History TearJerker / GenLock

* Explained in the Meta section, but Chase drops a version of Monty's, "Keep moving forward," motto, referring to moving on after a loved one's passing.

!!Season Two

!!Meta
* Gray explicitly mentioned that the four-year time skip is in fact [[https://twitter.com/graymartigan/status/1091536317614354433 a reference]] to the time passing since Monty Oum's death.
* Episode four drops in a reference to, "Keep moving forward," a tweet from Monty shortly before his passing that has shown up in a lot of RT shows now. It's used to describe how Chase and Miranda had to move on with their lives, coming to terms with the people that they lost (Chase's family for him, Chase for Miranda).

* During the siege, a mother holding her infant child runs to a transport. People are getting refused on, and the mother hands the officer her child. It's AdultFear, in that a mother is in the middle of what may very well be the worst attack ever seen, and she only wants her baby to be safe.

** Val/entina's reaction to the brutally casual reveal (to the GenLock team if not necessarily keen-eyed viewers) of their past as ex-Russian stealth ops--that they weren't ''always'' Ukranian Resistance. It's more restrained than Yasamin's flinch and visible rage...but it's present. With the ever-so-delicate phrasing of "societal pressures" and the memory of Val/entina's visceral anger and pain early in the season, talking about what the Union does to "people like me"... it's no wonder they go still and cold at the reminder of their time on the wrong side of that war. Holcroft dragging the team's personal traumas and old shames into the light without so much as a word of warning was ''cruel.''

** Val/entina's reaction to the brutally casual reveal (to the GenLock team if not necessarily keen-eyed viewers) as ex-Russian stealth ops--that they weren't ''always'' Ukranian Resistance--is more restrained than Yasamin's flinch and visible rage...but it's present. With the ever-so-delicate phrasing of "societal pressures" and the memory of Val/entina's visceral anger and pain early in the season, talking about what the Union does to "people like me," it's no wonder they go still and cold at the reminder of their time on the wrong side of that war. Holcroft dragging the team's personal traumas and old shames into the light without so much as a word of warning was ''cruel.''

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

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

--> '''Razzle:''' [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging!]] [[KilledMidSentence They're tracking our-]]
--> '''Chase:''' [[BigNo RAZZLE!]]
* Julian's supposed death in 2068. After he detonated an ESD charge, disabling the nanotech, his fighter jet is shot down, and presumably crashes. Miranda desperately tries to call to see if he's alright, but doesn't respond. Naturally she breaks down in tears.

* Miranda's later personality shift from kind and playful, to being downright stern.

[[folder:[[AC:There's Always Tomorrow]]]]
* Miguel being taken by Yasamin to see Julian in the flesh - or what's left of him at least. Only Julian's upper torso, and left arm was all that was left from his crash, and he's stuck inside his Holon tank until they can successfully heal him. Dr. Rufus Weller, who later appears on the scene, says the Union's nanotech also got to him to add insult to injury, and not even he knows whether or when Julian will be able to leave the tank at all.

[[folder:[[AC:Second Birthday]]]]

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

* In a [[FreezeFrameBonus Blink And You'll Miss It]] moment, seconds before the Ether shuts down we get a shot of Dri in her online persona, four years after the Battle of New York. She spots Julian in the crowd and even says his name, but due to the situation he does not hear her.

** "The Only Me I Know" reveals she faced a far worse fate than death had she been captured. Whatever the union did to original-chase to force him to fight for them would have been done to her as well.

[[folder:[[AC:The Best Defense]]]]
* Cammie's seen to be losing sleep due to nightmares over last episode's events, and is constantly trying to rework her Holon design in an effort to be more effective on the field.

--> '''Cammie:''' But isn't that the whole point of going out in a Holon? That you can take damage like that and not have it matter?
--> '''Chase:''' Just because you don't take physical damage doesn't mean you're not affected.

* When the team spot the prisoners being led into the facility, Dr. Weller has them recognised by the computer as scientists who were working at Cape Canaveral before it fell. The idea of space exploration - a concept heavily ingrained within humanity's future prospects - getting ground to a halt amidst the war is disheartening, to put it mildly.

[[folder:[[AC:The Only Me I Know]]]]
* Miranda's argument with Chase about the events of last episode hurts to watch - especially her asking if Chase actually ''did'' die four years ago.

* The Nemesis' backstory is also a massive tearjerker as well. Captured and brainwashed by the Union, constantly trapped in a heavily-modified Holon, and is constantly in pain from the mental feedback every time the Gen:Lock team uploads their minds in the mindframe? ''Ouch.''
** To top it all off, it wants its orignal body back - Chase's, to be precise. But when Weller points out such a thing is impossible (offering an alternative instead), that drove the final nail right in the coffin.

** Though Yaz may have yet to find out the truth about Chase, she's now the only one of the veteran gen:LOCK recruits who hasn't developed that same enmity towards Weller. Far from it, we're reminded of how strong her bond with Weller still is during the whole time that he's turning responsibility to looking after the gen:LOCK recruits over to her and assuring her; and this is the first time we've seen her look this vulnerable. Her LittleNo when she hears Weller set off the lab explosion from above their elevator doesn't help any, either.

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

* When everyone else is asleep, Yasamin tries to comfort Julian over his identity crisis, and repeatedly tries to hold his hologram's hand in an effort to calm him down.
* Once they make it to the secret base, the team encounter a woman who reveals that she had a hand in gen:LOCK's development. When the pilots then mention Weller's passing, the woman in question reveals that she was also ''Dr. Weller's wife''. The pilots go into StunnedSilence once they hear this.

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

* Despite its monstrous nature, the Nemesis' final moments are treated [[AlasPoorVillain almost solemnly]] by Chase; he more than anyone recognizes that this is essentially a MercyKill, and at the end of the day, Nemesis was just one more victim of the Union. In their virtual minds he's shown [[CradlingYourKill holding the Nemesis as it fades]], asking it what he's supposed to do now.

* Gray explicitly mentioned that the four year time skip is in fact [[https://twitter.com/graymartigan/status/1091536317614354433 a reference]] to the time passing since Monty Oum's death.

* Episode four drops in a reference to, "Keep moving forward," a tweet from Monty shortly before his passing that has shown up in a lot of RT shows now. It's used to describe how Chase and Miranda had to move on with their lives, coming to terms with the people that they lost (Chase's family for him, Chase for Miranda).

--> '''Nemesis:''' Kinda drives you crazy, doesn't it? When you realize you can't cry in one of these things. There's a lot that's fuzzy, but some moments, some memories... [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Are you still human if you can't cry? Or sleep? Or dream?]]

In just the first episode ''alone'', gen:LOCK has proven it is not a show to exactly take lightly. Emotions are to be felt while watching.

---> '''Razzle:''' [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging!]] [[KilledMidSentence They're tracking our-]]
---> '''Chase:''' [[BigNo RAZZLE!]]

*** It's also an RT-specific case of RealLifeWritesThePlot. After Chase "dies," there's a (specifically) four-year TimeSkip; the series premiered a week before the fourth anniversary of Monty Oum's passing. On Twitter, Gray said this was fully intentional.

* Miranda and Chase's talk about whether or not he would rejoin the Vanguard could be compared with [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSolder Steve Rogers discussing his adjustment dilemma]], with this situation being more solemn due to the circumstances. BothSidesHaveAPoint; Miranda does hold out hope that Chase will be able to come back as an integral leader of the Vanguard (not counting whatever happens to their relationship), but Chase is fully aware of his own mortality, likely thanks to that some of the Anvil soldiers still treat him like he's dead ("Who's gonna take orders from a ghost?") and how difficult healing from his near-death has been for him physically and mentally ("Today was one more day I wasn't supposed to have."). Even as he keeps moving forward, the issue of soldiering forward through the war with only his mind and soul intact has undoubtedly been on Chase's mind for a long time.

* Miranda and Chase's talk about whether or not he would rejoin the Vanguard can be likened to [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSolder Steve Rogers discussing his adjustment dilemma]], but arguably more solemn due to the circumstances. BothSidesHaveAPoint; Miranda does hold out hope that Chase will be able to come back as an integral leader of the Vanguard (not counting whatever happens to their relationship), but Chase is fully aware of his own mortality, likely thanks to that some of the Anvil soldiers still treat him like he's dead ("Who's gonna take orders from a ghost?") and how difficult healing from his near-death has been for him physically and mentally ("Today was one more day I wasn't supposed to have."). Even as he keeps moving forward, the issue of soldiering forward through the war with only his mind and soul intact has undoubtedly been on Chase's mind for a long time.

* Cammie's horrified reaction to Sinclair's attack on the guards and later death due to gen:LOCK incompatibility. You're suddenly reminded that she's just a hacker, and a 17-year old one at that, and has seen none of the death and destruction the rest of the recruits are used to.

* "The Only Me I Know" reveals she faced a far worse fate than death had she been captured. Whatever the union did to original-chase to force him to fight for them would have been done to her as well.

** Though Yaz may have yet to find out the truth about Chase, she's now the only one of the veteran gen:LOCK recruits who hasn't developed that same enmity towards Weller. Far from it, we're reminded of how strong her bond with Weller still is during the whole time that he's turning responsibility to looking after the gen:LOCK recruits over to her and assuring her; and this is the first time we've seen her look this vulnerable. Her LittleNo when she hears Weller set off the explosion from above their elevator doesn't help any, either.

---> '''Razzle''': [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging!]] [[KilledMidSentence They're tracking our-]]
---> '''Chase''': [[BigNo RAZZLE!]]

---> '''Weller''': I had such high hopes for how gen:LOCK could be used to expand communications, understanding, improve the human condition, all its potential. And, of course, the first thing we do is weaponize it.

** Though Yaz may have yet to find out the truth about Chase, she's now the only one of the veteran gen:LOCK recruits who hasn't developed that same enmity towards Weller. Far from it, we're reminded of how strong her bond with Weller still is during the whole time that he's turning responsibility to looking after the gen:LOCK recruits over to her and assuring her; and this is the first time we've seen her look this vulnerable. Her LittleNo [[spoiler:when she hears Weller set off the explosion from above their elevator]] doesn't help any, either.
* The Union successfully rout the Anvil base through a ThanatosGambit. When their Behemoth finally gets destroyed, the Union smoke starts to emerge. We only get a moment of [[ThisIsGonnaSuck horrified realisation]] from Marin before the smoke floods into the Anvil, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero through the hatch that Miguel opened to get the gen:LOCK team to their ship]]. This instantly dooms anyone not in a sealed suit or room to a horrific death.

--> '''Nemesis''': Kinda drives you crazy, doesn't it? When you realize you can't cry in one of these things. There's a lot that's fuzzy, but some moments, some memories... [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Are you still human if you can't cry? Or sleep? Or dream?]]

** In response the Nemesis gives Chase a warning: [[spoiler: there are other copies of them]].

** Becomes even worse when you realize a fair amount of those troops likely didn't even get to go down fighting, either dissolved by Union nanotech, or on Vanguard Transport craft that were downed shown during the retreat such as that poor Razor VTOL you watch a Union missile down behind and to the right of the Hornbill Dropships for the Striders.

* The way Dr. Weller gives the gen:LOCK team their choice to fight. He goes with the "Show, don't tell" method - literally, by deliberately placing their training area next to the landing zone for medivacs filled with refugees leaving the Union. By doing so, they now witness first hand what they're actually fighting for.

---> '''Razzle''': [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging!]] [[KilledMidSentence They're tracking our-"]]

---> '''Razzle''': [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging,]] [[KilledMidSentence they're tracking our-"]]

---> '''Razzle''': [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging,]] [[KillMidSentence they're tracking our-"]]

---> '''Razzle''': [[OhCrap They can detect when ESDs are charging,]] [[KillMidSentence they're tracking our-"
---> '''Chase''': [[BigNo ''RAZZLE''!]]