How To Watch The First Episode Of Halo For Free
Master Chief is back yet again with another outing in the "Halo" series, which has had some extra hype around it lately due to the release of "Halo Infinite" last fall. "Halo The Series" is the new television series by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, produced for Paramount's proprietary streaming service, Paramount+. You can now watch the first episode of "Halo The Series" online for free as of March 31. You don't even need to have an active subscription to Paramount+ to do so. All you need to do is click on this YouTube link right here, or play the video below:
The first episode of the science-fiction military action TV series includes quite a bit of exposition and some cheesy CGI, but if you're a fan of the series, you'll definitely catch a lot of in-jokes and hidden references. Also, you get to watch Master Chief take off his helmet for the first time on-screen. Whether or not that's a good thing is probably determined by what type of "Halo" fan you are. Purists probably won't appreciate some of these reveals, which some might argue belong in the games rather than in any film or TV series spinoff, but any casual watcher who just wants to throw back a couple of beers and some popcorn probably won't mind as much.
Halo The Series isn't canon
According to HITC, "Halo The Series" is not canon, which means it doesn't take place in the same timeline as the video games, which is where most of the action usually happens, and where fans are most familiar with the setting, characters, and stakes of the "Halo" universe. Instead, it takes place in the Silver timeline, which is dedicated specifically to (and was created specifically for) the TV adaptation. Halopedia says the following about how "Halo The Series" ventures away from its source material; "Differences from the core canon include: The Rubble surviving, a greater emphasis placed on WHITE TOWER, the existence of Silver Team and their members, Madrigal wasn't glassed by the Covenant in 2528, as well as the physical appearance of characters faces."
If you understand "Halo" lore, you'll know that the glassing of Madrigal is an important event that serves as one of the major preceding conflicts to explain humanity's fight for survival against the major antagonist, the Covenant, which is an all-assimilating alien faction that serves a sort of ancient space cult. Most of the action in "Halo" consists of battles between the primary "good guys," the UNSC, and the Covenant. Regardless, even if you aren't a fan, "Halo The Series" could be an interesting entry point into a series that has historically only catered to gamers.