-Peterson's response to the origin of the red and blue war.
Avalanche: The Sidewinder Saga (formerly known as Too Damn Cold) is a Red vs. Blue fan series produced in 2021.
It follows a group of red and blue simulation troopers stationed in Sidewinder Outpost 09 as they do battle against each other and try to win the red and blue war. However, they eventually discover the planet to be housing secrets that are better left buried.
The series can be watched here
.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: Rocketeer was observing the reds and blues' conflict in episode 3 through his rocket launcher's scope, then accidentally fired the shot that killed Jerry and the Colonel.
- Ambiguous Time Period: Averted. Episode 6 reveals the series to take place between the events of Seasons 5 and 6, featuring the reds from Valhalla who were killed by Omega and the Meta sometime before the Blood Gulch Crew's arrival there.
- Animation Bump: Episode 12 onward features fully animated CGI sequences alongside the standard Halo game-engine machinima.
- Ax-Crazy: The Colonel is described by the blues as being a complete psychopath. The reds meanwhile consider him crazy after being with him for less than ten minutes.
- Big "WHAT?!": Stevens' reaction to hearing from Peterson that Jones stole one of Project Freelancer's armor enhancers for himself, creating an even bigger target on their backs.
- The Cameo: Private Henderson from The Recollection makes an appearance in episode 6, before being Killed Offscreen after Dr. Lady leaves Valhalla. An invisible silhouette presumed to be the Meta can also be seen running around.
- Character Death: Jerry and the Colonel are killed in episode 3.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Benny. The guy could give Caboose a run for his money in this trope.
- Combat Medic: Dr. Lady carries a shotgun for self-defense.
- Companion Cube: Mr. Soccerball, a comically large soccer ball that Benny frequently talks to.
- He Knows Too Much:
- Dr. Lady actively tries to avoid this trope, such as preferring not to get too involved in the situation with the simulation troopers at Valhalla and the mystery of the crashed ship there that was being piloted by freelancers. Unfortunately for her, it happens anyway when she gets mixed up with the reds and blues on Sidewinder and they stumble upon top-secret tech belonging to Project Freelancer.
- After hearing that the reds discovered a Project Freelancer base hidden in the cliffside with the metal wall built into it, Nic sends Agent California to wipe them and the blues out. Ford later confides in Benny and Dr. Lady that he actually suspected the place to have ties to the Freelancers ever since his superior Sergeant Perry told him to never go near it right before his disappearance a year prior, strongly implying that he also found about it and was killed for it. This prompted Ford to keep quiet and remain ignorant lest he end up like him. Subverted when California turns out to be a mole-turned deserter working for the UNSC and is willing to get the sim troopers to safety in exchange for all the information they have. Double-Subverted when Nic eventually sends Agent Massachusetts to kill her alongside them and Rocketeer to keep everything covered up.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep":
- The red team's commander insists that he always be referred to as the Colonel, never giving out his actual name.
- Dr. Lady is only ever referred to as such, with the reveal of her real name always being interrupted in some way.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy:
- Benny is not what you would call the best of shots.
- Ford averts this, managing to kill Jerry and the Colonel with a rocket launcher from a distance despite supposedly missing the first time. Nope, he actually did miss them and only fired once. The second shot was fired accidentally by Rocketeer.
- The Intern: Dr. Lady isn't actually an official doctor, but a student who only took the job as a medic to get her college credits. Ford ends up exploiting this in Episode 12 to keep her from running away despite her moral obligations by pointing out that letting her patient (i.e. him) die won't look good on her report card while threatening to give her a bad review if he does survive everything.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Peterson and Jones end up accidentally destroying six months' worth of the reds own rations due to miscommunications with each other while setting up the funeral for Jerry and the Colonel.
- Only Sane Man: Ford and Stevens are usually the voices of reason on their respective sides, although Dr. Lady is even moreso of one than either of them.
- Otaku: Ford is in denial about being one, despite watching anime and owning twelve samurai swords.
- Poor Communication Kills: The reds put together a funeral involving Jerry and the Colonel's remains being put into a crate and catapulted off a cliff. Except Peterson, who was put in charge of gathering up the bodies and finding the crate, only did the latter job and got Jones to do the former. Jones however claims that all Peterson told him was to move the crate to the edge of the cliff and never said whether or not the bodies were inside, making Jones assume that they were. He then realizes at this moment that this means they just launched the crate with the original contents still in it, which was six months' worth of rations. Stevens is justifiably enraged at both of them for their stupidity.
- Reassigned to Antarctica: Stevens, Peterson, Jones, and Jerry get reassigned to Sidewinder after they somehow manage to jam a warthog into the administrator’s office door. Even Stevens isn't sure as to how they accomplished that.
- The Reveal: Episode 12 gives two:
- Agent California is a deserter to Project Freelancer, having come to Sidewinder to bring back evidence of the organization's crimes to the UNSC.
- Rocketeer is a member of the Insurrection, who has traveled to Sidewinder to obtain the secret tech and was the one who actually killed Jerry and the Colonel.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- The reds and blues respectively work to flee Sidewinder before the freelancer arrives to kill them. The reds don't get too far and are almost sacrificed by the Covenant before Agent California saves them, while the blues and Dr. Lady encounter and join forces with the enigmatic mercenary Rocketeer for survival.
- Dr. Lady tries to make a run for it off the planet in Episode 12 when the situations worsen despite it being a violation of her moral obligations. Ford keeps her from doing so by both pointing out that letting her patient (i.e. him) die won't look good on her report card and threatening to give her a bad review if he does survive. She begrudgingly agrees with him.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Nic, a member of mission control who acts like a slightly more grounded version of Vic. He himself even lampshades this.Nic: Hello, this is Nic! Not to be confused with Vic, or Dic, or my sister Chic!
- Viking Funeral: The reds give Jerry and the Colonel one involving putting their bodies into an empty crate and launching it off a cliff. Things don’t go as planned due to lack of communication between Peterson and Jones, resulting in them accidentally destroying six months' worth of rations (the crate's original contents) instead.
- Voice of the Legion: Mr. Soccerball talks like this.Mr. Soccerball: (distorted voice) KILL THEM, PRIVATE BENNY. MAKE THEM BLEED. MAKE THEM ALL SUFFER. I WILL MAKE YOU FORD'S BEST FRIEND, IF IT WILL MAKE YOU MY BEST FRIEND.
- World of Snark: Like the canon series, a lot of the dialogue consists of the characters all throwing sardonic quips at each other.
- Worst Aid: Averted with Dr. Lady, who unlike Doc is a fully competent medic.
- Yandere: Benny is willing to do anything, even kill, to get Ford's attention.
