The series opens with Tron's narration as we see Kevin Flynn being digitized and creating the new Grid. It then goes on to show Clu staging a coup and attempting to assassinate Flynn and Tron, then dispatching his armies across the Grid.
In the far-off city of Argon, Beck, a young mechanic program working at Able's garage, is shown with his friends Bodhi, Mara and Zed working and then playing disc games in the nearby park. Beck wins a friendly match between him and Bodhi and all is going well until they see a humongous Airborne Aircraft Carrier approaching, accompanied by a fleet of recognizers. The commander of the fleet announces himself as General Tesler and proclaims the city occupied in the name of Clu. As the four friends murmur that this can be nothing good, a huge block is dropped almost on top of them. The shockwave from the impact ruins everything around and reveals a giant statue of Clu. Soldiers surround the statue and order the four to leave. Bodhi protests and is swiftly derezzed. Beck pick up his disc, vowing revenge, but Mara and Zed persuade him to back down for now.
Later, Beck takes Bodhi's tech-transforming wrench and uses it to reconfigure his suit to display the symbol of Tron in order to take on the identity of the legendary hero who's believed to be dead. He climbs onto Clu's statue, beheads it and drops a bomb in its hollow, blowing it up. A survivor guard is brought before General Tesler and testifies that he saw Tron on the crime scene. After receiving a personal confirmation from Clu that Tron's dead, Tesler tasks his right-hand woman, Paige, with capturing the perpetrator.
Beck drives his light cycle through the streets of Argon, easily escaping two black guards, but is cornered by Paige, who engages him in a fight. He manages to break free and after a chase on the rooftops boards a passing light chopper. After stealing a parachute and once again somewhat flirtatiously wrestling with Paige, Beck breaks the chopper's rear blade, leaving the woman to struggle with its landing, and jumps out. Paige does land the chopper in her base and is scolded by Tesler for her failure.
Beck starts falling towards a frozen body of water outside of the city. He fails to activate his parachute and crashes in the ice. Barely managing to outrun a propagating crack in the ice, he jumps over a chasm and saves himself. Some time later, he reaches a junkyard, on which he finds a buggy, repairs it and drives off in the snowy wasteland. Not long after, he notices someone on a snowmobile glowing orange on his tail. Beck projects a light wall, but so does the pursuer, who drives ahead of him and projects his light wall in Beck's way, causing the buggy to crash. The program, who is masked and clad all in black with a few orange lights, throws a stun grenade at Beck before he can react, and Beck falls unconscious.
Later, he finds himself captured in manacles and forced to his knee in a dimly lit room. The program who captured him is now interrogating him. Beck tells him what happened and explains why he beheaded Clu's statue. The interrogator tries to goad him into admitting his act of rebellion is foolish and useless, but Beck insists that it will inspire a revolution. Meanwhile, he also secretly uses Bodhi's wrench to free himself from the manacles and faces his captor, eventually each having his disc at the other's throat. The captor then drops his disguise and reveals himself to be Tron and has been testing Beck's resolve. He explains to Beck that he's been crippled by Clu and therefore cannot take up the fight himself, so he needs someone to take up the mantle. He asks Beck to be "the next Tron", but Beck refuses, feeling he is not up to it. Tron resigns and lets him go.
Beck manages to return to Able's garage and is summoned by Able, the garage's boss. Able asks him if he had anything to do with the vandalism. Beck denies and Able advises him to be more restrained now that the city's occupied. Moments later, all programs are ordered by the Occupation to gather before the garage, where Paige shows the footage of the statue being blown up and demands that the perpetrator be turned in if someone recognizes him. Approaching menacingly towards Beck who she seems to intuitively suspect, she announces that programs will be rounded up for the Gladiator Games until the culprit is apprehended. As the programs get back to work, Paige notices Beck twirling the wrench in his hand the same way the masked program did earlier, while hacking the helicopter. She starts asking him where he got the tool, but Able explains they have more tools like that and Paige leaves, unsatisfied.
Immediately, Tesler appears and has many of the programs rounded up and forced into a train, including Zed and Mara. Beck sneaks out, disguises himself as Tron and follows the train on his light cycle. A black guard tries to stop him and they fight on top of the train until the guard pulls out a grenade. The resulting explosion knocks them down and the guard finds himself at Beck's mercy. Beck however spares him, which leaves the guard bewildered, then uses his disc to sever the rear wagon instead.
Beck doesn't find his friends in the wagon and rushes ahead of the train to stop it. He succeeds in cutting a support beam so that the monorail crashes, but his search is again futile. Surprisingly for him, the black guard he spared earlier comes to his help and together they free the captured programs. Just as the guard thanks Beck, he is hit and derezzed by a disc which turns out to be thrown by none other than General Tesler himself.
Tesler engages Beck in a tough fight, in which he easily gains the upper hand. He punches Beck and sends him flying into a construction site, then uses his Extendable Arms as grappling hooks and the two have a chase across the construction site. Finally, after mocking Beck that he can't save all the programs Tesler has rounded up, Beck cuts a beam on which they both stand, then manages to get a hold of another one as he falls. Tesler is not so lucky, but he protrudes his arms and grabs Beck's head as a means of support. Beck severs both of his hands, sending the general falling onto the monorail, from which Paige rescues him.
Later, Beck goes to Tron's hideout in the Outlands, where he accepts to begin training as the "new Tron".
Tropes:
- Double Entendre: Paige gives us the following gems:Paige: What a waste. (straddles Beck) Huh, they usually don't last this long.(Paige has pinned Beck to the floor amid their fight)Paige: (trails a hand along Beck's mask) I can't wait to see what you've got-Beck: (flips both of them over) Maybe we should slow things down. Get to know each other better.
- Got Volunteered: Tesler has some fences cast around a group of programs and declares they have been "selected as volunteers" for the Gladiator Games.
- Hannibal Lecture: Tesler delivers one to Beck:
- Tesler: You think you're helping them, but trust me, you're only making things more painful.
- He's Just Hiding: In-Universe Tron is believed to be dead by most, but some programs still hope he's alive. They're right.Beck: If Tron were here...Bodhi: You mean if Tron were alive.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Beck and Paige's wrestling has some rather explicit erotic undertones.
- Legacy Hero: What Beck tries to become.
- MookâFace Turn: The black guard Beck saves later goes to aid him in freeing the captured programs.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The unmasked black guard is immediately derezzed by Tesler when he helps Beck out.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Bodhi. His death is what triggered Beck's rebellion.
- Secret Test of Character: Tron pulls one on Beck to see if he's truly up to fighting a rebellion against Clu or just venting out his frustration with vandalism. Beck passes.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: In response to the Hannibal Lecture above:
- Tesler: Look out there! I have dozens of cars, heading to round up more programs! Ya can't save 'em all!Beck: Watch me. (cuts the support beam they're standing on and both fall)
