‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ – Episode 4 Recap And Analysis

Wow. I find that is difficult to convey my feelings and excitement other than just flat out saying it. Forward Unto Dawn Episode IV was exciting, action-packed, fulfilling, and terrifying.

Cortana is able to tell that the scan originated from an alien AI that was not of Covenant origin and she is scared. Some would consider fear in an AI to be impossible, but lest we forget that Cortana is no ordinary AI. I’d say fear is a great motive making the initiative to wake up John.

Let me remind you that a scan looking like this isn’t anything new to what we’ve seen since July. In Halo 4’s E3 2012 trailer, we see the UNSC Infinity scanned, along with all of the personnel aboard.

Although it doesn’t well for some of the personnel aboard the UNSC Infinity, I’m sure we’ve already seen what comes immediately following the Forward Unto Dawn’s scan:

Now, enough about Master Chief in present-day Halo, let’s focus on Lasky’s flashback. Circinius IV is already lost by the time episode IV picks up. I’m not saying the UNSC didn’t put up a fight. Many of the boots on the ground belonged to ODST’s.

Now, I can’t decide what’s worse: Seeing cadets fall out of the sky after the Space Elevator was destroyed or seeing Colonel Mehaffey reduced to itty-bitty pieces of flesh after taking needler or needle rifle rounds.

Above, I mentioned that this episode was terrifying. I thought SpecOps Elites were scary in their own regard ever since running into them at the end of Halo: Combat Evolved. Seeing this particular SpecOps Elite engage its active camo in live-action probably wasn’t the best thing for me to do at three o’ clock in the morning in the dark.

A little after the Elite follows what’s left of the squad into the armory, we get a nice close-up of this SpecOps Elite:

I don’t need to tell you what happens next. Other than the Master Chief making his triumphant debut, the keen fans will hear Master Chief talking to none other than Spartan-087 Kelly.

Master Chief orders Kelly to take her team north. We can all speculate who’s on her team, but since Kelly was never one to lead her peers, I would assume she is leading a squad of Marines and/or ODST’s.

Fast-forward a little to when Sully is shot in the leg. A Jackel, or Kig-Yar, does this to stun Sully enough for it to fire a second round into Sully’s head. Since a single Needle is heading toward Sully, I think it’s safe to assume the Kig-Yar’s are using an assortment of Needler’s, Needle Rifles, Plasma Pistols, and Carbines. If you listen closely, you can hear the firing of a Needler and Plasma Pistol similar to that of the sounds in past Halo titles.

Carbine rounds can be seen flying past Lasky along with Needles from Needler and/or Needle Rifles.

Silva is also seen picking up a Covenant Carbine.

For anyone wondering why the weapon is so big in proportion to her body and not a Kig-Yar’s, it’s important to note that Kig-Yar’s are not as small as we think. Standing anywhere between 6’2 – 6’8 and weighing nearly 200 pounds, a Kig-Yar is taller than most humans and can be more physically capable than you or I ever thought they could be.

To wrap things up, earlier in the episode, Master Chief told the remainder of Hastati Squad that they were the only survivors on the planet. This fact was cemented for Lasky when he saw General Black’s body hanging out of a Warthog.

Catch up on recaps of Forward Unto Dawn Episode 1, Episode 2,  and Episode 3!

Did I miss anything? Comment below! Remember, this is a community effort to get the most out of each episode of Forward Unto Dawn! Thanks for reading!