Warning: The following recap contains major spoilers for Halo Season 2, Episode 5, “Aleria.”
Halo Season 2, Episode 5, “Aleria,” opens with John-117/The Master Chief’s (Pablo Schreiber) groggy point-of-view of the hangar firefight on colony world Reach at the end of Episode 4, “Reach.” The Chief demands to know the whereabouts of Vannak-134 (Bentley Kalu), apparently unable to accept the Spartan’s death in “Reach.” Ignoring him, Riz-028 (Natasha Culzac) and Soren-066 (Bokeem Woodbine) keep the Covenant forces at bay, before the trio falls back to the hanger’s rear.
Taking cover, the Master Chief finds Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey (Natascha McElhone) gazing through a bombed-out wall at the wider battle raging across Reach. Halsey assures our hero that it’s “not over,” and is quickly proven right: a fleet of friendly ships arrives. The Master Chief doesn’t have long to savor the moment, though, as a gigantic, warhammer-wielding Covenant grunt – a slightly off-model Brute, maybe? – crashes through the ceiling.
Together, the Chief, Riz, and Soren take down the Covenant bruiser, however, a fresh wave of enemy troops arrives. Things look grim, until Soren’s wife, Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy), and rebel Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) swoop to the rescue. The Master Chief, Riz, Soren, and Halsey board Laera’s ship, however, Riz refuses to leave Vannak’s body behind. She charges back into the hangar guns blazing and, against all odds, returns with her fallen comrade – but not before she takes a plasma blast to the back.
Secret Agendas Abound on Both Sides of the Humanity/Covenant War
Aboard the ship, Halsey tends to the Master Chief’s wounds, despite his feeble protests that she treat Riz, instead. The Chief flits in and out of consciousness and flashes back to when AI program Cortana was removed from his brain (as depicted in Season 2’s very first scene). He also recalls his brief encounter with the Covenant’s human operative, Makee (Charlie Murphy) in Season 2, Episode 1, “Sanctuary,” and the pair’s shared vision of the Halo space ring back in Season 1.
These brief clips then segue into an extended flashback sequence that gives us our first proper look at what happened when the Master Chief’s connection to Cortana was severed. As before, we see the Chief flatlining on a futuristic surgical table and hear Cortana pleading with an off-screen individual to save his life. But now, we learn who that person was: Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi), the former head of intelligence outfit ONI. It turns out that Parangosky brokered a deal with Cortana for the Master Chief’s life. Exactly what said deal entailed isn’t revealed, though.
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Meanwhile, in orbit above Reach, Makee watches from a Covenant command ship as explosions blanket the planet’s surface. She’s visibly distressed by the destruction but puts on a brave face for Var ‘Gatanai/The Arbiter (Viktor Åkerblom). Makee praises the Arbiter for securing victory, however, he voices his frustration at only securing one Halo keystone during the battle. He also calls into question her prophetic visions and accuses her of protecting the Master Chief during their encounters.
Makee denies this, and following a further tense exchange, invites the Arbiter to kill her if he wishes. The hulking Elite declines her offer, and the conversation shifts to Cortana, whom Makee “kidnapped” in Halo Season 2’s fourth episode. Makee explains that Cortana’s value is her library of human knowledge. When the Arbiter asks whether Cortana knows the location of the remaining Halo keystone, she replies that she won’t know until she’s consulted the AI program.
The Master Chief and Halsey, Together Again
Halo Season 2, Episode 5, “Aleria,” then shifts back to Laera’s ship. Not yet recovered from his injuries, the Master Chief hauls himself to Riz’s bedside, where she’s unconscious and on life support. He’s interrupted by Halsey, who confirms she can’t improve Riz’s condition without proper medical equipment. Wracked with guilt, the Chief admits that Riz only risked her life to retrieve Vannak’s remains because he pushed her to prove herself earlier in Season 2.
Halsey tries comforting him, but the Master Chief confronts her for stripping him and his fellow Spartans of their humanity and transforming them into killing machines. Forcing Halsey to look at Riz, he demands to know whether she sees a person or a weapon. Before she can answer, the Master Chief opens up about his feelings of betrayal, reflecting on the UNSC and ONI abandoning Silver Team (and countless others) to die on Reach.
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The Master Chief then grills Halsey for information about other survivors, including Silver Team’s Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy). Halsey doesn’t have any info and also informs the Chief that he spent two days in a medically-induced coma. The Master Chief insists they return to Reach to save anyone still alive on the planet, but Halsey talks him down. She helps the Chief back to his bed, while he feverishly raves about UNSC Fleet Command and ONI ignoring his warnings about Reach.
As Halsey sedates the Master Chief, he bemoans not having his Spartan armor and Cortana, which he thinks could’ve turned the tide on Reach. In response, Halsey states that Reach’s downfall was part of a wider plan, and declares that they need to be “invisible” going forward. The Master Chief highlights Halsey’s use of the word “we” to describe them, and she maintains that they’ve always been a team.
Makee and Cortana: Uneasy Allies?
On the Covenant command ship, Makee coaxes Cortana out of her storage module. Makee reveals that the ship is under the Arbiter’s command, and divulges his status as the Covenant fleet’s former Supreme Commander; his demotion is why he’s so hellbent on killing the Master Chief. The enigmatic Covenant agent then shifts tack, interrogating Cortana on her relationship with the Chief. Slightly flustered, Cortana replies that she and the Master Chief work together.
Pressed further about the so-called “Demon,” Cortana lets slip that she retains the Master Chief’s memories. But when Makee demands they be played back for her, Cortana refuses. Makee responds with a veiled threat, hinting that her Hierarch bosses will kill her and destroy Cortana if the latter doesn’t cooperate. Cortana vanishes, leaving Makee to mull over their situation.
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Episode 5 then cuts back to the medical bay of Laera’s ship, where Soren, Kwan, and Laera bring the Master Chief – awake after three days – back up to speed. They’re headed to a mining outpost, Aleria, where Riz can get the medical attention she needs. Soren and Laera’s son, Kessler (Tylan Bailey), is supposedly waiting there, as well. After the catch-up, Kwan takes the Master Chief to Vannak’s body, however, he’s not interested in looking at it, adamant that his brother-in-arms is gone.
On Aleria, Halsey takes the lead on Riz’s surgery. While the Master Chief waits outside the surgery, Soren and Laera search for Kessler. They learn from a shady shop owner that Kessler’s transport did indeed arrive on Aleria, and dig into the records for a passenger fitting his description. Meanwhile, Kwan challenges the Master Chief over his aloof, Spartan attitude to Vannak’s death when he refuses to help bury Vannak’s body.
A Viking Funeral For a Fallen Spartan
A similar conversation goes down on one of Aleria’s scavenger trucks, as Soren and Laera argue about his apparent disregard for Kessler’s safety and the events on Reach. Laera accuses Soren of running from all his problems in the past. She also implores him to share her fear and sadness. While that’s going on, Riz comes to after her surgery, and Halsey informs her that, although she’s alive, her body is now in even worse shape than at the start of Halo Season 2. With eyes full of tears, Riz contemplates her future.
Outside the surgery, Kwan drags Vannak’s body away from the outpost and starts digging a grave. She’s soon surrounded by hooded locals carrying torches. At the same time, the Master Chief and Halsey talk at Riz’s bedside while she sleeps. The Chief laments that the Spartans have become expendable, and Halsey advises him not to take what happened on Reach personally. According to Halsey, everything that went down was part of a power struggle over the war effort’s direction. The Master Chief observes that Parangosky won that struggle.
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The Chief tells Halsey that Parangosky was responsible for removing Cortana from his brain – something he shouldn’t remember. He adds that Cortana said something just before their connection ended, then asks Halsey why she chose him for inclusion in the Spartan-II program. Halsey gives an evasive answer, and before the Master Chief can get the truth out of her, he hears Kwan screaming outside. Rushing to Kwan’s aid, he finds her fighting with the folks in hoods, who want Vannak burned, not buried.
In the ensuing struggle, the blanket wrapping Vannak’s body unfurls, and the Master Chief finally looks at it. Tacitly embracing his feelings of loss, the Master Chief growls his consent for Vannak’s body to be burned in line with the locals’ customs. Elsewhere on the planet, Soren and Laera’s search for Kessler hits a snag when the child they find isn’t him.
‘Aleria’ Sets the Board for Halo Season 2’s Three Remaining Episodes
At Vannak’s funeral, Halsey and the Chief give eulogies, as Riz watches on. The Master Chief wraps up his tribute by promising vengeance on those responsible for Vannak’s death. He then storms out of the ceremony, with Halsey hot on his heels. She implores him not to seek revenge on Parangosky and her crony, James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan), and to focus on Halo. Halsey then reveals that she didn’t choose the Chief for the Spartan-II program but found him, and notes his inexplicable connection to Halo makes finding the space ring his destiny. However, the Master Chief isn’t convinced and remains fixated on his ONI enemies.
While the Master Chief and Halsey debate his next move, Kwan has a vision of the Mother (Olwen Fouéré) – the priestess who seemingly died on Sanctuary in Halo Season 2, Episode 1. The Mother invites Kwan to join her and says she speaks for “all the planets,” including Kwan’s lost homeworld, Madrigal. She then urges Kwan to embrace her Ha family heritage as a “protector” and insists they must unite before the “monster” arrives.
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Aboard the Covenant command ship, Makee is outraged when she discovers they’ve returned to the Covenant’s floating capital city, High Charity. The Arbiter explains that the Heirarchs recalled him and Makee for failing to recover both Halo keystones. For his part, the Arbiter is resigned to their fate, but Makee insists that they defy the Heirarchs. She tells the Arbiter that her visions show the two of them – and not the Hierarchs – discovering Halo.
Furious at what he perceives as her blasphemy, the Arbiter moves to kill Makee – only to stop short when Cortana projects the Master Chief’s memory of Halo around them. Overawed, the Arbiter pilots the command ship away from High Charity. Makee and Cortana then acknowledge each other silently.
Back on Aleria, Laera intimidates the shop owner into confessing that UNSC operatives took Kessler. She regroups with Soren and they ready their ship, at which point Riz tells the Master Chief she’s decided to retire. A heated exchange follows, but Riz ultimately gets the Chief to accept her decision. The episode then ends with a brief scene of Kai inspecting troops on a UNSC settlement, Onyx, confirming she’s still alive – and working with Ackerson.
And that’s our recap of Halo Season 2, Episode 5. Check out additional episode recaps here.
Halo Season 2 is currently streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes dropping Thursdays.
