Well, after wading through three episodes of set up, sub plots and a lot of hand wringing angst, Halo finally gets to the moment that we’ve all been waiting for and kicks off the Fall of Reach with an episode appropriately named after the doomed planet.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Halo lore of the video games, to paraphrase Ron Burgundy, “it’s kind if a big deal” as the attack on the titular colony was by far the largest assault on humanity yet by the genocidal alien collective known as the Covenant and not only did the event score it’s own prequel novel, but it eventually got an entire video game devoted to it in 2010.
Possibly the most important event in Halo history – save for the discovery of the Halo itself – the show had an incredible amount of pressure to get this right, and considering that Halo isn’t always the most consistent of shows, the threat of failure was ever present. However, it seems that everyone involved should collect some sort of achievement trophy as Reach not only nails the scale necessary to pull this off, but it manages to drag every character up off their ass and violently get them in the game – so to speak.
It has begun. After countless instances of Master Chief trying to warn the powers that be, the Covenant have started their assault on the human colony of Reach which houses hundreds of millions of people who simply have no clue to what’s about to hit them. Primarily, what hits them are massive, conclusive, plasma blasts which not only blow a bonding Master Chief and Perez off their feet, but it pretty much obliterates Perez’s entire family in an instant. Immediately snapping into military mode, Master Chief realises that they have to get to the evacuation sites before it’s too late – but there’s a massively inconvenient catch. Ackerson, in an attempt to minimalise losses has taken the Spartan armour out of play, so Chief, Varan and Riz have to engage waves of Elites and Jackals with their toned, yet horribly vunerable skin showing.
Meanwhile, the countless explosions have managed to free both Halsey and Soren from the VR cell they’ve been awkwardly sharing and after the devious scientist reveals some uncomfortable facts about Soren breaking out of the Spartan programme as a child (short version: she actyally engineered it), they attempt to escape the planet. However, on their way they spot a clutch of Elites led by the thought-dead Makee stealing the super powerful A.I. known as Cortana before making a confident getaway.
Meanwhile, back on the surface, things look grim as Master Chief discovers from Admiral Keyes that the fall of Reach was unpreventable, which was the reason for all the conspirital gaslighting that the Spartan was enduring, yet the humans endure as they stare certain death square in the mandibles.
So finally, Halo reaches (pun intended) it’s full potential with an episode that’s almost entirely devoted to the initial strike of the Covenant as they lay waste to as many squishy, puny humans as they possibly can. The scale is immense, the carnage is thrilling and once again it just goes to prove that Halo’s most strongest moments usually come from the times it leans fully into the action. While devotees of the game, Halo: Reach, avid readers of the Fall Of Reach tie-in novel may find inconsistencies in how the event has been previously presented, it proves to be the big, armoured boot up the arse this season has been screaming for since it began.
It isn’t perfect by any means, but by god, it’s certainly a gargantuan improvement on the slow burn that been painstakingly laid out up until now. From the second the first burst of glowing plasma explodes in the street, the episode kicks almost every dangling thread into high gear as Elites run around killing everything like they’re getting paid for it. One issue that personally bugs me is the fact that the episode doesn’t (or can’t, due to budgetary restrictions) focus on the invasion from the point of view of the Covenant and lay out how their tactic and weapons work. To Halo enthusiasts, the appearance of a Wraith tank is awesome, but we never really get to get a good look at the thing before it’s blown to smithereens and there’s also a noticable lack of alien forces other than Elites and a pack of shield wielding Jackals, with there being a disappointing lack of Grunts, Brutes or Hunters to add a sense of variety to the carnage. Also, those still hung up on the fact that Pablo Schreiber’s glowering Master Chief constantly removes his armour and various points will no doubt be horrified that he charges into battle with no armour whatsoever as it’s been taken by Ackerson to minimize tech loses.
However, the upside is that the lack of a battle suit means that our trio of Spartans (Kai is noticably absent) are worryingly vulnerable in the face of an enemy that is larger, stronger and carries all the latest mod cons like personal force fields, clocking tech and plasma blades. Thus conversely means that when Master Chief manages to take one down with his bare, freakin’ hands, you’ll completely lose your shit, despite the complex choreography cheating us out of a clear view of the death blow.
After three episodes of log jammed plot crawling along at a leisurely pace, it’s so damn refreshing to now see Halo on the move, dealing out character beats and plot points while almost constantly being in motion. The reuniting of a bitter Soren and a typically inquisitive Halsey could have been yet another tense conversation over a table, but due to the war raging above their heads, the two get to process their individual shit while ducking laser fire and it makes all the difference. Similarly, the burgeoning relationship between Chief and Perez as they compare the differences between a traumatized soldier and a solidly pragmatic killing machine with numerous lives on the line.
However, most welcome of all is that Reach refreshingly isn’t scared to start dropping in some major deaths to really drive the peril home and with a spoiler klaxxon ring loud and clear, it’s time to say goodbye to some newcomers (blind, ex-Spartan, Louis takes that Wraith with him as he falls) and even some regulars.
It’s with a genuinely sad heart that we say goodbye to Admiral Keyes who manages to give a genuinely stirring speech before sacrificing himself to rescue the last lifeboat of humans left, but even more shocking is that Vannak is killed when an exploding needle dart is plunged into his chest by the Covenant big bag, the Arbiter. Yes, Vannak may have been the member of Silver team with the least amount of arc going on, but not only does his death mean that neither Kai or Riz are entirely safe, but it hyped up the Arbiter as a villain to watch.
As season 2 continues, the reamergance of Makee, the theft of Cortana and the no-show of Kai means that the battle of reach is a long way from being over – but it’s start has thankfully been the stuff of legend.
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