Almost two years after the premiere of the Halo TV series, its second season is set to build upon the foundations laid in its somewhat divisive but enjoyable first outing. Learning from the critiques made about the first season, the team behind the Halo TV series is working hard to strike a delicate balance of honouring what has come before while telling their own unique and compelling story.
Translating any franchise from one medium to another is no small feat, and getting it right is that much more difficult. While it can be said that Halo’s Season 1 did wrestle to find its identity throughout its 9 episodes, it did offer a unique story, set up some interesting characters and laid the groundwork for a potentially exciting retelling of the Halo story.
Halo Season 2 works to further refine the identity and direction of the Halo TV series while avoiding some of the missteps of Season 1. Without getting into spoiler territory, the story of this season picks up six months after the events of S1E9 Transcendence. The Season 2 opener finds the Chief and the rest of the Sliver team desperately trying to make sense of all that has transpired.
The first two episodes of Halo Season 2 begin to unpack the aftermath and fallout from Season 1 while grappling with the looming threat of the Covenant. This season wastes no time jumping into it, opening with some solid action and great nodes to the video games. Weapons like the M90 shotgun and devices like the Grappleshot are on full display, and the overall action feels great to watch.
This season so far has done a much better job of capturing the essence of what makes the Halo games so great, namely, the power fantasy associated with being the Master Chief. This is something that is an improvement over the first season, with the exception of the Season 1 finale. While the opening sequences are a bit disorienting narratively, namely, leaving the viewer with a lot more unanswered questions than answers, the episodes work quickly to help orient viewers after the dust of combat has cleared.
“The first two episodes of Halo Season 2 begin to unpack the aftermath and fallout from Season 1 while grappling with the looming threat of the Covenant.”
Thematically, Halo Season 2 focuses on the burden of John 117’s role as both a symbol of Hope as the Master Chief while also wrestling with his doubts and misgivings about the mission and his role in it. One of the characteristics that makes the game Master Chief a character you cheer for is his unwavering pursuit of what he knows to be right and in what is in the best interest of humanity despite his orders. This is something that the first season of Halo, the TV series, struggled to communicate well.
Thankfully, Halo Season 2 is beginning to unpack this character trait of the Chief, and the show’s lead is beginning to take on that attribute. These first two episodes of Season 2 have done an excellent job of displaying the Chief’s resolve as it relates to his conviction and drive to save humanity. He is beginning to become the character you want to rally behind, not simply because he dons the helmet but because he is becoming the character that gamers have loved for the past 20-plus years.
One of the biggest critiques of Halo Season 1 for this writer was pacing. When the rhythm was right, Season 1 was a fun ride, with stand-out episodes like Reckoning and Transcendence highlighting the potential of the series. While there is a need for additional world-building when translating any story from one medium to another, Season 1 did struggle with its pacing when doing so.
Thankfully, Halo Season 2 does a much better job at balancing exposition with plot movement with both Episode One—Sanctuary, and Episode Two—Sword, feeling much more balanced in pacing and narrative delivery. While there are still moments of exposition and character introspection, it isn’t at the cost of viewers’ attention span and fits much better with the overall storytelling.
“This theme of hope, something that wasn’t clearly highlighted in Season 1, seems to be taking on a much more prominent story beat in Halo Season 2.”
As for character development, while Halo Season 2 continues to see John explore his role in the greater story, it’s nice to finally see characters like Riz-028 and Vannak-134 take a more prominent role. Some of the best scenes thus far have been when the Silver team is on-screen together. Their banter and care for one another help capture what made the novel Fall Of Reach so good: it helps humanize the Spartans by showing their care for each other while being the icon of hope in an otherwise hopeless war with the Covenant.
This theme of hope, something that wasn’t clearly highlighted in Season 1, seems to be taking on a much more prominent story beat in Halo Season 2. In fact, there are indications in the early episodes that the theme will be unpacked much more as the story unfolds which, once again, would go a long way in uniting the Halo TV Series with the greater Halo universe.
Another theme that is being refined and unpacked is that of the Spartans’ own humanity. While Season 1 attempted to do this with that controversial Season 1 Episode 8 scene, Halo Season 2 takes a much more natural and less jarring approach but introduces moments that see the Spartans simply being human.
Moments of humour, care and concern contrast beautifully against the horrors of war, death and impending doom present in the overarching story. It allows the viewer time to process and relate to the characters and thus helps build a sense of connection with the characters naturally. While it’s still early on in the season, seeing these moments helps give hope for what the rest of the season will bring.
Halo Season 2 thus has done an excellent job at pushing the narrative forward while also developing its main characters in a way that doesn’t feel forced. With much better pacing and character moments, Season 2 seems to be telling a more streamlined story while deepening our care for the characters involved. Halo Season 2 is set to premiere on February 8th, 2024 and can be found exclusively on Paramount Plus.
