The Plot Of Halo Explained In (About) 1,000 Words (2024)

Master Chief is one of video games' most recognizable characters. As part of the prominent Halo franchise, it's been a wild ride for the Chief. With names like Gravemind, the Prophet, Forerunners, and the Flood being tossed around, you can find yourself lost in the story of Halo. This militaristic science fiction story has captivated many people.

We'll attempt to explain the convoluted plot of Halo in as few words as possible. Whether you're a casual player or a mega fan, the following explanation is perfectly digestible. Without further ado, let's dive into it. This is the plot of Halo explained in around 1,000 words.

Updated March 30, 2024 by Amanda Hurych: With the Halo TV series out, more people might be curious as to what the story of the games is like, so we've updated this article to include both verbal and visual representations of the story as it stands. The Paramount Plus Halo show most definitely deviates from the events described here. Regardless, we've got the entirety of the Halo games' narrative condensed as briefly as possible. (It was tough.)

The Precursors Created Life

The Precursors are one of the most ancient recognized races in the Halo universe. They created life and preceded the Forerunners. This advanced species is "trans-sentient," meaning they can connect with the universe on a profound level.

At some point, millions of years before the Halo games take place, the Precursors appointed the Forerunners to be the protectors of the universe, laying on them something called the "Mantle of Responsibility."

The Forerunners Overthrow The Precursors

As the protectors of the galaxy, the Forerunners wanted to be as advanced as the Precursors. However, the Precursors wished to strip the Forerunners of the Mantle of Responsibility, and looked to ancient humans to become the new holders of the Mantle.

This shift in power did not sit well with the Forerunners. They launched a war against the Precursors, who were caught off guard by their attack and wiped to near extinction. A fraction of what they once were, they lay dormant as molecular dust.

The Beginnings Of The Flood And The End Of The Forerunners

The molecular dust that the Precursors transformed into became infected as time went on, corrupted by the Precursors' rage at their betrayal. This diseased dust could mutate, and the mutated species would later become the Flood.

Ten million years after the Precursor-Forerunner war, prehistoric humans unknowingly fed the tainted powder to domesticated animals such as the Pheru. The domesticated animals exhibited improved behavior from being fed the tainted dust. After a while though, the Pheru turned on their masters, becoming the first known source of a Flood outbreak.

Ancient humans fought the Forerunners in an attempt to escape worlds corrupted by the Flood. Forerunners punished this perceived aggression by returning ancient humanity to a hunter-gathering societal state. Exhausted by this fight with humans, the Forerunners were unable to properly combat the Flood when they began to attack them.

They thus created the Halo rings to eliminate all life that could serve the Flood as a host, including themselves. However, Forerunner Lifeworkers left behind "seeds" of living populations to be sent to various worlds so that life could exist beyond the Forerunner's doom.

The Covenant Forms

After the firing of the Halo array, thousands of years passed, and humanity evolved on Earth into something quite similar to what we see in real life today. Meanwhile, the San'Shyuum was also reseeded and evolved into the group many Halo fans know as "Prophets."

Fanatical religious leanings led the Prophets to consolidating power across a wide range of species, from Unggoy to Sangheili (Grunts and Elites), forming the Covenant. Their mission was to uncover the mystery of Forerunner devices, including the Halo rings, and complete a "Great Journey" by firing the Halo Array.

The Events Of Halo: Reach

The Covenant and space-faring humans eventually clash, and the Human-Covenant War begins. Reach, one of humanity's colonized planets, is attacked by the Covenant. Even though it is also home to the Spartan training program, the planet eventually falls to the Covenant.

The Master Chief and his AI, Cortana, escape Reach aboard a ship called the Pillar of Autumn. In an attempt to evade a Covenant pursuit, the Pillar of Autumn makes a randomized jump through Slipspace.

The Events Of Halo: Combat Evolved

Master Chief is awakened from cryosleep upon the Autumn's arrival at mysterious ring floating in space.The Covenant, who had managed to find them regardless of the random jump, attacks, and Master Chief hops into an escape pod to land on the Halo ring.

Covenant run rampant on this Halo installation. Naturally, since Forerunners built this Halo ring, the Covenant are fascinated. The Flood are discovered on the installation, and it becomes a more significant threat than the Covenant. Master Chief destroys the Halo ring by detonating the Pillar of Autumn. He escapes the explosion.

The Events Of Halo 2

Master Chief is labeled a hero for his efforts on Installation 04 while on a space station above Earth. As he is receiving this award, they are attacked by the Covenant. After fighting planetside to try to repel the Covenant invaders, Chief follows a Covenant ship through a Slipspace portal to another Halo ring.

The Chief has to prevent the Prophets from activating this newfound Halo ring. He is joined in this endeavor by an Elite known as the Arbiter. The Arbiter uncovers the truth about what firing the Halo Array means and helps initiate a schism in the Covenant between those who blindly follow the Prophets and those who wish to break away.

The Events Of Halo 3

Both the Arbiter and the Master Chief make it back to Earth. Working together, they attempt to defend Earth from a Covenant attack. Eventually, a ship bearing Flood crash-lands on Earth. The outbreak is contained, but now humanity and the Arbiter's forces must focus on combating the Flood and preventing the Covenant from activating the entire array from a place known as the Ark.

Master Chief, Arbiter, and a crew of military personnel use a spaceship to travel to the Ark. The Ark creates a new ring that Master Chief activates since it will destroy the Flood in one bang. The Master Chief and his AI Cortana get left behind on a broken ship during the escape from the Ark.

Halo 4

Master Chief is in cryosleep while drifting towards Requiem, a Forerunner planet. He is woken by Cortana when his ship is scanned by the planet. Remnants of the Covenant attack at around the same time, and Chief has to crash-land on Requiem to escape. He finds out that Cortana is nearing the end of her AI lifespan, and that she is devolving into a state of rampancy as a result.

While on the planet, Master Chief inadvertently unleashes the Didact, who is the Forerunner's ultimate warrior with a major grudge against humanity. Cortana sacrifices her life, so Master Chief can defeat the Didact.

The Events Of Halo 5: Guardians

As it turns out, Cortana did not die after defeating the Didact. She survived, accessed the Forerunner Domain, and found a cure for her rampancy. With immortality and a ton of Forerunner resources at her disposal, she aims to assume the Mantle of Responsibility and bring every living creature under her control/protection.

Master Chief and his team of Spartans set out to confront her, but there is ultimately nothing they can do. Cortana enacts her plan and all species are brought under her command, with only the UNSC Infinity escaping.

Halo Infinite

The Infinity did not escape for long. During an attempt to trap Cortana on a new Halo installation, the remaining UNSC forces are ambushed by a group known as the Banished. Practically all humans there are wiped out or left stranded on the ring. And surprisingly, it seems Cortana perished during the battle as well.

Master Chief is (briefly) defeated by the Banished's leader, Atriox, during this fight, but he comes back and, with the help of a Pelican pilot and an AI companion known as the Weapon, he reinforces the remnants of humanity on the ring. During the course of the game, he finds out what happened to Cortana and demolishes the Banished presence on Halo, only to discover there might be an even greater threat lying in wait for the universe.