Halo Season 2 Is About to Deliver One of the Most Pivotal Battles of the Series

Halo's live-action TV series is about to drop an episode that will cover one of the most pivotal battles in the entire Halo franchise: The Fall of Reach. 

(SPOILERS) Halo Season 2 Episode 3 "Visegrad" continued to build tension to a major turning point. Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) tried to warn the powers that be that the Covenant were already invading Reach, but his new superior, ONI officer James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan), used Cortana's predictive models and compartmentalized intelligence to initiate a quiet evacuation of key personnel and assets from the planet. By the end of the episode, Master Chief, his fellow Spartans, and key players who were brought together by courage or circumstance (Admiral Keyes, Soren-066, Dr. Halsey) all found themselves facing the dire threat of a large-scale Covenant attack on Reach. 

Halo's Fall of Reach Explained

The very first Halo video game, Halo: Combat Evolved opens with Master Chief aboard a USNC ship, the Pillar of Autumn, as it escapes the Battle of Reach and the planet's fall. When the Pillar of Autumn is attacked and overrun by the pursuing Covenant, Admiral Keyes gives Master Chief the AI entity Cortana as a protective measure to keep it out of the Covenant's hands. Chief escapes the doomed ship, landing on the Halo ring where the real story of the game (and the larger franchise to follow) begins. 

As the lore of Halo grew into an entire multimedia franchise universe, the Fall of Reach became a key nexus point for the canon. After the first three Halo games were released (2001-2007) Bungie Inc. began developing and releasing spinoffs from the main story that centered around Master Chief. After experimenting with real-time strategy with Halo: Wars, and a Noir-style mystery interquel (Halo 3: ODST), Bungie decided to get back to the core dynamics of the series and simply expand its scope. 

In 2010 Bungie released Halo: Reach for the Xbox 360, a game that served as a direct prequel to the first Halo game, and let players experience the Fall of Reach as a thrilling FPS gaming experience. The game follows the Noble Team, a group of Spartans that end up being given a crucial mission during the Fall of Reach: retrieving Cortana and getting it off-world safely. The whole unit ends up sacrificing themselves, to get Cortana into the hands of Major Keyes, and allow the Pillar of Autumn to launch and escape the planet, leading directly into the opening of the first game. 

Halo TV Series Battle of Reach Differences

We won't know for sure until Halo Season 2 Episode 4 "Reach" airs next week, but already there are some obvious differences in the live-action TV series. Master Chief and his Silver Team Spartan unit are very different in the show; as is the Covenant side of the story with their human "Blessed One" Makee (Charlie Murphy) being a factor. Master Chief has already possessed (and been separated from) Cortana, while the entire mystery of Halo and the keystones to access it, is much more complex at this point in the show. 

On the other hand, Halo Season 2 has arguably earned the stakes of having us care far more about specific characters around Master Chief, who may be in real peril as this pivotal battle kicks off. The Fall of Reach is about to get realer than any game could convey. 

Halo Season 2 releases new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+.