SPOILERS for Halo 1x08 - PAUSE THE VIDEO TO AVOID SPOILERS
This is going to be big, so this is part 1 with a focus on John and Makee. Part 2 will focus on Cortana, Silver Team and Kai, my beloved.
Okay, I have to say that this episode subverted my expectations BIG TIME. That scene right there? *points up* I honestly went into it all, “Nooooooo, John, don’t do it!” and then it became… sweet? I expected him to be touch-starved and should’ve expected her to be as well but I was SHOCKED that the show actually leaned super hard into that!
This wasn’t her seducing him to the Dark Side like I thought it would be. She looks stunned (to be fair, if I’m standing in front of a naked John-117, I’d be stunned, too ). But the way this scene went… Mannnnn, all of the handsandscar-touchingandreverential looks at each other and how he looks so unsure (of his scars? Of himself out of the armor and so who exactly is he then?) and everything is so gentleandsoft and I honestly felt sorry for them both, that clearly neither one of them have been touched with kindness before in their lives and they’re just being so careful, like this moment is so fragile and they’re terrified it’s going to be snatched away with one wrong move…
All of that? *waves hands at giant run-on sentence* That sucked me in, what can I say? It changed my perspective on her and on the idea of them together.
And, as a practical observation, she is TOTALLY standing on a box for at least a few these scenes because she’s waaay shorter than he is, lol!
For reference.
Now, backing up a bit…
I definitely thought she was playing him at the start and I *headdesked* multiple times, thinking that John was breaking her out and was going to just take her to the artifact or let her go. Note: I am WEAK for his hands, frens, and I made this GIF because of that. Look at how gently he closes his thumb over her fingers. *swoons*
Dude. There’s no way she should still have that blade. Other than Because Of Plot Reasons To Arrive Later. But seriously, that should’ve been taken from her/removed after she flashed it in 1x06. Or they never should’ve had her reveal it.
It’s interesting to see the different responses dogs have to Makee and John, though…
They always say that dogs are good judges of character, which is a little harsh for Makee, but I think has more to do with the years of indoctrination from the Covenant and her hatred of humanity. Maybe it was meant to show that, no matter how much she might want to change (and I believe that she really did), her heart has just been too twisted to a degree that his has not?
Anyway, here’s why she still has that blade. She has the chance to fulfill her promise, to kill the Demon and take his head back with her. And she does not.
She decides to remove the blade. And I decided we didn’t need to see her pulling the end of her finger off.
Also, I can’t help but wonder how he’s sleeping through all of that because I’d think a Spartan would be a light sleeper? Unless he’s been *ahem* very tired out. There are so many things I want to say right now and none of them are family-friendly so I’ll keep my mouth shut.
Also, there was some notable similarity in this scene and the one of Kai removing her pellet, wasn’t there? Except Kai isn’t ALSO looking at a naked John unconscious in her bed. Bummer.
That sweet little smile of his hit me right in the fangirl heart. Oh, John… *sigh*
Also, she’s hiding her injured hand from him but, I have to wonder, does she have some sort of super fast healing because she full-on ripped the end of her finger off and if she didn’t do something to stop the bleeding, wrap it, put a space age Band-Aid on it or something, then it should be a bloody mess, shouldn’t it?
Jumping over Some Things™ that we’ll be dealing with in part 2 of this GIF post…
Now, you knew Miranda was going to figure out that was Makee’s voice and I figured she’d make a mad dash, trying to get there before Makee and John activated the artifact but bwahahaha, Makee would have already activated it with the POWAH OF EVIL. And that was so not what happened!
At this point, I genuinely think Makee wasn’t going to turn on them. John had convinced her to give humans a chance, that there was good in them that was worth saving. And then.
She flashes back to how Det was killed and she was tortured (giving her the scars she has in almost the exact same place where she’s being burned again). Any good will is gone.
But really? You’re going to have left her close enough to reach the artifact? As SOON as they realized something was going wrong, they should’ve shoved her back out in the hall and locked that door. Having that entire conversation, then torturing her within reaching distance was just foolish.
And her touching the artifact brings her and John back into the Halo realm. Makee has given up on humanity. She looks regretful, she would’ve rather stayed with John but she knows their beliefs are too far apart. She doesn’t try to convince him to come to her side, she knows he won’t do it. So she just tells him goodbye.
Now, this leaves us wondering what in the sweet merciful Halo is going to happen next? Will Makee side with Dr. Halsey? Will she go back to the Covenant? She knocked everybody on their collective butts so I’d wager she can grab the artifact and run for it. Obviously she and John will end up squaring off at some point but will they really be able to destroy the other or will they find a way to compromise? Or will it be something else entirely???
Guess we’ll see in the season 1 finale! Unless they leave us on a massive cliffhanger, which I fully expect that they will because they knew they were getting a second season when they filmed this. ♀️
I was absolutely screaming in my head by the end of this episode, so there’s no telling what I’ll be doing next week. Astral projection, maybe? ♀️
