SPOILERS AHEAD
Halsey, even before Karen Travis took over, has always been portrayed as one of the most brilliant minds in existence. She is also very manipulative. Many are speculating as to what will happen after the events of Exodus.
Folks, I have two theories:
- The Optimistic Theory: Halsey is simply being pragmatic and taking into account her current circumstance (in captivity, isolated from own species, vulnerable, but needed due to her status as reclaimer). She is taking this incident (attempted assassination by Palmer) as an opportunity to gain the trust of Jul 'Mdama. It gives Jul a reason to believe her if she showed signs of resentment towards humanity and inclination to defect to the Storm. She will use this chance to infiltrate/learn more about the Storm and the Prometheans, perhaps. Also, she may use this opportunity to actually settle her personal score with Oni.
She has dedicated her life to ensuring humanity’s survival as a species (though her methods are debatable). She is a scientist, a brilliant one. Someone who is logical, pragmatic, and with foresight. I don’t think this little incident would cause her to have a complete breakdown and to betray everything she’d so desperately tried to protect this entire time (humanity).
Another detail that caught my attention was during her final conversation with Jul in Exodus Conclusion. She said something along the lines of “i didn’t know my compatriots were a hit SQUAD instead of a rescue TEAM”.
Let us pause there a moment. If i’m not mistaken, I’m sure for someone as brilliant as her, she had figured out that Majestic or at least Thorne was there to save her (considering she threw the blue half of the Janus key to him, literally entrusting humanity’s future to the guy). I highly doubt that she believes Majestic was also sent out to kill her.
I believe that she purposely told Jul that the UNSC sent out a SQUAD (meaning Majestic and Palmer) to kill her just to convince Jul that she’s got enough reason to hate her own kind.
…
- More Pessimistic Theory:
Halsey, after all the decades sacrificed for the benefit of humanity, has finally snapped after experiencing such a betrayal. The very people whose lives were saved thanks to her research have turned on her. Maybe she actually snapped and decided to side with Jul, who actually values her for her intellect and knowledge.
This would be an interesting twist for later titles. Perhaps John-117 is the only one capable of bringing Halsey back to sanity.
I would be very surprised if Halsey had simply gone off the deep end and was legitimately working for the Covenant, against humanity. That would be very much against her character as well.
That being said, however, I believe Halsey does want some sort of revenge against ONI specifically, but not the rest of the the UNSC nor humanity. I thought one of the most telling motivators for Dr. Halsey was when she discovers that John is still alive.
I believe that all her actions will be rooted towards reuniting with John, although she may try to take some blows at ONI, which should would be in a good position to, considering that any attack on ONI would be seen as planned by the Covenant and not necessarily Halsey (they have no way of knowing that Halsey is even alive).
So, I believe that Halsey has not gone crazy and is being pragmatic in an effort to reunite herself with John, which may eventually lead to the recreation of Cortana. I wouldn’t blame Halsey for taking some shots at ONI along the way though.
Another minor detail that made me believe Halsey had deduced that Majestic wasn’t there to kill her:
Thorne had Active Camo on prior to killing that Elite. So in theory, he had the perfect chance to put a bullet in her head if he was tasked to assassinate her.
> I would be very surprised if Halsey had simply gone off the deep end and was legitimately working for the Covenant, against humanity. That would be very much against her character as well.
>
> That being said, however, I believe Halsey does want some sort of revenge against ONI specifically, but not the rest of the the UNSC nor humanity. I thought one of the most telling motivators for Dr. Halsey was when she discovers that John is still alive.
>
> I believe that all her actions will be rooted towards reuniting with John, although she may try to take some blows at ONI, which should would be in a good position to, considering that any attack on ONI would be seen as planned by the Covenant and not necessarily Halsey (they have no way of knowing that Halsey is even alive).
>
> So, I believe that Halsey has not gone crazy and is being pragmatic in an effort to reunite herself with John, which may eventually lead to the recreation of Cortana. I wouldn’t blame Halsey for taking some shots at ONI along the way though.
Very valid argument. I, too, believe that Halsey deserves her shot at taking down ONI. Even though her own methods behind the Spartan II Program was unethical, the ends did justify the means considering this program had saved humanity from extinction. ONI, on the other had, had employed some really shady methods to carry out their own agenda and not always for the greater good.
It was also hinted that someone in the UNSC (most likely ONI) had begun questioning the capability/integrity of Master Chief and would potentially want to replace him. I can see that Halsey is worried for John’s safety as well and believes that she can save him.
> Another minor detail that made me believe Halsey had deduced that Majestic wasn’t there to kill her:
>
> Thorne had Active Camo on prior to killing that Elite. So in theory, he had the perfect chance to put a bullet in her head if he was tasked to assassinate her.
Majestic was ordered to rescue Halsey by Captain Lasky…
> > Another minor detail that made me believe Halsey had deduced that Majestic wasn’t there to kill her:
> >
> > Thorne had Active Camo on prior to killing that Elite. So in theory, he had the perfect chance to put a bullet in her head if he was tasked to assassinate her.
>
> Majestic was ordered to rescue Halsey by Captain Lasky…
Yes, we as the audience knows that as fact. But Halsey had no way of knowing that. Unless, of course, Thorne texted her prior to showing up “yo, Catherine, pack your bags, we’re bringing you home”. 
Please kindly put down your theory if you voted for “Completely Different Theory”.