When will Cortana show up in the Halo show? Is she different?

The Master Chief’s AI sidekick hasn’t appeared in the Paramount Plus live-action adaptation, so when will Cortana show up in the Halo show?

Cortana is the iconic companion to Master Chief in the Halo games, the two of them working in tandem to save humanity. Master Chief hasn’t yet met his stalwart friend in the show, but she’s starting to be mentioned. With many differences between the Halo show and established canon from the games, what’s different about Cortana in the Halo show and what role will she play?

Where is Cortana in the Halo show?

Cortana is seemingly in development at the start of the Halo show.

Cortana is a highly advanced artificial intelligence created using brains taken from clones of Spartan program-founder Dr. Catherine Halsey. “Flash cloning” is the creation of human clones for organ farming or other purposes. It’s an illegal and highly controversial practice in the Halo fandom.

In the games, Dr. Halsey creates 20 clones of herself, with two surviving. Those two had their brains used to create the neural base for the Cortana AI. In the Halo show, she appears to be creating Cortana from a single flash clone of herself.

At the end of the day, Silver Team only reports to one person: Dr. Halsey. #HaloTheSeries pic.twitter.com/nljjK7WYyN

— Halo on Paramount+ (@HaloTheSeries) March 29, 2022

Doctor Halsey introduces the use of Cortana as a way to override Master Chief’s ability to break rank following him going absent without leave from the Reach base. This is a difference from the normal canon, where she is developed as a tool meant to enhance the Master Chief’s capabilities. Doctor Halsey lies to United Nations Space Command all the time, so this may be an embellishment meant to buy favor with top brass.

Cortana seems like an immediate introduction following the end of episode two, where Dr. Halsey opens up the cloning chamber in which the flash clone is being held. Fans have seen her introducing herself to Master Chief in the trailers, so her arrival in the Halo show seems imminent.