Why The Halo TV Show FAILED

If my reviews for each episode didn't make it obvious, I really didn't vibe with the Halo TV Series. I found it to be derivative of better sci-fi and it ultimately didn't live up to the nine years of hype. But there's a lot more to unpack from this baffling oddment of a show. So sit back, get ready to touch some glowy Forerunner triangles, as we examine why the first season of the Halo TV Show failed.
Twitter: @LaperLarden
LOCKi's Halo TV Show Theme: • I rewrote the Halo TV ...
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:35 Origins
4:47 The Bad Press
6:31 The "Broader Audience"
8:54 Master Chief
15:53 Another Interpretation?
19:21 Kwan & Soren
21:42 Cross-Promotions
23:18 The Music
28:13 Source Material? Nahhh
30:24 What's Next?
32:19 What's Happening at 343?
33:13 Halo's Current State (Outro)
Music Credit
-The End by EVA - joshlis.bandcamp.com
Promoted by @RoyaltyFreePlanet - royaltyfreeplanet.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
bit.ly/RFP_CClicense
#HaloTheSeries #HaloTVShow #Halo #HaloInfinite #MasterChief #HaloShow

[@jamiecarpenter6452]

They can say new "timeline" as much as they want, still doesn't change the fact that the show sucked.

[@SilverViper1000]

So true. I'm a huge halo fan and a fan of good TV shows or moviea.... And I do not understand all those people who try to defend this garbage. First of all, I can live with a master chief who puts his helmet off. In my opinion it only works in games if the protagonist doesn't talk much and has no face. Second, I'm okay with a low budget show, if it has a good story. Or even if the creator tried his best. I can appreciate the effort. But this crap had a fucking huge budget and looks like shit. The storyboard is the most boring Sci fi story you could come up with. And the only thing this show shares with halo is the name, some costumes and the name of characters. It is like if I show you a picture of the expanse and call the protagonist luke skywalker.

[@redlinrangerstudio5331]

I prey that season 2 would correct the issues from season 1. Since I still believe this show does have potential and with help from the community it could end up being good.

[@infernaldaedra]

Honestly what Video Game adaptation hasn't sucked.

[@Kawasaki10rr]

@@redlinrangerstudio5331 it wont, its gonna be worse bc the guy they got for season 2 (hes either a writer or showrunner, cant remember) is even more woke and just all around bad than the 1s that made season 1.

[@bethcail976]

@@redlinrangerstudio5331 How can you have hope in something so shit? Figuratively it was like some guy wearing a family member's skin as a suit stormed into your house and shat on your dog? If i heard that guy was coming back i'd have locked my door and loaded a gun to put him down if he came back

[@tankdempsey6648]

That ending rant hit hard. Kinda feels like apathy is the next stage for Halo's community after so many years of disappointment.

[@jonathandear4914]

Apathy is death after all.

[@LaperLarden]

Starting to feel like we're headed that way.

[@existentialselkath1264]

"Apathy is death. Worse than death, because at least a rotting corpse feeds the beasts and the insects."

[@SilverViper1000]

To quote the actman who quotes swkotor: apathy is death

[@alostbaron781]

Yep, and it hits home. I was excited for new Halo merch just a few months ago but now, I just don't want it. I've found myself selling some of it, in fact. It's so hard to love a series that doesn't love me back.

[@BudgiePanic]

They claim the Halo TV show was meant to "appeal to a broader audience" How much broader do you need than Halo's existing audience? It's huge! This "show" felt more like a controlled demolition of a beloved franchise than attempt to build something new and cool

[@loganvw23]

The “broader audience” they were trying to appeal to cost them the audience Halo already had

[@LukasJampen]

​@@loganvw23it didn't even get the "new audience"

[@SpartanJoe193]

Make it unique, then it will appeal to a broader audience.

[@Thienle92]

"We can't please everyone so we choose to please a small group"

[@brandonmunsen6035]

Crying is free

[@maxmace7122]

The acting of Hugo Weaving while wearing a mask in the movie "V" was nothing short of magnificent. He made the mask come alive and express multiple levels of emotion, the character was dynamic and charismatic and he never took the mask off. What were they thinking exposing the face of Master Chief. That was his mystique.

[@DigitalDNA]

Actors ego.

[@59hawks]

Look the face of the master chief isn't unknown. We've known it for a good while now, and it's not like he ever takes the helmet off in the books, and in the first game he takes it off after the battle is over. If you want him to take off his helmet that's fine. He's not the mandalorian, as long as it's not too often (which it still is) you can work around it, but its not the core of the problem. The problem isn't the taking off the helmet. The issue is that they fail to keep the Spartan II character intact. The Spartans in this show in general don't act like they were children that were kidnapped and raised to be super soldiers. They act like they enlisted at the age of 18.

[@truthfulpurpose]

@@59hawksdo you ever see his face when he takes off the helmet in the games? No, never. Most we got was the halo 4 or 5 legendary ending (can’t remember which one) where we just see his eyes.

[@59hawks]

@@truthfulpurpose you literally see his face as a child in 4 and with the legendary ending in 4 you can have a pretty good idea of what is face now looks like, especially since Fall of reach also shows us his face when he first wears the armor. The face is not the problem, it's the fact the master chief in the show is just simply not the master chief nor acts like a Spartan II. He's a different character all together

[@balabanasireti]

Meh ​@@59hawks

[@gustaforce]

14:17 I want to point out, Red vs Blue never shows the characters faces, it does everything through voice acting and head bobbing. It still manages to get across what each character is feeling in any given moment.

[@ZedByt]

This is true. I love Red vs Blue and it has great voice acting. Not the best example for this case though, since it's mostly been comedy and not sci-fi drama.

[@nybergsgarage]

actually, many times they showed the characters faces.

[@gustaforce]

@@nybergsgarage They show the freelancers faces, but not the reds, blues, or Washington

[@nybergsgarage]

@@gustaforce well, yes. I just meant they show faces in the show.

[@spartanwar1185]

@@gustaforce And of course all the face reveals happen in later seasons

[@vaniellys]

It was only Halo in name, it didn't had any of its stories or characters. I think that Stargate SG-1/Atlantis are more faithful to Halo's story points than Paramount's show.

[@SnapJack8991]

It felt more like a wannabe knockoff of The Expanse than anything resembling Halo. Given the time point the show started at Humanity was almost completely eradicated with only a few worlds left and in the show they don’t even believe the covenant are real until they start killing your world.

[@derth9230]

@@SnapJack8991 yep everyone probably knew about the covenant by then. and get this- IT WAS AN OUTER RIM COLONY THAT DIDN'T KNOW.

[@pumkin610]

didn't have* but yeah basically every adaptation or sequel of a big franchise fails miserably these days.

[@Woopor]

@@SnapJack8991 I mean I could understand them thinking it was propaganda but surely the rebels had informants in other systems who could confirm the covenants existence, right? What good is a rebellion if it doesn’t even know their enemy?

[@brandonselitetv1436]

@@SnapJack8991 Well actually even in the main lore. At the Beginning of the Human Covenant War, some of the outer Colonies were receiving messages from the UNSC of "Alien attacks" and they refused to believe them till the war came on their doorsteps. I like they included this since people forget UNSC is on a two front War: The Covenant and The Insurrectionist

[@VanuOfMILF]

My favorite part of the halo tv show was when John Halo, the Master Chef, said: "It ain't easy being green".

[@alexschneider8494]

Who would win, Jimmy Rings or John Halo? 🤔

[@theshadowwalker8244]

@@alexschneider8494John halo hands down, with both his hands tied behind his back, after all he doesn’t afraid anything

[@Dial1800Harbinger2]

​@alexschneider8494 can't believe you have to ask. Jimmy Ring has small pennies.

[@999Phiro]

You know what's funny? Throughout the years we all saw the various iterations of the "Halo Killer". All the various games and franchises that stepped up to try and unseat the king of FPS both in gameplay and story. Who would have guessed that the thing to kill Halo, was itself?

[@anthonycarlisle6184]

Nah, it was the stooges behind the scenes. I have my fanfiction/headcanon anyway 😁🤷

[@caifrootz2537]

It's getting so mentally draining seeing all my favourite franchises go up in smoke :(

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

The rich want to take everything away from us and call us evil, bad and _toxic_ when we complain. Fuck them.

[@damenwhelan3236]

I just pretend they stopped when they when they where brilliant. "There is no halo TV series"

[@befru]

Some reason all of the companies are making the franchises for "a new generation" or "to reach a wider audience".

[@MultiGotch]

This will happen to every franchise/series you enjoy as it becomes more commercialized.

[@TRG_R17]

Reply 5

[@existentialselkath1264]

The worst thing about this show is that it broke the fundamental premise of the universe and its characters without actually progressing the story at all. The end of S1 ends with the war in almost exactly the same state as the start of S1, but its managed to completely change the characterisation of everyone and the motivations of the UNSC and Covenant. S1 somehow achieves nothing on its own while still ruining any potential future seasons could have.

[@justinpapin6397]

To you, who has probably played the halo games and read novels / comics. But to someone new to Halo lore, S1 introduced most of the human-covenant war setting and paramount's version of the characters

[@existentialselkath1264]

@@justinpapin6397 if you haven't played the games then I'd argue this show is even worse. As players, we know that humanity is supposed to be fighting a loosing battle for survival against an unstoppable alien war machine. If you've only watched the show, you've seen 1 glassed planet with no context. For all a new viewer knows, humanity could be winning the war, or might have even started it! The show assumes you already know what's going on, but you're supposed to be fine when it arbitrarily decides to change major elements of it? They can't have it both ways.

[@Kawasaki10rr]

Thats bc the writers, directors, producers and basically everyone else involved in this show were fckn retarded and should never be allowed to work on tv shows, movies or games again. Especially the 343 ppl involved in this show (kiki+bonnie) should be fired

[@MrDoBaKflips]

@@justinpapin6397 tbh,as a Halo fan, I get secondhand embarrassment when I think of people discovering Halo through this show

[@ashenwanderer3592]

It doesnt matter what they do in season 2. This 'Silver' timeline is dead to me. It comes off a fanfiction tier bad. Like the writer of a Twilight fic bad.

[@PolymurExcel]

Oh yeah, I forgot that the Halo show essentially ripped off the ending of Crysis 2 by having the main character die and the AI in the suit takes control.

[@connordavisj]

"There's no way that Chief from Combat Evolved would console a random marine." You literally say this while cutting the part of that CE cutscene off where a marine confides that he doesn't want to die and the Chief reassuringly pats his shoulder to CONSOLE HIM.

[@ZedByt]

Yeah idk, Chief was never apathetic towards others.

[@connordavisj]

@@ZedByt The dude even makes jokes in CE. Like asking Cortana how much firepower a core would need to crack, so that when she turns to answer him, he's already casually hefting a grenade up and down with comedic timing. He has literally NEVER beena robot. Christ I hate Halo 4 so much.

[@griffinwittum5526]

Indeed. Chief isn't uncaring, matter of fact he cares about people alot. He is dedicated to protecting humanity and will go out of his way to protect regular people. He's also very respectful of his fellow soldiers. Chief isn't unfeeling, he's just extremely professional in his demeanor and not great at expressing his emotions to folks outside of his circle.

[@lightcycleman]

A pat on the shoulder is a bit different than sitting down and verbally lifting the spirits of a person. I'm not going to argue against Chief not caring, because he does. The difference is in HOW he cares. CE Chief is more about keeping his fellow soldiers alive and in good morale, as anyone in a unit would want. The Chief of Infinite has grown and changed, and the lives of the individuals hangs on him more. Yes, this single Marine initially was just a comrade in arms when Chief first woke up, but he comes to understand the man as a truly terrified and distraught individual. A simple pat on the shoulder would do squat for the guy, so Chief sits down with him and confides in him in order to console him. Not just say "Everything's alright because Chief is here," with a pat on the shoulder. He actually connects with the Marine as a human, rather than simply as another soldier. THAT'S the big change Chief undergoes over his character arc. That's my take on it anyway.

[@nobodykayaks1041]

not concsoleing thats reassurance, consoling is a much more involved situation. what you saw was a reassuring hand on a shoulder.

[@stickthelanding4785]

I do belive a halo tv show could work but it has to follow a few rules 1. Have it be animated because it would be quite hard to show the covenant a lot in live action. 2. Don’t have the main character be chief but let it be some other spartan, odst, heck even a elite. 3. Still have characters from the games show up in the show just don’t let them be center of the attention. 4. Keep the lore accurate enough to where it doesn’t bother new audience members or halo fans. 5. have. Zero. Sex. Scenes. There are more rules I just can’t think of them right now

[@_Eric._]

I agree about it being animated. I really hoped and expected the halo show would be like the starship troopers films. Either live action if done right or animated. I still rather have it animated by blur imo as they did a real good job with h2a and halo wars

[@thesupertendent8973]

OK a few issues with this. You probably haven't read / listened to the books but there are sex scenes. Like I'm contact harvest Sgt. Johnson bones down at the end. And Niel Blomkamps short halo films were live action and still hold up today with mixed in CGI with the low budget it had. Other then that, yah.

[@ryanparker4996]

​@@thesupertendent8973 it adds literally nothing to the story

[@stephenmeinhold5452]

no 5 - haveing sex with the covenant is just wroung.

[@Kawasaki10rr]

It should be completely lore accurate. I dont understand the "we changed it for new audiences" argument, the new audience doesnt know anything abiut Halo do why do you have to change anything, if the story was good enough to create the most popular game franchise then its good enough for tv.

[@apreviousseagle836]

Supposedly we never got a movie, because Microsoft was protecting the franchise to the extreme. Only the "right" director and the "right" studio, willing to forego "rewriting" the main story, and willing to keep true to the characters; would be allowed to have a go at it. How quickly they turned their backs on that ideal.

[@N0TYALC]

If it makes you feel any better, the movie would’ve been shit as well.

[@apreviousseagle836]

@@N0TYALC Sadly, I agree.

[@Yayaloy9]

@@N0TYALC Still though, how can a director/writer be so shit working for a multi million dollar company??? What in the fuck went into their head when they think of abandoning all the source material and everything that was established just to write this? WHY would you call it Halo??? Call it something else!!! Oh look, this new Halo spartan guy is now wielding a pilum!!!! He's a roman soldier now in space!!!! Why even that would make for a sarcasm halo shows than this utter shit

[@andrewanderson3847]

Did you like GoT when it was out, it was not like the books, but still was amazing… they still have to tell a story to people who have never played Halo

[@SKULLY-qm8zk]

@@andrewanderson3847GOT was a lot like the books for the first season atleast

[@xitaris5981]

13:05 Don't give Pablo Schreiber a pass! He actively advocated to have the helmet off as much as possible. He claimed that since it was TV and not a game, that it shouldn't continue to leave Master Chief as a blank slate the player can insert themselves into, but should be a more flushed out character. But there's a lot of people who think that he was worried more about expanding his reputation and making himself more recognizable that he rationalized throwing away that key element.

[@anthonycarlisle6184]

Now look at season 2 and on the paramount+ app the thumbnail for halo has pornstache aka mister cheeks aka schreiber[?] unhelmeted. Go figure. I still haven't even watched season one, I cant get past the first 20mins of episode 1🤷

[@badman_iiixiii]

Oh he's more recognizable now all right Just not for his face lmao

[@mioryderoncgnp1589]

Is the series i hate Master Chief , hes a douch..

[@JohnDoe-zj6xf]

​@@badman_iiixiiihis 🍑 will be more recognized than his face

[@dergrunemann]

"It's like if someone made a movie off a book without reading the book" We have that already, it's called Starship Troopers

[@grandsome1]

It only works when there's a genius at the helm like Verhoven or Kubrick to head the original material massacre into new masterpiece territory. The problem is that every 2cent writer/director think they're a genius in Hollywood.

[@danielbeck2739]

My brother's girlfriend who has never played any of the Halo games didn't enjoy the series either. Again, she's not played the games, read the books, and/or even watching some of the movies and animated shorts. She was expecting the series to involve more fighting and action, but instead we got Master Cheeks. Yeah, she wasn't a fan of that either.

[@TheDragonfriday]

You want halo with action??????? Please go watch fan made animation that actually cares the series with lore accurate action. The KZbin channel is name sodaz, seriously you won't regret watching his halo animation.

[@Jay-mk8vx]

Master cheeks🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jackychang9148]

@@TheDragonfriday THE WIPs!? THOSE ARE SUPER GOOD! I can't wait for those to finish.

[@TheDragonfriday]

@@jackychang9148 finally someone noticed... like seriously we don't need millions dollars Hollywood making films when they themselves don't give a shot putting efforts on there films.

[@jackychang9148]

@@TheDragonfriday Ever seen the Halo Evolutions Motion Comics? Even THOSE are better than the show! And they're not even fully animated.

[@Nichrysalis]

That ending monologue had me clapping. You articulated the apathy and hopelessness many of us are experiencing at the moment as Halo fans. It's like we went from a healthy diet of Halo to dino chicken nuggies for every meal. Yah, it's technically food and it looks cool, but it's not sustenance and we'll get sick of it if we keep consuming it much longer.

[@BigRaidah]

I've been saying it since 2017: Star Wars and Halo have gone through the same story. Their original trilogies are considered the best content the series has to offer, the side content (or prequels and TCW in Star Wars' case) has been looked back on fondly, and the series was then handed to new developers and writers who don't get why the originals are as revered as they are and seem to do everything in their power to shit all over it. It's disappointing to see this keep happening over and over.

[@Slender_Man_186]

Same happened to Gears of War, it had a golden trilogy, a prequel that had a shaky reception but is looked back on as being good, Gears 4 was really iffy, and Gears 5 is successful in making one of the most hatable characters I’ve seen.

[@spartanx169x]

Just to expand on your comment. They both completely ignored all the lore all the canon, arrogantly thinking they could make it more appealing to the masses by watering it all down. They (Hollywood) do it EVERY SINGLE TIME. They have libraries of content. What do they do? "We are throwing all the shit out and starting from scratch".

[@King_Barbados]

What about Halo: legends and the rts games?

[@lewispooper3138]

Who looks fondly on the prequels? Jumping cartoon frog yoda with a light saber was so bad it retro actively ruined him in the originals

[@Destroyer_V0]

@@King_Barbados Legends is 343 creation unfortunately. At least the first RTS is good shit, I have seen mixed responses to the second at times.

[@XepptizZ]

V for Vendetta is a great example of a masked man that oozes character with many shots that allude emotion from a faceless man.

[@silverfoxcole]

If only they did something like Halo Legends, or even Forward On to Dawn. with how blatantly out of touch this TV series is with the games games and extended lore, it feels like this show was deliberately made to fail. To take one of the top sci-fi franchises second only to the likes of Starwars and Startrek and release one of the worst TV series in the sci-fi genre, it absolutely insulting to anyone who has any interest in halo whatsoever.

[@romekvanboxtel8617]

Exactly like how like odd one out with spartan 1313 if I remember his numbers correctly. Was basically non cannon and how to adapt soemthing to the limits

[@silverfoxcole]

@@romekvanboxtel8617 it was spartan 1337, was one of my favorite episodes apart from The Prototype.

[@romekvanboxtel8617]

@@silverfoxcole thats the one it was basically just dragon ball but halo and it was great

[@MK384]

Would have been great to see a Neil Blonkamp Halo movie or TV show.

[@jackychang9148]

@@MK384 We actually almost had that. Then it fell apart and Neil turned it into District 9. Sad loss but great movie.

[@ShreddedNerd]

At one point i feared that the Halo community would be the next sonic community. Then i realised that Sonic at least had a good screen adaptation.

[@LaperLarden]

Ooft

[@exchangAscribe]

wasn't that good

[@staticaleel5068]

That and sonic still gets a few good games. The fan base is actually happy with what they’re getting recently. Halo on the other hand has pissed off and disappointed it’s fans too many times consecutively for the fan base to care anymore.

[@Neoniq41]

@@staticaleel5068 I wouldn't really say that's the case. The last good mainline Sonic game made by Sonic Team (Generations) came out in 2011, and the new game frontiers doesn't look like it's surpassing Generations.

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

It's absolutely disgraceful and shameful what's happening to us _Halo_ fans. I'll never forgive 343 execs. These motherfuckers have to go or else, we'll never get _Halo_ back.

[@m0istur]

I still remember only watching the first episode and ending it right there. I never finished it, nor did I plan on finishing it

[@sgtbagels2059]

“Seven years. Seven long years. That’s how long it took us to take harvest back.”

[@ErikLosLobos]

I think the biggest misjudgement paramount made was assuming that people outside of the fan base are there because they don't like the material and need something else. I think it's more that they haven't been introduced to the original material in a way that connects with them yet as its only been a computer game. They removed the elements that made it successful in an attempt to appeal and made it dull. All they needed to do was re tell the amazing story that made it successful in the first place through a new medium.

[@nobodykayaks1041]

imagine the amount of videos that would have been made of people reacting to " cortana all i need to know is did we lose them" just imagine. then they could have told any side story they wanted as chief plays out the campaign of halo CE. and the eventual return back to reach. just imagine if they used the entire already made plot, story and characters. imagine if they had just an ounce of common sense, enough to say " hey maybe we should copy the game first to establish ourselves with the core fans then branch out and attract a broader audience with the support of the happy and pleased core fans. just imagine. but what do i know, i dont get paid 6 figures to come up with amazing dead simple ideas like that.

[@spartanx169x]

@@nobodykayaks1041 IMO the show should have started with Chief as a kid (a few episodes) then move on to the Halo Reach Story, then to HALO CE stories.

[@hexenshadow5642]

@@nobodykayaks1041 you mean like The Last of Us show? It’s crazy how amazing a show can be when you just respect the fucking source material

[@optiTHOMAS]

the thing with batman, is that if you look at each one, he has his mask! you don't see him run around and fight crime with just his Bruce face. they're different characters, but chief never needed his face seen after all the years to relate to him. they changed his character so much in the show its just like a different character. good stuff as usual laper larden! 😁👌🏻

[@LaperLarden]

Cheers Thomas!

[@gruminator5048]

Then of course there was that time that batman just took of his mask and just started crying about his childhood and how his parents died and Alfred kidnapped him and trained him to be batman before going off and having a completely random sex scene with some random evil henchwoman who was trying to infiltrate the batcave for no real reason.

[@Revkor]

@@LaperLarden Actually there is a definitive batman. TAS Batman

[@KeyboardTarantula]

and in batman, the characters remain consistant in terms of major appeals. batman is almost always an orphan, almost always fighting for the greater good.

[@optiTHOMAS]

​@@KeyboardTarantula Absolutely! 👍🏻

[@alanlee67]

Jenn Taylor was the only one giving this show any enthusiasm. She must've known that it was terrible but she always looked excited during promotional events. Good on her. She's a living legend

[@anthonycarlisle6184]

Yeah, she'd be enthusiastic, that's another paycheck $$$

[@D4C_Gaming]

As one who’s first real introduction to Halo, aside from a few online matches of Halo 5, was this show, I hated it and am now going to play every campaign in chronological order (I just finished Reach and it was great).

[@ToxicBalloon360]

I'm of the opinion that the franchise is in the worst state it has ever been. Yes, even worse than the state it was in during the Halo 5 era. Not only have we gotten a broken, unfinished mess of a game that seems to be even less content-complete than its predecessor, but the TV show that many fans were anticipating for several years turned out to be a non-canonical, steaming pile of shit that outright disrespected the source material it was supposedly based upon. I'm in agreement that apathy is definitely where the fanbase will be headed next. You can, after all, only be disappointed so many times.

[@zippolighter4903]

Giving them a third chance was a mistake

[@ArgentWolf95]

We are indeed in dark times. The state of Halo is pretty much at the same state as Star Wars since 2018, and every corporation wanting their own streaming platform hasn't helped. To quote Kat: "I know we are losing, I want to know if we have lost." Neither has 343 from the game side of it, and the quality of writing, period, has gone down in the sci fi genre accross the broad last decade and worse. Despite my pessimism, I'm not at apathy yet, because I only ever loved the stories of Halo. Campiagns, books, comics, and such, but feel fore you guys who have loved the multiplayer for decades, formed clans and friends that are bomds forged in fire, to put it dramatically. I believe Halo and sci fi in general can rise ouit of the dark age, but it will take more than spartans to change course on this. Still. I'm glad it's non-canon. Everything TV and Hollywood makes should never be canon to it's source material, I'd even say this if the original show and movie under Spielberg was what we got and it was awesome, because Hollywood does not understand gaming, they are out of touch, and see gaming as an inferior medium of entertainment. Gaming to them, especially Halo, is "green guy in armor shoots aliens, ,it's for kids. So we need to change it." It's this ignorance of gaming as a good storytelling medium that has held Halo back outside of gaming. Every damn time.

[@Kawasaki10rr]

Im done with Halo until some changes are made at 343, all the management at 343 needs replaced, especially Bonnie, Frank, Kiki, whoever is incharge of multiplayer and sketch

[@ArgentWolf95]

@@Kawasaki10rr that would be a huge help, those three are where most of the problems come from. I don't like laying the blame on people, but they have not done it right.

[@zippolighter4903]

@@ArgentWolf95 Whoever did all their promotional shit should be fired too

[@slashedpie2306]

I'm blaming it all on Kiki Wolfkill, if they had someone with less ego and who was more up to date with the bungie games lore then we'd still have an ass kicking mostly silent protagonist

[@joshuakuehn]

her name is literally "wolfkill" and she is killing this 'wolf'

[@nobodykayaks1041]

absolutely she is a huge reason for the halo story falling apart, she takes such joy in thinking about chief in these vulnerable ways. while the fans are like " when can me and my AI girlfriend go kill more aliens" kiki wants us to remem ber the torturous early childhood chief had, and next time you punch an elite think about the way it makes you feel when you take into account the upbringing chief had, hes the real victim.

[@The_Punisher]

What's really dumb is they got Jen Taylor for Cortana's voice not for her actual appearance

[@justinmullins1112]

I've felt this trend across American media in general lately, especially with adaptations. The focus is always on "appealing to a wide audience" rather than specifically trying to make something good. But when you cast a wide net while being stingy with thread, many fish may be aware of your net, but few will be caught in it.

[@LOCKi]

14:00 "Even the people *making* the show had a problem with this idea." Smh... we were never going to like the series if even they didn't. And thank you for shouting out this small music channel.

[@LaperLarden]

No worries dude! Your covers and remixes of Halo tracks have always been some of my favourites. Love your work!

[@molnarsmovies]

Really great review, fair but brutal and honest. One thing you forgot I think was the most important. What is Halo about? It's about humanity's last stand against the covenant alien race that destroys humanity. We saw nothing like this in this series; we saw quick battles here and there, but nothing that said they were a massive threat! Yes, there was that one scene in episode three when in the military bunker and they saw something on the screen planet destroyed; all we see is the aftermath with a lot of talks, but other than that, there's nothing. The costar Quan, her family, was destroyed by the covenant of her whole tribe, and yet her vendetta is against humans? About control of a Territory? This makes no sense; humanity is on the chopping block, which I thought was the biggest failure. Dumb, bad writing. Besides that everything you mentioned was spot on; well done.

[@nobodykayaks1041]

and dont worry the flood dont exist in this universe, because after the gore and sex scenes we need our viewers to remember this is a show for a broader and younger audience.

[@midgetydeath]

For starters, it's not even a Halo show. It's just some LARPers in some other universe who have heard vague bits and pieces about the Halo setting and are just doing their own thing randomly.

[@janwelk177]

"Giving the Covent back their bomb" and "Mix things up and shoot our way out" (I don't remember the exact phrasing) were so freaking epic!!!

[@redwolfmedia2281]

As a diehard fan of ten years, I've definitely been feeling apathetic since Infinite launched. You should honestly clip that last part into a video of its own.

[@thatrandomguy8157]

Unfortunately, the whole part about the fan base becoming apathetic and not talking about the franchise is becoming true, I have friends who loved Halo and we used to talk about it all the time about certain armor, games or characters we used to have full on discussions. Now whenever it's brought up people just say "Oh yeah Halo" then we talk about something else (hell For Honor has been brought up more recently than Halo)

[@nobodykayaks1041]

out of 200+ people in a dedicated halo only friend group less than 10 of them play halo infinite and about 5 more only play halo 5. the only company with the ability to push away that many core fans that fast and effectively is 343. no other company could ever do that that effectively. these are people that only played halo. they played no other games.imagine making a product for that level of devoted fans. imagine having it that easy. just make a game that makes the fans happy. whats the first thing 343 did? change as much as possible and immediately attack the fans and blame the fans for not liking their new ideas. thats what a child does and these are grown adults making way way too much money

[@spartanx169x]

I became completely apathetic with Halo 5. When they allowed 12 member parties to steamroll randoms in the BTB Warzone gametype(within 6 months the game was dead except for the most devoted players), it proved to me they had no clue how to manage the game or the franchise. I literally quit caring. Didn't even bother with the show when it was known they were going to ignore all the canon and the game. I was proven right.

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

Yeah, well that's because _Halo_ is an embarassing franchise now.

[@reginaldgickington4793]

I still believe the theory that this was a Mass Effect tv show that was forced into some last minute rewrites.

[@Ares_gaming_117]

You went off at the end. That all really neede to be said and pretty much captured my feeling towards Halo recently. Apathetic. Which is hard for me to reconcile since I was once so passionate about this franchise.

[@nanmwahrki1263]

12:16 Yes! This was the first moment in the show that made me feel that something was amiss. How could a team of spartans with Master Chief at the lead vs 20 elites lead to the destruction of that encampment? All of those insurrectionists dead. How is that indicative of saving the world tier hero stuff? It's not.

[@CloneSpartan1998]

If Steven Spielberg had done the Halo Series it would have been great because he respects resource material and works with its creators just like the Jurassic Park trilogy working alongside the author of the books while convincing Michael Crichton to write the sequel novel after the success of the first movie.

[@LaperLarden]

I think his role as exec producer meant there was only so much he could do.

[@CloneSpartan1998]

@@LaperLarden I totally agree since he stated that’s why Jaws had kinda strayed away from the original vision after the first one. If there were projects he was in control of he would do his best not to lead it astray.

[@Kawasaki10rr]

Spielberg working with 343 wouldnt mean anything bc they dont even respect the source material. Kiki and Bonnie were involved in the tv show and 343 gave their stamp of approval and besides that 343 have taken a huge shit on halo and its lore in the name of broader audiences.

[@lv1543]

Well well indiana jones what are you doin in our neck of the woods?

[@dariusgreysun]

@@lv1543 excellence lol

[@12_gageshotgun90]

Hearing that they actually did a deep dive into the games and books makes this even worse. Seriously think about it, they looked at this 20-year-old franchise with deep lore and fleshed-out characters and thought, "yeah, but kwan would make for a good protagonist."

[@timstinies9519]

That short film we got back in 2005 was one of the most exciting things I remember as a teen. Just wish it actually happened…that would have been incredible

[@halolover6893]

I'm so upset that I'm unfortunately at the point where I can't even be bothered to listen to updates about the game or anything halo for the matter. I'm just so tired of it. I've grown up with halo. Unfortunately for the majority of my childhood it was actually all that i had to get me through it. I waited 6 years for infinite. My life and this franchise have been meshed together for so longif. Have all the books, I collect all the figures figures toys and art. I feel like a part of me will be forever missing without halo. But this shit is so demoralizing and depressing. I don't have the best mental health. And the world is just constantly in a state of awful things. Halo has always been a safe space, even through halo 5s controversies and issues. I can't play a match of halo, I can't play it's campaigns, I can listen to the freaking music anymore without thinking about how awful it's probably been to develop the game, the store controversy, the constant reminders that all these companies want is your money and the quality of the project is a 2nd or 3rd priority. Idk, I just can't do it anymore. It makes me sick and I feel so personally betrayed.

[@thealexgundam5006]

have you tired other ip or genre

[@EliasLupin]

Yeah, me too. I kind of found that feeling again with Destiny, but uh... I still feel like a part of me is dead with Halo, honestly.

[@sandman8993]

It’s so disrespectful to us die hard fans. Halo is our life which they don’t seem to understand.

[@Dravianpn02]

@@thealexgundam5006 im sure he has but all the time, money and life given to this product over the years only to be seen as money and watch part of your investment in emotion and care, being demolished like it has been, is understandable. It does feel like a betrayal.

[@thealexgundam5006]

@@Dravianpn02 I'm not talking about west as that is major problem over their/ I'm talking about other ip from different countries like Japan anime, Korean drama, etc

[@AmTrFilms]

I really hope with new showrunners, the lack of pandemic restrictions and it's drain on the budget, and feedback from the community, that they can pivot for Season 2 and give us something great...But I'm not holding my breath, I have been disappointed too many times by Halo in recent years

[@LaperLarden]

Yeeeaaaah, wouldn't get my hopes up for them either. Damage has already been done, honestly.

[@SilverViper1000]

@@LaperLarden well, to be a halo fan today means to be prepared to get disappointed. The dmg they've done so far will poison every season or even episode that follows. It's the fundamant of a story and its just garbage. If you try to build a house on a pit full of garbage.... You will always smell something is rotting around you. Even if it isn't in range anymore.

[@exchangAscribe]

i wouldn't even pay it any mind. just going to end up making them money which is why they made this

[@shcdemolisher]

I'll take a new series made by fans over that any day.

[@artistanthony1007]

That doesn't make it better or helps.

[@arx3516]

The Gundam franchise has been doing the alternate timelines thing for decades, and no one ever complained. But the difference was that each new timeline was a totally different thing, with new different characters, setting and lore.

[@thefallenC073]

So I’m playing CE while I listen to this video and you just mentioned The Floods music right as, well, their theme, kicked in. Perfect timing.

[@thepeps101]

The halo show and Arcane has convinced me that live action is just not right for most video game properties if you wanna make them into movies or Tv shows. Bungie is talking about doing a lot of Destiny Media content like TV shows and i hope they watched the fallout from this and arcane/Castlevania and learned what not to do.

[@NCRVeteranRanger]

The creator of Halo himself called out the Halo TV Show, saying something along the lines of “I don’t know where the Halo TV Show got its inspiration from, but it definitely wasn’t from the Halo I created.”

[@starplatinum2743]

Destiny has a lot of backstop to work with done by them, not licensed out to other people and ties into the game. Halo had its books licensed out and weren't done by bungie. That's the difference. The story of the last word and thorn would work on its own as a normal cowboy movie. Halo is the games and the only ones worth looking at are the bungie ones

[@thepeps101]

@@starplatinum2743 That is very true, All of the Lore in destiny has so far been inhouse. Im also of the opinion that they should do dark age stuff first since not just the tv-watcher but the lightbearers themselves were new to the world wich would help with worldbuilding.

[@starplatinum2743]

@@thepeps101 yeah that dark age stuff or twilight gap would be amazing

[@ginopippofrebooter-ilrinne2881]

@@starplatinum2743 With Sony they'll have a decent budget to match, at least, Venom movies CGI which was good. Just good, nothing more or less. Just please, don't make it like Halo. "GIF of black gui crying his eyes out"

[@slonk01]

I got into halo after I got my pc last year and I was so enthralled with the franchise and was so hyped for halo infinite and then here I am now hating the newest game and the show. If you really think about it it’s kind of sad how fast I went from loving halo to being desperate for actual good content I can’t even imagine the fans who have been here since halo 3 let alone halo ce

[@WhiskeyFoxtrot929]

Exactly! I literally grew up with Halo -- being born 2 years before the release of Halo: CE. When I turned 5 in 2004, I played CE with my cousin and we crushed it. Not long after, I found out Halo 2 existed and begged my mom for it. Got it just after Halo 3 dropped. So on and so forth; playing through Halo 3 on 360 with my cousin and loving the story and gameplay. Not to mention the awesomeness and emotion that came along when ODST came out. It was always Halo, GTA, and CoD at those young ages, and I loved every minute spent playing. As I got older and discovered Halo lore, I immersed myself into the universe and understood everything that much more! When Bungie said they were leaving after Reach, I was devastated. They had handled the game that was literally a large part of my life growing up, and were passing it on to a studio they thought was competent. I knew even in 2011 that it wasn't gonna turn out well... and here we are 11 years later sitting on a hill made of shit. It makes me so angry and so upset that I literally haven't touched Halo 5, Infinite, or watched the show. The friends I've made over the years playing Bungie titles told me everything I need to know... and this video (amongst others) reinforced my opinion. The franchise that once brought me so much joy and countless hours of entertainment... the one that has gotten so much of my money and support... the one that created some of the strongest friendships I've ever had, is now dying. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it -- that WE can do about it. Damn shame and an absolute middle finger to anyone that ever gave a damn about the story. I feel bad for the old Bungie team and Marty for having to watch this go down the drain.

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

Bro it's sad man. I've been there since Halo CE

[@TwiceTheBitsGames]

Great video. Apathy in the community will be the death of the franchise for sure. If people can't even be bothered to complain about something you know you've got problems

[@ilikegiantrobots1775]

The definition of, “When the trailer is better than the actual production” is the Halo show

[@N.Eutered]

I'll wish I could say it pains me, but my best advice for the franchise after all the businesspaddling, is simply to let it sink, if only just for a few years - rebuild it behind the scenes, grow it, and then give it the comeback it warrants.

[@ZedByt]

The problem is that nowadays, Execs just mark it as a cow that has been milked dry and drop the franchise completely. I doubt Microsoft is that incompetent, but alas I don't know what they'd do when people have completely stopped caring and the peak players on their games drops below that of an overpriced Indie game.

[@chipsdubbo9750]

Y'know what would make Season 2 of the TV series better? Me.

[@LaperLarden]

Knowing the show's creators though, they'd probably mistake you for a Kiwi.

[@thenutbucket5971]

@@LaperLarden Then we'd have to call him Crisps Dublin or something.

[@planmastergreenwood5404]

Agreed

[@NCRVeteranRanger]

Hey, Chips Dubbo? Did the UNSC offer you a place in the Spartan 4 program yet? Because if you became a Spartan 4, there would be no doubt in my mind you’d be the only hyper-lethal Spartan 4.

[@chipsdubbo9750]

@@NCRVeteranRanger It's a work in progress, mate.

[@TechInspected]

Imagine if the show's main character, was instead a normal human. Surviving in a terrible colony. Set in the Halo universe. You hear hushed whispers. Rumors. A giant, clad in armor. A spartan!? I thought they all died? Imagine the awe and wonder when you reveal Chief. A towering man, the camera has to pan way up to see his HELMET (not his face). He is stoic. Silent. But will jump into action without so much a warning. "Take cover" is what he would say to us before he runs into the fray. He fights without seemingly getting injured. He keeps his injuries to himself, never letting anyone see if he's struggling. In the distance, a huge monstrosity has dropped from an alien ship. "Watch out Chief, they have hunters." - a robotic female voice seems to come from somewhere. The man checks the magazine on his pistol. Pauses a second, energy start to form around his armor. He puts the magazine back in, cocks the pistol. "We are going to get that weapon." "Never make a girl a promise you can't keep" 🙂

[@keilafleischbein59]

Chief didn't divert from the mission at hand and risk life and limb to go after Cortana. He was looking for the activation index. Cortana set a trap for the gravemind. She sent chief a message, but she couldn't talk about or think about the plan or else the flood logic plague would understand. Chief couldn't talk or think about the plan, or else the flood would understand. "You know me. When I make a promise-" "You keep it. I do know how to pick em." "You still got it?" "The activation index from the first ring. I may be a thief, but I keep what I steal." People sometimes think halo 3 Cortana is a damsel in distress because they don't understand the plot. Its the third act from halo 2 that they had to cut out. It was all a part of Cortana's plan to stop the flood, ever since she stayed behind on high charity in halo 2.

[@JH-ph4qb]

Personally in my opinion the Halo TV series, at least at the start, should have been about/from the perspective of Sargent Johnson not the chief. He has an established character and backstory that can be explored and used, at the very least, as a starting point to bring viewers into the setting and set a view point/perspective that can be later broadened. One of which being unequivocally making it clear that the Chief is a character, not a vessel by the most direct means possible, making the focus of the story not him but someone else and the setting itself, if only for a time.

[@rv7393]

Johnson would’ve been the perfect character to focus on at first. He’s got character, he’s got charm, he’s a badass & he likely would’ve had marines under his command that we could explore the world through as well. Chief as a supporting character at first would make him seem far more mysterious and intimidating before gradually getting to see glimpses of the man underneath

[@mixmaster2909]

Johnson isnt a Sergeant hes a Sergeant Major

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

Right. Especially young Johnson, starting from his pre-Contact days. Chief doesn't need to be in it beyond rare cameos.

[@xDeadlYCakex]

All I hear when the music starts playing in the intro is Mass Effect, which speaks for itself on the direction of the show.

[@TheDredge]

man. Imagine if they took the Reach approach. gave a new cast of characters that fit the film recipe and had it placced in the halo timeline where we, as the audience were still watching the storyline of Master Chief take place. like some high-ranking marines that were directly underneath Sgt. Johnson. Close enough for them to have all the intel to allow their storylines to make sense, and in a sense, canon to the games

[@KrisET]

Awesome deep dive into the show! Just curious, but what'd you use for some of the older VHS effects you do throughout the video?

[@LaperLarden]

Glad you enjoyed the video! There's a number of different effects in Premiere Pro that I use to get it. Unsharpen, noise, wave warp for the screen tearing effect. And there's a couple of layers of stock VHS footage and grain with the opacity dialled way down.

[@thesupertendent8973]

Right now I'd say the entertainment industry as a whole is going through a period of mediocrity. Some areas are seeing an uptick like horror, while most notibly science fiction, drama and mostly TV and film, are stuck in a limbo of unoriginality and lacking creativity. So it's no surprise the Halo tv show is so similar to the Mandalorion. These soy drinking idiots would rather rehash then risk losing money instead of challanging themsleves and making an effort to read up the basics of an IP like play the games, or read a book about it. I hate this so much. It's no wonder new unoriginal films / tv shows get dunked on so much. Hopefully, in a few years competence and intelligence will dominate.

[@TheDragonfriday]

Agree agree, only fans that can create good production, like fan animations. Seriously there is one good halo animation right now the KZbin channel is called sodaz watch hia video, it very lore accurate in action

[@Dravianpn02]

Disagree about being similar to Mandalorian. The weight behind the helmet coming off in Mando meant something and was built up. Seems they give 0 meaning to hiding the face and identity.

[@justinstewart9145]

@The Super Tendent, "These soy drinking idiots would rather rehash then risk losing money instead of challanging themsleves and making an effort to read up the basics of an IP like play the games, or read a book about it." Oh please; go watch Arcane.

[@CondemnedInformer]

I'd love to see what Obsidian could do with Halo. I just think 343i had their shot, Bungie got their 10 years so why not change it up?

[@Xapheion101]

I would love to see ID's take, they brought Doom to the modern games industry fantasticly I bet they could make an amazing halo.

[@N0TYALC]

Please… for the love of god, just let the franchise die.

[@ARCtrooper65]

​@N0TYALC why tho, us fans really want to to see it continue

[@Destroyer_V0]

@@N0TYALC Nope. Even if it takes the old guard keeping the candle lit for the IP, it will continue one way or another. I know I certainly plan to.

[@slimbo1196]

It’s clear now that studios don’t care about quality for the long term anymore. It’s about quantity and subscribers over quality and respect to the source. No regard for true creativity.

[@GUMMRUCHK]

The memes we got out of this show makes the cringe of it almost worthwhile I can't even imagine what horrifically bad but very memeable ideas they have for season 2.

[@unknownwill4th549]

Its making bank for paramount so it technically isn't a fail, but the show is a failure to halos pre existing lore but we all know that

[@harrybee5924]

Probably because of the community's morbid sense of curiosity to see how bad it would be. Paramount are probably losing a lot of subs now that the shows done.

[@LaperLarden]

I've cancelled my Paramount+ sub! I sure as hell wasn't hanging around for iCarley.

[@unknownwill4th549]

@@harrybee5924 true true, and because it has the halo name on it meaning huge profit

[@MlSTERSANDMAN]

how are we to trust paramout at their word?

[@_Eric._]

This may sound very ignorant or naive but the halo trilogy plus the books filling in lore gaps not present in the games should be enough material for a halo film. Like halo ce could be movie #1 or season 1 and so on... it really shouldn't have been illogically hard imo, but ofcourse 343 or microsoft decided to just let the wrong, clueless, people take charge of filming and twisting the halo ip into a deformed inbred cow that produces rancid milk... Chief taking off his helmet is not an issues as mentioned in the video, we've seen his younger face in animated films and cutscenes.

[@uBpGK]

These new producers all want to make a name for themselves, using someone else’s story as a footnote would be detrimental to their promotion scheme and ego. Idk these new writers and producers are so far up their own asses.

[@rifath8152]

Combat Evolved's story is actually a great premise for an action-adventure movie.

[@Dravianpn02]

It is an issue when you take the helmet off first episode instead of making his identity solely rely on his helmet being off. It gave no character weight or different with the helmet on or off. That would've at least been an interesting dynamic and gave reason for the helmet coming off. All it is in the show is just to go against the idea the helmet needs to be on. Because the showrunners never played the games. If they did they'd have seen the meaning behind never showing the face but they had 0 idea. Same with 343 for approving it. It's THEIR story now . Not The Halo universe story through Master chief.

[@IanThatMetalBassist]

5:25 Ironically enough that's EXACTLY how the Starship Troopers movie was made and it became a cult classic

[@1Scimetar]

Another good example of a "masked" character working would be Karl Urban's turn as Judge Dread. In the comics the movies were based on, the character will only allow the paramedics to handle his case in the event of a medical crisis that his field medkit can't handle, and that will probably only be because he's unconscious at the time and he'll be looking to shove it right back on at the earliest opportunity, so die-hard fans found the fact that Urban all but kept the helmet glued onto his head a major improvement over the Sylvester Stalone version from the 90s. I also think the better pick would have been Pablo Schriver's older and more well-known brother Liev, the headline star of Ray Donovan would have made for a better portrayal of the John 117 character and have him joined by similarly aged and action-trained costars like Femka Janson, who played the homicidal bond girl Miss Onatop from Golden Eye.

[@carsonw8165]

wow dude, amazing job. Very well thoughout, planned and executed breakdown of everything that has transpired and the connections to the actual game.

[@maraudershields283]

You pretty much hit every issue I’ve had with the show, and explained it in a way I would have done myself. Earned yourself a sub, ma boy!

[@jaredohlstein7355]

It says a lot when the mini-series Forward Unto Dawn was more faithful to the source material than a high budget streaming tv show

[@dovahlorian3381]

Once I uninstalled Halo and the show finished, my stress and anxiety reduced exponentially

[@ARCtrooper65]

Why did you Uninstall halo?

[@dovahlorian3381]

@@ARCtrooper65 Not a fan of PvP, dont have the time of day to get good enough to give SBMM the middle finger. Halo is in my soul though, so I pushed through the entire first season before the bugs, lack of incentives, predatory schemes, and obvious signs that management is inept drove me away. I still keep up with the game, and I'll come back to mess with Forge x Firefight, but it'll probably have the same feeling as building an impregnable base on your solo Minecraft world. None of my friends will come back to the game no matter how optimistic every update I tell them about is, and I really don't think anything will bring a chunk of people who grew up with Halo back until there's legitimate match rewards, color customization, and a fulfilling Campaign addition.

[@juzaemi]

14:11 how in gods name could you not mention V for Vendetta, the character is so well portrayed in the mask, that you literally forget its there after a while

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

It shows the utter lack of creativity and blatant disregard for everything that makes _Halo_ what it is of those incompetent showrunners.

[@DaltangoUnchained]

Absolutely phenomenal work on this video. Fairly recent subscriber here, but damn I’m glad I subscribed. I agree that Halo as a whole needs a big change. Despite all the hours I’ve poured into Halo Infinite, it definitely feels like a fraction of the Halo magic I remember from my original Xbox and Xbox 360 days. Here’s to hoping that something changes for the better, especially in terms of management.

[@ultragodzillafan]

To add onto your point on body language, kaiju films(especially in japan) are great examples of acting with no face. Monsters like Godzilla don't have human expressions, so they use exaggerated movments to show emotion. You can tell whether he's sad, angry, happy, annoyed, cocky, or curious just by how he moves in a scene.

[@reegriffon2995]

"Wake me, when you need me." I'm sorry Chief, we woke you up too early

[@dmorfeus3910]

...naaaah, the woke woke up Chief in clown world !

[@MarquisBS]

I think the problem lies in the nature of corporations. Corporations want a lot of money but they want it with the least amount of risk and in doing so they do such a basic safe mediocre job at everything they touch. The TV show probably isn't so bad but it's also nothing that stands out so no one will remember a thing. No one will become a dedicated fan and passionately discuss it with their friends. You'll watch it and immediately forget about it. Really the best thing you can achieve is the dramatic fallout of existing fans. And I am seeing that with every IP that becomes big. Once the firm behind the IP grows to big they play it safe but achieve the exact opposite compared to when they took a risk and created something memorable. It's better to "fail" (as in create something special but only few were really hardcore into it) rather than creating something so basic, achieve some clicks and then fade out into obscurity. At least then you have a few people talking passionately about your product which will secure more viewers for a sequel or a new production. I find it interesting how so many way more intelligent people said things like: "Try to appease everyone and no one will like it." but somehow the exact opposite is being done. If you release any product you need to target a niche (it might be a big niche but a niche none the less). Target everything and you'll miss all. It's like aiming a UNSC sniper rifle at the middle of 5 elites and hit none of them.

[@jimbroaudio]

Been waiting for this, lets goooooo

[@LaperLarden]

Let the rant commence.

[@nuyabuisness7526]

One of the best things to draw off of to make the character of chief was from Fall of Reach. After one mission where he is being grilled on what he saw the covenant doing. He's quiet, reserved, almost embarrassed by his status and rank. Plus he has such a disciplined dedication to his objective that the ONI panel he is being debriefed by is talking past him, calling him one of "Halsey's tin soldiers." Going from that to where he is in halo 3, 4, or infinite is an incredible piece of character work. Unfortunately the show tried to have the best of both without any of the leg work between.

[@smokay480]

I could not finish it. I was so disappointed, so frustrated that I watched 3 episodes and then decided to clock out, and when I heard what happened during the remainder of the show I was in disbelief. What a huge waste of time and potential.

[@t0rque_cs]

Halo has reached its shutdown point. Just shut down all kind of further development and prevent anymore further damage. This is why i kinda like VALVe's approach to half life. They may not give u a new HL game for nearly 2 decades but they'll make sure that its a ground breaker when it comes out. (Just my opinion lol)

[@LaperLarden]

That's kinda what I was hoping for with the longer Dev cycle for Infinite. But that was definitely not the case. Aw man, don't remind me about Valve. If a true HL3 ever releases, I think all the world's problems might just fix themselves.

[@t0rque_cs]

@@LaperLarden haha well said

[@MP5DABest]

Loved the video and your passion at the end was amazing! That being said, I feel like I'm an odd one out when I say I enjoyed Halo 4's music. It sounds like Halo to me, and I'm someone who's enjoyed listening to Halo soundtracks for years now. Can't wait for the next upload.

[@LaperLarden]

Don't worry! I'm with you! I love Halo 4's music as well! Got a whole section about it in my video essay. But the majority of the reactions to it that I saw online were unfortunately negative. I would say that it's still a step down from Marty/Michael's music though.

[@suomynona4420]

Actually, Pablo was a lot of the reason Master Cheeks didn't wear his helmet. He wanted to be synonymous with John, with Master Chief, and he was afraid that wouldn't happen if people didn't know it was him behind the Helmet.

[@Cheesus-Sliced]

I find it really ironic they said "this is going to be a great success because we have so much source material to draw from" Then took the characters, *one* of the least important story concepts, and threw out everything else, proceeding to absolutely trash the characters they stole.

[@johnpourcho8406]

You are the best Halo content creator. Been on board since October and you consistently deliver content that is entertaining, poignant, nostalgic, and well produced. Keep it up Laper.

[@masterchief6460]

Should've just kept the fucking helmet on.

[@NCRVeteranRanger]

Don’t worry, Master Chief. You can rest easy knowing that the TV Show never actually had you in it. Sure, it had Master CHEEKS in it, but it did not have you, the idolized & beloved hero of humanity, in it.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

I always wonder if it wouldn't have been better if Chief wasn't the protagonist, and instead we focus on another character, like Avery Johnson, someone who _interacts_ with Chief a lot, but isn't the one with the character arc. It'd be interesting to see how Chief and the Spartans are viewed from the Marine's perspective, and it would make the moments where Chief does take centre-stage all the more special. Imagine an adaptation of _Halo CE_ where we see Chief from someone else's perspective, and then the first time we focus _on_ Chief as the principal protagonist of an episode is an adaptation of _343 Guilty Spark._ Chief is built up as a hero, but then we see him fight the Flood, maybe he's even afraid of them (in the expanded material it is established that's the only time Chief was ever afraid). That would really help establish just how dangerous the Flood are, and also that Chief is just human too.

[@LovleyLemonade]

Here are some things they did horribly wrong: - They should have not had a covenant-raised human. That is something the Covenant would've NEVER done EVER. At most they would temporarily tolerate a human's presence to unlock some forunner artifact. I remember hearing that and thought maybe it was an elite or something questioning their beliefs and rebelling, but nope it was bad. - Cheif having his helmet off and overall being too personable. His helmet being off a few times would be okay in my opinion, and only near the end and in specific circumstances when its impactful. Also him being more personable is so unlike him and Spartan IIs as a whole. - Cheif boning the covenant woman. I have no words... - The rebel girl's story. I forgot her name already because it was so boring. The rebels overall were portrayed alright and had huge potential since there is so much they can do with them and their anti-UNSC dynamic during the Human-Covenant war. Some design choices were lacking (elites armor was weird) and some CGI was poor like in the first episode. But I still think the show has the ability to come back from the brink. The practical effects were fantastic and most of the CGI was decent to great, and the acting was objectively great despite the writing. Not to mention, the ex-spartan turned pirate was an awesome character and the only saving grace of the rebel girl's story. The writers definitely researched some of Halo's lore. There are so many vague references to things only in the books to the point that they have the capability to write a good story. They just need to stop trying their own way and take more from Halos ACTUAL story.

[@confusedindividual]

When I’ve spent more hours watching videos of people talking about the show than I would have spent watching the show…

[@Reclaimer-ok2os]

Great work analyzing the issues with the Halo TV Series, Laper Larden! The fact that Halo has had several smaller decent or great ventures into the area of television - i.e., Believe, We Are ODST, Remember Reach, Halo: Legends, Halo: Forward Unto Dawn - and that television series that can provide a blueprint for creating a Halo TV Series exist saddens me that the 2021 show was done so badly. The information you provided about the history of its development was interesting. Given the poor selection on Paramount Plus and the mishandling of several series by Paramount I imagine there are some serious management issues with the company, and I think the issues could have affected the quality of the Halo TV Series. However, I definitely agree with your thoughts about the management at 343 Industries. I am glad the ideas fleshed out in the show were not a part of Halo: Infinite, but the fact that high-ranking staff members permitted the development of the series seemingly without any protests or recommendations for revision is concerning. The very rocky development of Halo: Infinite and the mishandling of the Halo TV Series indicates to me that there is some sort of split in 343 Industries. There are great aspects to Halo: Infinite and items like the Halo Encyclopedia that seem to be made by people at 343 Industries who genuinely care about the series and want it to flourish. Conversely, there have been questionable statements by 343 Industries related to the priorities of the Halo series and its future direction. I really want Halo to thrive in all formats and Halo: Infinite to provide an incredible narrative, game play, and social experience, but recent developments have made me uncertain of how realistic that desire is.

[@stoneifisaunt]

the reason why it sucked it should be about everyone else except the Chief during, through and after the events of Halo Combat evolved, while showing The chief in brief moments going through the Halo.

[@garrettmorano3038]

Bungie handed the torch to 343, 343 decided to juggle said flaming torch without any practice, and then pass that torch to Paramount who then promptly dumped torch into water and said "People like wet sticks right?"

[@ModernWarfareSlideCancel]

Forward Unto Dawn be looking pretty good about now.

[@LaperLarden]

Slept on, in my opinion.

[@Type1-2]

Forward was pretty good tbh

[@SilverViper1000]

Kiki wolfwhatsoever is one of the worst things happened to halo

[@camerongraves8398]

That last chapter is exactly how I feel halo is dead to me and as a life long fan that's sad to see my favorite story get twisted and destroyed for money

[@reesew71]

Seeing a less than gigantic Spartan breaks the immersion right off the bat. Just find a 6’8” basketball player and throw some muscle pads and armor on him them do voice over. Easy if he doesn’t ever take off the helmet

[@MrGaussFPV]

Fantastic essay 👏 Halo could be saved. Keep the faith. 343 may have forsaken us, which is why in CA we trust. CA should pick up the mantle of responsibility and bring this IP back to glory.

[@LaperLarden]

I'm all for Certain Affinity and Max Hoberman picking up the mantle. In future I think 343 and CA should take turns in making seasons of content. Gives each Dev team more time to work on their own stuff and they won't be forced to pump something new out every three months.

[@alostbaron781]

Don't do that 😭 don't give me hope

[@thedoodooslayer4106]

Literally all they had to do was act out combat evolved.

[@sonar357]

Another character who never revealed his face is V from 'V for Vendetta'. The closest we get to seeing his 'face' is when he's talking to the Inspector, but even then he's wearing copious amount of prosthesis and makeup. But, the actor (Hugo Weaving) was still able to bring so MUCH to the character through his physical performance and delivery of his lines.

[@lightcycleman]

This was amazing. You put in so much effort into this, you put in so much passion, and so much truth. I was initially settling in for an utter bloodbath of a review, but you went in with the passion of a true fan of the franchise, and did more than just bash a bad piece of media. I really appreciate that a whole lot. You advocated for a better path, and you shined a light on the parts that not everyone may be aware of (like the issues at 343). And I'm gonna be honest: I'm also incredibly glad that you used the "you need to hire fans" examples that you did. The sequel trilogy of Star Wars started well enough, and felt good as a Star Wars entry, but because of mismanagement and the lack of respect for what came before, it went downhill incredibly fast and couldn't be redeemed in the eyes of many fans. It honestly sounds like what happened with the Halo TV series, where there was a set of building blocks that could be used to create a steady foundation for the show, but the showrunners decided to pick and choose what they wanted, and their house of cards collapsed. I can only hope for one of two things for the show: they either find a way to rectify the issues and bring it around to something better, or they let it lie and move on to something else.