No, no theory needed. He’s only taking his helmet off so much because it’s in Pable Shreiber’s contract, simple as that. It’s the same reason we kept seeing inside Iron Man’s helmet.
If I was ever asked, given how pessimistic, negative and toxic the community have been with the series, I'd be extremely hesitant to get involved as I don't believe anyone deserves having their work shit on the way I've seen this show has.
@@EpsilonNought they haven't demanded we consume and enjoy. You get to make the choice to watch or not. If you don't like it. Don't watch it. End of argument really.
@@EpsilonNought Yet they're the most noisy ones and the rest of the community doesn't go "you may right, but not cool bro", instead it's tacit agreement and dog piling. I've seen it in many fandoms and Halo's no different sadly.
@@Installation00 This is why I turned it off after the first 10 mins of episode 2. I don't like what they have chosen to do with the amazing lore from the last 20 years. That said, I'm open to watching this when season 1 is out in full so I can sit down and actually see what they are trying to do.
Honestly, you've probably put more thought into Chief removing his "true" face than the writers of the episodes themselves. I doubt they were thinking more than "actor wants to be seen".
On the one hand, if they use this as the motivation for John not wearing a helmet it will be a retcon because the writers didn't pay enough homage to the existing lore. Didn't they say they ignored the games. But then if they actually do use this then they're kind of listening to fans which gives me a slight bit of hope for this series. But if they can't be trusted with the series and have to rely on the fans redirecting their blunders then that slight bit of hope is tainted by a massive amount of discontent.
Im glad that there is someone who thinks this. They paid for pablo schreiber and they just want an excuse to show his face unfortunately. Do not give paramount the benefit of the doubt on this
Do you have literally anything to support this? He's analysing the show, showing what he thinks the reasons are implied to be from what's shown, from what the writers chose to show. It's clear in the video he thinks these choices were intentional. Why do you disagree? What do you want them to do like? Have annotations pop up saying "Chief is currently not wearing a helmet because x"? It's pretty obvious in each situation why he takes it off/isn't wearing one. In fact in a lot of these scenes it would make a LOT less sense if he was wearing it.
@@lizardlegend42 No, he's coming up with excuses for why they ignored one of the core traits of the Master Chief; that his face is never seen by the viewer. His helmet IS his face. However "obvious" it is to you, the simple fact remains that the media has a history of giving faces to characters that were never meant to have one and it's always for the same reason; they paid money for the actor and want to make the most of them or the actor doesn't want their face hidden (sometimes both). Why would you assume this is the exception to the rule? The Chief never needed a face to emote or interact with others in more than 20 years of Halo history, and he still doesn't need one now. If the writers feel otherwise, then maybe they shouldn't be writing a character well known for not having a face. What I "want" is for them to write a show that actually has the Master Chief in it (though I'd really prefer B312 or A259), not official fanfiction with their OC in his place.
I don't know. Karl Urban could have pulled off a helmet-less Dredd. The question is: why is he pulling off his helmet? Like, if Dredd had his helmet knocked off, then Urban could have carried that scene. If it was a buck-ass nude bathroom scene for no reason, it should be ridiculed. Master Chief, if they stayed true to the character, in the context of the current show, would _not._ He doesn't like even removing it during stasis, which is proven to be very uncomfortable if you don't take everything off, because it makes him less battle-ready. When he was told to remove the armor to enter his friend's station, he would have simply stared the guy down.
It was still a huge mistake. Removing the helmet and showing the face has damaged the mystery, story, and the allure. They still could have positioned the camera without showing his face. By showing his face they removed all the times as players and fans where we became Chief.
Im a big halo fan... and I am not really bothered that his helmet is removed. It's a completely different look at the story line over the games. Even the books don't line yo with the game, so why does the show need to? I am enjoying the show as it's a whole new look at the story line.
It hasn’t damaged anything, because this annoying disappointment of a show isn’t canon. It’s nothing. It may as well not even exist. How thankful we should be for that!
Not sure about anyone else but this isn't the face I imagined nor the one I want to accept as cannon. I still think the original voice actor for Chief is the "real" face of the Master Chief.
Yes master chief takes off his helmets in the books. The issue I have is people constantly say "AlL tHe TiMe!" Yeah no, its not actually that often in the books. It does happen though, however because it's a book we can't see his face. It doesn't matter that he isn't in his helmet 100% of his life, no one thought he was to begin, what matters is us seeing it. Secondly we've never saw adult chiefs face ever, only has a kid. It should remain that way. However his helmet being removed isnt as big of a deal to me, I could've gotten over it if it werent for all the other questionable lore and storyline changes ontop of it. If they were going to reveal his face they should've gone mandalorian style where its rare
It's funny you say that because I would think when In the games Chiefs helmet was off in the beginning or end where we can't see it, they would take cue of that and use it sparingly like the games. When Mandolerian came out, I immediately thought of Master Chief with how he talks and emotes. And when he took off his helmet.....it was a shock. But this show doesn't take it's time to earn those moments.
Chief's anonymity is what made the character soo powerful, when Cortana said "It's been nice working with you, John" at the end of Halo 3, that was a pretty special moment because we felt that after all that we experienced with the Chief, we felt we earned learning he's first name. That same moment would never of been nearly as powerful if he was treated like Agent Locke and unfortunately, that lession is lost on the showrunners and 343 where they constantly try to humanize him as a normal person despite he's anything but. Even in the context of the show, it's stupid as hell because he's just taking a blind chance around people that want to kill him like Quan and rebels or whatever the people were, all it would take is just one bullet to the head and he'd be done.
LOL Did you even watch the show? At no point do the try to humaize him. If anythying they are trying to show how different from a noraml human he is and the struggle from his and normal people to interact with him. FML blind and deaf fanboy much. Eww mah master chief isn't anon in a TV show that isn't 99% combat like the game.
@@latenerd2441 Oh yea, the whole taking he's helmet off, exploring he's past, going AWOL because he's having a moral crisis. Totally not trying to humanize him, guyz!
Don’t you see? In taking off his helmet with Quan, Quan saw him more than just a robot, but as a human being with flaws. It make Master Cheif more relatable.
This is a very interesting take on things, and while I'd like to believe that what Halsey is proposing is at least half what UNSC high command wants to hear and not full reality. We still see that Halsey cares, She gives orders to the rest of Silver team to protect John at all costs in Episode one, even if it means taking out marines... I personally don't think that Cortana in this instance is a way to -directly- control a Spartan, as a smart AI has a full personality and mind of their own, that's two minds to keep in check, not just one. I'd like to believe it's partly a smoke screen for the other committee members and Parangosky in particular.
Right. Makes me thing of the GOT episode beyond the wall, the only people that were wearing anything to fight the cold off were the extras. "No hoods, hats or scarves for you you're main characters fuck your ears"
It's one of the reasons Karl Urban's Dredd was so good. No ego; he knew the character kept the helmet on at all times. And he played Dredd. The helmet stayed on.
Or masks. As we so often see masked or helmeted heroes in both MCU and DC movies remove their masks for no damn good reason other than Hollywood (be it their agents, producers, directors, the actors themselves, etc) DEMANDING their faces be seen. The fact we'd see Chief's face eventually was a foregone conclusion.
I feel as though the games did well because they were always in combat all the time. You were mostly along for the story and plot. In the show and even I’m the expanded lore of the halo universe, Spartans are these larger than life stoic beings. That was something the show should have leaned into a lot. Interactions with the Spartans should have this tense mystery being in the presence of an absolute machine of death. So if the show is going to not be from chiefs perspective, it should further build on top of that veil and mask of secrecy. The Spartans should not be viewed as traditional “humans”. Chief and the other Spartans should be largely expressionless, but his training taught him how to be effective in combat. So while it might be a nice touch to attempt to humanize chief and the Spartans, but their appeal of living gods was exactly because they were faceless and didn’t say a word. The job of Spartans is to defend earth and her colonies, keeping up this story of the tragic child soldier hero, with a veil of secrecy, keeping them totally robotic further adds to how other characters interact with the faceless killing machines. And it’s that knowledge that we the audience have, and that the character has no control, supplies continuous tension from a different perspective entirely.
@@ludkoto08 you’re absolutely not wrong. The books would have been perfect to make into a tv series. It’s probably what a lot of fans first thought was going to happen
I was talking about this the other day. They should have pulled a forward unto dawn for at least the first half of the season, following a new group or person saved by spartans each episode. build the spartans up as these mysterious demi-gods, then kill one and cut back to their training as kids. you not only have a faithful, relatively budget-friendly version of the show, but it allows you to present your audience with a tough question. was it a worthy sacrifice? the current show is jumping into things too fast and too sloppily for anything to be any good even if It was lore accurate. nobody cares about seeing his face or that he was trained from the age of six cause they did all that right out the gate. Fans lost their shit seeing just Chiefs eyes and learning about his training in Halo 4 (assuming they hadn't read the books by then) because it was earned. It was YEARS in the making and it was natural to the story. It didn't need to try to force you to feel the weight of it because it was well-timed and had meaning beyond just "he he look at this, this is real shocking isn't it?"
I believe its going to show chiefs progression throughout the human covenant war.. He will show his face in these early years, proving to himself & to others that he’s Human & as time goes on as he becomes the Hero humanity needs (and to hid the pain he feel).. He will show him face less & less becoming more insular with only him, Blue team & Cortana seeing what’s remains of his humanity.. The Prologue intro cinematic of Halo 4 & Chiefs interaction with Lasky sums up pretty good.. MC: Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity, No matter the cost.. L: You say that like soldiers & humanity are two different things.. Soldiers aren’t machines, (Chief looks at Lasky) we’re just people. And I know people dislike Halo 4 for a hundred reasons or whatever but the dr Halsey interrogation & observation deck scenes are real top tier Halo scenes..
People only hate it(Halo4)because Bungie sabatoged the franchise and 343 got the bad wrap. I couldn't care less as long as they make a good showvsome of us have been waiting since the mid 2000s for this.
I agree with your theory. In fact any other theory would be a disrespect to fans. No other reason to show his face this much knowing fans would be upset unless we aren't going to see it much as the season progresses. That I would absolutely accept.
@Austin Mitchell It's not the same timeline. In the Games Madrigal and Harvest were already glassed decades before so the Covenant War is quite a bit off in the Silver Timeline.
@Austin Mitchell yeah they want to do the fall of Reach by Season’s end most likely.. Because most fans will only want the big storyline events.. So like MC in the books they will sprinkle in (through flashbacks or maybe just Chief recounting events) some friends & fellow Spartans sacrifices.. The Fall of Reach will certainly leave a lasting impact on him.. Cause after Reach & Halo all Chief has left is Blue team & Cortana and Halsey..
To your first point, I'd be happy if they get to that point where he isn't taking off his helmet. Thank Pablo for his time and move on with a stunt person to wear the armor and hire Steve Downes to voice the chief. To me ... that would redeem this show's version of MC.
yeah, this reverse-engineered lore is kinda dumb, trying to invent a reason to justify questionable writing when you know there is no solid canonical reasoning behind it because the directors never bothered to play the games or read the books.
I disagree for an important reason. One day, as will be the case for us all, Steve Downes, the voice of Master Chief, will pass away (I hope no time soon). When that day comes, they should have Chief finally "Retire" from active Duty as a Warrior and become Fleet Admiral of the UNSC. When he takes off his helmet for the last time, it's revealed its Steve Downes face.
@@Installation00 that’s actually an awesome idea. I never thought of that!, we should also see him sitting down at his desk with all the pictures of the friends and family he had lost in his time of Service.
@@Installation00 That's a good idea and truly a wonderful sentiment really, but a *wildly invalid and weak* reason to defend this horridly disrespectful and lore-inaccurate show. This only devalues the respect for Steve Downes moreso. You are right that it's an "important reason", but you DO contextually use it to justify the lies of this show. With how extremely well you of all people know the lore of Halo, I expected more of you than that.
if anyone remembers what the Neil blonkamp Halo was going to be like, it was going to stray even further from the source material than the TV series we have now
The crazy thing is, i wouldnt even mind them showing the actor as chief’s face at the end if he was battle worn. But the fact he takes off his helmet in the first episode and hes a football player in a cosplay costume has ruined all hope for this show for me
You do realize this is an early chief right? The chief we see in the games later on in that timeline is more war torn. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t develop those scars overtime considering the show establishes that the idea of a spartan AI is only just getting introduced.
@@ClockworkGearhead OK but in the end though why does it matter this is a different time why not connected to the games or the box? Why do you think he should be grizzled?
@@bob-1980 If it's a different story, then why try to trick viewers into following a brand they weren't going to be faithful to? Why do you think he shouldn't be Master Chief, instead be a terrible character with the same name? Now you know why. Your defense is obviously laughable. It's like asking, "Why does it matter if the story is bad?" It's bad.
Dude you give the show creators too much credit... As much as this theory sounds plausible, we are not buying that the show creators understand the lore deep enough to flesh that particular narrative out.. Mandalorian showed us already how much its all about actor facetime than actual canon. Interesting theory though
You've put more time into this video than the showrunners put into playing the games they're supposedly adapting. You should make a video over-analyzing why we've now seen the Master Chiefs arse more than we've seen his face in 20 years of games.
I believe there isn't really such a complex reason behind it. More likely, it is a multitude of reasons. 1.) Was the order to kill Quan every actually retracted or considered Failed? if it wasn't, it could very well still show on his Hud and talking to a person while being constantly reminded that you're supposed to killl them should be very hard even for sociallyadept people, not to mention Child Soldiers. 2.) From what i saw from the Spartans in the "Real" "Golden" Timeline they are less inhibited and more upbeat when not wearing the Armor/ when consciously not ON the mission. But the moment they get on the mission, they get into the "Spartan Mindset". Similiar to how people change the moment they put on the Worksuit or a Customer enteres the building, the Spartans seem to switch into Work Mode, the moment they put on the Armor, because "it gets serious". In a way, removing the Vulnerability, returns him back to Work Mode 3.) the Feeling I get from the "Silver" UNSC feels way more ruthless (maybe more desparate) than the "Golden" UNSC, because from what I remember, the AI was meant solely as Support or at best an equal Teampartner and this would also show in the minimal to nonexistant changes in the behaviour of the Chief while separated from Cortana. "Golden" AR and VR helmets probably only Highlight Targets,display trajectories or display 3d rendered Maps of the target Loacations. AFAIK(do coorect me if I'm wrong), the AR and VR Tech is mainly in designated Sniper or Commander type Equipment(maybe also COmmando, but i didn't find any), so it is mainly beneficial. This Silver UNSC feels more Flood-wary Forerunner'y, with the Spartans being the first Step towards full on Praetorians or Ancilla-commanded Warfleets. So while I agree, that this could be the Reason for the Missing Humanity in Silver, In Golden i believe it is more Training and Indoctrination than a full on suppression of their Humanity P.S.: The Silver Spartans seem way more vulnerable to the Mjolnir-Highjacking of the Created-Faction, that was rumored for Halo 6
This guy removing his helmet like it's a H3 ODST cutscene. As far as I'm concerned, the show doesn't exist and chief doesn't have a face because it doesn't really matter what his face looks like, it matters what he accomplishes.
It's relieving to know this series isn't cannon, as I think it's mostly not well written, in my opinion the character's identity is really in the eye of the player as Bungie used to say.
that's exactly why they didn't base it off core cannon or the games... how can you make a story about someone with no objective identity... i have some major problems with the show, but so far i think it's pretty good...
@@EmperorDxD where in the conversation did I say it was? I'm comparing Mando and chief in terms of tv. Mando had his helmet on 99% in season 1. Where as chief just keeps taking it off
The helmet feeds to command. Assumed removing his helmet cuts the feed. He put the helmet on when he decided to go back. Besides, they could cut his oxygen!!
another terrible writing choice. Whether they wanted to create their own timeline or not, every deviation from the lore has proven to be a bad writing choice. All the ways they actually have tried to stick to the lore have only made it worse through share contradiction
@@lolcano2346 The lore is god awful. Halo has never ever had a good story in its entire existence lmao. The entire Spartan 2 lore is the worst edgy pile of garbage I've ever read.
@@amazin7006 Strongly disagree, particularly if you're referring to anything covered in the Forerunner book trilogy which was exceedingly well done in my opinion. Regardless, how ever bad you find certain aspects of the lore, this series is making things a damn site worse
The main reason is that I think it would have created more of an impact and like he said we never saw Chief's face before the second reason is I think it would have been a nice show of respect to the legacy of the chief but hey that's only my personal opinion I ain't here to fight with anyone you know what do you think they do it too early
I would have accepted the helmet off if it showed a 5-10 second scene showing the IFF tags showed all the people as hostile and chief took of his helmet mentioning there were too many false readings and it conflicted with his training. At the end when he puts his helmet back on it could cut to a shot of the HUD and everyone lighting up red and his motion detector with red dots.
I actually understand his reasons for taking off the helmet. Our entire time we've known this character and his own career, he's been seen as a soldier, a person being told what to do expected to follow orders, like a machine. He's tired of being seen as this machine and wants to change that. Only he can control his outcome and how he is perceived. He takes off the helmet to show his humanity, showing he's not just a machine, he's human. It's the only thing he can control at this point. Chief has faced horrors that is undescribable unless seen for yourself. His entire career and face has been hidden behind a mask, and he's had to face these horrors on his own while hiding behind that mask, no one being able to see or tell how he feels, unless expressed, and we all know how much chief likes to express his feelings. Machines don't have feelings, and him staying closed inside a metal suit of armor while doing his job to serve his duty and never truly express himself because he's in combat, makes him be seen as that machine. Emotionless, expressionless, and faceless. Chief is wanting to change that opinion by doing this.
This show would have been better received if they didn’t make the trailers look like it was going to more faithful to the games. Marketing screwed up. I really like this series and just pretend it’s in a alternate universe and I’m good.
@@treytilley333 I agree. It's been said that no one on the entire team has played any of the games, and that goes to show how little they care. I'd watch it, but what good would that do?
The idea that Master Chief should show his face at all to more engage the audience is false. Multiple masked characters in the visual medium of film and television that are much beloved prove this. Between Darth Vader and C-3PO all the way to Karl Urbana’s Judge Dredd and the Mandalorian, characters that have little to no facial expressions have become fan favorites via great writing and performance. Master Chief’s face may be revealed one day, but it will have to be earned far, far more than this.
I think for the main universe, if they ever show his face it should be a slightly younger version of the voice actor Steve Downs. Also I feel they should do the same with Carrol "FoeHammer" Rawley( Echo-419) and use a younger version of her voice actress as her character model .
I'm glad it was decided to make this it's own canon that isn't connected to the main universe. John hated being out of his armor as evident by what was said in Halo The Flood.
@@Perroden I agree. I get they are trying to outreach beyond the main base. But the main base, the core fans that have been here for 20 odd years, that's who they should be trying to retain. And they are kind of failing at it. We are hard to please because we know the lore quite well and have read it over and over again for decades.
In my mind, to truly show that this is another timeline, and parallel universe that we just been dropped into by slipspace, there has to be more visual changes. Maybe the UNSC ships look more like they belong in the Expanse or like the AR looks more like the F2000. If that was the case, then yes maybe we will like the series, the Silver Timeline more.
@@endurance1030 well it just why do this and toss out the lore it like watching monster with a skin suit of something you like and ask why you hate me.
@@chrishill3536 I totally understand where you're coming from, the story that they're using and the writing is horrible but whoever was the set director is a fan of Halo and I have to respect that. This is not a show that I watch on a regular just a passing interest.
This could’ve been a decent story had they just chose different characters, could’ve possibly even been put into canon with some minor tweaks. Its really just people wanting to change something’s core fundamentally and say they ‘did it better.’ But they won’t, and they’ll blame the fans for not being thankful for something they didnt want
Here's the thing, anything else they could do wouldn't give them much creative freedom. Imagine if you will, if the MCU followed the Comics 1-1. Would it be anywhere near as interesting? How many would choose not to see any of the films if the comics were adapted 100% to film? I'd argue not nearly as many as Marvel's seen. Why? Because they know the story already, why waste time and money on something they've already seen. Going with an alternate universe route gives the writers a bit more freedom to work on something unique. They may not get everything spot on, but truth be told, I'd rather this, than a retelling of the games.
@@Tank50us good thing they didn’t have to retell the games. Could’ve literally been different characters still. Literally the backlash would’ve been far worse if it was this exact same story just not John.
To allow it to make sense. The main canon makes sense to us open minds that are accepting of epic grand tales like halo where the broader audience it makes less sense to because their is very few film projects as in depth like halo other than Star Trek. I feel like they are going to continue this trend get everything laid out than go into the exciting stuff with a twist on it all for to be more reasonable to a wider audience range.
being a Spartan is like being Priest. There's a commitment to leave part of your humanity to avoid getting compromised when you're on a mission. Like not to get married so you won't get compromised when doing God's work.
Okay so my thoughts on helmets, when in the suit, helmet on, prep for combat and in the field, helmet on. In your pt gear, you guessed it helmet on. Always wear that helmet
I think it’s not quite as deep as all of that to be honest. It’s more likely they just didn’t want to have to write around never having seen his face. It’s different for video games where the experience is meant to be unique to the player. This is a TV series that is meant to tell a much more specific, curated story and thus having a faceless, expressionless character (mostly, anyway) would severely hamstring that process. That is probably one of the primary reasons for the TV show being a separate, non-canon experience. Because if it were canon, taking off his helmet would have severe consequences for literally everything that came before it.
I like this theory a lot. It adds so much to the character and the show, it adds more depth that anything likely will explicitly be said or shown in the show itself.
I like seeing face and I respect the actor in one of his interviews he understands the halo games were the master chief etc and in this halo tv show that isn’t cannon I don’t mind seeing his ace only because I know it’s not cannon
I'm not sure you even have to go as far as the chips or 'pucks' to explain this. It's a well-documented phenomenon that when people wear certain clothes their demeanor and attitude changes. A cop in uniform will act different then one out of uniform, a solider will act and literally feel different in combat fatigues vs civvies vs a dress uniform. I think the basis of your theory is spot on, but if you also look carefully when he puts on his helmet his eyes are closed like he's steeling himself for something like he's putting himself into a mental state. It's my theory that while the helmet is on he is Master Chief, with it off he's just John. Everything in your theory can hold true still without the tech explanation and just with normal human psychology and intense training.
Simple. Hollywood writers think we cant relate to a character without seeing their face. Hence why we have a human in the upper echelons of the covenent. Saved you the time
What are you talking about? When I think about what I love about Halo, the first thing I care about is "bullshit UNSC politics that nobody cares about" and "everyone talking for what feels like years".
I don't mind him removing his helmet in the show I just wish he was paler and balder underneath it, well you know that and not going AWOL on the first damn episode.
While an interesting in-universe explanation, we all know why he goes bare-headed. It's the same reason Space Marine models have bareheaded options and super-heroes unmask in movies: A mix of rule of cool [badasses don't need helmets] and whiny actors wanting their face to be used for toys and other media so they get royalties.
I never played the game. I have watched some of small movies. I know from being in the military, I would remove the helmet for engaging in communication in confidence from one person to another. Because all comm channels are monitored. In this story arc, saying the wrong thing could get you in trouble or killed.
It's so subtle the vast majority of people just see a narcissistic actor forcing an association with his face and this role to try and get a bigger paycheck in the next show he is in...or in other words it is so subtle that it is a safer bet to call this video desperate wishful thinking. This isn't cannon, so it's safer to stop assuming they thought about a fraction as much as you are. Love your vids though, even if this comment may make it seem otherwise. lol
Pretty sure the reason is "SAG contract stipulations for face time/pay scale". You don't get as much money if you're not showing your face AND speaking. Excellent justification for the in-universe perspective, but...I kinda doubt the showrunners or writers thought about it to as much depth as you did.
The reason is simple, and has nothing to do with the plot, lore, or anything that but the ego of the actor. He doesn't want to be replaced. Showing his face all the time prevents that.
I see it with his helmet off, he is John, but as soon as that helmet goes on, he is The Master Chief and he will finish the fight. Also, I love this show. Why? It is not only entertaining and my family enjoys watching it with me, but because it is Halo.
Excellent theory, unfortunately the real answer is that they need to bring in a broader audience, (more people, more episodes, more money) if a person can relate to chief and enjoy his character they will be much more invested into the show, removing the helmet is a way to build a relationship with the audience on a personal note, as a halo player of 20 years I do appreciate this video a lot though and wish it to be true and that the writer is getting deep into the show’s creation!
@@newbiegain117 works for a first person video game where you experience the story through your own play style.. not so much here. op is right, the actor wanted his face shown and the show isn’t for us who played the games extensively and read the lore to fill the gaps. it’s just a futuristic science fiction fantasy series that happens to be named halo with master chief as the protagonist, nothing more.
@@newbiegain117 yep, the chief was my ultimate powerfantasy untill they started putting a face to him and tried to humanise him, cant save the galaxy with feelings you know...
My theory is, in episode 2 John is figuring out his emotions for the 1st time. When he went all apeshit Batman on that 'guy-who-should-have-been-a-jackel', he got scared. He's never acted like this, acted so irrationally. So impulsively. In episode 4 we learn that Dr. Halsey hates human impulsiveness that comes from their emotions. Her ideal humanity has a far superior intellect, absolute strength and total control over their emotions. A kind of God like species if I would say. When chief puts on the helmet, he switched back to his cold, brainwashed programming because it's the only thing he knows will bring order to his confused mind. That helmet represents his rigidity, his control over his own self. Under the helmet, covered from head to toe in future Armor Master Chief is an unstoppable killing machine. He only needs to follow orders, shoot what he's told, retrieve what he's asked. No complexity. Just simple A to B course of action. Linear. Human emotions are complex. Non linear. You can't put them into the equation easily.
In the show it seems they portray chief as having two sides the John side which he's dealing with while his helmet off and the master chief side that he deals with once the helmet is on. The conflict between the two seems to be the basis of the show. Are Spartans men or machines. Wish they'd have been more accurate to the lore and story tho would've been far more powerful then!
tbh this is something that always bothered me in "Halo: The Fall of Reach" the animated movie. At the end of the film when Fred, Kelly, Linda and John are all standing there remembering Sam and Chief is the only one with his helmet on the entire time.
Because they are trying to tell a different story with this character. Kind of like a What If? for Halo. A VERY bold move- considering how it split the fanbase, and if we're all true fans we owe it to at least see it through to judge it fairly. To see where the showrunners wanna take this story.
One aspect to note is that in the games chief is the most reserved and obedient spartan, and this is conveyed through him wearing his helmet, even while the rest of blue team are somewhat able to connect with their humanity. Whereas in this show, he is one of the most rebellious, even almost running away at a young age. He is like tom Hanks from top gun. This is conveyed by him removing his helmet more. Because people do not expect this reversal, and it is not clearly brought across, that is why many halo fans dont like the show.
My cousin said to me the other day, “I don’t like the chief’s actor. He doesn’t present as the face of the chief to me.” I responded, “That’s because the chief never shows his face!” This whole story is what happens when a fan fiction gets published for real money 🙄🤣
We have descriptions of how he looks like in the Books though, we also saw Spartan-II Faces in "Halo: Forward Onto Dawn" that Show Guy looks nothing like that.
If this is in fact the play, they should have given us a couple episodes of world building to set up the twist This still doesn't excuse the human covenant lady.
Your explanation of this makes sense and paramount could use someone like you to help make their show make sense. After watching the first episode I felt like they were trashing the entire halo universe and trying to turn it into something they wanted instead of what the fans loved.
I've been thinking of it as utility + mode-shifting, but I really like the way you've put it. To go a bit further: It wouldn't make sense to show him making 11 correct coin flip calls, have Cortana praise his good instincts, have his team express complete faith in him... and not show him sensing he is at risk of utter annihilation. He can't reasonably deduce or avert the angle of the attack, but opting to communicate as John rather than MC in situations where both are truly fair options gives an impression one can look back upon & see he detects the fundamental nature of the threat. Also, the most stunningly vapid helmet complaint thus far involves how much it's off at his home. Smell, unmediated sight/hearing, etc. are thoroughly studied triggers for memory recovery. He would know this, in addition to simply & understandably wanting to experience his forgotten past with his own senses.
Honestly to only justify chief removing his helmet would be if it was damaged heavily a point you can't see well, or if you by chances bleed out and stained the helmet inside with it which also make sense but sadly this case its more of a celebrity and writer wanting to show his face more to "know how chief looks like".
I wanted to say "because the showrunner never played the game" but it's too simple. For me, the problem lies with the writing, plus the characters feels different, it's fine to do an alternate timeline, but if the characters feels completely different... Then it's just another generic scifi shows with halo branding slapped on top of it. The characters and their personalities are what made HALO stories so interesting to me. I'm not in any way an expert at movie making, but that's how i felt when I watched the first 2 episodes.
The probleme is not that he removed the helmet but that the face was shown. In the first episode when John remove his helmet, we should have seen just the back and then directly go see the girls reacting to it while John make his speech. I cannot identify this master chief as master chief in the show when I see his face because the helmet has been his face for 20 years. For me, John is supposed to be seen as just an armor yet to be the most human of them all in a weird way. We can have all the in lore answer on why he removed it, but at the end of the day, it's clear it was made so that the actor would be seen. I still can't just accepte that '' different time line '' excuse when it's clear they chose this because they didn't want to follow the lore. They could had done almost the exact smame formula but with a different spartan and his silver team and it would have fitted well. It's not normal that the people that are making an adaptation of halo admitt they didn't talk about the game or the books. And they didn't show his face to attract a larger audience, the Mandalorian did more than fine without showing his face for almost an entire season and the public were still happy about it. Other than that, the show is fine but I just can't enjoy it because everytime I see John, I just feel like it's someone pretending to be him.
I despise this new HALO show, yet I really appreciate this lore breakdown. It is nice to have a channel to go to that objectively dissect the elements of the show rather than making a quality argument (whether that argument is pointing out failures to understand the source material or grasping for anything that might justify the writers’ choices).
I'm just thoroughly enjoying the series. As an alternate universe, this is fine, well... Almost 20 years of lore sometimes pulled me back for comparison sake, but realizing that this is non canon, I'm good again. My biggest gripe on the series is that the inner suit neck area is too low and very cloth-y, for a suit of armor that is. That's it.
This is a beautiful, well structured and passionate analysis of Halo lore and the series. I've never seen your channel before and I'm really impressed. All I thought was damn! that contract had an iron clad clause about the protagonist showing his mug and face acting on every episode. That's a tough agent. Pedro Pascal might think about hiring that team for * ahem * a certain role.
I think we need to remember this is before the fall of Reach, and before the events on the first Halo ring. It could very well be his personality and viewpoint, not to mention tactical evaluations, alter his decisions about removal of helmet and gear. Meaning, the reasons for why he does X in game don't matter much. That said, while I agree with the "keeping up appearances" aspect as any good tactician might, you also have to assume his gameface gets instantly switched on when that helmet snaps in place. That's the body language I perceive. Once the lid goes on the professional soldier aspect of his personality engages fully.
It's because they didn't want to deal with the same bullshit that they had to deal with from Pedro Pascal bitching about not enough face time and such!
Oh god. I really really REALLY don’t want the show to ever influence anything in the games. The show is such an insult to the fans who’ve been waiting years for it.
you shouldn't waste your time defending that show man, your content is thousands of times better and from a place of more meaning and respect to the source material than anything that's come out in years. Infinity was a good step back to what we loved but seems abandoned. im still waiting to play coop campaign with my younger brother. im sure many more of us have the same story.
It‘s an interesting theory, especially because from what I understand the show is timeline wise still before the point the first game starts, so who knows what may or may not happen to change Chiefs helmet wearing habits. But I still gotta say I prefer game chief. I will continue watching the show, just because I have access to it either way and it‘s not entirely bad (if you dismiss the inaccuracy to the games so far) I can definitely see why you wouldn’t want to watch it though, especially as a fan of the games
No, no theory needed. He’s only taking his helmet off so much because it’s in Pable Shreiber’s contract, simple as that. It’s the same reason we kept seeing inside Iron Man’s helmet.
The theory is for the in-universe reason, not what stupid decisions the creators of the show decided.
They could have easily picked a MUCH better actor
Can Paramount just hire you instead? You just gave a way to justify John taking off his helmet better than the show runners could have ever dreamed.
If I was ever asked, given how pessimistic, negative and toxic the community have been with the series, I'd be extremely hesitant to get involved as I don't believe anyone deserves having their work shit on the way I've seen this show has.
@@EpsilonNought they haven't demanded we consume and enjoy. You get to make the choice to watch or not. If you don't like it. Don't watch it. End of argument really.
@@EpsilonNought Yet they're the most noisy ones and the rest of the community doesn't go "you may right, but not cool bro", instead it's tacit agreement and dog piling. I've seen it in many fandoms and Halo's no different sadly.
I would never because halo fanbase is very toxic the worst in gaming
@@Installation00 This is why I turned it off after the first 10 mins of episode 2. I don't like what they have chosen to do with the amazing lore from the last 20 years. That said, I'm open to watching this when season 1 is out in full so I can sit down and actually see what they are trying to do.
Honestly, you've probably put more thought into Chief removing his "true" face than the writers of the episodes themselves. I doubt they were thinking more than "actor wants to be seen".
On the one hand, if they use this as the motivation for John not wearing a helmet it will be a retcon because the writers didn't pay enough homage to the existing lore. Didn't they say they ignored the games. But then if they actually do use this then they're kind of listening to fans which gives me a slight bit of hope for this series. But if they can't be trusted with the series and have to rely on the fans redirecting their blunders then that slight bit of hope is tainted by a massive amount of discontent.
Im glad that there is someone who thinks this. They paid for pablo schreiber and they just want an excuse to show his face unfortunately. Do not give paramount the benefit of the doubt on this
I guarantee you that they put MUCH less thought into Chief showing his face than Installation 0 has.
Do you have literally anything to support this? He's analysing the show, showing what he thinks the reasons are implied to be from what's shown, from what the writers chose to show. It's clear in the video he thinks these choices were intentional. Why do you disagree?
What do you want them to do like? Have annotations pop up saying "Chief is currently not wearing a helmet because x"? It's pretty obvious in each situation why he takes it off/isn't wearing one. In fact in a lot of these scenes it would make a LOT less sense if he was wearing it.
@@lizardlegend42 No, he's coming up with excuses for why they ignored one of the core traits of the Master Chief; that his face is never seen by the viewer. His helmet IS his face.
However "obvious" it is to you, the simple fact remains that the media has a history of giving faces to characters that were never meant to have one and it's always for the same reason; they paid money for the actor and want to make the most of them or the actor doesn't want their face hidden (sometimes both). Why would you assume this is the exception to the rule?
The Chief never needed a face to emote or interact with others in more than 20 years of Halo history, and he still doesn't need one now. If the writers feel otherwise, then maybe they shouldn't be writing a character well known for not having a face.
What I "want" is for them to write a show that actually has the Master Chief in it (though I'd really prefer B312 or A259), not official fanfiction with their OC in his place.
Karl Urban delivered the role is Judge Dredd perfectly, it would have been ruined if he took off the helmet
I don't know. Karl Urban could have pulled off a helmet-less Dredd. The question is: why is he pulling off his helmet? Like, if Dredd had his helmet knocked off, then Urban could have carried that scene. If it was a buck-ass nude bathroom scene for no reason, it should be ridiculed.
Master Chief, if they stayed true to the character, in the context of the current show, would _not._ He doesn't like even removing it during stasis, which is proven to be very uncomfortable if you don't take everything off, because it makes him less battle-ready. When he was told to remove the armor to enter his friend's station, he would have simply stared the guy down.
It was still a huge mistake. Removing the helmet and showing the face has damaged the mystery, story, and the allure. They still could have positioned the camera without showing his face. By showing his face they removed all the times as players and fans where we became Chief.
Im a big halo fan... and I am not really bothered that his helmet is removed. It's a completely different look at the story line over the games.
Even the books don't line yo with the game, so why does the show need to? I am enjoying the show as it's a whole new look at the story line.
No it hasn’t lol, what are you 5? It’s a tv show that unrelated to the games. If you want to play as chief then play the games
It’s just he always has his helmet off. It makes the mystery surrounding Chief 10x less impactful. This show is a bad adaptation
If they got the voice actor than it'd be more lore accurate. Because he's supposed to be old. Everyone would have loved that face reveal.
It hasn’t damaged anything, because this annoying disappointment of a show isn’t canon. It’s nothing. It may as well not even exist. How thankful we should be for that!
You put more effort into your analyses of the show than the showrunners.
Not sure about anyone else but this isn't the face I imagined nor the one I want to accept as cannon. I still think the original voice actor for Chief is the "real" face of the Master Chief.
Yis
Show is non-cannon, think of it as a strange fanfic from people who don't really understand halo.
@@True_Equalizer
More like a faithless narrative of folly made by narcissistic egotistical madmen.
I just can't unsee his character from orange is the new black and it totally ruins it for me
@@majjegaming5927 I didn't know he played in that show I never watched it that much that's cringey
Yes master chief takes off his helmets in the books. The issue I have is people constantly say "AlL tHe TiMe!" Yeah no, its not actually that often in the books. It does happen though, however because it's a book we can't see his face. It doesn't matter that he isn't in his helmet 100% of his life, no one thought he was to begin, what matters is us seeing it. Secondly we've never saw adult chiefs face ever, only has a kid. It should remain that way.
However his helmet being removed isnt as big of a deal to me, I could've gotten over it if it werent for all the other questionable lore and storyline changes ontop of it. If they were going to reveal his face they should've gone mandalorian style where its rare
It's funny you say that because I would think when In the games Chiefs helmet was off in the beginning or end where we can't see it, they would take cue of that and use it sparingly like the games. When Mandolerian came out, I immediately thought of Master Chief with how he talks and emotes. And when he took off his helmet.....it was a shock. But this show doesn't take it's time to earn those moments.
Chief's anonymity is what made the character soo powerful, when Cortana said "It's been nice working with you, John" at the end of Halo 3, that was a pretty special moment because we felt that after all that we experienced with the Chief, we felt we earned learning he's first name.
That same moment would never of been nearly as powerful if he was treated like Agent Locke and unfortunately, that lession is lost on the showrunners and 343 where they constantly try to humanize him as a normal person despite he's anything but.
Even in the context of the show, it's stupid as hell because he's just taking a blind chance around people that want to kill him like Quan and rebels or whatever the people were, all it would take is just one bullet to the head and he'd be done.
I also think it takes away from the "he can be anybody" thing they were going for,
LOL Did you even watch the show? At no point do the try to humaize him. If anythying they are trying to show how different from a noraml human he is and the struggle from his and normal people to interact with him. FML blind and deaf fanboy much. Eww mah master chief isn't anon in a TV show that isn't 99% combat like the game.
@@latenerd2441 posted a whole paragraph just to show u dont know what humanize means 😭
@@latenerd2441 Oh yea, the whole taking he's helmet off, exploring he's past, going AWOL because he's having a moral crisis.
Totally not trying to humanize him, guyz!
Don’t you see? In taking off his helmet with Quan, Quan saw him more than just a robot, but as a human being with flaws. It make Master Cheif more relatable.
This is a very interesting take on things, and while I'd like to believe that what Halsey is proposing is at least half what UNSC high command wants to hear and not full reality. We still see that Halsey cares, She gives orders to the rest of Silver team to protect John at all costs in Episode one, even if it means taking out marines... I personally don't think that Cortana in this instance is a way to -directly- control a Spartan, as a smart AI has a full personality and mind of their own, that's two minds to keep in check, not just one. I'd like to believe it's partly a smoke screen for the other committee members and Parangosky in particular.
I never considered this possibility until reading this. I hope you're right!
@@sneakernickel same beacuse fullt takinf over the sparten witrh a AI would IMO distry what makes then truly effectiv humen crativaty
@@nicholasscovelle1772 Are you an AI that just became self aware?
@@nicholasscovelle1772 or is English not your native language? I apologize if that is the case.
Actors are going to want this face seen. You see this all the time in movies where the characters should have a helmet on.
It doesn't mean we to see everyone's face.
Right. Makes me thing of the GOT episode beyond the wall, the only people that were wearing anything to fight the cold off were the extras. "No hoods, hats or scarves for you you're main characters fuck your ears"
It's one of the reasons Karl Urban's Dredd was so good. No ego; he knew the character kept the helmet on at all times. And he played Dredd.
The helmet stayed on.
Or masks. As we so often see masked or helmeted heroes in both MCU and DC movies remove their masks for no damn good reason other than Hollywood (be it their agents, producers, directors, the actors themselves, etc) DEMANDING their faces be seen. The fact we'd see Chief's face eventually was a foregone conclusion.
Just an idiotic quirk of the medium. The ego of those is power will always triumph over all else.
I feel as though the games did well because they were always in combat all the time. You were mostly along for the story and plot. In the show and even I’m the expanded lore of the halo universe, Spartans are these larger than life stoic beings. That was something the show should have leaned into a lot. Interactions with the Spartans should have this tense mystery being in the presence of an absolute machine of death. So if the show is going to not be from chiefs perspective, it should further build on top of that veil and mask of secrecy. The Spartans should not be viewed as traditional “humans”. Chief and the other Spartans should be largely expressionless, but his training taught him how to be effective in combat. So while it might be a nice touch to attempt to humanize chief and the Spartans, but their appeal of living gods was exactly because they were faceless and didn’t say a word. The job of Spartans is to defend earth and her colonies, keeping up this story of the tragic child soldier hero, with a veil of secrecy, keeping them totally robotic further adds to how other characters interact with the faceless killing machines. And it’s that knowledge that we the audience have, and that the character has no control, supplies continuous tension from a different perspective entirely.
I think in books when they say the word Spartan is like they are talking about something special it was one of the things iloved themost in the books.
@@ludkoto08 yeah, exactly!!! Imagine if they had made the tv show about the early lives of the Spartans? That would’ve been epic!!
@@Da__goat i think they should just fallowed the main books enough content for few seasons
@@ludkoto08 you’re absolutely not wrong. The books would have been perfect to make into a tv series. It’s probably what a lot of fans first thought was going to happen
I was talking about this the other day. They should have pulled a forward unto dawn for at least the first half of the season, following a new group or person saved by spartans each episode. build the spartans up as these mysterious demi-gods, then kill one and cut back to their training as kids. you not only have a faithful, relatively budget-friendly version of the show, but it allows you to present your audience with a tough question. was it a worthy sacrifice?
the current show is jumping into things too fast and too sloppily for anything to be any good even if It was lore accurate. nobody cares about seeing his face or that he was trained from the age of six cause they did all that right out the gate. Fans lost their shit seeing just Chiefs eyes and learning about his training in Halo 4 (assuming they hadn't read the books by then) because it was earned. It was YEARS in the making and it was natural to the story. It didn't need to try to force you to feel the weight of it because it was well-timed and had meaning beyond just "he he look at this, this is real shocking isn't it?"
I believe its going to show chiefs progression throughout the human covenant war.. He will show his face in these early years, proving to himself & to others that he’s Human & as time goes on as he becomes the Hero humanity needs (and to hid the pain he feel).. He will show him face less & less becoming more insular with only him, Blue team & Cortana seeing what’s remains of his humanity..
The Prologue intro cinematic of Halo 4 & Chiefs interaction with Lasky sums up pretty good..
MC: Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity, No matter the cost..
L: You say that like soldiers & humanity are two different things.. Soldiers aren’t machines, (Chief looks at Lasky) we’re just people.
And I know people dislike Halo 4 for a hundred reasons or whatever but the dr Halsey interrogation & observation deck scenes are real top tier Halo scenes..
People only hate it(Halo4)because Bungie sabatoged the franchise and 343 got the bad wrap. I couldn't care less as long as they make a good showvsome of us have been waiting since the mid 2000s for this.
I agree with your theory. In fact any other theory would be a disrespect to fans. No other reason to show his face this much knowing fans would be upset unless we aren't going to see it much as the season progresses. That I would absolutely accept.
@Austin Mitchell It's not the same timeline. In the Games Madrigal and Harvest were already glassed decades before so the Covenant War is quite a bit off in the Silver Timeline.
@Austin Mitchell yeah they want to do the fall of Reach by Season’s end most likely.. Because most fans will only want the big storyline events.. So like MC in the books they will sprinkle in (through flashbacks or maybe just Chief recounting events) some friends & fellow Spartans sacrifices.. The Fall of Reach will certainly leave a lasting impact on him.. Cause after Reach & Halo all Chief has left is Blue team & Cortana and Halsey..
To your first point, I'd be happy if they get to that point where he isn't taking off his helmet. Thank Pablo for his time and move on with a stunt person to wear the armor and hire Steve Downes to voice the chief. To me ... that would redeem this show's version of MC.
Short answer: Pablo wanted to show his face a lot.
Long answer:
Chief does take his helmet off regularly in canon.
@@reddishcarp1237 Not true actually
yeah, this reverse-engineered lore is kinda dumb, trying to invent a reason to justify questionable writing when you know there is no solid canonical reasoning behind it because the directors never bothered to play the games or read the books.
@@JohnnyJacked they did read the books & play the games. Stop spreading this already debunked bs.
@@reddishcarp1237 No they didn't buck'o
I think that Paramount is doing the face and helmet dynamic in reverse, showing why he keeps it on instead of taking it off.
as I much as I like the idea of seeing Chiefs face I really hope they never show his face in games or any other source other than the Silver Timeline
At least not until the last game
I disagree for an important reason.
One day, as will be the case for us all, Steve Downes, the voice of Master Chief, will pass away (I hope no time soon).
When that day comes, they should have Chief finally "Retire" from active Duty as a Warrior and become Fleet Admiral of the UNSC. When he takes off his helmet for the last time, it's revealed its Steve Downes face.
@@Installation00 that’s actually an awesome idea. I never thought of that!, we should also see him sitting down at his desk with all the pictures of the friends and family he had lost in his time of Service.
@@Installation00 That's a good idea and truly a wonderful sentiment really, but a *wildly invalid and weak* reason to defend this horridly disrespectful and lore-inaccurate show. This only devalues the respect for Steve Downes moreso. You are right that it's an "important reason", but you DO contextually use it to justify the lies of this show. With how extremely well you of all people know the lore of Halo, I expected more of you than that.
Man I really loved this show, and this perspective is great. I don't understand why the show is getting so much hate.
I'll be interested to hear your thoughts about the show once it's all over. Personally, the missed a huge opportunity to bring Neil Blomkamp back.
if anyone remembers what the Neil blonkamp Halo was going to be like, it was going to stray even further from the source material than the TV series we have now
That man wanted to make shit
Bruh have you read the script? That thing was wack.
@@nycto5335 which one where he had a brother or the other one where its literally the game?
Exactly! District 9, Elysium and Chappie feel more like Halo than the Halo show.
The crazy thing is, i wouldnt even mind them showing the actor as chief’s face at the end if he was battle worn. But the fact he takes off his helmet in the first episode and hes a football player in a cosplay costume has ruined all hope for this show for me
You do realize this is an early chief right? The chief we see in the games later on in that timeline is more war torn. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t develop those scars overtime considering the show establishes that the idea of a spartan AI is only just getting introduced.
@@James-9999 Who said those experiments would produce scars on his body? Experiments are not the same as combat.
@@bob-1980 Early Chief was, in no way, shape, or form, what you see now. He was already damn hardened _before_ the Covenant.
@@ClockworkGearhead OK but in the end though why does it matter this is a different time why not connected to the games or the box? Why do you think he should be grizzled?
@@bob-1980 If it's a different story, then why try to trick viewers into following a brand they weren't going to be faithful to? Why do you think he shouldn't be Master Chief, instead be a terrible character with the same name?
Now you know why. Your defense is obviously laughable. It's like asking, "Why does it matter if the story is bad?" It's bad.
Dude you give the show creators too much credit...
As much as this theory sounds plausible, we are not buying that the show creators understand the lore deep enough to flesh that particular narrative out..
Mandalorian showed us already how much its all about actor facetime than actual canon.
Interesting theory though
You've put more time into this video than the showrunners put into playing the games they're supposedly adapting.
You should make a video over-analyzing why we've now seen the Master Chiefs arse more than we've seen his face in 20 years of games.
I believe there isn't really such a complex reason behind it. More likely, it is a multitude of reasons.
1.) Was the order to kill Quan every actually retracted or considered Failed? if it wasn't, it could very well still show on his Hud and talking to a person while being constantly reminded that you're supposed to killl them should be very hard even for sociallyadept people, not to mention Child Soldiers.
2.) From what i saw from the Spartans in the "Real" "Golden" Timeline they are less inhibited and more upbeat when not wearing the Armor/ when consciously not ON the mission. But the moment they get on the mission, they get into the "Spartan Mindset". Similiar to how people change the moment they put on the Worksuit or a Customer enteres the building, the Spartans seem to switch into Work Mode, the moment they put on the Armor, because "it gets serious". In a way, removing the Vulnerability, returns him back to Work Mode
3.) the Feeling I get from the "Silver" UNSC feels way more ruthless (maybe more desparate) than the "Golden" UNSC, because from what I remember, the AI was meant solely as Support or at best an equal Teampartner and this would also show in the minimal to nonexistant changes in the behaviour of the Chief while separated from Cortana. "Golden" AR and VR helmets probably only Highlight Targets,display trajectories or display 3d rendered Maps of the target Loacations. AFAIK(do coorect me if I'm wrong), the AR and VR Tech is mainly in designated Sniper or Commander type Equipment(maybe also COmmando, but i didn't find any), so it is mainly beneficial. This Silver UNSC feels more Flood-wary Forerunner'y, with the Spartans being the first Step towards full on Praetorians or Ancilla-commanded Warfleets. So while I agree, that this could be the Reason for the Missing Humanity in Silver, In Golden i believe it is more Training and Indoctrination than a full on suppression of their Humanity
P.S.: The Silver Spartans seem way more vulnerable to the Mjolnir-Highjacking of the Created-Faction, that was rumored for Halo 6
This guy removing his helmet like it's a H3 ODST cutscene. As far as I'm concerned, the show doesn't exist and chief doesn't have a face because it doesn't really matter what his face looks like, it matters what he accomplishes.
Paramount's Master Chief acts like he would unironically write 'uwu" in a text message
It's relieving to know this series isn't cannon, as I think it's mostly not well written, in my opinion the character's identity is really in the eye of the player as Bungie used to say.
Yup
that's exactly why they didn't base it off core cannon or the games... how can you make a story about someone with no objective identity... i have some major problems with the show, but so far i think it's pretty good...
@@commandingsteel mandalorian season 1. When he took off his helmet it made sense and well written. You can do it. This show is horribly written.
@@Skeptic_Tank the mamdolorain isn't a gane
@@EmperorDxD where in the conversation did I say it was? I'm comparing Mando and chief in terms of tv. Mando had his helmet on 99% in season 1. Where as chief just keeps taking it off
The helmet feeds to command. Assumed removing his helmet cuts the feed. He put the helmet on when he decided to go back. Besides, they could cut his oxygen!!
another terrible writing choice. Whether they wanted to create their own timeline or not, every deviation from the lore has proven to be a bad writing choice. All the ways they actually have tried to stick to the lore have only made it worse through share contradiction
@@lolcano2346 The lore is god awful. Halo has never ever had a good story in its entire existence lmao. The entire Spartan 2 lore is the worst edgy pile of garbage I've ever read.
@@amazin7006 Strongly disagree, particularly if you're referring to anything covered in the Forerunner book trilogy which was exceedingly well done in my opinion. Regardless, how ever bad you find certain aspects of the lore, this series is making things a damn site worse
I thought it was acting while covering the eyes makes actually emoting extremely difficult...
They should have kept his face hidden until halfway through a second season
For what reason?
The main reason is that I think it would have created more of an impact and like he said we never saw Chief's face before the second reason is I think it would have been a nice show of respect to the legacy of the chief but hey that's only my personal opinion I ain't here to fight with anyone you know what do you think they do it too early
It's very risky doing it like they are doing it. Let's see if they can actually pull it off.
@@thunderchild8548 it's just showing you his Early day's then over time war happens your gonna see his face gonna where and tear
Because the director thinks he has to “emote.” Apparently he’s never seen The Mandalorian before
I would have accepted the helmet off if it showed a 5-10 second scene showing the IFF tags showed all the people as hostile and chief took of his helmet mentioning there were too many false readings and it conflicted with his training. At the end when he puts his helmet back on it could cut to a shot of the HUD and everyone lighting up red and his motion detector with red dots.
That is a nice thought
A movie that did a faceless hero done well, V For Vendetta
I actually understand his reasons for taking off the helmet. Our entire time we've known this character and his own career, he's been seen as a soldier, a person being told what to do expected to follow orders, like a machine. He's tired of being seen as this machine and wants to change that. Only he can control his outcome and how he is perceived. He takes off the helmet to show his humanity, showing he's not just a machine, he's human. It's the only thing he can control at this point. Chief has faced horrors that is undescribable unless seen for yourself. His entire career and face has been hidden behind a mask, and he's had to face these horrors on his own while hiding behind that mask, no one being able to see or tell how he feels, unless expressed, and we all know how much chief likes to express his feelings. Machines don't have feelings, and him staying closed inside a metal suit of armor while doing his job to serve his duty and never truly express himself because he's in combat, makes him be seen as that machine. Emotionless, expressionless, and faceless. Chief is wanting to change that opinion by doing this.
This show would have been better received if they didn’t make the trailers look like it was going to more faithful to the games. Marketing screwed up. I really like this series and just pretend it’s in a alternate universe and I’m good.
@@treytilley333 I agree. It's been said that no one on the entire team has played any of the games, and that goes to show how little they care. I'd watch it, but what good would that do?
Honestly this was my take as well
Him not wearing the helmet is a resistance of the UNSC and I thought that was fairly obvious
The idea that Master Chief should show his face at all to more engage the audience is false. Multiple masked characters in the visual medium of film and television that are much beloved prove this. Between Darth Vader and C-3PO all the way to Karl Urbana’s Judge Dredd and the Mandalorian, characters that have little to no facial expressions have become fan favorites via great writing and performance.
Master Chief’s face may be revealed one day, but it will have to be earned far, far more than this.
I think for the main universe, if they ever show his face it should be a slightly younger version of the voice actor Steve Downs. Also I feel they should do the same with Carrol "FoeHammer" Rawley( Echo-419) and use a younger version of her voice actress as her character model .
Hes never revealed his face in a game.. but he has many times in the books which the show looks at more.
You're over thinking it. They just wanted the frame of classic chief stance. No way these people are that forward thinking or creative
Good explanation
I'm glad it was decided to make this it's own canon that isn't connected to the main universe. John hated being out of his armor as evident by what was said in Halo The Flood.
I just wish they respected Halo and it's fans
@@Perroden I agree. I get they are trying to outreach beyond the main base. But the main base, the core fans that have been here for 20 odd years, that's who they should be trying to retain. And they are kind of failing at it. We are hard to please because we know the lore quite well and have read it over and over again for decades.
It finally popped in my head, cheef is acting like a sparten 4 not a sparten 2 in this time line.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for acknowledging this is the silver timeline.
In my mind, to truly show that this is another timeline, and parallel universe that we just been dropped into by slipspace, there has to be more visual changes. Maybe the UNSC ships look more like they belong in the Expanse or like the AR looks more like the F2000. If that was the case, then yes maybe we will like the series, the Silver Timeline more.
I would not call it silver or bronze it a dirt timeline.
@@chrishill3536 touche
@@endurance1030 well it just why do this and toss out the lore it like watching monster with a skin suit of something you like and ask why you hate me.
@@chrishill3536 I totally understand where you're coming from, the story that they're using and the writing is horrible but whoever was the set director is a fan of Halo and I have to respect that. This is not a show that I watch on a regular just a passing interest.
This was such a great video
This could’ve been a decent story had they just chose different characters, could’ve possibly even been put into canon with some minor tweaks.
Its really just people wanting to change something’s core fundamentally and say they ‘did it better.’
But they won’t, and they’ll blame the fans for not being thankful for something they didnt want
Here's the thing, anything else they could do wouldn't give them much creative freedom. Imagine if you will, if the MCU followed the Comics 1-1. Would it be anywhere near as interesting? How many would choose not to see any of the films if the comics were adapted 100% to film? I'd argue not nearly as many as Marvel's seen. Why? Because they know the story already, why waste time and money on something they've already seen.
Going with an alternate universe route gives the writers a bit more freedom to work on something unique. They may not get everything spot on, but truth be told, I'd rather this, than a retelling of the games.
@@Tank50us good thing they didn’t have to retell the games. Could’ve literally been different characters still.
Literally the backlash would’ve been far worse if it was this exact same story just not John.
It's an adaptation not a carbon copy. We have been adapting books forever. Gamers will get used to it eventually.
To allow it to make sense. The main canon makes sense to us open minds that are accepting of epic grand tales like halo where the broader audience it makes less sense to because their is very few film projects as in depth like halo other than Star Trek.
I feel like they are going to continue this trend get everything laid out than go into the exciting stuff with a twist on it all for to be more reasonable to a wider audience range.
@@gavinhendricks8689 no one is gona watch a Halo show without Chief.
being a Spartan is like being Priest. There's a commitment to leave part of your humanity to avoid getting compromised when you're on a mission. Like not to get married so you won't get compromised when doing God's work.
Okay so my thoughts on helmets, when in the suit, helmet on, prep for combat and in the field, helmet on. In your pt gear, you guessed it helmet on. Always wear that helmet
I think it’s not quite as deep as all of that to be honest. It’s more likely they just didn’t want to have to write around never having seen his face.
It’s different for video games where the experience is meant to be unique to the player. This is a TV series that is meant to tell a much more specific, curated story and thus having a faceless, expressionless character (mostly, anyway) would severely hamstring that process. That is probably one of the primary reasons for the TV show being a separate, non-canon experience. Because if it were canon, taking off his helmet would have severe consequences for literally everything that came before it.
I like this theory a lot. It adds so much to the character and the show, it adds more depth that anything likely will explicitly be said or shown in the show itself.
Booooooooooo
So basically the silver timeline Master Chief is just Spartan-II George from Halo: Reach? Sounds like it.
30 second answer: they lied when they said they played halo
I like seeing face and I respect the actor in one of his interviews he understands the halo games were the master chief etc and in this halo tv show that isn’t cannon I don’t mind seeing his ace only because I know it’s not cannon
when you kit up, and the mission becomes the only objective that matters. everything else is Secondary
I'm not sure you even have to go as far as the chips or 'pucks' to explain this. It's a well-documented phenomenon that when people wear certain clothes their demeanor and attitude changes. A cop in uniform will act different then one out of uniform, a solider will act and literally feel different in combat fatigues vs civvies vs a dress uniform. I think the basis of your theory is spot on, but if you also look carefully when he puts on his helmet his eyes are closed like he's steeling himself for something like he's putting himself into a mental state. It's my theory that while the helmet is on he is Master Chief, with it off he's just John. Everything in your theory can hold true still without the tech explanation and just with normal human psychology and intense training.
Bc they "never played the game"
Or read the books
@@Perroden Or the comics
@@MrGamingCookie or the live actions lol
or see the Halo video on UA-cam
They didn't. Lol. Not the writers or directors
Simple. Hollywood writers think we cant relate to a character without seeing their face. Hence why we have a human in the upper echelons of the covenent.
Saved you the time
Mandalorian Season 1 asks for your location
to give an faceless protagonist charakter would require actuall writing skill
@@dropzxfuzzion2430 no one said hems didnt exist. After how many star wars flops Disney had. They had to get it right eventually.
this! THANK YOU
Is it just me or does the production quality of the show seem to boost up every time Chief has his helmet back on?
What are you talking about? When I think about what I love about Halo, the first thing I care about is "bullshit UNSC politics that nobody cares about" and "everyone talking for what feels like years".
Oh yeah. Parangosky is my all time favorite character of the Halo universe for sure
I don't mind him removing his helmet in the show I just wish he was paler and balder underneath it, well you know that and not going AWOL on the first damn episode.
But to be fair going AWOL is Chief's whole shtick. (tough it might be Cortana's influence)
It's simple:
The actor wants to try and establish his face as Master Chief
It was a bad writing choice
Yet the only part of chief recognisable was his voice
His body because more rigid because it was going from human in costume to CGI lol
While an interesting in-universe explanation, we all know why he goes bare-headed. It's the same reason Space Marine models have bareheaded options and super-heroes unmask in movies: A mix of rule of cool [badasses don't need helmets] and whiny actors wanting their face to be used for toys and other media so they get royalties.
I never played the game. I have watched some of small movies. I know from being in the military, I would remove the helmet for engaging in communication in confidence from one person to another. Because all comm channels are monitored. In this story arc, saying the wrong thing could get you in trouble or killed.
It's so subtle the vast majority of people just see a narcissistic actor forcing an association with his face and this role to try and get a bigger paycheck in the next show he is in...or in other words it is so subtle that it is a safer bet to call this video desperate wishful thinking.
This isn't cannon, so it's safer to stop assuming they thought about a fraction as much as you are. Love your vids though, even if this comment may make it seem otherwise. lol
Pretty sure the reason is "SAG contract stipulations for face time/pay scale". You don't get as much money if you're not showing your face AND speaking.
Excellent justification for the in-universe perspective, but...I kinda doubt the showrunners or writers thought about it to as much depth as you did.
THANK YOU. THATS WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING
Mamster Chef
yes
Sheeeeeeeeeesh
🤣😂🤣
They put the mamster cheef in da soda
The reason is simple, and has nothing to do with the plot, lore, or anything that but the ego of the actor. He doesn't want to be replaced. Showing his face all the time prevents that.
I see it with his helmet off, he is John, but as soon as that helmet goes on, he is The Master Chief and he will finish the fight. Also, I love this show. Why? It is not only entertaining and my family enjoys watching it with me, but because it is Halo.
Karl Urban did it brilliantly in Dredd. Never removed his Helmut once and the movie was great.
👍
Excellent theory, unfortunately the real answer is that they need to bring in a broader audience, (more people, more episodes, more money) if a person can relate to chief and enjoy his character they will be much more invested into the show, removing the helmet is a way to build a relationship with the audience on a personal note, as a halo player of 20 years I do appreciate this video a lot though and wish it to be true and that the writer is getting deep into the show’s creation!
lol , i was just forming my own comment when i read yours, well done👍
No. A faceless chief allows us to envision ourselves as him.
@@newbiegain117 works for a first person video game where you experience the story through your own play style.. not so much here. op is right, the actor wanted his face shown and the show isn’t for us who played the games extensively and read the lore to fill the gaps. it’s just a futuristic science fiction fantasy series that happens to be named halo with master chief as the protagonist, nothing more.
Heretic
@@newbiegain117 yep, the chief was my ultimate powerfantasy untill they started putting a face to him and tried to humanise him, cant save the galaxy with feelings you know...
My theory is, in episode 2 John is figuring out his emotions for the 1st time. When he went all apeshit Batman on that 'guy-who-should-have-been-a-jackel', he got scared. He's never acted like this, acted so irrationally. So impulsively. In episode 4 we learn that Dr. Halsey hates human impulsiveness that comes from their emotions. Her ideal humanity has a far superior intellect, absolute strength and total control over their emotions. A kind of God like species if I would say. When chief puts on the helmet, he switched back to his cold, brainwashed programming because it's the only thing he knows will bring order to his confused mind. That helmet represents his rigidity, his control over his own self. Under the helmet, covered from head to toe in future Armor Master Chief is an unstoppable killing machine. He only needs to follow orders, shoot what he's told, retrieve what he's asked. No complexity. Just simple A to B course of action. Linear. Human emotions are complex. Non linear. You can't put them into the equation easily.
In the show it seems they portray chief as having two sides the John side which he's dealing with while his helmet off and the master chief side that he deals with once the helmet is on. The conflict between the two seems to be the basis of the show. Are Spartans men or machines. Wish they'd have been more accurate to the lore and story tho would've been far more powerful then!
Good analysis
tbh this is something that always bothered me in "Halo: The Fall of Reach" the animated movie. At the end of the film when Fred, Kelly, Linda and John are all standing there remembering Sam and Chief is the only one with his helmet on the entire time.
Because they are trying to tell a different story with this character. Kind of like a What If? for Halo. A VERY bold move- considering how it split the fanbase, and if we're all true fans we owe it to at least see it through to judge it fairly. To see where the showrunners wanna take this story.
Master beef
Yeah, the split moment where he is just stiff again.
One aspect to note is that in the games chief is the most reserved and obedient spartan, and this is conveyed through him wearing his helmet, even while the rest of blue team are somewhat able to connect with their humanity. Whereas in this show, he is one of the most rebellious, even almost running away at a young age. He is like tom Hanks from top gun. This is conveyed by him removing his helmet more. Because people do not expect this reversal, and it is not clearly brought across, that is why many halo fans dont like the show.
My cousin said to me the other day, “I don’t like the chief’s actor. He doesn’t present as the face of the chief to me.”
I responded, “That’s because the chief never shows his face!”
This whole story is what happens when a fan fiction gets published for real money 🙄🤣
I mean chief does take off the helmet alot in the books and animation but I'm ok with it really
We have descriptions of how he looks like in the Books though, we also saw Spartan-II Faces in "Halo: Forward Onto Dawn"
that Show Guy looks nothing like that.
If this is in fact the play, they should have given us a couple episodes of world building to set up the twist
This still doesn't excuse the human covenant lady.
Reason 1: everything good must be destroyed
Reason 2: the actor is too self absorbed that he needs to show his face as much as possible.
Your explanation of this makes sense and paramount could use someone like you to help make their show make sense. After watching the first episode I felt like they were trashing the entire halo universe and trying to turn it into something they wanted instead of what the fans loved.
Would have been cool to see chief suit up in Infinite. Showing that he's really back this time.
What? He was floating in space in survival mode.
I've been thinking of it as utility + mode-shifting, but I really like the way you've put it. To go a bit further: It wouldn't make sense to show him making 11 correct coin flip calls, have Cortana praise his good instincts, have his team express complete faith in him... and not show him sensing he is at risk of utter annihilation. He can't reasonably deduce or avert the angle of the attack, but opting to communicate as John rather than MC in situations where both are truly fair options gives an impression one can look back upon & see he detects the fundamental nature of the threat. Also, the most stunningly vapid helmet complaint thus far involves how much it's off at his home. Smell, unmediated sight/hearing, etc. are thoroughly studied triggers for memory recovery. He would know this, in addition to simply & understandably wanting to experience his forgotten past with his own senses.
Honestly to only justify chief removing his helmet would be if it was damaged heavily a point you can't see well, or if you by chances bleed out and stained the helmet inside with it which also make sense but sadly this case its more of a celebrity and writer wanting to show his face more to "know how chief looks like".
In the comics, his helmet did get damage by the Didact, but the helmet got glue to his skin. All we got was his eye.
@@WolfeSaber wait what XD it got glued?
@@johnbobtailsquib3290 More like fused together. Flesh and metal.
I wanted to say "because the showrunner never played the game" but it's too simple. For me, the problem lies with the writing, plus the characters feels different, it's fine to do an alternate timeline, but if the characters feels completely different... Then it's just another generic scifi shows with halo branding slapped on top of it. The characters and their personalities are what made HALO stories so interesting to me. I'm not in any way an expert at movie making, but that's how i felt when I watched the first 2 episodes.
Chief can’t show his face man, not until the final game.
Why?
The probleme is not that he removed the helmet but that the face was shown. In the first episode when John remove his helmet, we should have seen just the back and then directly go see the girls reacting to it while John make his speech. I cannot identify this master chief as master chief in the show when I see his face because the helmet has been his face for 20 years. For me, John is supposed to be seen as just an armor yet to be the most human of them all in a weird way. We can have all the in lore answer on why he removed it, but at the end of the day, it's clear it was made so that the actor would be seen. I still can't just accepte that '' different time line '' excuse when it's clear they chose this because they didn't want to follow the lore. They could had done almost the exact smame formula but with a different spartan and his silver team and it would have fitted well. It's not normal that the people that are making an adaptation of halo admitt they didn't talk about the game or the books. And they didn't show his face to attract a larger audience, the Mandalorian did more than fine without showing his face for almost an entire season and the public were still happy about it. Other than that, the show is fine but I just can't enjoy it because everytime I see John, I just feel like it's someone pretending to be him.
They should have done a better face for Chief than this.
In short: because Pablo is handsome
I despise this new HALO show, yet I really appreciate this lore breakdown. It is nice to have a channel to go to that objectively dissect the elements of the show rather than making a quality argument (whether that argument is pointing out failures to understand the source material or grasping for anything that might justify the writers’ choices).
I'm just thoroughly enjoying the series. As an alternate universe, this is fine, well... Almost 20 years of lore sometimes pulled me back for comparison sake, but realizing that this is non canon, I'm good again. My biggest gripe on the series is that the inner suit neck area is too low and very cloth-y, for a suit of armor that is. That's it.
the writing is terrible. I genuinely don't understand how you can be enjoying it, particularly if you were ever a real fan of the games
Who else thinks that the guy that portrays Reacher in the Jack Reacher series would have been a better 117 ?
He's white. Identity politics is more important to the producers than what makes sense.
This is a beautiful, well structured and passionate analysis of Halo lore and the series. I've never seen your channel before and I'm really impressed.
All I thought was damn! that contract had an iron clad clause about the protagonist showing his mug and face acting on every episode. That's a tough agent.
Pedro Pascal might think about hiring that team for * ahem * a certain role.
Here is the reason why chief takes off his helmet a lot in the show. The show writers are idiots. Roll credits
it's bad when a movie to promote a back story for a character from Halo 4 is better than the 3 hours of this not halo show
I think we need to remember this is before the fall of Reach, and before the events on the first Halo ring. It could very well be his personality and viewpoint, not to mention tactical evaluations, alter his decisions about removal of helmet and gear. Meaning, the reasons for why he does X in game don't matter much. That said, while I agree with the "keeping up appearances" aspect as any good tactician might, you also have to assume his gameface gets instantly switched on when that helmet snaps in place. That's the body language I perceive. Once the lid goes on the professional soldier aspect of his personality engages fully.
Since it's literally a different timeline, nothing that happened in the books or games matter. It's essentially fan fiction.
It's because they didn't want to deal with the same bullshit that they had to deal with from Pedro Pascal bitching about not enough face time and such!
Oh god. I really really REALLY don’t want the show to ever influence anything in the games. The show is such an insult to the fans who’ve been waiting years for it.
I respectfully disagree. I'm enjoying it by its own merits.
@@Installation00 Same. My only issue is the music and the special effects. But other than that so far I've been enjoying it.
Very fair breakdown of what people not used to the series are most likely seeing.
you shouldn't waste your time defending that show man, your content is thousands of times better and from a place of more meaning and respect to the source material than anything that's come out in years. Infinity was a good step back to what we loved but seems abandoned. im still waiting to play coop campaign with my younger brother. im sure many more of us have the same story.
It‘s an interesting theory, especially because from what I understand the show is timeline wise still before the point the first game starts, so who knows what may or may not happen to change Chiefs helmet wearing habits. But I still gotta say I prefer game chief. I will continue watching the show, just because I have access to it either way and it‘s not entirely bad (if you dismiss the inaccuracy to the games so far)
I can definitely see why you wouldn’t want to watch it though, especially as a fan of the games