Halo Season 2, Ep 2 (Fan Creations)

by ManKitten, The Stugotz is strong in me., Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 06:06 (268 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I liked Episode 2 a lot. Never thought I'd see the Master Chief at a dinner party being asked what his K/D is in Spartan Attack, but it worked. We see that the people who fight have families, unlike the Spartans who had nobody but Halsey. A family they left willingly, rather than John being taken as a child. Something he'll never know.

This is the kind of thing the games don't really do - they don't let you reflect on the toll of military life, both physical and psychological. The difference between the face you put on for the public and for yourself. The pressures of not showing weakness. The rivalry.

I swear if someone says they hated this because the MC was 'emotional' I am going to just be silently disappointed and judge them hard.

I read your post before seeing the episode and I guess was expecting something different out of it. Are we to surmise that "Spartan Attack" is a video game? The guy asking had no idea John was a Spartan until after he asked that. And so far the only emotion I've seen from John is that of frustration. And whatever that weird AI therapy session was.

For my money, the main thing 343 has nailed in their games, plot wise, was MC struggling with his identity and (lack of) humanity. The opening scene of episode 1 with the shaman lady talking to him landed. And in episode 2 with Ackerson confirming he "needed Master Chief but at the end of day, he was just a guy in a suit." thus driving home that John as a person was irrelevant.