Halo: Season 2 - Discussion Thread
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Which is strange because in core canon "smart" AI are common in the UNSC
https://www.halopedia.org/Smart_AI
I noticed this episode, the forced perspective to show John's mammoth size was pretty flakey in the military base. Especially when interacting with "normal" people like Ackerson. Sometimes he looked half a foot or more taller. Sometimes he looked barely a couple inches bigger.
Schreiber's 6'5" . Morgan is 5'11. How much "forced" do they need?
See, now that's true to the games. I couldn't find a picture comparing them, but in Halo 4, in-game, the Chief is only a bit bigger than a new character, Palmer, who remarks that she thought he'd be taller. Then in the (pre-rendered) closing cutscene, he walks past Palmer, and he's suddenly more than a head taller than her. Which was pretty egregious considering her introductory one-liner.
2.08 Finale
decent episode, but it does not feel like a season finale.
Perez
Yay Perez lives against all (my) odds - did not expect that, but wished for it.
Hope we'll get to see her in season 3, if there is one...
Kai
Soren/Kwan
skipped again
the spreading parasite virus / Miranda
Eek, it was indeed the parasite/virus Miranda brought back - kill it all with fire, plasma guns, nukes, solar flares, supernovas and whatever.
Ugh, what a letdown fight between MasterChief and the Arbiter.
I expected an epic stage and drawn out fight.
John/MasterChief 2.0
decent episode, but it does not feel like a season finale.
Perez
Yay Perez lives against all (my) odds - did not expect that, but wished for it.
Hope we'll get to see her in season 3, if there is one...
Kai
- Did Kai's fingers move when she floated in space aka she's alive?
skipped again
the spreading parasite virus / Miranda
Eek, it was indeed the parasite/virus Miranda brought back - kill it all with fire, plasma guns, nukes, solar flares, supernovas and whatever.
- If I got it correctly, the (annoying) Halsey-superfan-scientist touched the retrieved artifact without protective measures, unlike Miranda, and got infected and then spread it all over?
- Why is Miranda not infected now though, as everybody on the base seems to be? I mean she touched Halsey and to put her in the cryo-pod-freezer.
- How is Miranda going to escape that place?
Ugh, what a letdown fight between MasterChief and the Arbiter.
I expected an epic stage and drawn out fight.
John/MasterChief 2.0
- So did John sense Cortana to go after her little physical puck insert in the first place?
- Is he or his suit now fused/merged with Cortana?
- What's up with the John lab flashbacks from earlier in the season - was that also retrieved memories by the round flying portal-esque sphere who "interviewed" him at the end?
Kai
Ugh, what a letdown fight between MasterChief and the Arbiter.
I expected an epic stage and drawn out fight.
It was fine for me though the end surprised me. In the games the Arbiter has a much larger role.
- Did Kai's fingers move when she floated in space aka she's alive? - It was very slight but i figure they wouldn't have shown her if she hadn't survived. Spartan IIs in armor are extremely tough. Master Chief survived a spaceship crashing.
- If I got it correctly, the (annoying) Halsey-superfan-scientist touched the retrieved artifact without protective measures, unlike Miranda, and got infected and then spread it all over? Correct.
- Why is Miranda not infected now though, as everybody on the base seems to be? I mean she touched Halsey and to put her in the cryo-pod-freezer. I'm not super sure but i guess there has to be some active infection - bite from that tentacle mouth, open wounds or transfer of infected fluids like blood. We see the small blood drop on Halsey's shoulder, that was apparently enough.
- How is Miranda going to escape that place? I guess we'll find out in season 3.
Ugh, what a letdown fight between MasterChief and the Arbiter.
I expected an epic stage and drawn out fight.
It was fine for me though the end surprised me. In the games the Arbiter has a much larger role.
- So did John sense Cortana to go after her little physical puck insert in the first place? There seems to be a connection between them that goes beyond mere technology, otherwise it would be a giant loophole that he knew she'd be on that ship.
- Is he or his suit now fused/merged with Cortana? I assume so. In the games as well as the first season he could "install" her via chip port. This seems to be more permanent.
- What's up with the John lab flashbacks from earlier in the season - was that also retrieved memories by the round flying portal-esque sphere who "interviewed" him at the end? That round "flying portal" will play a big role next season, i knew instantly who that voice belonged to
But it doesn't have anything to do with John's memories.
This isn’t the same arbiter. Completely different name. This abriter is named Var 'Gatanai, the one in the games was Thel 'Vadam
If he was intended the be the same guy I imagine they would have given him the same name. Considering how many other characters they pulled from the games/novels with the exact same names.
If he was intended the be the same guy I imagine they would have given him the same name. Considering how many other characters they pulled from the games/novels with the exact same names.
Halo came out before Portal :P
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I thought it was an interesting nod to the Forerunner trilogy's Flood backstory that the initial symptom of infection was mania and giddiness, not unlike what the spores did to the pheru.
I've been wrong about virtually everything I've thought they were doing with this show (which is something I'm very happy about), but I'll do it again and suggest that Halsey being in stasis while partially infected could be a chance to introduce or characterize the Gravemind in a way similar to the Keyes infection sequence from The Flood and CEA, or "Human Weakness."
Kwan's gaes (seemingly) letting her contact victims of the Flood and fight it from the inside also suggests a way Halsey, Parangosky, and the Gravemind can fit into the rest of the story. Narratively, mashing together the Flood with the Composer/Domain would streamline a lot of esoteric stuff and make the overall lore more consistent (which seems to be one of the creative objectives of the show, integrating the novel-side and the game-side of the story, along with early story ideas and late story ideas, in a way that didn't really happen in the core canon because Bungie resented the existence of the novel line, and the arrow of time only goes in one direction. It's even happening visually, with the nods to Infinite with the trademark Halo beacon towers emerging from the ground the way the Reformation Spires did, and the quote of the shot from the Infinite teaser trailer (I'd actually forgotten about that one, I need to add it to my list of times we saw Core Canon Chief in a game without his helmet on. That makes Halo 3 the only one where he was never unhelmeted).
I've been wrong about virtually everything I've thought they were doing with this show (which is something I'm very happy about), but I'll do it again and suggest that Halsey being in stasis while partially infected could be a chance to introduce or characterize the Gravemind in a way similar to the Keyes infection sequence from The Flood and CEA, or "Human Weakness."
Kwan's gaes (seemingly) letting her contact victims of the Flood and fight it from the inside also suggests a way Halsey, Parangosky, and the Gravemind can fit into the rest of the story. Narratively, mashing together the Flood with the Composer/Domain would streamline a lot of esoteric stuff and make the overall lore more consistent (which seems to be one of the creative objectives of the show, integrating the novel-side and the game-side of the story, along with early story ideas and late story ideas, in a way that didn't really happen in the core canon because Bungie resented the existence of the novel line, and the arrow of time only goes in one direction. It's even happening visually, with the nods to Infinite with the trademark Halo beacon towers emerging from the ground the way the Reformation Spires did, and the quote of the shot from the Infinite teaser trailer (I'd actually forgotten about that one, I need to add it to my list of times we saw Core Canon Chief in a game without his helmet on. That makes Halo 3 the only one where he was never unhelmeted).
I'm intrigued by the Chief taking it as a bad sign that the UNSC fleet made it to the ring. I wonder exactly what's going through his mind in that respect. I know he's not exactly on the best terms with the rest of the military, but outside of Parangosky, his celebrity seems to be doing him a lot of favors, so I'd think he'd be a little more confident in his ability to maintain control of the situation.
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Probably thinking the Halo is a there are no right hands kind of weapon.
I just can't figure out what Parangosky's grand plan was supposed to be? Wasting the Spartan III's and the fleet in such a slipshod manner seems like incredibly poor leadership. Then ordering Master Chief to land and seize control of the Halo all by himself seems like a weirdly unattainable goal. They could have been landing the Spartan III's on there and building a beach head for either controlling or destroying the Halo, instead of the ridiculous blow up the solar system plot. It just felt like they were going out of their way to make all the decision makers into absolute bastards.
We never got a good line of reasoning behind the kidnapping of Soren's son, I figured it would be for experimentation on a Spartan's child, but apparently they were trying to make another generation of Spartans? Which didn't make sense since they already had the Spartan III's. It was very convoluted.
We never got a good line of reasoning behind the kidnapping of Soren's son, I figured it would be for experimentation on a Spartan's child, but apparently they were trying to make another generation of Spartans? Which didn't make sense since they already had the Spartan III's. It was very convoluted.
I figure that both Parangosky and Ackerson are basically the same - their back is to wall with humanity's very survival at stake so nothing is off the table in terms of what one is ready to sacrifice. Abandoning Reach and turning it into a speedbump is fine, sacrificing the entire contingent of Spartan IIIs is fine if it destroys the Covenant's main fleet ( is it though? I might have missed it but were they under the impression it is their only fleet?) etc.
If all these losses ultimately help humanity survive they might not be bastards after all - if an injury is too severe we amputate limbs in order to save the life of the person themselves as bad as that analogy might be.
Just a couple of questions since i didn't play all the games, read all the novels and comics etc
- weren't the Spartan IIIs also lowkey modified though not as extensively as the Spartan IIs ( including a cheaper, mass producable armor that was not as good as Mjolnir armor?)? They seemed a bit too "weak" to bear the name Spartan, basically "just" specially trained soldiers with upgraded gear.
- that huge ass construct Halsey and the others found - was that Forerunner research base or something like it?
- who was the old lady that was in Kwan's mind it seems? Something new or maybe even the Gravemind itself trying to get Kwan to do its bidding?
I liked this season a lot more than the first one though it wasn't too bad. I had hoped Silver Team would make it and kick ass with Master Chief but i guess they had to cut costs somewhere. Still wonder what Kwan's and Sorenson's storylines are about, dragging them through 2 seasons just so they can take up the Flood part of the storyline seems excessive.
I have to agree. At least split the forces, with Kai leading the spiking effort and John leading the effort to control the Halo, with at least some support.
I may have missed something, but I also thought it was unclear how they intended to stop the spiking of a Covenant ship, should John take control of the Halo. Assume they could stay in contact and recall all forces? That wasn't a part of anything they'd been training for.
How exactly one person, even the most badass of Spartans, is expected to complete that mission (spoiler:
and he didn't, before the curtain fell on S2
I was enjoying S2 until the final episode. It seems they fell down trying to execute a story that hadn't been well conceived.
P.S. The use of spoiler tags is super-annoying. When the S3 thread gets created, can we have a spoiler-discussion thread please? Thanks in advance!
Even then, while this is more of a remake than an adaptation, I feel like a spoiler threat should probably have stuff from the core canon tagged, since they are doing reveals in their own way.
Yeah, maybe so. But not stuff on-topic regarding the TV show that's directly under discussion!
Spartan III augmentations were all biological. Spartan IIs were biochemical and biomechanical.
Might not be known until the show's track is released. Shows don't have to release music track titles the same way as films though.
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