Warning: SPOILERS for Halo.
The long-awaited live-action Halo adaptation has made waves due to changing certain aspects of Halo lore, and now the Halo TV show may have just teased its biggest alterations yet. Despite the thrill of seeing Master Chief in live-action, the show has drawn its share of criticism among the Bungie-era Halo faithful. The disparity between Halo's positive critic and negative audience rotten Tomatoes scores further implies that the tweaks to Halo game canon continue to prove divisive.
While it makes alterations to the Halo canon, the Halo TV show is still an exciting way to experience the sights and sounds of one of the most iconic gaming franchises of all time in live-action. From the faithful designs of Master Chief and Covenant troops, to the sounds of Spartan shields charging up, to the sight of Pelicans lowering to the ground, Halo certainly delivers the feeling of the universe in many ways. However, with the reveal of the show's first tease of the Halo ring, more high-profile changes to the source material seem to be imminent.
Halo's choice to tease the Halo Array and describe it as a weapon so early in the series is a massive change, as in the game the true purpose of the Halo Array isn't revealed until later in the story. Given that the first Halo game takes place almost entirely on the ring itself and yet do not discover its purpose until relatively late in the game, the idea that humans would know the purpose of the Halo Array before they've even seen it is a big deviation from the source material. This does reinforce the importance of Master Chief as a "Blessed One", but it's a bold choice that seems to be pitting the humans and Covenant in a race to reach the Halo Array - something certainly not seen in the original Halo game.
The other question raised by the ring tease is how many "people" (Covenant included) are aware of the Halo Array and its purpose. Master Chief learns about the weapon from Reth, a human who was held captive on a Covenant ship. Given that only the Covenant's Prophets are aware of the ring's purpose in the games, the idea that a simple captive on their ship may have discovered the truth implies that in this story adaptation, much more is known about the rings by the general populous. There is of course a human working with the Covenant who is also aware of the ring's purpose, so it's possible that more of the Covenant is familiar with the Array.
There are good reasons for the show "spoiling" the reveal of the Halo Array's purpose - after all, the first game was released in 2001, and anyone who has spent time with the series likely knows the purpose of the rings. To hold that information back for a reveal would likely fall flat amongst Halo fans and come too late for newcomers to the series. The change does, however, beg the question of how much more about the ring may be different in this iteration of the story. As of now, there are no signs of the iconic faction The Flood, but hopefully, they appear mid-story just like they do in the first Halo game.
New episodes of Halo drop Thursdays on Paramount+.