'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The new series Halo is now available on Paramount+, and it includes the first look at Master Chief sans his helmet.
Despite appearing in several Halo games over the years, Master Chief is famed for never taking off his helmet. This served as an immersion mechanism that allowed players to be exactly how they comprehended him to be.
All of that has changed in the television version, as Master Chief removes his helmet in the first episode to gain the trust of an unlikely ally.
As per Collider, producers Kiki Wolfkill and Steven Kane have backed the decision, saying:
"So as we started getting into what that evolution looked like and what it meant for John to understand his role as Master Chief and what that means, and frankly his role as a human and the broader question of humanity at stake, it was so clear that we needed to be able to see the person in the helmet and we needed to see John outside of the armor both, I would say, emotionally and physically."
Why did Master Chief take off his helmet in Halo?
Master Chief comes face-to-face with a little girl named Kwan towards the end of Halo's first episode. After forming a brief friendship with Master Chief, Kwan finds herself in a position where she doubts her ability to trust the UNSC Spartan.
Kwan threatened to shoot Chief with a combat rifle. In turn, the Master Chief told Kwan that the gun's rounds won't hurt him because of his armor's strength. As a result, he chose to take off his helmet to gain Kwan's trust and expose himself.
This persona is nothing more than Chief's actor himself, Pablo Schreiber.
Even Pablo supported the decision to remove the helmet of Master Chief, saying,
“It was very important early on that the helmet comes off, you see the face, and you disassociate your version of who you believe the Chief was. Rather than being co-creator of the experience as you go along and believing that you’re Chief, we’re now inviting you to sit back on the couch and watch Chief start to discover elements of himself.”
Many elements from the earlier Halo canon were retained in the show's rendition of Master Chief.
John was abducted by the UNSC when he was a child. Dr. Halsey, who turned The children into soulless human weapons, viewed John and his fellow Spartans as military research experiments.
While the game largely ignores this history, the series is dedicated to presenting John's narrative and revealing the man behind Chief's fabled armor.
The first season of Halo started streaming on Paramount+ on March 24, 2022.
