The Arbiter
I find it difficult to believe two things concerning the Abiter's role in the end of Halo 3. First, how did he know how to get to the bridge? The bridge seems to be located a fair ways away, and being the member of the Covenant, how was the Arbiter able to trace such a lengthy distance through an unfamiliar ship layout in the time he did it in? Further, how is it that the ship was able to be operated by Cortana and the Arbiter alone? A frigate should require at least some sort of crew to operate, and while Cortana could conceivably operate it herself, I find it hard to believe that the Arbiter had enough knowledge of human ship controls to be able to operate it even a little bit. Thoughts? I'm sure fixes can be proposed, but it just stood out as odd to me.
Well, humans were able to control a Covenant ship, so it could work vice-versa. Also, did Cortana help pilot the ship? Vegerot goes RAWR! Vegerot (talk) 15:31, 19 August 2011 (EDT)!!!
- Thel has boarded a ship before, a destroyer in 2535; it's quite possible for him to have boarded a frigate at one point during his career, too. Cortana is capable of handling multiple tasks of a wide-range of natures, simultaneously, being a "smart" AI. With a networked, computer-controlled system for engineering and helm control, an AI should, theoretically, be capable of piloting, solo.-- Forerunner 17:18, 19 August 2011 (EDT)
The crew
So is there any indication as to what happened to the crew of the ship at the end of Halo 3? It seems as if every human who came with the ship except the Master Chief died, but unless Johnson knew how to fly it, or Miranda Keyes parked it where it was at the end of the game, it wouldn't make sense that it just ended up there. The Flood certainly didn't fly it to that spot. If they had, the Gravemind or whatever would have just left. -Kongurous 04:52, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
Johnson probably had the entire crew relocated to Shadow of Intent, just incase Chiefs plan didnt work and they couldnt get off with Dawn. Kap2310 19:42, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
Johnson parked the ship there. I'm positive. In the cutscene, between the level the Covenant and Halo, when the Pelican's flying towards the new installation, Cortana asks if he has the frigate to which Johnson replies, quote: "I'll try and land her as close to the control room as I can." unquote. ;-) Hairy Ruben 18:32, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
In the production spec it says known crew members Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood Commander Miranda Keyes shouldn't some one add john and sgt johnson Spartan 688 17:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
Name
This is not the ship's whole name. There is at least one word before "Unto Dawn" but I'm having trouble reading it. --ED(talk)(gaming) 19:40, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
Do we Know? its firing at a Carrier and a Battlecruiser? hmmm
--SPARTAN-077
Full name: "Forward Unto Dawn"
--ACEfanatic02
- We'll take your word for it. ;-) Cheers, RelentlessRecusant 'o the Halopedia Team TALK • MESSAGE 11:47, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
Plus, in the level, The Storm, Lord Hood says, "Kilo 23, this is Forward Unto Dawn..." and a bunch of other crud we don't really care about. --Blemo 23 
TALK • CONTRIBUTIONS • SERVICE RECORD 04:52, 24 November 2007 (UTC)
Some things not quite right.
Took some time to look at the in-game model of the Forward Unto Dawn, and noted that it has 50 hatches with radiations symbols on them. I'm willing to bet that these are Archer Pod's, but we don't really have any way of knowing.
In addition to that, "FFG" in modern navies, designates a guided missile frigate. Oh and the description for the battle over the portal is wrong. Not only were there more ships in that location than described, but the three frigates did not fire on any of the Covenant ships - they all specifically targeted Truth in the keyship to try and prevent him from activating the rings. If you watch the cutscene you will notice that none of the Covenant ships are ever damaged in any way. The only explosions are around Truth's keyship.
Forward Unto Dawn
At the end of level 5 in halo 3 after beating the flood you can see Forward Unto Dawn in the Covenant Assault Carrier hanger bay were you see the elites and ODSTs sitting around. In the back of them is the frigate and when lord Hood leaves in a Pelican you can see the frigate in the upper left hand corner
I'm Confused
When it list's all those vehicles under "Cargo capacity", does it mean it can hold all those vehicles at the same time? Because, when the Dawn drops off the hogs and scorpions, it looks like the cargo hold can't hold too much more. It just doesn't seem right. - SuperNerd1138 , 23 February 2008 (UTC)
Besides the cargo hold, it also has two hangar on each side. Each hangar can hold 5 pelicans. Overall, there should be 13 Pelicans (5 in each side hanger and 3 in the cargo hold.) Most of the community believe there was only 7 pelicans; I agree. I believe some of the pelicans were removed and replaced with Warthogs, Scorpions, Mongooses, and Hornets. I also believe that frigate-class starships for the UNSC were not equipped with Longswords. I do not recall in Halo 2 ever seeing a longsword in or around Delta Halo. In Halo 3, you see a longsword crash. Most people believe that the longsword was from the Dawn. This is highly unlikely. There is simply no room for a Longsword to fit in the frigate. I believe that the Longsword is from the Shadow of Intent. In a cutscene, you see the Dawn in the Shadow of Intent's cargo hold. Who's to say that a Longsword or two could not fit in the hold also. The Human-Covenant separatist Alliance only supports my theory.
-Rusty290, 20 December 2008
This is ironic
The name is kinda funny because its the FORWARD part of the Dawn the one that reached Earth, the one that went UNTO Earth's DAWN. May not makes much sense, but it may be meaning something
Onyx as the back half of the Dawn's destination
It has been put forward by many people that the planet seen in the Legendary ending of Halo 3 is Onyx, which is possibly why this appears in the article. Onyx has been destroyed (or disassembled), however, and there is nothing but hearsay to suggest that the planet is Onyx. Would it perhaps be better to put it under trivia, rather than in the main article? -Guscon
- In my opinion, I don't think it should be included at all, since it is merely speculation at this point in time. I barely consider it that, since what you say is true, and Onyx has been destroyed. XRoadToDawnX 00:43, 22 June 2008 (UTC)
The bottom part of the trivia concerning the modded Sandtrap map.
It doesn't seem to be canon if the content is modded, also isn't that kind of like advertising modifications that aren't supposed to "exist".
The Mystery of the Hanger Lift.
In the cutscene between the Floodgate and the Ark, you see 3 pelicans drop from Forward unto Dawn and descend to the Ark. When you get to the place where the Dawn touches down, it drops off 3 tanks from a lift. Where did the lift go in the cutscene at the beginning? From what I saw, the lift can only go down, not up into the ship.
That is an excellent point. It may be that Bungie too creative license, or just forgot. It may also be that the lifts do infact go up, or it may begin above, and lower further down, but it should be looked into.--Kre 'Nunumee 02:18, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
Ring fires, Masterchief survives
I noticed in the main article it mentions Masterchief somehow surviving the ring's activation. The ring never fully activated; that's the main reason 343 Guilty Spark went rampant in the control room. Spark stated that if the ring were to fire prematurely, the ring would destroy itself, and later Cortana confirms that it would destroy the Ark in the process. The ring, while it began firing, never completely activated, and instead destroyed itself and the Ark, shutting down the portal while the Dawn was half through. It's not that the Chief survived it, it's just that it never fully fired. It wouldn't need to for the story's sake either, because with the ring and Ark destroyed, the flood are gone anyhow (at least in that area, as they are stil likely on Delta Halo, and wherever else they may have been). That's also why the Chief and Arbiter were separated. The bridge section made it through, hence the Arbiter was able to return to Earth, but the rear portion, where the Chief was, did not make it in before the collapse. I don't know why someone would mention something about it dropping from slipslace, there's no reason for it to do that if it made it all the way in, whether the portal collapsed or not. I think that needs to be changed in the article, but wanted to okay it with everyone else first.
XxSpartanxxIIxx 22:29, 23 May 2009 (UTC)xxSpartanxxIIxx
Size comparisons, and the rear hangar differences
I think the Dawn bcomes a bit longer then she should be in the scene where she drops into the atmosphere of the Ark, because she looks immense from that view point.
But the odd thing I am SURE of, is that in the hangar of the Dawn, in the lvl "The ark", it has the elevator things, which are different colors to the ground around them, and there is no computer pedestal in there. However, in the level "Halo" It does, Cortana is inserted into it by John. Also, the elevators don't appear to be there.
- Maybe it isn't the same bay? XxSpartanxxIIxx 01:28, September 11, 2009 (UTC)XxSpartanxxIIxx
Deletion of the cargo capacity "Longsword Fighters"
Hey, I don't know how a frigate could possibly store 5 Longswords, but should someone delete the sentence saying that it can hold 5+ Longswords?--Bottletopman 04:36, January 3, 2010 (UTC)
In the article, it states both the forward and rear portions of the Forward unto Dawn went into Slipspace. I was under the impression that, from viewing the part of the Dawn where it was severed in two in the final Halo 3 trailer, the only the portion of the Dawn went into slipspace was the forward portion. I also thought the rear portion remained behind with the wrecked Halo and the Ark. Please correct me if my assumptions are incorrect. UNSC Las Vegas File:Mac.jpg|50px]] Orders/Parking tickets/The letters from the Admiral, regarding regarding the Admiral's Daughter Maintenance Records/Insurance details
It is said on another page that the portal collapsed WHILST the dawn was transitioning through slipspace. I take this to mean that the dawn was in slipspace when the portal collapsed, not that the dawn was halfway into the portal. This would explain the cargo bay portion not floating in space around the ark and instead approching an unknown planet Storm war22 (talk) 00:23, 4 January 2013 (EST)
Archer missiles
So I see that after a couple of searches on frigates, I noticed that the number of missile pods on the same variant of frigate (the dawn) are different. So I have seen the numbers of pods being 30,40, and 50. So which is it? It can't be possible for all models based off the dawn, which is pretty much the base of all frigates in halo 3, to have discrepencies. Thanks if you can clear this up. --UNSCSILVERSTREAK 01:18, 2 June 2011 (EDT)
Structural differences between Halo 3 and 4
Several times now I've tried mentioning that the Dawn noticeably changes shape and size between Halo 3 and 4, but it always seems to get removed. I don't know if this was automated because I wasn't doing it from an account, but if someone is actually going in and editing out that piece of trivia, why? That the Dawn begins its journey with a clean-cut front and ends it with that same area scraped up is hardly trivia when it can be explained so easily as debris collisions, but the ship outright changing doesn't warrant that inclusion?—This unsigned comment was made by Orion Australis (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~
- It keeps getting removed because that information is already in the article. There's no need to say the same thing twice. --Courage never dies. 09:53, 19 November 2012 (EST)
The bridge
The bridge is still attached to the ship in the opening of Halo 4. But wasn't the Arbiter on the bridge when he returned to Earth in the front section? 343i really got alot wrong.—This unsigned comment was made by 108.66.164.104 (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~
- That was the observation deck of the ship, not the bridge. Also, please mark... eh, whatever. -Killjax (talk | contribs)
- Actually, that was the bridge (the observation deck is located near the torn opening of the ship I presume). The bridge remained attached to the aft half of the ship. The confusion with this is due to an inconsistency with the arbiter in the FUD's bridge before the ship goes through the portal & the absense of the bridge after it exits. We had a short discussion about it earlier cause I was confused about that too.--Killamint [Comm|Files] 16:35, 15 January 2013 (EST)
- Yes, on this note, the size diagram between Halo 3 and Halo 4 lists the observation area and missile silo as a very tiny section on the front portion of the ship. However I could have sworn that the Observation Deck was the large, observation deck looking section that looms over the front part of the Dawn's wreckage. Ocean Soul (talk) 18:12, 30 October 2013 (EDT)
- Very much not the case. The large upper structure on the new Dawn houses the bridge. The observation area can clearly be seen along with the missile launch area at the very front of the wreckage in the into cutscene. -ScaleMaster117 (talk) 22:56, 30 October 2013 (EDT)
Just imagine that when Arby saw the portal closing, he kicked the window open and leaped out to land on the front half. 'Cause he's THE ARBITAA. Tuckerscreator(stalk) 16:42, 15 January 2013 (EST)
- Good luck escaping vacuum pressure... He can break it open and he would be right where chief was - Requiem. Too bad that never happened.--Killamint [Comm|Files] 16:49, 15 January 2013 (EST)
It's clearly identified as the Obervation Deck in Halo 4 (plus look around inside it there are no bridge consoles or instruments). In the books (Cole Protocol I believe) it is clearly stated that all UNSC ships have their bridges at the Bow of the vessel. And the Arbiter was clearly seen inside the bridge leaving 04B and made it to earth in the Bow of the ship. Therefore the bridge is at the bow of the vessel. VARGR (talk) 09:16, 16 January 2013 (EST)
- The original location of the bridge for the frigate (in its original design) is located near the dish (quick example). It is nowhere near the bow. This is established by Halo 2's Return to Sender cutscene when the Chief landed on the IAC's bridge (at least for the Stalwart, but I'm willing to bet it's the same for all UNSC frigates). However, again, this is the original design and is no longer good canon. 343i's design would take over, suggesting that the bridge is now... well... anybody's speculation. In other words, retcon. As for the ending cutscene in Halo 3 and the Arbiter's location inconsistency, that is simply an oversight on Bungie's part. However, it has been a spreading speculation by the fans that he moved as the ship entered into slipspace... that or if you would prefer Tucker's explanation. :P
- Would love to have a page reference of Cole Protocol. I would think that applies only to cruisers (i.e. POA). — subtank 10:56, 16 January 2013 (EST)
- Not sure why this is considered a problem. Yes, the Arbiter was on the bridge as they made their way through the portal at the Ark and, yes, the bridge was still part of the aft section of the Dawn that the Chief survived in, but remember that the Earth-Ark trip last about a month or so. Do you think the Arbiter stayed on the bridge the whole month for the trip? He probably wandered about...got food now and then...and happened to be in the forward half when it emerged and plunged into the Indian Ocean. -ScaleMaster117 (talk) 22:56, 30 October 2013 (EDT)
Possible mistranslation
Hi there, what adjunct of Halo: First Strike says the debris from the Forward Unto Dawn were auctioned? I looked in the French version and I found nothing. 88.120.49.44 17:03, 9 November 2015 (EST).
- I checked my copy and didn't find anything. I assumed it'd in "Petra" since that one's post-war but I didn't see anything about auctioning. Tuckerscreator(stalk) 18:06, 9 November 2015 (EST)
- Tug o' War takes place after the war and it involves salvaging ships, might be in there. Alertfiend - Team Chief 01:01, 10 November 2015 (EST)
- Nothing in Tug o' War either. The Dawn is mentioned twice by name in Petra but there's no mention of auctioning. Tuckerscreator(stalk) 01:12, 10 November 2015 (EST)
- Thank you very much for your help. Once again, you helped me.. 88.120.49.44 09:35, 10 November 2015 (EST).