So something I can’t quite grasp. I’ve just finished playing through Halo 3 again and I can’t understand how the Chief and Cortana end up where they are at the end where the former goes into cryo. I understand that the portal collapsed as the Forward Unto Dawn was going through, sending the Arbiters half of the ship back to Earth. So surely the Chiefs half would still be at the Ark and not inside of the galaxy? Anyone have any ideas?
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> So something I can’t quite grasp. I’ve just finished playing through Halo 3 again and I can’t understand how the Chief and Cortana end up where they are at the end where the former goes into cryo. I understand that the portal collapsed as the Forward Unto Dawn was going through, sending the Arbiters half of the ship back to Earth. So surely the Chiefs half would still be at the Ark and not inside of the galaxy? Anyone have any ideas?
The portal most likely collapsed as the rear end of the FUD was just starting to enter the portal causing it to be dropped out of the slipspace bubble earlier than the rest of the FUD.
Also, I think it helps to think of slipspace like a tunnel or the EAC in Finding Nemo 
The front half would have traveled through as planned, while the back half would have exited out early or off course.
When it collapsed chief and arbiters parts of the ship got cut in half. Obviously Arbiter made it back to earth, I think chiefs part got haulted in the middle of slipspace and got thrown off course. Or somehow an unknown individual (Mendicant Bias) changedhis course to get near requiem.