The Recollection, also known as the Recollection Trilogy or simply Recollections, is the second saga in the main series that includes the sequel series: Reconstruction, Recreation, and Revelation. It also includes two mini-series: Recovery One and Relocated. The saga takes place one year after the events of The Blood Gulch Chronicles and elaborates on numerous elements introduced in the first five seasons.
With the move to Halo 3, Rooster Teeth was able to utilize the game's features in order to expand the story in terms of character design, lore, and cinematography. The Recollection is also notable for being significantly darker than the Blood Gulch Chronicles, taking a more serious tone (while still retaining the series' comedic nature) and having a stronger focus on the story.
Along with the Reds and Blues, the main characters include Washington, Epsilon, and Epsilon-Tex. Major recurring characters include the Director, the Chairman, and Delta. The primary antagonists are the Meta, C.T., and South Dakota.
Main Characters[]
Red Team []
- Sarge (Seasons 6-8; 56 episodes)
- Simmons (Seasons 6-8; 52 episodes)
- Grif (Seasons 6-8; 54 episodes)
- Donut (Relocated-Season 8; 19 episodes)
- Lopez (Seasons 6-7; 17 episodes)
Blue Team []
- Caboose (Seasons 6-8; 57 episodes)
- Tucker (Seasons 6-8; 24 episodes)
- Washington (Recovery One-Season 8; 43 episodes)
- Epsilon (Recovery One-Season 8; 32 episodes)
- Church (Season 6; 15 episodes)
- Tex (Season 6; 3 episodes)
- Epsilon-Tex (Season 8; 10 episodes)
Other[]
- Meta (Recovery One-Season 8; 33 episodes)
- Director (Seasons 6, 8; 11 episodes)
- Doc (Season 6, 8; 18 episodes)
- Chairman (Seasons 6-7; 13 episodes)
- Counselor (Recovery One-Season 7; 4 episodes)
- Delta (Recovery One-Season 6; 8 episodes)
- South Dakota (Recovery One-Season 6; 5 episodes)
- C.T. (Season 7; 8 episodes)
- F.I.L.S.S. (Season 8; 9 episodes)
Story[]
Mini-Series: Recovery One[]
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Recovery One.
Recovery One is a Red vs. Blue miniseries distributed via Xbox Live and the internet that takes place after the events of Out of Mind, as well as during Season 5. Its plot revolves around Agent Washington, also known as Recovery One, who is a Freelancer like Tex, Wyoming, and York. Washington's job is to recover all Freelancer A.I. constructs and equipment of Freelancers killed in action by an unknown being.
Reconstruction[]
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction.
The sixth season, Reconstruction, is a direct sequel to The Blood Gulch Chronicles, exploring the causality of events from both The Blood Gulch Chronicles and Recovery One. The story continues to follow Recovery Agent Washington's journey, tracking down a mysterious enemy called the Meta who is killing Freelancers and taking their armor enhancements and A.I.s. In need of assistance, Wash has to find the soldiers with the knowledge and experience to help him; namely the Reds and Blues.
Mini-Series: Relocated[]
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Relocated.
Relocated is a direct sequel to Reconstruction, following the Red Team, now in Valhalla, struggling to do the usual nothing, and Caboose's strange actions at Blue Base, drawing further attention to himself.
Recreation[]
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Recreation.
The seventh season, Recreation, is a direct sequel to Relocated and Reconstruction. As the Reds continue to try and figure out what Caboose is up to and wake up a comatose Donut, Caboose continues trying to make a new best friend out of the Epsilon Unit. He finds the Reds' Hologram Chamber, with help from Donut, when Epsilon tells him about Tucker and a mysterious energy reading at a desert. When Grif and Sarge agree to journey to the desert with Caboose, in an attempt to put the Blues back in Command's database, the three meet a strange man there. Meanwhile, in Valhalla, Simmons, Lopez, and Donut fend for themselves as they battle against the elusive Meta.
Revelation[]
- See main article: Red vs. Blue: Revelation.
The eighth season, Revelation[1], is a direct sequel to Recreation and the last of the Recollections Trilogy. In the desert, Epsilon seems to have no memory as to what happened to him, but he begins to have flashbacks. In one of his power failures, a memory of the Delta AI tells Caboose that Epsilon is looking for a specific memory. When Epsilon awakens, he and Caboose head off to a secret facility, run by F.I.L.S.S., in order to find it, with the Reds trailing behind them. Epsilon finds the secret in a mysterious bunker and unlocks something terrible: Tex. Meanwhile, Washington and the Meta hunt for Epsilon and have taken Doc hostage.
Themes[]
Change[]
One significant theme of the Recollection saga is change. In a meta sense, the move to Halo 3 invites a new style of cinematography to the series', allowing Rooster Teeth the ability to achieve shots and sequences not initially possible in Halo: CE or Halo 2. In addition, new features introduced in Halo 3, such as equipment and armor permutations, allows the series to expand its lore, with the saga introducing characters with unique armor pieces (other than the default Mark V and VI) and placing more emphasis on Freelancer armor enhancements (other than the Active Camouflage ability).
The Recollection trilogy also presents a change in overall tone, shifting the series from pure comedy to a mixture of comedy, drama, and action; a move later sagas continue. The series becomes much more story-focused and implements a sense of practicality, as many storylines introduced in The Blood Gulch Chronicles are retconned.
In terms of the series itself, the Recollections is currently the only saga in which the Reds and Blues are never fully together. Tucker, Donut, and Tex are primarily absent in Reconstruction, the Reds all reunite in Recreation but are eventually separated again and remain that way in Revelation. Blood Gulch is also mostly absent, unlike the previous saga where it was the main setting.
Reunions[]
The Reds and Blues are separated and reunited over the first half of the saga.
Humanity[]
Humanity is a theme that pops up several times in the saga and in various unique ways. One prominent example is the Meta, who is seen by many other characters to be a monster rather than human. His elusive and threatening actions only adds to this, in addition to the fact that he speaks in growls and snarls like an animal, ironically in a series known for characters simply "standing around and talking." It is later revealed in Season 10 that the Meta was being controlled by the A.I. he captured. However, after they are destroyed in Season 6, the Meta continues to act violently, slowly becoming more monstrous and losing his former humanity.
Church can also be seen as an example of this theme, due to the revelation that he is not human but an A.I. Just before sacrificing himself to help Wash, however, Church declares that he is a "motherfucking ghost", showing that while he has somewhat accepted what he truly is, he decides to die by seeing himself as something other than that.
Memory[]
A recurring phrase is "memory is the key". Epsilon the memory of the Alpha A.I. and takes Church's role in the series and creates Epsilon Tex from a memory of Tex who gets trapped in a memory unit. Epsilon says a quote about living in a memory it should be a good one.
Trivia[]
- The title 'Recollection' refers to the idea of memory, a common theme with Wash, Church (both Alpha and Epsilon), and Tex. It also refers to how each season and mini series begins with "Re-", which are highlighted on the DVD cover.
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