The next installment in the Halo storyline has finally arrived. On October fifth the live action Halo web-series Forward Unto Dawn released its first episode on YouTube , accumulating over 3 million views. Forward Unto Dawn is not just another live action commercial with really big battles and awesome special effects that Halo fans have come to love over the last few years, its much more, complete with a complex storyline and character development. But that is not all it has, its also features intense firefights, explosions, cool vehicles, and everyone’s favorite, John-117 also known as The Master Chief.
Even though The Chief will play a role in Forward Unto Dawn, the story follows a different character, one who is almost the opposite of The Chief. The main character is young, skinny, and uncompetitive college Freshman Attending the Corbulo Academy of Military Sciences( often seen abbreviated in the series as CAMS) by the name of Thomas Lasky. Thomas is the son of well respected military officer and the brother of one of the top students to graduate from CAMS, a fact that his instructors often remind him about.
Despite all the military service in the family, Thomas feels that the war that he will soon be fighting is pointless and he also believes that he would be a insufficient soldier because he feels the he would not be able to kill another person.
We first see Thomas right at the beginning of an intense combat scenario as he comes out of cryogenic sleep and straps on his bulky combat gear and loads his assault rifle. Right away we can see that he is having a harder time than other cadets in his squad and is often scolded because of it. Right after equipping himself Thomas Lasky rushes out of the cryobay along with the rest of the cadets in his squad and they prep for battle against the other team of cadets. Right of the back Thomas disobeys orders and is immediately shot by stun rounds. This leads to a lecture from his instructors which he simply shrugs off because he does not care about succeeding in a military environment. That all happens within the first few minutes of the first episode and we can already tell that Lasky is a problem cadet.
Lasky’s attitude eventually changes because he is seen as a respected military leader in other installments of the Halo franchise, including the upcoming Halo 4. With that information now known, viewers will be able to understand that Forward Unto Dawn is about Thomas Lasky and how he went from a terrible cadet in a military academy to a well respected leader in the military.
As of Friday October 19th there are three episodes of Forward Unto Dawn on the web. The last two episodes in the series will be released onto the web the following Fridays. It should also be noted that there are several short videos that go along with the series that give a little background information on characters and locations. All Halo fans should watch the series before the release of Halo 4 because the creators of the series intended for it to be a prequel for the upcoming game.
