Editing The Return

{{Title|''The Return''}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
[[File:Evo Return Beaudoin.jpg|150px|thumb|The cover of ''The Return'' by Rachel Beaudoin.]]
'''''The Return''''' is the twelfth short story in ''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''. Written by [[Kevin Grace]], this story follows a [[Sangheili]] [[Shipmaster]] as he travels back to the [[human]] colony world [[Kholo]]. This story takes place after the events of ''[[Halo 3]]'' in which the Sangheili are no longer serving the [[San'Shyuum]]. ''The Return'' follows a unique writing style in which as the Shipmaster recalls past experiences, the text turns to italics to indicate a shift to a previous time period.

''The Return'' was adapted into a [[Halo: The Return|motion comic]] by [[Juan Richard Feliz|Juan "ONE" Richard Feliz]], in the same vein as ''[[Halo: Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]'', which initially released as a series throughout [[2010#April|April 2010]].{{Ref/Site|Id=April|URL=https://halo.bungie.org/news.html?item=29291|Site=halo.bungie.org|Page=The Return, Part 1 - on Waypoint Saturday|D=13|M=11|Y=2025}}

==Plot synopsis==
{{Spoiler/begin}}
Set [[seven]] [[2559|years]] after the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]], a [[Unidentified Shipmaster (Righteous Vigilance)|Sangheili Shipmaster]] returns to the [[Glassing|glassed]] colony of Kholo in order to find forgiveness for his sins. He ventures lonely through the remains of the colony, occasionally remembering the glorious days of when he interrogated a human pilot and glassed the colony, as well as the dark days of the [[Great Schism]].

He experiences flashbacks where he showed his loyalty to the [[Prophet of Conviction]] by [[Battle of Kholo|glassing Kholo]]. During the process, the Shipmaster marked the Covenant glyph representing "Faith" on the surface of the planet.

Years later, when the [[Jiralhanae]] betrayed the Sangheili over ''[[High Charity]]'', the Shipmaster confronted the Prophet of Conviction and disarmed him. The Shipmaster then exposed the Prophet's deception and killed Conviction in front of his crew.

In the present timeframe, after several days of searching, he discovers [[Kig-Yar]] pirates fighting humans at an excavation site. After killing the Kig-Yar, he finds a lone human survivor. Realizing the survivor would soon be dead, the Shipmaster leaves him and continues looking around the base. Soon, he finds photos of humans interfering with [[Forerunner]] technology, including what the Shipmaster remarks as resembling an [[Monitor|Oracle]] that once existed in ''[[High Charity]]''.{{Ref/Note|This may refer to either the [[Mendicant Bias]] fragment aboard the [[Anodyne Spirit|Forerunner Dreadnought]] or [[343 Guilty Spark]], who was also held in ''High Charity'' for a time.}} Realizing this could be what he was looking for, he returns to the human survivor and calls for help to save him. If the human manages to survive, the Sangheili plans on questioning him in order to collect information on his studies.
{{Clear}}
{{Spoiler/end}}

==Appearances==
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5|title-1=Characters|
*[[Prophet of Conviction]] {{1st}}
*[[Prophet of Truth]]
*[[Thel 'Vadam]]
*[[Unidentified Shipmaster (Righteous Vigilance)|Unidentified Sangheili Shipmaster]] {{1st}}
|title-2=Species|
*[[Forerunners]] {{Mo}}
*[[Human]]
*[[Jiralhanae]]
*[[Kig-Yar]]
*[[Mgalekgolo]] {{Mo}}
*[[San'Shyuum]]
*[[Sangheili]]
*[[Unggoy]]
*[[Unidentified aquatic creature]] {{1st}}
|title-3=Organizations|
*[[Covenant]]
**[[High Council]]
**[[Covenant Honor Guard]]
**[[Covenant fleet]]
***[[Fleet of Righteous Vigilance]] {{1st}}
*[[Covenant remnants]]
**[[Swords of Sanghelios]]
**[[Joyous Exultation Covenant]] {{Mo}}
*[[Unified Earth Government]]
**[[United Nations Space Command]]
***[[UNSC Marine Corps]] {{Mo}}
***[[UNSC Navy]] {{Mo}}
|title-4=Locations|
*[[Epsilon Eridani system]] {{Mo}}
**[[Reach]] {{Mo}}
*[[Installation 00]]
**[[Installation 00 Citadel|Citadel]]
*[[Kholo]] {{1st}}
*[[Urs system]]
**[[Sanghelios]]
|title-5=Events|
*[[Great Schism]]
*[[Human-Covenant War]]
**[[Battle of Kholo]] {{1st}}
**[[Fall of Reach]] {{Mo}}
|title-6=Vehicles|
*{{Class|CAS|assault carrier}}
*{{Pattern|Ket|battlecruiser}}
*[[M12 Chaingun Warthog]]
*{{Pattern|Taaku Xur|Spirit}}
*[[Type-26 Banshee]]
|title-7=Weapons|
*[[Class-2 directed energy cannon]]
*[[Curveblade]] {{1st}}
*[[Energy projector]]
*[[Fuel rod cannon]]
*[[Heavy plasma cannon]]
*[[MA5 series|MA5 series assault rifle]]
*[[Type-1 energy sword]]
*[[Gravity hammer (fiction)|gravity hammer]]
*{{Pattern|Vostu|carbine}}
|title-8=Technology|
*[[Energy shielding]]
*[[Gravity throne]]
*[[Methane tank]]
*[[Monitor]] {{Mo}}
*[[Navigation computer]] {{Mo}}
*[[Combat harness|Sangheili combat harness]]
**[[Arbiter body armor]]
*[[Unggoy combat harness]]
*[[Weapon attachments]]
**[[Flashlight]]
}}

==Motion comic==
{{Main|Halo: The Return}}
''The Return'' was adapted into a [[Halo: Evolutions motion comics|motion comic]] that was created by Juan "ONE" Richard Feliz. It first premiered as a series of four weekly episodes on the [[Halo Waypoint]] [[Xbox 360]] app, beginning on [[2010#April|April 3, 2010]],{{Ref/Reuse|April}} with a full cut released later that year on May 22.{{Ref/Site|Id=May|URL=https://halo.bungie.org/news.html?item=29827|Site=halo.bungie.org|Page=Halo Waypoint - full of goodness|D=13|M=11|Y=2025}} The full motion comic was officially uploaded onto the ''Halo'' YouTube channel on [[2025#July|July 9, 2025]].{{Ref/Twitter|Code=1943024462154097134 |Tag=Halo|Name=Halo|Quote=A lone Sangheili shipmaster wanders the glasslands of Kholo, the site of his greatest victory, seeking a new purpose after the Covenant's fall. The motion comic The Return... has returned!|D=09|M=07|Y=2025}}

==Production notes==
Kevin Grace incorporated his enjoyment of the politics within the Covenant when he wrote ''The Return'', as he wrote about how an individual Sangheili Shipmaster responded to the break-up of the Covenant in the years after ''[[Halo 3]]''. As the story centred around an Elite having an internal monologue while scrounging around a barren planet, Grace considered the idea of translating it into a motion comic "interesting". But when ONE built upon an early concept shot created by an artist at 343 Industries for his adaptation, he utilised the Elite's memories as flashback sequences that visualised the human suffering he had brought, adding another layer onto Grace's story.{{Ref/YouTube|Id=making|R3zprvRLbtU|Video Archive|Halo Waypoint - Making of Midlothian/The Return|D=05|M-12|Y=2025|Detail=Originally hosted on Halo Waypoint}}

==Note==
{{Ref/Notes}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Evolutions}}
{{Navbox/Media/Film}}
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Halo: Evolutions]]
[[Category:Motion comics]]