Overview from the Halo 4 Website on Forward Unto Dawn
> Premiering this October on a soon-to-be-launched Machinima channel on YouTube, and on Halo Waypoint, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a live-action digital series that takes fans back to the terrifying beginning of the Human/Covenant war, when the Master Chief inspired a young cadet who would eventually become a leader aboard the UNSC’s greatest vessel: the UNSC Infinity. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn tells a story leading into the events of Halo 4, the biggest entertainment event of 2012.
As far as I know, these videos will be released on a weekly basis starting on 10-5-12 leading up to Halo 4s release on 11-6-12. So we are looking at the release of 4 videos within that time frame.
What I found interesting is that in the trailer, 343 gave a good look into how the progression of the series as a whole will develop.
At the beginning of the trailer we see the character that will be the primary focus of the series alongside Spartan John 117, a younger version of the future ship captain of UNSC Infinity, Im not sure if his full name was revealed, but his first name is Thomas.
Throughout the first few minutes of the trailer we see Thomas’ struggles to adapt to the life of a soldier in training, through brief showings of conflict we see that his superiors see a leader within him.
The next few minutes portray the events of the most likely invasion of the Covenant, the arrival of Master Chief, and the ensuing battle between the young soldiers in training along with Chief and the covenant.
I feel its safe to assume the events will mainly focus on Thomas’ fight escape and personal encounter with John 117.
We know that Thomas goes on to be the commander of the UNSC Infinity, and a little easter egg so to speak at the end of the trailer comes about.
If you listen at about 2:45 of the trailer, you will hear the distress beacon Cortana has put out years ago after her and the Chiefs split from the Arbiter back to Earth, you then see the now Commander of the UNSC Infinity Thomas ___? Asking the AI of the ship to replay the distress call to reaffirm that he indeed did hear that John 117 is aboard the ship.
I found this short piece of the trailer to be very interesting since we know that 343 has stated that along with going back to the Halo CE mystery and discover feel, that they wanted to dive deeper into the story of the Chief and possibly look into his current state of mind, adding the familiarity of past comrades (Thomas) as well as creating strain on those who currently fight alongside Chief (Cortanas rampancy), will go a long way in letting us into Chiefs train of thought.
Overall I am very excited for this series and the stories it brings along with it, I feel that the Halo series has always kept a tight woven main cannon story in line that they have allowed little side stories to develop from the main story, to see this connection of Johns past come full circle, along with the hinted tie ins to the books, will in my opinion only enrichen the Halo story.
I hoped those who read this enjoy, and that you will give your insight and response as well
Hopefully this topic can stay alive long enough that we can continue discussion as videos are released as well as the game
Watch the Full trailer here