History Awesome / GenLock

* In a meta sense, the fact that WarIsHell is being played straight to the hilt, and there is no PlotArmor. There aren't too many animations out there that depict war for the horror it truly is, and both this episode and the show, in general, have done it masterfully, even if most of the cast actually survives.

!!Meta
* This is Rooster Teeth's first project approved by the Screen Actors Guild, and with it, they bring one of the ''weirdest'' {{All Star Cast}}s ever committed to film.
** The series is headlined by four genuine A-list actors: Creator/MichaelBJordan, Creator/DakotaFanning, Creator/DavidTennant, and Creator/MaisieWilliams.
** Some of the budget goes into cast members who aren't quite marketable names but have very respectable careers, such as Creator/GolshiftehFarahani, Creator/AsiaKateDillon, Shari Belafonte, and Anisha Nagarajan.
** Popular SugarWiki/NamesToKnowInAnime like Creator/MonicaRial and [[Creator/ProZD SungWon Cho]] turn up, and in perhaps the weirdest casting choice of all, Creator/KoichiYamadera, one of Japan's most popular seiyuu, is in a leading role speaking entirely in Japanese, a fascinating display of this world's AugmentedReality tech.
** The major cast members to come from within Creator/RoosterTeeth consist of those renowned for being genuinely great voice actors, such as Gray Haddock, Miles Luna, Chad James, Blaine Gibson, Lindsay Jones, Lawrence Sonntag, and Matt Hullum.
** Season 2 adds Creator/AngusSampson to the cast and manages a one-shot appearance from Creator/ZehraFazal.
* The fact that Rooster Teeth has included so much diversity and LGBT representation. Casting Asia Kate Dillion as Valentina was amazing, and having ''Valentina'' be genderfluid too makes the ActorSharedBackground trope all the more poignant, especially in the entertainment industry where LGBT roles and other minorities are dubbed over by Hollywood with white washing.
* Creator/MonicaRial, whose previous credits have mostly been limited to anime dubs and video games, recorded Colonel Raquel Marin's dialogue for the original teaser fully expecting she would be redubbed later by some Hollywood actor, especially when she learned Michael B. Jordan would be the voice of the lead. "[[https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/in-rooster-teeths-genlock-monica-rial-brings-authenticity-to-a-puerto-rican-character So when I found out that I was cast as Marin I really had like a girly screechy moment.]]"
* The first episode's rather glorious subversion of StuffedIntoTheFridge. As one viewer put it in a text shared online, "I was really worried they were gonna kill off Michael Jordan's girlfriend for his character development, but then they killed off Michael Jordan for Michael Jordan's character development and THAT, that is ballsy."

* Miranda showing the Union just ''why'' she has the Callsign "Tempest" by doing an epic [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning Spinning]] MultiDirectionalBarrage. Leon's Strider Team were chosen as the GEN:Lock Team's drill instructors for a ''REASON''.

** Popular NamesToKnowInAnime like Creator/MonicaRial and [[Creator/ProZD SungWon Cho]] turn up, and in perhaps the weirdest casting choice of all, Creator/KoichiYamadera, one of Japan's most popular seiyuu, is in a leading role speaking entirely in Japanese, a fascinating display of this world's AugmentedReality tech.

** Some of the budget goes into cast members who aren't quite marketable names but have very respectable careers, such as Golshifteh Farahani, Creator/AsiaKateDillon, Shari Belafonte, and Anisha Nagarajan.

* This is Rooster Teeth's first project approved by the Screen Actors Guild, and with it, they bring one of the ''weirdest'' [[All Star Cast]]s ever committed to film.

* The fact that Rooster Teeth mustered a pseudo-AllStarCast including Creator/MichaelBJordan, Creator/DakotaFanning, Creator/DavidTennant, Creator/MaisieWilliams, and Creator/KoichiYamadera.
** Also, the fact that Rooster Teeth has included so much diversity and LGBT representation. Casting Asia Kate Dillion as Valentina was amazing, and having ''Valentina'' be genderfluid too makes the ActorSharedBackground trope all the more poignant, especially in the entertainment industry where LGBT roles and other minorities are dubbed over by Hollywood with white washing.

!!Novels
[[folder:Storm Warning]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[The Pilot]]

[[folder:[[AC:Opening]]]]

[[folder:[[AC:The Pilot]]]]

[[folder:[[AC:There's Always Tomorrow]]]]

* An underhanded example from Dr. Weller when "Sinclair" tries to steal the gen:LOCK tech for the Union. He calmly orders his robot, Caliban, to plug Sinclair into a machine - knowing full well that the spy was pretending to be the real deal (rather than being a turncoat) and would therefore get killed. That takes some ''serious'' NervesOfSteel.
** Before that, ''how'' Weller figures out that the spy is not gen:LOCK compatible--while being held hostage by Sinclair, he theorizes that either Sinclair has [[FaceHeelTurn switched sides since qualifying for gen:LOCK]], or [[KillAndReplace he's not the real Sinclair]]. Sinclair ''barely'' reacts, but Weller takes his response as confirmation of the latter, and wags his eyebrows at the impostor smugly.

[[folder:[[AC:Second Birthday]]]]
* During the game of capture the flag that Leon, Jodie and Miranda play against the three rookies, Valentina uses a car to sneak past the mechs. Kazu sees this, and buys time by using Cammie as a "human" shield and charging the others as a distraction. It ''nearly'' worked, too.

[[folder:[[AC:Training Daze]]]]

* The Gen:Lock team's fight against [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Nemesis]] is pretty intense. Even Julian and Yasamin are hard-pressed by it.

[[folder:[[AC:The Best Defense]]]]

[[folder:[[AC:The Only Me I Know]]]]

* In a meta sense, the fact that WarIsHell is being played straight to the hilt, and there is no PlotArmor. There aren't too many animations out there that depict war for the horror it truly is, and both this episode and the show in general have done it masterfully, even if most of the cast actually survives.

[[folder:[[AC:It Never Rains ...]]]]

[[folder:[[AC:Identity Crisis]]]]

* Despite the dangers of doing so due to his age, Leon gets a moment to shine for successfully being able to upload and pilot Sinclair's Holon. Which is especially impressive since this is literally his first time using a Holon with no practice or training and he briefly distracts and holds off Nemesis.

* A Robot trooper armed with a {{BFG}} is tearing into the Union troops when it gets remotely hacked. In a situation like this, you would expect a scene of the RedshirtArmy soldiers accompanying it to give an OhCrap just before it guns them down. Instead, they immediately jump on the machine and disable it before it can fire a single shot their way.

* It's a [[FreezeFrameBonus blink-and-you'll-miss-it]] thing, but apparently the Hammer system in the Anvil base has inter-continental range. During the battle for Chicago, it downs a Union Behemoth despite being hundreds of miles away, with an ''immensely'' [[SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound satisfying]] bass "'''WHUMP'''".

** SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The theme song is "Belgrade", a catchy techno anthem by UsefuNotes/LosAngeles-based act Battle Tapes.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO1cRVtOeeo opening for the show]] is very well animated with smooth and AWESOME mecha action. There's definitely an improvement in Rooster Teeth's animation in this show.
** SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The theme song is ''Belgrade'', a catchy techno anthem by Los Angeles-based act Battle Tapes.

* The first episode's rather glorious subversion of StuffedIntoTheFridge. As one viewer put it in a text shared online, "I was really worried they were gonna kill off Michael Jordan's girlfriend for his character development, but then they killed off Michael Jordan for Michael Jordan's character development and THAT, that is ballsy."

* It turns out that everyone sans Doctor Weller made it out fine after the Anvil attack. The Doctor had the idea to mimic the signal Union troops and sympasizers that tells the nanobots to not attack them. Once the nanobots flooded the base, the Vanguard decided to test the Doctor's idea out in the field for the first time, and it worked like a charm.

** Highlights from the mindshare-powered moves include Cammie leaping into the air and slamming down Kazu's sword guillotine-style with her legs, and Yaz [[HotBlade superheating Valentina's sword]] with a heat ray to boost its cutting power.

* Despite the dangers of doing so due to his age, Leon gets a moment to shine for successfully being able to upload and pilot Sinclair's Holon. Which is especially impressive since this is literally his first time using a holon with no practice or training and he briefly distracts and holds of Nemesis.

** Nemesis gets its own share of the awesome this ep, coming in with its own upgrades that include a flight pack and combat tentacles, as well as utilising even more creative uses for its nanotech, such as making solid barriers, spikes, swords, repairing its damaged and torn off limbs and even creating cannons on the fly, making an already dangerous foe even deadlier than before.

* In a meta sense, the fact that WarIsHell is being played straight to the hilt, and there is no PlotArmor. There aren't too many animations out there that depict war for the horror it truly is, and both this episode and the show in general have done it masterfully, even if [[spoiler:most of the cast actually survives.]]

* Despite the dangers of doing so due to his age, Leon gets a moment to shine for [[spoiler:successfully being able to upload and pilot Sinclair's Holon. Which is especially impressive since this is literally his first time using a holon with no practice or training and he briefly distracts and holds of Nemesis]].
* As the final showdown between the gen:LOCK team and Nemesis, this episode is full of awesome fight moments, with every character, even the villain, getting their chance to shine and show off their new upgrades. Cammie and Kazu use mindshare to lay a beating on Nemesis, as do Yaz and Valentina - though the battle is ended by a whole team mindshare in which every member of the crew gets a lick in on Nemesis, pummelling him both mentally and physically until the battle is won.

* TheStinger reveals an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Sinclair ''survived abduction'']].

* The first episode's rather glorious subversion of StuffedIntoTheFridge. As one viewer put it in a text shared online, "I was really worried they were gonna kill of Michael Jordan's girlfriend for his character development, but then they killed off Michael Jordan for Michael Jordan's character development and THAT, that is ballsy."

* How about Chase ''holding his own against the Nemesis in single combat?'' Also, an entire team of '''Striders''' dished out significant damage to the thing while it's fighting Chase.

* The Colonel's RousingSpeech to the Vanguard, which also is a good EstablishingCharacterMoment for her