll through downtown Reach City, which is odd from the leadership’s perspective. She’s had a remarkable amount of freedom despite having been under Covenant for decades. It’s perhaps the most unbelievable part of Chief and Makee’s connection, his willingness to trust her so quickly. They have her under constant surveillance, but it still doesn’t seem to make sense, and then it makes the leap to full-on romance when they sleep together. Maybe it’s a matter of the conclusions not seeming to work with the précises.
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Image Source: IMDb
When we’re introduced to Makee at the beginning of the season, she loathes humanity, and worms her way into their ranks to kill the demon and get the Artifact. Then, after a short time with Chief, she’s suddenly having a change of heart? While they’re in bed sleeping, she looks ready to kill him but stops and removes, painfully, her fingernail blade. In her interactions with him before that, she acted in awe and overwhelmed by him, but why? It’s not really conveyed, and then a stroll through the park allows her to override her conditioning because Chief tells her humanity is beautiful? It’s all a stretch too far, and it’s almost ironic that Captain Keyes says right after that that you can’t override decades of conditioning like that, and John says he did, and we’re all just supposed to think ok, sure? It doesn’t jive.
The Covenant actually come off as a threat now, but it’s almost a little too late as I found myself not really concerned when they showed one of the planets they glassed. However, the glassing of a planet does seem to add some urgency to the pacing, as the beats get quicker after Chief and Makee’s intimate moment, though it still doesn’t come off that the Covenant are knocking on their door or that they’re that worried about it. The writers use the search for the other part of the Artifact that the Brute took as the vessel for that urgency, as they clearly think it will deliver them a weapon they can use to destroy the Covenant, but with their control of the other half, and their apparent indifference to Makee’s proximity, their blasé zealousness about it doesn’t hit home.
Still, the drama and tension take a turn for the exciting when Halsey, who’s about to be shipped off planet and — though her ex-husband and the rest of UNSC command don’t realize it — her clandestine usurpation of her daughter’s newfound research privileges is running out of time. Desperate to stay in control of her fanatical pursuit of helping humanity evolve, she orchestrates a coup with the Spartans, activating some subliminal defense protocol where they only answer to her. It allows the emotional clairvoyance that Chief and Kai-125 have experienced to finally conflict with their unemotional squadmates, resulting in an exciting and brutal beatdown between Chief, Vannak, and Riz. Kai had a great scene earlier where she’s having fun with the regulars and lifting heavy equipment for bets. The embrace of her humanity has been wonderful to see alongside Chief, and it helps deliver the punch when Halsey sells her out as she, Vannak, and Riz set off to apprehend Chief.
Good questions at the end of an episode are good, and it feels like Halo has found its stride with that. What is Halsey planning? What was it that was packed away on her ship? What is Makee’s game now? That is one of the most intriguing questions, considering the changes she’s shown. They may not make sense, but they happened, and now that she’s activated the Artifact and likely run off with it, what’s her game? Did her conversation with Halsey convince her? Word’s still out, so we’ll have to see what she does with it if she gets away with it. The same goes for Halsey. Her meddling is an interesting and exciting new development. Halsey in the game and books is decidedly not this way. Game and book, Halsey is portrayed as almost infallible, but here, she’s making enemies and mistakes, and her judgment is becoming erratic. It adds another level to the show that has any number of ways of playing out.
Image Source: Games Hub
Alongside the uncertainty surrounding whether the Spartans will remain together after their spat, Cortana’s rebellion from Halsey and her machinations finally came due. Again, the groundwork was well done, with Cortana growing increasingly uncertain of Halsey’s intentions each week, and the cinematography did a solid job of helping deliver that.
As the season winds down, by amping up, it has some work to look forward to in the second season, but at least it’s got a solid foundation to build on. The cliffhanger ‘Allegiance’ left on promises a strong finale. Let’s hope they stick the landing.
Rating: 8/10
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Source(s): Paramount+
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