Sword (TV episode)

Sword is the second episode of the second season of Halo. It premiered on February 8, 2024 on Paramount+.
== Synopsis ==
John pushes Silver Team to its limit as he searches for missing Spartans. Kai worries about John's stability. Kwan finds the Rubble is a far more dangerous place in Soren's absence. Halsey seeks the identity of her captor.
==Plot==
A young girl serves tea and snacks to Dr. Halsey. She also gives her a game and asks Catherine to teach her how to play it. Catherine then asks her to tell her what happens when she leaves “here”, but the girl is hesitant to tell her. The girl explains that there is another room, a hallway, and several doors that she isn’t allowed to look behind because of the man. The girl says he’s the one who’s been sending the gifts. The girl’s nose starts to bleed and she doesn’t feel well. She falls on the table, unconscious.
Back at headquarters, Kai speaks to Riz about taking some time to heal. Riz insists she’s fine and ready for battle -she is a Spartan and she wants to fight in the war. Kai goes to speak to John who tells her he saw Makee on Sanctuary. She tells him Makee is dead and he tells her he knows.
John sees a man put "Standby" next to the Cobalt team on a board. He is confused and tells the man to change that because Cobalt is still out there on their mission. The man insists he’s just doing his job. 
In a refugee camp, Kwan tries to take her tracker off. She gets found and tries to fight off the man who tries to capture her to sell her as a slave for credit. Everyone starts to chase her but she fights for her life. Kwan manages to escape them briefly. She rips her tracker out of her ear, kills one of the men, and runs away.
Riz trains and tries to hide her injuries. She insists “Spartans never die” and doesn’t want the others to know how much pain she is in.
John decides to ask Ackerson what happened to Cobalt but Ackerson tells him he’s heard Spartans never die. Ackerson tells John his account of what happened in Sanctuary is dubious. His fellow soldiers did not confirm his story and has no recollection of what happened.
On planet Rubble, Kessler brings Kwan some food and asks her what’s wrong. She tells him it’s “grown up things” and that his dad isn’t coming back. Meanwhile, Laera asks Soren’s men if the ship is ready and they claim that there are some issues that are working through before they can go. She tells them Soren never would’ve left them behind, implying that they’re lying and not really looking to find Soren. 
John, Kai, Riz and some other Spartans train together but Riz struggles. She has a serious fall and can’t get up. He tells them the enemy is getting close and he can prove it by finding Cobalt on his own. Later, Riz goes to see a healer to get help.
As for John, he visits the surviving marine, Talia’s house, asking why she lied in her report about failing to remember what transpired. John also can’t refuse when Talia’s mother asks him to stay for dinner, believing they’re dating each other.
Dr. Halsey plays again with the young girl. She asks him again about the man who gave her all the gifts. Again, her nose bleeds and she tells her she’s scared. She falls unconscious again.
Ackerson presses Kai for information about John, worried he might be endangering his team or himself. Kai tells him he’s fine but it’s just a lot to carry what he has gone through.
John confronts Talia about lying to Ackerson. She tells him she knew there was something out there when they were on their mission. She feels guilt because all of her men were killed and she can’t explain how she survived. 
Halsey watches the girl being taken away, dead. She speaks with Ackerson, who she finds out is the man keeping her there. She asks him about Cortana and John. He doesn’t respond but instead introduces her to her new attendant, a clone named Julia. Ackerson returns to headquarters and goes to look at the Halo Keystone. He also talks to Cortana and asks her for projections. She tells him there is a 97% probability of something happening. He acknowledges there isn’t anything to be done then.
John uses the UNSC computers to investigate his theories about Cobalt. He sees Cobalt hasn't left the planet. He realizes the Covenant is disrupting communications before destroying planets and that Reach is the next target. John lies to his team that they’re cleared for combat and tells them they are going on a mission to Visegrad Relay. He tells them they’re going to get Cobalt. Kai asks about the mission and John tells her the Covenant is on Reach.
On Reach at the Sword Base, Covenant invades the UNSC base. They kill several soldiers. Makee is there and she gets a Halo Keystone.
== Cast ==
=== Starring ===
*Pablo Schreiber as John-117
*Natascha McElhone as Catherine Halsey
*Joseph Morgan as James Ackerson
*Shabana Azmi as Margaret Parangosky (Credit only)
*Christina Bennington as Cortana
*Natasha Culzac as Riz-028
*Olive Gray as Dr. Miranda Keyes (Credit only)
*Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha
*Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134
*Kate Kennedy as Kai-125
*Charlie Murphy as Makee
*Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Laera
*Cristina Rodlo as Talia Perez
*Danny Sapani as Admiral Jacob Keyes (Credit only)
*Jen Taylor as Cortana (voice)
*Viktor Åkerblom as The Arbiter
*Tylan Bailey as Kessler
*Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066 (Credit only)
===Also Starring===
*Marvin Jones III as Louis-036
===Additional Cast===
*Bronte Carmichael as Julia
*Sonny Poon Tip as Ensign Bishara
*Mich Todorovic as Clive
*Ákos Inotay as Oswyn
*Zar Succarotte as Spiff Henchman #1
*Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan as Spiff Henchman #2
*Ivanno Jeremiah as Antares
*Juliette Motamed as Carina
*David Crowley as Castor
*Iliasz Shweirif as Virgil
*Christian Ochoa Lavernia as Danilo
*Maria Luisa Costa as Manuela Perez
*Eliseo Barrionuevo as Cousin Mateo
*Sebastian Orozco as Cousin Ant
*Maria Jose Bavio as Aunt Lucia
*Anikó Fülöp as Marine Private
*Jack Nevils as Marine Lieutenant
==Locations==
* Epsilon Eridani System
** Reach
*** Sword Base
* 23 Librae System
** The Rubble
==Trivia==
==Gallery==
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HALO_202_Cortana_Still.jpg
Halo_202_John-Kai_Still.jpg
HALO_202_Julia-Halsey_Still.jpg
Halo_202_Kessler-Laera_Still.jpg
Halo_S1_Spartan_Attack_Cover.jpg|Cover for the in-universe Spartan video game
==References==
Category:Halo TV show
Category:Episodes (TV show)
Category:Halo TV show (Season 2)