List of Red vs. Blue episodes

Doc arrives in Valhalla after receiving a distress signal. After arriving, he is reunited with Simmons where he discovers that Donut, who was shot last season, is now dead. Doc tells Simmons that he can't help Donut, while Simmons reveals that he already knew this and only called Doc because he was forced to call for a medical officer. As Doc turns around, he is held at gunpoint by Washington and Meta.

Doc informs Washington that the Meta is physically healthy, though he is having serious problems with his armor. In the desert, Tucker searches for the Reds and Epsilon-Church, and guesses they must have taken off. Caboose warns Tucker not to say anything about Epsilon-Church's absence, as the aliens would become hostile if they knew he was gone. Meanwhile, Sarge arrives in Valhalla, calling out for Simmons in an attempt to lure Washington into the center of the canyon. Washington tells the Meta to kill the prisoners if Sarge causes him any problems and moves out to intercept him. With Washington gone and the Meta distracted, Simmons and Doc plan to short circuit the Meta's armor using an overpowered charge on Doc's medical scanner.

Washington confronts Sarge and disarms him, then orders him towards Blue Base, but at Sarge's signal, Grif bursts through the canyon wall in the Warthog, landing on Washington. With the Warthog still moving at high speed, Washington climbs from under the Warthog onto the front, and attempts to shoot Grif. Grif slams on the brakes and Washington is thrown into a pile of explosive barrels as Sarge reclaims his shotgun. He fires at the barrels to ignite them, attempting (and failing) a one-liner, and Washington is engulfed in the resulting explosion. The Meta notices the explosion and prepares to kill Doc just as he starts to charge his scanner.

• This is the first RVB episode to feature pre-rendered character animation.

Doc hits the Meta with a blast from his overloaded scanner, knocking him back and also causing the temporal distortion unit to malfunction, slowing the Meta down drastically. Simmons quickly theorizes that his punch will still carry the same force as normal as they are merely viewing the Meta from a different timeframe, but Doc ignores him. When the Meta's fist connects with Doc's helmet, he is slammed into the base wall. Simmons attempts to pull him free, but is forced to abandon him when the Meta recovers. Simmons is then blasted away from the base by the Meta's weapon and manages to grab onto the Warthog turret when Sarge and Grif drive by. As the trio tries to escape, the Meta uses the grav-lift to launch himself onto the hood of the jeep, destroying it and throwing the Reds out. As the Reds prepare to fight, Epsilon-Church arrives and catches the interest of the Meta. He lures the Meta back towards Blue base, briefly pausing when he recognizes it from his memory flash. The Reds take the opportunity to flee through the hole in the wall, which leads to another canyon.

Having set the piece of wall containing Doc back up vertically, Washington again attempts to interrogate him. After being repeatedly hit and threatened, Doc reveals that Simmons said something about a distress call and sand. At the desert, the Reds spy on Epsilon-Church and Caboose. Sarge believes that the Reds may be able to restore the Blues to command's database at the facility mentioned by Epsilon Church, and leaves in pursuit. Meanwhile Tucker takes the opportunity to escape from the aliens, only for the alien motorcycle to run out of gas and Tucker be forced to flee on foot with the aliens in pursuit.

Epsilon and Caboose enter the Freelancer Facility and have F.I.L.S.S. activate the tutorial tour of the base upon Caboose's request. It turns out to be a Freelancer storage facility and on part of the tour F.I.L.S.S reveals she has no knowledge of the Blue Team. When they arrive at a locked door, F.I.L.S.S. refuses to allow Caboose to enter, claiming that only the Director is allowed in. At Epsilon-Church's insistence, she relents and allows both to enter. Outside, Grif and Sarge catch up with Simmons, who had seen Epsilon-Church and Caboose entering the facility. The three make plans to gain entry by posing as Freelancer agents.

In the desert, Washington and the Meta use grenades to free Doc from the concrete block he was trapped. As the aliens taunt the ex-Freelancers, Washington decides to simply kill the aliens and leave one alive to talk, resulting in the Meta leading an attack.

Tex begins beating Epsilon-Church with his previous body as the Reds stand by and discuss the situation. Caboose asks F.I.L.S.S. for help again; she suggests the armor lockdown safety protocol, and proceeds to activate it. This immobilizes Tex, but also affects everyone else, except Caboose because his outdated helmet does not have the lockdown protocol.

Church wakes up in Recovery mode, and attempts to send Tex a message via F.I.L.S.S. only to learn that Tex has refused to receive any inbound communication. Church has his and Tucker's armor unlocked, but decides to keep Tex locked up until he can figure out what to do with her. The Reds also remain in lock down, believing they are dead and in some kind of Purgatory. Church tells them he will let them out if they agree not to fire on the Blues or Tex, something they reluctantly agree.

Washington, the Meta and Doc gather near the Epsilon unit, which Washington realizes is empty due to the AI being moved to the eye-like body they saw in Valhalla. Doc, having not seen it, thinks Washington is going crazy from heat stroke and tries to psycho-analyze him while the Meta begins converting the storage unit into a capture unit to retake Epsilon.

The Meta finishes configuring the old Epsilon unit into a capture unit. Out of curiosity, Doc asks Washington if they could track the Reds' trail using something like a heat signatures or footprints. Washington tells him otherwise, however, after Doc is out of earshot, Washington asks the Meta if they could track the Reds like Doc suggested. This ends up working, and Doc demands that the two give him credit for the idea.

Simmons and Tex begin working together to sort through Command's personnel files, only to be roadblocked by the Director's files being restricted and no record for either Tex or Church. However, Tex does pull up another Freelancer base not far from their location. As she sets off to check out the weaponry, F.I.L.S.S. asks Church to make a journal update as the Director used to. Church has the entries transferred to him and deleted from the database, an act observed by Sarge before sending Grif to aid Simmons with supplies.

After dispatching the guards by herself, Tex and Epsilon-Church arrive at the Freelancer base. Church has another flash of Valhalla, and realizes he mixed the two locations up in his memories. Tex reveals that this was where Alpha was sent after the very first break in, of which she was a part, and also the location where Omega and Gamma tortured the Alpha to fragment him, also breaking him to the point he could not recognize anybody, not even Tex. When Church asks if she and the other Freelancers succeeded, Tex says no, and that she failed herself and Alpha.

Informed by F.I.L.S.S. that the storage facility contains backups of Project Freelancer data, Simmons has her restore the Blue Army data. Grif and Simmons then look at the records, and they reveal that all of the Red and Blue bases are merely training grounds for Freelancer agents, and are staffed with the army's worst soldiers based on poor test scores and poor field performance. Furthermore, all of the strange events the Reds and Blues had encountered during The Blood Gulch Chronicles, including being seemingly blown into the future, meeting the Alien, and Tucker's pregnancy were part of just one of several scenarios that may be run at simulation bases. Sarge is shocked by these revelations, says he is quitting, and walks off to construct a base from junk.

At the Freelancer base, Tex reveals that she is looking for the Director, and suggests that Washington and the Meta may know who he Director is. If not, she will simply kill them, and that if she cannot find the Director, she will settle for destroying everything he built. When Epsilon-Church asks how Tex will get in contact with Washington and the Meta, she shoots him, triggering his recovery beacon, which would not have activated until they left the storage facility.

Washington, Doc and the Meta arrive in a jeep to find Church lying in the snow unguarded. Washington quickly guesses it is a trap, and a series of mines under their Warthog explodes.

Washington regains consciousness and is immediately interrogated by Tex about the Director's location, but she is then attacked by the Meta. Tex uses several hidden weapons as well as explosives to evade them, but slowly loses ground, eventually being defeated by the Meta as he manages to stab the storage unit into Tex's visor, capturing her.

Epsilon demands that they release her, but Washington explains that the unit is failing, and that Epsilon will be leaving with them, to which he negatively responds. Washington asks the Meta for the memory unit, but the Meta attaches it to his own armor, allowing him to cloak. Washington tells Doc to protect Epsilon, and is forced to fight with the Meta. Before Washington is about to be killed by the Meta, the Reds and Blues suddenly arrive in a Pelican dropship. The ship crashes due to Grif's inept piloting, almost knocking Doc off a cliff. The Reds and Blues regroup with Church and Wash, and then discuss how to free Tex from the memory unit, which is lying in the snow nearby. Washington gives orders, sending Tucker and Caboose to look for tools and Red Team to look for a power source for the memory unit.

As the Reds are looking for power sources to keep the capture unit running, they hear a large explosion and go to investigate. They run outside to see Washington and the Meta in battle, but Washington's attacks don't even faze the Meta, and he soon knocks him out of the fight, though not without injury. As Caboose and Doc stay with Epsilon, Sarge, Simmons, Grif, and Tucker attack the Meta, and they inflict some damage, including Tucker impaling him with the sword, before his ultimate defeat as Sarge distracts him and attaches the Warthog's tow hook to the Meta's armor, while Grif and Simmons push the jeep off the cliff. The capture unit falls from the Meta's back as he is dragged over the cliff to his death, swiping at Grif's legs in the process. Grif falls from the cliff, but manages to survive by lodging the Meta's weapon — which he had stolen earlier — into the cliff face and holding on.

With the capture unit close to failure, Epsilon prepares to enter it to find Tex. He tells Caboose that if he does not come back, then Caboose will be in charge of remembering him. Leaving his body, he enters the unit. Doc goes to check on Washington, and Simmons tries to stabilize the unit to no avail. The unit fails before Church and Tex can emerge.

Within the Epsilon Unit, Epsilon Church's internal monologue is repeatedly interrupted by Tucker, who keeps calling him up to the cliff. There Caboose and Tucker are waiting to spy on the Reds, who are making modifications to their jeep. As the Blues argue about what the modifications are the Reds fire a rocket from the Warthog at them, where Church hears Donut giving orders. Angry about how everything is unexpectedly out of order, Church leaves for Red Base in order to set things straight, saying "If we're gonna do this, it has to be done the right way! Or there's no point in doing it at all."

At the Director's behest, an unnamed agent in blue armor arrives to help South and North, sneaking in and providing a distraction for them to fight back against the surrounding enemies. During the battle, North is wounded while protecting South from enemy fire. The unnamed agent helps the twins to extraction, a Pelican dropship.

Attempting to set things straight, Church tries to convince the Reds that their personalities are wrong. While he does not succeed, he does get Simmons and Sarge thinking and Donut to panic over his apparent knowledge of his diary.

Church eventually limps his way back to Blue Base where, during a discussion with Tucker about his attempts to fix things, Caboose heads in the base and calls Command, who has sent out a special forces member to the Blues. Back at Red Base, as Simmons requests Donut to help with the construction of Lopez, Grif and Donut begin to revert to the personalities of their real selves, causing another earthquake.

As Church struggles to get Caboose to remember when the special forces agent will arrive, Sarge and Simmons continue to work on Lopez. Donut interrupts and goes to talk to Sarge about their feelings while Church attempts to activate Sheila in case things get dicey when Tex shows up. His attempts prove fruitless, but it does get Tucker to start showing his interest in women and revert to his real personality.

Washington and Connecticut, known as "Connie", return from a failed mission, and as Washington tries to cheer up Connie by saying that the mission failure was not her fault, she angrily replies that he is just making excuses, and that the Director is trying to incite rivalries between the Freelancers through the ranking system. As Connie leaves, she telling Washington to call her "C.T."

At Red Base, construction on Lopez has finished and Simmons begins to show signs of his real personality, demonstrating his love of math and organizing and kissing up to Sarge. An earthquake hits briefly, followed by Lopez activating and speaking Spanish. Sarge explains this is adding culture and learning the language as a unit bonding activity, and as he and Simmons acknowledge just how out-of-character that is, another earthquake hits.

At Red Base, Lopez notices that the earthquakes are getting more frequent, and tries to warn the Red Team that they are in danger, but is not understood. Simmons, jealous at the attention Lopez is receiving from the Reds, storms off to prove to Red Team that he can be "likeable, funny, and people-like".

Meanwhile, at Blue Base, Church continues to try to explain the situation to Tucker and Caboose, and tell them that the simulation they are experiencing is a form a recursion taking place within the Epsilon unit, where the computer tries many different iterations of the same scenario to find a solution. He also reveals the fact that he is actually an AI based on the memories of Alpha and the Director. Tucker then likens Church's search for Tex to a stalker's actions. Suddenly, they notice a grenade lying on the ground between them, and realize too late that somebody must have thrown it at them before it explodes.

York is gravely injured by Maine's grenade exploding. As the medical team arrives, Washington comments that similar to the armor lock down, Tex covering York with the hardening paint shortly before the explosion saved him from worse injury. The Director then arrives, yells at the Freelancers for not doing anything, and responds to Wash's claim that Maine and Wyoming weren't following protocol by saying the enemy will also not follow protocol on the battlefield. Carolina watches Tex being helped up by a trio of black-uniformed men, and sees Tex's shoulder spark.

After accidentally shocking himself, Simmons wakes up to find himself chained up in front of Lopez, who is now disguised as him. Lopez tells Simmons that he is going to pose as him so he can get access to the equipment he needs to investigate the earthquakes. However, Simmons mistakenly believes that Lopez is trying to replace him to become popular. Leaving Simmons in the cave, Lopez manages to fool Sarge and Grif into granting him permission to use their equipment, despite the fact that he is still speaking Spanish. Meanwhile, a curious Donut decides to investigate what the disguised Lopez is up to, while the real Simmons manages to break free from his bonds and leaves to confront Lopez.

On the Project Freelancer ship, "Mother of Invention", the Director speaks with the Alpha AI before quickly dismissing him when Carolina appears. They both join the other Freelancers and the Pelican pilot Four-Seven-Niner at the briefing on their next mission. Members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection have acquired a high level asset, codenamed "Sarcophagus", and are holding it in a secure building. The Sarcophagus can only be accessed by a key code held by an official who is arriving to inspect the asset, and because the building will be locked down at the first sign of trouble, two teams will be necessary to attack both targets simultaneously.

The first team - Carolina, Washington, and Maine - are tasked with infiltrating the package storage facility. They are unexpectedly joined by York, whose quick recovery from his injuries surprises the other Freelancers. The second team, composed of North, Wyoming, and C.T., will act as recon for the first team before the inflitration, and afterwards ambush the official to obtain the key code. Also, as a result of her poor performance in her last mission, South is barred from participating in this mission. The Director also evades Carolina asking if Tex will join the mission, and C.T. questioning the insufficient data on the Sarcophagus.

At Blood Gulch, Tex tells Church to pick a member of the Red team and kill him. However, due to both his inaccuracy with the sniper rifle and his constant attempts to stall Tex, she takes Church's sniper rifle and shoots Lopez, still disguised as Simmons. Sarge and Grif discover Donut crying over Lopez's body, both of whom also believe he is Simmons. Just as they begin to deliver a eulogy, Simmons then arrives stating that he is alive and that Lopez was shot. Sarge ignores him and says small, unimportant things about Simmons, much to his own disappointment.

In Blood Gulch, Church pleads Tex not to leave, while the Reds recover the equipment Lopez was using the study the earthquakes, and Sarge's response to the discovery that the planet has become unstable and will collapse is a plan to drill to the core of the planet and set off a bomb (parodying the movie The Core).

At Blue Base, Tex reveals that she is aware that Church is really Epsilon and that she is also unaware of the Director's reasons for bringing her back as an AI.

In Blood Gulch, Grif yells at and insults the Blue Team in the hopes that he'll make them mad enough for them to send a bomb to the Red Base to use in Sarge's plan. He eventually succeeds and Tex builds Andy the bomb, who begins to count-down after being thrown, something Grif forgot to think about.

More earthquakes are hitting Blood Gulch, and despite Reds' panic, Andy turns out to be a dud and fails to explode. Meanwhile, the Blues get Sheila running and try to use her to get out of Blood Gulch before the cataclysm. Church however decides to stay and tells them that if they find Agent Washington they tell him that "Memory is the Key". Instead of leaving with Caboose and Tucker, Tex decides to stay behind with Church, saying that he's never let her down yet. Church tells her that it had taken several versions of him to finally realize that in order get what you wanted, you sometimes have to let go of it first. Tex muses that she just proved the theory right and both she and Church stand together to watch the end of the world.

At Red Base the team awaits the end of the world. At Blue Base Epsilon-Church begins to explain to Tex that he figured out what the Director and Alpha could not. Tex was a by-product of the Director's longing to see Allison again, so strong in fact, that she was what drove him: her memory. After all they've been through Church tells Tex, "I forget you," finally allowing her to leave his memories and move on from her. At peace, Church tells the world to do its worst. However, as the sky rips open further, Caboose calls into the Epsilon Capture Unit to Church, amazed that he is still alive. When Sarge suddenly appears next to Caboose to help, Church despairs loudly, realizing that the world is not ending but he is being rescued.

In the past, Carolina is seen looking over the updated rankings, as she is dropped to second behind Tex. The Director approaches her and tells her that things are going to change and he needs her to do "a great many things", some of which might be questionable. Carolina obliges, saying that he gave her everything and would do anything for him.

In the past, Freelancer agent York infiltrates an Insurrectionist facility in space and attempts to open a holographic lock. After an alarm is remotely triggered, the Director of Project Freelancer decides to "take a more direct approach" and fires a beam from the Freelancer flagship Mother of Invention, cutting through both the outer hull of the station and the lock, causing York to be dragged out into space.

In the past, the Mother of Invention approaches the Insurrectionist facility at a scrap-metal recycling station, which responds by launching Longsword fighters. Pelican drop-ships are launched from the Mother of Invention, one of which is carrying agents Carolina, North, South, Washington and Connecticut (C.T.), who have orders to capture the "Leader". After they fly into the station's hangar and fight the Insurrectionist forces present, Carolina assigns the agents tasks for the mission, then notices that C.T. is missing. C.T. is then seen entering another part of the station via a hole in the hull, and confronts an elite Insurrectionist and two soldiers, who open fire.

Continuing from where the previous episode ended, the C.T. that the Insurrectionist soldiers shot at is a hologram, and the real one incapacitates them before greeting the elite, thus confirming her affiliation with the Insurrection. After giving the elite a datapad containing information on Project Freelancer, they then discuss an artifact that the Insurrection has discovered before the UNSC and Project Freelancer. The elite and his soldiers then prepare to leave, urging C.T. to go along with him before her betrayal is discovered. Meanwhile, at the hangar, South reports that the Leader was not found, and York arrives as Carolina states they will look for him in the scrapyard.

In the present day, The Reds and Blues stop at the Wind Power facility, demanding to have a break. Church is revealed to have stored himself in Tucker's storage unit, and as she watches the teams chat, Carolina expresses her annoyance at their idiocy to Washington. Washington agrees that they are idiots, but also says that they're "not that bad once you get to know them", and states that he and the teams almost managed to capture The Meta the last time they were at the facility. Carolina emphasizes the fact that they didn't succeed.

In the past, North introduces his new A.I., the childlike and shy Theta, to York, Washington and South. York in turn introduces his A.I., Delta, to help Theta with its shyness. The Director arrives, to prepare a test for Theta and North, and reminds Delta that protocol prevents direct interaction between A.I.s. The test sees Theta operating North's Domed Energy Shield armor equipment and helping him take out multiple automated machine guns, greatly impressing Washington and York.

In the present day, Carolina looks for leads and clues to the location of the Director with Washington, and once Tucker reveals he had been eavesdropping, Carolina tries to shoot him, forcing Tucker and Epsilon to run.

In the past, the Director and the Counselor teach the agents about how to care for the A.I.'s briefly touching on the subject of Rampancy. The A.I. Sigma (Elijah Wood), originally assigned to Carolina before she gave it to Maine to help him communicate, asks about the fourth stage of A.I. rampancy, Metastability, which should theoretically make an A.I. human. The Counselor tells him that it is merely a theory, as no full A.I. has ever reached the stage before, and it is even more unlikely for a fragment, such as Sigma, to undergo the process. Sigma takes great interest in the concept, and after everyone leaves, creates the symbol of the Meta on a computer screen.

In the present, Washington reports to Carolina that he has found nothing in the wind power facility. They decide to move on to the ruins in the desert where Washington found C.T.'s helmet. The Blues discuss Epsilon's memories, and his difficulty determining which of his personalities they come from.

In the present, The Reds and Blues arrive at the desert, where Carolina and Wash search for C.T's remains. The Blues recall the events that happened in Recreation as well as what they are up to here.

In the present, The Reds and Blues have a meeting about Carolina's secrecy and motives, as they believe she can't be trusted, even Washington. The group decides to find out more about Carolina's motives and plans by inserting Epsilon-Church into her Mongoose.

Washington and Carolina approach where Wash saw C.T.'s helmet, wondering how C.T. ended up there. Carolina then tells him what happened back at the Longshore Shipyards.

C.T. and the Insurrection Leader plan to escape the facility, but C.T. tries to tell him that the Freelancers might help them if they were told the whole story from their point of view. After Florida takes out the heavy gunners, York cuts out the power, shutting off the turrets outside the Leader's room and allowing Tex and Carolina to rush into it, holding C.T. and the Leader at gunpoint. C.T. attempts to convince them of the Director's crimes, but the two will have none of it. C.T. then reveals that she knows what Tex really is, and calls her a shadow, enraging her enough to shoot at C.T. With negotiations over, the four fight before Tex fatally wounds C.T. with one of the Leader's tomahawks. The Leader drags C.T. out of the room as Carolina berates Tex for harming a teammate, though Tex tells her C.T. is no longer one of them. The Leader drags C.T. into an escape pod and she gives him a card full of information describing the Director's crimes before dying. In grief, the Leader takes her helmet and puts it on, revealing that the C.T. the Reds and Blues encountered in Recreation was the Leader all along.

In the present, Washington and Carolina study the data they salvaged from C.T.'s corpse, they find data on the alien artifact Epsilon-Church temporarily used as a body. Tucker recognizes the artifact, and Caboose admits that he had lost the artifact shortly after it was damaged when Church transferred to a new body, which enrages Carolina. The datacard is also revealed to be corrupted, meaning that they have no more leads in the hunt for the Director. Afterwards, Carolina decides to go off alone to visit an abandoned fortress on a nearby island, taking the Mongoose in which Epsilon was installed into with her.

In the present, Carolina arrives at the abandoned island fortress where York was killed during the events of Out of Mind. Church reveals himself and then asks Carolina what her motivations are and why she can't trust the Reds and Blues, causing her to go on a rant over how she couldn't even trust her fellow Freelancers. Church then delves into Epsilon's memories and summons Delta, who begins playing York's video diaries, recorded after he left Project Freelancer. In the diaries, York expresses his wish to see Carolina again, and gets excited when he hears rumors of a rogue female Freelancer, but is disappointed when he learns that it is Tex. He then reminisces about how he and Carolina first met and wishes things between them turned out differently, implying romantic feelings between them. Carolina asks Church why he showed her those diaries and responds by saying "Because, I know what it's like to spend your life chasing ghosts." Carolina thanks Church, and reveals she wants to kill the Director to take revenge for all of the Freelancers and others he victimized, Church included. They both begin to bond, with Carolina becoming much nicer toward him and Church agreeing to analyze the Director's diary logs for any information.

After returning to Vahalla, Church, Carolina, and Washington decide to go inspect the crashed Pelican where Tex's previous body is, forbidding the rest from going along. Tucker angrily confronts Epsilon over how close he and Carolina seem to have become, though Epsilon points out that Carolina is a much more complicated than they thought, and he needs to remain close to properly spy on her. The Reds decide to go find and repair Lopez so they can get a numerical advantage against the Blues. Caboose rushes off to the Blue Base, leaving Tucker all by himself.

In the present, as Caboose gives Tucker a tour of their new base, Church, Carolina, and Washington begin examining the Pelican wreck. While Washington only manages to find several shell casings and a dog tag, Church downloads himself into the Pelican's computer to see if he can obtain any information from Sheila.

In the past, Carolina and Texas prepare for their match, while most of the other agents gather to watch as some of them are betting if Tex and Carolina might kill each other. As Tex and Carolina charge each other to start the match, the Director arrives, angry that an unauthorized match is taking place. Upon seeing that Texas is involved, he shouts "No, Allison!". Suddenly, all the agents bar the two without AIs, Washington and South Dakota, collapse as their AIs start screaming "Allison!"; Carolina has it worse, screaming for the voices to stop. Growling noises start emanating from the Sarcophagus, frightening the soldiers guarding it. The Counselor suggests sedating Carolina, but the Director declines, saying "she made her decision", then dismisses the agents watching the events. On the training floor, Omega implores Texas to "end" Carolina, but she holds back, and instead knocks Carolina unconscious, telling her it is for her own good.

In the present, Carolina tells the Red and Blue teams that they are leaving, much to their dismay. Sarge and Simmons return, telling Grif about how Donut is still alive and living with Doc and Lopez. Meanwhile, Tucker becomes more anxious and frustrated at how Church seems to have forgotten his original objective in spying on her. Church points she has been through a lot and leaves, asking Carolina to talk privately with him.

At Valhalla, Grif and Simmons debate on their motive for being here and hunting the Director, as unlike the Freelancers, they have no personal vendetta against the Director, and Sarge then joins the two and grimly adds that even if they succeed in killing the Director, it would lead to no avail and leaving Valhalla will simply make things worse. Unbeknownst to the Reds, Washington has been inconspicuously eavesdropping on their entire conversation and leaves to ponder this. Meanwhile, Church talks with Carolina about her grudge against Tex, noting that if she was so superior, Tex would still be alive. Carolina then notices Tex's dog tags from the Pelican and find that it is actually C.T.'s. Church notices it has some data stored in it and searches it on Carolina's request.

In the past, Tex investigates the dog tags and finds a message from C.T. directly to her stating that she has left behind a copy of the data she took about the Director's misdeeds and sent this to her not because she is the best soldier, but because she is the one she can trust the most. Tex decides to investigate her data having details on all of the A.I and becomes incensed upon discovering that she is the A.I unit Beta. Meanwhile, Washington has gone through surgery and just as Epsilon is implanted in him, severe hallucinations of Allison start to occur sending Wash into extreme pain and unconsciousness. Eventually he is sedated and sent to Recovery.

In the past, after Washington regains consciousness following the botched implantation of Epsilon, North explains that the incident made all future AI projects be cancelled, with the existing AIs due to be confiscated by the Director. However, Carolina angrily protests against the idea of having her AIs taken. North further explains that while Washington was unconscious, Tex had gone rogue, allegedly attacked Wyoming and attempted to steal his AI and equipment, and left the base. However, North is skeptical about Tex being the culprit for the attack on Wyoming, due to his knowledge of her reluctance to use AIs. He then says that Carolina will most likely be tasked with hunting down Tex when an alarm goes off. Elsewhere in the base, Tex breaks into a secure vault with York's help, telling him that there's someone she needs to see. Unbeknownst to them however, Maine is sharpening his Brute Shot and preparing for battle as the Meta.

After breaking into the Mother of Invention, Tex begins making her way to the labs, finding South along the way, with North confronting his sister to let Tex go through. Meanwhile, after defeating Wyoming, York tries to create a distraction in order to help Tex, hacking into the ship's systems to fire missiles at itself, and then disablinf the artificial gravity, neutralizing the guards and allowing Tex to bypass a hostile Scorpion tank.

Determined to stop Tex, the Director orders Carolina to do so. Carolina pursues Tex throughout the corridors of the ship until York attempts to stop her. She asks York why he is siding with Tex, and replies that he's not rebelling because he agrees with Tex, but because he's doing what is right. He asks Carolina to let go of her rivalry with Tex and flee Project Freelancer with him. However, Carolina refuses to let go of her jealousy and both she and York reluctantly fight, with Carolina easily incapacitating York. Both women eventually encounter each other and begin a brutal fight throughout the ship's corridors. However, due to the damage it has taken, the Mother of Invention goes out of control and crash lands on a nearby planet, ejecting Carolina from the ship and knocking her out.

Tex takes the opportunity to access the ship's systems in order to find Alpha. She finds Alpha and tries to convince him to leave with her. However, Alpha does not remember Tex and is reluctant to leave the ship, saying that it isn't possible anyways, and he is very tired and wants to rest. Disappointed that Alpha doesn't remember her, Tex has a short chat with him before logging out of the system, with both of them agreeing that they hate goodbyes.

With the Red and Blue teams refusing to help them, Church and Carolina decide to try to find the Director themselves. After an unsuccessful search at their first target with no one there, their second target yields results when FILSS mentions that the Director had entered the facility years ago but has not left since.

Meanwhile, in Valhalla, the Red and Blue Teams are continuing their "war", with the Reds attempting to negotiate with the Blues to get their flag back by giving up their stuff, leading to an argument between Washington and Grif once the Meta's Brute Shot, which Grif had kept as a trophy, is brought in. Doc asks the teams whether they really are okay with letting Church leave by himself, noting that their past adventures had changed them for the better. Realizing this, the Reds and Blues decide to go after Church. Washington attempts to stop them, saying they are being too reckless facing almost impossible odds, to which Sarge points out that being stupid and reckless helped them get things done even against the more competent Freelancers, who lacked the one thing the Red and Blue Teams have: a team they could count on. Wash agrees, and when he points out Carolina and Church have a head start, a trio of UNSC Hornet gunships arrive to arrest them, unknowingly proving Wash's theory that he and the Reds and Blues are indeed wanted criminals. The Reds and Blues hijack the Hornets, strand the UNSC soldiers at Valhalla and fly off to find Church and Carolina.

Carolina charges at the robots and attacks, using her skill and weaponry to her full advantage. However she and Church are eventually overwhelmed by the intensity of the fight, leading Carolina to break down, lamenting that she can't and never will beat Tex. As the robots close in for the kill, Donut suddenly destroys them with several plasma grenades and Wash helps Carolina on her feet. She is surprised to see that the Reds and Blues have returned, and Wash reminds her that "they're not so bad once you get to know them." When Church tells them he thought that this isn't the Reds and Blues' fight, Sarge replies that they couldn't resist taking on a mission with overwhelming odds with little to no chance of success. Church and Tucker then exchange some words of thanks and apology. However, the robots begin to regroup, and are ready for another round. Her morale restored, Carolina tells the teams to 'lock and load'. The former Freelancers and the Reds and Blues work as a team and lay waste to the majority of the robots, but are slowly being overwhelmed. Wash tells Church to find the real Tex so he can shut down the army.

Church enters the data storage unit where Tex is being kept. He finds her in a similar predicament to what Alpha was in many years ago; Tex has been so broken down that she doesn't even recognize him or have any remembrance of her own name. Church reminds her of their relationship and comforts her, telling her to rest, which Tex wearily, but happily complies to. Church says goodbye, to which Tex recalls that she has always hated goodbyes, which Church replies that he knows why.

Church and Carolina find the Director in a room with FILSS watching a video file of Allison leaving to join the military again. The Director repeatedly says that he needs more time to bring Allison back and that he's close, but Church ignores it and calls him off on all of the actions the Director has to answer for, such as what he done to him, Carolina, Wash, Tex and all the others he hurt all just to bring back a shadow, and he has to pay for all. Carolina looks at the Director in disappointment as he looks back at her, showing that they both have the same eye color. Realizing killing the Director won't solve anything nor heal past wounds, Carolina tells Church to leave, but he claims that they came all this way to kill the Director, though Carolina reminds him that they both need to let it go. She also says that the past doesn't define a person for who he or she is, but that it's a starting point to what they will become. After leaving a pistol for the Director at his request, Carolina kisses him on the forehead and leaves, just as the Director says to her "You were my greatest creation." As Church leaves, the Director orders FILSS to delete all files dealing with Project Freelancer, including FILSS, except the video of Allison and to shut down every Project Freelancer facility, including the one he is in. FILSS warns him that doing so will shut off the life support system in the facility, though the Director insists. Before shutting down, FILSS asks him if Project Freelancer was a success. He says no but claims he came very close, and as the Director and FILSS say their goodbyes to each other, the door to the room lowers down, sealing the Director in.

Outside the facility, Church and Carolina acknowledge that the journey is over. They thank each other for showing the other a different side of themselves after all they've been through. Carolina then asks Church about where the Reds and Blues will go now, as Church answers that there's one place they haven't been to yet the Reds and Blues can call home.

In the past at Freelancer Command, the Director and the Counselor discuss where to hide the Alpha. The Counselor points out that the Alpha will need a security detail, someone they can trust, so he nominates Agent Florida, who turns out to be Captain Flowers. The Director mentions they will need a cover story for Flowers' "disappearance", as the Counselor has the state of Florida break into several pieces on a computer screen behind them. Then the Director points out that they will need a place to put the Alpha where no one will be able to think to look for it, and the Counselor says he believes he knows such a place.

Grif, Simmons, and Church team up to rescue the other members of their teams. However it goes south and Church flies out of the prison strapped to a rocket. It's revealed that it was a simulation as Epsilon Church grows frustrated reliving the simulations. Another copy of Epsilon Church shows up, reminding him what they were getting into when they sealed themselves in the Epsilon Unit to find Tex. A new simulation starts in Blood Gulch, setting up the events of Season 9.

Everyone is shocked to see their friend after a long time. Loco, dying from his injuries, tells Caboose that he has little time to say goodbye. Tucker tells Caboose to grab Church from the other side of the portal. Caboose refuses, saying Church belongs there, and just says his final goodbye to his friend. The machine begins to fire its primary weapon as Dylan inserts VIC into the device. VIC sacrifices himself to shut down the machine, which vanishes. Temple is then knocked out by Tucker under Carolina's wishes. The Reds and Blues then head outside of the facility to find the Chorus lieutenants along with Sister, who was on Chorus for business. They tell the Reds and Blues that Wash was dropped by someone on Chorus, and is recovering under Dr. Grey's supervision. Dylan submits her story, explaining that after spending time with the Reds and Blues, they definitely do not possess the qualities typically associated with heroes. However, it is their friendship with each other and their determination to fight through any challenge that makes them heroic.