Red vs. Blue: Restoration

This article contains information that is dubiously canonical due to being part of a series of simulations created by Epsilon during the closing moments of The End.

Red vs. Blue: Restoration
General Information
Director(s)	Matt Hullum
Writer(s)	Burnie Burns
Cast	Burnie Burns Matt Hullum Geoff Ramsey Gustavo Sorola Jen Brown Yomary Cruz Rebecca Frasier Miles Luna Michael Malconian Shannon McCormick Jason Saldaña Kathleen Zuelch
Composer(s)	Carl Thiel Barenaked Ladies Omega Sparx Jeff Williams Sandy Lee Casey Trocadero David Levy
Production Information
Game Engine	Halo Infinite Halo 3 Halo: Combat Evolved Character Animation Unreal Engine
Original Run	May 7, 2024
Running Time	85 min
Status	Released
Production
Previous	Family Shatters

Red vs. Blue: Restoration is a comic science-fiction film that serves as the series finale to Red vs. Blue, written by Burnie Burns and directed by Matt Hullum. Before the shutdown of Rooster Teeth, it was considered the twentieth season of Red vs. Blue.

Officially announced on July 7, 2023 via Rooster Teeth's official Twitter page, with a teaser releasing the same day to RTX attendees and FIRST members, the film was established as an alternate follow-up to The Chorus Trilogy, rendering the events of The Shisno Trilogy, Zero, and itself, as potential simulations that followed the end of Season 13. The teaser was later released publicly on July 8, 2023, with the official trailer later releasing March 28, 2024.

Pre-orders for the film became available on January 25, 2024 before officially becoming available digitally for purchase on May 7, 2024 via streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, and many others. The film became available to rent digitally on May 21, 2024. It also became available on Blu-ray on October 8, 2024.

Synopsis

When the universe’s greatest villain returns in a terrifying new form, old adversaries, the Reds and Blues of Blood Gulch, will have to set aside their differences to save the galaxy one last time.

After a whopping 4-year break, the OG co-creator Burnie Burns is BACK in action! Teaming up with director Matt Hullum, they're ready to bring the curtain down on over two decades of Red vs. Blue history.

Characters

Reds and Blues

• Simmons
• Grif
• Sarge
• Caboose
• Epsilon
• Lopez
• Sheila
• Washington
• Carolina
• Tex
• Tucker
• Sister
• Doc (memory)
• Donut (flashback)

The Meta

• Sigma
• Delta
• Theta
• Gamma
• Omega
• Eta
• Iota

Project Freelancer

• Four Seven Niner
• North Dakota (memory)
• York (memory)
• Florida (memory)
• South Dakota (memory)
• C.T. (memory)
• Maine (memory)
• Counselor (recording)
• Director (video)

UNSC

• Various Security Team soldiers

Charon Industries

• Felix (video)
• Malcolm Hargrove (mentioned only)

Other

• Dylan Andrews
• Dr. Grey
• One
• Andy (video)

Prologue

• Main Article: Prologue
• Airdate: July 8, 2023

RvB is back for its ​final​ season. Written by Burnie Burns and directed by Matt Hullum, Red vs. Blue​:​ Restoration completes a story told over 20 years. Watch the Prologue now and come back this fall when “Red vs​.​ Blue: Restoration” premieres.

Plot

At Retro Convention XVII, Dylan Andrews hosts a panel for "Box Canyon Bozos²" and takes questions from the audience. The conversation shifts towards the current whereabouts of the Reds and Blues, who disappeared after the final battle on Chorus. Andrews introduces the head of her research team, Kaikaina Grif, before chaos ensues. Explosions go off in the convention hall and a fire breaks out, as someone wearing the Meta's armor appears and demands Andrews tell them where “they" are.

Elsewhere, Sarge, Grif, and Simmons convene and discuss their “situational status”, while Caboose gets his helmet repaired by Lopez, inadvertently discovering a message from Epsilon.

At a UNSC hospital, Washington struggles with recovering from Chorus and Project Freelancer as a whole, sharing with Doc his difficulties with physical therapy and his experience with the AI. Doc states it felt like it was like watching someone else’s nightmares, while Wash says he felt like he was split in half for every single second.

Meanwhile, the person wearing the Meta's armor flies a spacecraft into an abandoned shipyard. The voices of Sigma, Delta, Omega, and Theta talk amongst themselves about locating their target and the condition of who is inside the armor: Tucker. He tries to resist the Meta's influence, but fails as the ship eventually finds and closes in on its target, the Staff of Charon.

The Reds convene to discuss their reports when they are approached by Caboose and Sheila, informing them about the message from Epsilon. They all return to Blue Base where Epsilon reveals himself, but turns out to be a series of pre-recorded messages detailing the countless simulations Epsilon ran before he died aboard the Staff of Charon. An animated infographic is played explaining the Meta's attack at the convention, and how this new Meta came to be. Epsilon explains that he deleted himself and split the fragments to run the Meta's suit for Tucker before the final battle on Chorus. However, having all of the AI in his head had the unfortunate side-effect of the AI trying to combine again and driving Tucker insane. Along with having access to resources and intelligence from Charon Industries and Felix, Epsilon describes the new Meta as a formidable threat that's taken control of the best soldier out of all the Reds and Blues.

Simmons realizes the last piece the Meta needs to become whole again is Epsilon, which the latter confirms. Epsilon explains that the Meta is now acting on instinct trying to find the missing piece, but adding Epsilon into the fold in his current state as a series of recordings would complicate matters. This would create a new version of the Alpha, albeit unstable, unpredictable, and "kinda terrifying". Epsilon's recording offers a plan to stop the Meta and destroy the AI fragments once and for all. Red Team, predictably, walks away, with Sarge stating that the situation is a Blue Team problem.

The Meta boards the abandoned Staff of Charon and enters Malcolm Hargrove’s trophy room. Tucker further tries to fight against the Meta’s influence, but is subjected to a simulation of constant pain, failure, and loss, the same torture Alpha faced during Project Freelancer. Mere seconds in real-time ends up lasting ten years in Tucker's mind due to Sigma, Omega, and Gamma's capabilities and sadistic nature. Tucker succumbs to the torture and allows the Meta to take over for the time being.

Back in the UNSC hospital, Wash sees news coverage about the Meta's attack on the convention. He tries to convince Dr. Grey to contact help but is blown off and escorted back to his recovery room by security. During the commotion, Doc is seemingly ignored by everyone involved except Wash.

Simmons convinces Sarge to assist with Epsilon's plan to confront the Meta, after which the Reds, Caboose, and Epsilon convene to discuss the plan. Epsilon explains they'll need equipment to deal with the remaining AI, but they'll need transport in order to reach it. Sheila rolls up and tells the group there's someone she could call who owes her a favor. Some time later, the group gets flown out to the Staff of Charon by Four Seven Niner. The Reds, Caboose, and the Epsilon recording organize a plan of attack, which requires using an old recovery unit on the Meta's armor to collect and trap the AI. The team then arrives at the Staff of Charon, while frustrating the security team who are currently working from home.

The group enters Malcolm Hargrove’s trophy room, finding multiple old relics, such as an old memory unit, which Caboose nonchalantly tries to take with him. The pod which previously held the Meta's armor rises from the floor, with the armor somehow still inside. The armor turns out to be the Meta himself, who was waiting for the Reds and Caboose. The Meta breaks out of the pod and a fight ensues. After putting the Reds through the ringer, the Meta then shifts his focus to Caboose as he has the Epsilon recording, unbeknownst to the Meta, who believes he is the true Epsilon.

The Reds then try to escape while the Meta nearly kills Caboose, but Sarge chooses to return and save Caboose using a Bubble Shield. Unfortunately, during their escape, the Meta uses Tucker's sword to stab through the door of the Pelican's side hatch, impaling Sarge and fatally wounding him. In his final moments, Sarge states that he was hard on Grif because he always believed in him. Sarge gives Simmons his shotgun, saying he's been ready to lead Red Team for a long time. Sarge then passes away, as the Meta, with the old recovery unit in hand, ominously stares down the fleeing Pelican.

Back at the UNSC hospital, Doc enters Wash’s room to explain that he believes Wash about the Meta's return, and knows where the Meta is going.

At Blood Gulch Outpost Number One, Grif and Simmons hold a makeshift funeral for Sarge, reminiscing on old memories and paying their respects. Simmons announces his first order as the new leader of Red Team will be discharging Grif from duty, but Grif decides to stay for this one last mission, for old time's sake. Meanwhile at Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha, the Epsilon recording reveals to Caboose that there is a spare robotic body hidden within the walls of Blue Base and that he will explain to Caboose how to bring him back. Later that evening, Grif and Simmons meet up with Caboose around a campfire. Caboose reveals the Epsilon recording's plan to bring Church back using the memory unit to transfer memories into the spare robot body. Despite the Reds' doubts, they agree to reminisce on their old memories together. They spend the whole night recounting their adventures from Blood Gulch, Valhalla, Chorus, and everything in between.

The next morning, the Reds prep for the Meta’s arrival since Church’s revival appears to be unsuccessful. The Meta arrives, and Simmons, armed with Sarge's shotgun, and Grif, armed with the Grifshot, prepare themselves for the ensuing battle. Doc and Wash also arrive at Blood Gulch, and watch from a cliff as the Meta approaches Grif and Simmons. Wash asks Doc if he can count on Doc to save him if he ends up getting injured; Doc states that he was the one who saved Wash on Chorus and that Wash can count on him. Wash then inexplicably jumps from the cliff into the canyon below.

Elsewhere in the Gulch, Caboose tells the memory unit the story of the Director and Allison Church, the creation of Project Freelancer and The Alpha, the creation of Tex, and her recurring cycle of failure and death. Caboose explains that the Alpha had to delete these memories, but memories live on from person to person, and are what they leave behind because memories can't die. The robot body then springs to life and grabs Caboose by the neck.

While Caboose is telling his story, the Reds once again get put through the ringer by the Meta. After the Reds wake up from being knocked out, the Meta dishes out even more punishment, roundhouse kicking Grif and slicing Simmons' shotgun with Tucker's sword. The Meta grabs Simmons by the chest piece and rants about his intentions to kill them and forcefully take Epsilon, but is interrupted as Caboose is flung into the fray, crashing into them and separating Simmons from the Meta. Caboose brings up an old code word, "shotgun", as a Warthog flies through the air and crashes into the Meta. The robot body reveals itself, prompting Simmons to cheer in joy that Caboose successfully brought Church back. However, Caboose reveals that reviving Church was never his plan. Instead, he defied Church's instructions and chose to bring back something much worse in order to even the odds: Tex.

Tex fights the Meta, while Wash recovers from a broken leg with the help of Doc. Wash planned to activate his recovery beacon by injuring himself, and a glimmer in his visor indicates that his plan worked. The Meta throws Tex halfway across the canyon into Blue base when a drop pod suddenly lands in the canyon. Carolina sprints out from the pod and joins the fight, but is quickly overpowered by the Meta. Tex goes through a teleporter to rejoin the fight, and thanks to the quirk of the teleporters, appears again in her signature black armor.

Carolina and Tex work together to fight against the Meta while Caboose picks up a rocket launcher. He fires it, backwards, and the rocket then hits the cliff’s edge, causing an avalanche. During this, the Meta pierces Tex with the Grifshot. Sigma appears and demeans her, stating she is just a shadow and a ghost, doomed to repeat her failures. Tex states this time she isn’t based on the Director’s memories, but the Reds and Caboose’s memories, which were full of nothing but her ruthlessly defeating them over and over. Tex gains the upper hand as Simmons throws her the recovery unit, with Wash remarking that it was "the best throw ever. Of all time”. Tex catches the recovery unit, plants it into the Meta's armor, and activates it, capturing all of the AI fragments, including Tex.

Tex then meets Epsilon inside the recovery unit. Epsilon says that he was trying to help the AI fragments and asks if it worked, which Tex promises to tell him all about it. Epsilon doesn't recognize Tex and introduces himself as Leonard. Tex introduces herself as Allison Church and promises to tell Epsilon about their history as well, before walking together, hand in hand, into an infinite white void.

Some time later, Tucker wakes up in Blue base, stating he feels like he woke up from someone else’s nightmare. Carolina promises to fill him in on the story after he gets some rest. Outside, Caboose, Carolina, and Wash discuss what to do with the recovery unit, to which Caboose says Tex told him what to do. He then steps on it and breaks it, destroying Tex, Epsilon, and the other AI fragments once and for all. Caboose and Carolina say their goodbyes to Church and Tex, respectively.

Caboose leaves and Carolina checks on Wash and his broken leg. Wash says Doc saved him, to which Carolina says he doesn’t have to feel guilty about Chorus. She reveals Doc died saving Wash on Chorus, and Wash had been speaking to a vision of him this whole time. Wash's vision of Doc says that maybe it's time to let go, to which Wash rebukes that it’s hard to let go. Wash then sees visions of Project Freelancer agents who have long since passed, who say it's okay to let go, but not entirely, and that he'll always keep a piece of the memories and people that defined his life and made him who he is. Carolina promises Wash that no matter what challenges lie ahead, they'll face them together.

A Pelican arrives, flown by a new pilot going by the callsign One, to pick up Grif and take him home. Before leaving, Grif asks Simmons if he ever figured out why they are here. Simmons replies that it's still a work in progress, and asks Grif if he ever figured it out. Grif says he never figured it out either, but did reach one conclusion: if he did have to be here, he was glad to be with the rest of the Reds and Blues. Simmons relieves Grif of his duty and the two say their goodbyes, with Caboose saying goodbye to Grif on his way out. Grif tells Caboose that after everything they went through, the members of Blue Team seemed like decent people and apologizes for the "war stuff". Caboose says it's okay since they weren't very good at it anyway, to which Grif agrees before heading for the Pelican.

After the credits, Tucker walks into Blue base and questions what the viewer is still doing here, remarking that Red vs. Blue is over and to go home.

Gallery

Trivia

Film

• The film marks the return of several characters from the series, with some appearing as cameos, including F.I.L.S.S. (now going under Sheila), Four Seven Niner, Dylan Andrews, North Dakota, C.T., York, South Dakota, Florida, Maine, Agent One, and others.
  • Stu Stuman, Grog, and a group of characters cosplaying the Triplets - Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa - also make appearances or are said to arrive at the Retro Convention XVII event.
• This film retcons the events of The Shisno Trilogy and Zero, retooling them as simulations Epsilon ran before the final battle in The End, with various original characters from these seasons such as Dylan Andrews and Agent One appearing in different roles. Instead, the film continues sometime after Season 13.
  • However, the film is ambiguous about whether its events are also a simulation, with Epsilon hesitating upon being asked such a question, and alluding to Caboose's changed voice by saying he did not always get the voice right.
• Simmons is depicted with a robotic left arm, which he had first been shown with in Red vs. Blue: QvsA. The mechanical arm is a reference to him having been turned into a Cyborg back in season 2.
• Sarge is depicted wearing ODST shoulders, which he did not have in his previous appearance in QvsA. This is a reference to his past history as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper.
• Epsilon's animated film explaining the Meta's return includes cameos of characters from other Rooster Teeth properties: Ruby from RWBY, David from Camp Camp, and Anthony Hagan from Lazer Team.
• Tex's fight with Meta-Tucker is very reminiscent of their fight in This One Goes to Eleven.
• The closing song, Vale Deah by Trocadero, was also used for the closing credits for the very first season.
• Tucker telling the audience that the film is over in the post-credit scene is a direct reference to the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• The film features the song, Waning Moon by Barenaked Ladies. This is a callback to Butch Flowers' voice actor, Ed Robertson, who is the lead singer of the band.
• The UNSC scrapyard's security team working from home and communicating through video chat is a direct reference to social distancing practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The film establishing that it's up to the viewer to decide the ending after Season 13 was in reference to the non-canon alternate endings of Why Were We Here?, the finale of Season 5.

Behind the Scenes

• Series creator Burnie Burns returns as writer after having last written Season 13 Trailer in 2015. Matt Hullum additionally returns as director after having last directed Red vs. Blue vs. Rooster Teeth in 2016.
• Trocadero, the main composers for the original series until 2019, confirmed they would not be returning for the film after Rooster Teeth declined some of their stipulations. Trocadero requested for the entire score to be composed by people who have previously worked on, or been affiliated with Red vs. Blue and to not have their music mixed in with stock music, to which Rooster Teeth declined.
• Both Geoff Ramsey and Gus Sorola took two recording sessions to record their lines for the film. Gus had to take an extended break between his two sessions due to getting COVID-19, and Geoff intentionally broke his recording session into two by faking a sore throat due to feeling nostalgic for his character and wanting to play him a bit longer. Ramsey was later asked to return for one more session to record additional lines.
• When Gus Sorola first started recording his lines for the film, he was unaware that he was recording for the show's finale.
• Burnie Burns decided to include many throwbacks and nods to the series' history within this film as a way to honor the fans that remained invested in the show and its storylines for a long period of time. Burns further stated that he took many risks while writing for the film and wrote it with a more "whimsical" aspect.
• This is the second project to be delayed from its originally announced release window, from Fall 2023 to May 2024, with Zero being the first.
• Prior to the development of Restoration, a follow-up to Zero was being planned.
• The title of the film follows the naming convention from The Recollection, the last story arc in which Burnie Burns was the sole writer.
• Originally Restoration was to air weekly with seven episodes as a nineteenth season of Red vs. Blue before the shutdown of Rooster Teeth in 2024, though was always intended to release as a film on the same day as the premiere.
  • Restoration was originally not supposed to be a proper season or a movie, but rather a "long special", it was only made a season, and subsequently a movie, after the scripts size rounded it to about the size of a movie.
• Unlike the original series, Burnie Burns and Joel Heyman do not provide the voices of Lopez and Caboose respectively. Instead, Eddy Rivas and Michael Malconian reprise their roles from Family Shatters and Death Battle respectively.
  • This makes Heyman the only main cast member from Season 1 to not return for the film, as Burns did return as the voice of Church.
• Kaitlin Becker had replaced Lee Eddy on Camp Camp, and does the same here voicing her character Four Seven Niner.
• The film marks a return to the traditional Machinima production, rather than being entirely animated in Unreal Engine as the final season of Red vs. Blue had been.
• After an absence from all Rooster Teeth projects, including her role as Glynda Goodwitch in RWBY, Kathleen Zuelch reprises the role of Tex for the first time since Season 14.
• Jenn K. Tidwell confirmed that the movie was already completed before the news of Rooster Teeth shutting down was announced.

External links

• Apple TV
• Prime Video
• Vudu

Trailer