Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

This article is about the web series. For the UNSC ship, see UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.

Template:Film Infobox

"The Story of Halo 4 Begins at Dawn."

— Official tagline

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is an ongoing live-action miniseries set in the Halo universe. The series, the first episode of which was released on October 5th, 2012, is comprised of five roughly 15-minute episodes that are released on a weekly basis. The series' plot, occurring in the early days of the Human-Covenant War circa 2526, revolves around Thomas Lasky, a young cadet at Corbulo Academy of Military Science, and how John-117 inspired him to eventually become a leader. Lasky will also be a prominent character in Halo 4 as a commander on the Template:UNSCship. It is hosted on Halo Waypoint and Machinima.com. A 90-minute extended version will be included with the Halo 4 Limited Edition. The Forward Unto Dawn Special Edition was released for download on Xbox LIVE on November 5, 2012 for 2,800 Microsoft points. The series was known as Sleeper during pre-production. The series will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.

A teaser trailer for the series was released on Halo Waypoint and on YouTube by Machinima on July 2, 2012.

Synopsis

Plot summary

Main article: Transcript

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The series begins with Thomas Lasky, executive officer of the UNSC Infinity, picking up Cortana's distress signal from the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, which has been adrift in space for four years. Learning that SPARTAN-117 is aboard the ship, Lasky has a flashback to the events that led to him meeting the Spartan for the first time and how he inspired him to become a leader. The "present-day" segments, which feature clips of Cortana's inner monologues during her solitude aboard the Dawn, serve as a framing device for the main narrative, which focuses on Thomas Lasky as a young freshman cadet in Corbulo Academy of Military Science on Circinius IV amidst the Insurrection circa 2526. Organized into Hastati Squad, a freshman unit in the class of 2529, Lasky shows a constant disregard for the orders of his superiors and displays a lack of proficient knowledge of infantry tactics, resulting in Hastati receiving low combat scores and Lasky himself being shunned by the rest of the squad. Worse, his health declines rapidly during the school's mandatory acclimation to cryosleep, suffering blisters and a persistent cough.

In his spare time, Lasky replays video messages by his now-deceased brother Cadmon, with whom he used to have regular video correspondence. Most of Lasky's classmates, particularly Walter Vickers, are unrelenting in their provocation of Thomas, affirming their distaste for the freshman who fails to live up to the example set by his brother or his his mother, a UNSCDF colonel and former superior of CAMS professor, Colonel Mehaffey. One of the few cadets sympathetic to him is Chyler Silva, who attempts to encourage Thomas to be a better leader. Meanwhile, a cadet known as Michael Sullivan hacks UNSC mission recordings and uncovers footage recorded by a a Spartan's helmet camera. Another Hastati Squad member, Junjie Chen, struggles to live up to the expectations of his father and is concerned about Lasky's poor performance decreasing his combat scores. Frustrated by the verbal and minor physical harassment he receives from Vickers, Lasky eventually assaults his squadmate in the school's mess hall. Lasky mildly injures Vickers and only stops when Colonel Mehaffey intervenes. Despite Lasky's consistent misbehavior, the Colonel makes an effort to have him embrace the warrior culture of the UNSC and inspire him to become a better leader.

Mehaffey's efforts dawn on Lasky and he volunteers to lead Hastati moments prior to the start of their final combat exercise, a contest of capture the flag. While waiting for Zuma Squad to approach their flag's location, Lasky organizes Hastati into cover in a tight formation adjacent their flag, a seemingly ill-tactical maneuver. Lasky orders his men to remove their helmets as they contain IFF transponders detectable by the enemy's motion sensors. With Zuma converging on Hastati's flag, Lasky positions his squad in a formation reminiscent of the pincer movement, a tactic utilized to great effect by Hannibal at Cannae in 216 BCE, taught to the freshman cadets only a day before the exercise by Col. Mehaffey. Funneled into a trap, the enemy cadets are eliminated or captured by two sections of Hastati cadets, with Hastati suffering no casualties of their own in the process. An emboldened Lasky, charging towards Zuma's flag, finally succumbs to his ailing health and collapses meters away from completing the objective.

Lasky wakes up and is informed by Dr. Hughes that his condition is an allergic reaction to the cryo drug cytoprethaline, which is vital for cryo-sleep to prevent damage to cells. Resting in his room, Lasky wakes up to see Chyler sitting beside him and watching his recordings. She urges him to stop wallowing in his brother's death and expresses concern for his condition; she also reveals that Hastati Squad was victorious in the capture the flag exercise, congratulating Lasky for his tactical maneuver. Lasky and Silva then join the rest of Hastati Squad to watch the classified recordings Sullivan has pieced together. To the great bemusement of the cadets, the footage shows SPARTAN-IIs in MJOLNIR armor, fighting unknown hostiles alongside Insurrectionists. Shortly afterward, Lasky learns that because of the severity of his cytoprethaline allergy, he is offered the choice for a medical discharge. The following night, Lasky reveals this to Silva, who professes that she will miss him if he leaves. The two kiss but are interrupted as an evacuation alarm goes off.

Lasky and Silva join the rest of Hastati Squad in a queue for the academy's space elevator, while Orbital Drop Shock Troopers drop in to the academy grounds. The stress of waiting proves too much for Dimah Tchakova, who against the orders of their squad leader April Orenski rushes in front of the queue and invokes her mother's position to allow a Marine to let her in the next elevator car. As the car ascends, the rest of the cadets watch in horror as three alien ships appear in the clouds and one of them opens fire on the space tether. The tether's lower structure collapses on the building and the members of Hastati Squad barely escape the destruction. From amongst the debris, they see a Sangheili Zealot, brandishing an energy sword, approach and bisect the academy's statue of General Corbulo.

The cadets make their way through the embattled academy campus and Lasky witnesses Col. Mehaffey being killed by Needler fire. Hastati Squad regroups in Lasky's dorm room, but they are forced to move out as a Sangheili Zealot approaches, methodically slaughtering other cadets in their rooms. As the Elite enters another room, the cadets make a break for it with Chen taking point; however, Chen is killed by a camouflaged Zealot. The other cadets manage to escape to the armory and seal the door, with Lasky raising a distress beacon. The Elite eventually breaks through the armor's door and the cadets hide, Vickers being separated from the others. As the Elite closes in on the cadets' hiding spot, Vickers attempts to distract it to allow the others to escape but is promptly killed. The Elite confidently approaches the cadets, who are saved by the timely arrival of John-117, who stabs the unsuspecting alien in the back.

The Spartan reveals that Lasky, Silva, Orenski and Sullivan are the only survivors on the entire planet and that they are to be evacuated; they will join with the rest of the Spartan team at the rendezvous point. Making their way outside, they are caught in a firefight with Jackal snipers and Sullivan is wounded. After the Spartan neutralizes the Covenant sharpshooters, the group use the now-deceased General Black's Warthog to drive out of the academy toward the evac point.

The Warthog is ambushed by Jackals on the journey and becomes irreparably damaged, and the squad is forced proceed on foot. Silva realizes that she has taken a needler round to the stomach; the squad flees into the jungle as the Chief engages and kills a single Hunter. With all biofoam having been used to treat Sullivan's leg, however, Silva dies shortly afterwards. Having ran out of ammunition during the previous fight, the Spartan plans to distract the second Hunter while the cadets run to safety. Distraught at Silva's death, Lasky volunteers to take the Chief's place. As the Hunter is focusing on Lasky, the Chief successfully uses a grenade to neutralize the walking tank. The battered team makes it to the rendezvous point at dawn, where they are picked up by a Pelican carrying Kelly-087 and Fred-104. The Chief commends Lasky for valor under fire, and gives him an armor fragment from the Hunter as a memento.

Back in the present, Commander Lasky prepares to enter cryo while holding his dog tags; the armor fragment is attached to the tags' chain, Lasky having kept it for over three decades. The Infinity and its escorts jump into slipspace, with Requiem as their destination. As the Dawn's wreckage is inexorably pulled toward the mysterious shield world, Cortana prepares to reawaken the Master Chief at last.

Spoilers end here.

Episodes

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<youtube width="300" height="200">gULQ5GFIkcA</youtube> Part 5

Cast

The following is a list of cast members in the webseries:

• Tom Green as Thomas Lasky
• Anna Popplewell as Chyler Silva
• Enisha Brewster as April Orenski
• Ayelet Zurer as Col. Mehaffey
• Masam Holden as Michael Sullivan
• Mike Dopud as Gen. Black
• Iain Belcher as Walter Vickers
• Osric Chau as Junjie Chen
• Kat de Lieva as Dimah Tchakova
• Daniel Cudmore as Master Chief
• Alex Puccinelli as the voice of Master Chief
• Jen Taylor as Cortana
• Chris Stevens as Dr. Hughes
• Max Carver as Cadmon Lasky
• Ty Olsson as Adult Lasky
• Darren O'Hare as the voice of Adult Lasky
• Robin August as Orlin
• Man Hung Chan as Junjie's Father
• Jill Teed as Col. Lasky

Production

A comparison of an unfinished shot of Corbulo Academy from the official trailer (above), and the finalized version, with digitally added elements such as wind turbines, satellite dishes and a space elevator (below).

"We wanted to do something unique from a narrative standpoint that's big in scale."

— Matt McCloskey - Director, Franchise Business Development

Filming is noted to have started as early as April 28th, 2012 at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a popular filming location for many notable science fiction series like Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica. Much, if not all of the series is set at the university, doubling as a futuristic UNSC officer academy, will introduce the main protagonist of Forward Unto Dawn. Propaganda murals depicting Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and fighter aircraft, a statue of the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, and other signature futuristic artwork were seen decorated around the campus.

John-117 plays a pivotal role in the series, though he is not the main protagonist. That role is instead filled by Thomas Lasky, who will also be a major character in Halo 4. The Master Chief is portrayed by Canadian actor Daniel Cudmore, best known for his role as the mutant Colossus in the X-Men film series. Lasky is played by Australian actor Tom Green.

As Forward Unto Dawn is set thirty-one years before Halo 4, the production team originally experimented with de-aging Steve Downes' voice so he could voice the fifteen-year-old John-117; Cudmore would act only as the Spartan's physical embodiment. However, the team realized that Downes' altered voice sounded too high-pitched. Thus, a separate actor, Alex Puccinelli, was given the role of voicing John, whose voice would evolve over three decades to possess the gruffer quality of Downes' performance.

The following trailers were released prior to the release date of the webseries, to provide an insight into the lifestyle of an everyday Corbulo cadet:

• Official teaser trailer
• Enlist
• Cryo
• Flag
• Joyride
• Lecture
• Squad
• Mid-Season trailer

Behind the scenes

Forward Unto Dawn reuses a number of props and costumes from previous live-action media. The Warthog from Halo: Landfall, with superficial renovations, is used as General Black's personal transport. The ODST armor from The Life is seen in several episodes. The MJOLNIR armor worn by Kelly-087 and Fred-104 originally appeared in Deliver Hope, in which the suits were worn by Catherine-B320 and Thom-293, respectively. The suits and helmets were repainted and physically altered to distinguish them from the Mark V armor they originally portrayed; for example, the jowl and forehead armor guard on Kelly's helmet are taken from one of the suit's FJ/PARA knee guards.

Appearances

Characters April Orenski (First appearance) Beamish (First appearance) Black (First appearance) Cadmon Lasky (First appearance) Chyler Silva (First appearance) Christina Rice Template:First mentioned Cortana The Didact (Mentioned only) Dimah Tchakova (First appearance) Dyer (First appearance) Foster (First appearance) Frederic-104 Hughes (First appearance) James McCann Template:First mentioned Junjie Chen (First appearance) John-117 Kaye (First appearance) Kelly-087 Mehaffey (First appearance) Michael Sullivan (First appearance) Moulder (First appearance) Newton (First appearance) Shere (First appearance) Taylor (first-year cadet) (First appearance) Taylor (third-year cadet) (First appearance) Thomas Lasky Orlin (First appearance) Verrelli (First appearance) Walter Vickers (First appearance) Equipment and technology Active camouflage Artificial intelligence Biofoam Cryo chamber Halo Array (Mentioned only) Heads-up display Holography Holotank Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet Kig-Yar targeting headgear MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor GEN1 Mark IV Mark VI (Upgraded variant) Sangheili combat harness Zealot variant Space elevator Wind turbine Weapons Assault cannon Combat knife M6H Personal Defense Weapon System M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose grenade MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System Type-1 Antipersonnel grenade Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle Type-31 Rifle Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher Type-51 Carbine

Locations Circinius system (First appearance) Circinius IV (First appearance) Corbulo Academy of Military Science (First appearance) Procyon system (Mentioned only) Arcadia (Mentioned only) Sol System (Mentioned only) Mars (Mentioned only) Mare Erythraeum (Mentioned only) Tricode Village Template:First mentioned New Harmony Template:First mentioned Andesia Template:First mentioned Species Human Sangheili Kig-Yar Lekgolo Mgalekgolo Organizations Covenant Insurrectionists UNSC Defense Force Corbulo Academy Corps of Cadets Hastati Squad (First appearance) Zuma Squad (First appearance) UNSC Marine Corps Naval Special Weapons Orbital Drop Shock Troopers UNSC Navy Naval Special Weapons SPARTAN-II Program Office of Naval Intelligence Vehicles CCS-class battlecruiser Charon-class light frigate UNSC Forward Unto Dawn D79-TC Pelican M12 Force Application Vehicle M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle SDV-class heavy corvette Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle UNSC Infinity

Trivia

• Many of the murals seen on set are enlarged pieces taken from the concept art of Halo 3: ODST.
• Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries, makes a cameo appearance in Episode 2 as a janitor at the academy, spectating the fight between Lasky and Vickers.
• The famed Wilhelm Scream can be heard in the classified video Sullivan shows to his fellow cadets. The scream is heard as an Insurrectionist is thrown against a wall, just after John announces an unknown hostile.
• In Part IV, John-117 tells the cadets to address him as "Master Chief" despite the series taking place in 2526. Halo: The Fall of Reach indicates that he was still a Chief Petty Officer in 2535. It is unclear whether this is intended to be a retcon, but his title is no doubt for the benefit of newcomers to the franchise: he is almost unanimously known as "Master Chief" among mainstream gamers.
• In Part V, the Spartans' D79-TC Pelican incorrectly sports the post-war version of the UNSC insignia.

Gallery

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  The series' first teaser image.

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  Series logo

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  A promotional image for the series.

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  John-117 in MJOLNIR Mark IV armor.