Halo Episode 1 Review | Contact | Episode Breakdown 

the Spartans showed up late and seemed cold because they weren't there to save the rebels, they were there to kill the Elites and that's it.

I appreciate the reaction, but I have to respectfully disagree with you on the production’s decision to refer to the books, rather than lean on the games for source material. As the books are a far better representation of the HALO universe. One thing is for certain, this show exposes the people that (mainly) play the games ONLY to shoot shit & blow stuff up, from the people that play the games and appreciate the ACTUAL STORY/LORE that is present in the games too. Had they copied the games beat for beat, then in an hour long show Master Chief would MAYBE have five minutes of talking parts. Then, you’re relying on other characters to drive the story & relegating Chief for battle scenes mostly & THAT would be doing his characterization a disservice (to me). I mean, if it is in fact MC’s story, then let that man tell it. So I’m VERY HAPPY to see that the production is not handcuffed to the game’s Story/lore entirely. It gives them the chance to flesh out JOHN-117 & frees them up from being crucified by diehards of the Bungie era games (especially) because this & that nitpicky shit didn’t happen 1000% like it did in the games.

I think it was a good move, the removing the helmet, it showed vulnirability in order to gain trust from someone, pretty nice

I honestly don't get the helmet situation because there isn't a code like in the Mandalorian connected with Master Chief so there isn't a reason as to why he shouldn't take it off because in the books he has taken his helmet of multiple times and in the games he's taken it off a few times not as much as in the books but he has taken his helmet off and there's nothing wrong with that.

Chief takes his helmet off all the time in books. He doesn't in the games because it's a running thing to help the player more easily "inhabit" the character - the usual silent protagonist player character. The TV show doesn't have that consideration, and it's an alternative universe to the game lore anyway, so sure take the helmet off. I'd have been all for a TV show that stringently followed the game lore etc., but I understand that they don't want the writers to have that boat anchor of having to make everything fit 20 years of established canon tied to their ankles.

Jaby is right about the reasons to leave the helmet on… in the video game. You aren’t supposed to be projecting yourself onto the main character of a television show. I also think The Mandalorian stole their thunder. If they waited until like the finale to show his face, would feel very derivative.

The show is following more halo lore than the games. In the books MC removed his helmet a lot outside of combat. In the games he doesnt because it wouldnt really push the game much.

The OG Bungie games have a LOT of blood (human and aliens) but the newer 343 games are rated Teen rather than Mature so they don't show as much. I think the violence is necessary to show how brutal the Covenant is

This is a tv series that is now over two years at least. You need to be different from the game and have own story line.

If they wanted to take his helmet off, they had to change the voice.

16:41 why is it disappointing? Is a show not a game. Let's be honest there's no real reason of why he doesn't takes his helmet off. This is a show, they have to give some humanity to a killing machine. I get why people feel is kind of odd of chief taking his helmet, but I mean we ain't playing a game we're watching a show based on the characters. For the people that don't know the game they need to put a face on master chief. Because let's be honest later on they're gonna say is just a cheap Mandalorian.

I always find it amazing that the soldiers that anyone creates will be their greatest enemy if they ever disobey an order. But in this case, Dr Halsey is not afraid because she knows he would never do anything to hurt/kill her but doesn't mean he won't kill the officers around her and thats whys the Marshal was afraid.

They are Spartans They are supposed to be cold, it’s how they were trained to be. Remember the whole kidnapped children thing?

LOL there are more to Halo than its games , the show has followed more Lore of Halo than the games did and Masterchief has taken his helmet off dozens of times in Halo Comics and Graphic novels which the games are based on. As a Hardcore Halo fan this was sort of a Fan service and I really appreciate what they did with it. There's more to it than meets the eye/ keeping the helmet on.

This was a great pilot. The action, the designs, the audio, it was all brilliant. I was conflicted when he took his helmet off. I could listen to Master Chief's footsteps all day though. The sound is so wonderful.

I played the game and I do feel like they should’ve waited to reveal his face but the show has me super excited after 1 ep.

I’m pretty sure him never removing his helmet in the games is just due to him never being in an area where he’s safe. The helmet is meant to protect him and provide him with utilities. The show actually gives an opportunity to have chief without his helmet on because there’ll be times he won’t need it 24/7. The games are just pure action and the show would be giving us more character to chief than just a spartan

From a production point of view if you know you're going to take off the helmet at some point and that it's going to upset the Halo loyalists, taking the helmet off in the pilot episode makes sense. It's sort of ripping the band-aid off all at once so everyone can put it behind them and enjoy the show for what it is. And doing it in an episode where you already built up considerable good will with so much fan service is just smart.

I love the bit where, as you said, is "Time to clock in." The way Silver Team walks up, trains their weapons and the dudes about to blow the hatch turn around, their faces like, "Are they aiming at us?"

Good reaction. While at first, I wasn’t crazy about the prospect of Chief taking his helmet off but I contemplated it and remembered the books. The books (which are canon) expand what the games don’t by how chief takes his helmet off all the time (Chief is a Ginger by the way). They only kept the helmet on for the games. As you guys know, portrayal on games can’t be done the same way on tv, so certain things have to change. I’ve learned to accept it and can appreciate it now. They were up front and honest about it before the release, so we’re prepared. At least this feels like Halo even though it’s an alternate timeline and it’s true to the themes and feel of the source material despite the directors position.

I loved he takes his helmet off because Eli belive we need to have a personal connection to this legend of a man that seams untouchable and it’s cold and distant. To put a face to him I felt more and need to know more. Now I think of him as this awesome legend but at the end of the day he’s just a man.

I hated how they reveal master chiefs face...he is not out master chief he is actually John halo..the reason I am saying this because I like the idea of chief being a symbol and more than a face..but still i am going to watch the entire season just to see how they can make a series without even playing the game.😭😭

I have noticed that the people who criticize or do not like the helmet situation the most, are the ones who know the least about the universe and the halo lore. They also overlook too many positive details, they only look at what anyone would see.

Definitely agree about the kids part and the old people. I don't feel old so like 30 but I felt that they were depicting what really truly could happen if we make contact we could be in for a real shitstorm. If what they sent out it comes back and nips us.

kwan's father should yelled Leeroy Jenkins

I feel them taking of the helmet is fair to the actor I know we say yes it would have been better but if they don't take of the helmet they can replace him at anytime they can do what ever they want and I don't think it fair to let someone act with that kinda fear in them it's is important in my eyes for the people we sometimes forget these are people

Kinda sucks that you judged the helmet removal before it even came off completely. You really set yourself up to hate it. I grew up with halo and i saw no issue with it.

"There so cold" so, you never read any of the books? The books are a lot more real and immersive. Chief had a team this team. Also the opening murder of that little rebel city it completely accurate to the covenants ruthlessness. Also I agree. Master chief sounds just like Mando 😂 I'm super excited to see more species as the show progresses.

If I recall Spartans are trained to have very limited emotions. It helps him follow orders better. They’re literally trained from the moment they are a child.

The unmasking feels like a creative change to avoid comparison to The Mandalorian

I think the big thing to remember and think about as far as the helmet things go. Master chief doesnt really take it off much in the game, because its one constant mission and its not safe to remove. He still is human and has to eat and whatnot (though not as often thanks to enhancements) So there would be plenty of times when not in combat situations where he would not be in his armor at all. It Just doesnt make as much sense for the main character in the video game. Arguably in the later games you see a lot of the different spartans inside and outside of armor.

The actress who plays Admiral Parangosky is Shabana Azmi who is an amazing actress and is considered a legend in India. I didn't feel much about her acting here and I think it can be attributed to the writing and direction of her character. In an interview, she has said that she tried to read some books and play games but they were too complex to comprehend for her. So she just did what the showrunners asked her to. I agree that they removed Master Chief's helmet too soon. Maybe towards the end of this season would have been a better choice. Also, Isn't Miranda the daughter of Keyes and Hayes or am I remembering it incorrectly?

shoreh aghdashloo who plays chirsjen avasarala is persian i think. and yea i was thinking the same thing. if you have played mass effect i think there was a commander shepherd reference in there too. one of the back ground characters says "commander shepherd, report to blah blah blah" back at the base :)

As someone who has only played the first few on the original xbox; the show seems to have it's own storyline which seems competent so far. The voice will take some getting used to and the only reason i accept him removing his helmet is because it served the story of building trust between two characters. The little add ins along the episode was great and I'm looking forward to more from this show.

17:00 I love seeing people cry over him showing his face. But I do agree that they showed it too soon.

Its hard for a Halo fan to accept some differences at first, it might grew on me soon but one thing stands i don't like some of the cliche's and poor/cheesy acting of some even Master Chief .. I don't know, wrong casting i guess or due to budget limitations leading to average actors ??

When they were revealing his face I was constantly looking away and back to the screen, I wanted to see his face, the man behind the legend, but I didn’t because no face can live up to the expectation of his legendary prowess

A friend of mine is quite the expert in physics and he said that the depiction here of plasma cutting off limbs and everything is scientifically correct as plasma, according to him at least, would melt tungsten like it was paper.

Jaby and syntell should've reacted to Dark or Chernobyl 🖤

I think they’re doing colder versions of Spartans before Cortana. Then when chief gets Cortana we will see more of the chief we know and love

dope reaction vid 👍

Correct the Take off the helmet is a Video Game troupe...it makes No sense in a TV show..Peoplel thought the Mando Not Taking off his helmet was WEIRD as well how quickly people forget that not a Normal mando thing. They wanted to get it out the way and they did it now we all have to get used to the NEW Chief"

we have always seen the covenant from chiefs eyes so canon fodder to humans they are terrifying grunts being 5-6 feet tall and elites being 8+

i enjoyed your review and reaction i loved it man i been a fan since 2001 HALO CE that shit is fire for a SHOW.....and i don't mind the face and remove the helmet idc bout that its been 20 years of HALO so its time we know the man behind the helmet but love it man

Good review, I think this show is a character show in the context of Halo, I think the showrunner's comments were not the best timed but regardless I know Kiki Wolfkill from 343 and Kenneth Peters (senior halo franchise writer for 343) are doing an amazing job at bringing our much-beloved Halo galaxy to life, regardless of the showrunners. I love what I see so far. I don't mind that Master Chief has taken his helmet off, It is important to see his humanity in the story. I am really curious to see how Cortana relates to MC and how all the characters develop over the coming episodes. cant wait.

OMG bunch of baby over the face reveal, pay attention to the story pilot because it's necessary for Chef' to gain Hawn trust.

this isn't a game man, he is a soldier, he is allowed to take off the helmet when he is not fighting. The series is going from a real world perspective, I think they are giving a new perspective to the Halo lore and if we stop looking this series as a game adaptive, its going to make sense, otherwise you are just going to bust your mood over this reason further in the series as well.

I really feel like after The Mandalorian being such a big thing in genre tv - you can't do another show with "Protagonist doesn't take their helmet off to leave mystery for a long time" so it was like do it now or never with the helmet. (Though never would have allowed the voice actor to say so...)

bro removing the helmet gets rid of any mystery to his character, like he's no different than all the other spartans who actually do remove it in front of people

The Spartans being cold initially means the show is doing its job

THANKYOU for mentioning THE EXPANSE, Syntell. It's probably the best Sci fi show out there and I finished watching the entire series recently. And it ruined Halo for me, just for how amazing The Expanse is as a show and a story. Halo didn't thrill me for the past 3 episodes like The Expanse did. The characters or the actors in Halo seem flat in their performance unlike the richly explored nuances of those of The Expanse.

This wasn't made just for gamers. They had to write it for a general audience. I've never played the game and I was ready for the helmet to go as soon as the mission was over, but I understood the timing from a narrative perspective. Jaby's comment about some of the performances was right on. I think Miranda is the weak link, but then I find that character very annoying.

The fact that you guys really complain about his helmet removal shakes me , have y’all not read the source material on the books for halo? He practically takes it off often when not in combat . You guys kill me I swear , the first episode is a 8.5 outta 10 for me

It's funny because the Spartan don't care about those innies they came to kill and leave

Was on the same page with the helmet, but I feel everything else outweighs that. The actor is great though, he would not have been on my list for MC but I think he'll grow on us.

ayo I'm the 117th like just now realized that about 20 minutes in lmao

I think that the reason they decided to take off the helmet is because the actor for MC needs to have his face on screen. For a show with a budget like this, if his face isn't seen he would lose out on so much publicity and such. I probably would have looked up the actor like once then completely forgotten what he looked like if they didn't reveal him early

I like how when chief's shield goes down he finds cover like everyone that has ever played halo.

I guess the helmet removal was justified later on cos of all the flashbacks

I recon the reason to de helmet Chief so quickly was to distance this show from another show when You have a Helmet hero on Disney+. But sadly I was hoping for more "human" Chief. Now I hope we will get it once Chief will be paired with Cortana! But so far so good!

I think it was a smart move to remove the helmet simply to humanize master chief. Especially since touching the object he’s staring to change morally on the inside.

The covanat plasma weapons in the books are much more deadly than how their portrayed in the games Plus in the extended universe many humans worlds were attacked by the covanat no one was spared man, woman and children were targeted Some of the Aliens had a habit of eating dead humans.

16:24 My prom date when I busted 2 minutes in 👀😩😅

Love this reaction series! Please do the whole season 1 even if it sucks guys 🙏🙂

As much as I agree with the whole hilarious Hollywood, "white" black casting stance, it is interesting enough to cast both Jacob Keys and Amanda Keys as black actors, considering in the games they are white. They seemed to be doing pretty good in the roles so far.

After the mixed reviews I was apprehensive but I really enjoyed it👍

I'm happy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In Halo CE you do see blood everywhere Alien blood and human The books are more graphic

They didn't want to be like The Mandalorian with Master Chief taken off his helmet.. At least that's what I thought since they never showed Master Chief without his helmet in game if I remember correctly.

Mixed feelings about the 1st ep. I was hoping to hear some ethereal music that can potentially become iconic like the game sountract 🤔. Also, was hoping the spartans were made a bit taller. I kept thinking...Gwendolyn Christy would play a badass spartan.

Isn't there already a cartoon series where Master chief is helmetless the whole time? I have only seen bits and pieces here and there, but I was under the impression that the whole helmet thing was over a long time ago...

Halo 1-3 you can say anyone is John. The second Bungie sold halo 343 changed that with halo 4 legendary ending and anime has shown young John so alot of us know that John 117 is white. Plus we know what Pablo looks like so no mystery of who he is under the helmet. I get the voice being jarring and the face reveal but this is a show not a game I'm open to it.

Violence is HALO! Combat evolved! If they follow the first game, this series will be the best of all time! If they get too far out in the weeds with soap opera senarios, this will fail. So far it looks good!

More than likely they will not take prisoners they will eliminate all that's there they don't look at us probably as loving caring things

Hear my problem with using Steve for Masterchief he is 75 that is really old and that mean he can go at any moment or just stop ay anymoment and we want this show to go on for a long while

12th reaction of this episode I've watched. 12 reactors who claim to be fans of Halo. 12 reactors who have had no idea that object is a Forerunner artifact. Lol did everyone just skip cut scenes when playing the games?

Ya, would of waited at least the season for his face reveal BUT I do get why... New viewers werent going to connect at all (maybe).

they either do it in the pilot or they dont do it at all. Tear the bandaid off

He yells Every Thing

maybe the director should've change the camera angle so that we cannot see his face adding some mystery to it.

I’m been a hardcore fan since day 1, I get why everyone is all up in arms about the helmet coming off but people don’t seem to realize that Chief took his helmet off all the time in the books, he only starts to keep it on more later in life when he’s more untrusting of people, this takes place before any of the games so a waaay younger Chief taking his helmet off is fine with me, same with his voice, he’s like 30+ years younger so I think it’s okay that his voice isn’t the same lol. I get people love the mystery behind him never taking it off and all. Hate to break it to people but it’s pretty much been set in stone that he’s just an average looking white dude in his 40s-50s in the games(through glitches in games, or actual cutscenes which show part of his face) so I think this actor is a decent representation overall, people can say “ohh the show runners aren’t even real fans & never even played the games” or whatever excuses people wanna make to crap on it when they’re most likely working with some people from 343 for guidance. This doesn’t need to be a 1 for 1 of the games & people that want that have too high expectations in my opinion. It’s not perfect, there is plenty of stuff that doesn’t truly give good representation & plenty of stuff that I like, people just gotta learn to just enjoy things. Also(SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS), they have moments where they show off the damage Covenant weapons can do, where Chief gets shot by a Plasma round in the thigh and it straight up melts his muscle and bones so I’m glad they shifted towards the more blood and gore. Halo has always been a violet universe when it comes down to it. Edit: typos

Also about the guy not paying the game yea that's was a lie Verity Littrelly lied about this guy probably for clicks He said he didn't only look at the games he went to the studio and books

I am very happy that they made master chief a human that you can actually understand instead of a faceless killing machine. It's a tv show not a first person shooter game that you just shoot the shit out of the thing. Is it to hard to understand of ppl? I say again its NOT A GAME YOU NEED A HUMAN FOR MAIN CHARACTER.

The cut scene on Halo 4 video game when you unlock the legendary mode it shows glimpses of him without his helmet. In the game trailers they show John without his helmet. In the novels and comics also. The game makers said people making a big deal out of it should calm the f down. They said they never exposed his face because they wanted the first person players to picture themselves as master chief. That's all no code or anything else.

Why is it disappointing to see what master cheif looks like? I want this to be a total insurrection against the covenant. We need to see who he is and understand his history. It needed to happen. Now we can focus on the covenant itself. Imagine what Halo will be like. Imagine the flood! CG will take us into a battle of insanity and visuals that the game never could. I can`t wait till they get to Halo itself. They need to go there pronto! We don`t need a soap opera of three seasons before the fun begins.

NO one told me this is where they'll be reacting to HALO LOL Also the creators and the producer Kiki Wolfkill (343 Industries) mentioned the story is an alternative timeline called "Silver Timeline". That's why Master Chief is a part of Silver Team and not Blue Team as he originally was. And that decision probably gave the creators freedom to make this Master Chief different from the games and also because videogame adaptations restrict these characters into having certain expectations from fans which may or may not be easily met.... I also think the violence is on point, because let's be honest plasma is superhot and literally destroys organic material, but I don't see why there isn't more lore accurate depictions, such as Spartans being really fast and that being their main strong point against the bigger foes. It's all over the place but it's what we got... #IWouldSubscribeToJabyPlus

There really isnt any reason to not take his helmet off, the main reason it didn't come off in the first game is because of the technology

projection onto the main character makes sense in video games, i dont think it would make sense in a show

"im disappointed".. Stop watched reaction immediately..

For someone not familiar with the lore or even the games and only know of halo. I get the appeal. But holy shit…. Not a fan of whatever that trash was. The only good thing to come out of this is that it’s not canon and it’ll bring interest to the series so people can actually play the Halo series.

YOU 2 REALLY NEED WATCH ALL THE CUT SCENES FROM HALO...YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE CITY OF THE COVENANT, high liberty......IT MAKES SENSE THAT THEY KILLED ALL THE HUMANS IN THE LIL TOWN, THAT IS THERE MISSION, TO ERADICATE HUMANITY...this Pilot makes sense...this is before they find halo...the clone we see is the beginning of Cortana...by the time you play the first game, Chief has already found hes humanity...so this has to be the prequel to the game story line...who john really is and how he meets cortana...what i didnt get and really am upset about is the leader of the covenant is Human...which sort of gave the felling of watching battle star galactica, the original series...i dont mind the voice and i really didnt mind the helmet removal...one thing that did bother me was the in-effect the humans weapons were against the covenant, sound affects were amazing acting was great...yea going to be a great series if they cont down this path...this has too take place right after there training or very close, except they were blue team...lets hope Hollywood does not mess this up like they did to Bobba Fett...happy gamer...

where are u from? im from planet madrigal then why u speak korean? same reason there are AK-47 in the series lol.

The human working with the covenant is the biggest shit on the story of halo.This looks like another generic politics/feels show that's gonna ride on the halo name

Hey guys good thing there but when you're showing some cool stuff keep it on there for us. I watch a lot of these cuz I don't want to watch the whole thing again

I think revealing his face makes him not feel like Maste Chief anymore. It felt like a completely different character once the helmet was off.

Fu