‘Halo’ Season 2 Episode 5 ‘Aleria’ Spoiler Review

TV & Film

Mar 3

Season 2 of Paramount’s ‘Halo series continues to impress compared to the first season. In ‘Aleria’ we see the aftermath of the Fall of Reach, starting the episode right where episode 4 ended, with Vannak dead and the remaining SPARTANS (Aaaaand Soren) holding out against all hope for a rescue. Luckily the scattered ships begin to return to try and rescue more civilians and military personnel, including the remaining members of Silver Team and Dr. Halsey.

Both John and Riz sustain serious injuries during the battle leading Dr. Halsey to put John into a medically induced coma to heal, which has the side effect of unlocking more of his memories surrounding the removal of Cortana. John comes to the realization that it was Admiral Parangonsky who oversaw Cortana’s removal from John at the end of season one. But there was simply no time to discuss what he saw as the survivors were racing to Aleria to both find Kessler and stabilize Riz’s condition.

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As the group lands on Aleria the tone of the episode takes a very abrupt change, the themes of the episode are less about war and more about how we as humans, even SPARTANS, survive loss and grief. We see several times in the episode that John doesn’t think burying Vannak will be of consequence, going so far as to say he is just a body and not his friend. To contrast this Kwan Ha sees Vannak’s burial as a way to get some closure after all of the lives lost on Madrigal between seasons one and two.

As John recovers, Soren and his wife look for their son Kessler leading them out to a farm on the edge of nowhere. Unlike Master Chief, Soren knows how important his family is. After trying unsuccessfully at first to get the farmers to allow him to see his son, Soren returns to them and asks for five minutes of their time to give a rousing speech about losing everything and finding his own family and life after his time as a SPARTAN. Sadly Kessler is nowhere to be found having been taken by the UNSC instead.

Both Soren and Kwan Ha serve as a foil for Master Chief and his belief that Vannak’s burial would do nothing for him or any other SPARTAN. Kwan Ha because she understands loss and grief to an extreme scale, having not only lost her planet but also her family. And Soren because he understands why a family is such an important thing to have. At the end of the episode, we see Chief, Riz, Dr. Halsey, Kwan Ha, and some members of a religious sect cremating Vannak. It is at this moment that Dr. Halsey attempts to give a eulogy and is stopped by Master Chief. He then gives a eulogy about Vannik-128 the SPARTAN, not Vannik Amir the person, as Chief says that person died years ago. Chief then pledges himself as a weapon to avenge Vannik. The next morning the Master Chief is given more bad news as he finds out that Riz, after injuries sustained throughout this season, plans to stay behind on Aleria and live to honor Vannik in her own way.

The closing scene of the episode makes some bold changes compared to the ‘Halo’ series of games. Makee in possession of Cortana attempts to plead with the Arbiter to take her to the ring. At first, he denies her and plans to deliver her to the Hierarchs at High Charity. But at the last moment, Cortana shows him Chief’s vision of the installation. It is then he seems to realize his singular purpose is claiming the installation in this step of The Great Journey.

All in all ‘Aleria’ proves that the writers of this show want to strike out in their own direction. In the case of an adaptation isn’t always a bad thing, and in the case of ‘Halo’ seems to be a choice that will pay off in the coming episodes. Fans seem to be in agreement that this season has more than redeemed the show for any misgivings in the first season, and by the end of this season, the fans might say this is the adaptation they have been waiting for all along.

RATING: 7/10

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