Halo 5 Master Chief

Presenting the Master Chief from the upcoming video-game Halo 5: Guardians - as depicted by McFarlane Toys.

This is without a doubt, one of the saddest figures in the Dungeon. We'll talk about it later, but if you haven't seen the Halo 5 Guardian's video, then we need to tell you that Master Chief to your left is holding and looking at the recently departed Cortana's data crystal chip which he still keeps with him tied with a chain like a necklace or omamori.

So expect Halo 5 to contain a lot of Heartbreaking moments as the Master Chief struggles to come to terms with his loss - or hopefully fights to restore his loss - and perhaps figure out one of Cortana's last requests to him "Before this is over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine."

As with the recently reviewed Halo 2 Masterchief, the blister card for the McFarlane Halo 5 Master Chief does not say anything about him.

The McFarlane Halo 5 Master chief comes with everything you see here: The Master Chief, an all weather cloak, a replacement hand holding Cortana's data crystal chip and the mini-jump pack/booster than completes the MJOLNIR Gen 2 Armor that the Spartan IV program members don, and a brand new weapon that will be revealed in Halo 5: A Bolt Pistol.


Donning the cloak onto the Halo 5 Master Chief is quite easy. Simply remove the booster pack of the armor then slip him into the lower armor first - easier done from the top - then slip the top part on.

Now it actually bothers us that there is a meme going around the internet castigating Master Chief for wearing a billion Dollar suit of armor, but feels cold so he wears a poncho - or something like that. Clearly whoever made that meme doesn't know anything about why people in the military wear ponchos. Yes they wear it to prevent them from the elements, but they also wear them - particularly snipers - to break the human form. Yes there are other means of detection - that's what the Billion Dollar armored suit is for - but to the naked eye, from afar, the Master Chief is harder to identify as a human and would appear to be nothing more than a part of the environment.

But we prefer the McFarlane Halo 5 Master Chief without it.

What's to like about the McFarlane Halo 5 Guardians Master Chief?

FIRST: We love the hints that make us salivate for the Halo 5 Guardians game.

Master Chief is still wearing the MJOLNIR Gen 2 armor from Halo 4. By our estimates, it is THE EXACT SAME armor that he used in Halo 4. It has the same battle damage scar on the right side of its chestplate.

So is the Master Chief still working with the UNSC in Halo 5? It's cosmetic, but something like that should have been repaired by now.

Supporting this idea is the fact that the upper right side corner of his visor is cracked:

Then of course there's the melodrama brought about by the fact that instead of being a "machine" and getting a new AI, the Master Chief is walking around with a necklace fashioned from Cortana's data crystal chip. :

In the reveal trailer of Halo 5 Guardians, the Master Chief is confronted by a towering Forerunner structure, and he takes the time to take out Cortana's data crystal chip to look at it. Is this out of a sense of sentiment? Loneliness? Or is the Master Chief there to try to fulfill the promise he made to Cortana to fix her. A promise he made that Cortana replied to with "Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep." 

Could Halo 5 Guardians be the happy ending to what could be one of the greatest love stories in sci-fi history?

SECOND: It's just as articulated and just as detailed as the Halo 2 Masterchief. It may not have the same weaponry that the Halo 2 Masterchief has. But true it is nice to be able to see the streamlining that was done to the armor between Gen 1 and 2:

 

Of particular note is that the Gen 2 Mjolnir provides more cover for the Master Chiefs chest and gut, while increasing flexibility on the lower chest area. The lower shoulder-plates also allow the Halo 5 Master chief to do something that the Halo 2 Masterchief cannot do - reach his Battle-Rifle. Note though that you cannot mount the Battle Rifle without first attaching the booster-rockets to the back of Master-Chief's armor:

So yes, as mentioned, articulation is excellent:

THIRD: And then of course, you can give him the Halo 2 Masterchief weapons - and yes, they can all be mounted. We really love that Battle-Rifle:

What's NOT to like about the McFarlane Halo 5 Guardians Master Chief?

FIRST: Hey look! It's Kenny! Just like the famous South Park character, the Master Chief can barely move when he's all bundled up like this. At best you can move his right hand up and down a bit.

No wonder Kenny dies in every episode - but respawns just like the Master Chief in the next episodes.

It would be better for you to go find some old rags and fashion a separate poncho for the Master Chief rather than keep him bundled up like that.

SECOND:  His hands are in a permanent Darth Vader Force Choke hold - versus the gun-grip hold that the Halo 2 Masterchief has. This is because the Bolt Pistol requires a rounder grip. As a result, even though you can mount the M7 caseless ammunition Sub Machine Guns to his side, he can't grip them. Nor can he grip the trigger of the Battle rifle - permanent safety on:

THIRD:  The studs on his back for grenades are gone. No grenades in Halo 5? Unlikely.

FOURTH: This particular McFarlane Halo 5 Master Chief was purchased from Toys R'Us in Robinsons Galleria herw in Manila, Philippines for PhP 1, 199.75 (Roughly US$ 26.66). It is available on Amazon for US$ 14.99 (Roughly PhP 674.55 plus shipping). Again: MEGA OUCH!!!!!!!