WMG / gen:LOCK

The World of gen:LOCK

The show will have Grey-and-Gray Morality

As in neither the Union or Vanguard will be portrayed as completely good or completely evil and the conflict will be revealed to be a case of Both Sides Have a Point. The Vanguard will naturally want to defend themselves and their culture but do so by any means possible while the Union could have a genuine desire to unite the world to prevent Humanity from destroying itself due to cultural differences. Word of God does say that the show will be Darker and Edgier so one way could be shown is by not having it be a case Black-and-White Morality.

• Or it could be Black-and-Gray Morality. While the Polity's military may go to ends to protect cultural diversity, the Union have been shown to be much more ruthless to the point that they'd Sink The Life Boats and unleash nanomachines on a civilian population.
  • Actually nanomachines were shown to be able to discriminate targets, so they probably weren't released just to kill the New York population.
  • Actually, Migas indirectly states that the nanomachines, when deployed, wipe out everyone in the area that isn't Union affiliated, leaving the territory free to move into. If you don't have the Union microchip to emit the specific signal, then they'll kill you: no prisoners.

A Char Clone will appear sometime in the future.

• Gray has said he's a fan of Gundam, and the Char Clone is a staple in both it and other anime and manga, plus RT's already done one for RWBY, Adam, so it wouldn't be surprising.

Eventually, someone is going to take the genlock technology too far down the morality slippery slope

This isn’t about the ‘time limit.’ Examples:

• Creating multiple copies of a person’s personality and getting around the time limit by simply ‘using the copies up.’

• Just producing mechs with the same copy of a person’s personality modded to just be loyal killers.
• As of the season 1 finale, this seems to be the case already. Nemesis said "copies of copies of copies" while showing Chase images of dozens of others like him; corrupted versions of the original Chase. I suspect we'll be seeing multiple, modified Nemesis Holons in Season 2, running off of those copies.

Crossover theory with Pacific Rim - the same "plastic brain" required for the gen:LOCK program is the same requirement for solo-piloting a Jaegar.

• Both are one-in-a-million (or rarer) chances based on brains being able to handle the neural load of piloting a gigantic humanoid machine. Both are critical for surviving, as lacking either causes fatal brain damage.

The Polity

There will be references to Michael B. Jordan's past work.

Perhaps Julian Chase was raised in Oakland. Or his CQC score is high, but focuses mostly on boxing. Or he hates fire and telekenisis. Heck, maybe his casual clothing has a tendency to be black and yellow/gold.

• Some of this is already jossed; Chase is said to be from Brooklyn and has been shown to be heavily associated with the color blue.
• Given Julian's background, it's also likely that he prefers to focus more on at-range combat at an altitude. In addition, Julian's Holon is the only one with a rifle in Episode 1.

The gen:Lock technology eventually traps the pilots within their mecha suits

Based on the dialogue in the first teaser (wherein Dr. Weller indicates that Chase wasn't lucky to have compatability with the technology and was "still adjusting" to it), along with the show's title and the show's summary, the latter stating that the pilots gain abilities "at no small cost". It's a fair guess to say that this will happen, and prove to be a major secret no-one informs the pilots about until it's too late.

• Given how gen:Lock tech works, it's far more likely for the pilots to suffer severe mental issues due to constant Brain Uploading.
• In episode 3 Weller mentions a time limit he'll inform the pilots about later so this might be the case.
  • As of episode 4, it is confirmed that there is a limited amount of uptime that pilots can spend in their Holons before their mental template has changed too much to safely re-download to their body. They can also apparently overclock their cyberbrains, giving them vague increases in performance and capability at the cost of burning through their uptime faster. As such, Weller had implemented a failsafe that would automatically upload the pilot.
  • As of the season finale this is confirmed. Chase explicitly runs past his uptime to give the others a chance to redownload to their bodies, acclimate, and jump back in. Chase is now permanently uploaded to his Holon.

Sinclair is going to die very early on

We haven't seen much of him or been told much either. In promotional images, Sinclair is often in the same pose. This could mean he dies early on to show the show's stakes.

• That he's the only member of the team voiced by an RT employee and not one of the all star cast might lend to this.
• Partially Confirmed. The one killed was an imposter sent in by the Union. The real Sinclair may be dead or captured.
  • The real Sinclair turned out to be captured, and is sneaking out in a disguise.

The piloting system for the mechs.

If the suits aren't piloted traditionally ala Gundam, the suits are piloted via quote un-quote motion capture (think the Jaeger pilots from Pacific Rim). And if the latter is what happens, the cockpit is the chest area, this troper theorizes.

• Jossed. There is no cockpit for the mechs. Instead, the pilot, placed in this chamber, digitizes his/her mind and transfers it to the mech's brain. In a sense, you are the mech.
  • The Striders are shown to utilise the traditional mech cockpit style, though.

Sinclair is a traitor!

At the end of the character reveal trailer that introduced him and Romanyszyn, the camera zoomed in on his picture, which is noticeably darker than the others. Things like that don't happen unless there's a good reason, and given Rooster Teeth's history of introducing likable characters who turned out to be evil (COUGH*Felix*COUGH), I wouldn't be that surprised.
EDIT: Here's more evidence: in the opening, Sinclair is notably absent from most of it, and in the first episode there was a Union spy who showed a badge, with means that the Union has other spies. Also, Sinclair is the only gen:LOCK recruit without a mech.

• Alternatively, Sinclair is a mole; pretending to be the Union's spy within the program when he's actually playing them by giving intel to the Vanguard. This might be played further for drama when Sinclair has to defect to keep his cover
• Confirmed, at least partially. The man pretending to be Sinclair was killed at the end of the second episode. However, a wide shot from episode 3 confirms that there was a mech for Sinclair on-site.

The real Sinclair is under Union control and has the potential to become a Sixth Ranger.

There is a precedence, and one need look no more than the original Sixth Ranger himself. Tommy was introduced as the Rangers' classmate before being given the powers of the Green Ranger by Rita to sabotage the Teens with Attitudes. He would later join the good guys' side as the White Ranger. So there's a possibility the Holon pilots will have to exfiltrate the real Sinclair from the Union and he becomes a Sixth Ranger.

• [[Spoiler: Partially confirmed, partially Jossed. Sinclair is trapped in Union controlled territory, but is still loyal to the Polity and appears to be attempting to rejoin them.]]

There is another traitor on the base.

Sinclair knew too much. He knew where the lab was (he took a left straight out of the waiting room to the elevator), had an idea of how a holon worked (he went straight to the lab instead of the hangar) and who Julian was. He was in the base an hour or two at best, from hangar to suit to waiting room.

Also the ambush on the Vanguard when they were saving the civilians in the pilot episode. The Union attack with only two tanks. It was enough to stress the striders but not enough to to overwhelm them. If Brodie wasn’t knocked out then it was unlikely to be as tense. It's the Union were trying to push the Vanguard into revealing the holons without making it too dangerous for them to commit the mechs. This would give their spy freedom to go poking around or asking questions as we see how curious the Vanguard was before the debriefing where Chase revealed himself and Weller explained how gen:lock works. Which if the spy was sitting in on the briefing could explain a few things about Sinclair.

There is also the Union mech in the intro which seems to use nanotech as a weapon. It's possible the Union are already developing their own version of Gen:Lock. Which if they have a spy in the Vanguard might actually let them develop a mech very quickly compared to Dr. Weller’s effort. Perhaps in time for a season finale?

It could be Leon August. The strider pilot who works with Mirannda and Brodie. Mainly due to the fact he seems to have a communication screen open before they engage in the ambush.

Another option is actually Yasamin Madrani as her admittance to living in the Union could be foreshadowing as well as a way to try and throw suspicion off her as a form bait and switch.

• I doubt it's Yas since she seems to genuinely hate the Union, or Leon as he was just as surprised by the Holons as the others. But if there is another spy it would have to be someone who wasn't in the briefing room during Dr. Weller's explanation. After all, if they were then fake!Sinclair wouldn't have tried to pilot a Holon since he'd be aware he wasn't gen:LOCK compatible.
  • It could have possibly been Caliban. Dr. Weller did hold himself hostage so Colonel Marin would approve of the six recruits, including Sinclair, so the Union could have planted a bug in Caliban that no one noticed, and his receptors allowed them to pick up on some key aspects of the project without getting all the info.

• Another possibility, based on what we've now seen of the Nemesis mech and the theories regarding who/what it is; the information could be being leaked by Chase himself. The Nemesis seems to be parroting Chase, even referring to him as a "copy." What if the Union nano still in Chase is what allowed the Union to find out about the gen:LOCK program, and subsequently hack into the shared mindscape the pilots seem to have. This would explain their knowledge of the program and how they were able to build their own version of a holon, by creating a copy of Chase's mind through this unknown link.

• At this point it looks like it's most likely just Nemesis, using his memories as Chase or reading Chase's mind to add to their knowledge.

Weller is incompatible with cybernetic augments

Wearing glasses in an era of widespread cybernetics, tissue regeneration etc. seems rather significant. It would also add a nasty layer of irony; the inventor of gen:LOCK, with all its potential for the world of cybernetics, being unable to properly participate in it.

• That's assuming it even is implants. For all we know, they could be using high-tech contact lenses.
  • Perhaps he prefers the older aesthetic and his glasses have the augmentations instead of contacts.

The fate of Sinclair's Holon

• Given that the ESU *did* have a Holon on-site for Sinclair, it's highly likely that the Holon will be passed on to someone else, or used as a backup in case someone else's Holon isn't repaired in time.
  • Confirmed. Leon uploads in order to help buy time with Chase against Nemesis for everyone else to reset their uptime. However, due to being too old, he's received brain damage and is at best in a coma and at worst a vegetable.

The Holon's designs

• In one of the Trailers, we hear Dr. Weller complain about how "utilitarian" the Holon designs are, and sure enough the ones shown in the opening are very different from the ones we have now. Given that the Union is presumably to be an oppressive monoculture, personalizing the Holon's weapons and armor so dramatically is going to be a form of... defiance, if you will. Much like how the Color Naming Rule in RWBY was stated to be a response to Atlas trying to restrain freedom and self-expression in the Great War, turning the Holons into expressions of their pilots will be a symbolic act, a way to inspire morale and stand up for what the gen:LOCK pilots are fighting for.
  • The idea of the Union as an oppressive force might also be present in the design of their respective militaries. The Polity's soldiers tend to have an open helmet with a visor, and almost all their vehicles have a clearly visible cockpit. The Union's soldiers wear identical armor, with helmets that obscure their faces completely. The Union's air units are drones, and the spider tanks have no visible cockpit, assuming that they aren't drones as well.

"He's just not right without these."

• The secret addition to Chase's holon that Migas has planned are going to be his wings - he was a pilot, he should be in the air.
  • Confirmed.

Leon will be the Sixth Ranger of gen:LOCK

• Dr. Weller made a point of mentioning that Leon did fit all the neccesary requirements to be a gen:LOCK candidate outside of one, his age. His brain is too old to generate neurons properly enough to control a Holon. Dr. Weller says its still possible for him to be one, just too dangerous. The Polity still has access to a sixth Holon, the one intended for the real Sinclair. This could all be foreshadowing that Leon will try to become a gen:LOCK candidate if they're left with no other choice, but due to the risk of it, will either succeed out of a miracle, or suffer great consequences. What consequences? Possibly brain damage, or in a mirror to Chase, rather than still have a human body but using the Holon to actually move around, Leon's mind will get stuck in the Cyber Brain and leave his body comatose, leaving him stuck as a Holon.
  • Seconding this. Them mentioning Leon as being nearly compatible feels like it should fall under Conservation of Detail, and it makes sense that if Weller can improve on the technology then it will happen in smaller increments where the pool of possible participants gets a little wider rather than just becoming avaliable to everyone.
  • Further building up on this, in Episode 5 we see the sixth holon again only armored, based on the fact there is a Holon with pure blue armor, the same shade as the suit meant for Sinclair.^note Each Holon shares a color scheme with their gen:Lock candidates suit. Teal for Chase, Yellow for Yaz, Purple for Val, Reddish Orange for Kaz, and Green for Cammie. Sinclair's suit was supposed to be Blue, so it makes sense the Blue Armor is his holon. Cammie, Kazu, and Val only had their Holon's armored after they'd gotten accustomed to using them and needed to continue training. So why would the sixth holon be armored up if it still didn't intend to use it?
• Confirmed. Leon does wind up piloting the Holon meant for Sinclair in Episode 8; however, doing so has left him with brain damage that means that he could be in a coma or a vegetable.

Valentina will be prevented from switching genders during their time in the gen:LOCK team

• Due to the rebalancing of hormones and how that could affect brain chemistry when changing genders, Dr. Weller may give Valentina a harsh Sadistic Choice if the feelings come to a head: either hold off on switching to fight the Union, or leave the team to transition.

The Polity are defeatist

They just didn't seems to be the side, really prepared to fight for victory.

They are losing North America - they already lost the major industrial areas of East and Great Lakes - and they didn't seems to have any workable strategy to remedy that. They lost New York after rather limited action. Their hopes for Holons actually demonstrated their desperation - its the losing side that usually seeks "wunderwaffe" as a game-changing measure (like Germany in World War II). They spend their best troops on low-value evacuation efforts, instead of saving them for any kind of push. And it doesn't seem that they implemented any kind of command economy to boost up the production of military hardware.

Their technology is inferior - the Union have drone fighter aircraft, giant amphibious walkers, man-portable instant hacking devices, nanotech superweapon (tactician Holy Graal - the WMD that could actually discriminate between the enemy and friendly!) and their own experimental mecha. What the Polity have in their sleeve? Holons and Electro Static Discharge bombs, neither of which is actually refined technology (ESD bomb especially, considering how long it took to charge it).

• Episode 5 features them going on the offensive for the first time so this might change

Component countries of the Polity

The most likely are the United States of America (which we already know since Episode 1 stated that New York was in Polity territory), Japan, at least some member states of the European Union (the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Germany the most likely), some of Eastern Europe, Mexico, Canada, and maybe Australia, India, and some parts of Africa. This is mostly based on what we already know and the globe briefly seen during the second Character Teaser.

• Valentina is Ukrainian, but that doesn't mean that Ukraine is part of the Polity. She was helping with resistance in Eastern Europe even before New York, so it's possible that Ukraine was one of the first nations forcibly absorbed by the Union.
• It's also likely that many countries such as Russia, Iran and most of China either switched to Polity's side or were won back by Polity. Iran, Yaz' home country, was under Union attack, however according to the map it has joined Polity in 2072.

The mental network will eventually cause the Gen:LOCK team to effectively function like newtypes or Innovators within their own group.

• There is evidence supporting this. During the training montage in Episode 4, Kazu almost instinctively gives each of the members a breakfast cooked by himself, as if he preemptively knew that they would want it, despite none of the members being shown asking for it in the first place. More evidence is shown in Episode 5. After Cammie mentally shares her visual feed with Valentina, she speaks in Russian. Judging from Yas's reaction, there were no signs of Cammie even knowing Russian in the first place.

The resolution to the Nemesis!Chase vs Chaser!Chase conflict will be that it doesn't matter.

• Numerous times, the Ship of Theseus thought experiment appears in the background - the question of if you replace every part of an object, is it still the same object? The Chase working with the gen:LOCK team is going to be facing that question, he's a replacement for every part of the 'original' Chase's mind, so does that make him less valid than the original, and that only Nemesis should be considered truly Chase, or does the fact that, copy or not, he is everything Chase was before that turning point, just as much as the Nemesis, make him equally as valid an instance of Chase as the original uploaded version? The resolution to that grapple with identity will be that, he is Chase, and that it doesn't matter when he got his start, he's still the same man, less a copy, more a fork in the road.
• Alternatively, it will be Chase's body, but the final mind will be a composition of both Chase's and Nemesis' minds. Since their minds are digitized, and Nemesis' uptime is definitely out, its possible when, and I do mean when, the Nemesis is finally put out of its misery, what's left of it will be merged into Chase, making them the one true Chase.
  • Jossed. The resolution is not that he is Chase, but rather that he's grown to be better than the old Chase, having grown, made new experiences, let new people into his heart, and let go of his past and his self-doubts.

Weller isn't dead.

• While his physical body is obviously gone, Weller is going to be revealed to be still alive, most likely via a Cyberbrain upload of some sort. Prior to blowing himself up, he tells Yaz "I'll join you when I can."

As for how......

• Jossed and confirmed: He's confirmed two episodes in a row to have died. However, he kind of lives on in Caliban who was an early attempt to copy himself, even though he isn't an exact copy.

Weller lives on within Caliban.

• Weller's last words to Caliban are "You do not leave their side. Omega Protocols apply. Acknowledged?" As he does this, Weller places his hand on Caliban's chest, the very same area that the Cyberbrain is placed on a Holon. It will later be revealed that this was him making a backup of his mind in much the same way it was done to Chase in the early tests.
  • Confirmed. Episode 7 reveals that Caliban is a miniature Holon with a prototype cyberbrain. However, he only has a partial copy of Dr. Weller's mind, so while his intellect and memories are intact, Caliban doesn't have the doctor's wit or personality.

Alternately it wasn't an actual explosive he used

• He's on a military base, why would he have to build a bomb from scratch and act as if it was a new invention? Perhaps is was a handheld version of the EMP Chase used at the Battle of New York that disabled all their armor allowing him to escape

Kazu is an Armored Closet Gay

He's Japanese, whose culture is notorious for being reserved and having Values Dissonance between older and younger generations, his personality is overly masculine, he's the only one to express confusion towards Valentina, who is genderfluid and completely open about their sexuality, and he's extremely reluctant his teammates learning more about his past via the Holons' mindsharing abilities. With this many flags, I'd be more surprised to find out he wasn't.

• More like Single-Target Sexuality / If It's You, It's Okay - Japanese society isn't as heteronormative as American, and he doesn't show much interest in other guys present. As to his past - his profile mentions insubordination, which is much bigger no-no, and he's also a Closet Geek (fan of Robo-Samurai, but insists on not reading manga) and has romantic side (whole guitar on the roof). Perhaps he hasn't heard that Real Men Wear Pink.

A future episode/arc will deal with the gen:LOCK team being unsure which of their memories are actually their own.

In episode 7, Valentina mentions that, after sharing their mind with Kazu, they now seem to remember learning how to play the guitar sitting on a rooftop in Japan. The pilots clearly share memories when "meta-melding" and retain those memories even after downloading. So in a future episodes, after they have already melded with each other a whole bunch of times, at least one character will have a breakdown about no longer being sure which of the things they remember are their own memories, and which ones are from other team members.

Holcroft is evil

Maybe not a Union spy, but he's definitely slimy and has no sense of tact with Yaz's past. He probably wants to take control of the Polity after the end of the war.

• Alternately he's evil but recognizes the Union is the greater threat and is willing to work with others to end the danger.

Everyone at the Anvil is alive

It's highly likely that the people in the Anvil are still alive. While from a meta-standpoint it would be a poor move to kill off so many top billed actors at the beginning of the series, and to kill off so many supporting characters not even a season in, there is evidence to suggest that they didn't die In-Universe.

• Chase being unable to contact anyone after the Anvil was overrun by Nano-tech doesn't necessarily mean they're dead. Back in Episode 4, when the Nemesis attacked Cammie it completely encased themselves in a dome of Nanotech, and upon doing so, Cammie was unable to contact the others outside of it, a map Colonel Marin and Dr. Weller looking at showing the area was suffering from satellite interference. With the Anvil covered in Nanotech, Chase would naturally be unable to call anyone still in the Anvil, meaning its possible the others are still alive.
• Dr. Weller's Heroic Sacrifice was punctuated by him using an explosive like device, with the only visible effects being a bright light and a concussive blast sending the soldiers flying, breaking the windows. Most likely, based on the fact that after he used it, the elevator the gen:Lock group was using stalled, that device was an EMP of sorts. Now, EMP's have been shown to be used before during the Battle of New York, where Chase and Razzle used them to try and stop the Behemoth. While Razzle was shot down by the Behemoth after it managed to detect her, when Chase used it, it managed to work, shorting out the Behemoth and the Nanotech. Chase only survived because the Nanotech attacking him was shorted out by the EMP and ESU got to him in time. So Dr. Weller more than likely was holding a handheld version of the EMP. If he had one, its possible the other rooms in the base did too, or he had one strong enough to affect the entire Anvil.
• Lastly, there is precedence for the Union to take prisoners. Episode 5 detailed that the Union took several Polity scientists, including Dr. Henry Wu, as prisoners after their attack on the Polity's base in Cape Canaveral. Dr. Weller is undoubtedly someone they'd want taken alive, if only for the gen:Lock tech and knowledge he possesses. Whether they'd want anyone else alive is unknown, but possibly Colonel Marin and Migas, the Colonel for being the enemy commander and for public execution, Migas for doing maintenance on Polity Weaponry including the Holon's, meaning they could use him for upgrading their tech. It helps that the Nemesis has access to the gl Mind Hive, and since those in it can share memories and dreams, the Nemesis would know that Migas is responsible for the Holon upkeep.
  • Pro: It make quite a lot of sence, when attacking the major enemy command & research facility, to take as much prisoners alive as possible for debriefing. At the Anvil, Union have both the Polity high-ranking officers, and techical personnel that worked on Holons, who are much more valuable alive than dead. And the Union was stated to be very pragmatical.
  • Contra: the Behemoth that controlled the Nanotech was heavily damaged, its crew presumably killed by the 200-meter high fall. It is doubtful that machine in such staate could still execute complex control.
  • Confirmed. It is revealed that Weller before his death created a prototype signal that could allow the Polity to be included in the nanomachines IFF system. They activated it, and it worked, and thus they were able to clear out the rest of the Union at Anvil survive.

Chase will become Nemesis again

During his death, Nemesis interfaces with Chase like Chase did before to get or show info, and it shows an image of a growing number of multiple Evil!Chases in his mindscape, all while Nemesis command Chase about killing the copies^note Which will be Cammie, Kazu, Yaz and Valentina and about a copy of copy of a copy. This is going to show up in the next season where it is revealed that Nemesis has copied himself into Chase as a virus and is slowly infecting Chase's Holon body, resulting in Chase developing a Enemy Within and causing one or multiple Battle in the Center of the Mind to occur.

Chase will eventually get his body back

At some point, a major breakthrough will be discovered that will allow pilots to return to their bodies even after exceeding uptime.

Leon is still in the Holon

When Sinclair uploads into the Holon he'll find Leon inside who'll act as a partner

Chase will merge with his original self

the gen:lock tech allows two minds to act as one and even share memorys, the potential danger of loss of identity is obvious not a problem when you share an identity already (assuming the original chase is not as corrupted as nemesis) allowing them to effectively become one person if they maintain permanent gen:lock, or they may decide they have developed enough to be there own person, and choose to be partners but ther merger is only temporary to pilot the holon, with them maintaining separate identity's outside deployment, this might result in a fusion of the mechs as well, with main-chase controlling the mech while nemesis-chase controls a cloud of nanites

Val/entina will create a backup of themselves

Realising that they have a spare holon and how rare comptable pirates are gen:lock will make the decision to simply copy the minds they have(though entirely volontarily this time), and Val/entina would be the most obvious choice, as they have already stated they have dreamed of having a robot body, so the copy would be able to adjust to loss of flesh much better then most(though likely encouraging the team to develop a smaller body with "all its parts" as being 4 storys tall forever is likely not part of that dream) this will also allow us to have both Val and Valentina on screen together

The Polity is the successor of the United Nations

I mean, they were using the old UN building in New York in the first episode, so it's definitely possible.

The Union

In a Plot Twist it will be revealed that the Union are the good guys and the Vanguard are the bad guys

Not really much to go off of for this theory but I decided I might as well throw it in after thinking of it (plus this is called wild mass guessing so why not make some crazy theories). Perhaps the Union which is mentioned in the second trailer will turn out to be the good guys. The Union does sound more like a name for The Federation instead of The Empire.

EDIT: Just found out the trope that would apply if this theory came true. Wrong Side All Along.

• I'm not so sure. We can't just assume that "Vanguard" is the actual name for the Protagonist's side. During the First Look trailer, Doc said "on behalf of the ESU." It's likely that Vanguard is just the name of a government division, as the United States Marines.
  • Fair point. This was more a What if thought that I decided to put here because why not. The ESU does sound a lot less like The Empire than Vanguard so it makes sense if the Vanguard is only a military group and not the actual faction.
    • Vanguard is specified as the Northern-American military forces of the Polity.
    • Aren't the Vanguard is just a rapid response force among the Polity military? I men, the have frontline across a good part of North America - thousand kilometers long. It's literally impossible for a relatively limited force of air-dropped mecha units & small numbers of infanty to control all the frontline. And "colonel" is far too low rank to command anything more than a single unit.
• I'll joss this idea. One of the show's themes is diversity, which shows in the composition of the main characters (Caucasian, Hispanic and African-Americans, an Englishman, a Puerto-Rican, an Iranian, a Ukrainian, a Japanese and a Scot). Diversity is also a core tenet of the Polity, a Fictional United Nations of sorts, as opposed to the Union's cultural homogenization. Having the Polity (or any of its military arms) be the villains would be horrible writing, in contempt with the theme of diversity and would alienate many of Rooster Teeth's fanbase. Speaking of the Union, there was an Empire in real life that used the name too: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, AKA the Soviet Union.
  • Also worth mentioning is that we know that the Union is totalitarian and Yaz turned her parents in for being "intellectuals" with the heavy implication that they were killed or at least imprisoned in a concentration camp. At best this could turn into Black-and-Gray Morality.

The Union's leaders will be similar to various political figures

Mainly those who are generally disliked by those who appreciate things like personal freedoms and rights, like dictators whose own countries now regard them negatively for various reasons, like hypocrisy, attacking/controlling the free press, personal depraved actions, and the vilification of those who didn't submit.

• Very likely. The Union is mentioned to be an autocracy.

Union Nano-weapons have a similar effect to red GN particles.

• Similar in that they both cause severe cellular damage that cannot be repaired until a countermeasure of the same kind can be found; e.g., the radiation poisoning of Red GN particles can only be cured with Purified GN Particles; wounds inflicted by nanotechnology can only effectively be healed with nanotechnology.

In a Plot Twist a la the Sinclair reveal, Julian's mom will be revealed to be part of the Union.

Based on her oddly calm reaction to the Union invasion of New York, with no apparent shock at the Union's attack and her sudden demeanor when telling Dri to move. Admittedly, the Chases appears to be a family with a history in law enforcement careers, so it could be she just knows how to handle emergencies like this. Except the thing is we never see her or Dri again after that shot of her walking towards the camera: no evacuating shots, Julian's calls not going through, absolutely no mention of whether Miranda tracked down his family. Based on the husband protecting his family by showing Union allegiance shows it's not unusual for civilians to be secretly allied with the Union, presumably for protection from their attacks. Additionally, the Fake!Sinclair makes a vague reference that he knows someone who would really want to talk to Chase.

• He may have been referring not to Julian's mom, but his sister. Training Daze has a Freeze-Frame Bonus showing Dri in the Ether trying to get Chase's attention right before it shuts down, so she may be a prisoner of the Union due to knowing Chase is a Holon Pilot, or she could be with the Union herself.
• I...Don't know about this one. It would be an interesting theory to discuss, but in my opinion there's just not enough evidence at this time to support the claim. Because if the Chases are a police family and Roberta and her husband were both cops why wouldn't she be so calm? Given her police background, Roberta would clearly have remembered her training in response to the mainland getting attacked and may have had some instructions given to her time in the NYPD in times of a crisis of this scale. Police are trained to be cool under crisis. They can't just go crazy when a whole city is being attacked. I'm not talking about say, a full on riot either. Like if the National Guard has to come in should the mainland be attacked by a foreign standing army until the rest of the military can come in. Granted, the Polity and Vanguard were clearly acting in place of any National Guard units within the city.
• Better yet, if Dri were a Union spy and not Mrs. Chase, then why would she even be in the Ether at the time before the Dallas data center attack? You'd think the Union would have a firm grip on some operational freedoms that their spy network would have under normal espionage circumstances. Why would they hire a kid? Yes, it was four years and Drianna was above 16-17 at this point (anyone else can give a better guess than me how old she is after New York) before it "happened". But wouldn't she be ordered to play along with her Ether fanbase if she were with the enemy? The Roberta part I can get, but mentioning the possibility of Drianna being a spy just loses me.

Potential origins of the Union Holon seen in the opening:

• It's a standard Evil Knockoff that the Union is able to build by reverse-engineering Holons based on observation, and for a twist, the real Sinclair is the pilot, having been captured and tortured or brainwashed by the Union instead of killed.
• It's the unused sixth Holon. Turns out that fake!Sinclair wasn't entirely incompatible and part of his consciousness was able to be uploaded to the Holon before his brain was fried. Eventually, that fragment will regain awareness and he will manage to escape the Anvil and return to the Union, who modifies the Holon into what we see in the opening.
  • Seems to be jossed on that idea. The Union Mech appeared attacking the location of the Ether's generator, and fought against the Polity. They'd have known if another Holon had escaped their base and made its way there, so whatever the mech is, its not one of Dr. Weller's Holons.
• Nope. The Union Holon is actually the Holon seen in the early promos. The original Chase is the pilot.

The Union will be revealed to be effectively ruled by an evil AI.

That nanotech will have been discovered by a post-singularity intelligence that is more or less the driving heart of the Union; all its component Republics are monitored by the Overlord strictly for signs of breaking the monoculture. It was programmed to end social conflict and ensure prosperity, but after one too many self-destructs of its plans to keep humans from fighting, it decided conflict is inherent to difference, and thus to stop conflict, all differences must be eradicated. Cue the creation of the Union - and its name, a rather dark internal joke by the Overlord that references Strauss-Howe generational theory, and its desires to eradicate self-destructive individualist values and replace them with healthy collectivist ones.

• Continuing, the Union Holon is piloted by a fork of the AI or its "child", an AI made in its image, hence it being a Cyber Cyclops.
  • This specific point about Nemesis is Jossed. However, I do think the idea as a whole is generally quite possible.

Dri is the Union Holon Mech

Building off of the above theory that Julian's mom is in the Union: we get a brief Blink And You'll Miss It shot of Dri in the Ether recognizing Julian and trying to reach out to him before it goes down. The way this scene is framed is bizarre: earlier in the episode Julian's conversation with Miranda implied that she never found his family after the Battle of New York, and they assumed his mom and sister were lost. So what is Dri doing in the Ether, an extremely public setting, where we know she already had fans and so everyone would know she was alive unless she was in there for other reasons, such as hacking into the data center to help bring the network down? At the end of the mech fight, the Union Holon is lying on the ground nearly defeated when Miranda's strider walks up to the group and we hear Miranda's voice. The Holon seems to react to Miranda's voice, apparently recognizing it, and makes a run for it. Now, of course, it could be it just realized it was surrounded and had to retreat, but the camera shots suggest it was Miranda's voice that really caught its attention.

• Adding supporting evidence: gen:Lock is mentioned to be picky because of the need for a particular kind of neural system, particularly high neuroplasticity in its pilots, which is difficult to find in adults. Adolescents, on the other hand, would be much easier to mold to an interface, especially if you didn't care about harming them in the process.
• If Dri really is Nemesis, then if gen:LOCK-1 manage to save Dri, Weller will be able to transfer her cyber-brain into the Holon that was meant for Sinclair.
• Jossed. Nemesis is being piloted by the original Chase's mind. The Chase we know is a backup.

The Union Mech is actually cyborg, controlled by installed human brain

The whole premise of the series has quite a bit of similarity with old Colin Kapp sci-fi story "Gottlos". In that story, the protagonist side used remote brain-computer interface (a kind of man-machine meld one) to control cybertanks against the opponent's older, remote controlled by operator cybertanks. The opponents countered by fielding "Gottlos" - cyborg cybertank, controlled by the disembodied human brain. If the similarities are not just accidental, the Union Mech might actually be a cyborg, controlled by an organic human brain inside.

• This is also supported in the design of the mech itself: if one looks in the opening, the Union mech clearly has teeth.
• It is further supported due to the fact that the mech seems to be saying "Save me" multiple times in episode 4.
• The controlled by human brain part is confirmed by episode 6 which reveals that, during the 4-year Time Skip, Chase was captured while piloting his Holon, and the Chase that we currently have is, mind-wise, a backup copy while the real one was used to make the Union's mech.

The Union is a direct reference to the Soviet Union.

Although the Union's geography is yet to be shown, they target the United States, which were the arch-rivals of the Soviets during the Cold War. The full name, the Union of the Forth Turning Republics, sounds like the Soviet Union's original name, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Further elaborated on the Fourth Turning references an "era of crisis and revolution," much like how Communism spread to other countries. It doesn't help that the Union is described as a virus, which is how the West treated the Soviet Union and its ideologies.

• The actual Soviet Union, hovewer, was rather supportive toward national and cultural minorities (and even religious - to some extent). Internally due to the opposition to Tsarist's "russification" policy, externally - due to opposition to European colonialism.
• Could have been, but the Fandom Fuel map linked in the YMMV section paints Russia (what became out of the Soviet Union) as all-Polity.

The Union Mech is Rob.

We still don’t know what really happened to him.

• Jossed. Nemesis is in fact the original Julian Chase after being captured by the Union.

The Union Mech is multiple people.

Each of its "eyes" is controlled by a separate brain that has been uploaded into its chassis/put in an onboard jar so to coordinate its multiple arms and nanoswarms, as well as react to events in a 360 degree radius, since each brain in the "crew" can look in a different direction. This is also why it/they move in such a jittery way, as the brains are fighting for control over the larger mech.

• The practical usefulness are questionable - it would basically force to coordinate and pre-plan each movement (even trivial, like maintaining the balance while standing upright). The movements of the mech would be slow and careful, and the reaction time would have obvious lags.
• Jossed with the revelation that Nemesis is piloted by the original Julian Chase, with the Chase the show follows being a consciousness backup uploaded to the original's brain-dead body.

The Union officially discriminates against LBGTQ+ individuals and other minorities.

Val/entia mentioned what the Union did “to people like (her)” and Yaz also noted that it wasn’t “HER” Union, implying a direct slight. Given the themes of culture war and how disgusted the two seemed to be with the Union beyond a military enemy, it could be possible that the Union has official policies in place that discriminate against religious, sexuality, and gender minorities as they run counter to their ideal of monoculture.

The component Republics of the Union are China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Well, firstly, all those four nations are currently labeled as "bad guys" in Western culture. Secondly, three out if four are nominally republics - People Republic of China, Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Russia, however is the federation, which included severl republics). Thirdly, all four are not exctly well-known for the support of modern multiculturalism (Russia to lesser extent). Also:

• We have defector from the Union who is Iranian, which may indirectly indicate, on which side Iran is.
• Valentina is Ukrainian, and considering curretn state of less-than-friendly relations between Ukraine and Russia, it may ve reasonal to assume that they are on the opposite sudes.
• The Union obviously compose enough of Earth population and resources to be superior power to Polity, even without North America
  • Jossed. An official map showing what territory the Union and the Polity each hold shows that the Union only controls part of China and the Korean Peninsula (the territory is directly linked), and Russia and Iran haven't lost any land to the Union at all. Furthermore, it appears that China, Russia, and Iran are actually allied with the Polity against the Union, if not part of the Polity itself.

The Union Mech is Simclair.

So, here's what I'm thinking. When Weller ordered Caliban to start the process for "Sinclair", he gave explicit orders for the spy to be uploaded to unit 2. This is the ONLY time thus far we have seen Weller give instructions for someone to be uploaded to a specific location.

It's possible "unit 2" does not refer to a specific Holon frame or Cyberbrain, but in fact refers to a different location entirely; somewhere away from The Anvil. Since he didn't know if Simclair was gen:LOCK compatible, he deliberately sent him somewhere that nobody would get hurt during the escape if he turned out to be compatible. That way he can give him what he wants while mitigating the risk of damage to equipment and personnel; perhaps even to a Cyberbrain not loaded into a Holon at all (possibly at the base Weller was operating from during the character teasers).

When he turned out to not be compatible and got burnt up in the upload, Weller figured he was done for, when in fact his mind had uploaded in a corrupted state. The Union already had control of the base where his mind was sent so they were able to build their own Holon and install Simclair's defective cyberbrain into it resulting in the Union Mystery Mech.

• Doubtful. It seems that Holons required high-speed cable connection for download - and I seriously doubt that Union was able to tap into Vanguard base network on such scale. It is more likely that he just chose one of two fully-armored Holons available (the other four at this moment were nothing more than skeletal frames) to get away with it.
• Jossed. The Nemesis is the original Chase, having been captured by the Union during the four years he was presumed dead.

The Union mecha will be named after mythical enforcers of the law.

The Union mech seems to be called a "Nemesis." I theorize this its model name in universe, a deliberate invocation of the Greek goddess of retribution, fitting with its role as an anti-Holon unit. Other models will be named things like Jupiter (Roman Zeus, in his capacity as god of law), Arthur (King Arthur), and Ma'at (Egyptian goddess of order).

The Nemesis is controlled by a clone/AI version of Chase

In episode 5 it repeats many of Chase's lines from episode 1 before the battle of New York. Perhaps the Union Nanotech that infected him somehow transferred a copy of his mind to Union scientists.

• Here's an alternative; it's Razzle. She likely fit the same criteria as Chase. Trained military pilot with a high level of mental flexibility. The Union may have gone to investigate what the ESU was doing when they rescued Chase and found her instead. Seems like her and Chase were friends so she would know most of his lines like "let the good times roll" as well as military callsigns.
• Both are jossed, sorta. The Nemesis is the original Chase, having been captured by the Union during the four years he was presumed dead. The clone/AI version of Chase is the one we've seen since the end of episode 1.

The Nemesis mech is ALL of the gen:LOCK team

Expanding on the above theory, it's not just a copy of Chase, but a copy of all the team. Its lines from episode 5 indicate that it knows Miranda's name, that it's parroting Chase and thinks of him as a "copy", but its line to Cammie "You think too loud, you haven't shut up since your birthday" is rather... odd. It doesn't sound like something Chase would say, but it does sound like something a neglectful or abusive parent might. Perhaps the Nemesis is accessing all five team members thoughts, dredging up memories from multiple minds at once. Unfortunate implications for Cammie's backstory aside, this would be possible, since the team in the same episode discussed having shared dreams, implying some sort of shared mindscape for them and the Nemesis does behave erratically and has trouble speaking, only doing so with difficulty and with heavy distortion in its voice, almost like it's trying to work through an assortment of conflicting voices all the time.

• Amendment to my own theory; the birthday line to Cammie could also be a reference to the "second birthday" as Weller described it, when the other pilots came online. Chase was the original copy made by the Union, possibly through the nanotech that still exists in his body, as per the WMG below. He therefore is the dominant mind, and as the others were added to the shared mindscape their thoughts and memories have bled through, making it crazy. This explains its line to Cammie about her voice being too loud and how she hasn't shut up since her birthday; her voice is literally too loud in his mind, and only recently came online. This hopefully spares us any family backstory trauma as I originally suspected, and makes the Nemesis far more terrifying, since it's not just five minds meshed together any old how; it's a direct copy of Chase, with 4 other minds added to it and made insane due to too much noise in its head!
  • I'd like to add this to your theory: the first time we heard Nemesis speak, it was a female voice saying only the same two words twice: "Save me." This happens after it took Cammie's Holon's head off. That could have been Cammie bleeding through.
• Jossed. The Nemesis is the original Chase, having been captured by the Union during the four years he was presumed dead.

The Nemesis is functioning due to the Nanotech still in Chase

According to Doctor Weller, Chase can't regen his lost body parts because the Nanotech that hit him is still in him, they've just halted the process. And as pointed out both in series and on this page, the Nemesis both acts like Chase, but also very erratic, and it somehow knew to attack Cammie's cyberbrain and that she'd be the weakest member. Its possible the Nanotech inside Chase has allowed the Union to access what he knows whenever he downloads into the Holon, making a virtual copy. And since all of the gen:Lock pilots now share a mindscape/dreamscape with one another, it has access to that info too. Its behavior is a result of five clashing personalities, but Chase is the base because the Nanotech is in him. For all intents and purposes, the Nemesis is Chase.

• Yeah this kinda ties into my own theory above, and explains how they could have gained access to the Gen;LOCK tech. The nanotech in Chase gave them a way in to make a copy of his mind, and then as each new pilot came online it added to the copies mind, turning it crazy. Though Chase would be the dominant not because the nanotech is still in him, but simply because he was the first copy made, and now more and more minds are being added into it.
• Jossed. The Nemesis is a heavily modified Holon controlled by the original Chase. The Chase we've known since the end of episode 1 was a digital clone created as a backup.

The Union is based in the US

Not necessarily true, but the Strauss–Howe generational theory (which describes the Four Turnings, the fourth of which - crisis - is the basis of the Union) is only used in American history. It could have started as an ideology that spread from the US, similar to how socialism/communism spread from Germany to Russia and China.

The Union will have a former student of Dr. Weller who built the Nemesis.

He (or she) was removed from the gen:LOCK project for his desire to overcome the candidate problem through use of personality modification, effectively forcefully changing the neural architecture of potential pilots to be more suitable candidates for the program. The Union picked him up after Dr. Weller kicked him out for his absolute refusal to be patient, and it's he who designed whatever Evil Knockoff tech that flies the Nemesis and any future iterations of its product line.

• Editing to add: The guy will be a cheerful walking reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion, with Scary Shiny Glasses, a cold fish, wants to revive someone close to him with gen:LOCK, and possibly clones himself a "daughter" whose entire purpose is to be a Union Holon pilot. In effect, the Union will be symbolically become a different genre of mecha protagonists entirely, one that the internal theming of the Polity is opposed to.

Nemesis isn't alone

Nemesis's final words seemed to imply the Union made multiple copies of his mind.

The Union will start deploying nanotech smokescreens to conceal their Behemoths

With the Hammer guns able to snipe a target from halfway across a continent, the Vanguard now has a hard counter to the most intimidating weapon in the Union's arsenal. Presumably, targeting is done via satellite imagery. The solution, therefore, would be to deploy the Behemoth's Smoke supply as a cloud overhead, much like Nemesis did to block Valentina's line of sight.

Nemesis is gone for good

In the mindscape before Nemesis' death, he reveals to Chase that he himself, is a copy of the captured Chase, and that he is not the only copy. However, this is because in order to create Nemesis from Chase, they cloned his mind and pitted the clones against one another - using survival of the fittest to produce Nemesis - the most brutal and strongest copy of Chase, as a result of constantly having to fight copies of himself. Because of this, Nemesis is the only Union Clone of Chase, and with his death, the Union likely no longer has Chase's mind.

• Whether or not the original Chase is alive is hard to say, though it's likely that he perished long ago as a result of Union torture and experiments.

Nemesis wasn’t the original Chase

I have a feeling that the Nemesis we encountered wasn’t the real one. My theory is that they have Chase’s original mind and Holon somewhere where they can mass-produce copies of them. However, the process of copying a mind is something that they have a poor understanding of, and they come out fragmented. The reason they wanted Weller and another Holon was to figure out how to either Make better copies of Chase or so they can learn how to upload other pilots so that the can relying on glitchy copies.

Sinclair will be the villain of Season 2

Having been shown to be alive and hiding amongst the Union soldiers during a post-credits scene, Sinclair will finally attempt to escape, only to be captured and brainwashed into replacing Nemesis.

Sinclair and Simclair are twin brothers

Here's my line of thinking; non-identical twin brothers, only one of them turns out to be GL compatible. The other one is jealous and defects to the union out of spite and in hopes of getting his hands on his brother's Holon.

The Union is not really a country or even a group of country but an international political party.

This theory primarily exists to explain how despite their small amount of territory on the world map they have the resources to fight Vanguard and presumably other forces like the Ukrainian resistance. If instead of being limited to official Union territory they have branch parties in most nations that have members send support to their army in the form of recruits or war materials. This also neatly explains how much Union propaganda was seen in New York during the pilot as most nations even today would never allow such a display belonging to a hostile power.

The Union is a stealth critique of Trump's America.

Yaz's declaration that it's "Not my Union" is similar to the "not my president" cry used by many on the left who feel alienated by the Trump presidency. The Union is also noted to be extremely hostile to LGBTQ rights, much in the same way the Trump administration has been accused of trying to roll back rights for the LGBTQ community. Furthermore, the Great Union of the Fourth Turning Republics references the Fourth Turning theory. This theory of human history has gained popularity on the American right in recent years, with a number of prominent Trump advisers, such as the infamous Steve Banon, subscribing to its teachings. The Union is also notably opposed by members of groups frequently at odds with the Trump administration; with gen:LOCK notably consisting entirely of people who are either minorities, immigrants, or LGBTQ.

The Union will at some point deploy Holons driven by Child Soldiers.

• Weller mentions that neuroplasticity is one of the key (if not the key) factors when looking for gen:LOCK compatibility. Under those circumstances, using younger children as pilots would actually make a certain amount of sense, since their brains are still growing and at their most adaptable. Naturally, Weller was too ethical to take this approach... but the Union doesn't seem to have any such limitations. So when they catch up with gen:LOCK technology, it won't take them long to go all Evangelion.
  • Since Union is capable (and willing) to copy the electronic personality for use in multiple mecha units, it doesn't make sense for them to use child pilots at all.

Citizens of the Union will take after the citizens of many real-life dictatorships

It's Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Since the Union pretty much has the hallmarks of dictatorships, the life of the average Union citizen... sucks, to put it bluntly. During season 2 Sinclair will likely run into citizens who will either: A) want to escape to the Polity with him (a la East German citizens durn the Cold War), B) buy into the Union's propaganda and will alert the authorities about him, C) be apathetic at best to their life, or D) hide any "intellectuals" in their family to keep them safe.

The Union are based in the ocean

Looking at the map of Union Vs Polity controlled territory it seemed odd the Union is so spread out, with no real connecting point or core territory, except there is a connecting point: the ocean, there is not a single union territory that is landlocked, and in the first episode the behemoth comes from the ocean, notably a decent number of the neutral territories are completely landlocked because they aren't directly threatened by the Union.

• This might be valid. One of the Union's controlled territory appears to be along the Niel river basion. Makes you wonder where they started.

The Union still has the original Chase

Still intact, a clean original to make more copies from and even still capable of downloading back into his body since the cyberbrain is kept in standby mode like the spare unit the backup Chase was in before being downloaded into his body after the disastrous mission.

The Union are aliens

The reason we know absolutely nothing about the Union as of the end of season 1? To facilitate a reveal in season 2 or later that the Union is controlled by aliens. All the characters are well aware of this and see no need to mention it. They clearly have many sympathizers on Earth, entire countries in fact, but the reason we haven't seen any Union leadership—to freak us out when it's revealed they're aliens. Evidence: the Union are said to be incapable of innovation, yet their technology—Behemoths, nanotech—seems to be beyond what the Polity is capable of, gen:Lock notwithstanding. And, well, that's pretty much it for evidence, but why else would they leave the main antagonists such an unknown entity for the entire first season?

A Union agent will defect and join gen:LOCK.

The idea is that Union scientists, hackers, and neurosurgeons are working day and night to crack Dr. Weller's code to figure out what makes someone gen:LOCK compatible so they can mass produce more Union Holons. One of these people will crack the code and run a few tests with it. They'll discover that they are gen:LOCK compatible, and will panic and plan to flee the Union because they know that when the Union discovers this fact, they'll be turned into the next "Nemesis". The Union defector will seek asylum with the Polity and eventually be made part of gen:LOCK.

The state religion of The Union is the worship of Black Hat.

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