Microsoft kicked off its Xbox Games Showcase for the Xbox Series X with gameplay from its biggest upcoming game, Halo Infinite. The gameplay teased a classic Halo experience, as fans have been predicting for a year. But at the end of the Halo Infinite trailer, a new face from a familiar faction was revealed. The villain's name is War Chief Escharum, one of the leaders of The Banished.
The Banished is a faction of extremist Brutes that played the role of villains in Halo Wars 2, but Halo Infinite players won't have to be familiar with them. The faction, which stands against both humanity and the Covenant, has one clear intention -- it wants to use the Halo ring as a weapon.
This is a story unique to Halo Infinite. The Banished may have been involved in Halo Wars 2, but it was largely disconnected experience to Halo Infinite. In Halo Wars 2, a crew of UNSC soldiers battle against the Banished for control of a Forerunner installation named Installation 00, also known as the Ark. Not only can this installation be used to activate the entirety of the Halo Array, but it can build further Halos. One such Halo is sent away through slipspace, denying the Banished's acquisition of it. That Halo is likely the setting of Halo Infinite.
The story of how the Brutes took on the UNSC and took control of the broken Halo ring is up for the player to discover in Halo Infinite. But as the new Halo Infinite trailer makes clear, The Banished and War Chief Escharum are going to make it an unending challenge for Master Chief.
One thing that needs to be made clear, however, is that while War Chief Escharum is the leader of The Banished on this Halo ring, he's not the leader of The Banished overall. That's Atriox, a much more terrifying figure. And if Atriox isn't making an appearance in Halo Infinite, fans can absolutely expect to encounter him sometime in the future.
With The Banished, War Chief Escharum, and the looming threat of Atriox, Master Chief and humanity face their greatest threat yet.
Halo Infinite releases holiday 2020 on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.