'HALO' Episode 6: "Solace" Recap and Review
WARNING: Contains Minor Spoilers
Solace begins almost immediately where the last episode ended. It is after the Covenant attack on Eridamus, and Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) is in the hospital where all the wounded UNSC soldiers are being taken care of. Since he touched the larger artifact, Master Chief has been exceptionally jittery and, according to Cortana (Jen Taylor), he’s unwell mentally. He is having flashbacks to Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone) and her interactions with him as a young boy.
Master Chief is angry over the lies Halsey told him, so he locks her in the lab and turns on the UV Detection system. This system will expose the lab to immense levels of radiation and liquify Halsey inside. Master Chief’s purpose is not entirely rooted in his desire to frighten Halsey. He also wants to learn the limits of Cortana. In the last episode, she was able to essentially override his brain and cause him to pass out. Master Chief challenges Cortana to take over his brain again and free Halsey. She tells him that she doesn’t have that ability, and Master Chief frees Halsey with seconds to spare.
Makee (Charlie Murphy) has woken up, but will only speak to Master Chief. She’s still pretending to be an innocent human captive of the Covenant. Given the circumstances of her arrival, Master Chief has a hard time trusting Makee, at least until she mentions that the Covenant call her Blessed One. That’s the same name that Reth (Johann Myers) from The Rubble prophesied to Master Chief. Makee tells him that they are the same.
Halsey finally gives Master Chief answers about why he was taken from his family as a child. The Spartan program was an attempt to help evolution make humanity into something better. In order for Halsey to be able to test the full scope of her scientific advancements, she needed children. In place of the children that were taken, Halsey’s team left behind a clone who would pass away from an “undiagnosed seizure disorder” shortly thereafter.
The cost of admitting the truth to Master Chief is that Halsey is stripped of her control of the Spartan program and Cortana by Admiral Parangosky (Shabana Azmi). Leadership is passed to Halsey’s daughter, Miranda (Olive Gray). Parangosky sends Halsey to a new lab on a far-off planet. It seems this was her plan all along, and Parangosky is using Halsey as a scapegoat. Halsey’s banishment will make Master Chief believe in the integrity of the Spartan program again.
Before Halsey is sent to the new planet, she leaves a note in her program for Miranda to find. The two meet, and Halsey tells Miranda not to examine the artifacts in Halsey’s absence. Her faux-motherly instincts are a ruse, however, as she removes some type of camera contact lens when Miranda leaves.
Makee tries to convince Master Chief to take her to the artifact, or “keystone” as she calls it. She notices that Master Chief is jittery and says that the only way to make him better again is to collect all the keystones. It seems that one keystone can lead to the next, so Master Chief and Miranda go to the place where UNSC is keeping their remaining artifact. Even though Master Chief worries that Makee could be lying and that touching the artifact again could make his condition worse, his need for information wins out.
When Master Chief touches the artifact, he sees the usual memory flashbacks and the glowing blue light. What’s new this time is that Master Chief’s touch causes Makee to have a seizure. It’s proof that they are connected in some way by these artifacts. Their vital signs are crashing and it seems like they’re going to die, but then their bodies return to normal. Somehow, within their interconnected minds, they are standing in an ethereal field of flowers.
For the second week in a row, HALO has turned in a compelling episode. While last week was a return to video game-type action, Solace finally started filling in the blanks about the mysterious artifacts. The dynamic of Master Chief and Makee is proving to be quite compelling. The extent of their connection and the reason they’re linked together are interesting enough to push the story forward. It is also fulfilling to hear the true story of how Master Chief became a Spartan and to finally see Halsey held (semi) accountable for her actions.
Missing from this week’s episode were Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) and Kwan (Yerin Ha), who were left at a major cliffhanger. Kwan had knocked Soren to the ground and was pointing a gun at him. On the one hand, this week’s episode moved quickly and had more than enough plot to make it enjoyable. On the other, it’s becoming less and less clear what story HALO wants to tell. Kwan losing her home planet to an authoritative dictator could be a series of its own. Instead, Kwan has gone from a main character in the first two episodes to barely a side character.
The trouble with HALO seems to be the pacing of the story. The episodes feel uneven, and Kwan’s storyline is just one example of that. At this point, the criticisms feel a bit like a broken record, but Solace proves once again that when the show focuses on finding humanity, it shines.