Stanko's Stance

“John meets his new partner and discovers secrets in his own memory; Kwan wants to continue her people’s fight for independence, but Soren has different plans for her; Makee’s plan to retrieve the Madrigal object has deadly consequences.”

That last time I wrote a recap for Halo it was on May 4th. Perhaps I was waiting for some force to get me back into it, seeing as how I was not the biggest fan of the first two episodes.

Turns out, Halo the show is still not very good.

Episode three, Emergence, is a step up from episode two in terms of plot development and intrigue. However Emergence keeps the trend of my uneasiness about the show on a clear path to disappointment. The show does not have the je ne sais quo to make it recomenadble.

Before I even touch on episode three, I have to note that the best part of Halo thus far has been the opening 20 minutes of the first episode with The Covenant and The Spartans battling on Madrigal. That battle was incredibly enjoyable. Swords through the chest, grenades blasting buildings and nostalgic gun sounds are what I came to this show for. Perhaps that is my own fault in not diving deeper into the lore and characters, but I love the Halo video games for their style of action, not necessarily for the story itself.

You know a video game series where I would love to get a deep story interpretation of? Gears Of War. I would be all about that. I loved those games. I played through those story modes at least twice.

But Halo is not Gears Of War. So let’s attack what we have in front of us.

Before we delve into John’s story in Emergence, we return to Kwan and her stay on the rock junk planet with John’s former friend Soren. Kwan wants nothing more than to return to her home planet of Madrigal to free her people from the new ruler installed by the UNSC. She tries to steal Seron’s ship, but didn’t succeed. She has a conversation with Seron’s wife about the planets and the window that which you look at the world at.

Here is the thing. I don’t give a crap about Kawn’s story. I don’t think Yerin Ha’s performance is very good. She was the emotional key for John’s cold-hearted vault of a soul, but that was in episode one. I saw her purpose then and it was understandable. In episodes two and three, she has been a filler of space and time. She needs more to do.

Returning to our Master Chief, don’t expect him to be killing anything this episode. Emergence is not an action episode. It is an episode about emotional discovery and growth. John remembers more about his family when he is put another ringer with the artifact. But here is the the thing, he loves the feeling of feeling. The artifact is like a gateway drug for him. He wants to remember his family. He wants to remember his parents. He wants to remember where he grew up.

And he has help this time.

Cortana has officially entered the picture. We were foreshadowed to her involvement and now she is implemented into Master Chief’s cerebral cortex. The way we got Cortana was pretty gnarly. Taking the brain of a clone (who was made illegally) and then sticking a needle in her eye to suck out the brain juices to then transfer into Master Chief for a real life AI unit that is part of the warrior’s personality now. I think that about sums it up?

Was confused a bit confused by Dr. Halsey’s assistant trying to kiss the clone before gauging our her eyes.

So Master Chief has Cortana now in his system, and there are some growing pains. She is budding into conversations when Master Chief is reconnecting with his team. Cortana’s full abilities have not been unleashed by Halsey because she doesn’t want to risk anything regarding John and his connection to the artifact. Halsey and Cortana and communicating behind John’s back, but not maliciously. This was actually a bit of a surprise for me; Halsey is playing the long game, letting Cortana help Master Chief discover his home world where he memories are buried, and also helping him remove his inhibitor chip from his lower back.

So Master Chief is now going to be able to feel. He has an AI system now imbedded in him. He has an artifact that unlocks lost memories and emotions. There is a lot going on with Master Chief.

This episode was strong in the fact that we actually moved forward with John’s story. We VAULTED straight into it in the first episode (faster than we should have), then we nearly stalled in the second episode with him just seeking questions and answers. This third episode had tangible growth. We took steps up the ladder, rather than just moving it into position.

The other major part of the episode is about Makee. The other human with abilities regarding the artifact, in case you have forgotten. She tells her Covenant friends that she is going to take care of this problem herself.

Pretending to be a stranded survivor on a Covenant ship, Makee makes contact with a UNSC ship and begs for their help. When they offer to give it, that seals their fate. Makee sends worms on the UNSC soldiers and before we know it, the USNC soldiers are all dead. Makee makes words with the general in charge but he does not deliver any information. She is on her way to Madrigal. To the last known place of the artifact where John interacted with it.

So do these worms mean that The Flood is coming? The Covenant is in bed with The Flood? I thought they were a “mutual” enemy; one that would destroy both The Covenant and UNSC.

So at the end of Emergence, we have some major takeaways.

• Makee and Kwan are both headed to Madrigal.
• Master Chief can not feel and he is heading back to his hometown with Halsey to try and remember those childhood memories he has repressed.
• OH, and the artifact we know of is actually the SMALL PIECE and it goes into a BIGGER PIECE. Which is part of THE HALO.
  • And so the plot thickens.

Where there other things I missed? Probably, most definitely. Halo, has not been good enough to garner my full attention. It is time to just accept it for what it is is.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND / RANDOM THOUGHTS

• How fucking stupid are the UNSC soldiers?
  • 1.) Check the entire elevator.
  • 2.) Order the doors sealed once you see the worms invading
  • 3.) You really want to take in a random passenger from a Covenant ship with no other comms? Not a very smart move.
• We are going to have to have to deal with Vinsher Grath on Madrigal. Makee is going there. Kwan wants to go back. There is going to be a run in.
• I didn’t hate this episode. It just showed me that Halo is not a prestige show, rather just a dumb show. My expectations for it are now on par with the new Resident Evil show on Netflix.

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