Some fans might have been too immersed that they might have missed how the story went. Here's Halo Episode 1 ending explained to help you.

Halo Episode 1 Ending Explained

Halo Episode 1 started out strong, and there has been a lot of action and gore for fans to enjoy. In fact, the first eighteen minutes of the show was pure carnage, as The Covenant rampaged through an entire outpost on Madrigal, a UNSC Outer Colony. The rampage went on and on and the gore was surprising for Halo, catching us and many viewers off-guard.

Of course, the Spartans arrive to save the day, but not until many have already been killed. In fact, only two remain – General Jin Ha and his daughter Kwan. Master Chief debuts in a TV Show – finally – but his arrival didn't prevent the death of the General in the hands of an Elite brute. That day, twenty aliens died, and 150 civilians were killed. Kwan was the only survivor.

Returning to the UNSC ship, we meet Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, who's working on a project before she was interrupted by the return of the Spartans. Kwan is then welcomed by another scientist, Dr. Miranda Keyes, who asks her to shoot a short video on how the UNSC saved her from aliens. Understandably, she refused. The UNSC obviously didn't like this kind of behavior, and later on instructions to eliminate Kwan were issued by the authorities.

Kwan is then accompanied by the Master Chief as she heads to the UNSC headquarters. Kwan reveals to Master Chief that it was in fact, not their first time meeting and that Master Chief had actually killed her mother. This was when Master Chief received orders to kill Kwan. However, even before he could do anything, Dr. Halsey makes sure that Kwan would die by dropping her oxygen to 0%, while dropping Master Chief's to 40%, just enough to incapacitate him. Perhaps Dr. Halsey felt that Master Chief might refuse the order, taking matters into her own hands.

Chief Keyes would then shoot down the plane carrying Master Chief and Kwan, leading to the plane getting disabled. Marines surrounded the ship. However, something drops out of Master Chief's bag. Though helpless as the Marines approached, Master Chief looked at the artifact intently. It suddenly lights up, and Master Chief gets another flashback. Suddenly, a wave of energy shoots out of the object and across the facility. The entire base lost power, and all weapons have been disabled – except for Master Chief's ship – enabling him and Kwan to fly off away from the UNSC.

So, what just happened? 

With the UNSC thinking that Master Chief has gone rogue, the hero and his passenger have no choice but to continue being on the run. But what exactly was the artifact that helped them escape? It's not yet clear what secrets the artifact hold, but it has had a profound effect on Master Chief – namely, it returned him his memories, and more importantly, his humanity, An earlier scene in the cave when Master Chief first took the artifact proves this, as he remembers himself as a young one, and this is what has led to Master Chief going against the orders of killing Kwan. We don't know yet if the Artifact somehow chose Master Chief, or if it was only by accident that Master Chief regained his humanity when he was the one who retrieved the Forerunner artifact. One thing's for sure – Paramount+ is very keen on humanizing Master Chief in this series in a way that the games never have – even being so brazen enough to have the enigmatic soldier take off his iconic helmet on the very first episode of the series.

Along for the ride are Kai, Vannak, and Riz, three of Master Chief's comrades who were given secret orders by Dr. Halsey. While they are not with the Master Chief on the ship, they are given the order to protect Master Chief with their lives, and we're sure that that will play an important role later on. Meanwhile, Halsey uses the incident as an excuse to further her Cortana program – an AI system that would be familiar to a lot of fans.

The human Makee that is surprisingly with The Covenant will also surely play a huge role in the upcoming episodes. However, her true nature and background are currently unknown to us – and we only know that she can track down Forerunner technology as the one Master Chief has in possession of right now. Why would a human be with the Covenant? And how will this affect Master Chief's fate moving forward?

We'll see where Master Chief's flight will take him and Kwan in the next episode, so check back here after seven days.