It was different, watching my buddy Baker play Reach for the first time, a few months ago. He was a solider, fought in Afghanistan against the Talaban and has unfortunately seen some of his own squad mates make the ultimate sacrifice. I won’t forget the way he sighed and smoked a cig, the first in a while. I felt guilty for recommending the game but he told me he loved it. For all the sci-fi, it was a more true to life view of war. Not everyone gets to make it “Never has a game gotten the difference between a Medal of Honor (Jorge’s death) and a statistic (Kat’s death.) so right.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget his observation. His doing ok, for any wondering TLDR; Reach is a different experience for veteran.
@@number3766and that might not even have been enough By this point im pretty sure it's confirmed he's dead and it was definitely on reach, but there was that one bit of him being in a nearby cave So maybe he did fight for even longer than that
Something I read that comes from canon, is that Six’s last stand lasted not minutes, but hours. Six hours. For those six hours the covenant couldn’t get them. Supposedly, once the Elites (specifically the commanders) heard that a sole spartan was wiping entire squads by themselves, they held off the order to glass the area, and go kill them themselves. For six hours, Six survived, becoming the literal last soldier on reach, taking as many as they could
To this day, the Mission "Lone Wolf" sticks out for me. Not only is it basically a Last Stand (which are inherently fascinating), but it's a mission that will really give you a glimpse into the character of the person playing it. Some folks will play this game, reach that "Objective: Survive" and be overwhelmed with sadness or apathy. Maybe only put up a minute or two of resistance before accepting the inevitable. Others will see that prompt...and leverage every shot, skill and dirty trick they can in an effort to make the Covenant earn their kill, despite how pointless it is. I've seen grown men who don't give one rip about Halo or its lore still give their all on Lone Wolf because "I ain't going down like no bitch".
I remember spending an hour or 2 on my first time in Lone Wolf, desperately trying to survive, and ever restarted the mission, thinking If I just Rage long enough, fight hard enough, kill enough, maybe I can pull through, but in the end the light would die, yet I would always fight to the bitter end. Really defined, my childhood in a way.
@@greganator111 Hey, if you ever want to cheese the Covenant for a lark, there's supposed to be a building where you can force them to come in single file and farm for hours.
Some times I could play that mission for a long time, other times I'd hear "wart wart wart" and get ganked from behind by an elite in the first 30 seconds like Emile
At 16:30, there's also a second reason Carter sends Jun with Dr. Halsey: insurance. Dr. Halsey has been captured in the past (the Halo Legends animation The Package), and the UNSC, and Spartans in particular, know Dr. Halsey is invaluable to the UNSC, and disastrous should the Covenant get their hands on her for an extended period of time. And Carter and Jun's exchange... "Jun, make sure NOTHING falls into enemy hands." "I'll do what's necessary, sir." Is that the order to a bodyguard protecting a VIP... or someone with an unspoken kill order for Jun to keep her out of Covenant hands should the worst happen and he can't keep her safe? Carter wanted her protected... but for humanity, he and Jun would've killed her.
Had the opposite effect for me. I hated the game for a few years for rewriting a chunk of the book. Its a good game of course, I just hated that it stepped on my favorite book on the way out.
I think it would be a really interesting alternate history game if If the pillar of autumn instead of. safely getting away it Was forced to crash on reach (Without the covenants Knowledge)
@@certain_sloth There are actual reasons for this. The author of the book didn't actually have the full support of Bungie, though he had the support of Microsoft I believe. Bungie considered whatever they made canon. In fact, they were hesitant to introduce ODSTs to the franchise (Those being introduced in Fall of Reach) As they thought it sounded like "Microsoft's Halo, not Bungie's Halo." While the timeline can be a little mixed, at the end of the day, Reach had an amazing story, and Bungie definitely went out with a bang.
I'm glad to hear that there were fans of the book first that liked Reach. At the time especially, there was tons of fans of the book and the original trilogy who absolutely HATED Reach because it retconned part of the book. I love the books a ton, especially The Fall Of Reach, but when it comes to the actual events of the Battle Of Reach, the game is honestly a much better story. The book mostly glossed over the ground battle, and the whole planet was glassed in like a day. The game actually told a story of a struggle, where at first it looked like you might just win. And the UNSC does win. Until the Long Night Of Solace shows its hand, and the next fleets arrive. Then it's loss after crushing loss, but the UNSC makes the aliens bleed for EVERY inch of ground they take and glass. The end result is the same, but the journey is what matters most.
16:53 Fun fact: Carter isn't bleeding from his mouth because he's been wounded by Banshee fire, it's because he doesn't floss. Also, something I always appreciated was how appropriate or ironic each Noble's death was. Jorge loves Reach, but is the only one who dies off-planet. Kat, the brains of the team, is shot in the head. Carter, the captain of Noble Team, goes down with his ship alone. Emile is aggressive and confrontational, but his mortal wound came from behind. And Six, who's only recently learned to be a part of a team, dies a lone wolf. Really rubs that salt nicely into the wounds.
Jorge is also the heavy ordnance expert and dies in an explosion, Emile is the close quarters expert and dies to a sword, Kat is comms expert and dies mid sentence. Bungie really cooked when they made reach.
20:52 I think Emile was talking to the Elite. Emile was basically a savage in combat. He was kind of a psycho brute, but he was always scared to die. He was always scared to risk himself for others. It's why he carved the skull into his mask. It wasn't just to look scary but also a projection of his fear. That changed when Jorge died. He was always picking fights with Jorge. He was Jorge's antithesis. Jorge cared and risked and when Jorge died, it started to change Emile's perspective. When Jorge is alive and caring for one woman he mutters "He's not the only one (that needs a psych eval)." After Jorge dies it's "*reminiscing laugh* The Big Man was always sentimental." He lived for himself, but inspired by Jorge's example, Emile died for humanity on Reach. He started to accept the skull. To accept death, not as a giver of death, but a participant which he directs to the Elite. I understand the interpretation that the line was meant for Noble-6, but I think it's more likely that this is an indirect, secondary meaning. One that's focused on the narrative. The upper layer is Emile making peace with himself to the Elite. With his ghost that's been following him this whole time (alluding to his helmet and the Elites literally drop off a"Phantom", the same one that killed his teammate Kat, has come for him). The second layer is Bungie to the player. "Are you ready for our time with Halo to be over. Are you ready for your character's fate to be sealed? This is the turning point. Are you ready to lose, so he can win? Are you ready to pass that torch? Are you ready for us to pass *this* torch? We are ready, because Destiny awaits." Now, it could be all of the above. Emile to the Elite, Emile to Noble-6, Narrative to Noble-6, and Bungie to the player. Layers.
I'm surprised at how you've got no comments, because in my opinion you did a damn good analysis, i like the idea of Emile seeing the bigger picture and just making peace with himself, the metaphor of the Phantom and death, and that "We are ready, because Destiny awaits" i loved that part. I like to think that this was also a message from Bungie, to the player, knowing what was to come and the reference to the ODST 3 "Destiny Awaits".
@@Miss_Trillium Destiny carries a lot of the themes of Reach, actually. The games are all about Sacrifice and Agency. We make our own fate. Devotion. Bravery. Sacrifice. Death. What do we fight For? Why? Those are the core themes of Destiny, kinda bundled up. The Final Shape expansion was an excellent sendoff. It's sad that Bungie as a group of developers and people isn't doing as well as it did in the past, but it's undeniable that they made some excellent pieces of art.
Kat's death has always stuck with me as one of the most impactful turning points in a game for me. Kat's death really sets it in that feeling of "im not gonna make it all the way back home, but ive gotta make it to my objective"
The death hits harder when you hear the civilians in the background. You have to think about that, the fact that to a civilian, these soldiers are unstoppable. And they just saw one fall rescuing them. (Edit: I did not realize he brought this up when I first replied to you, as I replied early in the video.)
16:31 One small thing I think you missed is that Jun isn't sent to simply protect Halsey. Carter tells Halsey that she's being escorted to Castle Base by Jun (Or rather "Noble 3", as Halsey I don't think refers to the Spartans by name other than Jorge, but by designation and number). She insists that she doesn't require an escort, but Carter ignores her and speaks directly to Jun, telling him to "Make sure nothing falls into enemy hands" to which Jun replies "I'll do what's necessary sir." This is how dire the situation has become. Even as the Covenant glass the planet, your team has been sent not on a rescue mission, but on asset denial. All they can do at this point is evacuate whoever you can and enact scorched earth of the rest. Halsey's discovery might be the saving grace of humanity, but at this point there's absolutely no guarentee we can turn the inevitable tide. Saving her life may buy us more time, but losing her will cost us more than we can afford. Humanity is expending the last of their most valuable assets not to achieve victory, but to forestall an inevitable defeat and Halsey, with her unparalelled insight and intellect, has become as expendable as the otherwise priceless Spartans she produced. On a practical note, it makes sense to send a Spartan on this job not just because they can be expected to save their last bullet for Halsey if necessary, but because of their survivavility. In Tip of the Spear we've seen that Spartans can survive a Kestrel crash that would kill or severely wound an unaugmented human. If they don't make it to the base, if they're shot down or caught in a firefight they have no hope of winning, Jun will almost certainly be the last man standing and he can make sure the Covenant don't have the oppertunity to take Halsey alive.
There is a reason Halsey only refers to Jorge by his name. Jorge is the only Spartan II on the team. It’s why he is so different and so much bigger. The rest of Noble Team are Spartan III’s. Halsey had direct interaction with every II she helped raise/create. She genuinely cares for them (in a fucked up way). But there were significantly more III’s and she wasn’t as involved. To her, they are inferior tools.
I watched this video yesterday and I honestly almost cried. Halo Reach is such a well crafted and somber game. One thing that struck out to me from your description of Kat, specifically when describing the moments leading to her death, was how human she was. Often the Spartans in Halo have their humanity de-emphasized as a point to show that it was removed from them, and Kat's introduction to the game is her robotic arm. She's clearly been in this war and has become, in a physical sense, less human by it. But, when the glassing of New Alexandria begins, she struggles more than the other members of her team even though she the one that sees the radiation coming. She misses the button on the elevator, she's nervous. I could be wrong, but when do we see Spartans in any of the games nervous? I'm reminded how in the beginning of Fall of Reach, its Samuel (I could be remembering wrong if it's Samuel) that makes the marines around him nervous. Yet here, we have someone who has a physical marker denoting that her physical body is less human, showing a very human response to this situation. Her death is the most human because it just happens. Not one of us will know when death comes for us, and that reigns true even for Spartans. They are still human. They still struggle, still feel, still die. I think her death being witnessed by regular civilians is another testament to that.
One of the things I love about Halo Reach are the character animations. I learned about it from The Body Language of Halo Reach by Core Ideas, but just all the little details of character movement and mannerisms just make everything subtly work. The best example is probably from Kat's death scene, where, as the door is closing, you can see Carter stumble back in shock and despair from losing the teammate he was probably closest to
Carter and Kat were the closest, they were the only two remaining members of the original Noble Team, everyone else were replacements. So naturally it makes sense it's going to hit him that the only one he knew since Noble Team was formed still around, is now gone
The first Halo game I played was Halo: Wars. I watched the intro cutscene, cool battles, explosions, carnage, but then as more and more people started dropping I distinctly remember the sad music kicking in and the voiceline closing with: "... It was hell...but it's ours now." (Probably slightly off but it's a memory) And my friend going:" I thought this was a war game, why is it so sad?" We were just teenagers back then. We got the game because it promised big muscular dudes shooting at each other but we still felt the melancholic emotional core immediately hitting us.
Iirc the line is something like "Setback after setback... Loss after loss... Turned what was supposed to be a quick and easy victory into five long years of hell. "But Harvest's ours again." But like you, I am working off of memory here.
Man, even knowing the lore behind Reach before the game released, it was rediculously upsetting, but in a good way, you KNEW what was going to happen but the game still made you hope right up to the end, to the point where there were people making theorys and trying to explain how 6 actually made it out alive because we never actually see a body and we technically never see the blow that finishes them... Games that can do that are far too rare these days and I wish devs would go back to focusing on the story rather than graphics and monetization
Before watching this I didn't realize that Kat and Emile were killed by the same elites that appeared in the first mission, and that they had stalked the fireteam the whole game. I did play and finished the game but never noticed that. Now I want to play through it again...
I never understood why so many people hated Halo: Reach when it came out. I think it being a completely different narrative, a tragedy vs. being a heroic story and video games (especially of the time it coming out) oftentimes telling you that you are the protagonist and therefore will win the fight, was a part of that. Sentiments and feelings around video games have changed since then, but I think a lot of people at the time were not prepared for stories where you will lose and were destined to from the beginning. Especially a fps like Halo where you had played the single most important soldier in the game's history across multiple games. This is a lovely video and I appreciate the love for my favorite game in the Halo series.
Reach was an instant favorite. The halo universe is about losing a war for survival. Master chief was unstoppable, and we learned that he’s always going to come out on top. Reach showed me the desperation that the rest of humanity knew.
I hated this game when it came out. By all means, it is a good game. Except it rewrites one of my favorite books a dozen ways. Im 100% biased and I know it. The thing is, Im pretty sure they could've pulled off just as good of a game without stepping on the book on the way out.
Most people that disliked it did so for one of 2 core reasons: The narrative deviated HEAVILY from the Fall of Reach novel, which had been well accepted canon up until the release of the the game, and Reach introduced some pretty major gameplay system changes, most notably the armor abilities - sprint being the most polarizing for how it impacted the speed of the game and necessitated big changes to how levels/maps were designed.
I think my favourite scene in the entire game (aside from Noble Six's death) is the fake-out when Halsey gives the package to Noble Team. The way the camera is positioned -- and where Halsey walks -- makes you think she's giving it to Carter, but the doctor walks past him and gives it to Six, who's out of frame. Not only does the cinematography trick you, but so does your insticts; you _expect_ Carter -- the team leader -- to be the one carrying humanity's saving grace. But no, it's you.
New Alexandria is my favorite mission. You’re in the heart of a siege and all around is evidence of how poorly it’s going. You do everything you can but it’s never enough. The feeling of genuine desperation with no happy ending is a welcome change from the monotonous rampage most games have your main character take. Instead of being in an isolated ring, Your with humanity as it crumbles around you.
When you're going through some shit, sometimes all it takes to get through is that you know you can lose on your own terms. Love the video. Love the message.
Every time people talk about the themes of 1-3, ODST, and Reach, all I can think of is a monologue of Babylon 5 The humans, I think, knew they were doomed. But where another race would surrender to despair, the Humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Mimbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones. And then throw themselves without fear or hesitation, into the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one, who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage. By their stubborn nobility. When they ran out ships they used guns. When they ran out of guns they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were, magnificent. I only hope, that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two, years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.
There's something so unbelievably compelling about the idea of facing your inevitable demise with defiance, and sacrificing yourself so that others can live. I don't know why - maybe it's some part of our ape brain that evolved when sacrifices were more necessary, but that's why I find the entire story of Halo and the Spartans so compelling - humanity will not go quietly into the night.
Halo reach was the first halo game I ever played and from there on out I was addicted. I now play every Christmas, because l that’s when I first played reach.
Few games can claim to fill the player with genuine sadness whilst also making them feel triumphant, only to throw them deep into despair. The destruction of the super carrier and subsequent arrival of the Covenant fleet is one of the most memorable and emotionally charged scenes in video game history.
Excellent use of the siege of Madrigal soundtrack. I really like your thesis about how so much of halo is about losing on our terms and trying to keep moving through the fire. Wonderful work as always and I look forward to more of your content!
Me and some buddies have been playing through the entire Master Chief Collection again recently to experience games we missed and to re-experience the ones we loved but forgot. Following the entire story back to back has been amazing and we just started Reach last night. The game is a masterpiece. Knowing that no one makes it out, knowing that Cortana needs to escape and get to Chief, knowing that we lose the battle but win the war is so powerful. The game was the first Halo game that ever made me feel something. But now that I know what Reach cost us, it has made each other game that much better. Great video essay
This video had me in tears because I watched your video on ODST a couple of days ago, and decided to replay Reach (Because I don't currently own ODST) because of a similar hopless felling they have. And when I played it, with my music and voice settings turned up and the game sounds turned low, I cried. I didn't pick up on a lot of the things you mentioned when I played, but with the game fresh in my mind, I really put some thought into it. After Jorge died, believing he just saved Reach, when he really didn't, I don't believe the others in Noble Team allowed them self to think that their deaths, their 'sacrifices', would fix all the compounded issues up to that point. That their death would save the rest of the team. And Reach specifically is an exercise in futility because when you start the game, it shows that Noble 6, you are dead. You might not know it in the beginning, but by the time Kat dies, you pretty much know that you are not surviving Reach.
I realize this is some high-purity cope, but I always imagined Noble 6 survived. My headcanon/fanfic is that they stumble through a forerunner portal after finishing off the headhunters, and a forerunner medical facility patches up their otherwise-mortal wounds. Completely isolated for years, kept from suicide only by the thought that they might be the last surviving human and they don’t want to be responsible for the death of their species, they spend the time reflecting on their life. Eventually they come to the conclusion that the original Spartan program represented the loss of the Mandate of Heaven for the UEG… so when the UNSC finally reaches wherever they’ve been holed up, and tries to bring them back into the fold, they refuse. They’ll answer to their name, but insist that Noble 6, B-312, died on Reach if they’re ever so addressed. In my fanfic, this is a rewrite of Halo 5, with Chief played by 6 and Locke played by Chief. 6 is running around the galaxy trying to support insurgents, overthrow the UNSC, and help people wherever they can. Chief is following, trying to fight insurgents, save the UNSC, and… help people wherever he can. It climaxes with a confrontation between the two. John has already been called away to fight some other threat - nothing close to Covenant-scale but enough that they don’t want to leave John chasing shadows - but has Six cornered. It’s now or never. As John navigates the station, Six thanks John for saving humanity, but points out all the evil the UNSC did and is still doing. They say they knew Chief was on their heels, so took him on a walking tour of the grounds zero of all the worst crimes of the UNSC. Then they reveal that, while Noble 6 died on Reach, this place was where they broke. Since they were one of the few Spartans, let alone headhunters, who can pass as an unaugmented human (Noble 6 is half a head shorter than the next shortest Spartan in Noble Team), they were sent to this base to infiltrate it to get some MacGuffin. Per Phantom Liberty, they befriended the insurgents, grew to like them, then murdered them. After that, they gave their handler an ultimatum: assign them to a normal Spartan unit or... They didn’t bother to finish, and their handler wasn’t dumb enough to force Six to make a threat they’d have to carry through on. They were assigned to Noble Team, where they’d be out of the way and well guarded if they went rogue. Chief… is in too deep, though. He hasn’t had the prolonged isolation which was necessary for him to deprogram himself like 6 did, or maybe he’s just to thoroughly rationalized the suffering he went through during his own recruitment. He kicks down the door to the room where 6 notionally was, to find a comms relay patched into the station intercom. “Please, John. I’m good, but we both know who’d win in a straight fight. I’m at least good enough to avoid getting cornered. Still, I’m sorry we couldn’t work together. *sighs* I hope I’ve given you some food for thought. Fighting against the end of humanity is one thing, but it’s time to start thinking about what you want to fight *for*. Seeya ‘round, John.” Legendary completion scene: Serin Osman, CinC ONI, is in her office contemplating space. Her door opens. “Leave the reports on my desk.” She says, not turning from the window. “Sarin.” The camera pans around to show Six in an ONI uniform, not their Mjolnir armor. A fleck of blood on the collar shows its former owner didn’t part with it willingly. “We need to talk.”
Despite Reach being my first interaction with Halo lore and it's world I still felt the impact of the death of a Spartan. I knew that Spartans were these powerful soldiers and seeing them die and get hunted down was impactful. And this video showed me a lot more of the subtle details that I missed while playing the game which makes it now much more impactful and meaningful in my eyes. Great video btw
One other thing about Kat's death I liked: The entire game, Kat's been pretty icy and professional towards you. Partly because it's just in her nature, but moreso (at least I suspect) because you're the replacement for the last Noble Six, whose death Kat blames herself for. She either doesn't want to get invested in you because you could die too, or she's not comfortable with the previous Six being replaced so quickly. But when her and Six are in the elevator, she opens up to them just a little. She allows herself to be vulnerable, and you can actually hear some emotion in her voice when she mentions it's her first glassing and shows some vulnerability, before going right back to her usual attitude. I think this was really smart, because it was probably easy for most players to feel sad when Jorge died, since he was the heart of Noble Team in a lot of ways and him and Six had a handful of moments throught the first half of the game. The game made you like and care about Jorge. But with Kat, up until that brief dialogue there wasn't a whole lot to get you emotionally invested in her as a character. So Bungie's writers made you feel that little bit of empathy for her, and then immediately yanked her away.
First off, this is one of the best Reach essays I’ve seen. Second, I *swear* the MCC version of the game removes the civilians who react to Kat’s death. Not sure why. Sanitization? Trying to make the scene less horrifying?
I remember when I first played Reach with my brothers. It was an experience we wouldn't soon forget, and it really hit us as long term Halo fans just how impactful it was. It left its mark for sure and later when the Master Chief Collection came out I had what I considered was the honor of introducing Reach to one of my long time friends. I'll never forget the deafening silence that washed over the call as Kat died. She needed a moment after that to process what just happened. Reach really is something special and I love that It has this way of delivering that message that you aren't going to save the day, you're just fighting to give humanity a chance.
Halo Reach was the last Halo game I got to play with my Step brother Alex before he passed October 11 2010. It's my least played of all the older halo games(Halo CE-Reach anyway) Ever since Master Chief edition came to PC I've been trying to play Reach more. Alex and I played Halo CE all the way to ODST on Legendary and that was loads of fun. ODST and Reach had great characters and story, as did all that came before, loved the video! :D
Reach will always be special to me. I first played it over the course of a week or so at a friend's house, splitscreen on his tiny CRT TV. I'd played the other Halo games before and loved them already but Reach always stuck with me in a different way. The story and tone of the game was absolutely perfect especially after playing the original trilogy. Those games had moments of loss and hardship but you were the Master Chief, (and sometimes the Arbiter), your victory over the Covenant and the Flood never felt like a question of will you win but when or how will you win. Those games did a great job of building up this legend of the spartans as unstoppable warriors, coming out on top no matter the odds. Reach took that feeling built up over those games and used it perfectly to show you that despite the differences between a spartan and a regular guy at the end of the day they're still human and their stories have to come to an end eventually. Cortana certainly wasn't kidding when she mentions John's power being luck when you consider how the majority of them end up. So I will always Remember Reach.
Fantastic video essay. I got recommended your republic commando video on a whim and you have quickly became one of my favourite essay channels because of how you format and structure your videos (and of course they are very entertaining) I have watched practically every halo reach essay on youtube and this one Is my favourite Fantastic job
I just found your channel through the ODST video and came directly to this one after that one. I think I've never cried more for Noble Team as I have watching you vid. Maybe is the new perspective I have on life since I played it all those years ago, but you just made me FEEL things. Keep going, man.
Jeorge being the first death spelt the doom for the rest of the squad since he was the only Spartan 2 and 2s are nigh invincible compared to spartan 3s that the rest of the squad consists of.
@@Key_Mindyea noble team getting mjolnir was because they were considered exceptional compared to other 3’s. They got the armor for being above the average, I don’t agree all 3’s are as capable as 2’s. But noble is the exception to that rule for a reason.
Fuckin hell man, just watched that odst video and I fallow it up with this. I'm gonna be bawling my eyes out all night. I actually just finished reach yesterday and currently playing all the games in chronological order , but damn I feel like I've never played a halo game before in my life. I literally just watched noble team die not even 24 hours ago but now I feel like I'm actually processing what just happened. Good vid
man even watching this wonderful video analysis about this game made me tear up. Genuinely one of the best works of military sci fi to ever exist, it plays out so epically so unbelievably that it almost feels cemented as genuine history. It reminds you of the daring and brave heroic sacrifices of many soldiers during world war II pulling off things that could only be described as miracles
The Fall of Reach always reminds me of one of my other favorite bits of writing in SciFi "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Jean-Luc Picard Why yes, I am a turbonerd, but even if I weren't I like to think these themes would still be very potent
Found your dishonored video randomly and man do you give REALLY GOOD breakdowns and stuff. I forgot how heartbreaking this game was and you made me tear up at the end of this. Jeez man, great stuff. I'm glad u popped up randomly. Wish I could go back and experience reach for the first time
This video is so good I had to watch it back to back. Also gave your DS and ODST vids a go and, I gotta say, you're an incredible essayist. Your perfect pacing and indepth takeaways are what sets you apart. Hope to see some more stuff from you on media I love, will keep an eye out. Keep doing you!
That split mountain in the background of the final shot there reminds me of a near identical one in Breath of the Wild. Pure coincidence, I'm sure, but still interesting.
The start of my halo journey and still my favorite Halo game (even if the gameplay was crazy for multiplayer haha. I think it added to it in a way, at least for non-competitive)
I just wanted to leave this here, but the song in lone wolf has a foreboding tone to begin but ends off with a high note which alludes to you being lost no matter what, but assures that you bought humanity more time, and the fact that in the last cutscene you can also see a colony ship touching down to reassure you that the time you bought was used to finally win on our terms.
I forgot what an utterly moving experience the end of this game was, and I was never super emotionally invested in the rest of the Halo series, despite having played all of them, it was more like a shared experience with friends. This video was lovely, all your videos are lovely, I can't wait to see more. 😁🖤🙏🏻
Reach was my first exposure to the Halo franchise, watching a playthrough of it over and over as a teenager and only playing a small bit of Halo: CE until I was in my 20s. It's also the first one I completed myself and the one that feels most impactful. CE doesn't feel very story-heavy and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what was going on, 2 knew it was part of a trilogy and behaved accordingly, and I haven't gotten the chance to finish 3 yet. I just remembered that I actually completed 4 as a teenager, but because I had no context, it didn't stick with me so I'm not counting it. Anyway, even without having grown up with the immortal powerhouse that is Master Chief, even with the story having been spoiled before I played it, even without the context of the Covenant having glassed Reach before the IRL first game ever came out and that this is a prequel to that, this game and its story still hit all the right story beats that you talked about.
I felt all the feels Halo Reach had to give a good decade and change ago, my younger self, sitting in shock cause he’d never had a narrative quite like that in Halo. And somehow you went and dredged all those feelings back up. They lost on their own terms, that shit makes me tear up. I’ve just never heard what happened in this game put to words so well, and that’s emotional for me. Thank you.
Something that always struck me was in the long night of solace mission, as you fly up into space. Jorge speaks in Hungarian, “this breaks me heart” as he looks upon the bombardment of Reach. It’s not the first time we see his emotions or his caring side, but to me it’s the most impactful. He’s the big guy of the group, hell he carries a normally mounted turret as his primary weapon. And yet at times he’s as soft as a teddy bear. I think by the time the slip drive malfunctions he already knew reach was lost or was going to be lost. I believe it’s a big reason why he stays behind. A big ‘screw you’ to the covenant. A loss of a super carrier is not insignificant, even if more jump in later to replace it. And his final words “tell them to make it count” (in this context) feels like his character telling us to take as many as we can with us. Make the covenant hurt for taking Reach away from Jorge
As a big fan of all the essayists and TH-camrs you flashed on screen (I’ve watched all of their entire catalogs 😅) I have to say I can feel their influence in all the videos I’ve watched from you thus far! Awesome work!
2:25 To further hammer the point home, the death of a Space Marine, in Warhammer while typically depicted as an event to grive over is at the end of the day just another corpse on the pile, the Super Soldiers that in terms of quality of gear, training and augmentation are largely superior to Spartans, get treated as just another corpse on the pile. The only time a Space Marine gets anywhere near the same kind of weight that the death of a Spartan does is for Dreadnoughts, which are mortally wounded Space Marines, bound until death within the sarcophagus of the Dreadnought that serves as their tomb, case-in-point being "The Glorious Tomb" and "Angels of Death", both of which have the death of a Dreadnought in them. Which makes Reach a nice change of pace as the shoe is sort of on another foot and now Spartans are the ones getting the "another corpse on the pile" treatment, but it is fitting given just how bloody of a conflict Reach must have been ontop of it being more or less *the* Spartan's home, as well as it being the battle that arguably kicked off the downfall of the Covenant, as every event after Reach only helped it's demise. Still hurts to watch the team go down one after the other, but I think it's neat how Spartans tend to get the same weight to their deaths that Space Marine Dreadnoughts do, where there is just this feeling of something completely irreplacable having been lost forever, sure the Armor/Dreadnought can be repaired and reused but... it won't ever be the same as it was under it's previous user/occupant.
Playing the campaign as a kid for the first time was rough. I wasn’t prepared for the weight of each of the spartan deaths, and even now, it’s hard not to get emotional when playing through again. Reach is a one of a kind game
I love Reach, I have gamed harder in Reach than any other game before or since. It is the game that made me a gamer (in the cringe way). Not entirely sure why everyone is replaying it these days - but I'm completely fine with it. Good vid
it might've been posted already but i dont wanna scroll to check (sorry its late) but another theory I've heard about kats death is that the emp(or just the electronic disturbance in general?) that comes with the glassing is messing with her mechanical arm as thats the arm that she uses to miss the button the first time, and thats also the reason she takes so long to get up initially. I also always thought she was asking noble 6 if it was their first glassing.
Saw a reddit post a while ago that's now my official head cannon when the pioneer's got to reach they see all the skeletons if the covenant around 6's armor one guy says he died alone. The other looks around and gestures at all the bodies and says like hell he did
Halo reach is the best game iv ever played and frankly the more i look the i seem reach for it is at first was the fight the feeling of seeing life through dieing eyes and meeting the end with a smile knowing youve done the best you could and now i see it as story that reminds us of our mortality the fact that no one is truly safe we will all die one day. "Reach has been good to me" was one the first lines that really hit home that everything i was seeing was real these people died and wont be here help you when your down the onely way to move on it carry their spirit with you to your eventual end where your the last one to carry the torch where your story dies right along side you.
Others may have said this also, and I've probably taken at least some of this from another retrospective somewhere I forget but there are even more interesting details about the deaths that I think you'll enjoy. Firstly, I've never seen anyone make the connection that its the same team of elite zealots all the way through, but holy shit that makes a lot of sense. And after just watching your ODST analysis I noticed something, look at that scene in the first level winter contingency, when the elite zealot has its energy dagger ready, and is screaming in your face, and look at how noble 6 dies, notice anything? "That lone wolf stuff, stays behind"... Did you see it? Carter saves you, the first time, when the elite has you pinned without a weapon, when its about to stab Six with the energy dagger it has... which is exactly how it kills six at the end of the game. Six dies because theyre alone at the end. People need each other, just like you said. As for the other details about the other deaths, Curiosity killed the Kat, kat dies in the middle of asking question. Also, she was curious about Hollands opinion of the op, and risked contacting him anyway knowing they could be traced... and they were, which is what got her killed. Spartans never die they're just MIA- this is a nitpick but worth noting, youre analysis of the way the slipspace drive accident happened isnt entirely* correct, it doesnt explode... it just teleports part* of the ship, instead of all of it. Kat is speaking literally when she says, no the drive worked fine. So jorge doesnt explode, he's just teleported to parts unknown, sort of like master chief at the end of halo 3 Carter the leader, the "captain" so to speak, goes down with the ship, the pelican Emile- there's a saying, live by the sword... die by the sword. Emile is noteworthy for the kukri he carries around , a small dagger. And how he is killed? By an energy sword, as another commenter and I'm sure others have noticed, to the back. another random note, I always thought that Emile's last words were actually to the player not the elite, but I think youre right it makes more sense for him to say it to the elite, and have it only be metaphorically to the player, which it definitely is. Its also kind of funny that the first to die is Noble five, jorge, and then the deaths work upwards from there and eventually work their way back around to six at the end. Something interesting about Jorge as the only spartan II on the team as well. He's called big man, and because of the augmentations they recevied as part of the spartan project, the spartan 2's are much larger than the spartan III's. Spartan 2's by and large are also generally considered superior to spartan 3's because they were keenly selected by dr halsey herself as prime candidates and special individuals across all of humanity. The spartan 3's however, (who comprise the rest of noble team) were largely taken en masse from enlistees who volunteered for the project. Jorge is literally, and figuratively, above them. As a result, his death is notably different in several ways as well, he dies thinking hes about to save the entire planet, but the stakes of all the others deaths are much smaller. Bonus. Noble six if you read his dossier along with the other dossier's of the noble team members, mentions that he was essentially "a personal reaper" i think the phrase is, for someone in ONI. A lot of shall we say, cloak and... dagger, sort of stuff. And what is the weapon that kills him? The elite energy dagger. I dont know who did the writing for this shit but damn they made these poetic as all get out.
I’m just discovered your channel and what the absolute F your content is amazing You should make a video about days gone I think you might be one of the few people who truly understand the story and appreciate it for what it is
This and ODST have and always will be my absolute favorites Of the halo series, this one moreso for a similarly great story with (personal opinion) a more fun toolkit with the toys like armor lock and fancy assassination animations. But both of them Absolute masterpieces a cut above the already magnificent Halo franchise
Well... It wasn't just noble team who died for reach. If you take a second to look at the fallen soldiers who's guns and ammo you grab in the final mission, you'll notice that these scattered bodies aren't just troopers. They are spartans. A lot of spartans died on Reach. Remember Reach.
Losing on your own terms makes me think of the serenity prayer. However, in sacrifice the wisdom isn't in knowing the difference between acceptance and courage, but in knowing that when combined your death can be more than pain and despair, and instead a final moment of pride and bittersweet contentment. A final act of courageous acceptance.
I have a whole bunch of thoughts on this, but the nature of this game means that it’s incredibly fun to watch people play it for the first time. Tip of the spear is my favorite because you can obviously see the bad that happened. I had to play through reach a second time to fully grasp what happened in reaches orbit because it kind of sent me into shock and most streamers seem to miss it. I think once George dies people know what’s up and so they start guessing and it’s fascinating how they know who even if not when
dude all the halos on PC finally have the mythic mod overhaul so im gong to play those and SPV3.And i just fount your two videos on halo, this community is fucken badass
What I find fascinating about each of your teammates deaths is that they're all ironic. Jorge, the most connected to Reach, dies in space and off the planet. Kat, the brains of the team, is sniped in the head. Emile, obsessed with clpse quarters and his knife, is stabbed in the back. And you, the character who was told to leave the lone wolf stuff behind, left as the last survivor forced to fight alone one last time after finally finding a team.
What I really have learned to love about Halo these past couple months is the dichotomy of the worldbuilding and the investment it brings into the universe. Yeah, sure, humans are forerunner being the reason for the Covenant's genocide is a cool lore bit, but that's just not pertinent to the story that is being told. In a story about dying in defense of a doomed world, all you need to know is that the Covenant are a determined and unstoppable foe, and defeat is a matter of time. In a way, it's almost a satirical critique and a love letter to the original Halo trilogy at the same time. On the one hand, it's a tragic Rogue-One-esque story before Rogue One that perfectly closes and reopens the Halo adventure we grew up with. But on the other hand, it is a bitter commentary on the fact that not everyone is the Master chief, not even the other spartans.
One thing you didn’t touch on in this video is the music in this game. I under yes and why you didn’t, it doesn’t fit in very smoothly with the thesis, but fuck the music in this game is incredible. There are multiple tracks I still tear up while listening to to this day.
I definitely would love to see a video on New Alexandria as it is a visual representation of the Reachs theme that being humanity fighting tooth and nail ordinary humans trying to save a world and protect civilians from the unstoppable monster that is the Covenant that was doomed from the start. It's a good representation of the human spirit something that even the Sangheili (Elites) recognised with great respect that humanity regardless of our situation regardless how unwinnable it is we will fight for as long as we have to even if it kills us because our resolve and stubbornness to surrender is unbeatable.
Forgot just how hard Reach hit, in all the right ways. I think Reach (playing it not long after its launch) was the first game to truly strike home the absolute dread of not just losing a war but losing an entire planet, and in the span of barely any time at all
Reach was allways my favorite halo & the most played with 3 in the undisputet 2 place Evry friday we played the campaine on legend with all skulls or most in splitscreen While online was also hardcore tryharded One of the few games i was truly realy good in it & had unlockt all of the armor skins & voices in game that did not even needed microtransactions I never realy could get enugh of the story, music, landscape Evry time i think about reach i think about the need to be atleast a bit better to be able to help those that need some help that are in Reach ( pun intendet ) At some point there even formed it self a headcannon that i did not die on reach but managed to caper a covernant vessel to take of so i could catch up to the chief (prop) at some point to continue to raid alien booty The game is so sad & tragic but yet so beautyfull One of the best games ever made a real masterpiece to expirience for ages to come
Kat’s death is my favorite death in a piece of fiction. There is no long buildup, no overdramatic foreshadowing, it comes at you all of a sudden, and even after she’s dead, Noble Team doesn’t have any mawkish reaction. They just move on, because they’re running out of time.
It was different, watching my buddy Baker play Reach for the first time, a few months ago. He was a solider, fought in Afghanistan against the Talaban and has unfortunately seen some of his own squad mates make the ultimate sacrifice.
I won’t forget the way he sighed and smoked a cig, the first in a while. I felt guilty for recommending the game but he told me he loved it. For all the sci-fi, it was a more true to life view of war. Not everyone gets to make it
“Never has a game gotten the difference between a Medal of Honor (Jorge’s death) and a statistic (Kat’s death.) so right.”
I don’t think I’ll ever forget his observation.
His doing ok, for any wondering
TLDR; Reach is a different experience for veteran.
If you can tell your buddy thank you for your service for me
Dude, that medal if honour line is the most raw quote I've ever heard,
Lol your buddy was closer to the Covenant than the UNSC 😂
This story is 100% real and it happened. I know, because I am the cig.
fun fact: in Lore, six lasted several hours and tied down a whole covenant army for several hours before finally dying
That's debatable.
It's anywhere from several hours to a week of fighting before he died.
Bro literally kept fighting until they GLASSED HIM!
@@number3766and that might not even have been enough
By this point im pretty sure it's confirmed he's dead and it was definitely on reach, but there was that one bit of him being in a nearby cave
So maybe he did fight for even longer than that
Something I read that comes from canon, is that Six’s last stand lasted not minutes, but hours. Six hours. For those six hours the covenant couldn’t get them. Supposedly, once the Elites (specifically the commanders) heard that a sole spartan was wiping entire squads by themselves, they held off the order to glass the area, and go kill them themselves. For six hours, Six survived, becoming the literal last soldier on reach, taking as many as they could
The planet broke before Six did!
"I'm not trapped here with you, you're trapped here with me."
~ Noble Six
"Talenel did not break" @@vardiganxpl1698
Didn't Six only die after they GLASSED HIM!
To this day, the Mission "Lone Wolf" sticks out for me. Not only is it basically a Last Stand (which are inherently fascinating), but it's a mission that will really give you a glimpse into the character of the person playing it. Some folks will play this game, reach that "Objective: Survive" and be overwhelmed with sadness or apathy. Maybe only put up a minute or two of resistance before accepting the inevitable. Others will see that prompt...and leverage every shot, skill and dirty trick they can in an effort to make the Covenant earn their kill, despite how pointless it is. I've seen grown men who don't give one rip about Halo or its lore still give their all on Lone Wolf because "I ain't going down like no bitch".
I remember spending an hour or 2 on my first time in Lone Wolf, desperately trying to survive, and ever restarted the mission, thinking If I just Rage long enough, fight hard enough, kill enough, maybe I can pull through, but in the end the light would die, yet I would always fight to the bitter end. Really defined, my childhood in a way.
@@greganator111 Hey, if you ever want to cheese the Covenant for a lark, there's supposed to be a building where you can force them to come in single file and farm for hours.
@@greganator111 Lol. We all looked for that secret ending when we played Reach.
Some times I could play that mission for a long time, other times I'd hear "wart wart wart" and get ganked from behind by an elite in the first 30 seconds like Emile
At 16:30, there's also a second reason Carter sends Jun with Dr. Halsey: insurance.
Dr. Halsey has been captured in the past (the Halo Legends animation The Package), and the UNSC, and Spartans in particular, know Dr. Halsey is invaluable to the UNSC, and disastrous should the Covenant get their hands on her for an extended period of time. And Carter and Jun's exchange...
"Jun, make sure NOTHING falls into enemy hands."
"I'll do what's necessary, sir."
Is that the order to a bodyguard protecting a VIP... or someone with an unspoken kill order for Jun to keep her out of Covenant hands should the worst happen and he can't keep her safe?
Carter wanted her protected... but for humanity, he and Jun would've killed her.
Holy shit I can’t believe I missed this great call
Jun was also a Headhunter Spartan... One of the ones who does that kind of work
I read The Fall of Reach in school long before I ever got the chance to play any Halo games. So Halo Reach was my favourite, and remains there
Had the opposite effect for me. I hated the game for a few years for rewriting a chunk of the book. Its a good game of course, I just hated that it stepped on my favorite book on the way out.
I think it would be a really interesting alternate history game if If the pillar of autumn instead of. safely getting away it Was forced to crash on reach (Without the covenants Knowledge)
@certain_sloth 100% loved FOR wish the game had adapted it, so much potential.
@@certain_sloth There are actual reasons for this. The author of the book didn't actually have the full support of Bungie, though he had the support of Microsoft I believe. Bungie considered whatever they made canon.
In fact, they were hesitant to introduce ODSTs to the franchise (Those being introduced in Fall of Reach) As they thought it sounded like "Microsoft's Halo, not Bungie's Halo."
While the timeline can be a little mixed, at the end of the day, Reach had an amazing story, and Bungie definitely went out with a bang.
I'm glad to hear that there were fans of the book first that liked Reach. At the time especially, there was tons of fans of the book and the original trilogy who absolutely HATED Reach because it retconned part of the book.
I love the books a ton, especially The Fall Of Reach, but when it comes to the actual events of the Battle Of Reach, the game is honestly a much better story. The book mostly glossed over the ground battle, and the whole planet was glassed in like a day. The game actually told a story of a struggle, where at first it looked like you might just win. And the UNSC does win. Until the Long Night Of Solace shows its hand, and the next fleets arrive. Then it's loss after crushing loss, but the UNSC makes the aliens bleed for EVERY inch of ground they take and glass.
The end result is the same, but the journey is what matters most.
"Negative, I have the gun, good luck sir."
"and good luck to you spartan"
16:53 Fun fact: Carter isn't bleeding from his mouth because he's been wounded by Banshee fire, it's because he doesn't floss.
Also, something I always appreciated was how appropriate or ironic each Noble's death was. Jorge loves Reach, but is the only one who dies off-planet. Kat, the brains of the team, is shot in the head. Carter, the captain of Noble Team, goes down with his ship alone. Emile is aggressive and confrontational, but his mortal wound came from behind. And Six, who's only recently learned to be a part of a team, dies a lone wolf. Really rubs that salt nicely into the wounds.
And Jun the sniper escaped into the shadow to live another day
@@justnodl6493 I was thinking about how Jun fits into this, and yeah. The sniper keeps his distance. Fitting.
Jorge is also the heavy ordnance expert and dies in an explosion, Emile is the close quarters expert and dies to a sword, Kat is comms expert and dies mid sentence.
Bungie really cooked when they made reach.
It's.....just so well planned it's damn tragic ;-;
@@Spike2276 kat is also the tech person and she gets shot in the head do to her shield malfunctioning
20:52 I think Emile was talking to the Elite. Emile was basically a savage in combat. He was kind of a psycho brute, but he was always scared to die. He was always scared to risk himself for others. It's why he carved the skull into his mask. It wasn't just to look scary but also a projection of his fear. That changed when Jorge died. He was always picking fights with Jorge. He was Jorge's antithesis. Jorge cared and risked and when Jorge died, it started to change Emile's perspective.
When Jorge is alive and caring for one woman he mutters "He's not the only one (that needs a psych eval)."
After Jorge dies it's "*reminiscing laugh* The Big Man was always sentimental."
He lived for himself, but inspired by Jorge's example, Emile died for humanity on Reach. He started to accept the skull. To accept death, not as a giver of death, but a participant which he directs to the Elite. I understand the interpretation that the line was meant for Noble-6, but I think it's more likely that this is an indirect, secondary meaning. One that's focused on the narrative. The upper layer is Emile making peace with himself to the Elite. With his ghost that's been following him this whole time (alluding to his helmet and the Elites literally drop off a"Phantom", the same one that killed his teammate Kat, has come for him). The second layer is Bungie to the player.
"Are you ready for our time with Halo to be over. Are you ready for your character's fate to be sealed? This is the turning point. Are you ready to lose, so he can win? Are you ready to pass that torch? Are you ready for us to pass *this* torch? We are ready, because Destiny awaits."
Now, it could be all of the above. Emile to the Elite, Emile to Noble-6, Narrative to Noble-6, and Bungie to the player. Layers.
I'm surprised at how you've got no comments, because in my opinion you did a damn good analysis, i like the idea of Emile seeing the bigger picture and just making peace with himself, the metaphor of the Phantom and death, and that "We are ready, because Destiny awaits" i loved that part. I like to think that this was also a message from Bungie, to the player, knowing what was to come and the reference to the ODST 3 "Destiny Awaits".
That bungie part got me teared up. I haven't completed destiny, but I do have great memories with that game, and of course halo too
lol I guess its a triple entendre, I think you're right
@@Miss_Trillium Destiny carries a lot of the themes of Reach, actually.
The games are all about Sacrifice and Agency.
We make our own fate.
Devotion. Bravery. Sacrifice. Death.
What do we fight For? Why?
Those are the core themes of Destiny, kinda bundled up. The Final Shape expansion was an excellent sendoff. It's sad that Bungie as a group of developers and people isn't doing as well as it did in the past, but it's undeniable that they made some excellent pieces of art.
Kat's death has always stuck with me as one of the most impactful turning points in a game for me. Kat's death really sets it in that feeling of "im not gonna make it all the way back home, but ive gotta make it to my objective"
The death hits harder when you hear the civilians in the background. You have to think about that, the fact that to a civilian, these soldiers are unstoppable. And they just saw one fall rescuing them.
(Edit: I did not realize he brought this up when I first replied to you, as I replied early in the video.)
16:31 One small thing I think you missed is that Jun isn't sent to simply protect Halsey. Carter tells Halsey that she's being escorted to Castle Base by Jun (Or rather "Noble 3", as Halsey I don't think refers to the Spartans by name other than Jorge, but by designation and number). She insists that she doesn't require an escort, but Carter ignores her and speaks directly to Jun, telling him to "Make sure nothing falls into enemy hands" to which Jun replies "I'll do what's necessary sir."
This is how dire the situation has become. Even as the Covenant glass the planet, your team has been sent not on a rescue mission, but on asset denial. All they can do at this point is evacuate whoever you can and enact scorched earth of the rest. Halsey's discovery might be the saving grace of humanity, but at this point there's absolutely no guarentee we can turn the inevitable tide. Saving her life may buy us more time, but losing her will cost us more than we can afford. Humanity is expending the last of their most valuable assets not to achieve victory, but to forestall an inevitable defeat and Halsey, with her unparalelled insight and intellect, has become as expendable as the otherwise priceless Spartans she produced.
On a practical note, it makes sense to send a Spartan on this job not just because they can be expected to save their last bullet for Halsey if necessary, but because of their survivavility. In Tip of the Spear we've seen that Spartans can survive a Kestrel crash that would kill or severely wound an unaugmented human. If they don't make it to the base, if they're shot down or caught in a firefight they have no hope of winning, Jun will almost certainly be the last man standing and he can make sure the Covenant don't have the oppertunity to take Halsey alive.
There is a reason Halsey only refers to Jorge by his name. Jorge is the only Spartan II on the team. It’s why he is so different and so much bigger. The rest of Noble Team are Spartan III’s.
Halsey had direct interaction with every II she helped raise/create. She genuinely cares for them (in a fucked up way). But there were significantly more III’s and she wasn’t as involved. To her, they are inferior tools.
I watched this video yesterday and I honestly almost cried. Halo Reach is such a well crafted and somber game.
One thing that struck out to me from your description of Kat, specifically when describing the moments leading to her death, was how human she was. Often the Spartans in Halo have their humanity de-emphasized as a point to show that it was removed from them, and Kat's introduction to the game is her robotic arm. She's clearly been in this war and has become, in a physical sense, less human by it. But, when the glassing of New Alexandria begins, she struggles more than the other members of her team even though she the one that sees the radiation coming. She misses the button on the elevator, she's nervous. I could be wrong, but when do we see Spartans in any of the games nervous? I'm reminded how in the beginning of Fall of Reach, its Samuel (I could be remembering wrong if it's Samuel) that makes the marines around him nervous. Yet here, we have someone who has a physical marker denoting that her physical body is less human, showing a very human response to this situation. Her death is the most human because it just happens. Not one of us will know when death comes for us, and that reigns true even for Spartans. They are still human. They still struggle, still feel, still die. I think her death being witnessed by regular civilians is another testament to that.
5:45 [screenshot] - *achievement unlocked* - “Beautiful ain’t it.. someone should take a picture”
"From the beginning, you knew how it was going to end"
One of the things I love about Halo Reach are the character animations. I learned about it from The Body Language of Halo Reach by Core Ideas, but just all the little details of character movement and mannerisms just make everything subtly work.
The best example is probably from Kat's death scene, where, as the door is closing, you can see Carter stumble back in shock and despair from losing the teammate he was probably closest to
Carter and Kat were the closest, they were the only two remaining members of the original Noble Team, everyone else were replacements. So naturally it makes sense it's going to hit him that the only one he knew since Noble Team was formed still around, is now gone
The first Halo game I played was Halo: Wars.
I watched the intro cutscene, cool battles, explosions, carnage, but then as more and more people started dropping I distinctly remember the sad music kicking in and the voiceline closing with: "... It was hell...but it's ours now."
(Probably slightly off but it's a memory) And my friend going:" I thought this was a war game, why is it so sad?"
We were just teenagers back then. We got the game because it promised big muscular dudes shooting at each other but we still felt the melancholic emotional core immediately hitting us.
The best war movies always manage to do this. Saving Private Ryan for example hits a vety similar note to me.
Iirc the line is something like "Setback after setback... Loss after loss... Turned what was supposed to be a quick and easy victory into five long years of hell.
"But Harvest's ours again."
But like you, I am working off of memory here.
@@yourdoom6554 of course, that's all harvest is now, hell. But it's ours now.
@@RocketCouch That's it. Thank you.
"I thought this was a war game, why is it so sad?" Really just proves how naïve we were as kids.
Man, even knowing the lore behind Reach before the game released, it was rediculously upsetting, but in a good way, you KNEW what was going to happen but the game still made you hope right up to the end, to the point where there were people making theorys and trying to explain how 6 actually made it out alive because we never actually see a body and we technically never see the blow that finishes them... Games that can do that are far too rare these days and I wish devs would go back to focusing on the story rather than graphics and monetization
I sometimes like to pretend 6 found that one building where the Covenant have to enter one at a time and farmed infinity kills.
@@Appletank8 "The planet will break before the Spartan does"
Before watching this I didn't realize that Kat and Emile were killed by the same elites that appeared in the first mission, and that they had stalked the fireteam the whole game. I did play and finished the game but never noticed that. Now I want to play through it again...
I never understood why so many people hated Halo: Reach when it came out. I think it being a completely different narrative, a tragedy vs. being a heroic story and video games (especially of the time it coming out) oftentimes telling you that you are the protagonist and therefore will win the fight, was a part of that. Sentiments and feelings around video games have changed since then, but I think a lot of people at the time were not prepared for stories where you will lose and were destined to from the beginning. Especially a fps like Halo where you had played the single most important soldier in the game's history across multiple games. This is a lovely video and I appreciate the love for my favorite game in the Halo series.
Those who disrespect this game just doesn't know what is the thing they see.
Reach was an instant favorite. The halo universe is about losing a war for survival.
Master chief was unstoppable, and we learned that he’s always going to come out on top.
Reach showed me the desperation that the rest of humanity knew.
I hated this game when it came out. By all means, it is a good game. Except it rewrites one of my favorite books a dozen ways. Im 100% biased and I know it. The thing is, Im pretty sure they could've pulled off just as good of a game without stepping on the book on the way out.
@@certain_sloth that’s fair. I’ve never read the book so 🤷🏻♂️
Most people that disliked it did so for one of 2 core reasons: The narrative deviated HEAVILY from the Fall of Reach novel, which had been well accepted canon up until the release of the the game, and Reach introduced some pretty major gameplay system changes, most notably the armor abilities - sprint being the most polarizing for how it impacted the speed of the game and necessitated big changes to how levels/maps were designed.
I think my favourite scene in the entire game (aside from Noble Six's death) is the fake-out when Halsey gives the package to Noble Team. The way the camera is positioned -- and where Halsey walks -- makes you think she's giving it to Carter, but the doctor walks past him and gives it to Six, who's out of frame. Not only does the cinematography trick you, but so does your insticts; you _expect_ Carter -- the team leader -- to be the one carrying humanity's saving grace. But no, it's you.
New Alexandria is my favorite mission. You’re in the heart of a siege and all around is evidence of how poorly it’s going. You do everything you can but it’s never enough.
The feeling of genuine desperation with no happy ending is a welcome change from the monotonous rampage most games have your main character take.
Instead of being in an isolated ring, Your with humanity as it crumbles around you.
When you're going through some shit, sometimes all it takes to get through is that you know you can lose on your own terms. Love the video. Love the message.
Every time people talk about the themes of 1-3, ODST, and Reach, all I can think of is a monologue of Babylon 5
The humans, I think, knew they were doomed. But where another race would surrender to despair, the Humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Mimbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones. And then throw themselves without fear or hesitation, into the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one, who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage. By their stubborn nobility. When they ran out ships they used guns. When they ran out of guns they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were, magnificent. I only hope, that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two, years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.
There's something so unbelievably compelling about the idea of facing your inevitable demise with defiance, and sacrificing yourself so that others can live. I don't know why - maybe it's some part of our ape brain that evolved when sacrifices were more necessary, but that's why I find the entire story of Halo and the Spartans so compelling - humanity will not go quietly into the night.
Halo reach was the first halo game I ever played and from there on out I was addicted.
I now play every Christmas, because l that’s when I first played reach.
Same bro
Ah yes, I spent so many hours playing Reach with my grandpa. I loved this game.
Few games can claim to fill the player with genuine sadness whilst also making them feel triumphant, only to throw them deep into despair. The destruction of the super carrier and subsequent arrival of the Covenant fleet is one of the most memorable and emotionally charged scenes in video game history.
imma need a whole halo series from you. this is amazing
Excellent use of the siege of Madrigal soundtrack. I really like your thesis about how so much of halo is about losing on our terms and trying to keep moving through the fire. Wonderful work as always and I look forward to more of your content!
Me and some buddies have been playing through the entire Master Chief Collection again recently to experience games we missed and to re-experience the ones we loved but forgot.
Following the entire story back to back has been amazing and we just started Reach last night. The game is a masterpiece. Knowing that no one makes it out, knowing that Cortana needs to escape and get to Chief, knowing that we lose the battle but win the war is so powerful.
The game was the first Halo game that ever made me feel something. But now that I know what Reach cost us, it has made each other game that much better.
Great video essay
This video had me in tears because I watched your video on ODST a couple of days ago, and decided to replay Reach (Because I don't currently own ODST) because of a similar hopless felling they have. And when I played it, with my music and voice settings turned up and the game sounds turned low, I cried. I didn't pick up on a lot of the things you mentioned when I played, but with the game fresh in my mind, I really put some thought into it.
After Jorge died, believing he just saved Reach, when he really didn't, I don't believe the others in Noble Team allowed them self to think that their deaths, their 'sacrifices', would fix all the compounded issues up to that point. That their death would save the rest of the team. And Reach specifically is an exercise in futility because when you start the game, it shows that Noble 6, you are dead. You might not know it in the beginning, but by the time Kat dies, you pretty much know that you are not surviving Reach.
I realize this is some high-purity cope, but I always imagined Noble 6 survived.
My headcanon/fanfic is that they stumble through a forerunner portal after finishing off the headhunters, and a forerunner medical facility patches up their otherwise-mortal wounds. Completely isolated for years, kept from suicide only by the thought that they might be the last surviving human and they don’t want to be responsible for the death of their species, they spend the time reflecting on their life. Eventually they come to the conclusion that the original Spartan program represented the loss of the Mandate of Heaven for the UEG… so when the UNSC finally reaches wherever they’ve been holed up, and tries to bring them back into the fold, they refuse.
They’ll answer to their name, but insist that Noble 6, B-312, died on Reach if they’re ever so addressed.
In my fanfic, this is a rewrite of Halo 5, with Chief played by 6 and Locke played by Chief. 6 is running around the galaxy trying to support insurgents, overthrow the UNSC, and help people wherever they can. Chief is following, trying to fight insurgents, save the UNSC, and… help people wherever he can.
It climaxes with a confrontation between the two. John has already been called away to fight some other threat - nothing close to Covenant-scale but enough that they don’t want to leave John chasing shadows - but has Six cornered. It’s now or never.
As John navigates the station, Six thanks John for saving humanity, but points out all the evil the UNSC did and is still doing. They say they knew Chief was on their heels, so took him on a walking tour of the grounds zero of all the worst crimes of the UNSC. Then they reveal that, while Noble 6 died on Reach, this place was where they broke. Since they were one of the few Spartans, let alone headhunters, who can pass as an unaugmented human (Noble 6 is half a head shorter than the next shortest Spartan in Noble Team), they were sent to this base to infiltrate it to get some MacGuffin. Per Phantom Liberty, they befriended the insurgents, grew to like them, then murdered them. After that, they gave their handler an ultimatum: assign them to a normal Spartan unit or... They didn’t bother to finish, and their handler wasn’t dumb enough to force Six to make a threat they’d have to carry through on.
They were assigned to Noble Team, where they’d be out of the way and well guarded if they went rogue.
Chief… is in too deep, though. He hasn’t had the prolonged isolation which was necessary for him to deprogram himself like 6 did, or maybe he’s just to thoroughly rationalized the suffering he went through during his own recruitment. He kicks down the door to the room where 6 notionally was, to find a comms relay patched into the station intercom.
“Please, John. I’m good, but we both know who’d win in a straight fight. I’m at least good enough to avoid getting cornered. Still, I’m sorry we couldn’t work together. *sighs* I hope I’ve given you some food for thought. Fighting against the end of humanity is one thing, but it’s time to start thinking about what you want to fight *for*. Seeya ‘round, John.”
Legendary completion scene: Serin Osman, CinC ONI, is in her office contemplating space. Her door opens. “Leave the reports on my desk.” She says, not turning from the window.
“Sarin.” The camera pans around to show Six in an ONI uniform, not their Mjolnir armor. A fleck of blood on the collar shows its former owner didn’t part with it willingly. “We need to talk.”
Well damn! I don’t know a THING about Halo but I’m sold, that’s a really well put together story! Cool.
I kinda don't care that it undercuts a tragedy a little, that its origin is just wanting a good character to live, I like the idea.
Despite Reach being my first interaction with Halo lore and it's world I still felt the impact of the death of a Spartan. I knew that Spartans were these powerful soldiers and seeing them die and get hunted down was impactful. And this video showed me a lot more of the subtle details that I missed while playing the game which makes it now much more impactful and meaningful in my eyes.
Great video btw
I didn't even think of that at 20:52. That is so insane, I frikkin love Reach.
PLEASE do an essay on Exodus and maybe New Alexandria too that would be amazing!
One other thing about Kat's death I liked:
The entire game, Kat's been pretty icy and professional towards you. Partly because it's just in her nature, but moreso (at least I suspect) because you're the replacement for the last Noble Six, whose death Kat blames herself for. She either doesn't want to get invested in you because you could die too, or she's not comfortable with the previous Six being replaced so quickly. But when her and Six are in the elevator, she opens up to them just a little. She allows herself to be vulnerable, and you can actually hear some emotion in her voice when she mentions it's her first glassing and shows some vulnerability, before going right back to her usual attitude.
I think this was really smart, because it was probably easy for most players to feel sad when Jorge died, since he was the heart of Noble Team in a lot of ways and him and Six had a handful of moments throught the first half of the game. The game made you like and care about Jorge. But with Kat, up until that brief dialogue there wasn't a whole lot to get you emotionally invested in her as a character. So Bungie's writers made you feel that little bit of empathy for her, and then immediately yanked her away.
Had to pause the video after your description of Emile's death cause it actually brought a tear to my eye. God damn I love Reach.
First off, this is one of the best Reach essays I’ve seen.
Second, I *swear* the MCC version of the game removes the civilians who react to Kat’s death. Not sure why. Sanitization? Trying to make the scene less horrifying?
fuck, this was so well written. props to you, man.
I remember when I first played Reach with my brothers. It was an experience we wouldn't soon forget, and it really hit us as long term Halo fans just how impactful it was. It left its mark for sure and later when the Master Chief Collection came out I had what I considered was the honor of introducing Reach to one of my long time friends. I'll never forget the deafening silence that washed over the call as Kat died. She needed a moment after that to process what just happened. Reach really is something special and I love that It has this way of delivering that message that you aren't going to save the day, you're just fighting to give humanity a chance.
Halo Reach was the last Halo game I got to play with my Step brother Alex before he passed October 11 2010. It's my least played of all the older halo games(Halo CE-Reach anyway) Ever since Master Chief edition came to PC I've been trying to play Reach more. Alex and I played Halo CE all the way to ODST on Legendary and that was loads of fun. ODST and Reach had great characters and story, as did all that came before, loved the video! :D
Ahh, a good sunday morning cry
The end of Reach truly is beautiful. Wild how my two favourite Halo games are ODST and Reach.
Reach will always be special to me. I first played it over the course of a week or so at a friend's house, splitscreen on his tiny CRT TV. I'd played the other Halo games before and loved them already but Reach always stuck with me in a different way. The story and tone of the game was absolutely perfect especially after playing the original trilogy. Those games had moments of loss and hardship but you were the Master Chief, (and sometimes the Arbiter), your victory over the Covenant and the Flood never felt like a question of will you win but when or how will you win. Those games did a great job of building up this legend of the spartans as unstoppable warriors, coming out on top no matter the odds. Reach took that feeling built up over those games and used it perfectly to show you that despite the differences between a spartan and a regular guy at the end of the day they're still human and their stories have to come to an end eventually. Cortana certainly wasn't kidding when she mentions John's power being luck when you consider how the majority of them end up. So I will always Remember Reach.
Fantastic video essay.
I got recommended your republic commando video on a whim and you have quickly became one of my favourite essay channels because of how you format and structure your videos (and of course they are very entertaining)
I have watched practically every halo reach essay on youtube and this one
Is my favourite
Fantastic job
I just found your channel through the ODST video and came directly to this one after that one. I think I've never cried more for Noble Team as I have watching you vid. Maybe is the new perspective I have on life since I played it all those years ago, but you just made me FEEL things. Keep going, man.
This is one Hell of an Essay. Cheers to you friend.
Jeorge being the first death spelt the doom for the rest of the squad since he was the only Spartan 2 and 2s are nigh invincible compared to spartan 3s that the rest of the squad consists of.
He would also be quite a bit older than anyone else in the squad the grizzled veteran.
Not true. 3s with Mjolnir were on par with 2s.
@@Key_Mind I might not be up to date with Halo Media but I think the Onyx book was a good example of the Spartan 3s
@@YolStrun 3s were given cheaper and weaker armor. In Mjolnir like Noble Team, they are similar to 2s
@@Key_Mindyea noble team getting mjolnir was because they were considered exceptional compared to other 3’s. They got the armor for being above the average, I don’t agree all 3’s are as capable as 2’s. But noble is the exception to that rule for a reason.
Fuckin hell man, just watched that odst video and I fallow it up with this. I'm gonna be bawling my eyes out all night. I actually just finished reach yesterday and currently playing all the games in chronological order , but damn I feel like I've never played a halo game before in my life. I literally just watched noble team die not even 24 hours ago but now I feel like I'm actually processing what just happened.
Good vid
This was a beautiful retrospective. Remember Reach
man even watching this wonderful video analysis about this game made me tear up. Genuinely one of the best works of military sci fi to ever exist, it plays out so epically so unbelievably that it almost feels cemented as genuine history. It reminds you of the daring and brave heroic sacrifices of many soldiers during world war II pulling off things that could only be described as miracles
The Fall of Reach always reminds me of one of my other favorite bits of writing in SciFi
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Jean-Luc Picard
Why yes, I am a turbonerd, but even if I weren't I like to think these themes would still be very potent
Found your dishonored video randomly and man do you give REALLY GOOD breakdowns and stuff.
I forgot how heartbreaking this game was and you made me tear up at the end of this. Jeez man, great stuff. I'm glad u popped up randomly. Wish I could go back and experience reach for the first time
It's been a while since I got choked up thinking about Reach. Today, it happened again.
Bravo, sir.
20:45 I felt that missed achievement in my soul
This video is so good I had to watch it back to back. Also gave your DS and ODST vids a go and, I gotta say, you're an incredible essayist. Your perfect pacing and indepth takeaways are what sets you apart. Hope to see some more stuff from you on media I love, will keep an eye out. Keep doing you!
There's just something so human in knowing your doom yet giving life a nasty uppercut on the way out.
That split mountain in the background of the final shot there reminds me of a near identical one in Breath of the Wild. Pure coincidence, I'm sure, but still interesting.
The start of my halo journey and still my favorite Halo game (even if the gameplay was crazy for multiplayer haha. I think it added to it in a way, at least for non-competitive)
I second the comment on doing the whole series. This was beautifully written from the heart and struck right where many feel on this game.
I just wanted to leave this here, but the song in lone wolf has a foreboding tone to begin but ends off with a high note which alludes to you being lost no matter what, but assures that you bought humanity more time, and the fact that in the last cutscene you can also see a colony ship touching down to reassure you that the time you bought was used to finally win on our terms.
You may never read or see this, but this is my mark on something that is art
I forgot what an utterly moving experience the end of this game was, and I was never super emotionally invested in the rest of the Halo series, despite having played all of them, it was more like a shared experience with friends.
This video was lovely, all your videos are lovely, I can't wait to see more. 😁🖤🙏🏻
Reach was my first exposure to the Halo franchise, watching a playthrough of it over and over as a teenager and only playing a small bit of Halo: CE until I was in my 20s. It's also the first one I completed myself and the one that feels most impactful. CE doesn't feel very story-heavy and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what was going on, 2 knew it was part of a trilogy and behaved accordingly, and I haven't gotten the chance to finish 3 yet. I just remembered that I actually completed 4 as a teenager, but because I had no context, it didn't stick with me so I'm not counting it.
Anyway, even without having grown up with the immortal powerhouse that is Master Chief, even with the story having been spoiled before I played it, even without the context of the Covenant having glassed Reach before the IRL first game ever came out and that this is a prequel to that, this game and its story still hit all the right story beats that you talked about.
I felt all the feels Halo Reach had to give a good decade and change ago, my younger self, sitting in shock cause he’d never had a narrative quite like that in Halo.
And somehow you went and dredged all those feelings back up. They lost on their own terms, that shit makes me tear up. I’ve just never heard what happened in this game put to words so well, and that’s emotional for me. Thank you.
Something that always struck me was in the long night of solace mission, as you fly up into space. Jorge speaks in Hungarian, “this breaks me heart” as he looks upon the bombardment of Reach. It’s not the first time we see his emotions or his caring side, but to me it’s the most impactful. He’s the big guy of the group, hell he carries a normally mounted turret as his primary weapon. And yet at times he’s as soft as a teddy bear.
I think by the time the slip drive malfunctions he already knew reach was lost or was going to be lost. I believe it’s a big reason why he stays behind. A big ‘screw you’ to the covenant. A loss of a super carrier is not insignificant, even if more jump in later to replace it. And his final words “tell them to make it count” (in this context) feels like his character telling us to take as many as we can with us. Make the covenant hurt for taking Reach away from Jorge
For a game that’s been out over a decade that’s gotta be one of the best videos I’ve ever seen about it.(and I’ve seen a lot)
As a big fan of all the essayists and TH-camrs you flashed on screen (I’ve watched all of their entire catalogs 😅) I have to say I can feel their influence in all the videos I’ve watched from you thus far! Awesome work!
Incredibly beautifully written essay that puts into words what I had always thought
Absolutely love watching essays like this on my favorite games with the greatest stories, great video👍🏻
2:25
To further hammer the point home, the death of a Space Marine, in Warhammer while typically depicted as an event to grive over is at the end of the day just another corpse on the pile,
the Super Soldiers that in terms of quality of gear, training and augmentation are largely superior to Spartans, get treated as just another corpse on the pile.
The only time a Space Marine gets anywhere near the same kind of weight that the death of a Spartan does is for Dreadnoughts, which are mortally wounded Space Marines,
bound until death within the sarcophagus of the Dreadnought that serves as their tomb, case-in-point being "The Glorious Tomb" and "Angels of Death", both of which have the death of a Dreadnought in them.
Which makes Reach a nice change of pace as the shoe is sort of on another foot and now Spartans are the ones getting the "another corpse on the pile" treatment, but it is fitting given just how bloody of a conflict Reach must have been ontop of it being more or less *the* Spartan's home, as well as it being the battle that arguably kicked off the downfall of the Covenant, as every event after Reach only helped it's demise.
Still hurts to watch the team go down one after the other, but I think it's neat how Spartans tend to get the same weight to their deaths that Space Marine Dreadnoughts do, where there is just this feeling of something completely irreplacable having been lost forever, sure the Armor/Dreadnought can be repaired and reused but... it won't ever be the same as it was under it's previous user/occupant.
Playing the campaign as a kid for the first time was rough. I wasn’t prepared for the weight of each of the spartan deaths, and even now, it’s hard not to get emotional when playing through again.
Reach is a one of a kind game
I love Reach, I have gamed harder in Reach than any other game before or since. It is the game that made me a gamer (in the cringe way). Not entirely sure why everyone is replaying it these days - but I'm completely fine with it.
Good vid
Yo Thane, I enjoy what you create man, keep going, thanks man
it might've been posted already but i dont wanna scroll to check (sorry its late) but another theory I've heard about kats death is that the emp(or just the electronic disturbance in general?) that comes with the glassing is messing with her mechanical arm as thats the arm that she uses to miss the button the first time, and thats also the reason she takes so long to get up initially. I also always thought she was asking noble 6 if it was their first glassing.
You always have these impactful statement that make me lean back in my chair and say “well, damn.” Amazing work as always
Amazing dude. Gave me back some of the nostalgia I had around the game. Thank you.
Saw a reddit post a while ago that's now my official head cannon when the pioneer's got to reach they see all the skeletons if the covenant around 6's armor one guy says he died alone. The other looks around and gestures at all the bodies and says like hell he did
Please make a video about the original trilogy of halo. These videos are so good!
Halo reach is the best game iv ever played and frankly the more i look the i seem reach for it is at first was the fight the feeling of seeing life through dieing eyes and meeting the end with a smile knowing youve done the best you could and now i see it as story that reminds us of our mortality the fact that no one is truly safe we will all die one day. "Reach has been good to me" was one the first lines that really hit home that everything i was seeing was real these people died and wont be here help you when your down the onely way to move on it carry their spirit with you to your eventual end where your the last one to carry the torch where your story dies right along side you.
Others may have said this also, and I've probably taken at least some of this from another retrospective somewhere I forget but there are even more interesting details about the deaths that I think you'll enjoy.
Firstly, I've never seen anyone make the connection that its the same team of elite zealots all the way through, but holy shit that makes a lot of sense. And after just watching your ODST analysis I noticed something, look at that scene in the first level winter contingency, when the elite zealot has its energy dagger ready, and is screaming in your face, and look at how noble 6 dies, notice anything?
"That lone wolf stuff, stays behind"...
Did you see it?
Carter saves you, the first time, when the elite has you pinned without a weapon, when its about to stab Six with the energy dagger it has... which is exactly how it kills six at the end of the game. Six dies because theyre alone at the end. People need each other, just like you said.
As for the other details about the other deaths,
Curiosity killed the Kat, kat dies in the middle of asking question. Also, she was curious about Hollands opinion of the op, and risked contacting him anyway knowing they could be traced... and they were, which is what got her killed.
Spartans never die they're just MIA- this is a nitpick but worth noting, youre analysis of the way the slipspace drive accident happened isnt entirely* correct, it doesnt explode... it just teleports part* of the ship, instead of all of it. Kat is speaking literally when she says, no the drive worked fine. So jorge doesnt explode, he's just teleported to parts unknown, sort of like master chief at the end of halo 3
Carter the leader, the "captain" so to speak, goes down with the ship, the pelican
Emile- there's a saying, live by the sword... die by the sword. Emile is noteworthy for the kukri he carries around , a small dagger. And how he is killed? By an energy sword, as another commenter and I'm sure others have noticed, to the back.
another random note, I always thought that Emile's last words were actually to the player not the elite, but I think youre right it makes more sense for him to say it to the elite, and have it only be metaphorically to the player, which it definitely is.
Its also kind of funny that the first to die is Noble five, jorge, and then the deaths work upwards from there and eventually work their way back around to six at the end.
Something interesting about Jorge as the only spartan II on the team as well. He's called big man, and because of the augmentations they recevied as part of the spartan project, the spartan 2's are much larger than the spartan III's. Spartan 2's by and large are also generally considered superior to spartan 3's because they were keenly selected by dr halsey herself as prime candidates and special individuals across all of humanity. The spartan 3's however, (who comprise the rest of noble team) were largely taken en masse from enlistees who volunteered for the project. Jorge is literally, and figuratively, above them. As a result, his death is notably different in several ways as well, he dies thinking hes about to save the entire planet, but the stakes of all the others deaths are much smaller.
Bonus. Noble six if you read his dossier along with the other dossier's of the noble team members, mentions that he was essentially "a personal reaper" i think the phrase is, for someone in ONI. A lot of shall we say, cloak and... dagger, sort of stuff. And what is the weapon that kills him? The elite energy dagger. I dont know who did the writing for this shit but damn they made these poetic as all get out.
I’m just discovered your channel and what the absolute F your content is amazing
You should make a video about days gone I think you might be one of the few people who truly understand the story and appreciate it for what it is
Just found your channel a few days ago and love your essays. Keep up the good work, and thank you for all the great videos!
This incredible thesis, and the way you delivered it is absolutely captivating. Looking forward to more!
I love the piano tune at the end of Reach. By far my favorite Halo game as well, even if I can't exactly explain why that is.
Yooo more Halo! And the best one, no less. Respect.
This and ODST have and always will be my absolute favorites Of the halo series, this one moreso for a similarly great story with (personal opinion) a more fun toolkit with the toys like armor lock and fancy assassination animations. But both of them Absolute masterpieces a cut above the already magnificent Halo franchise
Well... It wasn't just noble team who died for reach. If you take a second to look at the fallen soldiers who's guns and ammo you grab in the final mission, you'll notice that these scattered bodies aren't just troopers. They are spartans. A lot of spartans died on Reach. Remember Reach.
Dude, your videos are my new favorite, please keep doing what you are doing.
Losing on your own terms makes me think of the serenity prayer. However, in sacrifice the wisdom isn't in knowing the difference between acceptance and courage, but in knowing that when combined your death can be more than pain and despair, and instead a final moment of pride and bittersweet contentment. A final act of courageous acceptance.
I have a whole bunch of thoughts on this, but the nature of this game means that it’s incredibly fun to watch people play it for the first time. Tip of the spear is my favorite because you can obviously see the bad that happened. I had to play through reach a second time to fully grasp what happened in reaches orbit because it kind of sent me into shock and most streamers seem to miss it.
I think once George dies people know what’s up and so they start guessing and it’s fascinating how they know who even if not when
dude all the halos on PC finally have the mythic mod overhaul so im gong to play those and SPV3.And i just fount your two videos on halo, this community is fucken badass
What I find fascinating about each of your teammates deaths is that they're all ironic.
Jorge, the most connected to Reach, dies in space and off the planet.
Kat, the brains of the team, is sniped in the head.
Emile, obsessed with clpse quarters and his knife, is stabbed in the back.
And you, the character who was told to leave the lone wolf stuff behind, left as the last survivor forced to fight alone one last time after finally finding a team.
And Carter, the leader of your team, must die like a sea captain on a ship. For a captain must go down with their ship
What I really have learned to love about Halo these past couple months is the dichotomy of the worldbuilding and the investment it brings into the universe. Yeah, sure, humans are forerunner being the reason for the Covenant's genocide is a cool lore bit, but that's just not pertinent to the story that is being told. In a story about dying in defense of a doomed world, all you need to know is that the Covenant are a determined and unstoppable foe, and defeat is a matter of time.
In a way, it's almost a satirical critique and a love letter to the original Halo trilogy at the same time. On the one hand, it's a tragic Rogue-One-esque story before Rogue One that perfectly closes and reopens the Halo adventure we grew up with. But on the other hand, it is a bitter commentary on the fact that not everyone is the Master chief, not even the other spartans.
Sitting down to play Halo: Reach with the squad: "I'm ready, how 'bout you?"
One thing you didn’t touch on in this video is the music in this game. I under yes and why you didn’t, it doesn’t fit in very smoothly with the thesis, but fuck the music in this game is incredible. There are multiple tracks I still tear up while listening to to this day.
I definitely would love to see a video on New Alexandria as it is a visual representation of the Reachs theme that being humanity fighting tooth and nail ordinary humans trying to save a world and protect civilians from the unstoppable monster that is the Covenant that was doomed from the start.
It's a good representation of the human spirit something that even the Sangheili (Elites) recognised with great respect that humanity regardless of our situation regardless how unwinnable it is we will fight for as long as we have to even if it kills us because our resolve and stubbornness to surrender is unbeatable.
Forgot just how hard Reach hit, in all the right ways. I think Reach (playing it not long after its launch) was the first game to truly strike home the absolute dread of not just losing a war but losing an entire planet, and in the span of barely any time at all
i actually fucking cried when i played reach, the sense of hopelessness and doing something anyway is insane
Reach was allways my favorite halo & the most played with 3 in the undisputet 2 place
Evry friday we played the campaine on legend with all skulls or most in splitscreen
While online was also hardcore tryharded
One of the few games i was truly realy good in it & had unlockt all of the armor skins & voices in game that did not even needed microtransactions
I never realy could get enugh of the story, music, landscape
Evry time i think about reach i think about the need to be atleast a bit better to be able to help those that need some help that are in Reach ( pun intendet )
At some point there even formed it self a headcannon that i did not die on reach but managed to caper a covernant vessel to take of so i could catch up to the chief (prop) at some point to continue to raid alien booty
The game is so sad & tragic but yet so beautyfull
One of the best games ever made a real masterpiece to expirience for ages to come
Kat’s death is my favorite death in a piece of fiction. There is no long buildup, no overdramatic foreshadowing, it comes at you all of a sudden, and even after she’s dead, Noble Team doesn’t have any mawkish reaction. They just move on, because they’re running out of time.