#rvb 10

In season 9, he’s a pillar to the team. In the sarchophogos mission, Maine can be relied on to not only handle himself on his own, but also to follow through with jumping out the window despite his fear of heights.

Taking 9 bullets to the throat and still fucking fighting? This dude is incredible, and he fights for what he believes in. He doesn’t care about the leaderboard, he’s at pfl to fight for what he believes is right. (This fella is a hufflepuff and yall can fight me on that.)

Sigma twisted that. He overruled the bodylanguage that Maine had always used with his own words, manipulating others through their trust of Maine. And when he starts to damage Maine from the inside, Maine can’t really reach out without Sigma’s intervention. Maine’s participation decreases as he becomes less and less himself, showing the audience Sigma’s takeover. Sigma manipulated Maine’s emotions until they weren’t even his anymore, until Maine was a vessel consumed by anger.

I was doing some thinking about season 10 when something occurred to me.

When Texas and Carolina were going to fight and the Director walked in, he screamed Allison. He didn’t scream in concern for his daughter. He screamed for the shadow of his dead wife.

At first I brushed it off as him being concerned that Carolina was stronger now that she had two AI, but she was also fresh out of implantation and likely weak as a consequence. Maybe you could say he screamed Allison to incapacitate Carolina and Tex, but he sounded scared for Tex. 

I love how much of a meme it is that Maine's armor is always inconsistent. Like, it makes no sense and is the result of so many continuity errors that it's insane. Let's go through all his armor versions!

Season 6/7:

The Meta has white armor with brown secondary. He has the EVA helmet, the Scout chest piece, one wide shoulder pad on his left, and one small pad on his right.

Season 8:

His chestplate changes to EVA, and his right shoulder is also altered. It's impossible that the Meta got new armor between Season 7 and 8, so this is a continuity error

Season 9:

Agent Maine's armor in Season 9 is standard Mark VI chest, EVA helmet, and no shoulder pads at all. His secondary color is also now Orange. It makes sense that Maine would have different armor back during the Project Freelancer days, as this is before Sigma and the other AI started modifying it.

Season 10:

In Season 10, Maine gets the Scout chest plate we see him wear later, in Season 6. He also gets new white shoulder pads. This is also possible, since the Season 10 flashbacks take place significantly after Season 9's.

Season 13:

Season 13 is where things get a little odd. Because the M374 armor (Meta's) looks exactly like it did in Season 10. But we know that it looked different the last time it was seen. For one, the secondary color is still orange like Maine's, even though the Meta used brown. He also does not have the Meta's shoulder pads or EVA chestplate (although whether the Mate's chest was ever canonically EVA or Scout is in doubt)

Season 17:

Season 17 has 2 DIFFERENT looks for the Meta, none of them matching up with any of the previous incarnations. The first we see is in S17 Ep4, taking place at the end of Season 7. His armor SHOULD look the same as it did in those seasons, (or even like Season 8's armor if it is a retcon), but it doesn't. The Meta has the shoulder pads and the colors he did in Season 7, but his chest plate is now Standard Mark VI, which Maine only wore in Season 9.

The second armor is even more odd, especially for the time it takes place in. We see Agent Maine, between Seasons 9 and 10, in S17 Ep5. His armor should look like either his season 9 or season 10 armors. But instead, his secondary color is brown like the Meta, he has TWO wide shoulder pads (he has never had both before), and the EVA chest.

And this look is used AGAIN in S17 Ep9, also taking place in Season 7.

TL;DR: The Meta's armor is in a constant state of retcon and flux and inconsistency and I love it lol

(Counting the end of Season 10)