Episode eight starts off with basically the bonding of both characters John and Makee. And of course, the obvious attraction and romance blooming between the two. This is something that’s unnecessary to the series. Of course, those two can have that special bond but it should’ve been beyond merely the physical. After all, John and Cortana had a similar relationship in the games (though to say if it could’ve been physical that it wouldn’t have might be disingenuous). But for such important characters this should’ve been something different. Now I can appreciate that they both bring something out the other. Both have been kidnapped and indoctrinated from childhood (though each were raised on different sides of the war) and both have an unique connection to artifacts.

I’m watching the series and I’m noticing that despite Cortana being my favorite character she’s terribly underutilized. Halsey uses her as a tool, John completely disregards and disrespects her. She actually seems like a prisoner. When John is making a dumb decision or Halsey’s being a bitch, Cortana does play the voice of the reason.

Halsey is finally making her move and of all the asshole things she’s done in the actual canon, this would be one for the books. Throughout the entire series Halsey has just been portrayed as this villainous mastermind that’s been manipulating people and pulling the strings behind the scenes. But this episode really shows that unchecked brilliance can be villainous. There’s a really cool fight between John against Vannak and Riz. Despite his superior strength to regular people, it doesn’t quite hold up to a trained Spartan wearing armor. I do like that Cortana actually helps him in the fight. Again, another pretty good moment.

Makee has been one of the original characters in the show that most fans don’t like, but I think she’s idea. True, the Covenant wouldn’t be so accepting of her in the actual canon, but I can see how this would be a good storyline. Revealed in her backstory, Makee has known nothing but savagery from humans when she was a child and since growing up with the Covenant, she’s cultivated that hatred for humanity. But since meeting John we see that armor slowly begin to crack. And throughout their relationship it’s apparent that she struggles between her loyalty to the Covenant and the bond she has with John. However, due to the mechanizations of Halsey, brutal treatment of a soldier, and Miranda discovering she was responsible for the deaths of that one crew a few episodes ago, Makee is back on the warparth and it’s hard not to see it from her side.

The Verdict: In the end, Allegiance started off pretty slow, but as the chips started falling into place and the tension began rising with Halsey’s plan enacted, it became very entertaining. It does have its share of issues, but I enjoyed it. We got a really cool fight scenes between the Spartans, Cortana actually got to do something, and yeah…that’s about it. There was some drama here and there, but best parts are Halsey’s plan and John and Makee’s relationship. Allegiance gets 3 out of 5.