‘Halo: Episode 9: Transcendence’ Review
Image Source: Games Hub
Nine episodes and one season down the long road of development hell for the Halo series. It's had its ups and downs, which is commonplace as far as first seasons go. But, as the credits rolled on the end of the season, there's plenty to look back on and look forward to.
After last week's cliffhanger, the action picks right up as Chief, now with a rebellious Cortana on his side, wins back the trust of his Spartan squadmates and tries to stop Makee from getting away. Halsey's machinations are brought fully into the light, but in a move that is absolutely out of place in the games but definitely something that would be a part of her character, she pulls a rope-a-dope on the UNSC and manages to escape their clutches. On the other side, Cortana helps Chief and his squad lead a mission into Covenant space to take back the Artifact. They face down hundreds of covenant soldiers in one of the best fights of the season, with all the feels of a thrilling mission from the game, and just when it seems like the Spartans bit off more than they could chew, Cortana and Chief do their thing and manage to complete the mission. But at what cost? Only season two can tell.
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Image Source: Games Hub
The threads of the season come together quite nicely in this episode. Halsey's fake out on the UNSC had all the breadcrumbs laid throughout the season, and it was so well shot in this episode that I didn't even think about it until Miranda started to realize it. It would have been even better if they had foregone the echoic memory audio, and she still shook the clone, begging it to tell her where Halsey went. Finally, we get definitive confirmation when one of the final shots is Halsey meeting someone at a park and walking off, narrating her plans for humanity to evolve enough to win this war.
As a fan of the games, seeing Halsey's progress-at-the-cost-of-everything arc in the series is a hard pill to swallow. She was a titan in the games, basically the most intelligent person in the galaxy, and while she bent the rules and clashed with UNSC brass, she was not the unfeeling science zealot portrayed in the show. McElhone did a fantastic job, to be sure, but seeing Halsey like this is a little jarring. But again, television is a different medium, and adjustments are made to tell the story best for that medium. I don't hate the Halsey we got; the plot is intriguing, with her now in opposition to the UNSC command.
The final battle was great and intense, and when the Halo battle music from the games kicked in, it became even more exciting. Well choreographed and shot, the seamless transitions from the standard third-party camera into the helmet views for the first-person angle helped sell the fight, its intensity, and its stakes. It really captured the feel of a battle from the game.
Season two is happening, and this sets up some worthwhile stories. Is Makee really dead? Will we get back the John we watched all season? Will we actually get to the Ringworld? It is a little disappointing that they didn't get to the ring after teasing the Ringworld in Chief and Makee's telepathic transference sequences for a couple of episodes, and the Artifact is secured. In a final scene with the UNSC landing on the Installation, as Guilty Spark referred to it, or say the fleet exits slipspace, the camera pans around to find the Ringworld floating in the distance, Halo theme chant plays, and fade to black. Chills.
Image Source: IMDb
There are plenty of opportunities and stories to explore in season two, one of which is how they get to the Installation. From Kwan Ha's vision, we know that there is an AI drone on Madrigal watching over this portal, so there's a good chance there will be screen time with that or something like it. However, it will be a disappointment if the showrunners decide to go that Madrigal route. The Kwan Ha arc was the weakest part of the story this season, and she didn't even factor in or play any role at the end of the season. It really played out as if it was an entirely different story that happened to take place within the Halo universe, and the portal on Madrigal and the line about protecting it until Chief can come back comes off as desperate, desperate to keep it connected to Chief when they have had nothing to do with each other since he left her with Soren in episode two.
Another opportunity is to unravel more of the Halsey's plans and how John returns. After this whole season of accompanying John on his rediscovery of his humanity after interacting with the Artifact, it was strange to have him kill himself so that Cortana could possess his body. Obviously, the automaton that Kai asks if John is in there will give way to John again. Otherwise, what was the point of all that development in season one? Again, the "how" will be interesting.
Image Source: Super Hero Hype
Finally, what would also be a good opportunity would be to increase the threat of the Covenant. It was one of the major elements in the season that fell flat. There were some lines delivered here and there about the war and humanity's prospects of winning it, but aside from the encounter at the beginning of the show and the strike in episode five, the finale is the only other fight we get with the Covenant. The tension is high because it's obvious the Prophets can't succeed in getting the coordinates of the Ringworld, but aside from those inclusions, the threat of the Covenant is the Travolta gif, where he's looking around for something that isn't there. Hopefully, with the demon (Chief) having desecrated their holy site and made off with the map to the Ringworld, that threat is amplified. Maybe a Fall of Reach scenario. One can dream?
In the end, the first season of Halo would qualify as a success. There were hits and misses, but those misses present as opportunities, and hopefully, in the coming season, the showrunners will capitalize on them and deliver a stellar second season that's found its footing.
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Source(s): Paramount+
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