Master Chief Should Have Kept The Helmet On

Last week, I reviewed the opening two episodes o🐻f the Halo TV series and came away sensing the potential, but largely underwhelmed. In the review, I avoided spoilers with the exception of one single plot point that the public had already been told about in advance - Master Chief takes his helmet off. It's a controversial decision, even if I understand it. I've since asked 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:pro🙈ducers St🌸even Kane & Kiki Wolfkill, as well as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Master Chief himself Pablo Schreiber, for their thoughts on the moment, but I remain unconvinced by it. I imagine it was enough to put some of you off watching, or at least give you reservations, and it's difficult to defend criticism of it when it's this imagined wrong committed against the sanctity of the game you have played for 20 years. Now that it's out in the wild, it can stand on its own two feet... and I think we can all agree it probably shouldn't have happened yet.

I understand the choice to do it. Chief is what you make of him in the games, but in the TV show, he belongs to Pablo Schreiber. A lot of acting is reacting, and that means the subtleties of your face, a glance, and the freedom to move your head are all much bigger factors on television than they are in a video game where the story is primarily told through short cutscenes and playable objectives. Then there's the voice - speaking through a helmet changes the pitch of your voice and strangles the nuance, so when you're playing a character whose whole arc is about rediscovering his humanity, these tiny details count for something. I'm not a Halo purist. I don't mind the helmet coming off. It just happened far too early.

As you all now know, it comes around three-quarters of the way through episode one, after the first third of the episode revolved almost entirely around Kwan Ha. We don't really know Chief yet, and taking the helmet off so early feels like a surrender of his most impor𒆙tant iconography. For any die-hard Halo fans, it's unlikely you've been convinced by Schreiber at this point - not because he does anything wrong, but because he hasn't had the chance to do anything right. He's hardly been Master Chief, and now he has been forced into being the Master Chief. The one and only. Not just playing him on TV or wearing the suit, but for the first time in the iconic character's history, ‘telling us this is precisely what he looks like’. It's a huge amount of pressure to lay at his feet, on top of the fact he's trying to convince GamersTM that he's worthy of one of gaming's most hallowed roles.

Then there are the newcomers, those of you who tuned in despite not caring much for Halo because you're interested in gaming adaptations, like sci-fi TV with a military cherry on top, or just figure 'hey, I've got Paramount+ so I might as well use it for something'. If you don't know Halo, you don't know that Master Chief's mystique is a big deal, and the show does little to convince you by giving away the goods so early. If his face was revealed as the final beat of the episode it would still be too soon, but at least there would be some drama to it.

The worst part is the reveal is somewhat interesting if shorn of its context. He is invincible in the face of Kwan's gun, but as she aims at him, he takes off the helmet at tells her to aim "up here." It's not a threat, but a show of trust. He takes a leap of faith that she will not shoot, and in doing so displays his humanity to her. At the same time, he is literally displaying his humanity to us, the audience, by showing his face for the first time. If you ignore the fact this is Halo and that is Master Chief, it's a scene that lands fairly well. But you cannot separate the TV show Halo from the video game Halo, especially with such a huge reveal. Halo Infinite was marketed on the idea that we are all Master Chief. That's why diverse celebrities were used to promote the Become website, which allowed you to scan your face into Master Chief's helmet. Whoever you are, it's you. Except now it's this guy. Sorry everybody.

It's not the Halo show's greatest sin that Chief takes his helmet off, but doing it so early suggests a lack of reverence for the source material, which doesn't bode well. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The inclusion of the game's own Jen Taylor does earn some good faith though, so it's interesting to see how Halo's story will shake out. Mostly though I think he should have just kept the damn helmet on.

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