Halo Episode 5 Finally Makes the TV Series Feel Like the Video Games

The fifth episode of the Halo TV series finally feels like it’s starting to mirror the video game franchise that it’s based on. Halo came out of the gate with an explosive first episode that saw Master Chief and the other Spartans of Silver Team taking on a handful of Covenant Elites. This opening fight scene had a number of callbacks to the games, but since that time, the pace of the series (at least in regard to fight sequences) has slowed down considerably. Now, Halo has opted to really lean into its first-person shooter roots with a bombastic new scene.

The latest episode of Halo ends up resulting in the first all-out battle that we’ve seen between UNSC and Covenant forces. While the skirmish that we saw in episode one was largely between a small group of Elites and Spartans, this encounter sees all kinds of different squadrons going at each other. Not only are there UNSC and Covenant infantry doing battle on the ground during this scene, but the fight is also happening in the skies. It’s an explosive and chaotic scene that is extremely fun from start to finish.

One of the reasons why this fight scene is so great is because we finally start to see a number of different things that have become synonymous with the Halo series over the years. For the first time, this fight gives us a look at other Covenant forces like Jackals, Grunts, and even a Brute that ends up going toe-to-toe with Master Chief. These aliens are also sporting weapons like the Needler, Plasma Pistol, and a Gravity Hammer, all of which we haven’t seen before in the show. Chief himself in the scene is also sprinting across the battlefield and is picking up various weapons that he finds on the ground to kill foes as he goes. It leads to the fight sequence really feeling like something that would have come straight out of the games. 

Likely the best part of this final battle sequence comes when Master Chief launches himself onto the back of a Banshee, which is the Covenant’s flying vehicle of choice. Although Chief doesn’t end up hijacking the Banshee like he does in the video games, he ends up crashing it into another Covenant ship and causing a massive explosion. It’s a great moment that anyone who has played Halo in the past will surely end up loving.

As a whole, this fight really captures the sandbox-like nature of the Halo video games quite well and makes for what is likely the best scene that the show has had so far. It remains to be seen if Halo can add more great moments like this in future episodes, but the TV series definitely feels like it’s starting to find its footing as it continues on.

If you want to watch Halo for yourself, the first five episodes of the series are currently streaming on Paramount+. The first season of the show is set to last nine episodes in total, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.