Paradox
Directed By: Joe Nicolosi
Written By: Joe Nicolosi
Written By: Joe Nicolosi
"It's too late."
The Reds and Blues travel back in time to Temple's underwater base to stop Wash's injury from happening. Donut, meanwhile, goes to confront Chrovos with The Hammer.
- Note: As of June 2022, this is the longest canonical episode of the entire series.
This episode has examples of:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Tucker is clearly about to tell Kaikaina something along these lines before the paradox seemingly wipes them all from history.
- Been There, Shaped History: Genkins is confirmed to be the one who wiped pizza from history.
- Big Applesauce: The final location visited in Donut and O'Malley duel across space-time appears to be New York City based on the glimpses given to the street layout below.
- Brick Joke:
- The Mrs. Cyclops from "It Just Winked At Me" briefly reappears to stomp on some Zealots that Sarge had been able to lure to Iris.
- On a similar note to the above, Tucker kills two of the Zealots by dropping a horse on them via a time portal, just like how he apparently killed Catherine the Great in "A Pizza The Action".
- Butterfly of Doom: Discussed and spoofed when Caboose shows a crushed moth and asks if that counts.
- Call-Back: The episode's ending inverts both the season's opening scene — two people (almost) having the "You ever wonder why we're here?" conversation, then a pan up — and the very first episodes of the entire series — the Red Team meeting, the Blues spying on them, and "You ever wonder why we're here?"
- Cerebus Callback: Grif's unathletic nature has been a pretty consistent Running Gag throughout the entire series. Here, him being so out-of-shape means that he's unable to stop Carolina and the rest of his friends from saving Wash, causing a Reality-Breaking Paradox.
- Chekhov's Skill: Grif's ability to identify different kinds of food leads him to find out that the Reds and Blues aren't the only time travelers in Temple's underwater base.
- Continuity Nod:
- When their duel through time and space "formally" starts, O'Malley angrily tells Donut that he's going to send him to "H-E double-hockey-sticks!" When Doc was possessed for the first time by O'Malley in Season 2's "Aftermath, Before Biology", he also used the "H-E double-hockey-sticks" swear when complaining to himself over how rude Vic had just been to him.
- O'Malley is defeated by Donut in a similar manner to how the Reds and Blues killed Felix in Season 13's "The End is Near" — Namely, distracting him before blasting him off a high place to his doom by throwing a grenade at his feet.
- Cosmic Retcon: Heavily implied in the ending, where time seems to have been reset by Chrovos after his escape back to the very first episode of the series (albeit with many key "errors" in place, most prominently Church being voiced by Ricco Fajardo as Genkins rather than Burnie Burns).
- Downer Ending: Mixed with Gainax Ending — The Reds and Blues make a last ditch attempt at time travel by saving Washington from being shot... which goes horribly right causing a Reality-Breaking Paradox that seems to reset the universe back to the first season of The Blood Gulch Chronicles, with Genkins replacing Church, and everyone else incapable of remembering. Additionally, Donut's whereabouts are unknown, as is the status of the rest of the universe itself. Thankfully, it becomes a Bittersweet Ending come next season when it turns out that Donut's Heel–Face Turn wasn't entirely in vain, as Chrovos was still partially sealed away and the universe can be fixed.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Chrovos is audibly irritated by Donut's enraged shouting at him after the former simulation trooper realizes that Chrovos was responsible for killing him with Loco's time machine. O'Malley also doesn't understand why Donut would sacrifice being "a prince in Heaven" to re-seal Chrovos.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Grif's smug demeanor over Genkins' monologuing evaporates as he continues to hold Genkins at gunpoint and he realizes that the Cosmic Power is just stalling for time.Grif: (smugly) Are you finished?
Genkins: Quite!
Grif: Huh... would you look at the time?
Genkins: Ooh, getting late!
Grif: Too late. You see buddy, while you've been jerking yourself off with monologues, my friends were off saving Wash!
Genkins: Fan-tastic!
Grif: (genuinely surprised) We... won?
Genkins: Huzzah!
Grif: (his rifle wavers) You're not here to stop us... - Fade to White: How the paradox is depicted.
- Faux Affably Evil: After Donut refuses again to hand over The Hammer to O'Malley and Chrovos, the latter's grandfatherly demeanor immediately drops and the Titan angrily snarls for O'Malley to kill Donut.
- Fighting Across Time and Space: Donut and O'Malley have an epic duel using the Time Gun that consists of this. It starts with a dogfight between Nazi and British pilots in German airspace in mid-to-late 1944, then proceeds to Blood Gulch in the series' present day of 2559, the surface of the Moon in 1969 (shortly after the crew of Apollo 11 had left to return to Earth), a wrestling ring in 1996, the roof of the Florence Cathedral from during The Renaissance, and finally the rooftop of a skyscraper in New York City around 2018.
- Foreshadowing: It's revealed in this episode that the majority of Zealots that the Reds and Blues would've faced when escaping from Temple's underwater base back in Season 15 were actually killed off by their time-traveling present day selves. This subtly sets up that their presence in the past is a Stable Time Loop, and if Wash would be saved, than the time loop would be broken, causing a Temporal Paradox.
- Gainax Ending: After the paradox happens, a Time Crash causes a Fade to White. When things return, it's sort of a recreation of the first two episodes of the series as filmed in Halo 2: Anniversary... only Church is definitely not voiced by Burnie Burns, the original lines are given to the other character in the scene, and Grif and Simmons are feeling sort of a deja vu.
- A Glitch in the Matrix: In the return to Blood Gulch at the end of the episode, everything proceeds more or less the same as it originally did... but in a manner where everything is also noticeably off. Tucker doesn't want to use the sniper rifle, Grif and Simmons are suffering from deja vu, Church is definitely not being voiced by Burnie Burns, events seem to be proceeding in reverse order (the Reds getting a Warthog —> "Church" and Tucker spying on the Reds —> the "You ever wonder why we're here?" discussion), and the lines typically voiced by one character are given to another (i.e., Grif is the one to start the "You ever wonder why we're here?" discussion instead of Simmons like it originally happened).
- Godhood Seeker: Genkins admits to Grif that he joined Chrovos because he's tired of "only" having to act through a God Guise, and wants to be a real Physical God with all of the power that it implies.
- Heel–Face Turn: Donut switches back to the Reds and Blues, and tries to use The Hammer to re-seal Chrovos in his prison.
- Here We Go Again!: Played for Drama; Much like how it happened eight seasons prior, the season finale ends with the reveal that, due to outside circumstances, the events of Season 1 are being revisited, albeit slightly inaccurately. As if to acknowledge the similarity, the first sign that things are off is that Church doesn't sound the same.
- Hope Spot: As Grif shouts in alarm and rushes back coupled with Donut furiously swinging The Hammer right down on Chrovos, it briefly looks like the timeline will be saved and the paradox won't happen! ...And then cue Carolina shooting the Zealot and time slamming to a halt.
- It Has Been an Honor: These are Sarge's last words as the paradox engulfs the Reds and Blues.note
- It's All About Me: Genkins rather cheerfully admits to Grif that he's helping Chrovos out of sheer boredom and a desire to get an even higher position on the cosmic totem pole.
- It's Personal: An outraged Donut finally realizes that Chrovos is responsible for his most recent death, further justifying his Heel–Face Turn against the Eldritch Abomination.
- Leave the Camera Running: Played for Drama; The uncomfortably long pauses following Grif confronting Genkins serve as some Five-Second Foreshadowing that the Reds and Blues traveling back in time to save Wash is actually part of his and Chrovos' Evil Plan to cause a Reality-Breaking Paradox.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Grif smells pizza in Temple's underwater lair, noting that it can only mean there's another time-traveler in the base with them and that it's probably the same one who's been messing with them the whole season. Because they're on a schedule to save Wash from getting shot, Grif says he will follow the smell and find whoever it is alone while everyone else sticks to the plan and saves Wash.
- Oh, Crap!: This is Grif's reaction when he realizes that Genkins isn't trying to stop the Reds and Blues from saving Wash via time travel; he intends to make sure that they go through with it, which will result in a Reality-Breaking Paradox.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Reds and Blues stopping Wash from getting shot causes a Reality-Breaking Paradox that frees a hostile Eldritch Abomination and his evil A.I. companion to ravage the cosmos at their leisure. More specifically, Carolina is the one who shoots the Zealot that originally shot Wash.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Grif, a Lazy Bum par excellence, actually runs with no hesitation while desperately trying to get back in time to warn the other Reds and Blues. Furthermore, Donut (who almost never swears) actually shouts "Like Hell!" as he swings The Hammer down at Chrovos to re-seal them at the episode' climax.
- "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: The final shot of the episode consists of this, all while set in another Blood Gulch recreation. And then a pink wave of sorts flashes across the sky.
- Reality-Breaking Paradox: Lampshaded by Genkins, who points out that the best way to break the universe is with a paradox. To explain fully, stopping Wash from getting shot will mean the Reds and Blues alongside Wash and Locus (since he won't leave to take the critically injured Wash to a hospital) will definitely Curb Stomp Temple before Loco's Time Machine is even turned on, preventing Donut from meeting Chrovos, giving the Reds and Blues their Time Guns, and stopping their Been There, Shaped History hijinks that will eventually culminate in them trying to prevent Wash from getting shot. The paradox sends the Teams back to Blood Gulch, only things are noticeably different.
- Red Herring: As Grif is running back to the Reds and Blues to tell them that they have to let Wash get shot or else it'll cause a Reality-Breaking Paradox, it briefly looks like he will be the one to actually shoot Wash and that this whole episode was a Stable Time Loop. However, he doesn't get back in time and Carolina shoots one of the Zealots, causing the paradox to begin.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The Reds and Blues travel back in time to stop Wash from getting shot, fully believing themselves to be engaging in this trope. Unfortunately, as it turns out they're actually just playing into Genkins' plans, and they're actually about to Make Wrong What Once Went Right.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Both Donut and O'Malley awesome duel through time and space and Grif's desperate run back to the Reds and Blues to warn them about Genkins' Evil Plan tragically turn out to be all for naught, as they're both too late to stop the paradox from happening.
- Shocking Voice Identity Reveal: The "Church" in the Blood Gulch recreation that closes the season is actually Genkins.
- Shout-Out:
- During Donut and O'Malley's fight across time and space, the Time Gun is weaponized to be reminiscent of the the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.
- After O'Malley claims that he's going to send Donut to Hell, the lightish-red former simulation trooper snaps back "Well, at least I'll be in good company!" This is an allusion to the blues song "In Hell, I'll Be In Good Company" by The Dead South.
- Spot the Thread: Grif smells pizza while in Temple's underwater base. He notes that not only did Temple and his team only eat fish, but this is after pizza was erased from history, meaning that there's another time traveler there with the Reds and Blues.
- Stable Time Loop:
- Simmons uses one of the Time Guns to tell the Blood Gulch Crew from a few minutes ago (from his perspective) how to get rid of the Zealots occupying the escape area and prepare for Wash getting shot.
- Donut is also able to know he's going to win his duel with O'Malley the entire time following the segment in Blood Gulch since he threw his grenade into the time portal opened up by his future self.
- Teleport Gun: The Time Guns are downright weaponized like the ones from Portal in this episode, as demonstrated in the fight where Donut and O'Malley start jumping around time periods.
- Temporal Paradox: Finally happens when the Reds and Blues time travel back to Season 15 and prevent Wash from getting shot - as with Wash and Locus by their side, Temple would've been defeated much earlier, the whole chain of events that led to Donut getting them time travel guns in the first place doesn't occur in the first place. The result is a Time Crash.
- Thicker Than Water: Donut eventually decides while holding The Hammer in front of Chrovos that even if his friends don't treat him very well, they're still his friends at the end of the day and he's not going to help Chrovos destroy them or the rest of the universe.
- Time Crash: This appears to happen due to the paradox at the episode's end as the events of the series' first few episodes play out using the engine of a different game (here, Halo 2: Anniversary) rather than Halo: Combat Evolved.
- True Companions: Donut ultimately decides that the admittedly vitriolic bond he shares with his friends is superior to whatever offers of power Chrovos could ever grant him.
- Wham Episode: This episode has Genkins revealing that defying You Already Changed the Past was what he intended the Reds and Blues to do, which would cause a paradox that breaks time itself. Carolina saves Wash from getting shot, allowing the past Reds and Blues to stop Temple before the time machine is activated, meaning Donut is never zapped by it, and the time travel plot couldn't have happened. The resulting Time Crash sends everyone back to Blood Gulch, except the light blue soldier doesn't seem to be Church...
- Wham Line: There's a doozy of a line from Genkins when he's talking to Grif while the rest of the Blood Gulch Crew goes off to stop Wash from getting his injury.Genkins: Oh, Grif... No, I'm not here to stop you... ...I'm here to make sure you go through with it.
- Wham Shot:
- Carolina shooting the Zealot that originally shot Wash. Cue all sound and music suddenly stopping except for an ominous drone as time suddenly halts, shortly followed by a gradual Fade to White.
- Immediately following the Fade to White, there's a slow pan across what appears to be the ground followed by another slow pan upwards to reveal Blood Gulch as filmed in Halo 2: Anniversary. Apparently, the paradox has caused a Cosmic Retcon.
- Finally, there's pink light suddenly flashing across the sky after Grif and Simmons have a garbled version of the "You ever wonder why we're here?" speech from the first episode, symbolizing that this new universe is not at all like the previous one.
- You Are Too Late: Chrovos shouts this at Donut right after he finally returns to re-seal Chrovos. Given that this is immediately followed by the paradox, it unfortunately seems like Chrovos was right and the universe is doomed.
- You Already Changed the Past: As it turns out, the Reds and Blues who traveled back in time were the ones responsible for clearing out the majority of the guards in Temple's underwater base.
