That brute from the Halo TV series might be Halo Infinite's Atriox

The latest episode in the Halo TV series might have introduced an iconic villain from the games. 

In the final moments of Halo episode 5, after the Covenant appear and attack Master Chief and the UNSC, a Brute drops down to the planet. It's the first one we've seen in the series, and we only catch a brief glimpse of him before he's beamed up to the Covenant ship, with the artifact Master Chief was supposed to be protecting in hand.

It looks like that Brute may very well be Atriox, the villain from Halo Wars 2 and Halo Infinite. David J. Peterson, the conlanger (or language creator) for the Halo TV series shared a script of the Sangheli dialogue he wrote for Halo episode 5. While much of the Sangheli is subtitled in English so we can understand what the Covenant are saying to Makee, a human who the Covenant considers their "Blessed One", much of the dialogue in the fight scene isn't given on-screen translations. Peterson provides this however, and towards the end of the script he refers to the Brute as Atriox.

Naturally, fans began comparing the Brute's design to Atriox as he appears in both Halo Wars 2 and Halo Infinite. This version of Atriox would naturally be younger, as the events of Halo: Combat Evolved haven't taken place yet, so the shorter, darker beard on this Brute would make sense. His Gravity Hammer also bears a resemblance to the one Atriox wields - it even has a curved handle like his, which is a detail that seems intentional.

The one line this Brute utters is very on-brand for Atriox, especially since we know he kicked Chief's ass in Halo Infinite. "Hardly worth the sport," he says after swinging his hammer at Master Chief. He's then whisked away into a Covenant ship.

The rest of Peterson's translation also contains some hilarious little Easter eggs for fans of the series, like a line from one of the Grunts that implies the little goofball doesn't know how to drive the Warthog he commandeers.

We reached out to Peterson for details on the Brute in Halo episode 5, but have yet to hear back at the time of publication. We'll update this story accordingly.

When we wrote that the Halo TV show is braver than the games, we had no idea just how brave it would get.