Master Chief explains the flaws of Halo season 1 and why season 2 is better

Paramount Plus’ gloriole The series didn’t get off to a good start. The first season, which premiered in 2022, seemed torn between trying to emulate the games’ action and telling a very different story about Master Chief – which included a very botched love arc and one of the weirdest sex scenes of the year.

But with season 2 of gloriole Starting on February 8th, Polygon sat down with Master Chief himself, Pablo Schreiber, to delve into the fall of Reach to talk about what’s changed. And it turns out it’s quite a lot. Thanks in part to the series’ new showrunner, David Wiener, Schreiber seems to believe that Halo’s best days lie ahead. Here’s everything Schreiber had to say about ditching the romance, making better action, and keeping the Master Chief’s helmet on gloriole Season 2.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Polygon: How do you describe Master Chief’s emotional journey this season?

Pablo Schreiber: I think his journey in general in the second season is much more tied to the characters around him, it’s much more tied to the relationships that he has. We get to know each of his teammates and learn more about them. And that somehow affects his journey. And we learn a lot about him through the way he interacts with other members of his team as they begin to differentiate themselves as individuals. We learn a lot about him through the way he interacts with James Ackerson, the new boss of ONI who is taking charge of the Spartan program. And we learned a lot about how he initially deals with Cortana’s absence and how he gets her back later in the season. And all of these things inform us about his emotional state over the course of the season.

How was it possible to live out all these facets of the character? Because, as you said, through his interactions with all these new characters he learns a little bit more about himself and shows the audience more?

The more we see him interact with new and different people, and the more the characters outside of him begin to individuate, the more we learn about him. You learn a lot about a person when they lose things that are important to them. And in the middle of the season there are big losses. And how he and all the other characters react to this is very revealing. And you learn a lot about how people get back on their feet when they’ve been knocked down. And there will be a lot of that towards the end of the season.

You’ve talked about it a lot Difficulty operating under full armor and helmet and everything. But I think opening this season with the scene that takes place in “Sanctuary” is really nice and really touching, and I’m curious how you feel like you’ve gotten better at it in Season 2 amid all of that , expressing feelings and acting.

Um, no, I love the armor. I love the acting in it, I love the acting in the helmet, I love the acting behind the face mask. You know, I think I’ve had a lot of things attributed to me that have been misquoted, things that I’ve said or taken out of context. I love Master Chief. I love who he is when he wears his armor. I love who he is behind the mask. I love the process of being in the armor and acting behind the mask. As we all know, it is invaluable to character. And it’s a great part of the journey for me.

So how did I get better? I guess I’ve become more patient with the people around me in terms of dealing with the challenges that come with it, but it’s always been a challenge. But for me it was never something I didn’t want to do. In fact, I have advocated keeping the helmet on in situations where it should not be removed. You know, in the first season I was often asked to take the helmet off just so we could see the face. And for me it’s not in character; he wouldn’t do that. And we shouldn’t do that. And it separates us from the character. So for me it was important.

It was important to the people who hired me for this job to see both aspects of this dual character: Master Chief and John, a soldier who discovers his humanity beneath the armor. It was like this [an] Important aspect to see underneath and see the face. For me, it was very important in season two to keep perspective, you know, that we only see him under the mask or under the armor when it makes sense for us to see him in a situation. Of course we don’t take off our helmets in battle. We do not remove the helmet at any time when it should not be removed. And we really make the most of the time when you see the team in Reach [or] in the UNSC in preparation – these are elements that can be seen outside of his armor in the city of Reach. All of these things are opportunities to shape the character in a way that you don’t get when he’s in the suit.

Do you feel like putting even more emphasis on emphasizing all of those things, like if he’s wearing the armor and the helmet and if he’s not, is that something that David Wiener (who served as showrunner in Season 2) helped with?

David has a very specific point of view. My job as an actor is to bring the showrunner’s vision to life. In the first season, I brought to life the vision of the showrunner I worked with. [and in the] In the second season, my job is to bring David Wiener’s vision to life gloriole Season 2, and I’m trying my best to make it the best version on its own. He has a very specific opinion on when Master Chief should and should not be shown in armor. I have a certain point of view. And so it was a conversation about when these things should happen and when they shouldn’t, but yeah, my job is to bring his vision to life.

I know you talked a bit about your frustrations with the Season 1 love story in a recent interview, and if any of that was taken out of context or anything, feel free to correct me. But I’m curious to see how you managed to get into the character in season 2, even if you didn’t completely agree with the direction for the character.

I really liked the character Makee, I think she’s a great addition. Some people find it difficult to accept the fact that she is a person who operates within the framework of the alliance. This isn’t difficult for me since the Alliance uses them because of their ability as a reclaimer. I think this works perfectly well within the lore. And I think she’s a great addition in terms of what she does for John. They are great mirrors for each other. They are people who have been exploited by the systems in which they exist, and they recognize this in each other.

Everything about what they do for each other, other than the fact that the relationship was then used as a romance, is really interesting to me and had a lot of merit and could have been a very interesting storyline. Romance was unnecessary. That’s good. It was what it was. As I said, I am an actor who is here to fulfill the showrunner’s vision. We did that. And now you have to deal with the consequences. There’s a new showrunner who has his vision, and he’s going to use those facts to create a dynamic that he thinks is the best version of it. It’s not romantic. And I prefer that dynamic with the character Makee. And I think there’s more opportunity for drama in that. And I like his point of view on the dynamics between the characters. That’s why we’re here.

Is there anything in particular that you’re really excited for people to see, or a particular part of the season that you really loved or that stood out to you?

Episode 4 is, so to speak, the highlight of the season. It’s a major plot point in Halo lore; We will see it from a new and unique perspective. I’m really happy for people to see this because I think all Halo fans are familiar with this event. And it’s pretty important for everyone. And also in terms of filmmaking, there was a lot… We use a lot of “oners,” meaning we create a shot that feels like it was never edited, even though we stitched all these shots together to make it make possible . And it really gives the episode this pace that just feels inevitable. It moves so fast and you almost can’t stop it. And it’s just a really interesting way to look at this particular event in the Halo mythology.

It seems to be perhaps the most action-packed series ever and that seems very exciting.

We had these huge action plans for the first season, these big set pieces. There was the fight in Episode 1, the fight in Episode 5, and the big fight at the end. And we did these big sets and these events for them. [And it] It took about a month to photograph each of these things. But the way we shot it was so inefficient. We’ve just become a lot more efficient this season, so the action feels more emotional. You feel like you’re more in the middle of the action because it’s subjective. You see it from the character’s point of view, [it’s] much more handheld, you’re basically in the middle of it all, there’s fog and you can’t quite see what’s happening. So all of these elements lend themselves to actions that feel more emotional, more immediate, and more dangerous. But at the same time, shooting is more efficient and easier. And we spend less time doing it. So it’s kind of the best of both worlds, right? Everyone wins.