The following article contains spoilers for the Halo series.
When just a few weeks ago it was revealed that Master Chief would indeed be showing his face in Paramount Plus’ new Halo series, many fans got riled up. After the series’ premiere, both producers and writers have gone out of their way to reassure said fans on their motivations to opt for this approach and now it’s obvious why.
After only two episodes, it’s now become obvious that Master Chief isn’t just removing his helmet, he’s taking off his entire armor and, even beyond that, the emotions and uncharacteristic behavior shown by Pablo Schreiber’s character early on will probably leave many viewers as baffled as Dr. Catherine Halsey is. It seems perfectly fitting then that John-117 has gone rogue this early on, because for all intents and purposes so has the Halo series as a whole.
Betraying The Halo Army
In the same week that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is coming out, many will reflect upon on how much better video game adaptations have gotten, however, upon a closer look, it’s not hard to notice the essential ingredient for making a successful film of this kind isn’t really tied to faithfulness to the source material. They may be forerunners in the genre, but the Resident Evil saga is a good example of that (at least financially), and so is Sonic the Hedgehog’s amalgamation with a very human world or Detective Pikachu’s own take on Gamefreak’s property.
By now it’s clear the Halo series isn’t really trying to recreate the same FPS experience that’s been raking in sales since 2001, and it should really be judged on different merits just like Schreiber's performance under such a script. Perhaps if the show were called “A series inspired by Halo” the changes would ruffle fewer feathers.
Sure, video game adaptations with Halo’s massive budget only get made because they’re a way to bank on the legacy of franchises that have earned so much money in the game industry, but also due to passive media being seen as an avenue to get that content to so many more people. Netflix’s champion on that front is Geralt of Rivia, with The Witcher games getting a healthy sales boost each time a new season comes out.
The Witcher is very different from the games and books in many of the same ways Halo is: there are wholly new monsters, race-swapping for beloved characters, and a greater focus on Ciri and Yennefer alongside Geralt. The difference is that Halo’s “color blind” casting appears to have forgotten all about Sergeant Avery Johnson, the Covenant breaks their own beliefs by adopting a human, and for some reason a newcomer like Kwan Ha is the closest thing to a Ciri the Chief has.
The Deconstruction Of Master Chief
Halo fans are right to feel played by the show’s creators when the series’ third episode has the Chief donning what look like the UNSC’s pajamas, however, the main problem isn’t exactly that but that in turning Master Chief into a more traditional hero the series’ attempts to craft its own Mandalorian are all too obvious.
It’s really not hard to draw parallels between the two, although Din Djarin being an original character always kept him safe from any of the pitfalls that threaten Schreiber’s Chief. But then again, the most humanizing component in Master Chief’s life, his Grogu, has always been Cortana, not some random human rescued in a mission. In fact, the Chief’s storied refusal to take off his helmet in Halo is more believable due to how little protagonism most humans get in the games.
Truth be told, Master Chief is far from the most interesting video game character out there, but neither was the silent Boba Fett back when he first appeared in Star Wars; what the Halo series gets wrong is attempting to convince viewers that the Chief needs these moments of reckoning before the fall of Reach in order to become a protagonist worth exploring.
It’s almost as if the show’s creators blatantly took the novels that explore more of John-117’s personality and decided the guy from the games was not the correct interpretation but theirs is. The premise is that Master Chief is discovering his own humanity, and yet by making him question the UNSC’s authority in such a rushed manner, the show doesn’t even bother building a different Chief concept it can demolish besides the one in fans’ heads.
Putting a new spin on a beloved video game icon isn't what's entirely out of place in Halo, the problem is the show has apparently taken out so much of what makes him and the franchise that it's borderline unrecognizable. That said, Halo is still very much worth watching, if only at least for the curiosity of seeing how this radical reinterpretation of Master Chief, the UNSC and the entire Halo story turns out.
Cortana will make her debut in Halo’s third episode and her design alone has already drawn plenty of fan outrage from the get-go. The AI construct has always been the one inspiring most of John’s most rash and unexpected decision, maybe in the series that means a return to the demeanor he’s always been known for, or maybe it’s pushing him further into the unknown territory this Master Chief is in right now.
Halo the TV series is currently available on Paramount Plus.