Halo

There is this woman, she flipped a coin.

She dared me to call it, and I did.

For luck.

They're responsible, Kai. For Reach.

-For Vannak. -The Covenant's responsible.

The Covenant didn't take our armor.

Centuries of work can be undone

by the smallest of oversights.

How did you choose me?

I didn't choose you. I found you.

When things fall apart, you're never there.

You ran from the Spartan program.

You ran from the Rubble.

- Who took Kessler? - The UNSC.

They're still making Spartans.

- What is this place? - Thermopylae.

Infiltrate the ship,

deliver the Spike.

I know this.

What is it doing here?

What is this place?

It's where it all began.

Without your research, I never would have been able

to discover your mistake.

If you were to use the Artifact

to project yourself back to the Halo,

you could determine its location in the stars.

I can't go there without him.

Perhaps I can help.

Cortana.

The Covenant's going to find the Halo, Chief.

It is imperative that you get there first.

You need to touch the Artifact.

He said that you let the whole planet burn.

Sometimes events are beyond our control.

- You can't trust him. - But I do.

I always have.

As a child, I came here in my imagination.

- I always thought it was... - A dream.

...alive.

I try to understand what it wants from me.

Why me?

Why you?

Look at me.

I saw you.

On Reach.

With the Sangheili.

The Arbiter is a soldier.

Like you.

You brought the Covenant there.

Millions of people.

Gone.

-Because of you. -Because of war.

If you could burn High Charity to embers, would you hesitate?

There's a difference. You're human.

Am I? Are you?

What if there are no sides?

Only life and death.

Light and dark. Us and them.

We are not the same.

You don't believe that.

I needed to see your eyes.

To know that you understand what needs to be done.

You found it.

You can't bring the Covenant here.

Do you understand?

If they control the Halo...

They will annihilate humankind.

And if the humans control it, they'll annihilate the Covenant.

This is all they know.

The Ring does more than destroy.

It holds the seed of life itself.

We could build a world here.

A place of peace.

They're not gonna let that happen.

They don't decide.

The Ring doesn't belong to them. It belongs to us.

I see it now.

The difference between us.

You doubt.

Move.

You need to move.

Everybody out!

Did you find it?

The map. Show me.

There.

I take it your strike team

has failed to locate Master Chief.

Allow me to help you. He's with the Artifact.

Captain Briggs's team was moving in

on the target when--

If people learn that Master Chief in fact is not dead,

it'll lead to inconvenient questions

about Reach, don't you think?

About who knew what, and when.

Well, we won't have to worry about that.

Did you say "we"?

You were in charge.

Acting on your orders.

But I'm not even in the ONI.

What's taking so long? Where's the feed?

Coming back online now, ma'am.

Signal reacquired, ma'am.

We're tracking the Covenant Cruiser.

It just exited slipspace in the Soell system.

That's a Covenant battle group.

That's the entire First Fleet of Solemn Accord.

-What's wrong with it? -It's the signal, ma'am.

There's significant energy

coming from the center of that system.

Solar flare. Nova activity. Black hole.

Contact Admiral Stanforth

to dispatch the UNSC fleet from Sector 3.

Ready the Spartan-IIIs.

My Spartan-IIIs were trained to execute specialized missions.

I thought you said they were ready?

They're elite soldiers.

They're not designed to assault a Covenant fleet without--

It's your job to prepare them. I decide how they're used.

Now, if there's nothing else, I suggest you find him.

It's not a black hole.

John-117, stop where you are.

On your knees.

We have orders to take you in.

Those aren't your orders.

He's resisting. Take him down.

I said take him down.

Shoot him.

I've been on that side of the gun.

I didn't ask questions.

I didn't want to know.

Pull the trigger!

But we always know, don't we?

I gave you an order, Lieutenant.

She knows you can't take a bullet back.

That's why she wants it to be yours.

But if you're gonna kill me...

at least look me in the eyes.

What are you doing? I said engage!

Do it yourself.

Stop right there!

Didn't ask for your help.

Were you gonna do it?

This structure might not be stable, we should go.

We're not going anywhere.

Whoever designed this complex built the Halo.

What is this place?

It's a repository for knowledge, like a library.

Or a religious site.

As the original lead scientist on this project,

I can assure you it is a library.

As you can see from the node walls...

Like you'd find in a church or a chapel.

Got it.

You have no idea.

Thanks.

You said something about a mistake.

Did I?

Yes, you said I made a mistake.

When you solved the first cipher back in the day,

you did so according to your own familiar principles.

Data, mathematics.

And you unlocked the first alcove.

-Simple. -It wasn't that simple.

-It took me weeks to solve it. -It took you four months.

I have your notes, remember?

You opened this one.

But what you overlooked is that the cipher

isn't just mathematical.

It's also linguistic.

In this case, a complex ideographic system

with a number of logographic traits, some phonemes...

Do you think this will take a long time?

It'll take less than four months.

What was inside?

You first.

Whatever you found wasn't in your notes.

Tell me.

DNA.

Theirs.

And ours.

I have the commander of the lead Condor.

-Name's Bookman. -Put him through.

Commander Bookman, this is Admiral Parangosky.

Can your team hear me?

Yes, ma'am.

Our enemy's about to learn

that there's a cost to tangling with humanity.

I'm asking you to deliver the bill.

-Can you do that for me? -Yes, ma'am.

Arrow Team, make ready. On my mark.

Godspeed.

Spartans on the beam.

Condor-Hotel-Tango-3, come in.

Condor-Charlie-November-2 radio check.

All assassin Condors, this TAC-CON ONYX, over.

Any Assassin Condors, respond.

Deploy the second wave.

- Yes, Admiral. - What?

No, the first wave just got obliterated