Halo TV Series Reveals Master Chief Without The Helmet For The First Time

One of the most controversial things that we knew about Paramount+'s Halo TV series prior to its release is that the show's protagonist, Master Chief, would be removing his helmet at some point. This would be the first time Master Chief's face will be revealed in the 20-year history of the Halo video game franchise, so with this change and Cortana's redesign, it's clear that the live-action show would be breaking new ground in major ways. Now that the first episode of Halo is now streaming on Paramount+, we already have our first look at what Master Chief looks like without his iconic helmet.

At the end of Halo's premiere episode, titled Contact, Master Chief confronts a young girl named Kwan. After forming a friendship with Master Chief, Kwan is put in a scenario where she feels as if she cannot trust the heroic UNSC Spartan. She threatens to shoot Master Chief with a battle rifle, but he tells her that the weapon wouldn't damage him because of how strong his armor is. In an effort to gain Kwan's trust, he makes himself become vulnerable by removing his helmet.

Here's a look at Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief without the helmet on:

Credit: Paramount+

The removal of Master Chief's helmet shouldn't surprise fans who have been keeping up with the news leading to the show's release. Last month,Kiki Wolfkill, 343 Industries’ Studio Head of Transmedia and Halo's executive producer, explained to IGN Fan Fest why showing Master Chief's face was important for the story Halo will tell.

“I think we set out to tell a character story and a personal story,” she said. “And once we really got into what that story was, it became clear that you really needed to see the person in the armour and under the helmet.”

“You will see his face,” she said. “For some people, it’s been a moment 20 years in the making, and for other people it is something that feels very hard to imagine. We absolutely respect both sides of that fence, those who really want to see Chief’s face and those who really don’t. But for the nature of this story, it felt really important to connect with the Master Chief in a different way, and that meant showing the face.”

You can watch the trailer for Halo above, and read more details about the show in our dedicated article.