User blog comment:Western Gen/Speculations for Season 13/@comment-4616231-20141003230559

In the wake of the S12 finale, everyone's wondering what the hell the deal is with Maine's helmet. I've thought about it a bit, so this is my analysis as for what purpose it could possibly serve. FYI: None of them involve the Meta actually being alive/returning (because he's not).

There are two major possibilities I see for this helmet:

1. Technology

Before I get too far into this, let me clarify what I mean by technology: not AI. People say that some remnant of an AI could've survived the EMP in Reconstruction... those are the people who don't understand what an EMP is. The Chairman has also gone on as stating Wash was arrested for "seven counts destruction of protected classified military property" - which would be the AI. He also says "All the information that I want, was lost in the destruction of Project Freelancer". This would include anything Meta had at the time. Considering he arrested the Meta along with Washington, the Chairman would more than likely have confiscated anything he could from the Meta (for example, you're not going to send a prisoner to jail along with the cash he stole). If there was any kind of AI the Meta had left, the Chairman should've had it for ages now and been using it in the war. Not to mention that during Revelation, the reason Meta was constantly frustrated was because his AI were gone. If they were still there, you better bet he would've been using them. Basically - Chairman and Meta himself have both confirmed the AI were destroyed. So don't bother arguing that.

Then we have the other type of technology: armor enhancements. Now, Chairman took these from Wash and Meta when they were arrested, however, they also seem to have subsequently restored these to them before he released them to go after Epsilon. (Washington: I’m gonna need some equipment. Invisibility, overshields, anything left over from Freelancer. Chairman: I think we can point you in the right direction here.) We see Meta still has these after he's released, for example, his Time Distortion malfunctioning early in Revelation - a very specific enhancement. Time Distortion seems too unstable for it to have been reproduced (ironically, it does so itself due to the nature of the enhancement), so it would seem it was the same Time Distortion the Meta took from Wyoming, and which would have been returned to him. Considering Wyoming's helmet still contained his Time Distortion ability back when Meta first got it, it's possible that the Meta's helmet now contains whatever enhancements he had on him - likely, all the ones he'd previously stolen.

The question is, why? Why does Charon need these enhancements, when they already seem to have some? Invisibility is around so much now it seems standard issue, and we have Felix and the pirate's Hardlight Shields as well - possibly a modified dome shield. Carolina stole a healing unit. Unfortunantly, this is the point we have to start assuming things, as the origin of these enhancements aren't exactly clear. They could've came from the EMP'd Freelancer base or the Director's bunker (you could argue the Revelation bunker is another option, but they're so similar that it's more likely to be the same location, hence, I'm considering it as such). The first option is possible, as the Chairman confiscated everything left there, as it would seem. The Director locked down his bunker after his death, so that's harder. You also have to consider the Chorus war has been going on for years now, and plenty of people have Invisibility on that planet. It doesn't exactly seem to be a new addition. Due to this, I am assuming the confiscated Freelancer material which is being reverse-engineered and sent to Chorus originates from the Freelancer base that was EMP'd in Reconstruction. It isn't expilictly confirmed, but appears to be the most plausible (unless, I'm forgetting about someplace). However, if they could actually get in the bunker, plenty of stuff is in there as well. In that case, the only issue is the timeframe.

Ultimately, the only reason the origin of them matter is because it would determine which enhancements were avaliable at all. The only kind of enhancements I can see Charon needing, then, are ones they don't have already, which would be dependent on where they came from. In which case, it would be entirely possible they have all the enhancements they could possibly need. On the other hand, the Meta alone could have something specific they need (I realize I've pretty much stated Time Distortion to fit this perfectly already, however, I'm not entirely sure how you would reverse-engineer time itself in the first place, and secondly, I really don't want the story to screw around with the timestream due to how cliche it is and how many problems it would cause. Hopefully, others can see the sense in that). People have also said Charon could use his super-strength enhancement to mass-produce Meta, so to speak. However, if the enhancements came from the bunker, it was stated back in Revelation that those were already there. Still, we've yet to see super-strength be used by anyone on Chorus, so it remains a possibility. Is it a likely possibility? Eh. This is one of those things where there could be enough evidence so far to support it, however, it may not necesarilly be a good direction for the story. I... don't actually see much of a point for it. It would only present a seemingly harder challenge that the Reds and Blues would still eventually overcome. I feel more like his helmet would do something more plot-twist-y (which may or may not also be in addition to the enhancements)... which leads me to my second point.

2. Aesthetic 

This is an interesting point as it would mean the Meta's helmet was not chosen due to the contents of the helmet itself, but rather, for what it represents. By this point, the Meta has become a symbol of terrifying power and destruction. If Chorus believed the Meta was being sent to the planet, and you had his helmet to pull it off, it's likely to be very demoralizing. Alternatively, the Chairman did want it for his trophy room, in which case it could be for his personal use. Ultimately, possibilites here are a lot more vague because if it's simply aesthetic then the helmet could be for literally anything. It would be more of a plot-twist due to the possibility of it creating some sort of mystery, though, it would be an obvious one since we know about the helmet now. However, if it isn't for equiptment, aesthetic is really the only other thing I can think of for it's use, in which case, I'm sure there's some way they can pull off some drama with it.

That's all.