History WebAnimation / RedVsBlueTheRecollection

* ICantDoThisByMyself: Agent Washington repeatedly uses this phrase or some variant of it to convince the Red and Blue teams to join his fight against the Meta, so much so that it's parodied in the first {{WebVideo/Rooster Teeth Short|s}}, where a fake recording session of Washington's voice actor Creator/ShannonMcCormick shows him saying this, along with several other satirical versions of Wash's frequent statements. None of them would consider Wash a "friend", though - they only join him because they each hope to get something for themselves out of the deal (except for Caboose, who always seems happy to help anyone - [[TeamKiller even if they]] [[UnwantedAssistance don't want him to]]). In fact, Wash tries everything from pulling rank to outright bribery (though notably not asking nicely) to get the teams to cooperate.

** {{Reconstruction}}: In the spirit of the name of the season, the absurd personalities of the Blood Gulch teams meeting the more serious military personalities only makes for an even funnier contrast. Additionally, all of the tropes of ''[[Machinima/RedVsBlueTheBloodGulchChronicles The Blood Gulch Chronicles]]'' that were taken apart are eventually being put back together here (i.e., the worthlessness of the ForeverWar between the Red and Blue Teams is explained first here and then later elaborated on in ''Revelation'' as [[spoiler:them being training dummies used to help Freelancer Agents prepare for fighting on the galactic battlefield]]).

-->[[spoiler: '''Washington''': Church, there's no such thing as ghosts. You're one of them. You're an A.I. You... are the Alpha.]]
* {{EMP}}: A major device in the finale. However, the Reds, Blues, [[spoiler:[[Funny/RedVsBlueTheRecollection and even F.I.L.S.S.]]]] call it an "emp", much to Washington's chagrin.

* {{Flanderization}}: There's two examples [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools that aren't actually bad]] since [[PlayedForLaughs they provide for some pretty hilarious jokes]].

* TheDreaded: The Reds were willing to take on whatever was bashing down that door. That is until they realize it's Tex. They then proceed to run like hell - and for a ''damn'' good reason.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: After all the shenanigans, damage, lies, victories and defeats of the last 8 seasons, they decided [[spoiler: to return to their Training program because they liked it and to hell if its not real for command, ''its real for them'']]. The fact that technically they had shown to be the biggest badasses in the entire series [[spoiler:far beyond mere trainees]], literally surviving and defeating one OneManArmy after another while thousands of others didn't, make it all the more intense.

* RealMenGetShot: Washington is shot three times in the battle in Part 4. [[spoiler:The third is InTheBack.]]

* CerebusRetcon: In the original series, Church came back as a ghost after being killed off. In [[WhamEpisode Chapter 16]] of ''Reconstruction,'' it's explained that [[spoiler:ghosts aren't real and that Church is actually the original Freelancer Smart [=A.I.=], Alpha. We also learn that the Red vs. Blue "war" is just an elaborate training simulation and psychological experiment set up by Project Freelancer.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the parodic nature of "Blood Gulch Chronicles". All the wacky hijinks they had in the previous series, they get punished for and are now dealing with a more realistic military. There is an actual reason for all those robots and [=A.I.s=] programs that kept popping up all over the place. Even the pointlessness of fighting a base in the middle of a box canyon is addressed.
** {{Reconstruction}}: In the spirit of the name of the season, the absurd personalities of the Blood Gulch teams meeting the more serious military personalities only makes for an even funnier contrast. Additionally, all of the video game tropes of ''[[Machinima/RedVsBlueTheBloodGulchChronicles The Blood Gulch Chronicles]]'' that were picked apart are actually being put back together here (i.e., the pointlessness of the ForeverWar between the Red and Blue Teams is explained first here and then later elaborated on in ''Revelation'' as [[spoiler:them being glorified training dummies used to help Freelancer Agents prepare for fighting on the galactic battlefield]]).

** The penultimate episode shows that Church is 100% unwilling to help Washington with his plan to take down the Meta. The start of the finale shows that he still refuses to stick around, something that Wash and even Simmons give him shit for. The Reds and Blues proceed to leave and the Meta, seeing through the distraction, goes after Wash... and it turns out that [[spoiler:''this'' was his plan; Church implanted himself into Wash, and the others were told to leave with his body.]]

* LimitBreak: In Part 3, Simmons suggests Grif use his fear for his life to get the strength to push debris away. Unfortunately, Grif is in need of more powers taken from "not giving a fuck".

* NotSoDifferent:
** Way back in Season 5, Wyoming and Omega's plan was to take control of the aliens' god and use it to corrupt their religion, which Church finds absolutely disgusting. Now, Church is controlling a powerful Forerunner monitor that the aliens worship, and is nonchalantly keeping them entertained with "parables" that he made up. [[DownplayedTrope It is a matter of degree, however]] -- Church has no intention of enslaving the aliens, as he is just [[{{Jerkass}} playing with their ignorance]] [[ItAmusedMe since he finds it fun]].
** One of the DVD's deleted scenes shows that the aliens are facing almost the exact same language barrier issues as the humans. While humans perceive the alien's language as "Blargs" and "Honks", all the aliens hear from humans (even the Meta) is "gabba gabba".

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Sort of. According to the DVD commentary, Burnie Burns said that the reason the Reds and Blues were able to [[spoiler:take down the Meta]] is because they know each other so well and can communicate in ways that can get them around their obvious disadvantages. This is a {{Subverted|Trope}} however, as Burns says that despite the fact that they may ''know'' each other really well, that does not mean they necessarily ''[[VitriolicBestBuds like]]'' [[VitriolicBestBuds each other]].

** According to Doc in "n+1," in the far future the first part of the Hippocratic Oath will actually require doctors to lobby against socialist reform instead of doing no harm.

** While a flailing Simmons tries to grab onto the moving Warthog during one of the show's fancy new CGI scenes, Sarge tells him to stop showing off.
** Simmons comments on the role of both teams in the continuity; Blue Team is generally much more involved with the plot, while Red Team tends to only be there for comic relief, or as Simmons points out, "talk about food and guns."
** F.I.L.S.S. pointing out Tex's most glaring and obvious characteristic, being a badass.
** When Grif is hanging over a cliff, Sarge mentions a hatred of {{Cliff Hanger}}s.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: After curbstomping the Reds and the Warthog early on, The Meta has spent the rest of ''Revelations'' pretty much as Washington's comic sidekick. Then in Episode 19 [[spoiler: he stabs Tex through the face with a 2-foot-long spike, then uses her A.I. to restore his lost powers. Cue OhCrap reaction from Washington, Church, and Doc.]]

* ThePowerOfFriendship: On the DVD commentary, Burnie Burns said that the only reason the Reds and Blues can [[spoiler:take down the Meta]] is because they know each other so well and can communicate in ways that can get them around their obvious disadvantages. Arguably {{Subverted|Trope}} though, in that Burns says that though they may ''know'' each other really well, that does not mean they necessarily ''[[VitriolicBestBuds like]]'' [[VitriolicBestBuds each other]].

** [[invoked]] A more subtle case, but Church is [[AngstWhatAngst utterly unaffected]] by being left alone at a base for roughly fourteen months, apparently having not [[GoMadFromTheIsolation Gone Mad From The Isolation]] during that time. On the surface, it seems like it can be chalked up to Church's [[HatesEveryoneEqually general misanthropy]], but it would later [[RewatchBonus make more sense]] after [[spoiler:Church is revealed to be an [=A.I.=], and so it would be pretty reasonable for him to be able to survive on his own for long periods of time without any outside stimulus so he wouldn't go crazy]].

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Although the series has no true protagonist, Church is definitely one of the main ones, and he gets killed off by the end of the season.]]

-->'''Grif:''' Come on dude, tell us more about the reality bending computer. I'm ''hanging'' on your every word!

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:What's that? Turns out the Meta was only looking out for itself? Wow, that's so... characteristic.]]

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: After three seasons, this is how the Meta is finally dispatched.]] He was [[spoiler:BroughtDownToNormal without any functioning equipment units when he fell]] and the response unit certainly sounds sure that he's dead. However, it's unknown whether the [=UNSC=] forces [[NeverFoundTheBody found a body]].

* ManOnFire: Caboose's [[RuleOfFunny random base fires]]

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: The advertisement for the DVD announces the return of "All your favorite characters ([[ButtMonkey and Simmons]])."

* LighterAndSofter: [[invoked]] Far and wide, it's lighter than ''Reconstruction''. WordOfGod even describes it as "Less plot, more stupid".

-->''Good to conquer evil. Lies to fight the truth. Are any of us only saints or sinners, or is it always red versus blue?''

* ToiletHumor: In Part 2.
-->'''Sarge:''' What's blocking it?\\
'''Grif:''' It looks like a bunch of pieces of a ship.\\
'''Sarge:''' ... That's disgusting. Who would climb all that way up there just to do that?\\
'''Grif:''' I said shi-puh!\\
'''Sarge:''' Oh, right.

* YourMindMakesItReal: Deliberately stated by Sarge about the VirtualTrainingSimulation room, complete with a deliberate ShoutOut to ''Film/TheMatrix'' (and subsequent TakeThat).

''[Tex lifts the crate]''

--->'''Washington''': [[spoiler:Church. There's no such things as ghosts. You're one of them. You're an A.I. You... are the Alpha.]]

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: InUniverse, how Caboose feels about the aliens taking to worshiping Epsilon-Church.
-->'''Caboose''': It's not fair! I worshiped Church ''way'' before it was cool to worship him!\\
'''Grif''': Hey, I already told you, that's still ''not cool''. That will ''never be cool''. Ever.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: [[spoiler:Epsilon-Church]] delivers one in the final scene.
--> "[[spoiler:I'd like to say that I found her right away, that I just walked into the Epsilon Unit, and there she was, waiting for me. As you can probably guess, it didn't happen that way, but, I know she's in here somewhere, and I'll find her.]] We always seem to find each other, for better or for worse. I don't know why the Director did what he did. I don't know if he was trying to revive a memory from his past, or if he was just trying to get it out of his head. But I figured out something that the Director didn't. It took Alpha, Delta, and the rest to help piece it together for me, but what I've learned is that a great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all that you think about. You can focus on it, and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient, and you hold still, then maybe... Just maybe... It will come to you. I just need to make sure I'm somewhere she can find me. I think this place is a little different than it was before. See, out there, everything is based on the Alpha, but in here, I guess I'm the Alpha. And maybe this time through, things will be a little different for me as well. I guess I'll find out. And I mean, hell, if you have to live the rest of your life in a memory... you might as well make it a good one."

** When Simmons is hacking into the Freelancer database to erase the records on the Blues, he ALT-TABS out and several other tabs can be seen, including a Word document called "Super secret plan" and a yahoo image search called "cortana_nude_fake".

* RealityEnsues: ''Lots'' of examples, as the season is partly devoted to injecting some actual reality into the previous parodic nature of ''The Blood Gulch Chronicles''.
** Sarge refused to be reassigned and was labeled AWOL, making Grif the new team [=C.O.=].
** Grif and Simmons then proceeded to ruin their new assignment by selling their ammo to Blue Team, and would have been killed by a firing squad for treason had Sarge not shown up at the last minute.
** Caboose, meanwhile, was sentenced to the brig and tied up because ''his'' new [=C.O.=] quickly realized that he was LethallyStupid.
** Simmons' attempt to hack into Freelancer Command and delete the Blue Team roster takes a bat to HollywoodHacking, with Simmons summarizing the complicated process of ''actual'' hacking while Grif rattles off classic hacking tropes like "try hacking the mainframe" (it isn't a mainframe system) or "try uploading a laughing skull virus into the mainframe" (like that's going to help spoof a randomly-generated 2056-bit encryption key).
** The Meta has also added several nonstandard upgrades to its armor, from invisibility, to camouflage, to the Bubble Shield, and so on. While having them makes it incredibly formidable, each of the upgrades requires a power source, [[AwesomeButImpractical one that his suit of armor can't reliably provide.]] In battle, the Meta can only use them for a limited amount of time, and some like the [[TimeStandsStill Temporal Distortion Unit]] [[TooAwesomeToUse run out of power after a single use.]]
** Wash bluntly tells the Reds and Blues that they're not real soldiers and their entire ForeverWar is a glorified farce on behalf of Freelancer Command... and they don't believe him even if he does have clear proof supporting his argument. After all, from their perspective, Wash has been an utter {{Jerkass}} towards them for the entire time they've known him, and they're not exactly going to be that inclined to trust him.
** [[spoiler:The Director of Project Freelancer attempts to invoke LoopholeAbuse to get out of going to prison for torturing his Smart [=A.I.=] by pointing out that since the Alpha was based off of his own mind, he was technically torturing ''himself.'' The [=UNSC=] Oversight Subcommittee's response? [[ObviousRulePatch To simply write new protocols and laws accounting for this obvious loophole]] and making it so the Director can still be prosecuted.]]

* ArcVillain: While villains come and go, the Meta is the overall antagonist of the trilogy. However, with knowledge of future events, [[spoiler:Sigma is the real villain, at least for Reconstruction]].

* ArcVillain: While villains come and go, the Meta is the overall antagonist of the trilogy. However, with knowledge of future events, [[spoiler:Sigma is the real villain]].

** The desert dig team plotline has C.T.

* UnfamiliarCeiling: Subverted for laughs when Donut keeps passing out and coming to, and each time he's told strange stories about what has been happening while he was asleep, which makes him wonder and ask how long he's been out. Turns out he's only been out for a few minutes, and the stories sound strange because it's Caboose who's been telling him the news.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Thus is one of, if not the darkest installment of the series. There’s very little humor, a bleak tone, and it ends on a hell of a DownerEnding.