Halo Boss Explains How TV Show Will Break From Series' Canon

The Halo Paramount+ series is getting a full trailer during the AFC Championship game this Sunday, but 343's head of transmedia Kiki Wolfkill has revealed a little more information about the show already. This includes how its "Silver Timeline" will be breaking from the established canon so as to not interfere with the story we know from the games.

In an interview on Halo Waypoint, Wolfkill said the decision to establish the new Silver Timeline was made "to protect the integrity, simplicity, and future of the core canon, but also not be limited by it when faced with the realities of a new medium and the process of production."

Because the Master Chief and Cortana are key characters in the series and only met shortly before the start of the original game, not diverging from the canon would have meant directly retelling the events of the games. With that not happening here, it gives 343 and the production team more room to surprise fans--even those who have consumed everything with "Halo" on the cover. This includes how the two land on the original ring world, which will not be accidental like it was in the first game.

Franchise creative director Frank O'Connor added that the decision would free up both the show's creators and the game development team to not worry about getting forced into a certain direction. Fans of the ongoing story don't have to worry about anything getting retconned by the show.

"Basically, we want to use the existing Halo lore, history, canon, and characters wherever they make sense for a linear narrative, but also separate the two distinctly so that we don't invalidate the core canon or do unnatural things to force a first-person video game into an ensemble TV show," O'Connor added. "The game canon and its extended lore in novels, comics, and other outlets is core, original, and will continue unbroken for as long as we make Halo games."

The lore O'Connor is referring to began before the first Halo game even released with the book Halo: Fall of Reach. Since then, there have been dozens of Halo books, two web series, comics, an audio drama, and two animated features. This is in addition to the main Halo game series and its multiple spin-offs, which is admittedly a lot to catch up on before watching a new TV series.