Written by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane
Directed by Roel Reiné
Starring Pablo Schreiber, Yerin Ha, Danny Spani, Natascha McElhone, and Jen Taylor
New episodes airing Thursdays on Paramount+

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

Episode three of Halo sees the long awaited arrival of Cortana, Master Chief’s AI companion. Though, she’s used as a force to keep John in line, rather than being the one true emotional axis point he has. But first, we’re introduced to Dr. Halsey’s clone, whose brain will be scanned to make Cortana. It’s a process that is experimental, illegal, and entirely under-explained for non-fans to really understand what’s happening.

And I think that oversight is unfortunate, honestly, because it’s the kind of thing that really sells who Halsey is - and what she’s willing to do in order to advance her work for the UNSC. It’s an indicator for the kind of horrific boundaries she’s willing to cross and, compounded with John’s memories, unclear as they are to him currently, it’s a fertile ground for her murky (at best) ethics.

So, let’s talk about Cortana. She’s the second most important character in the franchise, after all. She’s Chief’s (and therefore your) constant companion, and when she’s lost for various reasons (including her becoming an antagonist of sorts), John’s main objective becomes getting her back. Their relationship is what makes him retain his humanity, after all. Since the series is giving him a different access point to those feelings through Kwan, however, Cortana just isn’t all that important - at least not yet.

Besides, Cortana is now a punishment for John’s misbehavior - rather than a companion. In fact, she doesn’t even get the distinction of picking John, like she does in the games. That’s part of their history - that she saw something special in him. But it’s also part of her history that she was given the agency to decide which Spartan she’d be with–a choice that is nowhere to be seen in the television series. Halsey makes the choice for her, and for John. They are both prisoners to her decisions. Which could be a very interesting aspect to play with, should they lean into it.

Also, I’m sorry. I gotta talk about the way Cortana looks - because I have some thoughts about it! Like, I don’t care that she has clothes on - which was a big complaint fanboys had when she got her redesign when 343 took over development of the games. Whatever. It’s fine and she looks good in the newer games. No, my biggest problem is perhaps a more personal issue of the aesthetics of having a fully CG model in a live-action world. I don’t need her to look like anything in particular, I just don’t want this. In the games it’s totally fine because she’s rendered the same as the humans, albeit in a single color and transparent. But in the show it veers a bit too close to the uncanny valley for me to feel attached to her, even with Jen Taylor returning to do her voice. Which is rude, because I love Cortana and I love Jen Taylor!

While the episode is mostly about John and the creation of Cortana, Kwan does convince Soren to take her back to Madrigal in order to hopefully overthrow Vinsher Grath (Burn Gorman), who has taken over in the power vacuum left by her father’s death. We also get to see some of Makee (aka “The Blessed One”) and her backstory. Her hatred of humanity is given a voice and we see when she became a ward of the Covenant. We also see her bait a UNSC ship, only to kill every crew member on board with the help of some Mgalekgolo, the worms that make up the Hunters. We also get a moment that was my household’s breaking point for being chill about changes in the show: Makee has a tiny energy sword that comes out of her finger. Yeah, nope!

Also, I promise I won’t just keep saying this about every episode, but if Master Chief were younger then I think a lot of these story choices would simply make more sense–though the energy sword finger nail is baffling regardless. Not only would it make his relationship with Kwan make more sense, but I think his connection to Makee (which I’m sure is forthcoming) won’t be quite as weird if he weren’t almost 10 years older than her. Anyway, just know that I’m being obnoxious about it every single Thursday when I watch new episodes with my boyfriend and roommate. Chief also doesn’t have his helmet on in this episode, and I think it’s the funniest thing in the world, honestly. Especially since they just put Cortana directly into John’s brain, instead of into his helmet. The work arounds are hilarious, if nothing else.

Regardless, I’m actually pretty excited to see what will happen when all our main players actually meet face-to-face, now that they’re all introduced. It’s sure to be a wild ride, if nothing else.