Halo – Season 2 Episode 1 “Sanctuary” Recap & Review

Sanctuary

Episode 1 of Halo Season 2 begins with the UNSC specialists giving their all to pull back Master Chief from the jaws of death following the severe injuries John has sustained during his massive brawl with Convenant’s hammer-wielding brutes at Raas Kkhotshka.

If you’ve missed out on the events of season 1, John has now been fully integrated with the AI Cortana after he allowed her to take control of his body. However, to save John’s life, this connection has to be severed. 

The story takes a leap of six years, and we see John and his spartan squad at Sanctuary, located in the Branta System. The Spartan and the UNSC team are there to evacuate civilians. However, the civilians don’t take kindly to their rescue efforts, as they believe the UNSC is upto no good. UNSC only scatters their people in different colonies, one of the civilians said.

Unfortunately, the place is soon overrun by Covenant forces, resulting in massive casualties. John also notices a mysterious girl, most probably Makee,  in the mist right before the planet starts to crumble. The soldiers and spartans gather whomever they can and escape to safety. 

At the headquarters at Reach, the Spartans are briefed. While the Spartans were away, the Covenant destroyed multiple planets (in this context, glasses) and is moving to annihilate a few more. We’re also introduced to Mr. Ackerson, Dr. Halsey’s replacement, who’ll take care of the Spartan program from now on.

Ackerson makes it clear that he isn’t here to squander Halsey’s hard work but to make sure the Spartans are utilized to their full potential. After the meeting, John pays a visit to Ackerson in his cabin, stating that UNSC is missing the bigger picture.

John states that the Covenant is training its forces and gearing up for something bigger. Ackerson dismisses John’s instincts and even questions his reliability in the field. Not just that, Ackerson dispatches a squad of marines to another planet without warning them of Covenant forces that might be hiding there. 

On planet Rubble, a merchant’s mate, Felix, to avoid being sold as a slave, reveals that he has something of great value. In exchange for being spared and given a nice place to hang his coat, the boy offers to disclose the location of Dr Halsey, claiming she has survived. Even though Soren pays no heed to the boy’s claims at first, no one can deny that even the name of Halsey is enough to spur Soren’s attention.

Even Laera, Soren’s wife, took notice of how Soren’s face changed when the boy claimed to have seen Halsey. We see Soren donning his Spartan armor and sharing a heartfelt discussion with his son, stating he’s going away for a while. 

Back at Reach, Master Chief takes to the streets and meets erstwhile Admiral Margaret Parangosky. She asks John to pursue evidence of Covenant’s other activities so she can understand why UNSC, especially Ackerson, is dismissing John’s claims of Covenant planning something big. 

Meanwhile, Soren and his pirate crew find a nearly annihilated ship in the vastness of space. They don their suits and board the ship only to walk into a trap. In reality, Felix has lied, and his real plan is to arrest Soren to collect the massive bounty on his head.

As for John, towards the end of the episode, we see him conversing with an Ai, whom he has tailored to look and sound like Cortana, but it’s no use, as John always has a lingering feeling that he has been separated from something precious. 

The Episode Review

Halo season 2 kicks off with a bang, and now we’re all waiting to see how it handles any missteps from the first season. In episode 1, we see Master Chief struggling with the separation from his AI companion.

It’s kind of surprising because he’s usually portrayed as this emotionless soldier who doesn’t really connect with anyone. But now, he’s showing some feelings, which is new and interesting. And then there’s this mystery woman in the mist – who is she? Is it really Makee or someone else?  If it’s her, what was she doing at Sanctuary?

Hopefully, episode 2 will give us some answers to these burning questions.