Games: Halo: Reach
In my previous entry about Halo: The Master Chief Collection (2026-07-14), I did not want to elaborate on any of the individual games. I preferred to keep the message focused and to cover different themes in separate articles (spoilers throughout). This way I have more freedom to do what I am actually here for: use games as a practical example for thoughts that are more general in nature.
In Halo: Reach you are tasked to defend a collapsing frontline. The planet Reach is being invaded by the preponderant Covenant forces. The best your side can hope for is to evacuate with as few loses as possible. Then, for reasons covered in other games of the collection, you work for a momentum changing event.
Unlike the other games in the collection, Halo: Reach never gives you the sense that you are the apex predator. The Covenant are winning everywhere, while their elite forces keep proving that they can overpower the otherwise formidable killing machines that are the Spartan units. Whereas when you are in control of the Master Chief, it feels like you have the means to destroy the entire Covenant army by yourself and then do the same for the other antagonists of the story.
In Halo: Reach your objectives are grounded in the unsettling realisation that you are sacrificing yourself to buy time. You are trading your life in exchange for a possible future; a future that others you care about may live to experience.
This dynamic better captures the heroic ethos because it (i) frames it as commitment to a greater cause, (ii) it makes it clear that the common good supersedes the private good, (iii) the individual acknowledges that their own life may be forfeit for the life of the whole to continue, (iv) the chances of success post-sacrifice remain slim, and (v) the individual acts in full conscience by accepting the consequences of their actions.
Since you are in control of elite soldiers known as “Spartans”, the best example of this heroic archetype is King Leonidas. He was in his 60s when he took a contingent of forces north of Sparta and even north of Athens, to effectively buy time for the main forces to potentially achieve victory at a later day. Leonidas knew he was marching to his grave, as did those who stood by his side. They were not going there to win. There was no promise of loot and easy women. All that awaited them was gruesome yet honourable death.
“Noble Six” is the Spartan you assume control of. From what we are told in the opening scenes of the game, he is an exceptional warrior. Team Noble originally consisted of 5 members, though one must have died and the 6th came in as a replacement. This fact alone prepares you for the campaign ahead. It teaches you that even the Spartans are vulnerable.
The game does a remarkable job of casting Noble Six as the pinnacle of the Spartan programme without ever idolising him or belittling the other fighters in the process. As the story develops, each member of Team Noble shows that they have the strength of character to be where they are. Their equipment makes them strong, though it is their mental fortitude that empowers them to fight for a greater cause.
We learn early on that Noble Six tends to operate solo, while the final mission is aptly titled “Lone wolf”. Why Noble Six ends up being alone in this story arc and preceding ones is an interesting discussion unto itself though secondary to the motif of solitude that goes together with excellence. We may think of the lone wolf as a supremely capable member of the pack that does not need the other wolves in order to thrive in the wilderness. This is one possibility. The other way around can also be true, namely, the state of solitude is what creates the urgency to become skilful, as there is nobody else to rely on.
Whatever the starting conditions, solitude and excellence exist in a self-invigorating cycle. The more skilful one is, the fewer their peers become, and thus the higher the chances of them being alone. Solitude turns into loneliness once the person is so far away from the norm that even in the presence of others and with ample forms of socialisation they continue to feel estranged.
As for the greater cause that Team Noble and the other forces die for, the game presents it as a matter of survival for humanity as a whole. This can give the impression that people were living happily together and are now defending themselves from the malevolent aliens. But as history teaches us, humanity has an inexhaustible capacity for inhumanity. Given the right triggers, people will gleefully set fire on their neighbours for causes that can be made to seem important but are actually trivial.
We can piece together hints from the games in the collection to conclude that there is no unified humanity. The regime is not just. The Spartan programme is one of probably numerous clandestine operations whose original goal was authoritarian in nature.
Sacrifices, then, are done for the immediate gain of the status quo. Though it also is the case that in the long run they are carried out in the name of humanity as a whole. This is because even the most egregious empires eventually fail. Patriotism can thus be considered distinct from other more specialised forms of affinity to the polity such as, say, royalism. The patriot may be a royalist on the grounds that this particular regime is already guaranteeing stability. It is a tactical calculation though, not a matter of principle.
The presence of a common enemy, especially one as devastating as the Covenant, makes such fine distinctions irrelevant. People will rally around the flag once they are threatened. Even the most brutal regime can thus enjoy increased popularity for a long time. In this dynamic, the establishment and its rival enter into a symbiotic relationship. Shrewd political operators know that having friends is good. Having enemies who are dangerous but not disproportionately so is even better.
Team Noble perish while defending the indefensible. The hope that Halo: Reach conveys is that even that effort of resistance is enough to contribute to a new beginning. We try in earnest and hope for the best.