|
Season 7 | Season 8 | — | 
|
| Season 8 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Dramedy Science fiction Action |
| Format | Live-action puppeteering / Machinima |
| Created by | Jon Graham |
| Starring | Microsoft Sam Microsoft Mike Jon Graham Elizabeth Carr-Ernst |
| Opening theme | N/A |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Language | English |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Running time | ? |
The eighth season of Arby 'n' the Chief premiered on November 5, 2015 with the release of "Fatal Exception", and is currently developed and released on an irregular schedule. This season is the first that Jon Graham developed completely independently from Machinima Inc., under his new production studio moniker Imaginative Logo Productions; production of new episodes is funded via Patreon.
The season picks up where the previous one left off; after committing suicide, the main characters find themselves on a spaceship, in a weird afterlife/shared dream state, and finally end up reincarnated at Jon's new apartment.
Production[]
Throughout the last quarter of 2014, numerous teasers regarding the writing and production of an eighth season were released by Jon as well as a poll asking whether an eighth season should be made. Following the near-unanimous results (84% of the votes were in agreement compared to the opposing 15%), Jon confirmed through many posts on his Twitter that he was indeed working on the eighth season, culminating in a teaser trailer for the season being uploaded to Jon's YouTube channel. Since then, he has also uploaded over fifty songs that will make up the eighth season's soundtrack.
Overview[]
The season is split into 2 halves and picks up 4 years after Arbiter and Master Chief's attempted suicide in Season 7.
The first half is depicted as a loosely-based parody of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey with Master Chief as a robot monitor named "the Perfect Algorithmic Computer" (or "PAL-9001" for short) piloting a UNSC vessel in space named the "Truth & Reconciliation". Awakening Arbiter and Cortana from cryo-stasis, the pair are revealed to be suffering from amnesia, and with no way of learning about their past, they form an uneasy alliance with PAL as they all prepare to reach the ship's unknown destination. However, mounting tension flares up between Cortana and PAL until she is murdered when the AI goes rogue. After Arbiter realizes what has happened, he is forced to shut down PAL's core, killing him as well. Ultimately without PAL's protection, the Truth & Reconciliation comes under attack by alien invaders, and after being vastly outnumbered by them, Arbiter is forced to sacrifice himself by detonating warheads in the Truth & Reconciliation's cargo, wiping out the invaders.
The second half reveals that Arbiter and Master Chief have been revived, now inhabiting new bodies, and living with Jon once more, with the events aboard Truth & Reconciliation being a dream that the two were engaged in while in a state of limbo. Wile Chief is more than happy to get to play Halo once more, Arbiter struggles to come to terms with how much time has passed since they've been dead, while also struggling to understand the meaning of their lives now that they are back to the way things were previously. All the while, Arbiter finds himself being stalked by a manifestation of Eugene Black who is out to torment and torture Arbiter mentally and emotionally, blaming him for his own suicide. Meanwhile, Xbox Live's servers on the 360 are still active and have now become a gathering place for crinimals and black market dealers to make transactions, with an old enemy from Arbiter and Chief looking to make a resurgence of his own.
Cast[]
- Microsoft Mike as The Arbiter
- Microsoft Sam as Master Chief
- Jon Graham as Jon Graham, Eugene Black, Zanthar, Trent Donnovich, Josh Butterballs, Clyde and Space Allens
- Elizabeth Carr-Ernst as Claire Ferguson and Kylie
- Eric Watkin as Adam McIntyre
Episodes[]
Act I[]
| Screenshot | Title | Air Date | Code | # |
 |
"Fatal Exception" | November 5, 2015 | 8-01 | 90 |
| Four years after forfeiting their lives to fiery oblivion, two action figures of the Halo series of games' principal characters inexplicably find themselves in a parody of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey... | ||||
 |
"Nervewreck" | December 15, 2015 | 8-02 | 91 |
| Having awakened aboard the Cargo Ship Truth and Reconciliation, Arbiter and Cortana look to PAL for answers as to why exactly they're on board. | ||||
 |
"Party Time" | February 20, 2016 | 8-03 | 92 |
| In spite of PAL's unfounded misogyny, Cortana attempts to befriend the robot for the sake of the success of the crew's mission. With the two often at odds, Arbiter struggles with keeping the peace as well as his paranoia in light of the lethal contents of the ship's cargo bay and hallucinations of a mysterious stalker. | ||||
 |
"Bad Dream" | April 16, 2016 | 8-04 | 93 |
| PAL reveals the cause of the ship's high alert status to be the imminent failure of a critical component of the ship's communications system. | ||||
 |
"Reentry" | June 22, 2016 | 8-05 | 94 |
| Cortana makes the executive decision as the mission's Captain to deactivate PAL. Arbiter's torn between his odd-couple friendship with the robot and his respect for Cortana as his friend and superior. Meanwhile, PAL may have other plans. | ||||
 |
"Lockout" | September 15, 2016 | 8-06 | 95 |
| Arbiter attempts a life-or-death negotation with PAL. | ||||
 |
"Triple Fault" | November 22, 2016 | 8-07 | 96 |
| After PAL proves itself to be extremely dangerous, Arbiter takes drastic measures to disable the robot. | ||||
 |
"Warhead" | March 24, 2017 | 8-08 | 97 |
| With the ship hijacked by deadly Space Allen soldiers obsessed with violating the rear ends of all lifeforms throughout the universe to death and led by the terrible alien king Xanthar, Arbiter is forced to fight or die. | ||||
| Act I | ||||
Act II[]
| Screenshot | Title | Air Date | Code | # |
 |
"No Purpose" | May, 21, 2017 | 8-09 | 98 |
| The '2001: A Space Odyssey' arc is over. Having awakened from their dream states, the toys find themselves alive and together once again within the confines of their owner Jon's bedroom. Chief's happy. Arbiter, on the other hand... | ||||
 |
"Future Shock" | September 2, 2017 | 8-10 | 99 |
| The toys are back inexplicably in Jon's room after being dead for four years. While Chief searches for Jon's copy of Halo: Reach so he can play it and troll people online, Arbiter uses Jon's computer and internet connection to catch up on current world affairs. | ||||
 |
"Zeroes" | December 13, 2017 | 8-11 | 100 |
| More is revealed from the flashfoward in time seen in the first episode of this season. In the present day, Arbiter continues his search for purpose while Chief seeks means of obtaining the Xbox One X and the Master Chief Collection. | ||||
 |
"Hello, World!" | June 8, 2018 | 8-12 | 101 |
| As the toys continue to seek their purpose, an enemy approaches. | ||||
 |
"Alt-Right-Delete" | February 23, 2019 | 8-13 | 102 |
| Master Chief gets he and Arbiter into big trouble with the Terms of Service Enforcement and Response Squad. A formidable new foe performs a field test of an extremely dangerous malware tool. | ||||
 |
"Play to Win" | November 9, 2019 | 8-14 | 103 |
| Adam and Kylie form an uneasy alliance in leadership of both Kylie and Clyde's hacker armies, the latter leader now having been taken out of play. Feeling that TOSERS has ruined the Halo Reach online experience, Chief decides he's had enough with the confines of Jon's bedroom. | ||||
 |
"Possession" | August 18, 2020 | 8-15 | 104 |
| The Arbiter and Master Chief deal with a disturbing turn of events since Jon's return to the house. Adam moves forward with a secret and terrible plan. Claire recalls her last meeting with the Arbiter. | ||||
| "Zero Hour" | January 19, 2022 | 8-16 | 105 | |
| Kylie wrestles with the loss of her clan and relationship with Adam in handling her partnership with him gone awry. The toys discover that Claire's hosting an online event on Halo Reach in memorial of them, believing them to be dead. Adam, now one of the world's most powerful crime lords, plots a number of attacks, one involving a devastating cyberweapon. | ||||
| "Apocalypse" | November 18, 2022 | 8-17 | 106 | |
| Adam's hired programmer Cody completes for him Hate Machine, a cyberweapon of mass destruction in the form of a program that steals data, lethally destroys power supply units and duplicates and re-executes itself using bots as hosts to spread exponentially, resulting in the deaths of up to hundreds of thousands of people. Arbiter and Chief make a last-ditch effort to stop him, paying a price they're not prepared to, and make discoveries there's no turning back from. | ||||
| Act II | ||||
Reception[]
As of 2020, season 8 has been generally well received. Viewers have directed praise at the more clearly defined three-act structure and the interesting diversion of the first act, as well as the continuing development of the toys' existential crisis. The satire of contemporary gaming culture and politics has also been lauded; the episode 'Future Shock' in particular has been praised for reintroducing the protagonists to pop culture in a considered way, especially since the cultural landscape at the time of broadcast had changed considerably since the events of season 7. The plot point of Halo: Reach becoming a malware-vulnerable legacy title also placated the initial concerns of some viewers, who questioned its relevance in a season set in 2017.
However, some criticism has been directed at the season's length, with some viewers considering many episodes and scenes padded with long shots and introductions. Nevertheless, most viewers have expressed patience and good faith with Jon over the season's long production cycle.
Trailers[]
[]
[]
References[]
| Season 8 |
|---|
|