Why Was the Fall of Reach So Important?
The near-destruction of Reach—and its rendering uninhabitable for decades—was a devastating blow to humanity in the early phases of its conflict with the Covenant. The loss of its shipyards and military command structure represented a dire blow to the UNSC’s capabilities. Millions of people died during the invasion, and the Covenant managed to successfully repel intervention from beyond the world by the UNSC fleet, so the cost in morale was unlike anything seen in the war so far. It was also believed that the vast majority of Spartans were killed in the attempted defense of their adoptive homeworld.
With Reach’s fall, the Covenant were essentially already on humanity’s doorstep, primed to launch an assault on Earth—and seemingly almost inevitably doom humankind to extinction. But it’s also the crucible of Halo’s story: without Master Chief, his AI partner Cortana, and the Pillar of Autumn being whisked away from Reach, the Halo arrays would never have been discovered, giving humanity a fighting chance against the Covenant invasion—and opening their eyes to even greater threats beyond this alien collective.
