#mara from tron: uprising

[jessfandrawer]

My Favorite Things: Kingdom Hearts

I've been revisiting my favorite fanart pieces (drawn by me). I thought it would be fun to find out what your favorites are!

Art and links to the original posts are beneath the poll.

SoKai and the Seven Dwarves

A Disney Castle Ball: Part 1 and Part 2

Mousercise

I See the Light

Roller-skate Aerith

Mandy Moore x Disney

Tidus and the Gullwings

Memory Under the Lake (not KH but it fits best in this group)

[vppacer]

For the color palette challenge: number 79 - feel good inc. for the garage kids from Tron >:3

Aight ^^

#79 - feel good inc / beck, bodhi, mara, zed (uprising) for anon :D

(I know damn well that they have a small band area somewhere in the garage to play music and have fun, their band name's garage kids, beck came up with it lmao)

[master-of-gaburincho]

TRON Uprising: The Garage Gang

That one underrated Disney show from 2012 that I have watched as recent as 2023 and ended up really loving it.

I drew these three (L-R: Mara, Beck, Zed) because I love them lots and also I wanted to experiment with humans in my artstyle. Their circuit lines sure were tricky to draw though 😭

Shoutout to @good-guy-2006 and @moonlightpearl27 for making me brainrot over this awesome show.

Reblogs > Likes

[moonlightpearl27]

So thanks to my friend @good-guy-2006 I finally watched Tron Uprising on Disney plus (I’ve only watched Tron Legacy but I absolutely love that movie and Quorra was my bisexual awakening) and ohhh my goodness it’s sosososoSO GOOD AND I’M VERY SAD AND UPSET THAT IT GOT CANCELLED UGHHH

I love Beck so much but oh man do I relate to him and kin him (that is a bit concerning for the people who’ve seen and know this show but that won’t stop me from making a Beck kinsona) and Beck X Paige and Zed X Mara are peak (also dang Beck is shippable but man got a trauma buffet throughout the series </3) and Pavel is very, very puntable /vneg

Oh man I have so many meme ideas and AU ideas brewing and fanart ideas etc etc but I don’t want to tell anyone because the haters will sabotage me </3 /lh /hj (it’s actually more that I want to keep them a surprise lol, but I’m open to talking to new people/potential friends and existing friends about it if they’ve seen the show)

I need to be more active on Tumblr and I wish I could easily do some Tron Uprising fanart right now but I’m going through an art style crisis/revamp, I’m art blocked a bit and I have boring college art classes I have to do work for *sobs* anyways TRON LIVES

[avaisnerdytoo]

In a perfect world, what would be your TRON 3 pitch?

It will be sooner rather than later when we get some kind of proper teaser for TR3N, and although we have some idea about what the movie will tackle, I am wildly nervous about it, I don't want to come in with the instant negative lens, but I am not feeling as excited about it under the current Disney approach.

Nevertheless, instead of indulging in negativity, I would adore to hear some pitches, if you wanna share or link or if Tronblr sees this haha, about what YOUR TRON 3 movie would look like and cover, whether it's a link to full on fanfic, or a pitch alongside what we know will happen in the movie.

- - - - - -

If you wanna read my ideal TRON 3, it would have these essentials, which will sound SUPER fan service, but just hear me out ight?

The Flynn Spark, the MacGuffin of Admin Privileges.

Ares, a program of the people LEARNS how to steps up.

Beck Lives, Argon doesn't.

Paige learns how to truly redeem herself.

A new trinity is formed (Ares, Paige, Beck) to supersede the last one (Flynn, Clu and Tron).

Full pitch as a read more, chapters go as follows:

The Grid's New Ruler?

Admin Privileges

The Renegade

The Race for Power

The Game of Flynn

The New Grid

THE GRID'S NEW RULER?

Something that I always found unique about The Grid is its insistence on a ruler of some kind, the original system had a master control program, the second had Flynn and then Clu 2.0.

Which then means that by the end of legacy, this is THE FIRST real time without a ruler within the Grid. It seems to me the goal for the actual TR3N movie is indeed to fill in that new blank spot, I don't mind if we get another monarch like ruler, nor would I mind if we had a democratic system haha, however what I do NEED out of that 3rd movie is a ruler which EARNS their seat.

Not by destiny, not by stumbling onto the role, but by knowing the responsibility it would require and to build from there.

Like Duke Leto Atreides would say: "A great man doesn't seek to lead, he's called to it and he answers".

ADMIN PRIVILEGES:

MY PITCH has the following MacGuffin: "The Flynn Spark", –or however you wanna call it– it is the literal admin privileges of the Grid, left behind after Legacy. Whoever touches it, and merges with it will get Flynn's control over the Grid, and a program, for the first time ever, will be the successor.

I am okay if Ares is said program, I have no ... clue... how he will behave, but for my pitch's sake, he pretty much has to be a man of the people, beloved in his region of origin, but naive about the true scale of systematic issues, which he needs to learn about as he travels across the Grid, meeting programs and understanding who willingly supported Clu, who didn't, and the in betweens. (I don't like when systematic issues are approached under the lens of individualism, or of single solutions, Ares is meant to learn that).

As expected, the whole of The Grid is a messy chaos, with no ruler, programs are scared and unsure who they can trust, because Ares has always been such a trustworthy program, people naturally reach out to him, in a similar way programs did to Abel in Uprising.

Whatever town he is from, like all others, is raided, chaotic, dangerous and divided.

THE RENEGADE:

The protector of the Uprising, now known as TRON, but once known as the Renegade, is working overtime.

You see, in my pitch, the true end of Uprising will have Argon destroyed, literally wiped from the code of the Grid after so much damage to the city, few have survived, even less where shown mercy (you can imagine how Bartik got to where he did for example), despite that, Beck kept fighting, after the captured TRON turned Rinzler, he has carried the torch since, improved his skills and brought former enemies to his cause, such as Paige. (Having Paige die as a chip on Beck's shoulder could be an easy escape goat, but I feel she's far too skilled for that, losing a whole city is punishing enough, whether it includes Mara and Zed is irrelevant to the pitch).

I always loved that in Legacy, Flynn surfaces the idea that if him and Sam wait long enough, Clu might be brought down from the inside, to me this has always meant that although we see a Grid seemingly perfectly ruled by Clu, this was always a facade, he very much is THE RULER, but not as absolute as we think, hence why he so desperately needed access to more power through Sam, through the world beyond.

Many, if not all in the grid know that the Renegade isn't actually TRON, maybe they know he's Beck, maybe they don't, but he is the only real contender to uphold order, and he is called into the role of the newest ruler, but without even the little administrative power Clu had, this is instantly not working.

Beck, only manages to become the de-facto ruler of a particular area of the Grid, wherever he had his base of operations, he would summon Ares to consult on the needs of the Grid, and together form a bond to improve their region.

THE RACE FOR POWER:

As time passes the now district based Grid ponders if there is a way to achieve power from what remained of Flynn (it could also be a vision to someone, or a message left behind by the last bit of Flynn, but I like to think that programs would be smart enough to deduce, that someone should be the literal admin in a system).

And as rumors fly, and programs who try to cross the Sea Of Simulation fail to come back, more people agree that whoever does cross CAN restore order to the Grid in whichever way they see fit.

This would mean different factions of all the districts would be in a race against each other, a race to engineer a vehicle capable of getting there, or to derezz the competition so no one can reach it (different factions can have different ideologies), etc, etc.

The best aspect of the additonal TRON Media, like the comics or the show, is its ability to expand the cultures of the Grid, I would want a full showcase of these, of the ones who would work together, and the ones that wouldn't.

THE GAME OF FLYNN:

However it has to be, we have our 3 figures in Paige, Beck and Ares, who race the other district representatives, once their vehicle is built, they ride or fly to the remains of the projector, but in the ever gaming spirit of Flynn, the region has become a literal trial by fire, that has stages in a game like format, to see who can survive reaching the Spark, this was Flynn's last action before dying, protecting what he held dear, Sam and Quorra first of course, but then his people, he basically had to have faith the Grid would survive without him, this is also why other programs who dared to try and cross the sea never came back.

How those stages look or what they represent I have no idea, but the logical thing is that it's both a physical test as well as a psychological one, because this is a pitch I don't know the intricacies of the mental journey's they would all face, but the notion is it would be written well to demand good character arcs and what not.

This would also be where we meet the original TRON once more... Or it could be... Admittedly this is the weakest part of my pitch, as I am unsure how to bring TRON back, honestly I can also imagine a pitch where the first thing Beck did was go and find TRON, but because I want this to be the next phase of the Grid, I honestly want TRON to rest, and live a life that is his, not just under his programming.

But the ever loyal soldier, is also the final stage of the game, not one to beat by fists, but one to win over with their heart.

THE NEW GRID:

Of course however, Tron would instantly clock in Beck and basically let him pass freely, but part of the journey they have gone through would be to understand that Beck is a protector, not a ruler.

Does this mean that then Ares should rule? I still think not, but I think he would earn the Flynn spark nonetheless, but flip the expectations of that head role.

I think of all 3 of my leads, Paige is best fit for the job of a ruler, if I had to understand their roles best, I'd compare it to the original trinity:

Flynn was a creator, and a dreamer. For me, that could be Ares, hence why he was naive at first, but through his journey why he would become a better inventor. A good engineer needs guidance however, and the levelheadedness of Paige, her intelligence, responsibility and essential care for others would make her best to politically lead a society, and to flip the lost cycles of serving under Clu, she would inform Ares of what the Grid needs in a way he couldn't see alone. And Beck, forever the shoulder to rest on, he had found his path a long time ago, but he is finally relieved of the pressure not to be something he is not, but to exceed in what he has always been, a guiding light, a protector, a moral compass, and a leader.

I am sure some fighting would occur anyways, but frankly a stronger Beck and an ever badass Paige would probably win...

This leaves TRON free for once, free to find connection, to find love or whatever he wants... He would still advice from time to time, but I think that's what he deserves after so many years of service.

BUT THAT'S WHY IT'S A PITCH HEHEHEH, not everything is best, and it assumes that upon script conversion the very evident flaws or lack of substance would be better yk?

I dunno, literally just an idea, clearly SUPER heavy on Uprising lore because I love it, but finding ways to assume the presence of Yori, Ram, elements of Identity, etc. I honestly prefer a TR3N that by now just focuses on the Grid, even if the movie will clearly not do that fully hshsh.

[wynandcore]

I am constantly rocking back and forth about potential religious imagery and philosophical topics they could’ve handled in uprising s2. Cyrus’ talks about fate and things simply being programmed and predestined. Tron’s status as a ‘fallen angel’, not fitting the pedestal he was once rooted to, doomed to fall further down until he’s lost himself. Mara ‘hating the sin, not the sinner’, despising what the Renegade did to Able, but still rallying for his cause. Beck spreading the word of Tron like it’s the word of gospel, being punished for it by non-believers. Beck and the myth of Sisyphus. Programs breaking free from their programming and finding their own purposes and paths in life. Ouhhh I need a minute

[thealmightyemprex]

Sci Fi Month Tron Uprising: Renegade parts 1 & 2

Watched Tron with @the-blue-fairie and @piterelizabethdevries and I got curious and decided to check out a few episodes of the spin off animated series

In this 2012 two parter,Trons(Bruce Boxleitner ) protege Beck (Elijah Wood) accidently finds himself in a prisioner transport and forced to compete in the games ,where he befriends a veteren named Cutler (Lance Reddick ),meanwhile Becks friend Zed (Nate Corddry ) falls for a program named Perl (Kate Mara )

Will say first aside from first movie fanservice ,I reallly found Zed side plot kind of dull .Main plot is great ,a brutal gladitorial game with fire worn friendship between Beck and Cutler.Also a good showcase of the villains,I especially like the sleazy Pavel voiced brillaintly by Paul Reubins and Lance Henriksen is wonderfully cold as main baddie Tessler .Cutler is a cool character,voiced excelently by Reddik .Also the animation and action are top notch

PRetty good two parter and showcase of the show

@ariel-seagull-wings @the-blue-fairie @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @themousefromfantasyland @princesssarisa @piterelizabethdevries @filmcityworld1 @countesspetofi

[tumbleweeddesktop]

Hello yes please rant tron wriolette at me

Buckle up and get some snacks

Ok so this is sorta following both the uprising and legacy storyline but deviates as well. Also not really far from the genshin setting it's just... Tron.

Neuvillette is an Alpha-class ISO born from the sea of simulation, but hides himself because he's still not sure how he'd be accepted by the grid again. Meanwhile Wriothesley is sorta the new/upcoming light bike racer/disc warrior that made him gain Focalors' trust to be given charge of the large part of keeping the grid safe. He's basically taking on Tron's role

Focalors and Furina are the ones now governing The Grid, with Furina as the face while Focalors as the actual head. Neuvillette serves as their proxy (I like focalor and furina ruling tgt im sorry) and they know who Neuvillette is.

Wriothesley is in contact with Furina most of the time due to her being the more public one and he'd heard of this mysterious 'Neuvillette' but never actually met him.

They met one way or another and Wriothesley has a sense that Neuvillette is old, like he's not a usual program. He mostly keeps it at bay but when a virus nearly spreads, Neuvillette catches on the changes of the grid faster than everyone and knows that he has to contact Wriothesley since he's the best one to weed things out the fastest.

Wriothesley ofc solves the problem but gets even more confused since the virus is barely evolving but Neuvillette knows before even him and Clorinde.

But the virus spreads anyway and even with Wriothesley's fast responses he could barely mitigate the spread. Neuvillette was eventually sent down to help him by Focalors' order so now Wriothesley and Neuvillette has to work together to prevent the virus from spreading.

For Neuvillette's design in Tron I think he'll follow the flow of Clu's design that Kerswellian posts on his blog but his robe is obviously changed to Neuvillette's robe design and his inner suit resembles Quorra's, his line colour is blue to better blend in with the programs. Here's Kers's Clu, but definitely check out the blog post he made, and here's Quorra's concept to movie

While Wriothesley's suit will resemble Tesler's that was designed by Rob Valley but with the fur on the collar

His line colour would also be red, but not the jarring type but the sweet cherry type red and his scars will be closed up derezzed marks just like in this concept art

While his inner suit resembles Mara's with different lining

That's all I got for now, sorry if this was a long one and feel free to add your own

[zzdigital]

While watching through Tron Uprising I noticed that there are 3 villains (2 boys and a girl) and Beck's friend group is 3 people (2 boys and a girl) and i was like cool! Maybe they're set up as parrallels or something.

Matching Zed to Pavel works easily enough. They're both self-centered (though Zed narrowly pulls back from going villain, while Pavel embraces it) they're smart, Zed is a genius, inventing a new weapon and a bike that goes 30% faster than anything used before. That's a huge jump! Pavel's smarts are less seen, focusing more on scheming, but he is the one who gives his boss an upgrade for dealing with the renegade.

Mara to Paige and Beck to Tessler though? They really weren't lining up, and then i switched them.

Beck and Paige are both programs who fixed things, as a mechanic and a medic respectively, before finding and impressing their mentor figures. They are the ones who show you aren't bound by your programming, something that stands out normally and especially under CLU's regime. They're both motivated by wanting to save people, they just see the other as doing it the wrong way.

Which leaves Mara to line up with Tessler. Tessler. Tessler is in charge of CLU's forces in Argon city. He's a cruel program, but also a slave to PR and can be talked out of his initial judgements given the right, people pleasing angle. Mara gets an episode of being in charge of the garage and she struggles, letting others walk over her. She wants her people to be happy, too. She does find her footing as a boss by the end though and her arc doesn't end with that. She becomes the leader of the first resistance group to come after the renegade starts making trouble for the occupation. While they don't last, she shows herself to be the one people rally around again in the finale as the rebellion officially begins.

[spotlightstudios]

Finally posting this!

@neonsix67 suggested the first row of characters, Bill Cypher of Gravity Falls, Willow Park of The Owl House, and Hordak of She-Ra! (This is the reason I'm actively losing my mind over that guy, btw-)

@alanbradleyofficial suggested Mara to me from TRON: Uprising! (I think??? It was a verbal convo last week and I'm crap at remembering things qwq- this gal is super cool tho!)

An old pal who is not on here suggested Sun-Eater from BNHA!

Then finally, a personal choice from yours truly being Dream!Sans of Dreamtale by Jokublog! (Haha... I think Dream is a character forever relatable to my existence ij my mind-)

The first 3 were done on Procreate and the last 3 were on MedibangPaintPro btw. Procreate twas obliterated for me before I could finish, so inconsistent art style for the win!

[antidepressantsandlightcycles]

Motorcity is very swag yo!!

This is what I like besides TRON atm

Speaking of tron, I feel like Mara from uprising and Julie Kane would be great friends

PLS PLS PLS WATCH MOTORCITY

[saratogaroadwrites]

Tron: Liberation (15/15)

Tron: Liberation | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount: 106,965 characters: Tron, Beck, Mara, Zed, Paige, Pavel, Tesler, Clu 2, Dyson, Yori, Quorra, Original Siren Character relationships: Tron & Beck, Beck & Mara & Zed, Tron/Yori other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Continuation, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

The Game has changed. The Revolution has begun. With Tron healed and once more in the fight for the Grid, the war has begun. But Clu will not give up so easily, and this is a war that will be fought in the streets. But it is a war that Beck and Tron intend to win, so long as they can do one thing first:

Survive.

[AU: Fanmade Season 2]

=

“Almost ready?” Beck asked, startling Zed from where he was fiddling with something on his bike. Zed smiled at him, looking over the crowd of former Argon mechanics. Though more than one bore a long-term patch from the Uprising’s events, they had all pulled through. Even Link, timid as he was, had managed to make it through with his limbs and disk intact. He’d even gained confidence, Beck realized, watching him hold his own against Hopper’s now good-natured ribbing. Whatever the crew had gone through in Ferrum had been good for them. At his side, Zed nodded.

“Almost. Just waiting on Mara and we’ll head out.”

“You could stay here,” Beck said, crossing his arms over his chest, “There’ll be plenty of need for mechanics around here for a while.”

“Nah,” Zed waved a hand in the air, “Tron gave Mara Area-Admin access to Argon.” He smiled ruefully at Beck’s wide-eyed look. "We're gonna rebuild the city, and this time?” He raised a hand, one finger pointed to the airspace above them, “This time, it’ll have a Sailor port."

Beck blinked. Zed beamed at him. For a few nanos there was silent, and then neither seemed to be able to help it: they both laughed. A micro later, Zed tilted his head as their mirth subsided, “You could come with us, though. Go back to your root and everything; there’s always a place for you with us, you know.”

“I know, but…”

Beck looked over his shoulder at where Yori was speaking with Mara, Tron standing a pace behind his partner. He seemed taller now, somehow, standing even straighter than when he’d been healed. So much had changed in the last seven triples since Clu’s deresolution, but not everything. Despite his changed circuits, despite the broad command pattern splayed across his back and the nearly pure white color of each and every circuit, Tron was still Tron. Still steady, brave, and more reckless than he’d let on. Beck himself, however, had changed. He and everyone who’d known him before the Occupation had first come to Argon knew it. Somehow he still felt more at home here, tracking down lingering sentries and blackguard, then he ever had fixing bikes. Going back to the wreckage of Argon, even to rebuild it…he just couldn’t.

And so he shook his head, looking back at his old friend.

“I’m sure about this.” He said firmly. "I'm still needed here. But hey--" he reached out, patting Zed on the arm, "I'll come visit. Once you get that port going, we’ll be back and forth all the time.”

For a handful of nanos, Zed was silent. Then his eyes went soft.

“Yeah, you better,” He said, reaching over to pull Beck into a quick hug. They held on only for another handful of nanos, then pulled away from one another as Mara’s footsteps clicked behind them.

“Oh, don’t break up the moment on my account,” She said amusedly as they both turned to face her, her hands on her hips and new pattern of actual Command designation bright across her frame. It couldn’t match her smile as she continued, “Grid knows you two are going to missing each other the nano we leave.”

The two of them shared a look. Zed stepped back with both hands up in a defensive, don’t look at me, gesture. Mara outright laughed at that, causing Beck to turn back around and give her a knowing look. She grinned, before her face went soft and she stepped into his reach. He didn’t hesitate and pulled her into an embrace, holding her close for just a few nanos. Her arms came up, one hand cupping the back of his neck.

“Take care of yourself,” He whispered to her. She nodded and pulled back, smiling as she held onto both of his elbows while he kept his hands on her shoulders. The transmission of [friend/trust/care] was a loop from one to the other, and her eyes gleamed with amusement.

“I’ll be fine. It’s Zed and the others you should be worried about.”

“Hey…” Zed protested without any real heat. They both turned to him, still holding on to one another. He stared at them for a long nano, then shook his head. “This isn’t goodbye, you two. Not for good, anyway.” He smiled warmly and stepped over, arms outstretched. “Come on. One more for the road?”

Beck and Mara both laughed, but extended their arms towards him. He stepped in to the huddle, pulling them both close until they were shoulder to shoulder in a tight circle, foreheads brushing and hands clinging to anything they could reach. From the beginning, as far back as Beck could remember, they and Bodhi had been with him. Bodhi was long gone now, having left only the three of them, and now he had to let them go too. It hurt, an ache that caught in his core and made it skip, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

So he let them go, the first to break the huddle and pull away. Zed kept an arm around Mara’s shoulders, and both of them smiled sadly at Beck as he leaned back.

This wouldn’t be the last time he saw them, he knew, but it still felt like it.

“Almost forgot.” He reached back, pulling a white baton from his secondary holster. Zed and Mara’s eyes both went wide as he held it up for them to see. “Tron wanted you two to have this.”

Mara reached out with trembling fingers, almost as if she was afraid just touching the baton would cause it to shatter. She jolted when Beck dropped it into her palms, before she closed her fingers around it and held it close to her chest.

“Able’s 786…” Her voice broke. Zed reached out to steady her with a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up. “Beck…”

He shook his head. “Keep it. He’d have wanted you to have it. Besides,” He smiled, “It goes with your new look.”

She huffed out a shaky laugh, but nodded before reaching for his hand. With one final squeeze of his fingers and a soft [friend] she pulled back.

“Take care of yourself,” She said as she and Zed stepped back in one motion. Zed raised a hand to his head, giving Beck a two fingered salute and a warm grin, before the two of them turned away and strode into the crowd of mechanics. Beck raised a hand to wave goodbye as Ray and Bartik looked over at him, and he grinned as Mara cracked open the 786 to rez it onto the road, startling several of the Mechanics. The white code gleamed in the light of the capitol, the rev of its engine echoing through the streets.

If Beck had to say one thing about Old System code, it was that it knew how to work. Mara took off like a shot, Zed a nano behind her, and with a cacophony of thuds the others pursued. With a frown and a hard swallow, Beck dropped his hand back to his side. He stood there, watching as his old crew left him behind. That he had chosen this, that he knew it was the right thing for all of them, didn’t make his core ache any less. He startled suddenly, turning as Paige silently stepped up beside him, their shoulders brushing. Together they watched the convoy of bikes head out south across the Outlands, led by the bright speck of white that Mara was quickly becoming. Paige reached for his hand and he clasped his fingers around hers, never taking his eyes off of the bikes. They stood there in a soft yet easy silence, watching until the last of the bikes had disappeared into the darkness. Then she turned to look up at him, smiling just a little.

“Come on, Tron,” She poked his arm with her other hand as she began to turn her back to the Outlands, “We’ve got work to do.”

With a laugh, he let her pull him away, back into the city proper.

—-

A shadow walked through the capitol. The hum beneath Tron’s feet didn’t quite know how to classify it, or maybe he didn’t understand how to read that new note that buzzed through his heels. It caught in his core like a bad read; he rolled his shoulders, leaning in closer to Yori’s clear note as she read off a tablet to give him the latest news. Xenon and Thallium had both overthrown their hold-out Generals in the seven triples since Clu’s deresolution, the Basics herding up the soldiers and sentries into a warehouse on the outskirts of either city for quarantine.

He’d have to figure out a way to undo their repurposing somehow. Most of Clu’s forces had been security programs like his old team, and none had deserved their fates. Any of them still functional he would need to fix…somehow. He just wasn’t sure how yet. There was a lot to process in his new position, and no one to ask how to process any of it. Especially the constant hum and odd notes that kept ringing through his frame from time to time.

The discordant sound grew louder. He looked up, looking around for the cause. Beck stood on Yori’s other side, a steady tone even with the tense line to his shoulders as he listened to Yori explain that Radon and Ferrum had both completely destroyed their Occupation remnants, the streets glowing red with cubes and shattered disks. Beck had almost glowed with pride as he realized that meant his former coworkers had torn through their host city without a single injury or casualty, though Tron could see the sad edge to his smile anyway.

Though the uprising had come to a relatively peaceful end, it hadn’t been without its costs.

And maybe one of those costs was Tron’s stability. The discordant note grew even louder, causing him to grimace and rub at his ears as if that would help. Yori paused in her reading, looking at him with concern written across her face, an odd addition to the soft sound that he’d come to attach to her, and on her other side Beck looked at him with a frown. He opened his mouth to reassure them, then stopped as a shadow moved from the alleyway behind Beck, approaching the young program’s back. Tron couldn’t move fast enough, not with Yori between them, but something must have shown on his face because Beck tensed up and turned his head sharply. Tron could see the moment he realized someone had been sneaking up on him, his tense figure loosening into a combat stance.

“Hey!”

He reached out, grabbing onto the darkness that wasn’t a shadow, but a cloak with all circuits turned off. In that same nano Tron pulled Yori back behind him; she shouted in alarm, her tablet clattering to the ground as she reached for her disk instead, drawing the attention of a dozen programs around them. Each drew their disks, watching as Beck grabbed the cloaked program with both hands and shoved them into the wall of the Admin Tower just behind the little group. There was a grunt as they impacted, Beck’s arm across the back of their neck.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” He asked in a surprisingly calm voice. For their part, the program coughed and tried to turn their head, the hood of their long coat just glimmering with a bright white interior circuit. Tron frowned. Bright white? While most programs still bore pale blue, white itself was only for those firmly on the side of the Users. Even his circuits still had the faintest hint of blue. But this…his eyes narrowed as the wall glimmered, fractal lines beginning to spread from where each of the program’s hands rested. His core lurched sharply to a halt.

“Flynn,” He breathed. Though he was unable to get enough volume for Beck to hear him past the growing murmur of the crowd, Yori turned suddenly wide eyes on him. Over Beck’s shoulder, Tron could just see a pale blue eye. Shocked, he couldn’t move as Yori stepped forward and placed a hand on Beck’s shoulder.

“Let him go,” She said, then glanced at the Creator, held there beneath the last program rezzed onto the Grid, “It’s alright.”

Beck frowned at her. He looked back at Tron, then at Yori once more. He inclined his head in wordless question; when she nodded, he frowned but stepped back, letting Flynn catch his footing and his breath with a cough. He didn’t, however, apologize. Nor did he move from between Yori and Flynn as Flynn turned around and lowered his hood. Instead, Beck stiffened and reached back to place himself firmly between Yori and the apparent reappearance of Clu.

Tron really was proud of him. Flynn, for his part, just seemed amused.

“Hey, Tron,” He coughed again, “Long time no see?”

“Very long,” Yori said, gently pressing Beck’s arm down. Beck turned to give her a wide-eyed look, but she shook her head and stepped up beside him. Beck turned to give that same look to Tron, but Tron only frowned. He couldn’t blame Beck for his confusion, or his wariness. Though Flynn had gained lines on his face and his hair had lost a good deal of its color, there was no way to miss the similarities between his face and Clu’s. Even so, Flynn’s smile was infinitely warmer as Yori continued, “We should take this inside.” She glanced at Tron, then over his shoulder at the milling crowd. Flynn shifted his weight, hands disappearing under his arms.

“Yeah…” Flynn sighed, “That’s probably a good idea.” He turned to the doorway into the Tower, only to stop dead in his tracks as the door wouldn’t open. The Admin Tower had once opened for all. In Clu’s cycle, he’d locked it to himself, his Honor Guard, and several of his highest advisors that were all now awaiting a way to shake off their repurposing.

Tron had locked it for the time being, allowing only himself, Yori, Beck, and Quorra non-escorted entry. He had to step forward to key open the door to let Flynn in and felt that wizened gaze on his back as Beck and Yori brought up the rear. The door closed behind the pair of them, keeping the crowd out. Tron stopped in the center of the former lobby, then turned to them.

“You two go and calm them down,” Tron gestured over Yori’s shoulder, the programs milling about just outside the door. Beck and Yori exchanged a look, unsure. Warmth uncoiling around his core, Tron offered them a tiny smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Neither seemed convinced. Again, Yori rested a hand on Beck’s arm for a nano before she turned away. The young program sighed.

“Alright. Ping us if you need help.”

Flynn almost seemed to laugh from where he’d stepped to the side, examining the lobby with the bearing of a program who’d been away from home far too long and no longer recognized it. Beck gave his back a frown before padding out after Yori; the doors opened more easily from this side, sliding open to let in the murmur of the crowd before sliding shut and taking the noise with it. Tron tapped his foot to the ground, darkening the glass before he turned to Flynn. Flynn had already turned back around, his eyes taking in Tron’s new circuits and the white glow of the tower around them. Then he smiled faintly.

“System Admin, huh?” Flynn whistled lowly, “That’s…impressive.”

“Someone had to step up,” Tron said coolly. Flynn flinched, lowering himself to sit on the arm of a couch. Tron looked at him, actually getting a chance to take in the face of an old friend. He could still remember what Flynn’s face had looked like five hundred some cycles ago, and now…

The cycles had gotten to Flynn, too. His face was more wrinkled, his hair a lighter color than before, and his eyes were tired. He rubbed at them with the pads of his ungloved fingers, shoulders slumped. Tron slowly lowered himself to lean against a couch opposite his old friend, but didn’t turn his back on Flynn. A micro, then two, ticked by before Flynn looked up.

“…Tron,” He said in a low, soft voice, “I’m sorry. You tried to warn me, but I…”

“Didn’t listen?” Tron sighed through his nose. Five hundred cycles ago, he had tried to warn Flynn against Clu’s quickly growing power and dreams of destruction. Five hundred cycles ago, Flynn hadn’t listened. Torn between two worlds, Flynn hadn’t been able to cope or maybe even understand the cost his actions. For five hundred cycles, the consequences hadn’t been his to bear.

Or maybe, Tron thought to himself as he watched Flynn flinch hard and pull back a few millimeters, he’d had his own trials to face since the last time they’d spoken. Tron shook his head. This wasn’t a discussion he’d ever wanted to have. Not yet, at least; it still felt far too fresh to process. There was only one thing he wanted to do right now.

“I won’t say it’s fine. But…” He paused for a couple of nanos, turning his words over his in his processor, before he nodded. “I can accept your apology on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Flynn asked in a hopeful voice.

“That we get you home.” Tron stood up straight. Flynn blinked like a startled beta, then drew back. His skin paled as Tron continued, “Five hundred cycles is nearly ten of your world’s years, isn’t it?

“Over that…” Flynn whispered. Then he buried his head in the palm of one hand, fingers clutching at his scalp. “Sam…oh, Sammy…”

Tron’s core lurched hard. He gave Flynn a micro to try and compose himself, then began to step towards him.

“He’d be eighteen years old now,” Flynn said before Tron could speak up, “He wouldn’t look any older then your beta back there.”

“Beck.” Tron corrected in a more gentle tone than he thought himself capable of at that nano. Flynn looked up, eyes rimmed with red. His smile shook, bottom lip trembling.

“You found him,” Flynn breathed. Tron tilted his head.

“He found me,” Tron chose then and there not to mention Cyrus. Flynn wasn’t stable enough to handle that on top of everything else he was dealing with. “It’s because of him that we’re here. If it wasn’t for Beck, then…” He took in a deep, steadying breath. “I wouldn’t be here. Clu would still be in command. The Grid might be gone.” They owed him more than Tron would ever be able to say. Flynn seemed to realize this, and his eyes grew distant for a nano before he nodded. He swallowed hard, then slow took in a steadying breath of his own.

“And I guess I’d still be in the Outlands,” He said. He shook his head as if to shake off a thought. “But now we’re here, and we can work with that.” He took another breath. “I just need to get the Portal open again.”

“How?” Tron frowned, “You said it couldn’t be opened from here.”

“There…” Flynn grimaced, “Might be a way to get it open again, if I can get access to the terminal in the Access Station.” He smiled ruefully as he looked up. “Is it still intact?”

“Mostly,” Tron’s frown deepened. “The external facade took a hit during the Uprising but the inside looked alright—” He paused for a nano then looked Flynn dead in the eye. “You told me you couldn’t open it from this side.”

“And I can’t.” Flynn stood up, dusting his pants off. “But somebody from the outside can, and I know one guy who’ll answer the call.”

He couldn’t mean--Tron’s core lurched. Flynn turned a wry smile on him.

“How would you like to finally meet Alan-One, Tron?”

He meant it.

—

At the edge of the Capitol, far past where any program had any real need or right to go, was a long bridge over the Sea. Pillars of raw code floated above the churning blackness of the still viral waters below, the distant thunder reverberating off every one of them. The bridge itself led to a platform shaped much like the disks of the Old System, meant to harness the power of the Portal and serve as the User’s exit point from the Grid.

No program had been out this way in a very long time, said the stillness beneath Tron’s feet. For the past half milli he’d stood guard, watching Flynn continue to tap at a terminal that Tron had called up for him, listening to the crash of the Sea and the roar of the approaching storm, he could understand why. There was a certain weight to this place, one that he couldn’t bear the idea of carrying for long.

It wasn’t meant for programs. This space was for the Users, and the Users alone. He couldn’t wait to get out of this space and leave it behind.

“So that’s where the Portal opens up?” Beck asked suddenly. Tron startled out of his thoughts, just now realizing the strong tone beneath his feet had come up again. Yori’s chime-like note followed, but Tron turned on Beck. Beck just smiled softly and shrugged as if to ask him, “What?”

"I thought I told you to wait with the others."

Beck huffed out a laugh, turning back to watch Flynn.

"Since when have I listened to what you tell me?" He snarked. On Tron's other side, Yori giggled. She waved a hand in the air when he turned on her.

"Nothing, nothing, it's just--" She smiled up at him. "He's just like you were at that stage.”

Tron grimaced. Yori laughed harder at him, not bothering to hide her amusement, and even Beck seemed far too amused for his own good. With a huff, Tron turned his attention back to Flynn. The User had stopped tapping away at the terminal, and now had his eyes on the airspace above his head.

“Moment of truth,” Flynn said. Nearly a triple before, he’d managed to establish contact with his own world through a small binary string of code he’d once programmed to contact him within the Grid. Now all laughter stopped as up above them, the Portal slowly began to open. First, a byte of light appeared high above their heads. Tron watched with his core in his throat as the light expanded line by line, first in width, then in height. It touched the base of the platform with a solid-sounding thump and whump of air blowing at Flynn’s coat and Yori’s hair, casting everything around them into stark contrast. The high chime like note of untapped power, almost like static, rang through the Grid and buzzed up Tron’s spine. He shifted his weight to compensate, felt more than saw that Yori and Beck remained at his sides, and took a breath.

From within the Portal, a figure began to emerge. They wore a coat much like Flynn did, with User-white circuits stark against the black of the Grid’s render, and light gleamed off of spectacles on their face. A second note started up beneath Tron’s feet, the same discordant tone that Flynn carried, but somehow clearer, softer, less raw.

Alan-One, sang Tron’s core. He forced it down, watching as Flynn moved.

“Alan!” He shouted, and before Alan-One had even had a chance to properly step out of the Portal Flynn was on him, dragging his old friend into a breath stealing embrace. Alan-One nearly toppled but caught himself at the last nano, causing Yori to cant her head to the side. Beck shifted his weight as they all watched the pair of Users reunite after five hundred cycles. Before too long, the pair of them broke away from one another, and Alan-One cast his gaze around.

“My God…” He breathed, almost too soft to pick up, “This is what you were talking about?” Alan-One extended a hand, spreading it wide to encompass the Grid. “This is your Miracle?”

Flynn sagged, Alan-One’s hand still on his arm. Quorra, Tron knew, had refused to join them. Refused to so much as talk to Flynn in the triple since he’d reappeared in the Capitol and begun the process of leaving. He’d called the Isos his miracle, but the Basics weren’t them. Tron squared his shoulders as Flynn continued, “…Kind of. This is…” He shook his head. “It’s complicated, Alan. It’ll take days to explain.” He looked back over his shoulder at the three programs. His eyes softened slightly. Alan-One followed his gaze and went rigid.

“Flynn…is that supposed to be—”

Flynn stepped back. He spread his arms as he turned, as if to encompass everything all around them. Tron’s core lurched as one of Flynn’s hands pointed at him.

“Alan,” Flynn shrugged, shoulders up by his ears, “This is Tron, Yori, and Beck.”

It was like looking in a mirror of sorts. Tron could recognize his own face in Alan-One, the same nose, eyes, cheekbones. Alan-One’s hair was lighter, much like Flynn’s, and Tron wondered if that was an effect of User’s runtimes growing longer. Alan-One looked right at him, awe and understanding spreading across his face. Tron forced himself to stand his ground, to not drop to a knee and beg his User’s forgiveness for failing his directive, even if the game had been rigged from the start.

Alan-One looked from Tron to Beck, then to Yori, before his eyes went wide and he looked at Flynn instead. His jaw hung wordlessly open, eyes blown wide. Flynn shrugged himself higher, somehow looking like he wanted to pull his head into his body. Alan-One looked back to Tron then, staring for another handful of nanos before he took in a deep breath the exact same way Tron did and turned on Flynn.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” He hissed and grabbed Flynn by the arm. “Once I get you home to Sam.”

“Sam…” Flynn breathed. He looked up at the Portal for a long few nanos, then shook his head. He stepped back from Alan-One as Yori made a choked off noise in the back of her throat. Tron was too stunned to do even that: all that talk of opening the Portal, actually being able to open it and bring Alan-One here, and now he wasn’t going to leave?! Alan-One stared in equal shock as Flynn shook his head again.

“No, there’s things I need to do here. Things that I need to—”

“Your mother is in the hospital—Sam is seventeen and he needs his father!” Alan-One bellowed. Moving with a quickness Tron didn’t think possible from a User he grabbed Flynn by the collar of his coat with both hands and lifted him up, struck by a sudden rage. Beck stiffened at Tron’s side; Tron took an aborted step forward as the Grid buzzed beneath his heels, humming like a struck wire at the threat of violence between Users. “You can’t expect me to go back and tell him you’re fine but abandoned him by choice!”

Flynn opened his mouth, skin pale and feet nearly off the ground--

“Go home, Flynn,” Tron forced himself to say through a tight intake, startling them both back to the present nano. “Go back to your world. We can handle things here. Fix things ourselves.”

“Like we’ve been doing from the start?” Beck snarked quietly, voice trembling only a little as Alan-One set Flynn back down, the pair of Users staring at the two of them. Tron’s lips quirked upwards just a touch, but then his smile dropped as Flynn’s expression changed. His eyes were wide, wild with something Tron couldn’t quite name, something he didn’t quite want to name. He held his ground as Flynn shrugged away from Alan-One to step closer and spread his hands, reaching towards the three of them.

"I can fix everything!" Flynn spread his hands wide, "Make it all like it was before!"

Tron frowned. Behind Flynn, Alan-One watched with the oddest look on his face.

“How?” Tron asked.

“A system restore,” Flynn said, taking a step forward with his hands extended towards Tron, “It probably won’t bring the Isos back, but everyone else—they’ll all be here again! Everyone you all lost, like nothing ever happened!” He laughed a little. It sounded like Clu. Tron forced the thought down as Flynn continued, “Heck, it’d be exactly like that! Just like rolling back the clock!”

Tron looked to Yori for a nano, unsure. She frowned back at him, opening her mouth to say something.

"We won't remember anything that happened." Beck said suddenly. Everyone looked at him, but his eyes were on Flynn and Flynn alone. "If you turn back the system clock, you'll erase our memory, too."

Tron looked back to Flynn. The User grimaced, shrugging slowly.

"Not on purpose?"

"Flynn..." Alan-One groaned into the palm of his hand. Beside Tron, Beck shook his head and stepped back out of reach.

"No." He said firmly, "You don't get to do that." He frowned. "Creator or not, you weren’t here when we needed you. You don’t get to swoop in now that it’s over and just erase everything we’ve gone through.” He looked at Tron, then put a hand to his chest where both had nearly had the mark carved right off of them. “That makes you no better than Clu.”

Flynn flinched hard. He stepped back, away from Beck’s hard stare as if it were some physical thing, and looked to Yori instead. If he hoped to find any support or softness there, he’d be sorely disappointed. Tron watched with no small measure of pride uncurling in his core as she slashed a hand through the air before Flynn could even speak.

“Don’t try and say you’re not,” She turned that slash into a single finger pointed at him, “Clu was formed from you, Flynn. Your ideas, your thoughts, your core. You may have given him a bad directive, but you were still his User.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “That connection goes both ways, you know.”

Flynn’s grimace only got deeper. He looked like he’d downed a whole canister of bad energy. Yori sighed.

“Besides, it’s out of your hands now.” She tilted her head. “You’d need Admin level access to enact that kind of a change, and you don’t have it anymore.” She looked up at Tron with a faint smile. “She’s already chosen a new System Administrator for herself.” Her smile disappeared as she turned back to Flynn, gaping at the pair of them like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing or hearing, and leveled him with a look so hard it would have broken Outland stone. "I think you should go home, Flynn. You have a life out there."

"Damn right he does." Alan-One took Flynn by the arm, pulling him back to the Portal despite his protests. Then Alan-One stopped for a moment and looked back at them. He locked eyes with Tron.

“I’ll take care of things from the outside,” He said, “If there’s anything you need, then…just leave a message. It could be a while.”

They would be on their own, said the look in Alan-One’s eyes. How that would be any different from the past five hundred cycles, he just didn’t know. Still, Tron nodded in acceptance of this fact. Then he looked to Flynn one more time. Flynn looked back at him with beseeching eyes, wordlessly begging for a chance to stay, a chance to set things right the way he should have, the way he thought he could.

To Flynn, he shook his head. Flynn’s shoulders slumped: he understood precisely what that gesture meant and stopped struggling in Alan-One’s grasp. Tron watched, with Yori and Beck on either side of him, as Alan-One stepped into the glow of the Portal with Flynn at his side. The three programs watched as the two Users raised their disks into the light and vanished into voxels, carried away out of the Grid and back to their world. What would happen to them now, Tron couldn’t say. A large part of him really didn’t care.

The rest hoped Flynn would find some measure of peace the same way that Tron had. He looked at Beck from the corner of his eye, taking in the frown curved across the young program’s face. Flynn had to face his own offshoot now, his own beta. How Sam would react to Flynn’s return after the last five hundred cycles, Tron did not want to know.

Still, he hoped it would go well. It would be nice if something did.

The light ahead of them flickered, drawing Tron’s attention back to the Portal. With the Users now on the other side, one of them must have begun to sever the connection between User World and Grid. It shrunk in on itself first, losing all width until it was only a handful of pixels wide, and then began to dim and collapse in on itself in a spot high above their heads. Tron reached for Yori’s hand, and she clasped her fingers around his as the once steady beam of light became only a single, luminous byte in the airspace above them. They all watched, wordlessly, as the byte hung there for a few nanos.

Then, without any fanfare, it winked out as if it had never existed at all. All that remained was the crash of the sea beneath them, the wind all around, and the soft, peaceful hum of the Grid beneath Tron’s feet.

For perhaps the last time, Users had left the Grid.

For perhaps the rest of their runtime, the programs were alone.

——

Nearly six hundred cycles after he had been exiled, Tron looked over the city that shared his name and breathed in the peace. Flynn was gone, spirited away to the User World for Alan-One to handle. Clu was gone, unable to harm anyone anymore. Though there were still soldiers left to repurpose, the surviving programs were safe now. There was even talk that a handful of Isos had survived, and with Quorra’s help were settling a small colony deep within the Outlands.

It wasn’t a total victory, marred by setbacks as it was, but against all the odds they had made it. The Grid hummed beneath his feet, not quite strong and healthy, but more vibrant than She’d been in too long. It was comforting.

It made things easier. Peering down at the disk mod in his hand, he contemplated. Was there even a need for this anymore? Programs had proven that they could defend themselves. They didn’t need any watchful guardians looking over them from above.

Or maybe they did. Clu’s words echoed in Tron’s processor, a warning and a threat in one. Were they just words? Or had he truly meant what he’d said? Without being able to ask him it was hard to tell, and yet…as much as he should have, Tron simply wasn’t ready to cross that bridge yet. Not after everything that had happened. Maybe he never would be. Maybe he’d leave handling any more threats to Alan-One.

Maybe. For now, he was content with things as they were. He looked from the mod to the window, Beck’s reflection drawing closer as the young program walked over from the lift, footsteps quiet in the early milli silence.

“Thought I’d find you up here.” Beck said quietly, coming up to stand beside Tron. “You’re really fond of heights, aren’t you?”

With a soft smile, Tron nodded.

“Something like that. Here—” He passed the disk mod to Beck. “I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“Plug it in. You’ll see.”

Beck frowned, but his eyes were light. “You know, the last time you gave me something like this, we ended up overthrowing an Occupation. What’s next? The User World?”

“Beck.”

Beck almost laughed, but instead of plugging the mod directly in, he activated it first. Tron smiled ruefully; at least he’d learned that much. He watched as the mod display flickered to life, a new suit render all ready to go.

“This is…”

“It’s yours. If you want it.” He looked away, glancing back over the city and trying not to watch Beck’s reflection in the glass. He didn’t want to see him say no. “We…never talked about what you would do. When this was all over.”

“Tron…” Beck whispered, looking at his mentor. The young program was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath as he inclined his head. “Well, if you thought you were going to get rid of me, we really should have had Alan-One scrub your code.”

Tron looked over. Beck was smiling at him.

“You’re staying.”

“I’m staying.” He said, clicking the mod onto his disk and returning it to his port. The new pattern washed over him, thicker armor with subtle flecks of aqua at every joint, and a bright white tetromino flaring to life just below his right shoulder joint. Not a perfect match, but an inheritance all the same. It settled with a final flare, and Beck tilted his head.

“So,” he asked, “What now?”

“Now? Now we start your training back up.” At Beck’s groan, Tron tried not to laugh. He turned away from the window, clapping Beck on the shoulder and giving his protege a fondly warm smile. “You’ve got a long way to go before I’m done with you.” Beck smiled back, inclining his head.

“Alright, fine. Just tell me one thing.” He paused for a nano, then grinned. “Do I get time off this time?”

Tron laughed.

“What do you think?”

[radiantlyrey]

Thoughts on Uprising Ep19 “Terminal”

- i’m not ready guys

- cold open: so Mara seems really dead set on blaming the Renegade for Able’s death. and she’s not like…. wrong. but she doesn’t have the full picture, as it were. and it’s interesting how she and Zed have basically swapped positions on the Renegade; like Zed here isn’t fully convinced that the guy he was calling a “menace” fourteen episodes ago or whatever did kill Able. also Beck tries to agree with Zed and Mara (rightfully) calls him out on never being there anymore. so Beck takes his frustrations out on holo-Tron, and then—Tron freaking falls over and Does Not Look Good.

- Beck tries to save Tron, but he won’t heal for some reason…. and that reason turns out to be Cyrus, whose fight with Tron compromised Tron’s healing abilities. that fucking virus Dyson implanted is ravaging Tron, and he’s got maybe a couplefew days/cycles before it’s all over. dire stuff. also Tron wanting to pass the mantle of his name to Beck when he just flat-out REFUSED to give it to Cyrus is…… making me a little verklempt. shit.

- also the scene with Beck trying to empty Able’s locker about had me in TEARS. oh my god. those kiddos and their boss/dad. fuck. Zed is being a good friend here, too……… like. was legit about to bust out crying at this SCENE. FUCK

- and then Beck gets surprised by a random program who turns out to be Cutler from the second story of the show!!! what!!!! good to see you again, guy!!!!!!!

- EXCEPT NOT BECAUSE THE FUCKER’S BEEN REPURPOSED. FUCK. FUCK EVERYTHING. a very cool lightjet dogfight ensues, and Beck manages to mostly outrun Clu’s giant-ass Recognizer and escape to Tron with vital information: that giant-ass Recognizer? has a chamber for repurposing programs (or maybe just repurposing Tron), that would, in all likelihood, heal Tron of the virus Dyson infected him with. and so. they….. hatch a crazy plan to get Tron healed, but stop the repurposing process before it completes, which would put Tron back on the top of his game and spell the worst for Clu.

- we had a semi-B-plot in this episode!! Zed trying to convince Mara that the Renegade did not kill Able, and she admits that… her theory doesn’t make sense. and Zed (rightfully) points out that the Renegade cannot be everywhere at once. and then: Asshole of the Month Pavel shows up to make Able’s garage state property, which is always…. he’s just the Worst, okay. The. Worst. I hate him. (not as much as I hate others, but… a lot.)

- ngl I was COMPLETELY CONVINCED that Beck’s plan would not work, that Beck would not get there in time, that Tron would be repurposed and we’d have a Rinzler situation going on……… like. shit. it was very tense there for a moment. I finished the episode 15 mins ago and I STILL feel the intensity of that countdown, holy shit.

- BUT IT WORKED. Tron gives Beck a scare for a moment, then proceeds to utterly beat the crap out of a shitton of Black Guard, while Cutler goes after Beck. and Beck is about to have his head taken off and then decides to SHOW HIMSELF TO CUTLER and try to break through his repurposing and it ALMOST FUCKING WORKS—it does! and when Cutler falls off the edge, Beck tries to save him, he does, and then……. it doesn’t work. Cutler is gone. and Beck has to let him go and watch him die. and this the first program that Beck has allowed to die since he became the Renegade, I’m pretty sure???? (I’d have to rewatch Price of Power to see whether he did there, but I don’t think so??) so that’s gotta be tearing up the poor kid. ugh.

- the Giant-Ass Recognizer crashes right in front of Able’s garage, and Tron’s stuck under a strut, so Beck takes the disguise disc and leads the searching guards on a merry chase—only for Pavel to spot him, and send his guards after the Renegade and then—

- and THEN: Mara comes to a decision. she’s not gonna let this happen. and Zed stands with her. and Link. and that female program from “Grounded”!! and pretty much the entire crew of mechanics! put their feet down and take out their discs and say NO. WE LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER NOW. AND WE WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. (and I bet Zed really enjoyed turning Pavel’s “House of Pain” line against him.)

- Beck and Tron observe this from afar, and…. it’s all all right, mostly? it’s fine?

- except Tesler doesn’t know about the Giant-Ass Recognizer. and he is…. Upset About It. to say the least. and then Paige gets a notice from the scanners at the docks………….

- Clu is coming.

- with Dyson.

- and a shitton of Recognizers and what looks like a giant shooty ship thing and

- and

- and

- cut to black

- and

- and

- credits roll

- “WHAT?!?!?!?!”

- and now I have to live with this cliffhanger, this horrible happening for………… the rest of my life, I guess?????????

- i'm not fucking okay guys

- slightly more okay than yesterday with “No Bounds”

- but still not okay. fuck.

[beasanfi1997]

They are making Tron Ares but i don't know if Kevin Flynn, Beck and Mara(two characters from Tron Uprising) will be appear because i was worried about them if they didn't Survive in the end of Tron Legacy........

[lefemmerougewriter]

My newest fic is out, bringing together characters from Tron: Uprising, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated to debate Israel's brutal and genocidal assault in Gaza, complete with Daphne Blake as the guest host of Washington Journal. As I say in the fic's summary, "One bright morning, Daphne Blake serves as the guest host of C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and she brings in two guests (Princess Rapunzel, CEO of the Corona Foundation and Mara, chief weapons specialist for Renegade Services) to talk about the brutal Israeli bombing of Gaza. While some callers are openly hostile toward the guests, others are more favorable, with Daphne, Rapunzel, and Mara having to find their way through the morass and make their viewpoints heard, even if they don't always agree with what each other has to say."

[historyhermann]

"Tron: Uprising": A Cyberpunk Drama That Is Out of This World

Beck and Tron [Screenshot: Tron: Uprising]

What if a program, in a virtual world, could start a revolution against their overlords? Tron: Uprising tries to answer that exact question. This series follows Beck, a program trained by a legendary warrior to take down the military dictator and his oppressive forces by any means necessary.

Reprinted from The Geekiary, my History Hermann WordPress blog, and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-fourth article I wrote for The Geekiary. This post was originally published on March 16, 2022.

Tron: Uprising is developed by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and is based on the 1982 film, Tron, and its 2010 counterpart, Tron: Legacy. It is related to other parts of the Tron franchise, such as the video game Tron: Evolution and the comic book series Tron: Betrayal. It is the only TV series that is part of the franchise, as a live-action series had been in development but was later cancelled. This 19-episode series had Charlie Bean as the showrunner and Robert Valley as the co-director. Although I wasn't sure what to think about this series at first, its combination of action, sci-fi, cyberpunk, drama, and superhero elements drew me in like no other show.

As a warning, this recommendation discusses some spoilers for Tron: Uprising. 

Paige and the programs of Argon City

Tron: Uprising centers around Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood), a young program in a computer world known as the Grid. He becomes the leader of a revolution against Clu (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), a dictator who rules over the Grid with an iron fist. As the story goes, Clu turned against the Grid's creator, Kevin Flynn, and the Grid's original protector, Tron (voiced by Bruce Boxleitner). Tron was reportedly killed by Clu, but somehow survived and vowed to train Beck, believing he could be the next person to defend the Grid.

Clu's loyal enforcer is the brutal General Tesler (voiced by Lance Henriksen). He is assisted by his field commander, Paige (voiced by Emmanuelle Chriqui), and Tesler's sadistic lieutenant, Pavel (voiced by Paul Reubens). Beck works at a garage and repair shop in Argon City run by Able alongside his friends Mara (voiced by Mandy Moore), Zed (voiced by Nate Corddry), and Link (voiced by David Arquette).

The series also features characters such as Bartik (voiced by Donald Faison) and Hopper (voiced by Paul Scheer) who are part of Paige's task force which is trying to find Beck, known as "Renegade" or "Tron" by the public. In addition, there's a criminal gang member named Perl (voiced by Kate Mara), a scientific program named Keller (voiced by Marcia Gay Harden) employed to brainwash those in Argon City into obeying the dictates of Clu, and a technician named Gorn (voiced by Kathryn Hunter) who specializes in modifying and erasing memories.

In some ways, Tron: Uprising begins on a similar note to Star Wars Resistance, as the protagonist of that series, Kazuda "Kaz" Xiono, works as a mechanic on the refueling station known as the Colossus, along with other mechanics. While the two series are nothing like each other, having different tone, themes, characters, and stories, there is some more overlap in terms of the voice talent. Wood and Faison voiced characters in the aforementioned series while Tatasciore and Reubens had roles in other Star Wars series.

Tron: Uprising has some diversity in its cast, as Chriqui is of Moroccan-Jewish descent, while VelJohnson, Faison, and Reddick are Black men. Although the show's cast is mostly composed of White people, Parminder Kaur Nagra, who is of Indian descent, guest stars in one episode, as does Jamie Hector, a Black man, in another episode. Even so, the series shines in other areas.

For one, the voice actors are well-established and carry the story, and characters. Apart from those who had roles in the Star Wars series, I was aware of Moore from Tangled: The Series, VelJohnson from 3Below, Scheer from Star Trek: Lower Decks, Mara from House of Cards, and Wilde from her many films. I was not familiar with the other voice actors before watching this series, so they were new to me. The voice of Boxleitner, especially, was very defined and I think one of the best voice acting performances of the whole series.

The music of Tron: Uprising is composed by Joseph Trapanese. It is fitting for a series that often deals with dark themes, even if it is said to be for "children." This includes characters being stabbed and disintegrating into nothing. In my opinion, this series is clearly not for children, even though it is within Wikipedia categories for children's animated series and was rated TV-Y7 when it aired on Disney XD. It is a mature series.

This reminds me of how Samurai Jack was given the TV-Y7 rating, with a subheading for fantasy violence, meaning it should be suitable for those over age seven. This is despite the fact that in the third episode, "Part III: The First Fight," the protagonist, Jack, is covered in black ink from the robots, which looks like blood.

The animation style of Tron: Uprising is one of the strong suits. Some described the series as a mix of 2-D animation and CGI. Variety described the series as borrowing from anime style. Showrunner Charlie Bean later said that he wanted to create a "distinct style" which hadn't been seen anywhere else, and this series fulfills that idea.

Animation of characters and settings is very fluid, blending together in a powerful way, especially in action sequences, like the one in the episode "Blackout." Even some of the scenes where light jets are chasing Beck, in his persona, make me think of the innumerable space battles in Star Wars Rebels. Animation of the bikes and the character designs were one of the most amazing parts of the show. The series looks and feels like something I haven't seen anywhere else before, with its impressive chase and fight scenes and amazing background art.

This makes it no surprise that the series was nominated for Annie Awards in animated production and storyboarding for specific episodes, while it won Annie Awards for character and production design. The show's art director Alberto Mieglo even won an Emmy Award for art direction in animation due to this series. The animation draws you in from the first episode and makes you want to keep watching. The show's art work was one of the many reasons it was positively received.

The story of Tron: Uprising is simple. It falls into the good/evil dichotomy, with Beck and Tron shown as "good" while Clu, Tesler, Paige, and Pavel as portrayed as "evil." Beck is pushed to act and refuses at first, and is guided forward by Tron, a magical helper/guide, part of the first three stages of the "hero's journey." However, Beck does not go on a trek of any kind. Instead, the series begins a little like the first episode of Samurai Jack where Jack learns to become a warrior.

Boxleitner described the series as akin to The Mask of Zorro where he is "looking for a young one to train and...[they] have that master-student relationship." Beck goes through training, which is, at times, brutal. He even saves one of his enemies, Paige, from being obliterated in one episode, and from being sucked into a sinking island in another.

On the other hand, he is drawn to devices that give him more power, like a special disk which he acquires in the episode "Price of Power," which makes him more aggressive. He tries to keep it in order to save his friends, even though Tron tells him that it is dangerous. This focus reminds me a bit of Steven in Steven Universe or Elena on Elena of Avalor whose powers are tied to their emotions.

His boss at the garage, Able (voiced by Reginald VelJohnson) is akin to Yeager in Star Wars Resistance, as he discovers Beck's life as the figure of resistance after thinking Beck is a slacker at first. He doesn't directly support Beck but covers for him when Beck is absent from work. Later he ends up being killed by Cyrus, when a bomb gets reactivated and explodes.

Cyrus (voiced by Aaron Paul) was chosen by Tron as the first renegade and later described as his "mistake." He believes that the only way to save everyone is to destroy the grid, that there is no free will, and that everything is pre-determined. He uses Beck in an attempt to activate an EMP but fails in this endeavor.

The character of Cyrus symbolizes the antithesis of Beck, in that he is willing to engage in violence and destruction to achieve his goals. These actions are not targeted, but are rather meant to send a message. Although Tron later kills him, he becomes weaker and is on the edge of death. Luckily, Tron is healed in the final episode and barely escapes from being reprogrammed for evil.

Yeager in Star Wars Resistance covers for Kaz, but never meets his demise. Similarly, Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels takes on Ezra Bridger as his apprentice to be trained as a Jedi. For Beck, it is different. He has a double life, struggling to balance being a freedom fighter and a mechanic at a shop. Although Able, just like Yeager, soon knows of Beck's secret identity, he also has a history with Tron, his old friend. He first tries to convince Tron to not involve Beck, but then helps out more directly.

Tron: Uprising includes the usual themes of romantic tension. Specifically, Zed is romantically attracted to Mara and becomes jealous of how she strongly supports Beck in his Renegade/Tron persona. This is made worse by Beck, in this persona, taking advantage of Zed, time and again, annoying him even more.

Mara also has a crush on the Renegade, something which Beck is unsure of how to handle. Even so, he still helps Mara, along with Zed, to free her and other programs from mind control. In a few episodes, Beck and Paige flirt with one another and go on several dates, even though they are on different sides of the conflict. This is short-lived. It comes to an abrupt end with Pavel's scheme to get back at her. She later claims that she got "soft" and lost focus, so she can no longer be with him. It is an open question as to how much Beck liked Paige, as he may have seen her as more of an asset and possible revolutionary than a girlfriend.

On the other hand, Mara openly supports "Tron," even questioning official reports and declarations which describe him as a "terrorist." She fully embodies the idea that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, something has been said in different forms since the 1950s. Zed is also attracted to Perl, a program he meets at a bar, until she steals a classic cycle bike.

Throughout the series, Mara comes more into her own, first when she is the temporary leader of the garage, and then as the leader of a group of graffiti artists, including herself, Moog and Rasket, known as the Jolly Tricksters. Toward the end of the series, she leads those defending Tron after she realizes that the Renegade cannot be blamed for the death of Able.

Tron: Uprising clearly indicates to the viewers which groups should be seen positively and which ones negatively. The occupation of Argon city is shown as a brutal takeover. It is akin to the Galactic Empire in Star Wars Rebels dispossessing people from their homes and enslaving others or the First Order in Star Wars Resistance which destroys entire planetary systems in shows of force. There is a curfew in one episode with a message blaring it is for the "protection" of everyone, when it is only a way to control people.

The oppression of Clu and his minions is a menace that Beck and Tron are wholly dedicated to resisting, without question. This is noted by Tricia Helfer, the voice of the Grid at the beginning of each episode. Tesler is shown using his words and messaging to try and turn the people of Argon against the Renegade without using any of his loyal lieutenants while declaring that he rules the state.

This is evident in the episode "The Reward," where he offers anyone who gives him information a special reward, almost like a game show. It causes many people to be falsely accused of being the Renegade. At one point, Dyson (voiced by John Glover), a villain who appears in a few episodes, rightly comments about how badly Tesler and his lieutenants are ruling the city, but no one wants to listen to him.

Tesler is willing to use brutal force against anyone. He de-rezzes those who disagree with him, equivalent to killing them, with his bare hands. He often uses propaganda in an attempt to make fellow programs support his brutality and turn on the Renegade. He is no mere villain. Rather he is cunning and deceitful, with messages that people may latch onto, believing he is speaking on their behalf when he is really out for himself. Even so, he can be manipulated by faulty information.

People's hatred of the "other" is shown in Tron: Uprising. This is most acute in Tron's flashbacks to when he attempted to stop a peaceful demonstration against ISOs (Isomorphic Algorithms), standing between demonstrators and the ISOs. Sadly, a provocateur ends up throwing a disk and the crowd rushes the ISOs, killing them one by one, while Tron and his team are left overwhelmed.

Later, Flynn states that ISOs have just as much a right to be there as anyone. This is similar to those saying that immigrants belong in a where they set down their roots, no matter if it is their "home" country or not, as opposed to faulty arguments about undocumented immigrants.

One character in Tron: Uprising shows the allure of power and manipulation: Cutler (voiced by Lance Reddick). Originally an ally of the Renegade and Beck, he returns in the final episode. He has been repurposed and demands Tron's surrender. He wants perfection and the victory of Clu. Sadly, despite Beck's attempt to save him, it is clear that he is too far gone, so Beck lets him fall to his death.

Just like Arcane, which is part of the larger League of Legends franchise, watching the films and video games, or reading the comics of the franchise itself is not needed before watching Tron: Uprising. In fact, I had never watched anything related to the franchise, apart from a 2011 Futurama episode which has a light cycle chase scene referencing the 1982 film and its 2010 sequel.

Sadly, like all too many animated series, there are no LGBTQ characters in Tron: Uprising. The closest we have is when Keller holds a device against her neck and it changes her form into a man, so as to disguise her real identity. However, this doesn't prevent fans from making their own headcanons of specific characters and shipping them if they see fit.

There are possible ships one could make, like between Paige and Beck in his "Tron" persona, since Paige is drawn to that persona, even willing to stop fighting it for short periods of time. However, someone could easily ship Paige with one of her female friends, or those shown in the episode "Isolated," like Quorra (voiced by Olivia Wilde).

Currently, there are over 280 fanfics for Tron: Uprising on AO3, often with themes of angst, friendship, fluff, hurt, or comfort. Some of the popular ships on the site are Beck and Tron, as friends, along with Beck/Paige, Tron/Yori, Mara/Zed, Pavel/Zed, Sam Flynn/Quorra, and Beck/Cutler romantically. Of these, the latter appears to be the only popular ship between male characters. Some have also written fics portraying Paige as asexual, and a few writers have shipped her with Quorra, and Radia from Tron: Betrayal and Tron: Evolution, but many more have shipped her with male characters, like Tesler, Pavel, and Beck, instead.

Tron: Uprising has a certain magnetism to it, from its voice actors, the music, animation, and overall feel. It is something you want to keep watching so that you can learn the whole story.

Beck has many near-death experiences and seeing people be de-rezzed in front of him means he is experiencing some level of trauma. The events of the series weigh heavily on his friends and even on Page, especially after Pavel conspires to label her as a "traitor" with manufactured evidence even as she remains a loyal footsoldier and enforcer of Clu.

The latter scheme hints at how easy it is to spin information to take out those you don't like, especially in an autocratic force like those occupying the grid, and that anyone can be a target. It is a very chilling idea and it has relevance to our current technological world.

Beck chased by enemy cycles in the first episode. This scene especially reminded me a lot of those years of playing Armagetron at camp.

To be perfectly honest, one of the original draws of Tron: Uprising was that it reminded me of a game I once played as a camp counselor with campers at a technology camp: Armagetron Advanced or "Tron" for short. It is a multiplayer computer game that tries to, according to the game's official website, "emulate and expand on the light cycle sequence from the movie Tron," and is said to be an arcade game of sorts "slung into the 21st century." That is part of the reason I liked this series so much, as there are a lot of scenes with light cycles.

When watching this series, I kept thinking back to all the fun times I had when I played the game, especially when I cackled when cutting off other players and causing their light cycles to crash into my trails, leading them to explode. Those memories were part of the drive that pushed me to continue the series. So, you could say, that for me, this series was a bit of a throwback. I don't mean that in a negative way, but rather that I like to make personal connections with what I'm watching.

The likelihood of Tron: Uprising of having another season is nil. It is less likely than a possible new season of Sym-Bionic Titan that Gennedy Tartokovsky has floated in the past. This is unfortunate because the show has the potential to be a longer series featuring many parts and chapters, just as series like Disenchantment has done. Even so, some fans have circulated a petition calling for Tron: Uprising to continue.

If there was a second season, they could expand upon the uprising in Argon City, the seizure of Able's garage by Pavel, and the huge fleet led by Clu on its way to Argon, obviously in an effort to crush any resistance. Perhaps there could even be a plotline where Pavel's involvement in framing Paige results in him being de-rezzed.

Tron: Uprising had a rocky airing schedule. It was effectively cancelled by Disney, which never renewed it for a second season, even after Kitsis said that the series needed more viewers. Just like Sym-Bionic Titan, the series was briefly on Netflix from 2013 to 2014, and only recently, in 2019, appeared on Disney+. When the series aired, on Disney XD, from May 18, 2012, to January 28, 2013, it received generally positive reviews.

The series might have felt a little familiar to me because Bill Wolkoff, a writer for many episodes, was most recently a showrunner for Rad Sechrist's Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. He also wrote a few Star Wars Rebels episodes. Additionally, André Bormanis, who wrote a few episodes of Tron: Uprising, is well-known for working on Star Trek series, even serving as a science consultant for various shows, so that undoubtedly rubbed off, in some way or another, into this series.

Some of the scenes in Tron: Uprising echo those in other shows, like General Hux addressing stormtroopers as they destroy planets in Star Wars Resistance, complete with slogans like "perfection is freedom." In an attempt to discredit Beck in his Renegade persona, they even use one of his own friends, Zed, against him.

This tactic is not successful as Mara convinces him that it is wrong. Unlike the aforementioned series, there is a continual power struggle between Paige and Pavel, who are trying to impress Tesler with their plans to take down the Renegade. Pavel, in one episode, even creates a program to falsely accuse someone of being the Renegade in order to cement his power.

Paige is a fascinating and complex character, whose backstory we see most directly in the episode "Isolated." We learn how she joined the forces of Tesler after previously being a musician and medic, feeling that the ISOs somehow "betrayed" her. The horrifying reality is that Tesler set the whole thing up so that she would think this way and join him.

She continually struggles to impress Tesler and cement her place, tracking down the Renegade whenever she can, with whatever forces are at her disposal, even forming a task force. She is so dedicated to Tesler that she rejects a plea by Pavel to form a secret alliance against Tesler. Almost like how the Colossus barely escapes the First Order time and again in Star Wars Resistance, the Renegade manages to escape repeatedly, even when putting himself into harm's way.

It is interesting how Beck takes charge to such an extent that Tron listens to him. It becomes a case of the "master" listening to the "apprentice," rather than the other way around. In fact, Tron is only being held together by a healing chamber and he is easing Beck into the role of being a hero.

With Tron: Uprising currently at the end of its series order, now is the time to watch it on Disney+, Amazon Prime, or elsewhere. It's a great choice to binge over a weekend or a week!

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