The Halo novels offer a theoretically infinite body of source material for the TV show to pull from. A dedicated filmmaker could fill a studio's slate for decades, adapting one book after another. Paramount Plus's Halo doesn't do that. It forges a new timeline with some resemblance to the original narrative. The show borrows occasional characters, events, and plot details from the endless extended universe with some changes. Soren-066 is among the most notable figures from the novel to reach the screen.
Halo has a lot of plot threads to keep track of. The Master Chief leads the central narrative but takes frequent, long-winded breaks in other people's stories. Some fans hated the human representative of the Covenant and the prolonged military boardroom drama. Soren enjoyed one of the most prominent and enjoyable side-plots in the series thus far, and though it's off the rails now, the character stays engaging.
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Who is Soren in the Halo show?
Soren-066 became a Spartan alongside Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. Like John, Soren was kidnapped, replaced with a flash clone, and forced into a brutal training regiment to turn him into a super soldier. Soren rejected the training, leading him to mount a stealthy escape in the dead of night. He believed he'd convinced John, seemingly a friend, to defect and run away with him. He planned to steal a Longsword and fly to The Rubble, an unauthorized space colony occupied by criminals. John refuses to follow him, maintaining his strict adherence to the system. John offered Soren some leniency, promising him a five-minute head start before he'd wake the authorities. The UNSC soldiers shot Soren, but he escaped despite his injury. Soren held a grudge against John for years, but his new life as a pirate began.
Soren cut out the emotional regulator from the base of his spine, freeing his mind to feel his feelings for the first time in years. He used his Spartan training and portions of his Mjolnir armor to become one of the most feared pirates on The Rubble. He married a woman named Laera and had a son named Kessler. Soren became notorious, assembling a mighty crew. When John went rogue, he tracked down Soren. Soren remained furious, but he understood the gravity of the situation when John explained why he left Reach. Soren becomes an ally, though an unpredictable and angry one. He watches over Kwan Ha, but he treats the young lady poorly. Soren reluctantly helps Kwan rise against the cruel local dictator before returning to The Rubble. Halo season 2 sees him hunting Dr. Catherine Halsey for revenge and profit before his crew betrays him.
Who is Soren in the Halo novels?
Soren-066 has a different role in the short story "Pariah" from Halo: Evolutions. He's a more tragic figure. His story in the Halo show starts when he leaves the Spartan program. That's the ending of his narrative in "Pariah." Soren grew up on Dwarka, where his mother succumbed to a preventable disease. Soren and his stepfather blamed each other for the loss, leading to a prolonged war. His stepdad eventually died of the same plague. A self-sufficient orphan, Soren eventually became a target for Dr. Catherine Halsey and her Spartan II program. Halsey convinced Soren to sign up of his own volition. He excelled in training, but Spartans undergo more than a challenging workout regiment. They receive grafts of carbide ceramic to their bones, pellets of human growth hormones in their thyroid, and a long dosing schedule of muscle injections. A percentage of Spartan candidates suffer nightmarish side effects from the process. Soren sadly fell into that category.
Soren's legs became bowed and gnarled, one losing more than six inches. His arms grew to cartoonish proportions, giving him absurd upper-body strength. One of his hands became a fleshy claw. He was a monster, but his dreams had not changed. Soren wanted to serve, but the UNSC refused his requests to fight. No armor could fit him, and he couldn't hold traditional weapons. Soren became dissatisfied, not with the disfigurement he suffered, but from his commanding officer's refusal to let him fight. A technician named Partch won Soren to the insurrection. They stole a Longsword and fled, though Partch died in the escape. The UNSC labeled Soren MIA, convinced he had begun a new life in the woods.
Who plays Soren in Halo?
Bokeem Woodbine plays Soren in Halo. Woodbine is a prolific character actor who has been in the industry since the early 90s. He debuted in an after-school special before working with a list of excellent black filmmakers like Spike Lee, Mario Van Peebles, and the Hughes Brothers. Recently, fans likely saw him in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he played Herman "Shocker" Schultz. He starred in Old Dads with Bill Burr and Bobby Cannavale. Woodbine does a bit of everything, and he's good everywhere he appears.
Soren-066 is a tragic figure recontextualized as a success story. The Halo show took the idea of a Spartan escaping the program and turned him into a powerful pirate. Though "Pariah" depicted Soren as a moving image of military conditioning gone wrong, Halo sees him as a teacher who guides John-117 to abandon his mental prison. Soren steals the Halo show as a fascinating Spartan pirate.
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