Halo Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: Thermopylae

Halo Season 2 is coming down to the final episodes, with key pieces being arranged on the board. However, the ending of Episode 6 made it clear that decisive moves were being made on all sides – and even within factions of the same side. Master Chief was reunited with Cortana and had a clear-cut mission to reach the Halo rings – before his Covenant rival Makee can. 

The cliffhanger ending of Episode 6 saw Master Chief and Makee each making contact with their respective Keystones, leading to a vision that viewers have been waiting to see... 

Halo Season 2 Episode 7 "Thermopylae" Recap

Vision Quest – Master Chief/John-117 (Pablo Schreiber) and Makee (Charlie Murphy) once again meet inside a vision of the Halo ring's surface. Makee talks about hearing Halo calling to her as if it were alive. Master Chief is furious with Makee for leading the Covenant to Reach and murdering all those people, but Makee counters that it's war, and each side wants to murder the other – they are the ones who are not quite human or Covenant and are meant for something greater. Makee reveals that she can now find where Halo is – and John begs her not to bring the Covenant to the ring, lest they destroy everything. After some back and forth, Makee discerns that the difference between her and John is that she's a true believer in her destiny with the ring, while he doubts his. Their conversation is cut short by the real-world events that are happening around them: Master Chief being detained by ONI forces on Onyx; Makee stuck on The Aribter's ship, with the Arbiter and his disciples still fighting the Covenant priest and his followers who are still loyal to the Hierarch leaders. Both Halo keystones blow out an energy that stuns everyone around – except for Makee, who ducks, covers, and flees the room. The priest chases Makee into an isolated part of the ship, where he is surprised by the appearance of Cortana. Cortana demonstrates that she can speak the Covenant language and knows the priest – distracting him just long enough for Makee to "bless him" with a laser sword through the heart. Cortana pulls up a star map, and Makee finally pinpoints the Halo ring's location. 

[Opening Credits Roll]

Damage Control – ONI leaders Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi) and Col. James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) plot on how to damage control the situation. Parangosky knows what will happen if people find out Master Chief and Halsey (Natascha McElhone) are still alive: too many questions about the Fall of Reach and ONI's tactics. When Ackerson tries to say that they'll be covered, Parangosky lets him know that there is no "we" in the situation: the orders he followed from her came from someone not even officially involved with ONI. Ackerson looks shook – but only more so when ONI comms come back online (after Cortana's hack last episode), and they discover that their tracking of the Covenant fleet is getting some kind of disrupted signal from the fleet's latest sector, from what the techs theorize is a black hole. Parangosky realizes just what that disruption is: the Covenant fleet reaching the proximity of Halo. 

Both Sides of The Gun – The UNSC commander who faced Master Chief on Visegrad once again makes the move to arrest him. Chief faces the squad of marines eye-to-eye, explaining he remembers what it's like being on their side of the gun, following orders without question. When Master Chief intimates that soldiers always know, deep down, whether their actions are just or not, the soldiers hear him and back down. The commander still pulls her gun on Chief, but Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy) makes good on her threat earlier in the season and one-shots the commander with a punch to the back of the head. 

The Library – Halsey is back with her daughter, UNSC Commander Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray), in what Halsey describes as the ancient "library" ruins found underneath the planet Onyx. Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) is baffled by the structure; Miranda calls out Halsey's boast of being able to unlock the chambers of the ruins in weeks, when it took her months, and then demonstrates her own advances. When one chamber opens, Miranda asks Halsey what was in it – as the discovery wasn't listed in her notes. Halsey confesses that it was mixed DNA: human combined with something else. 

Cost of End of Days – Parangosky and Ackerson are in the command center of the ONI base on Onyx, launching a retaliatory counter-offensive against the Covenant fleet. The first battalion is quickly obliterated by the enemy, but Parangosky sends in another wave with no hesitation. A horrified Ackerson questions the human cost of the attack: Parangosky asks him to consider what's really at the end of the Covenant's flight path. If Halo gets activated, there will be no more days to fight: it will be the end of days. 

The Spartan Way – Soren-066 (Bokeem Woodbine) and his wife Laera (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) are still in the strange arena they found on Onyx, and Soren reveals what it is: the place where they tested the Spartans as children when they had whittled the candidates down to Soren, John, Kai, Riz, and Vannak – the future Silver Team. In a partial flashback, Soren recounts how they had a squad of assailants sent against them, but the five kids all pulled together and fought as one, deciding then and there that they each had the warrior spirit of a Spartan. Soren doesn't want to pull his son Kessler out of ONI's clutches before he goes through the Spartan trials, claiming it will teach Kessler who he truly is. Laera won' hear it, reminding Soren that he now has a life – that he's as much a husband and father as he ever was a Spartan. She reminds him that as a mother, she's not letting anyone hurt her child as they once did Soren. 

New Spartans, More Problems – Col. Talia Perez is preparing for combat with her new Spartan Javelin unit. One of her fellow soldiers is having serious anxiety, claiming she thinks she will die on the mission; Perez counters that her real fear is being overcome by fear on the battlefield and that real combat doesn't allow time for personal fears when you're worrying about the person next to you. The speech works – even if Perez doesn't look like she fully believes it. Master Chief and Kai proceed through the base, seeing the new Spartans on the march. Kai tries to apologize to Chief for trusting Ackerson and ONI – but Chief isn't in a forgiving mood. Chief tells Kai that Cortana can lead them to his armor, and gets on the way. 

Spartan Needs – Halsey is telling Miranda about the mutated DNA she found in the "library" and how it led her to seek out children with matching anomalies in their DNA to create the Spartans. Kwan counters that Halsey is a kidnapper, but Halsey is a true believer in the idea that humanity's next evolution is tied to her research. Miranda gives Halsey an artifact she discovered in the ruins; Kwan touches the locked vault UNSC is trying to breach and gets a reaction from it. 

This Is No Simulation – Ackerson takes the data spike used in the Spartan Javelin training simulation and runs it through his own sims. He discovers that the spike being implanted into a Covenant ship won't simply de-activate the ship as the simulations teased: they will turn the ship into a massive bomb, capable of wiping out a planet (or more). Just as Ackerson is finally turning around in his allegiance, he's found by Master Chief and Kai. Chief nearly chokes Ackerson out, and Kai doesn't stop him – until Ackerson claims that Chief's armor is locked behind a biometric lock using his face. Ackerson confesses what he's learned about Parangosky's Kamikaze play to stop the Covenant and Halo; Master Chief questions Ackerson's integrity. 

RIP Admiral – Halsey and Miranda have to have a conversation about Admiral Jacob's death on Reach. At first, Miranda wants to believe Jacob could be one of the survivors of Reach, but Halsey confirms seeing her ex-husband die in the battle. While the mother and daughter face the grief, Kwan pulls a jewel from the vault door, causing a massive holographic star map to appear in the room. 

Armor Up – Ackerson leads Master Chief and Kai to the room where the Spartan Silver Team's armor is being kept. Chief is stuck staring at Vannak-134's armor, confessing to Kai how Vannak died utterly confused about how his own last moment.  When Ackerson tries to defend himself as a man following orders, Chief gives him a different alternative: Die with a hole in his chest like Vannak, or go public with what ONI and Parangosky (and Ackerson) did to Reach, and their suicide bomber plans. Ackerson fears the consequences, but Chief informs him that people like ONI never get that someone always has to pay the price of war – and this time it's him. 

Map vs Clock – In the Library, Halsey, Miranda, and Kwan analyze the star map, with Kwan finally discerning that they are looking at a star-based clock, not a map. Kwan's memory of the cave paintings she found on Rubble includes the key to relocating the stars to their proper places, forming a giant holographic replica of the Halo ring that unlocks the vault door. Inside the vault, Halsey finds an active light bridge and braves the trek across the chasm. 

Different Missions – Master Chief and Kai prepare to armor up but find they're doing so for very different reasons. Kai is desperate to save her new generation of Spartans from Parangosky's suicide mission; Master Chief has accepted that his destiny is to go to the Halo ring and shut it down. Kai and Chief bid each other farewell on amiable terms; Chief warns her what to do if she ends up with the spike; Kai tells him to get to Halo first before it comes to that. 

It's A Lab – Inside the main chamber after the light bridge, Halsey realizes that they have stumbled upon an ancient lab. There's a mummified figure on the floor clutching some device, and Halsey discerns that it's a fellow scientist. However, suddenly the facility comes online, and the entryway starts to close. Kwan hustles back across the light bridge, but Halsey gets awestruck when she looks down and sees that there's an entire ancient city below the bridge. Miranda barely saves Halsey by (for once) calling her "Mom!" and they make it back to the "library." Kwan re-examines the star map and remembers the cave etching of a Gravemind she found on Rubble. Kwan realizes that this map is connected to the "growth," which Halo fans know to be the dreaded species known as The Flood. 

The Fallen Redeemed – The Arbiter informs Makee that all the heretics that stood against them are dead. When The Artiber questions their next move, Makee finally confesses that she can't foresee the path, because she is Fallen as the "Blessed One" of The Covenant. The Arbiter doesn't agree, claiming Makee has made him discover his path to redemption; in a sign of solidarity with her protector, Makee brands herself with the same mark of shame Var 'Gatanai (Viktor Akerblom) did when officially taking on the title of Arbiter. The Arbiter claims they are bound to each other; Makee reminds him they are bound to the Halo ring. 

Young Spartans – Soren's son Kessler is put into the gladiatorial arena for his Spartan test. Before the assailants can get to him and the other kids, however, Soren jumps in and violently dispatches them. Kessler is scared of seeing his father in this way and won't come to him, but Laera is there to comfort the boy. However, when the next wave of attackers comes rolling in, Soren is occupied long enough in the fight for both Laera and Kessler to be taken. 

Back In The Fight All Over Again – Master Chief is back in his armor and approaches Perez as she's gearing up for battle. Perez is shocked that Chief is alive, and wonders if he's going into battle with the Javelin unit. When Chief confesses he's on his own mission Perez is upset; she makes Chief question his own story about predicting coin flips when he was a kid, by asking him if it was luck, recognition, or if his power is changing fate to his favor. Perez lets Chief know that no matter the outcome, she's good with her path. 

Legacy Work – Miranda and Halsey have a heart-to-heart while examining the device from the ancient lab. Miranda lets her mother know that she took the assignment down in "The Library" ruins to feel like she was closer to Halsey, even working with her. Miranda pledges to carry on her mother's work even after Halsey is gone. That turns out to be a truer statement than Miranda thought it would: by the time she unlocks the casing on the device, Halsey has snuck away, hearing that ONI is starting to hunt down the unsanctioned personnel on the base. 

Ackerson's Angels – Master Chief walks through the base in his armor, heading for a ship but inspiring legions of marines he passes along the way. Ackerson's betrayal if found out by Parangosky, and he's arrested, but Master Chief successfully launches off of Onyx. As Perez and Kai prepare for their mission, Kai tells Perez to accept that Master Chief isn't coming with them. 

HALO RING IS HERE – Master Chief comes out of warp and sees the Arbiter's fleet trying to outrun his Covenant pursuers. As Kai and Perez's ship is also getting ready to jump into the battlefield, Chief looks up and sees the Halo ring hovering above it all, waiting for the victors. 

[End Credits Roll]

Halo Season 2 is now streaming on Paramount+.