Contact (TV episode)

Contact is the first episode of the first season of Halo. It aired on March 24, 2022, only on Paramount+.
==Synopsis==
In the year 2552, humans on the planet Madrigal have been fighting for independence from Earth, but a fatal encounter with the Alien Covenant complicates things. Master Chief John 117 and his super-soldier “Spartans” join the fight. After the battle, Master Chief heads to his home planet of Reach with a Madrigal survivor and a mysterious object he discovered on the planet. But a controversial order has John questioning his mission, and himself.ViacomCBS
==Plot==
On the planet Madrigal, Kwan Ha and her friends are enjoying a small trip outside when they spot a spaceship and some gunfire. They look at each other before Kwan's friends are obliterated by an unknown alien using a Plasma Rifle. Kwan manages to avoid getting shot and launches a flare to alert the outpost of enemies. The outpost picks up the flare and prepares for battle as Kwan runs inside to warn her father, Jin Ha of the threat. Jin initially believes that the UNSC is attacking, but she tells him that it isn't them as an explosion blasts defenders off the gate.
Suddenly, the gate itself explodes, revealing a group of strange aliens. The outpost garrison tries their best to fight them off, but their weapons have no effect on their energy shielding as they easily slaughter the inhabitants. During the hectic fight, the UNSC arrives and drops several Spartans, though despite their arrival, the entire outpost, apart from Kwan, are killed. The Spartans leave Kwan behind at the outpost to pursue the Covenant ship, and they choose to split up to explore a nearby cave that the Covenant were seemingly interested in. In the cave, Master Chief discovers a device supposedly used to extract materials, but upon touching it, was memories that were hidden under the Spartan program. Master Chief orders the Spartans to drive the ship back to Reach, while he picks up Kwan and goes into a Pelican with her, autopiloted by the UNSC.
The UNSC orders Master Chief to eliminate Kwan under Article 72, but he refuses to. They attempt to lower the oxygen levels inside, but he manages to reverse the airflow. Upon landing at Reach, they order the other Spartans to eliminate him, but Catherine Halsey overrides the order and gives them a new one - protect the Master Chief at all costs, even if it means they have to fight their allies. Master Chief touches a device that activates an EMP, disabling power in the UNSC base and he flies off with Kwan on the Pelican before they could recover.
==Cast==
===Starring===
*Pablo Schreiber as John-117
*Shabana Azmi as Margaret Parangosky
*Natasha Culzac as Riz-028
*Olive Gray as Dr. Miranda Keyes
*Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha
*Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134
*Kate Kennedy as Kai-125
*Charlie Murphy as Makee
*Danny Sapani as Captain Jacob Keyes
*Jen Taylor as Cortana (Credit only)
*Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066 (Credit only)
*Natascha McElhone as Catherine Halsey
===Also Starring===
* Jamie Beamish as Kaidon
* Burn Gorman as Vinsher Grath
* Julian Bleach as Mercy
===Guest Starring===
* Ryan McParland as Adun
* Jung Hwan Gong as Jin Ha
===Co-Starring===
* Sky Yang as Ruben
* Ian Pirie as Professor
* Nneka Okoye as Djankka
* Shaun Aylward as Esso
* Hayler Canham as Cara
* Zachary Hing as Neru
* Olivia Liu as Faaz
* Mikolos Beres as Sentry
* Felipe Gabriel Mariano as Malchin
* Casper Knopf as Young John
* Duncan Pow as John's Father
* Chan Woo Lim as Flight Tech Doan
* Karen Gagnon as Flight Tech Juric
* Mirjam Novak as Flight Tech Tesic
* Johnny K. Palmer as Control Tech Ladi
* Hans Peterson as Ops Tech
* David Csanyi as Colonel Stacker
==Locations==
* Planet: Madrigal / Tier 4 Heavy Water Extraction Planet
* High Charity / Covenant Command
* Planet: Reach / Fleetcom - UNSC Headquarters
==Halo the Series: Declassified==
Welcome to Halo the Series: Declassified! Hosted by Sydnee Goodman, this is the show that dives deep into the world of the Paramount+ Original Series, Halo. In this series premiere episode, Sydnee is joined by the Master Chief himself, Pablo Schreiber, Master Chief's highly advanced A.I., Cortana, and AEW professional wrestler Adam Cole. Cortana breaks down the world of Halo from Spartans to Covenant and everything in between. Stream all-new episodes of Halo the Series on Thursdays, exclusively on Paramount+.
Halo The Series- Declassified - Pablo Schreiber On Becoming The Master Chief - Paramount+-2
==Trivia==
* The link "cave network does not appear to be a natural formation" is a direct quote from the Halo: Combat Evolved video game.
* The largest centered symbol presented to Master Chief when he touches the keystone is the Reclaimer symbol. In the video game series, the symbol and title is given to an individual tasked with activating a Halo super-weapon.
* A Misriah Armory symbol can be seen in Master Chief's ship when he approaches a suffocating Kwan.
==Gallery==
For a complete episode gallery, please see Contact (TV episode)/Gallery.
Halo 101 Jin-Kwan-Still1.jpg
Halo 101 Master-Chief-Still3.jpg
Halo S1 First-Look4.jpg
Halo 101 Halsey-Still1.jpg
==References==
Category:Halo TV show
Category:Episodes (TV show)