'HALO' Episode 2: "Unbound" Recap and Review
The second episode feels significantly less chaotic than the pilot and actually allows the show to build the characters rather than just the HALO world.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Episode two, Unbound, opens with a flashback to younger John, aka Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber), in his early years of training for the United Nations Space Command (UNSC). He sneaks out in the middle of the night to meet another Spartan named Soren (Bokeem Woodbine). The two had planned to run away from Spartan training together, but John has gotten cold feet. He’s decided he’s not going to run and he’s not going to let Soren go either. Soren, held at gunpoint by John, says that either John shoots him or he runs away, he doesn’t care. Either way he’s free. Unable to shoot his friend, John tells Soren to run and gives him a five-minute head start.
Back in the present day, Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone) and Hood (Keir Dullea) discuss the plan to bring Master Chief back safely and retrieve the curious object from Madrigal, the planet that was ravaged by Covenant soldiers in episode one. They plan to use the Silver Team, which Master Chief used to captain, to bring both back to UNSC headquarters. At a general meeting for military members, Halsey announces Cortana, a program that will make Master Chief comply again and increase all Spartan mental capabilities. Spartan consciousness will be replaced with artificial intelligence to create even deadlier killing machines.
Master Chief and Kwan (Yerin Ha) land on The Rubble, where Soren has been living since he left UNSC. The Rubble is the antithesis of the regimented programming of UNSC. It has no government, no duties, no restrictions. Soren talks of the absolute freedom he has living there, a freedom that’s unattainable for Spartans. Master Chief is shocked to learn that Soren has a wife and kids because he thought the “treatments” they were giving during training made that impossible.
On High Charity, the Covenant Command, Makee (Charlie Murphy) is interrogating the Covenant soldier who saw Master Chief interact with the relic on Madrigal. One of the Covenant leaders calls the object a “keystone.” Makee is insistent that she be the one to go on a quest to retrieve it, despite her status as Blessed One. She can move among the humans in ways that alien Covenant members cannot. This keystone is crucial for the Covenant because it will lead them to the sacred ring.
Madrigal is under new leadership. Vinsher (Burn Gorman) has placed a bounty on Kwan’s head and is ruling Madrigal violently. He has always disliked the way Kwan’s father ruled Madrigal, and wasted no time cutting a deal with UNSC and executing rebel forces on the planet. Since Madrigal is home to an abundance of hydrogen which is used as fuel, Vinsher stands to become a wealthy man from this UNSC partnership.
Soren takes Master Chief and Kwan to meet Reth, a man who was captured by the Covenant and lived to talk about it. They hope Reth is able to explain what the artifact from Madrigal is capable of and why the Covenant wants it. Master Chief and Reth’s conversation becomes heated and Master Chief touches the object, making it glow blue again. Reth explains that the blue ring Master Chief is able to make appear is a devastating weapon that can end life as they know it. Reth tells Master Chief that he’s able to stop the weapon if he destroys the artifact and then himself.
Master Chief is overwhelmed by this ultimatum and decides he must go back to UNSC and take the artifact with him. He believes that Dr. Halsey has the ability to harness the relic’s powers against the Covenant. Master Chief insists that Quan stay behind on The Rubble with Soren because he’s the only friend Master Chief has outside UNSC. He can’t risk bringing her back to headquarters as a wanted fugitive.
Most critiqued is the show’s decision to have Master Chief remove his helmet. It’s been compared to The Mandalorian in terms of gruff, helmeted, reluctant hero. For Halo, it was the correct decision to mirror the conflicted journey that Master Chief is going through. Schreiber’s naturally stoic face shows limited emotion, but unmasking him allows small flashes of nuanced feelings to come through. The times when takes his helmet off or puts it back on offer glimpses into his psyche and the internal battle he’s having about doing what’s right versus following the programming of his Spartan “treatments.”
Halo continues to make the focus of the series on interpersonal relationships. The introduction of ex-Spartan Soren and the tangled history he shares with John is a nice addition. This episode feels significantly less chaotic than the pilot and actually allows the characters to have dialogue that isn’t pure exposition and world-building. Where the pilot was almost too much of an information dump, this episode is proof there’s depth to the characters. Some questions about the mysterious relic have been answered, but more uncertainty has been introduced by Dr. Halsey’s Cortana and Master Chief’s return to UNSC.