REVIEW: ‘Halo’ Season 2 Episode 7 — “Thermopylae”

With the Fall of Reach in the rearview, Halo Season 2 is focused on the titular Halo in Episode 7, “Thermopylae.” In the last episode, Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy) and John-117 (Pablo Schreiber) have a violent reunion, James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) begins to change, the UNSC is still making new Spartans, and Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi) emerges as a big bad alongside the Covenant.

Now, in this episode, humanity and the Covenant race to control the galaxy’s ultimate weapon, the Halo. In the attempt to locate the artifact, John comes face to face with Makee (Charlie Murphy) in a shared vision. At the same time,  Halsey (Natascha McElhone), Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) and Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray) work to solve the mystery within an alien archaeological site, and Soren-066 (Bokeem Woodbine) and Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) continue to search for their son Kessler (Tylan Bailey).

In Halo Season 2 Episode 7, everything has returned to Thermopylae for the penultimate episode. Right from the top of the episode, it’s clear that the UNSC’s focus isn’t maintaining all life but sacrificing Spartan’s life to save some. Every single Spartan is expendable in the race for the Halo. At the end of the last episode, it was clear that the training simulations were a suicide run. Only at that point, it seemed to be a suicide run because of the Covenant forces.

But in reality, it’s Admiral Parangosky’s plan. All the UNSC needs is one team, one spike, and one chip, which will destroy the covenant and everything around it. The Halo, the other Spartans, everything. An indiscriminate failsafe that Parangosky sees as necessary but Ackerson sees as shocking. Ackerson’s turn away in order to protect his life’s work, the Spartans, saves him from John’s retribution but not his wrath.

Halo Season 2 Episode 7 also brings Kai and John back together in an emotional way. As they get ready to fight, suiting up for what may be the last time, they talk about Vannak-134 (Bentley Kalu). John shares his grief, and Kai shares her guilt. The duo are on the same path, having fought it out in the last episode. They once had the strongest relationship in Halo Season 1, but their conflict took most of the focus for the second season. Now, we’re back where we began, and their relationship, their kinship, feels more important.

The largest event of Halo Season 2 Episode 7 is that we get to see the first civilization. We see a long-lost city, a history that spreads across the stars, and Catherine Halsey continues to put discovery over safety. While this season hasn’t come with many answers about the Halo or why its status as a weapon exists, we are starting to see more of the series’s lore. Taking elements from the Halo video game series and even the books and extended universe, Halo Season 2 builds the world larger in Episode 7 by offering more questions about the Covenant, the Ring, the Halo, and the ancient civilization that left the artifacts. But that’s not enough to make the episode fire on all cylinders. It makes it a lull until the episode’s final moments.

This episode struggles to carry every single narrative thread forward. We see Miranda and Dr. Halsey conducting research into the past. Perez implores John to join the fight and inspire the remaining Spartans by fighting alongside them. Makee has bonded with the Covenant, which has begun to question her. John has reconnected with the Artifact and with Makee. Soren and Laera have found their son, but he doesn’t want them. Ackerson is having a change of heart. There is just too much happening that it makes everything feel hollow. Halo‘s penultimate episode is an eventful one, but with so much happening, the focus gets lost.

To put it simply, this episode is all set up again. As the penultimate episode, it leaves a lot to be desired. Slow in pace like Episode 6, Halo Season 2 Episode 7 sets up the last of the dominoes before they fall in the season finale. Does this make the episode bad? No. But it is missing the spark that has kept this series going for one of the best follow-up seasons ever.

With one episode left, I’m questioning David Wiener’s ability to land this ship after righting its course. But it’s hard not to be in love with the characters being expanded on screen. John has been separated from his armor since the middle of the season, so there is a weight to His standing in front of it and suiting up one more time. Now, the Season 2 finale just has to carry it.

Halo Season 2 Episode 7 is streaming now on Paramount+ with the Season 2 finale airing Thursday.