Who is Jacob Keyes in the Halo show? Captain Keyes explained

Many fans’ favorite captain from the Halo games is making a return in the live-action adaptation on Paramount Plus, but who is Jacob Keyes in the new Halo TV show?

In the Halo games, Captain Jacob Keyes first appears in the original Halo: Combat Evolved as the Captain of the Pillar of Autumn, the UNSC battleship fleeing Reach after the Covenant overwhelms the world. Captain Keyes hasn’t yet stepped behind the wheel of a battleship in the new show. As a result of the Silver Timeline, a few things about Jacob Keyes are different in this Halo show. This includes the fact that by the end of the first Halo game, Captain Keyes is dead.

Who is Jacob Keyes in the Halo show?

Captain Jacob Keyes is a legendary naval officer in the United Nations Space Command in both the Halo games and the show, as well as the father of Miranda Keyes. Captain Keyes in the Halo show is played by actor Danny Sapani. In the first Halo game, Captain Keyes is the commanding officer over the UNSC force that discovers the Halo rings.

The UNSC Pillar of Autumn is a Halcyon-class Light Cruiser which was assigned to lead Operation: RED FLAG under the control of Captain Jacob Keyes. She eventually finds her way to Alpha Halo and begins to uncover the mystery of the Forerunners. #FictionFriday pic.twitter.com/4qhmiwjNYJ

— Halo (@Halo) March 20, 2020

After crash-landing on the eponymous Halo ring, Keyes is abducted by the Covenant and taken aboard the Covenant cruiser Truth And Reconciliation. Master Chief manages to rescue him, but Keyes is subsequently infected by the Flood. The Flood is the terrifying galactic parasite that the Halo rings were built as a last resort against. When Keyes is found by Master Chief, John puts the UNSC commanding officer out of his misery, his body having been warped and misshapen by the Flood’s infection.

Will Keyes die in the Halo show?

In the Halo show, Keyes has been far removed from the action, staying with UNSC command on Reach. If the first season should introduce the Halo rings and the Flood, it may be inevitable that Keyes will die, sharing the fate of his video game version in meeting his end by the Flood.

For now, Keyes is a moral intermediary between the disparate personalities of Doctor Catherine Halsey, Admiral Porongosky, and his daughter Miranda Keyes.