Miranda Keyes

Were you looking for her father, Jacob Keyes or the Halo: Combat Evolved level Keyes?

"Chief, get inside, gear up. We're taking this fight to the surface."

- Miranda Keyes, during the First Battle of Earth

Commander Miranda Keyes was a United Nations Space Command officer, and the former commanding officer of both the as well as the. She was the daughter of the late Captain Jacob Keyes. As of 2552, she held the rank of Commander in the UNSC Navy.

Early Life
Miranda's early life is somewhat of a mystery, as even the most basic yet most important details- such as the identity of her mother- remain unknown at this time. It can be safely assumed that she was born sometime between 2523 and 2533. Miranda Keyes joined the UNSC Navy at a relatively early age and quickly rose through the officer ranks. Throughout her career, she was forced to confront accusations of nepotism from those who ascribed her rapid rise in rank to the position and influence of her father, Jacob Keyes. By the year 2552, Miranda had risen to the rank of Commander, and commanded the UNSC Frigate In Amber Clad, which is part of the Home Fleet. She accepted her father's posthumous Colonial Cross on Cairo Station immediately before the First Battle of Earth.

The First Battle of Earth
At the start of the First Battle of Earth Miranda's vessel was docked at Cairo Station, so that she could receive her father's honors. During the awards ceremony, the station was attacked and boarded. Miranda fought her way to her ship with the help of Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, several marines and the Master Chief, the latter of whom, also repelled Covenant boarders along the way. As the Covenant armada began the invasion of Earth, she took In Amber Clad down to New Mombasa, where she dispatched multiple Pelican dropships with Marines to join the massive battle with the Covenant in progress there.

During the battle, In Amber Clad was the only vessel close enough to follow the High Prophet of Regret when his Assault Carrier entered Slipspace inside the city. The resulting shockwave of the in-atmosphere Slipspace jump caused a massive cataclysm and a large portion of the city was destroyed.



Delta Halo
The In Amber Clad 'piggy-backed' the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier through Slipspace and ended up at Installation 05. There, she sent a platoon of ODSTs to assist the Master Chief in his pursuit of the Prophet of Regret in order to capture or kill him. Once she learned of the Prophet of Regret's plan to activate Halo, she ordered the Master Chief to assassinate him.

Meanwhile, Commander Keyes and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson went to the Library of Halo, accompanied by most of the standard Marines of the ship. They attempted to retrieve the Index, and, although Keyes was successful, most of the Marines were killed or infected by the Flood. After a brief fight with the Arbiter, Keyes and Johnson were captured by Tartarus and his band of Jiralhanae (Brutes). The Jiralhanae then took Keyes and Johnson to High Charity, where they met the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy. They were then taken aboard separate Phantom dropships and were transported to Halo's surface.

Keyes was taken to the Control Room of Installation 05 because she had been designated as a Reclaimer by 343 Guilty Spark. Tartarus then used her to activate the Installation. Shortly afterward the Arbiter and Johnson arrived and killed Tartarus. At that moment, she retrieved the Index and stopped the Halo from firing. When she questioned 343 Guilty Spark about the Halos, 343 Guilty Spark told her about the Ark.

Defending Earth
From Delta Halo, Commander Keyes eventually returned to Earth, where she commanded the defense of Earth from the UNSC base Crow's Nest. Shortly after SPARTAN-117 was recovered from the African jungles, the base came under heavy Covenant attack. As the base was overrun with Loyalist forces, Keyes and the command staff evacuated the wounded Marines and escaped on the last Pelican. The large explosive device that Keyes ordered left behind was detonated by the Master Chief, destroying a large portion of the attacking Covenant. Miranda then took an active role as the commanding officer of the, Lord Hood's personal flagship. After the Prophet of Truth succeeded in opening the Portal outside Voi, Miranda was permitted by a reluctant Fleet Admiral Hood to follow the Covenant Loyalist forces through the portal.

The Ark
Miranda Keyes, commanding Forward Unto Dawn, then traveled with Rtas 'Vadum and a Separatist fleet to Installation 00. During the events of the Battle of Installation 00, she landed troops and large quantities of weaponry and armor on The Ark, largely to supplement John-117's offensive in search of the Silent Cartographer. When John-117 located Truth at The Ark's control room, she dispatched several Pelican Dropships to deactivate the shield protecting the control room. When Sergeant Johnson was captured by Truth's forces in the course of this battle, Keyes asked the Chief how close he was to stopping Truth. Realizing that he and the Arbiter would never get there in time to stop Truth, Keyes decided to stall Truth herself. She crashed her Pelican at Truth's position, intending to rescue Johnson. She exited her Pelican with an M90 Shotgun and two M6G Pistols, wounded several Brutes but ultimately found herself outnumbered. Johnson requested that she kill them both in order to halt Truth's plans. Keyes, unwilling to harm Johnson, hesitated. As she paused, the Prophet of Truth shot her in the back seven times with a Spiker, fatally severing her spine. Her body was subsequently rescued from Flood infection by Johnson, who carried her into the Pelican which he used to escape The Ark's control room. It is likely that her body was taken back to Earth, and buried there. Her face is later seen in a photograph on the Memorial to the Fallen on a hillside overlooking the Portal to The Ark, near the photograph of Avery Johnson and the service number of Master Chief John-117.

Due to her actions during the final months of the Human-Covenant War, she was posthumously awarded with the Medal of Honor, the highest award anyone, UNSC or otherwise, can receive.

Gameplay
In-game, Keyes appears as a non-playable character and is invulnerable to damage. When meleed, she won't bleed, she'll only bleed when shot at or when caught in a grenade explosion. If you do either of the aforementioned for a period of time in the Halo 2 level Cairo Station she will moan. If you shoot her for some time or melee her in Halo 3 she will scream.

Easter Eggs
In Halo 3 at the beginning of the "Crow's Nest", follow her around in theater mode and after about 1 minute she will go either left or right. If she goes right under the big screen follow her and keep zoomed in on her face. After 1 minute and 55 seconds give or take she will look at you and say " Got a little something special for you Chief ". You will then hear a kiss sound.

On Miranda Keyes left cheek there is the number seven engraved. This can be seen on the final cutscene before the credits, the opening Delta Halo cutscene, when you meet her and Johnson on the Cairo Station and the ending Quarantine Zone cutscene in Halo 2. Due to the size of the number, it is very hard to see. It can also be found in Halo 3. Using the theater is the best way, at the beginning of Crow's Nest.

To kill Miranda Keyes in Halo 2, enter the campaign on Easy difficulty, preferably in Co-Op and play the level The Great Journey. During the last part of the level in which you fight Tartarus in the Control Room, jump to the platform where she is standing with 343 Guilty Spark and keep throwing plasma grenades at her until she jumps onto the center platform (if you run out of plasma grenades, have one player fall to their death and they will respawn with 2 grenades) where Tartarus is. Tartarus will attack Commander Keyes, ignoring all other enemies. Tartarus should attack Keyes until she falls off of the edge of the platform. Though she does not die, she will not respawn as if she did.

Trivia

 * She is described by Commander Richard Lash as "The ballsiest officer in the Fleet" in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx.
 * Her name could be a 7 Reference: 7 letters in her name also with the seven engraved on her cheek.
 * In Halo 3, she is portrayed by Justis Bolding, instead of Julie Benz, because Bungie wanted a person with an accent.
 * Miranda's preferred sidearm is a Pistol, which is clipped to her side by magnetic plates woven into her standard-issue UNSC Navy fatigues.
 * Hackers have found a Dialogue Placeholder for Miranda Keyes' quote "Thanks Chief, I owe you one". The Dialogue Placeholder reads "Thanks Chief, I owe you one. Take me now!".
 * The number of spikes that killed Miranda were 7, possibly another Bungie 7 reference.
 * In Halo 2 Miranda has a Silver Oak leaf (meaning Commander), but in Halo 3 she has a Gold Oak leaf (meaning Lieutenant Commander). This could mean she was demoted or the ranking system has changed. (Trivia: Silver in the military is considered higher ranking than gold).
 * In gameplay Commander Keyes is invincible, unlike Sergeant Johnson and the Arbiter, who will go "unconscious" instead of dying before waking up again. This is similar to the death system in the game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. If characters necessary to the storyline take damage, they will merely go unconscious and will not die.
 * It is possible to manipulate her "invincibility". For example, you can always allow her to take damage for you, kill the enemies for you, and serve as a distraction for the enemies as you snipe/sneak up on them. A perfect example is shown when combating Tartarus. For more, see ways of defeating Tartarus in the last level of Halo 2.
 * If you notice in Halo 2, she has grey acyrlic nails, but in Halo 3 she has regular long acyrlic nails.
 * Miranda Keyes is the one of the only major characters along with hocus that can pilot a Pelican. She co-pilots in the Halo 3 levels Crow's Nest and Tsavo Highway, she pilots her own Pelican in the level The Covenant.
 * In the level The Covenant, she is the only one able to dual wield a shotgun and a pistol at the same time.