Okay, just saying first and foremost that this isn't an excuse to shit on S16. I personally don't like it, I know a lot of others don't like it, but that's not the topic of discussion here so let's drop the comparisons right now.

In fact, Donut's portrayal in Season 16, as is, isn't something I'm really complaining about at all. I think it's fine, and at its best it does make Donut more interesting than he's been in years. I'm cool with what they're doing with him. Buuuuuuut...

...before Season 16 came out, I had a theory. Well, not so much a theory, because I wasn't expecting it to happen, but more of a "oh, you know what could be an interesting twist to use with Donut and the time machine?" moment that came up a few weeks after Season 15's finale. Something that, even now, I think could have offered some seriously interesting character exploration and a twist that I don't think anyone would have seen coming. This of course would mean that the entire story of Season 16 as it is now would be completely changed from the ground up, but I wouldn't call this my "what should have happened" moment. More a "well it isn't happening now so might as well share this fun idea" moment.

So what if Donut, after being zapped by the time machine, had his brain scrambled by memories of the past? Or even more than that, his brain got scrambled by a conscience from the past? What if through being zapped by the time machine, Donut's body became a vessel for an unsuspecting time traveler who at this point was long thought to be dead?

Imagine this. Someone's consciousness was taken out of their body just moments before their death, and was sent forward in time until it became assimilated with Donut's mind, his body, his behavior. A Jekyll-and-Hyde scenario where two souls shared a body with Donut and could switch between each other depending on who's needed at the time. All while dealing with the potential drama that comes with the Reds and Blues dealing with an unexpected, perhaps even unwanted visitor simply because they're now attached to someone they do want around (or, you know, "want" about as much as anyone wants Donut around).

This scenario could be used with a multitude of deceased characters (so long as their traveling forward in time doesn't cause any potential paradoxes due to their deaths being cut short; i.e. Epsilon's defragmentation triggering the Meta suit's capabilities, or Felix's death triggering the activation of Locus's sword), but the first one that came to mind and the one that I think would be the most interesting... isn't Church, definitely not. Let the guy rest in peace on robot heaven. No, it's actually York, whose mind would be sent forward in time just moments before his body would have perished in the past.

This guy who had no history with the Reds and Blues whatsoever which offers up some fresh new dynamics to the core group, and who has beyond unfinished tension with Carolina who'd spend a lot of her time in total disbelief and denial about the fact that York is even back at all, and pondering over what the fuck she's gonna say now that he's suddenly back. He'd be another badass Freelancer agent that could kick ass when needed and due to being a part of Donut, Donut could be shown as a total badass too. Sarge would be ecstatic that a Red team member is finally pulling their own weight, Grif could have someone else to shoot to shit and be chill with since they have a lot in common, which could make Simmons kinda jealous. The narrative could be spent trying to find a way to separate York's mind from Donut's but then there's the question of what if York doesn't survive the separation? He'd just disappear again, and hell if Carolina would want that. Sure she learned sometimes it's best to let go but what good reason does she have to let go this time? She'd totally fight to keep York at her side. Hell, what if half of the Reds and Blues headed by Carolina wanted York to stick around, while the other half headed by, say, Wash, would think it best to get Donut back to normal? There's merit in both sides. It's interpersonal conflict that with the right execution, feels justified and not forced, especially given that it's right off the heels of them being so close as partners in arms in the Chorus Trilogy. Damn I'm going deeper into this rabbit hole than I thought.

Ultimately I thought up this idea because at the time, I wanted time travel in RvB to be kept to a minimum to avoid potential paradoxes or scenarios that were too far-gone from traditional RvB standards. This could have kept the time travel to a minimum by only sending York's consciousness forward in time during his offscreen "death", with the rest of the story taking place in the present as is, no paradoxes involved. Back in Fall when S15 came to a close, I thought this could have been a really interesting turn of events, even if I knew there was no way this was gonna happen. I wasn't getting my hopes up just to have them shattered or anything, but this was the first time where I could legitimately theorize or come up with future scenarios until the new seasons inevitably fill those missing gaps for me, since this was my first year-long wait between seasons, so putting the pieces of a potential story together with so many possibilities open was a fun experience.

So you know, let me know what you thought of this little headcanon before it became a headcan'ton. And for that matter, let me know what you thought could have happened to Donut before Season 16 gave us the plot we have today?