Halo Season 2, Episode 7, ‘Thermopylae’ Recap

Warning: The following recap contains major spoilers for Halo Season 2, Episode 7, “Thermopylae.”

Halo Season 2, Episode 7, “Thermopylae,” begins on Halo – or rather a vision of the ringworld jointly experienced by John-117/The Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) and Makee (Charlie Murphy). The Master Chief confronts Makee about her involvement in the Fall of Reach, but she counters that the planet’s destruction is no different from what the Chief would do to the Covenant’s homeworld if given the chance. Makee tries convincing the Master Chief that neither humanity nor the Covenant deserves control of Halo. She wants them to take control of Halo instead, and use it for less destructive ends.

The Master Chief remains unconvinced as phantom Covenant forces yank Makee out of their vision. He’s similarly snapped back to reality, which sends a shockwave throughout ONI’s headquarters on Onyx. Things are even worse on Makee’s end, as the Covenant priests’ mutiny that kicked off in Episode 6 is still in full swing. She’s almost killed, however, the Arbiter (Viktor Åkerblom) rescues her. While he deals with the remaining priests, Makee grabs Cortana’s (Jen Taylor) containment unit and flees the Covenant command ship’s deck with lead priest Uto ‘Mdama hot on her tail.

Cortana’s holographic form then appears and distracts Uto long enough for Makee to take him out. No longer in danger, Makee uses Cortana’s space map to pinpoint Halo’s location.

A Lot Is Going on At ONI’s Onyx Base – And Below It

Back on Onyx, James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) and Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi) discuss the former’s failure to capture the Master Chief. Parangosky makes it clear she intends to pin the Fall of Reach on Ackerson should the Chief’s version of events get out, noting that she’s no longer officially part of ONI. The pair’s focus then shifts to the war room’s display, which shows an entire Covenant fleet.

The display is flickering due to cosmic energy surrounding the Covenant ships, and Parangosky dispatches a UNSC fleet to check it out. She also orders Ackerson to ready his Spartan-III troops for action, however, he protests, citing their lack of training for such a combat scenario. Parangosky insists on deploying them anyway, and sends Ackerson in search of the Master Chief. After Ackerson exits, Parangosky privately dismisses intel that the energy around the Covenant fleet is black hole-related.

Related: Halo Season 2: Onyx, Explained

Elsewhere on the ONI base, the Master Chief makes his way down an empty corridor. He’s not alone for long, though, as Captain Briggs (Anna Korval) shows up with a squad of troops to take him out. But Briggs’ unit ultimately lowers their weapons, moved by a short speech the Master Chief gives about what it means to be a soldier and follow orders. Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy) arrives as the troops leave, knocking out Briggs and reteaming with the Chief.

Meanwhile, in the caverns beneath the base, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey (Natascha McElhone) and Commander Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray) debate whether their Forerunner complex surroundings are a library or a church. Keyes then reveals that filling in the gaps in Halsey’s earlier research made unlocking more of the complex possible. Pressed on what she omitted from her original notes, Halsey confirms that she found human and Covenant DNA at the site.

The UNSC Tackles the Covenant Head-On

From here, Halo Season 2, Episode 7, cuts back to the ONI war room. Parangosky orders the first wave of UNSC ships to engage the Covenant fleet. When they are promptly wiped out, she sends in the second wave. Ackerson objects, declaring Parangosky’s strategy unsound and questioning how many Spartan-III troops she’s willing to lose. In response, Parangosky makes it clear she’ll sacrifice every last one of them, as she’s convinced the Covenant fleet is closing in on Halo.

At the same time in ONI’s Spartan training grounds, Soren-066 (Bokeem Woodbine) tells Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) about his gruelling childhood experiences in the Spartan-II program. This is crosscut with scenes of Corporal Perez (Cristina Rodlo) and her fellow Spartan-IIIs preparing for battle. Soren wraps up his reflections by telling Laera that he wants their son, Kessler (Tylan Bailey), to endure a similar trial by fire, but she’s not having it.

Related: Halo Season 2: Why Does the Arbiter Brand Himself, Explained

Cut to: The Master Chief and Kai. Kai defends turning against the Chief earlier in Halo Season 2, using his erratic behavior to justify her choice. The Master Chief is unmoved and is fixated instead on getting his Spartan armor back, which means tracking down Parangosky. While that’s going on, Halsey explains to Keyes that the hybrid human/Covenant DNA led her to create the Spartan-II program, whose candidates exhibited traces of said DNA.

At this point, Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) pipes up, calling out Halsey for kidnapping a bunch of kids. Halsey is characteristically unrepentant and asks to see what Keyes’ research turned up. It’s an ornate disc, which Keyes assumes must be valuable. Meanwhile, Kwan runs her hand over the complex’s vault-like door, causing one of its decorative stones to light up.

Destination: Halo, At Last

In his quarters, Ackerson discovers that the UNSC’s spike devices aren’t designed to shut down Covenant warships but rather to generate a massive explosion. Horrified, he storms out of the room, only to bump into the Master Chief and Kai. A predictably tense exchange follows, during which Ackerson agrees to take the Master Chief to his armor. He also shares the truth of Parangosky’s plans, confirming that the admiral will either secure Halo or destroy it.

Back at the Forerunner complex, Halsey reveals to Keyes that her father, Jacob Keyes, died in Halo Season 2, Episode 5. While they’re distracted, Kwan activates the stone again and it produces a star map projection. A similarly momentous occasion goes down closer to Onyx’s surface, as the Master Chief is reunited with his armor. The Chief reflects on Vannak-134’s death, then orders Ackerson to spread the truth about what happened on Reach – including the part he played.

“Thermopylae” then returns to its newly-formed star map study group. Drawing upon her visions from earlier this season, Kwan rearranges the constellations to match their configuration in the Forerunners’ time, resulting in a ring-like symbol that opens the vault. Halsey uses the disc to unlock another door, behind which the group finds a deceased humanoid scientist. The scientist’s lab begins to self-destruct and Kwan, Halsey, and Keyes barely escape, but not before glimpsing the complex’s city-like interior.

Related: Halo Season 2: Who Is The Mother, Explained

Outside the vault, Kwan links the expanding star map to her premonitions of a monster destined to threaten the galaxy. She leaves in terror, while Keyes hands Halsey a device the scientist was holding that she squirreled out of the Forerunner lab. This all overlaps with events topside, which sees the Master Chief and Kai part ways after the latter refuses to abandon the Spartan-IIIs to their fate.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, the Covenant command ship is under fire from the Covenant fleet. Desperate for a new vision to guide her next move, Makee brands her chest like the Arbiter did last episode. The Arbiter reiterates his loyalty to her, and she declares them both bound to Halo itself. This gives way to another ritual, on Onyx: Kessler’s Thermopylae training session. Soren violently intervenes but is nevertheless separated from Laera and Kessler.

In another corner of the Onyx base, the Master Chief visits Corporal Perez before she leaves for the Spartan-III’s suicide mission. Perez asks the Chief to join her, but he refuses. We cut to a short scene of Keyes unlocking the scientist’s device, followed by a closing montage showing the Master Chief revealing his presence to the wider UNSC, a defiant Ackerson arrested on Parangosky’s orders, and the Spartan-IIIs heading into battle – as the Chief’s ship closes in on Halo.

And that’s our recap of Halo Season 2, Episode 7. Check out additional episode recaps here.

Halo Season 2 is currently streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes dropping Thursdays.