The Arrival at Aidonis 2
Master Chief and Dr. Halsey arrive at Aidonis 2 and drive to the location of Jon’s childhood home. Jon maps out the rough area where the larger artifact may have been buried and begins to dig.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, he manages to unearth an old box filled with drawings he made as a boy. Among them is one he fails to recognize, depicting a circular object of some sort.
Despite Halsey’s insistence that they analyze the drawings back on the ship, Jon strides over to the remains of his old house.
Saurin and Quan’s Stealthy Entrance
Meanwhile, Saurin, using his skills as a space pirate, sneaks himself and Quan onto Madreal, undetected. They make their way into Madreal City, the seat of Governor Venture’s power, and manage to meet with Aou, an acquaintance of Quan.
Though visibly nervous to be seen talking to her, ATU tells Quan to come to her father’s memorial if she wishes to meet with his generals.
As ATU runs off, Saurin calls Quan’s attention to a nearby poster, advertising a reward for anyone who aids in her capture.
The Memorial and Aftermath
Later that day, they go to the memorial, which, to Quan’s displeasure, is only a tiny gathering. She spots one of Jinha’s generals, Agatha, and asks for information on the remains of the resistance.
To her dismay, she learns that most of the generals were executed by Venture, and people’s appetite for rebellion has been stifled.
Resentful, Quan begins to accuse Agatha and everyone else at the gathering of being cowards and traitors.
Suddenly, Venture’s Security Forces crash the memorial, assaulting everyone. Saurin grabs Quan and forces her to leave, though not before she manages to steal a weapon from one of the soldiers.
Quan’s Resolve and Sujan’s Revelation
Quan convinces Saurin to take her to meet her aunt Sujan, with the promise that Sujan will pay him for all his troubles. After a brief confrontation with her guards, Quan and Sujan move to a room for a private conversation.
Quan asks Sujan for funds to secure a fighting force and rekindle the revolution, but Sujan reveals that Jin had already spent most of their money during the rebellion.
Frustrated, Sujan reveals that the real reason Jin was such an ardent revolutionary was not because of his love for the people of Madreal.
It was because he met a group of Mystics in the desert many years ago and returned convinced that freeing Madreal was the only way for the Haw family’s true purpose to be revealed.
The Chase and Discovery
Quan’s conversation with Sujan is interrupted by Franco, an assassin sent by Venture to eliminate Quan.
Her attempt is thwarted by Saurin, but not before she manages to kill Sujan. Saurin drags Quan away from Sujan’s lifeless body, and the two flee from the scene.
They are attacked by Venture’s forces, but after some skillful bike maneuvering and shooting, Saurin manages to give them the slip, and the two escape out of town.
The Spartans’ New Insights
On Reach, Kai follows Master Chief’s example and removes her emotional regulator pellet. Energized by her new outlook, she, along with Vank and RZ, the other two Spartans on Master Chief’s team, is called in by Miranda Keys to study if any of the other Spartans caused the Keystone to react.
They each touch the artifact individually but fail to cause any reaction. Miranda makes note of Kai’s new look, finding the act of such self-expression odd coming from a Spartan. Kai, energized by her new outlook, in turn, points to Miranda’s view of the Spartans as machines to be reductive and ignorant.
The Covenant Language Breakthrough
Miranda asks the Spartans to teach her all of the words they know of the Covenant language. After integrating the Spartans’ insight with the UNC’s existing intelligence on Sangheili, Miranda and Kai analyze a Covenant broadcast intercepted from the UNC Patrol Ship.
They identify a new word that they managed to translate as referring to some sort of sacred ring or Halo. Kai, remembering the incident on Madreal with Master Chief, asks Miranda to pull up Master Chief’s HUD data from when he first touched the artifact.
Master Chief’s Memories and Revelations
Back at Aidonis 2, Master Chief asks Cortana to help recreate a simulation of how his house would have looked like during his childhood. The recreation helps jog his memories, and he begins to recall events beyond what he saw in his visions. Confused, he confronts Halsey, who attempts to assure him that this was simply a false memory.
Unconvinced by this explanation, Jon notifies her of the other Keystone’s whereabouts and drives them to the location in his memory.
The two slip into a cave system and wander through the passages until they finally reach their goal, a large open room containing the second and larger Keystone.
