Halo Season 2: Who Is The Mother, Explained

Of all Halo Season 2’s new characters, the Mother is easily the most mysterious. So, who is the Mother and how is she likely to impact Halo Season 2’s remaining episodes?

Related: Why Halo Was Never Going to Be Faithful to Reach

Who Is The Mother in Halo Season 2?

The Mother is a shaman from the planet Sanctuary, who first appears in Halo Season 2, Episode 1, “Sanctuary.” In this episode, she seemingly dies alongside several of her followers after the Covenant bombards Sanctuary’s surface. Halo protagonist John-117/The Master Chief and his Silver Team allies try rescuing the Mother and her entourage, however, they refuse to abandon their world. Before parting ways with the Chief, the Mother warns him that she’s foreseen his death and it’s coming soon (bummer).

That’s the last we see of the Mother until Halo Season 2, Episode 5, “Aleria.” Here, the Mother returns as part of a vision experienced by rebel fugitive Kwan Ha. During the vision, the Mother warns Kwan of an approaching “monster” that threatens “all the planets,” and urges her to embrace her roots as a “protector.” The enigmatic mystic also implores Kwan to search her out – implying that the Mother still maintains some form of presence in the physical world.

Related: Halo Season 2: Who Is Riz-028, Explained

So, what should we make of all this? Well, for starters, don’t put too much stock in the Mother’s prophecy about the Master Chief’s impending demise. We’re not ruling out the possibility that John-117 will die (literally or metaphorically) at some point in Halo Season 2, but if it does happen, it won’t last. After all, bumping off the Master Chief before he reaches Halo would diverge too far from the original video games’ canon, even by the standards of the show’s alternate, Silver Timeline continuity.

As for the “monster” the Mother is so worried about? Safe money is on this being a reference to one of the Halo games’ other major antagonists, the parasitic Flood. Kwan already had premonitions of a spooky-looking creature before the Mother showed up in “Aleria,” and her cave paintings of it strongly resembled hivemind Flood entity, the Gravemind. Between this and the Flood’s canonical status as an enemy of humanity and the Covenant alike, no other Halo baddie better fits the bill.

Related: Halo: How Admiral Jacob Keyes Dies in the Games vs. the Show

Who Plays The Mother in Halo Season 2?

Irish actor Olwen Fouéré portrays The Mother in Halo Season 2. A veteran of the stage and screen, Fouéré’s film credits include Mandy, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Northman, and 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Fouéré’s no stranger to the small screen either, serving up performances in the likes of Nightflyers, Cursed, Derry Girls, and The Crown.

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