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Black Ops 4 was the first and the last game to feature a Chaos Zombies story, leaving us with one huge cliffhanger at the end. However, the Chaos Zombies storyline emerged later in Vanguard, and it is now directly followed in the Black Ops 6 Terminus Island ending cutscene. So go ahead, grab a snack and let’s dive into the Chaos realm.
What Is Chaos Zombies Story?
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 introduced a new set of characters in the Zombies storyline, living another tale apart from the “Aether” in a timeline known as Chaos. The Chaos narrative did not intertwine with the Aether right from the beginning, and its premise wasn’t about Richtofen variants, nor the Element 115 discovery.
Chaos Zombies No Nonsense Story Quick Summary
The Chaos story begins with a matter called the “Prima Materia,” which is basically the material to create things. In a sense, it is the Aether from the current Zombies stories and Element 115 from the old Zombies universes. The Prima Materia has been there since the start of the universe, with various kingdoms using its power to reach prosperity and thrive.
However, this matter would in fact bite back on its users; turning them into greedy monsters that seek war and supremacy. So, hundreds of years ago, a group called The Nine emerges, and seals away the Prima Materia from other humans as they see how dangerous their kind would treat this pure matter. But eventually, they’d have to pass this to the others as they too were mortal and believed in righteous human beings.
For that, they create artifacts called the Sentinels, each working as a separate trial that’d lead to the knowledge of the Prima Materia upon success. A man named Alistair Rhodes goes on a long quest to find the Sentinels, but at the same time, an evil cult is walking behind his shadow.
Now this is where zombies come in, as when the user gets the Sentinel and activates it, all living beings around it would turn into the undead. Scarlet, Alistair’s daughter, receives a key to one of these Sentinel artifacts from his father before he is captured by the cult, which is then later activated so that Scarlet has to survive the trial alongside her comrades.
The men accompanying Scarlet Rhodes in her quest to find her father and beat the trial are Diego, Bruno, and Shaw. Bruno is Alistair’s friend, who dies protecting him and is later resurrected by him using the scepter of Ra. The plot twist is that anyone who is resurrected by this staff is turned into one of the cult members, and Bruno later does the same thing to Shaw to turn him on their side.
While Scarlet and Diego don’t know about this secret betrayal, they follow the traces of the last trial they had completed, leading them to the city of Delphi. Upon completing another secret trial there, they open the door to the hidden town, where they meet with Medusa, who’s seemingly petrified Scarlet’s father and then later steals her knowledge. Bruno and Shaw’s fate after seeing Alistair turned into stone is unknown, and Scarlet is left in cold blood with Diego trying to rescue her. In the end, Medusa learns all about human civilization and claims that the world will be hers.
With only the important stuff to know, this is a quick summary of the Chaos Zombies story, which is absolutely canon to the Black Ops 6 right now. The Terminus Island‘s ending easter egg cutscene confirms this matter, and the devs have left us a small note in Liberty Falls as you see in the image above as well; “believe in Chaos.”
How Does Chaos Zombies Relates To Black Ops 6 Terminus Island Ending?
As seen in the Terminus Island easter egg cutscene in Black Ops 6 Zombies, Edward Richtofen, the same child Eddie that left the Aether alongside Samantha in Black Ops 4, has been seeking Prima Materia and the Sentinel artifacts in the shadows. This has been happening all the way from Cold War Zombies without us knowing it. Although there was a small reference to Alistair Rhodes in Vanguard Zombies’ Shi No Numa map, confirming the Chaos canon with the new Dark Aether storyline that’s being followed in Black Ops 6 Zombies.
The Terminus Island ending cutscene indicates that a French syndicate under the leadership of someone called “Franco” is in the position of one of the Sentinel artifacts, and they’re interrogating Gabriel Krafft to learn its knowledge. Krafft was a demonologist in Vanguard Zombies who was studying the works of Alistair Rhodes. However, he shouldn’t be alive in the current Black Ops 6 Zombies timeline, or he’s just too old like being in his 80s or 90s.
Nonetheless, Krafft is here, Ravenov is confirmed to be back and following the French syndicate to learn about the artifact, and suddenly, the whole Chaos story is now canon to the Terminus Island ending in Black Ops 6 Zombies. Thank you, Treyarch.