An important detail often overlooked in discussions on Retribution:
Retribution occurs before Uprising. Blackwatch is suspended after the team’s different debriefings.
However, a year later, not only are Gabriel Reyes, Jesse McCree, and Genji Shimada still present in Overwatch, they continue to actively work as Blackwatch agents despite the suspension. Jack Morrison, the Strike-Commander, and Ana Amari, the Strike Captain, effectively do nothing to stop them (and appear to even semi-encourage them or rile them up).
So, even though McCree is angry and furious throughout the Venice mission, whatever he learns during Reyes’ debriefing is enough to convince him to stay in Overwatch for another 1-2 years.
More importantly, whatever Reyes tells Morrison, Amari, and Lacroix is not enough to convince anyone to kick him out of Overwatch.
It is notReyes’ integrity nor his “trustworthiness” that’s on the line during his debriefing.
It is something else.
An “ongoing investigation” begins at the end of Reyes’ debriefing.
It is almost certainly Overwatch/Blackwatch investigating itself.
This is the Overwatch “mission map” that is present in the background of the Uprising comic. These are “ongoing missions”. They include:
A mission in Tokyo, Japan: likely the investigation of the Shimada clan
A mission in Nigeria: likely the investigation into Doomfist (Akande)
A mission in Cairo or Giza, Egypt: this mission is unknown but may be related to the Anubis AI confinement, or the “Overwatch official murdered” in a “Cairo incident.”
A mission in Rio de Janeiro: an unknown mission but could be related to activities that facilitate Vishkar’s work there in the future.
A mission in Dorado, Mexico: may be related to Los Muertos or the beginning foundation of LumériCo, which Jack Morrison is actively investigating in the present-day (as Soldier: 76).
A close up of the Mediterranean and Northern Africa region.
A mission in London, UK: this is Null Sector’s hostile takeover of London
And lastly
A mission in Switzerland.
Overwatch’s main headquarters were located in its “Swiss Base”. The exact location of this base is unknown. However, if you have followed me for awhile, you know I believe it is in Geneva, which is roughly where that dot is located.
Now, there are at least two major possibilities here:
Overwatch is investigating itself
Overwatch is investigating the United Nations, which has a major office in Geneva
Both of these are very interesting, as the first option tells us that Overwatch has caught wind of Talon agents infiltrating it. The second option would be that Overwatch believes the UN (or members in it) have become compromised.
In my opinion, the first option is more likely, given that it seems like Blackwatch and Overwatch have figured out what Moira is up to. However, I’m not ruling out the possibility of the second option either. The two possibilities do not actually contradict each other, and it’s entirely plausible that both are occurring as Uprising is on-going.
“I do have to wonder if the reason we haven’t seen much Oswald recently is because Disney is just trying to get a grip on his character. I thought his personality in Epic Mickey was great, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they decided to go in a different direction since his character in the games was based so much off of real life history. I do love the idea of him and Mickey being their own “Red Oni, Blue Oni” trope, so different yet so close. I hope they keep that brother dynamic.”
Yeah, I think Oswald’s character should be the opposite of Mickey’s.
WARNING: Analysis coming up.
I want a mix of similar yet different.
For example, both are good and willing to help others, but Mickey is modest while Oswald is not.
And we already know Oswald has more of a temper than Mickey, and not just from Epic Mickey, but from the old cartoons, as well…however, this temper is not as explosive as characters such as Donald Duck. Yeah, he visibly yells, but he doesn’t hop up and down all over the place while he does it, but at the same time he’ll still throw some punches in for some situations.
I also like the idea of him being a bit sassy, as seen in the image used for the confession.
However, both are shown to generally be brave, and willing to stand up for others. They’re also both shown to occasionally be shy around their love interests (which is freaking adorable)
However, they have different ways of expressing affection. Mickey is more of a bring flowers and cookies kind of guy (Minnie usually initiates the kissing), while Oswald tends to go for physical affection (as seen in Oh What a Knight when he kissed Ortensia every chance he got)
And one thing Epic Mickey kind of touched upon was Oswald’s mechanic skills. It’s mentioned Oswald made Donald, Daisy, and Goofy “with the Mad Doctor’s help” but you can see in his cartoons he has made things himself, from his airplane in The Great Ocean Hop to a freaking mechanical cow in….The Mechanical Cow. Disneyland portrays him as a car mechanic.
Disney has the resources to put his personality together, they just haven’t done so, yet.
((This freaking part though! Mickey believes in Oswald being a good person even when Oswald himself doesn’t believe it!
Notice Oswald refuses to say that Mickey gave up his heart to save HIM. He tries to convince himself that Mickey only did it for Gus because he doesn’t think Mickey would care (or even should care) about saving him because he’s not good enough, or worth it. Oswald’s used to thinking he’s not good enough and he doubts himself a lot. [Kind of reminds me of how the Crewniverse said that Jasper wouldn’t accept help because she secretly hates herself and doesn’t think she deserves it.]
But then Mickey turns this conversation around on him. With that smile and those words, Mickey basically just said: “I didn’t just do it for Gus. I wanted to save you too because I believe you’re just as noble as me and would do the same for me.”
Oswald’s shocked. Mickey believes in him. Mickey considers Oswald on the same level as him, not below him. All this time, Oswald’s been planning to backstab Mickey and steal his heart, and now he finds out that Mickey would consider Oswald himself more valuable than his own heart. Oswald’s incredibly touched, but also now feels immensely guilty.
So, Overwatch’s Retribution event has come out and I’m thriving from all this data and sweet lore (despite the more questions this is giving us then answers)
There are thousands of new lines (including all of Reaper’s re-done, the poor man’s voice is probably dead)
Including this line between Moira and Reyes;
Moira: “How are you feeling, Commander?”
Reyes: “Fine, no ill effects so far.”
Moira: “Let me know if that changes.”
This isn’t the only strange interaction between them both, implying the Reaper state in Reyes.
But this line stands out, as Moira is questioning how her “test subject” is handling.
To me, I think this is because this might be Gabriel Reyes’ first mission since Moira genetically altered him, or at least since he’s stabilized.
Further, Moira is unknown to have be with Blackwatch until after this mission, originally haven thought to have been cast from Overwatch’s team and banned from their resources, no one seemed to know she’d then taken into Blackwatch.
Where, such, she’d have perfect invisibility to work on her research, where Reyes came into play.
In this event, Mccree also plays a huge part, as this is where he himself starts to realize this and things starting to go wrong. Whether or not he knows why, I don’t know.
But he does give a big fuss when Reyes makes a sudden decision to shoot Antonio, and gets angrier when he realizes Gabriel doesn’t regret it.
Because, to him, this doesn’t seem like something he would have thought Gabriel to do. (Because Mccree’s anger can’t possibly be him being pissed about this because of morality stuff despite being part of a blackops team.)
Notice how out of it Gabriel seems;
Right after Antonio is killed, Mccree becomes furious and begins to practically scold his commanding officer, who has been shown to be lenient with Mccree, but not to a point where Mccree could talk back to him in such a way.
Mccree pulls Gabriel around by the shoulder to yell at his face, but Gabriel does not get aggressive, tense, or defensive.
He lets Mccree shove him back while his eyes blankly stare at the floor.
It’s the smallest attention to detail, and you can easily miss it, but right before hand as well, as Mccree runs out of frame to yell at Reyes, Moira is seen in clear shot to the right.
At the last few seconds where Mccree is now off screen, Moira’s expression changes from what seems like boredom;
To a smile.
At first, I thought this was her amused by Gabriel’s change in “ideology”, but thinking on it, and putting together her interactions with Reyes in the picture.
This is pride.
She’s proud of her experiment, amused even. But not by Gabriel’s own actions.
1) The wording in her Hero Profile is just vague enough to imply she is a Talon agent at the time of the Retribution mission.
“The shadowy Talon organization had already been supporting her for years, aiding her experiments in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes.”
2) Moira’s interactions with Reyes during the Retribution point to her egging him on, pressuring him, or attempting to “get under his skin”. The most notable one involves Moira saying she wishes she could go to rhe masquerade (of Venetian Carnival). Reyes says he is surprised because she doesn’t seem like the kind of person to enjoy that.
Moira replies, “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
3) The major bosses utilize technology or “enhancements” that are originally from Overwatch agents.
The Heavy Assault Tank: uses Rocket Charge. Originally from the Crusaders. Canonically used by Reinhardt in animated shorts and comics.
The Assassin: uses what appears to be Blink and/or Recall. The chronal accelerator technology was specifically made for Tracer by Winston. If this is true about the Assassin, it also severely limited the time range of Retribution. Canonically appears in multiple shorts and comics (by Tracer).
The Sniper: uses a form of Shadowstep and/or Wraith. Canonically appears in multiple shorts and comics by Reaper.
The last one is the most interesting because it is unique to Reyes and his biotic “enhancements” that he accrued during SEP.
However –
There is one other person who has access to Reyes’ biodata – and the technical knowledge and ability to manipulate and recreate that in other ways (Biotic Grasp, Fade) – to make new technologies, enhancements, and abilities out of that.
Moira.
4) Related to Point 3, Moira has canonically stolen technology from Mercy. We are also told by Geoff Goodman during Moira’s Blizzcon panel that she took Wraith from “Reaper” and “improved” it. Moira has no qualms about taking other people’s research, property, or abilities and then redesigning or reworking them for her own purposes.
5) Moira is the only person who appears HAPPY during the intro video. The later statements she makes where she tells Reyes that he did the right thing by killing Antonio are shady as all hell.
Both of these appeared to be “coincidentally” tied to the sudden rise of Vialli and Maximilien, and Akande overthrowing Akinjide in the wake of Antonio’s death. This becomes significantly less “coincidental” if you consider that Moira may be a Talon agent, or be getting financial support from one (or all) of them.
6) During Reyes’ debriefing with Morrison, Amari, and Lacroix, there are images of two Talon operatives – a Trooper and a Heavy Assault tank.
The third image is of Moira.
(Comparison image)
Remember, Blackwatch continues to operate while suspended. Whatever occurs between Gabe, Jack, Ana, and Gérard during Gabe’s Retribution debriefing isn’t enough to make him leave, nor enough to make McCree leave in the immediate aftermath. Both Gabriel Reyes and Jesse McCree go on to help the Overwatch Strike Team by recovering intel on Null Sector during Null Sector’s Uprising. Genji stays on the team as well, and eventually helps arrest Akande Ogundimu, who is now the third Doomfist.
However, we do not know what happens to Moira after Retribution.
Speculation/Guess: in my opinion, the entire Retribution mission – and Gabriel’s motivations – make considerably more sense if you look at it like this:
The mission WAS intended to grab Antonio, run, and interrogate him later. It does not seem like Gabriel was lying here. In fact, MCCREE originally wanted to kill Antonio, but is told by Gabriel that they’re not going to do that.
However, Antonio reveals: 1) that he was anticipating this move by Blackwatch, 2) that he expected his “friends” to help him walk free from Blackwatch a week later, and 3) that he expected to hurt Blackwatch/Overwatch again.
This is the moment when Gabriel realizes –
He’s been betrayed by one of the three Blackwatch agents in the room with him.
(Note who else is “in frame” but out of focus during this moment).
This is not a sudden turn-about in motivations by Gabriel Reyes –
But instead, the clear and distinct realization that he has walked right into Antonio’s (and Talon’s) grasp.
And letting Antonio live is the LEAST of his worries.
The far bigger threat is the person IMMEDIATELY behind him.
I’m gunna throw my hat in on theories as to why McCree got so upset over Gabe shooting Antonio. Yes, it was McCree’s original plan in the comic. I don’t think he was joking around, either, because after Gabe told him no, he argued they needed to send a stronger message. Gabe again turned him down.
Then went and shot the guy point blank out of a window.
McCree wasn’t mad he killed the man, per say. He was upset for these reasons:
The whole plan was set up to be an arrest and to take Antonio with them. It would have operated differently than a “go in, kill him, get out” plan. For one, their way out was relatively easy– they wouldn’t be attacked with the man giving orders in their custody. They’d have a way better escape plan ready and worked out if the end goal was to assassinate a man. But Gabe went and messed all that up, so their easy way out was now blocked by a ton of enemies they thought they wouldn’t need to deal with.
Jesse was a delinquent turned Black Ops. Gabe, a former military soldier and strike team commander, probably put him through hell to get him disciplined to his liking. Jesse’s heard “no, we do it THIS way” a thousand times. And Gabe meant it. Then, suddenly, the rules don’t apply. And he’s mad as hell because DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO, doesn’t work here.
I’m also assuming they change plans up a lot. What they say in front of Jack and the other higher ups might change once it’s just the two of them discussing things. Because over the years, Gabe trusts him more than just about anyone. Maybe that’s why Moira and Genji didn’t react. They are used to being out of the main loop, but Jesse isn’t. He is used to Gabe telling him these things before they happen, trusting him with that information.
I don’t know if Gabe was planning to kill Antonio from the start. I think he was probably thinking about it way more than just a plan B scenario if they couldn’t take him in for whatever reason. But he knew his team’s capabilities. He knew they could get out. He also knew that telling them his very illegal murder plan put them as accomplices. So he didn’t tell them, not even Jesse. Plausible deniability.
“What?! But I’m your family!” “And Héctor was my best friend.”
One thing that really gets me is how Ernesto didn’t just say “yeah, and Héctor was my friend”. He straight-up says that he was his best friend, to make the point that see, this is how much I’m willing to sacrifice. He thought it was something admirable instead of, you know, fucking horrifying.
Ernesto de la Cruz is absolutely convinced he’s the hero of his story. He’ll kill his best friend, forever tell himself it was a personal sacrifice he had to make, and believe it.
I found McCree’s reaction to Reyes deciding to kill that man very interesting. It makes sense that he’d be angry because the consequences were so severe, but I think there was more to it than that.
I think all three of the team members’ reactions spoke about their backgrounds. Genji is used to seeing this kind of thing – he’s literally from one of the most dangerous and influential mafias in the world. He even agrees that Reyes made the right choice. Moira has always been an “end justifies the means” kind of person. She probably understands Reyes’ thinking, even if his choice put them all in danger. She’s a devil’s advocate.
But McCree. McCree didn’t like it because it “felt like an execution”. Considering his background in the Deadlock gang, you’d think he’d be used to seeing leaders make themselves the judge, jury, and executioner. But that’s probably why he was shocked and angry to see Reyes do it. Reyes, who picked him up out of the filth and offered him a chance to be more than just a common gang member. Reyes, who saw potential in McCree when most everyone else wanted him thrown in jail. Reyes, the man McCree trusted, followed, and admired. This seems like the first thing Reyes has ever done that betrayed that trust. McCree “didn’t sign up for this” – he didn’t sign up for just another gang killing to get what they want. He had deluded himself into thinking he could use his sharpshooting for justice while working for Blackwatch… But instead found more of the same. This event really was the thing that made everything fall apart.
I think that Blackwatch Retribution cutscene opening tell a lot about their characters at that phase.
While McCree is between surprised and angry at Reyes for shooting Antonio because he never acted differently for what their initial plan was before (at least, he didn’t do anything to put the entire team in danger), Reyes clearly wanted revenge for what happened at their headquarters and he knew he couldn’t do anything else in the situation Antonio presented him. He probably thought Antonio would attack them inmediately after being released, and Reyes swore to not let that happen again and not let anyone else die. Of course he knew McCree would react that way, and that is why he doesn’t confront him back. He understands why Jesse is disappointed on him, after all.
The fact that only McCree reacted that way is because Genji just follows orders. He is not interested in if what they are doing is morally right or wrong and is not surprised for assassinate the target they were supossed to capture. He accepts he is their living weapon and that is why he seems to be prepared to kill the instant the alarm goes off. And what to say about Moira?? She is morally gray since ever. She already does anything in the name of science and she seems to be more interested in the new plan Reyes decides to follow.
I like the concept that Moira’s had her own agenda for…well… ever. And you can either help her with it, or you can stand aside, or you can be destroyed. And in a sense she did find a kindred spirit with Gabriel–Gabriel’s growing increasingly frustrated with the red tape holding Overwatch back, and no one seems to be willing to just… do what needs to be done. So Moira comes in like, “You need someone who isn’t afraid to turn you into a goddamn smoke monster. You need someone who won’t hesitate to suck the life out of someone to protect you, and here I am.” So in a lot of regards, he and Moira get each other, and both McCree and Genji get them to an extent, but I think McCree was aware for a long time that Moira is willing to go to lengths that he’s not willing to go to, and the “Retribution” mission sort of served as this turning point where McCree is forced to ask himself, “Is Reyes more like me, or Moira?”
Stop talking and start doing: My Fallout Shelter for my Tumblr blog 