Web Animation / Red vs. Blue: Season 14

My name is VIC. 555-VICK! And I can open the window to a whole galaxy full of stories you never even knew existed.

The 14th season of Red vs. Blue. Unlike others, this is not part of a story arc, but rather is an Anthology consisting of single or multi-episode stories. Some of them are definitively canon to the overall universe ^note e.g. The Mercs Trilogy, some of them are rather dubious^note e.g. "Grey vs. Gray", and some are definitely not.^note e.g. "The Brick Gulch Chronicles"

Miles Luna's last season as showrunner, this season was an unofficial audition for the next showrunner.

Warning: This page will contain unmarked spoilers for the previous seasons.

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This series provides examples of:

General

• Art Shift: The season is animated in a multitude of different styles.
  • Episode 1 is animated in 2D, adapting footage from an old non-canon short ("Red vs. Blue: Animated"), and inserts it into canon as one of the iterations that Church ran through in the Epsilon Unit.
  • Episodes 2-4 return to the original Halo engine to mimic the style of the first two and a half seasons, which the episodes are framed as a direct prequel to.
  • Episode 5 ("The Brick Gulch Chronicles") is made with Mega-Bloks stop-motion, based in a world where the Blood Gulchers are just toys in a child's bedroom, tormented by his little brother Malcolm Hargrove.
  • Episodes 6 and 7 revolve around another Red Team in Halo 3 Machinima and briefly in the Halo CE engine.
  • Episode 8 is set in live-action, as a Sarge 3 trailer and returns to Halo 4 machinima at the end.
  • Episodes 9-11 are animated in 3D Cel Shading similar to sister show RWBY, revolving around Felix and Locus before Chorus.
  • Episode 12 is machinimated in Halo 2, playing as a Project Freelancer propaganda vid to recruit soldiers for the Red/Blue "War", set between Season 5 and Reconstruction.
  • Episode 13 is a DEATH BATTLE! episode in 3D CGI as Grif and Simmons ponder the age-old question of "who would win? Carolina or The Meta?" Carolina.
  • Episode 14 is done using Halo 3, edited to be in black and white to portray a Noir setting.
  • Episode 15 is done in animation mimicking crayon to illustrate Caboose's simple-minded way of thinking.
  • Episode 16 uses Halo 2 again, expanding on a scene in Episode 100 that was already funny to begin with.
  • As is expected, the scenes specific to the Epsilon memory unit use Halo: Reach machinimation in Episode 17.
  • Episode 18 is a Musical Episode done in Halo 2 Machinima and returns to Halo 4 Machinima at the end.
  • Episodes 21 and 22 are filmed in Halo 3.
  • Episode 23 is a live action crossover with Immersion.
  • Episode 24 is filmed partially in Halo 3, with most of the action taking place in live-action with Roger Rabbit Effect for the scenes where the Blood Gulch Crew is in the RT office.
• Breather Episode: The season as a whole turned out to be this retroactively. Between the high-stakes war & Epsilon’s tragic Heroic Sacrifice from during The Chorus Trilogy and the gruesome deaths & intense character drama in Season 15, this season is considerably more laid-back.
• The Bus Came Back: Vic is reintroduced after a prolonged absence since Season 5.
• Death as Comedy: The prequel episodes are filled with it: first, Grif and Simmons witness the death of their CO Hammer; then, Sarge wins a promotion because all the other candidates die, mostly by their own hands. The FH57 Reds also all accidentally blow themselves up at the end of "Invaders From Another Mother", and "Grey vs. Gray" has all of the Locked Room Reds and Blues kill each other in the end.
• Expanded Universe: The season is a chance to invite many writers and animators that have been influenced by the series to contribute to the setting at any point in the timeline barring the end of Season 13, in any number of animation styles.
• Fauxlosophic Narration: Occurs at times with Vic's intros.
  Very serious question, dude: if you could go back in time, would you kill Hitler? Right now you're thinking 'Well duh, absolutely! That guy was kind of a dick, dude'. But what if you met him when he was just a kid? When all he wanted to do was go to art school and paint pictures of dogs? You think you could still do it? Murder him in cold blood? Next to the oil paintings and the schnauzers?
• Hero of Another Story:
  • Hero might be stretching it, but Episodes 6, 7, and 14 all reinforce the notion that there's Reds and Blues all over the galaxy... and that they're all idiots.
  • Also stretching the definition, but Episodes 21-22 focuses on Project Freelancer - namely, three completely incompetent recruits.
• Lampshade Hanging: Vic's specialty.
• Lemony Narrator: Vic's narration seems to have a hard time keeping his train of thought.
  Vic: Space. It's like... really , really, really big, dude. And it's got all sorts of stuff in it too! I'm talking about aliens, humans, canyons, spaceships, those little peppers wrapped in bacon stuffed with cheese... whoo! Hits the spot every time, dude.
• No Fourth Wall:
  • Vic's narration is directed towards the viewers as a narrator with asides about audience expectations.
    My name is Vic. (singing) 555-VICK, and I can open the window to a galaxy full of stories you never even knew existed.
    (window appears)
    See what I did there? That's a segue. We were talking about windows, window shows up, creates some intrigue.
  • In Episode 15, Caboose actually finds Vic's narration room. Vic is so impressed that he lets him do the episode.

Ep. 1: "Room Zero"

• All Just a Dream: The animated beginning of the first episode turns out to be another iteration Epsilon is going through while stuck in the Memory Unit between The Revelation and Season 9.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Sarge asks "What the heck was that!?" after hearing something crash in the season opener at the end of "Room Zero," Caboose says "I think it was a logo."

Ep. 2–4: "From Stumbled Beginnings" / "Fifty Shades of Red" / "Why They're Here"

• Anachronic Order: Parodied by Vic:
  So, what better place to start than the beginning? Well, you could get all artsy and start somewhere in the middle. All the cool directors do that. Get you all excited. You're like, "Whoa dude! What's goin' on, man? Why's that guy shooting that other guy?" Then they all do that rewind thing. Tell the tale, lay the breadcrumbs, roll the credits. Classic! But how about we start... before the beginning?
• The Bus Came Back: Captain Butch Flowers is given a large role in the prequel episodes, his only prior appearance since The Blood Gulch Chronicles being his cameos as Agent Florida in Seasons 9 and 10.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Sarge assumes that the rubber bullets the soldiers were given for training were due to an error and switched them for live rounds. When Lemons questions how he came to that conclusion Sarge notes that they used a real bomb for training earlier, something Lemons can't exactly offer a rebuttal for.
• Foregone Conclusion:
  • Since the newly-introduced Hammer is a soldier accompanying Grif and Simmons on a mission in a prequel flashback, the fact that he's going to kick the bucket is obvious and Played for Laughs.
  • Same goes for the other Red soldiers competing against Sarge for the position of... Sergeant.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Had Grif and Simmons decided to go into the Blue base along with Hammer, they would've been blown up as well.
  • As "Why They're Here" shows, Florida tripping over a power cable wound up being a big linchpin in the timeline of the show. After all, without it, Vic wouldn't have gotten his erratic personality and the roster of future recruits wouldn't have been changed to include Caboose, Donut, and Sister.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Emphasis on Grif and Simmons trying to make Hammer's sound heroic.
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Grif certainly feels that way about where he and Simmons met, asking if the place where they'll be reassigned "at least has a better name than Danger Canyon".
• Jerkass Has a Point: In "From Stumbled Beginnings", Red Team trainees Grif, Simmons, and Hammer are sent to investigate a base that was recently taken by a Blue Team. In an attempt to weasel out of infiltrating the base (Which Hammer wants to do), Grif wonders why three recruits were sent on such a dangerous mission. When Hammer goes Leeroy Jenkins and checks out the base alone, he finds that several bombs were placed- and the countdown's already going.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Upon assembling everyone at Blood Gulch, Agent Florida muses that the conflict could last for fourteen seasons. When Vic asks what he means, he laughs it off and explains that he meant actual seasons.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, Tucker got into some trouble with a minor who claimed she was 18.
• Origins Episode: The Blood Gulch Prequel Trilogy episodes - “From Stumbled Beginnings”, “Fifty Shades of Red”, and “Why They’re Here” - all show how Agent Florida hand-selected the Blood Gulch Red and Blue Teams as part of Project Freelancer hiding the Alpha away.
• Prequel: Episodes 2-4, which elaborate on the circumstances leading up to Season 1 as Flowers recruits the most incompetent and ineffectual soldiers possible.
• Repeating So the Audience Can Hear: The interview montage shows each answer given by the candidates in order — first candidate 1, then candidate 2, then candidate 3, then back to candidate 1 for the next question, etc. The interviewer's questions are left out, but candidate 1 repeats each one in some way, providing context for both his answer and the others'.
  Candidate 1: I would say my greatest strength is my love for following rules.
  Candidate 1: Where do I see myself in five years? Hopefully with your job! [laughs]
  Candidate 1: Gosh, why did I join the military? You know, I just wanted to make a difference. Fight for my fellow man.
  Candidate 1: My deepest regret? Oh, golly. I mean, probably not telling my mom "I love you" more before shipping off.
• Revision: One that's been a long time coming. In Season 1, Church reminisces about his supposed time in Sidewinder, where he witnessed Tex take out a legion of soldiers, including his friend Private Jimmy. This scene in particular (in addition to one from Out of Mind), was contradicted by the later revelations about the Alpha's creation and posting at Blood Gulch in Seasons 6 and 10. This is finally explained in Episode 4, revealing that Private Jimmy is Church's original host body, and was lobotomized during the implementation surgery on Sidewinder. Church filled the gaps in his memory with some influence from Flowers, replacing the Freelancer personnel Tex fought during the crash with the blue army and either Carolina or the Meta with Jimmy himself.
• Terrible Interviewees Montage: Episode 3 has Flowers conducting one for the position of the other Blue rookie. In a twist, he's actually looking for the most terrible interviewee, as the more expendable, the better. Tucker gets the job.
• Wham Line: Captain Flowers' speech to the cobalt soldier he's brought into Sidewinder ends with a name that completely changes what the audience has come to expect from Captain Butch Flowers, painting the scene in a whole new light:
  Flowers: The world will never forget Private Jimmy.

Ep. 5: "The Brick Gulch Chronicles"

• Alternate Universe: Discussed by Vic in the opening monologue to episode 5, which itself takes place in an alternate universe where the Blood Gulch Crew are Mega Bloks figurines in a Toy Story-esque scenario.
  Vic: Yo! You ever hear of that multiverse theory? Way crazy, amigo. A bunch of eggheads think there's an unlimited number of parallel universes. Like, maybe there's a universe where no one's even heard of Red vs. Blue. It could be, like, Green vs. Beige. Or, there could be a universe where we're all fish! I don't know why I said fish as an example, maybe there's a universe out there where I made a better analogy; let's all swim to that one. Dude, there could be a universe where we don't even exist. Or, maybe we're just a part of someone's dream. Maybe we're in that universe right now! Maybe this is all just part of some kid's imagination. That would be weird.
• Birthday Episode: Episode 5, “The Brick Gulch Chronicles” starts off with Grif and Simmons forgetting about Sarge's birthday and going out to search for a present. Sarge eventually does get a present: a miniature explosive which Tucker subsequently throws at Malcolm with no effect. At the end of the episode, Caboose gives Sarge a cake... with another mini explosive as the candle.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: For his birthday, Sarge wants either Simmons and Grif's respect, a gift card, a brand new shotgun, or a gift card for a brand new shotgun that shoots respect.
• Contemplate Our Navels: This time the "You ever wonder why we're here?" leads to Simmons philosophizing in a way that just describes block toys - "I'm connected to the ground, the ground's connected to you, you're connected to Blue base. It's like we're all one thing."
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: In "The Brick Gulch Chronicles", Simmons and Grif spend the episode looking for a birthday present for Sarge. After many mishaps, Simmons eventually gives him a firework, which fails to ignite. After celebrating that they're glad to be alive, Caboose brings them a cake with a firecracker for a candle...
• Smash to Black: ...and the results are not seen, while also making sure Church's "Son of a..." ends incomplete.

Ep. 6–7: "Orange is the New Red" / "Invaders from Another Mother"

• Actor Allusion: FH57 is short for "Funhaus 57", as for the group who stars in that. Their rival (deceased) Blue Team's name, AH13, certainly is one for Achievement Hunter.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Cherry has some...defects. She follows anyone's orders without question and more often than not mishears most of what the crew tells her. Santos never did get around to fixing that voice-modulator...
• Foregone Conclusion: We see the FH57 unit plan to unite with the Red team against the Blues. Since the live footage is from Season 1 and we've never seen them before, we know they don't get there.
• For Want Of A Nail: The fate of FH57 can be pinpointed to two words: "shelf-construction".
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When FH57's away team encounters Caboose in "Invaders From Another Mother," they're very confused by why their surroundings look so low-res and block since they're filmed in Halo 3 but have traveled to Blood Gulch from when the series was being filmed in Halo: Combat Evolved.
• Shaking the Rump: In Episode 6, Sue shakes his butt to show off his new armor.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: In "Invaders from Another Mother", the FH57 crew convince Peake to stop his insurrection with his cult of aliens with a heartfelt speech by their leader, and reassure Santos that although he won't have the wine bar he wanted, they'll make him a shelf instead, they all are overjoyed with their new-found unity as a team and the freedom to travel in space. Then their resident AI, Cherry mishears "shelf-construction" as "self-destruction", presumably again, blowing them all to bits.
• Special Effect Failure: In-universe, when the FH57 Red team arrive at Blood Gulch, they note with some confusion that it all looks so low-res and blocky.
• Special Guest: Episodes 6 and 7, written by and starring "Rooster Teeth West" Funhaus aside from Caboose's appearance.
• Virtual Assistant Blunder: The AI Cherry mishears the crew's words as a Running Gag. She ends up mishearing "shelf construction" as "self destruction" and blowing them all up.

Ep. 8: "The # 1 Movie in the Galaxy: 3"

• Adaptational Context Change: In-Universe example; Sarge's Pre-Mortem One-Liner "I hope you brought your wallet, because the rent in Hell gets paid in advance!" is changed into the closing line of a Rousing Speech.
• Bilingual Bonus: In "The Number 1 Movie in the Galaxy," Caboose is shown with a logo labeled "Non Mea Culpa", translating to "Not my fault."
• Evil Knockoff: Agent Washington claims that it isn't the real Tucker in the third Sarge movie, "Sarge v Tucker The Origin of Sin", but an evil clone.

Ep. 9–11: "Club" / "Call" / "Consequences"

• Animation Bump: The Mercs Trilogy (Episodes 9-11) features detailed expressions and movements, tightly-choreographed fights synced to music, and a more fluid look on par with Season 10 despite its vastly different art style. In particular, Siris' mechanical leg is accounted for in each of his motions down to precise detail.
• Cue the Sun: At the end of Episode 11 after Felix, Locus and Siris have taken out all the bad guys the sun rises. Lampshaded by Felix.
  Felix: Pfft. Nature's so fucking cliche.
• Foregone Conclusion: In Episodes 9 to 11, we know Felix and Locus survive since it's a prequel, and chronologically they turn up later on. Although, this is subverted in regards to Siris.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In "Club", before we are actually told who the protagonists are, we have the colors of their ties: orange and green. Additionally, the laser light show behind the protagonists in Amnesia forms two parallel orange lines and a green "X" - perfectly matching the helmets of the Mercs from during The Chorus Trilogy.
  • The mere fact that Felix’s initial call to Ruben Lozano goes to voicemail serves as a subtle indicator of how little Lozano actually cares for his son.
• For Want Of A Nail: As implied under Start of Darkness, had Felix and Locus not gotten the Lozano job, they may not have become the monsters they became during The Chorus Trilogy. More specifically, had Lozano's dad actually cared about his son...
• He Knows Too Much: Locus ends up executing Gabriel when Felix and Siris start spouting off real names right in front of him.
  Locus: Codenames.
• I Have No Son!: Ruben Lozano doesn't care about his son Gabriel at all. He says point blank that he's the worst thing he has ever brought into the world and would consider Felix and Locus killing him a favor. What's worse is he says this while his son can hear every word he says and just moments ago was begging his father to pay the ransom money Felix was demanding from him.
• Oh, Crap!: Played for Drama with Felix's Cluster F-Bomb of a rant in "Call" when he realizes that Lozano has no intention of getting his son back.
• Origins Episode: The Merc Trilogy episodes - "Club", "Call", and "Consequences" - show what Locus and Felix were up to prior to Chorus as well as their Protagonist Journey to Villain.
• Prequel: Episodes 9-11 are this for Locus and Felix prior to their involvement in the Chorus Civil War.
• Start of Darkness: While they weren't the nicest people to begin with, Locus and Felix have a glimpse of their origins shown in Episodes 9, 10, and 11. After the war, they were professional bounty hunters and called themselves "the good guys" with a loosely-defined but still noticeable code of morals they would not cross. But one bad job set them on the path of becoming the sociopath and conflicted killer seen in The Chorus Trilogy. Vic's narration at the start of episode 9 makes this clear.
  Vic: Point I'm trying to make is: not everyone starts off evil, dude. People change over time. Sometimes for better. And sometimes, well...
• Wham Line:
  • If you hadn't put two and two together beforehand in "Club", we have this bit of dialogue right before Lozano is knocked out by the men in the orange and green ties:
    Lozano: Fuck you! Who the hell do you think you are?!
    Felix: Well, that's Locus, I'm Felix, and... we're the good guys!
  • And then, in the next episode, this is when the attempt to hold Lozano for ransom begins falling apart:
    Felix: (on the phone with Ruben, Lozano's father) So, Mr. Lozano. I suggest you think very carefully about the-
    Ruben: You're a fucking idiot.
• Wham Shot: The Reveal of the protagonists for Episodes 9, 10 and 11 definitely counts.

Ep. 12: "Fight the Good Fight"

• Breather Episode: After the Darker and Edgier Mercs Trilogy, there’s the more lighthearted and humorous "Fight the Good Fight," a propaganda parody with the Reds and Blues goofing around in Blood Gulch.

Ep. 13: "Meta vs. Carolina: Dawn of Awesome"

• Crossover: Episode 13 is one with DEATH BATTLE! as the July battle is Agent Carolina vs. the Meta. Among other things, it heavily implies that Sarge is Boomstick's dad.
• The Ditz: Practically parodied in the Death Battle crossover concerning Boomstick, with him being the only one not to realize that he is Sarge’s long-lost son. And yes, even Caboose realized it.
• Foreshadowing: When Boomstick “tests science” on Grif in the Death Battle crossover, he cheerfully remarks that it “just feels right!” Combine that with him wearing red armor while being machinimated in Halo 3, being introduced carrying a shotgun, and having a thick Southern accent, and him being Sarge’s long-lost son starts to make a lot more sense.
• Luke, You Are My Father: As it turns out, Sarge and Boomstick have a matching backstory about a father who joined the army rather than stick around to raise his son. Sarge, Wiz, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose realize it, but Boomstick does not.
• Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: The DEATH BATTLE! fight is between Carolina during the Chorus Trilogy and the Meta before Reconstruction, meaning that their fight is also between the original AI fragments and Epsilon (who's helped by a Living Memory of each fragment). Likewise, both Freelancers have a very similar arrangement of armor enhancements, so Carolina can hold her own against the Meta more easily than most other Freelancers can.
• Wham Line:
  • In-Universe in "Meta vs. Carolina: Dawn of Awesome", we have this little moment:
    Wiz: (narrating) There's a lot going on here. Turns out, the Director was Carolina's father all along and Tex was actually the AI fragment memory of his deceased wife, meaning Carolina's greatest rival for her father's approval was actually her own mother.
    (cut back to the others)
    Grif and Simmons: (in-unison) Wait, WHAT?!
  • And then, we have the end of the episode, where Sarge enters the picture:
    Sarge: Y'know, you remind me of someone— almost like the son that I... never wanted...
    Boomstick: Well, that's funny. I was about to say you're like the Pappy I never had. When I was a kid, he ran out on us to join the Army and never came back.
    Sarge: Huh. Well... how about that? Time to move along, I guess. (backs out of the room) Nothing to see here. Do-do-do Do-di-do Do-do.

Ep. 14: "Grey vs. Gray"

• Deliberately Monochrome: Episode 14, "Grey vs. Gray," is entirely in grayscale, to give the murder mystery plot a Film Noir feel. It's also because all of the characters are colorblind.
• Rewatch Bonus: In "Grey vs. Gray," you can see that Regina has swapped guns with Hutch after the blackout.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: In "Grey vs. Gray" it turns out that the first soldier to die wasn't killed by any of them - he had a sudden heart attack when the lights went out and they killed each other for nothing.
• Special Guest: "Grey vs. Gray" stars (and was partially written by) the Game Grumps. Arin Hanson, Suzy Hanson, Ross O'Donovan, and Barry Kramer provide the voices for Cobb, Reg, Deuce, and Squatch, while Barry and Brain Wecht helped write.

Ep. 15: "Caboose's Guide to Making Friends"

• Actually Pretty Funny: When Caboose somehow shows up in Vic's narration room, he's so impressed he lets him tell the episode's story instead.
• Call-Back: Caboose reads a book that is titled "Memory" with a key underneath it. "Memory is key" were the Arc Words of Season 6 through 8.
• Faux-To Guide: "Caboose's Guide to Making Friends", which is both Caboose discussing the subject and an inside look at his mental state and how Caboose processes trauma.
• Heroic BSoD: Crayon Church falls into depression after mentioning how Church died with the corners of the screen turning into black scribbles that represent the sorrow of losing him.
• Mood Whiplash: The short is all about Caboose bringing up all the friends he made and then brings up how he lost Church.
• Wham Line: "Caboose's Guide to Making Friends" has an interesting variant, particularly because it wasn't even implied beforehand that Caboose would reference the ending of the previous season:
  Caboose: BUT! (suddenly somber) Sometimes... (crayon!Church begins to fragment) you will lose a friend. Sometimes... even your best friend. (crayon!Church explodes)

Ep. 16: "Head Cannon"

• Incoming Ham: "Head Cannon" has one when Omega invades the head of...
  Gentlemen and gentlemen, please welcome the man of the hour: Franklin. Delano. D-D-Donut!
• Perspective Flip: We see the sequence when Omega jumps into most of the Red and Blues' minds in "Why Were We Here?" from his point of view in Episode 16.
• Villain Protagonist: Omega/O'Malley is this for the episode.

Ep. 17: "Get Bent"

• Amazon Brigade: The Reds, no less, in one of Epsilon's memory runs. They're still lazy nutjobs, but this time they have an eye for interior decoration and actually succeed in defeating the Blues...until Tex shows up, of course.
• Call-Back: Epsilon states that he's "cool" with Tex being a male, referencing how Caboose misread Church's relationship with Tex and concluded that he was a "gay robot".
• Epic Fail: In "Get Bent", Epsilon-Church somehow managed to misremember the genders of all the Reds as well as Tex and, in the ending, his own gender while in the Epsilon unit.
• Gender Flip: The twist of Episode 17, where Church somehow misremembers the Reds as female.
• Here We Go Again!: After resetting the memory run, Epsilon realizes that he misremembered his own gender.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Upon learning that Tex is male, Epsilon pauses before stating that he's fine with being gay for him.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Female!Sarge lacks her male counterpart's southern drawl.
• Oh, Crap!: Played for Laughs in "Get Bent" with Church's slowly dawning horror as he realizes that he somehow misremembered all of Red Team as women while inside the Epsilon Unit.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Epsilon didn't need the alert by then, but unlike her male counterpart, Female!Donut hates interior decorating. Church decides he should've expected this, given how enthusiastic both Female!Sarge and Female!Simmons were about it.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: It's only after seeing Male Tex that Epsilon decides to go through another memory run.
• Sick and Wrong: Epsilon-Church's reactions to finding out he misremembered the Reds as women.
  Epsilon: Oh... this is so wrong! This is so fucking wrong!
  Epsilon: Ugh... I need mental bleach. Or just regular bleach. I don't want to live in this world...
• That Came Out Wrong: After Tucker starts hitting on Female Grif, whom Tucker calls "plus-sized", she shoots him in the groin and shouts "Plus size, my fat ass!" Then she realizes what that meant and backpedals.
• Wham Line: Played for Laughs, but here's the immediate sign that Epsilon fucked up remembering shit in "Get Bent":
  Tucker: Church, it's like I always said. Women are like Voltron: The more you can hook up, the better it gets!
  Epsilon: And what chicks are we going to pick up exactly?
  Tucker: What are you, the rookie? We've got a whole base full of them right here in the canyon!
• You Never Asked: Apparently, the Female Reds were able to make a major expansion of the Red Base simply by putting in a requisition for materials with Command. Of course, it's all in the Epsilon Unit, so it probably doesn't apply to the actual series.
  Epsilon: Wait... You mean we could've... All we had to do was... We just had to ask?!

Ep. 18: "Red vs. Blue: The Musical"

• Actor Allusion: VIC's opening narration notes Captain Flowers' musical collection showed he "was very into Barenaked Ladies" (the band led by Flowers' voice actor).
• Least Rhymable Word: The reason why the Reds need a nickname for the rocket launcher - nothing rhymes with 'launcher'!
• List Song: "Red Rockets" at a certain point starts listing nicknames for rocket launchers.
• Musical Episode: Of course!
• Unreliable Narrator: The whole thing turns out to be Donut retelling the Blood Gulch Chronicles in Chorus, with musical numbers added in because he found the original events boring.

Ep. 19: "Mr. Red vs. Mr. Blue"

• Bad "Bad Acting": When the Blood Gulch Crew tries to remake Reservoir Dogs, their acting ranges from "not very good but at least trying" (Church) to "not caring" (Grif).
• Go-Karting with Bowser: "Mr. Red vs Mr. Blue", which shows that between The Blood Gulch Chronicles and Reconstruction, the Blood Gulch Red and Blue Teams would have a weekly movie night, as (to paraphrase Vic) it was “a time when the Reds and Blues were technically still at war, but were simultaneously no longer really giving a damn.”
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • "Mr Red Vs Mr Blue" is, for the most part, completely comedic and lighthearted, harkening back to the first few seasons. Then Simmons makes a crack about Tex's death and Church threatens to, in no uncertain terms, murder him if he makes another. While Church has always been an asshole, he's never made a threat like that in the series proper, and it serves as a stark reminder that he's grieving the recent death of Tex.
  • Relatedly, the aforementioned episode has Tucker forcing the rest of the Reds and Blues to watch his favorite film - Reservoir Dogs - with him several hundred times in the period between Season 5 and Reconstruction, with it being all but stated that it was Tucker's attempt to make himself feel better while grieving over Junior's apparent "death." So, when Caboose accidentally ruins the movie due to Church and Grif's machinations, it really says something about how utterly devastated Tucker is by this when he falls into a brief depression instead of blowing up at Church.
• Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: "Mr. Red vs. Mr. Blue" shows that given Reservoir Dogs was the only movie available in Blood Gulch and Tucker really loves it, everyone had to endure weekly viewings of it between Seasons 5 and 6. It had gotten to the point that when Caboose destroys the tape and Tucker gets depressed, the rest of the guys can easily recreate the movie based solely on memory.
• Start My Own: Incensed over not getting a part in the movie because of it lacking female roles, Sister declares that she'll make her own movie with an all-female cast.
  Sister: Fine! Enjoy being sexist! I'm gonna go make my own movie! And it'll only have girls! Then you'll see who's sexist!
• Who Would Want to Watch Us?: When Simmons suggests doing a Slice of Life documentary of Blood Gulch, Church shoots down the idea on the grounds that only a "brain dead lunatic" would want to watch it.

Ep. 20: "RvB Throwdown"

• Battle Rapping: Between Church and Sarge. With Felix and Locus also having a surprise appearance.
• The Diss Track: Sarge and Church go back and forth insulting each other until the Mercenaries show up to lay down their own diss track.

Ep. 21–22: "The Triplets" / "The "Mission""

• Actor Allusion: Agent Iowa is named for Shannon McCormick's home state, and he's paired with Idaho and Ohio drawing from experience of Iowa being confused for those other two states. Iowa also speaks well of Washington, Shannon's main role in the show.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: There are five things Iowa doesn't want to roll saving throws against in Dungeons & Dragons: "poison, a fireball, a poison fireball, a Super Saiyan, and an avalanche".
• Caps Lock, Num Lock, Missiles Lock: It's said that Terrill once accidentally blew up a base trying to use a microwave because it was placed right next to the button for firing all the missiles.
• Chekhov's Skill: Agent Ohio mentions that she's "a pretty good shot." She later shoots Sherry in the foot.
• Commonality Connection: Ohio and Sherry have a bonding moment after they realize their similarities.
• For Want Of A Nail: "The 'Mission'" shows that what likely led to the Project's simulation war was two groups of soldiers being Reassigned to Antarctica, and two people getting shot^note one by accident, because of someone seeing an "ice spider", and one intentional, because that would give both groups a purpose.
• Mirroring Factions: "The Triplets" and "The 'Mission'" follow a trio of Project Freelancer agents who are given a dead-end transfer to a frozen wasteland. There, they meet a trio of soldiers who are from enemy faction Charon Industries and wear red-trimmed armor in contrast to their own blue armor. As the two groups discover, they have all been abandoned there by their respective organizations for being the worst soldiers around. Further highlighting their similarities, each trio consists of two men and one woman, with the woman serving as the leader.
• Moment Killer: In Episode 22:
  • Ohio and Idaho are having a Friendship Moment, complete with uplifting background music, when Iowa calls out to the Charon soldiers, blowing their cover.
  • All six soldiers are standing around ruminating on how they're all stranded and will be forgotten when Idaho remarks, "Well, least we can do it together." This cheers them up and they start to bond, with Iowa starting to state a moral about finding friendship, when suddenly he shouts "ICE SPIDER!" and starts shooting, the chill background music coming to an abrupt halt.
  • Ohio and Sherry are starting to bond and sharing a Held Gaze when Ohio shoots Sherry in the foot.
• Origins Episode: It's heavily implied that the Freelancer Prequel Duology episodes - “The Triplets” and “The ‘Mission’” - concern the origin of the Red vs. Blue simulation war.
• Prequel: Episodes 21 & 22 are this for Project Freelancer, taking place during the early years of the project and (possibly) explaining the origin of the Red vs. Blue simulation conflict.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: The "Triplets" of Project Freelancer - Agents Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho - are basically dumped on a frozen wasteland of a planet for being the lowest ranked Agents. There, they meet a similarly abandoned trio of soldiers from Charon Industries.
• Sarcastic Title: "Mission" is in Scare Quotes in the title to indicate that it's not a real mission.
• Scare Quotes: "Mission" is in scare quotes in the title to indicate that the Freelancer trio's assignment is not a real mission, but just an excuse to get rid of them.
• Ship Tease: Ohio and Sherry. They have a bonding moment over their common ground, complete with gazing into each other's eyes (well, visors), and Terrill suggests that they could date. Even after the meeting turns hostile, a flirtatious undertone persists — Sherry calls Ohio "sweet-cheeks" when threatening her, and Ohio replies, "Aw, that's the spirit! It's a shame, though. You actually seem like my type."
• Sniff Sniff Nom: After finding the base on the ice planet, Iowa licked it to check that it was real and not a hallucination.
• Tongue on the Flagpole: After finding the base on the ice planet, Iowa says he touched it with his tongue to check if it was real and got stuck until he breathed hot air onto it.
• Waxing Lyrical: Ohio's self-assuring speech eventually goes "You're the best, around, nothing's gonna ever keep you down!"
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Idaho and Ohio use each other's and Iowa's real names in one conversation, showing how serious the moment is. Ohio starts off angry at Idaho, but then he breaks out her real name and she is taken aback.
  Idaho: Ohio...
  Ohio: What?!
  Idaho: Fuck it. Vera. Can I call you Vera?
  Ohio: [stammers] I mean, sure, I... I guess. What is it?
• Your Mom: When Iowa asks "Five things you'd rather be doing", for her last answer, Ohio says: "Your mom!"

Ep. 23: "Immersion: The Warthog Flip"

• Crossover: Episode 23 is a live-action one with Immersion.

Ep. 24: "Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth"

• Adam Westing: As per usual, the members of Rooster Teeth seen in live-action during "Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth" are playing ditzy Jerkass versions of their real-world selves, with the only exception being Joel Heyman (who is instead portrayed as just being a Cloudcuckoolander).
• Bland-Name Product: In episode 24, "Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth", Grif pulls a package of "Oeeo" cookies out of the Rooster Teeth fridge, and then he closes the fridge, causing Geoff to drop his "Hack Daniel" whiskey in shock when he sees Grif.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In Episode 24, each member of Rooster Teeth is wearing clothes that correspond to their characters. Matt Hullum (Sarge) is wearing red, Gus Sorola (Simmons) is wearing maroon, Burnie Burns (Lopez) is wearing brown, Joel Heyman (Caboose) is wearing blue and Geoff Ramsey (Grif) is wearing orange.
• In Defence Of Storytelling: Vic wraps up the season with a speech about the need for stories and encouraging viewers to create their own.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: On one side, it's Tucker, wearing his Halo armor as per usual. On the other side, it's Barbara Dunkelman, wearing a short dress. Barb flattens Tucker with a single punch.
• Real-World Episode: Episode 24, "Red Vs Blue vs Rooster Teeth" has the Reds and Caboose wind up in Rooster Teeth HQ due to a combination of a teleporter accident, energy drink being spilled on the Xbox, and Burnie Burns pulling the Machinima death switch.
• Self-Deprecation: "It's a theory about a universe where Red vs. Blue is just a cartoon! Made by a bunch of losers in Texas! Heh, I mean, talk about far-fetched!"

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As long as there's stories, there needs to be storytellers. And that is where you come in.