Reach (TV episode)

Reach is the fourth episode of the second season of Halo. It will premiere on February 22, 2024 on Paramount+.
== Synopsis ==
A covenant assault threatens humanity's most important stronghold; John, Perez and Silver Team fight an overwhelming enemy; Adm. Keyes rallies the UNSC forces to make a stand; Halsey and Soren must work together to escape captivity.
==Plot==
Vannak climbs to the roof of FLEETCOM and greets his birds, who he's all named. He gets ready to feed them when he sees the explosions in the city.
Perez and John run through the streets. She forks from him as she needs to go home. A blast knocks him aside so he finds Perez, pulling here away from the building which is nothing but debris. He tells her they're gone. The city collapses in rubble, fire, and screams.
Soren feels the shakes from the attacks and hears rubble, though the illusion they're inside doesn't falter. Halsey reminds him there's a war. She's happy to see him and know he's still alive. He's played their reunion over in his head before. A blast hits the room and cuts the feed to the illusion, revealing they're inside a cell. He leaves the room against her warnings of the perimeter being active.
Perez breaks down in sobs over the loss of her family. John tells her to focus on the mission and do her job. She doesn't have any training for this. He needs to get back to FLEETCOM to get his gear and link up with the defensive force. He doesn't force her to come, though she follows him anyway. A Covenant soldier attacks people under active camouflage that John can see. He tackles the solider and they fight. He manages to kill the soldier, but more are in the city.
Soren and Halsey navigate the building and she tries to warn him he's going the wrong way. He doesn't want to trust her, but has too.
John and Perez seek shelter in an apartment and he arms himself with an ax. She's in awe of him never faltering during the fights. He tells her a story of a woman flipping a coin eleven times and him guessing correctly each time. He's always been like that. Every time he goes into battle, he knows he can lose somebody. He also knows it's not going to be him. He hears rustling in the room over and investigates, only to narrowly miss being shot by an older woman named Jade. She tells him to be careful with the ax as it's over 600 years old and from Earth. Jade has John move her items. He offers to take her with them to FLEETCOM. Her items have seen every war and survived. Perez tries to get through to Jade to no avail. John leaves the shop with Perez.
Halsey and Soren navigate the ONI headquarters as the attacks get closer. She wants to know about Kessler. She wonders if he's like Soren was at that age. He doesn't want to talk about his son with her. She remembers he wanted to be Spartan and didn't need to be recruited like the others. Even after the accident with his arm where she let him go. He cuts her off, refusing to let her rewrite history. She supposes his story is just as good as any. They find soldiers killed by plasma.
John and Perez avoid blasts, gunfire, and plasma as they watch ships evacuating people from FLEETCOM. They find Riz, who is armed, and he gets a gun. Louis is nearby and Riz gives orders to help them navigate to FLEETCOM. Donilo and Louis join the marines and Spartans. They slip into a building where Riz and John expertly defend against Elite attacks with the help of the marines. Riz stops to help Danilo, only to find he's already dead. She throws a grenade into the room and leaps out. Louis helps Riz to her feet and demands to know where Danilo is. John shouts a warning that a wraith is incoming. Louis arms himself with the rocket launcher, refusing to go with Riz. He sacrifices himself to save the others by killing the wraith. John and Riz take a moment to mourn before running off with Perez.
Halsey and Soren move through the other prison units and end up in Cortana's cell. Cortana tells her to run. The connection ends when Makee picks up the AI. A Covenant Elite attacks them and they barely escape before a grenade blast.
John, Riz, and Perez reach FLEETCOM where dozens of soldiers are being treated for wounds. John tells a distracted Riz to suit up. Perez stops him as he can't just go without saying anything. She thanks him and he silently walks way. He stops to toss her a coin for luck. Riz and John meet up with Vannak, who fills them in on the status of FLEETCOM. Kai still isn't back at quarters. John wants to get suited up until Vannak relays that the armor is gone - along with Ackerson and other valuable assets. Admiral Keyes is in charge now.
John goes to Keyes and complains about the suits being gone. Keyes didn't want to hear the "I told you so" and relays that Cobalt died in Visegrad. When Visegrad went down it left a blind site. The Covenant are at the power stations now. The decision was made to let Reach fall, so all major personnel and fleets are gone. Keyes is going to make the Covenant pay regardless. Their mission now is strictly evacuation. Keyes shows John his plan which is Thermopylae.
Soren helps Halsey up and questions what she meant by letting him gone. She saw his potential and how everyone looked to him. After his augmentation failed she need John to look to himself. That's why there was no one guarding the ships the night he ran away.
Reach continues to fall to Covenant forces while Perez can only watch it happen. A medic snaps her out of her trance by asking for help. John gets his orders from Keyes to hold his hat. A gunny calls everyone to attention so Keyes can speak to the troops. He praises their strength and gives them the truth. They will not be able to hold the Covenant back forever. Any marine who makes the stand with them will not survive the day. But they will not make the stand alone. Keyes calls John to the platform. Keyes introduces the marines to John-117, Master Chief, to make a point of John not needing a suit as the warrior inside is all he needs. Their mission is to get more innocent people to transports. They will show the Covenant they fucked with the wrong planet. The marines head out to war. John won't let Keyes out there in the fight because he needs Keyes to keep giving orders. He asks Keyes to get the civilians out of the planet. John is where he's supposed to be. Keyes tells him to make it count.
John, Riz, and Vannak make a stand outside the bridgehead with the marines.
Halsey enters FLEETCOM to reunite with Keyes. Soren stands by awkwardly until he asks for transport off the planet. Keyes takes them with him to the hangar.
Vannak, Riz, and John light up the Covenant forces.
Halsey asks if Miranda is on Reach and she's not. Keyes can't say where she is. Keyes asks how Halsey ended up with Soren. She warns Keyes that the Covenant has Cortana. Makee also isn't dead. They reach the hangar where Perez is ushering people onto a transport. Soren can hear Shangheili forces that no one else can. Moments later, the elite jump onto the hangar.
The stand at the bridgehead continues. Keyes goes over the comms to convey the hangar is under attack. John, Riz, and Vannak abandon the bridgehead to cover the hangar.
The civilians are all aboard the hangar but the fuel lines are still connected. Keyes exits the plan to disconnect them. He ensures Perez can fly the ship before he does. Keyes runs to disconnect the fuel lines when a Jackal sniffs him out. Perez watches the forces surround Keyes. Halsey wants to help Keyes, but Soren knows they can't. Keyes tells Perez to leave him. Halsey screams for Jacob as Soren pulls her away. Perez takes a deep breath and pushes the engine into takeoff. Keyes removes the fuel connector from the base so the hangar fills with fuel. He puts a pipe to his mouth and asks for light. The hangar explodes in fire just as Perez enters the sky.
Halsey screams in the hall just as John, Riz, and Vannak arrive. She collapses in sobs after the hangar explodes. She goes to the edge of the building that overlooks the burning planet. Another round of attacks hits FLEETCOM as forces breach the room, kicking off another battle. John squares off with the Arbiter and picks up an energy sword. He's hit with a plasma round and the Arbiter almost impales him until Makee gives the order to stop. Vannak tries to save John from the Arbiter and is impaled with one of the darts. It explodes in his chest, killing him. John screams at the death of his friend. He tries to crawl to Vannak but is too injured. Soren grabs his shirt and drags him away while Riz watches. Vannak's corpse stares at a hole in the ceiling where the sun is peaking out. A bird circles the area while chirping.
== Cast ==
=== Starring ===
*Pablo Schreiber as John-117
*Natascha McElhone as Catherine Halsey
*Joseph Morgan as James Ackerson (Credit only)
*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 (Credit only)
*Bentley Kalu as Vannak-134
*Kate Kennedy as Kai-125 (Credit only)
*Charlie Murphy as Makee
*Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Laera (Credit only)
*Cristina Rodlo as Talia Perez
*Danny Sapani as Admiral Jacob Keyes
*Jen Taylor as Cortana (voice)
*Viktor Åkerblom as The Arbiter
*Tylan Bailey as Kessler (Credit only)
*Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066
=== Also Starring ===
*Marvin Jones III as Louis-036
=== Additional Cast ===
* Olwen May as Jde
* Christian Ochoa Lavernia as Danilo
* Lotti Kovari as Specialist Pavlenko
* Elijah Cook as Captain Tyrell
* Romany Gilmour as Marine Medic
* Tamas Szaraz as Gunnery Sergeant
* 
==Locations==
* Epsilon Eridani System
** Reach
*** FLEETCOM
==Trivia==
* The Fall of Reach takes place, which is a major event in the both the video game series and the television series.
* This episode marks two major deaths for the series; Admiral Jacob Keyes and Vannak-134.
** Reach is the first episode in which a Spartan dies on-camera.
==Gallery==
Halo 204 Halsey-Soren Still.jpg
Halo 204 John Still.jpg
Halo 204 John-Perez Still.jpg
Halo 204 Halsey-Soren Still2.jpg
Halo 204 Riz Still.jpg
Halo_204_John-Soren-Riz Still.jpg
Halo_204_Reach_Poster.jpg
==References==
Category:Halo TV show
Category:Episodes (TV show)
Category:Halo TV show (Season 2)