The new Halo series has successfully launched on Paramount+ , with the service reporting that no productions overran their debut. Whoever saw the first episode was also in for a surprise, because it featured the face of the Master Chief.
What does the Master Chief aka John-117 actually look like? This question has puzzled players of the Microsoft shooter since the series launched in 2001. And they also had to wait more than 20 years before they came close to a real answer – it is still unanswered or revealed in the game itself, what the face of the “Spartan” super soldier looks like.
In the recently launched TV and streaming series, viewers didn’t have to wait long for this answer, because towards the end of the first episode the face of the Halo protagonist played by Pablo Schreiber was already revealedto see. Of course, this triggered a lot of discussion among fans of the shooter, developer 343 Industries, who was and is also involved in the series implementation, has now commented on this in a blog post.
Difference TV and games
In it , Alex Wakeford, community writer at 343 Industries, explains why they decided to take this step (via Windows Central ). Wakeford explains that television and video games are two completely different mediums: “The participatory, interactive aspect that defines games isn’t there, which – similar to what has happened with books, comics and other media over the past twenty years – presents its own challenges and opportunities entails for telling a great Halo story.”
Wakeford continued: “The revealing of the Chief’s face was one of those things. Such a moment is not a plot point or even explicitly a ‘revelation’ of his appearance, but a vehicle for telling his story. It had to be a moment which was worthy and meaningful. That’s why it happens right in the first episode: It’s not a twist, it’s a mission statement.”
In the expanded Halo universe, the Master Chief has removed his helmet before, more precisely in the animated series The Fall of Reach, also in Halo 4 his eyes could be seen for a split second after playing through the campaign in Legendary mode.