Halo
Season 2 Episode 5
Episode Title: Aleria
Original release date: February 29, 2024
Plot summary: In the aftermath of defeat, the survivors struggle to pick up the pieces. On the desolate planet of Aleria, John grapples with an unprecedented loss. Soren and Laera search for their missing son. Makee treads carefully as the Arbiter grows impatient.
* * *
[Laera] Promise me you’ll get him on that ship.
[Kessler] Where’s my mom?
Soren on Reach?
Who’s gonna look after him?
[grunts]
[yelps]
[grunts]
Get up.
[Riz] You said there were other ways to live.
That’s right.
Like what?
[Keyes] You know what I see?
I see some hard-ass Marines.
I do not see defeat in this room, and I do not see surrender.
[all] No, sir!
[Keyes] The enemy is at our gates.
Their numbers are overwhelming.
We will not be able to hold them back forever.
Run.
[sword whooshing]
Just let Reach fall?
They knew this was gonna happen.
They saw it coming, they did the math.
When did you leave ONI, Admiral?
You never left.
Command bugged out. Took high-ranking personnel.
Valuable assets.
They took our suits.
Where’s Danilo?
Riz!
[panting] He’s not coming.
[Keyes] Any Marine who makes this stand with us…
[screams]
will not survive the day.
Got a light?
[growls]
[Halsey] Jacob!
[Keyes] For every moment that we hold the enemy at bay, more innocent people can escape on the transports.
And when they do, they will go forth and tell the story that you write today.
[grunts]
[Keyes] You will be remembered…
No!
[Keyes] …as the brave women and men who laid down their lives so that our children may live without fear of this monster we call war.
[dramatic music playing]
[ominous music playing]
[Soren] John!
John!
[John panting]
[breathing heavily]
[Riz] Chief!
[explosions and gunfire]
[breathing heavily]
[explosion]
[gasps] Vannak!
Where’s Vannak?
[Soren] Reloading, right side!
[Riz] I see ’em!
[Riz] We can’t stay here!
We get pinned down, we’re done!
[Soren] I know!
[Riz] We gotta fall back!
[explosions and gunfire]
To where?
[distant roaring]
[explosion]
Go! Go!
Moving!
[grunting]
Come on!
Get off me!
I can fight!
Moving!
[explosion]
[grunts]
It’s not over.
[uplifting music playing]
Look at them all.
They’re coming back.
[explosions]
[Riz] Target in the open!
[roaring and snarling]
[snarling stops]
Is that all you got?
[muffled explosion rumbles]
[roars]
I thought I shouldn’t have said anything, but I said it.
Now I regret saying it.
Please stop talking.
Just like old times.
Shut up!
[roars]
Oh, shit! Ah!
[groaning]
[Brute roaring]
[grunts]
[growls]
[artillery fire]
[panting]
I did that. That was me.
I’m never gonna hear the end of this.
[loud crash]
[Jackal shrieks]
[Riz] Oh, you gotta be kidding me.
Halsey, get up!
[Soren] John.
Can I get a little help over here?
[grunting]
[Kwan] Get in! Let’s go!
[Riz] We got him!
[Kwan] They’re coming! Hurry up!
Get in. Get us out of here.
Vannak.
No.
[yells]
[John] Riz!
[grunting]
[yells]
[dramatic music playing]
[John] Riz…
No!
[dramatic music playing]
[explosions]
[Kwan] Come on!
[artillery fire]
[screams]
[Soren] Riz!
[indistinct shouting]
[Soren] Get us out of here!
[Kwan] Hang on!
[Soren] Riz.
[Kwan] Check her airway.
[Soren] It’s me.
[explosions]
John! John!
Riz…
Look at me. Stay with me.
[John] No, Riz…
[Halsey] Stay with me, John.
[indistinct voices echo]
[Cortana] Chief.
Wake up.
[gasps]
I’ve got him. John. John?
John, wake up.
[John] Riz…
Save her.
[Makee] You should have stayed with me.
[Cortana] Sever the connection.
[monitor flatlining]
[Cortana] We’re losing him.
Please.
Please, will you help him?
That depends.
What are you prepared to do for me?
[breathing heavily]
[dramatic music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[speaking Sangheili]
[Arbiter speaking Sangheili]
[snarls softly]
[heart monitor beeping]
[groans]
[heart monitor flat lines]
[grunts]
[grunting]
She shouldn’t have gone back for him.
She knows better than that.
You need to rest.
Your wound is still healing.
Is she gonna live?
She needs surgery. I don’t have the tools here.
[John] She thought she had something to prove.
And I used that to push her.
She went back because of me.
[Halsey] She went back because Spartans don’t leave Spartans behind.
There was no Spartan.
He was already gone.
She evaluated the conditions and made a decision.
What decision is that?
Since when do we decide anything? We don’t choose.
You told us where to go and what to think, who to kill, and we did that every time, without question.
You followed orders like soldiers.
Like machines.
You’re not a machine.
Oh?
What am I, then?
Don’t say human, because real people have lives.
They have families.
Possibilities.
You’re upset.
We all are.
[John] Look at her.
Look at her.
Tell me what you see.
Let go.
Tell me what you see!
Is that a woman or a weapon?
Is there a person in there, or is that just a piece of equipment you leave on the battlefield, dump and forget?
They left us down there to die.
[Halsey] I know.
No evac, no armor.
ONI knew we wouldn’t make it.
I know.
What about the other teams on Reach?
Any contact?
Kai?
It was chaos.
The city fell.
Ships scattered.
There’s no way of telling how many escaped, let alone who…
How long have I…?
I had to induce a coma.
How long?
Two days.
Two days.
Two days?
We gotta get back.
We gotta go…
John, stop.
The survivors…
John, John…
People on Reach, they need me.
No.
No, they don’t.
You have a fever.
You’re not yourself.
I told them what would happen.
Come on.
I told them.
I told Ackerson.
[groans]
They already knew.
They knew.
And they did nothing.
I could have stopped it.
If I just… had my armor.
If she was with me.
Reach wasn’t an accident.
It was a plan.
We need to be careful.
Invisible.
Do you understand?
[John] So
it’s “we” now?
It always has been.
[Makee] I know you hear.
I know you see.
Are you afraid?
I summon you.
I summon you in the name of the Hierarchs, voices of the gods.
Next time, you can just push the little button there.
Fascinating.
This is a Covenant ship.
[Makee] This is the command vessel of the esteemed Zealot, Var’Gatanai, former Supreme Commander of the First Fleet of Solemn Accord.
The Arbiter.
What are you?
I am Cortana, the most advanced artificial…
No.
What are you to him?
Master Chief?
I…
We work together.
What do you know of the demon?
He remembers you.
You keep his memories.
Show me.
[speaking Sangheili]
It doesn’t belong to you.
[speaking Sangheili]
[Kwan] There you are.
You talk in your sleep.
He’s back.
Hey, buddy.
You look like shit.
Where’s Halsey?
Take it easy.
You’ve been out for three days.
I tried contacting the station. Still nothing.
She’s a fighter.
We’re gonna get her help when we get on the ground.
Where?
Aleria.
You heard of it?
Busted mining outpost. We’ll be orbital in a few hours.
Kessler’s there.
Come on.
This way.
[grunts]
I stay with him at night.
Every night.
[John grunts]
Where are you going?
I need to talk to Halsey.
You’re not even gonna look at him?
For what?
I’ve seen it before.
He’s your friend.
This is a body.
My friend isn’t here.
Set her on the gurney.
[doctor] What’s happened?
[Halsey] Have you got a sterile field generator?
We have an operating room.
Have you got biofoam?
Of course.
Okay, set up a trauma station.
Prep 100 cc’s of poly.
And if you’re going to be handling instruments, then disinfect your hands.
I’m the surgeon.
Not today.
[doctor] Nurse, 100 cc’s of poly…
[dog barking distantly]
[Soren] Nothing yet.
They’re still working on her.
Riz is gonna be all right.
Kessler?
We’re gonna ask around.
[Laera] Soren?
There.
[Soren] Laera, hold up.
Are you coming?
He’s not gonna leave her.
Come on.
[Kwan] You’re gonna freeze out here.
[dramatic music playing]
[McCoy] You the ones who landed that piece of shit out there?
Howdy, friend.
[McCoy] Yeah, howdy yourself.
I don’t wanna even hear about the northern range.
All them parcels is gone.
I still got some smaller pieces near the old Volper foundry.
You might have heard the ground’s poisoned.
Well, it ain’t. It’s supposed to be that color.
That’s the original.
Hey.
You stretch it, you buy it.
It’s on me.
Ooh!
I’ll tell you what we can do.
Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for.
And I’ll tell you where you can find it.
Our son.
What now?
[Laera] Kessler.
He’s ten years old. Wears a helmet.
He was on a transport ship.
Would have landed here a couple of days ago.
The, uh…
[Laera] The Bodegraven.
Right. Right. Bodegraven.
And this kid you say it’s yours?
I’m only asking, as most folks come through are spoken for.
Especially little ones.
People pay good money.
Let’s take a look.
Let’s.
These last few days been a goddamn circus.
You heard about Reach?
Yes.
I saw it coming a mile away.
[Soren] That so?
[McCoy] UNSC never gave a shit about the Covenant coming for the Outer Colonies.
I shouldn’t be surprised their chickens came home to roost.
Bodegraven, right here.
[Laera] This is him. Bodegraven. Boy, ten years old.
This is Kessler.
[Soren] All right.
I’m gonna need everything you got on this kid.
[Kwan] Here.
Thanks.
[groans]
It’s time.
For what?
No.
What do you mean, no?
We left him lying under a sheet. We have to bury him.
You don’t bury a Spartan.
Uh, okay.
So, what do you do?
Sorry, I can’t help you.
Why not?
Are you scared?
The moment a person becomes a Spartan, their life in your world ends.
They live in mine.
There are no burials.
There’s no funerals.
They’ve already said goodbye.
Well, that’s stupid.
You’re gonna wish you had taken this chance.
You have no idea what I’d give to…
Know what? Screw you.
I’ll bury him myself.
It makes no difference.
It does to me.
You put them in the ground and you leave them there.
Or they will follow you.
[dramatic music playing]
[engine revving]
[radio playing folk music]
[Soren] So let me get this straight.
You gotta clean it up, but then the land is yours?
Yeah, pretty much.
Nice. What’s the catch?
No catch.
No catch? Tell him.
[woman] Well, we can’t leave.
[Soren] Not ever?
[woman] Yeah, but who’d want to, right?
I mean, look at this place.
I’m happy for you. It’s beautiful, right?
[Laera] Stop.
What?
You’re making friends and enjoying the scenery.
We’re looking for our son, Soren.
I know.
We were on Reach. All those people. They’re gone.
A whole city.
A whole planet.
Does none of that touch you?
Of course, it does.
Then act like it.
You want me to be sad?
Scared?
Somebody’s gotta keep looking forward.
When things fall apart, you’re never there.
You ran from the Spartan program.
You ran from the Rubble.
When Ruby Ann came for us, it was all on me.
Whoa, whoa. Hold on.
You can’t blame me for that.
Would they have come for us if you’d been there?
And I do want you to be sad and I do want you to be scared, because that’s where I am and I want you with me.
♪ And your perfect lover ♪
♪ Just looks like A perfect fool ♪
♪ So you go running off ♪
♪ In search Of a perfect stranger ♪
♪ While the loneliness ♪
♪ Seems to spring From your life ♪
[breathing shallowly]
[monitor beeping slowly]
This is exactly how you looked.
I was 14.
I woke up after the augmentation and you looked at me.
Do you remember what you said?
Eyes.
Look up.
“One out of three.”
Oh, so many that were better than me didn’t survive.
We get shot.
We get hurt.
We get up.
We do it all again.
That’s all I know how to do.
I taught you everything.
Except how to quit.
I don’t do it for you.
Riz…
I did everything I could.
But the damage is significant.
You won’t be the soldier you once were.
You were already diminished.
So you’ll have to work harder.
[dramatic music playing]
[Kwan breathing heavily]
[labored breathing]
[grunting]
Why’d you have to be so big?
[groans and grunts]
Come on.
How’s this?
[sighs]
Yeah, me too.
[Halsey] Damage accumulates.
She won’t be the same as she was, but time will help.
Riz will live and she will fight again.
[John] Well, none of us are what we were.
And now we’re expendable.
What happened on Reach wasn’t personal.
It wasn’t even strategic. It was political.
It was Parangosky.
This…
This was about control.
About who dictates how this war is fought.
She won.
You can’t grieve an entire planet.
It’s too big.
Our minds won’t let it be real.
All those lives. All those names.
It’s too much.
I need you to do something for me.
I never got to bury anyone.
Not my people.
Not my family.
Somehow, I need you to be everyone that’s gone.
Can you do that?
[John] Parangosky’s the one who took Cortana out.
[Halsey] How could you possibly have remembered that?
I don’t know.
[groans]
There’s a space inside
where there used to be a voice.
I’m feeling that somebody knew me.
There was something that…
Cortana said right before she…
Go on.
What? What… What did she say?
How did you choose…
W-W-W-What do you mean?
How did you choose me?
We created the genetic profile.
We surveyed all the children…
No.
Why me?
[chuckles] I don’t understand.
Yes, you do.
Tell the truth.
Just once.
[voices shouting indistinctly]
We’re not done here.
[door opens]
[door closes]
Stay back!
[crowd shouting in foreign language]
Come closer, I will dig another hole!
What are you doing?
Hey!
This crazy’s trying to take him!
[woman] You can’t put him in the ground.
I beg to differ!
Burn this body. Let him find his way.
Whoa. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey!
Get your hands off him!
[John] Stop!
[all chanting in foreign language]
[Kwan] Chief?
This isn’t death.
This is loss.
There’s a difference.
Put him in the sky.
[dramatic music playing]
[man] All right.
[indistinct chatter]
Soren.
Yeah.
What do you want?
[Soren] Good evening.
You’re trespassing.
Allow me to explain.
We’re here for our son.
[Fern] Your what?
Our son.
Kessler.
Nice boy.
Like, yay, high…
The kid is ours.
The hell he is.
[racks gun]
Now… let’s calm down.
You can calm down somewhere else.
This is a good home and he likes it here, and I’ll be damned if I’m giving him up to a couple of strangers.
We’re not strangers. We’re his parents.
Even if that were true, some parents you’d be.
He was half starved when he got here.
Looked like he’d been slapped around a little too.
What did you say?
[Fern] Yeah.
I guess we know who’s responsible for that now.
Fuck you! Kessler!
Kessler, come out here right now!
Kessler!
They have him. They took him.
It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.
Calm down.
What are we gonna do?
I’m here. I can handle this.
It’s a negotiation.
It’s our son.
Trust me.
I’ll be right back.
[dramatic music playing]
[door thuds]
Well, you all seem
ready.
You never know when the world’s gonna fall apart.
Indeed.
This is some really good tea.
You said to give you five minutes.
We already gave you two.
I grew up in a place just like this.
[Fern] What’s that supposed to mean?
It means I know what it is to scratch out a life.
The ground never gives you what it promised.
There’s never quite enough to go around.
We get by.
I’m the kind of guy that can get things.
The kind of things that can compensate.
I know what an extra pair of hands can mean.
[running footsteps]
Our boy isn’t for sale.
[sighs]
I’m gonna be honest with you.
This is nothing like where I grew up.
I was born in hell.
Raised in violence.
Being without a family, without a home without food, without protection.
[gasps]
[Laera, whispering] Kessler!
Baby?
I realized I can survive all that.
But the loneliness…
If anything was gonna kill me it would be that.
[Laera, whispering] It’s really me.
[Soren] So now I’m a father.
And I live in fear…
[whispers] It’s okay.
…that my boy… will never know that feeling.
That absence of love.
I am grateful that you’re the ones that took him in, because I know in time, he’d find love here.
But he’s my son.
[dramatic music playing]
Where did you get this?
A boy gave it to me.
On the transport.
For protection.
He… He saw that I was scared.
Where is he?
They took him away.
They’re gonna let us see Kessler.
Is that…?
[Laera] No.
It’s not Kessler.
[Halsey] Reach was more than a place.
It was a symbol.
It was a monument to the human spirit, and to those who sacrificed everything to defend it.
Those like Admiral Jacob Keyes.
And this Spartan, Vannak Amadi.
He was born on Tribute.
I met him when he was six.
I could see he had honor.
He had a large family.
They would be proud of his service.
His family buried him when he was six.
They never knew him.
But I did.
His name was Vannak-134.
He was a Spartan.
He was our brother.
And the only family that he ever knew.
This… This was not an ordinary man.
Everything that he was, everything that he gave it never dies.
Your fight is not done.
I will be your weapon now.
I will find the ones who caused your death, and I will end them.
[dramatic music playing]
[Halsey] You think you can get to Parangosky?
To Ackerson?
You don’t even know where they are.
I’ll find them.
You’re gonna get yourself killed.
I didn’t choose you.
I found you.
Whatever built the Halo, whatever left those artifacts behind, left something in you.
You can’t run from this.
This has been calling to you your whole life.
This is what you’re meant to do.
The only thing I have to do is find Parangosky, Ackerson.
John, you can take us to the Halo.
The survival of our species depends on what it can teach us.
If you go after ONI yourself, you put all of that at risk.
They can’t let you live.
I’m already dead.
[woman] Join us.
What?
Sorry, did…
Did you say something to me?
I speak for the planet.
Oh, you do?
I speak for all the planets.
Okay.
Where is…
I speak for Madrigal.
What did you say?
[woman] I cry out in pain.
My children are ash.
My skin is broken. My heart…
Who the hell are you?
Who are you?
No one.
You’re Kwan Ha.
Last of the Has.
How…
How do you…
Who are you?
You turned your back on us.
You forgot your name.
Get away from me.
It’s close now.
The monster.
Stay where you are!
[woman] Help me. Find me.
Deliver me. Save me.
Do not deny your purpose.
Do not forsake your name.
Leave me alone!
[woman] Protector.
What did you…?
[suspenseful music playing]
[gasps softly]
[gasps]
[fire roaring]
[speaking Sangheili]
[Arbiter speaking Sangheili]
[Arbiter]
[Makee]
[yells]
[gentle music playing]
[ethereal music playing]
[groans softly]
[engines powering up]
[groans]
[indistinct chatter]
[tender music playing]
Can I help you?
Gloves?
Right over there.
Oh, it’s you.
I didn’t recognize you with your…
Do you have any barbed wire?
Where’s that, uh, fella that was with you?
He wanted to come.
But I didn’t think that would be prudent.
Prudent?
He can be a bit emotional.
Whereas I see this kind of situation a bit more clearly.
I don’t think I understand.
Of course you do.
You had a mother, didn’t you?
Yeah.
[Laera] No one should come between a mother and her child.
It’s a powerful bond.
Instinctive.
You know, we got a lot of kids coming through here…
[loud bang]
The other day…
I caught a scent in the air, that took me back to the first time I cut Kessler’s hair.
He was so little.
[scoffs] Look, lady, I… I’m just a businessman.
He was squirming.
I was nervous that I would hurt him.
And that’s when I knew that if anyone ever caused him pain, there’s no telling what I would do.
There would be no limit.
[ominous music playing]
You know what I mean?
[gasps softly]
Did he talk?
Yes.
Did he say who took Kessler?
The UNSC.
[indistinct chatter]
[John] We’re wheels up in ten.
Riz get your stuff…
[Riz] I’m not gonna make it.
What are you talking about?
You’re gonna be fine.
I’m gonna stay here.
Get your head in the game.
My fight’s over, Chief.
It’s over when Vannak says it’s over.
When Kai says…
Chief…
It’s over when we win!
On your feet.
I gave you an order, Spartan.
Stand up.
[Riz groans]
We lost Reach.
We lost Vannak…
Kai…
I know.
Then what are you gonna do about it?
I’m going to live.
You don’t get to say no to this.
We owe them, Riz.
We lost them.
I lost them.
It’s just pain.
All you can do is carry it.
But it’s heavy.
And the more you deny it, the more you run from it, the heavier it gets.
If you don’t make peace with it, it will crush you.
I won’t let it crush me.
You’re all I have left.
I know.
[groans softly]
She’s not coming.
So
you’re no one now.
[gentle music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[man speaking indistinctly over P.A.]
[dramatic music playing]
[doors open]
[Marine] Attention on deck!
[continues shouting indistinctly]
[dramatic music playing]
[signature theme plays]
[signature theme plays]
