It’s been a while since Astra Malorum, and after cleaning up the last few Cursed relics I needed, I’ve enjoyed a bit of a break from playing Zombies. It’s always good to avoid burnout! I’m raring to go now though, and with Paradox Junction fast approaching, we finally have our first look at the map’s cinematic intro.
I think it was worth the wait. I much prefer a cinematic like this over one that focuses more on spectacle, like Astra Malorum. There’s far more to sink our teeth into.
Before diving into the nitty-gritty details, I want to highlight just how good the cutscene looks. Every pixel of The Warden is repulsive, and every inch of his Throne Room is gorgeous, despite the death that fills it.
There’s a lot we can learn from the words sizzling off The Warden’s tongue. Here’s my analysis of the cinematic and the general feelings I have heading into the map.
The Warden’s Goal
We had a faint idea of The Warden’s plan after Black Ops 6’s Reckoning, where he told Panos that he intended to restore Ashwood – and himself – to their rightful place. Now that he’s shared more with Jansen, we can narrow in on his true goal. He has been attempting to “shred the veils between realms” in order to create his own perfect, singular timeline. Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of Nikolai’s aetheral redecorating.
The Warden already had a multiverse of broken worlds at his disposal in the Dark Aether, but that wasn’t enough. He needed to interfere with the clean timeline, luring in people like Ava Jansen, Pericles Panos, and Josiah Shem; telling them what they wanted to hear; appearing to them as who they wanted to see.
While we now know the what, the why remains a mystery. Why exactly did a Confederate soldier from the 1860s become obsessed with constructing a timeline in a space-hell dimension? He must have learned about the Dark Aether from more than sheer survival.
I imagine we’ll get that answer once we learn how The Warden ended up in the Dark Aether in the first place. He claims it was “divine providence” – so who, or what, invited him in?
The Warden is a compelling villain so far. Treyarch has done an impressive job with him in only two cinematics and two maps. It’s also refreshing to be actively battling an enemy instead of one who sulks in the shadows until the end of the game. I love Doctor Monty, but his lateness is a valid criticism.
If we lean into the Yggdrasil theory – which The Aether Kitchen has a great video on – perhaps The Warden plans to set the Dark Aether up as the World Tree of Call of Duty Zombies. Less about a timeline and more about access to different realms, essentially shifting The Dark Aether from the Place Below Creation to Creation itself. This meddling could even explain why we’ve seen various Chaos elements appear.
I’d still like to know exactly how The Warden relates to the Aether (something you’ll find me questioning throughout this article). Was he from a universe that was banished to the Dark Aether? Did he stumble upon remnants of it during his travels? Or is he completely unaware of the events of the past? Whichever direction Treyarch chooses, a couple of lines of dialogue would be enough to clarify The Warden’s relationship to the Aether saga.
The Warden Has Imprisoned Ava Jansen
We now know for certain that The Warden lured Ava Jasen into the Dark Aether at Liberty Falls by mimicking Samantha Maxis. He’s been the odds-on favourite since Shattered Veil, but it’s good to finally have solid proof.
Unfortunately for Jansen, it seems he’s been feeding off her for quite some time. The psychological and physical torture she’s gone through is obvious, looking at the state she’s in. With the Warden heralding her as the “instrument of [his] wrath”, I fear it’s only going to get worse unless the crew intervenes.
It’s easy to see why The Warden chose Jansen specifically. As the biological daughter of Samantha Maxis, she carries perhaps the most precious essence in the entire Dark Aether. Samantha is one of only two known survivors of the Aether multiverse and has endured the Dark Aether multiple times. She’s a fighter.
We also learn that The Entity who has been helping the crew since Ashes of the Damned was Jansen herself. The Warden is furious that she aided them in purifying two of the Shadowsmiths, freeing those entities from his control.
We don’t yet know the specifics of how she managed this, but she’ll no doubt explain in time. Perhaps she was reunited with The Entity from Modern Warfare Zombies, or maybe it was simply a way to hide her identity from the Warden – or even from the crew.
Interestingly, Jansen was only able to help the crew because The Warden was busy elsewhere. This has happened multiple times already in Black Ops 7:
- He left Ava to assist the crew on Ashes and Astra Malorum
- He left the crew alone on Ashes after Round 4
- He set up O.S.C.A.R to monitor the Thurston Planetarium on his behalf
This raises a number of questions. Why is The Warden such a flake? Where does he go? Does he have other prisoners, or plans for more? Is he reporting back to someone? Hard to tell, but one thing is clear: he’s hiding something.
Despite the danger she’s in, I’m glad to see Ava Jansen return. Her presence gives me far more confidence in the overall Dark Aether story. When long-dormant threads are paid off, it doesn’t make following the story feel so helpless. The Construct or Chaos could realistically appear before the end of Black Ops 7.
It’s confirmation that the story has been planned out for a while. We might not love every plot point or how it’s been delivered, but at least we know the narrative team has a direction they are headed towards.
Jansen’s return also creates a dilemma that is likely the crux of Paradox Junction: she cannot exist alongside Elizabeth Grey – the woman who carried her – before she was even born. That is, by definition, a paradox. Was The Warden aware he’d create one when he yanked Jansen into the Dark Aether, or is this an unforeseen consequence of his hunger for her power?
We cannot assume Jansen is the only paradox in play. The name Paradox Junction suggests that time and space may be so tangled up that there’s more than one wrong to right.
Yet Another Aether Theory
The Dark Aether existed long before the end of Tag Der Toten. It played a pivotal role in the Aether story, as the corrupted Keepers were banished there and mutated over time into what we know as the Apothicons.
There’s an important piece of Vanguard Zombies intel we shouldn’t overlook. Saraxis confirms that many of the Dark Aether entities we’ve met since the end of Aether were present in the dimension before, during, and after the sacrifice of Primis and Ultimis. Nikolai’s actions banished all corruption into the Dark Aether, which alerted many beings to the sudden influx of new arrivals.
With this in mind, time moves differently in the Dark Aether. The Warden seems capable of moving backwards and forwards along linear time, since he pulled Ava Jansen in 2021 before pulling in the Terminus Crew in 1991.
Therefore, it could be possible that The Warden plucked Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo and Nikolai from their various timelines before the events of Tag Der Toten. Their very existence would be a paradox. They should be gone, yet they aren’t.
This would explain the new crew’s existence without contradicting the ending of Tag Der Toten. Well, it would contradict the ending, but that’s the point. We’d be working towards resolving the paradox, which in turn restores Tag Der Toten’s conclusion.
That’s just a bit of fun speculation, of course. I have no idea whether that’s the Narrative Team’s intention, or whether they’re even interested in looking back anymore. I severely hope they are.
Paradox Junction is Make or Break
In my discussion with Stanley557 and The Korborium (I love a cheap plug), I mentioned that I’ve enjoyed Black Ops 7 Zombies story so far, but more as a standalone tale. It’s character-focused and direct; however, unless it addresses Aether head-on, I’ll struggle to ever see it as “the next chapter” of the Zombies storyline that began back in 2008. It needs stronger connective tissue and a way to ensure Primis and Ultimis’ sacrifice in Tag Der Toten still matters. Paradox Junction feels like the map where we’ll know for sure if Treyarch has any interest in making it all make sense:
- We’re heading to Nuketown, the setting of Alpha Omega, where Primis and Ultimis teamed up to obtain the Elemental Shard.
- The Blundergat, a weapon that existed solely in the purgatory of Alcatraz, is returning for the first time since Blood of the Dead.
If these two elements aren’t tied meaningfully into the ongoing narrative, I’ll have no choice but to accept that true continuity is never coming back. That would have been fine during Cold War and Black Ops 6 (to an extent), but once you start actively bringing back the past, you need to be ready to answer the questions that come with it.
Who knows. Maybe the Narrative Team still has a rabbit to pull out of the hat beyond Paradox Junction. If so, I’ll be thrilled. But it’s growing increasingly unlikely.
I’ll remain invested in the ongoing story regardless, but it would be a real shame to have to mentally separate it from the past when there have been fleeting moments in the Dark Aether saga that suggested a “fresh, but familiar” continuation of Aether was possible.
Nuketown, Outta Nowhere
As The Warden finishes his Oscar-winning monologue, our crew flies out of the mouth of the nuclear mushroom and lands in Nuketown – a bit like me playing Blackout in 2018.
I’ll admit it’s a jarring transition, going from The Warden chewing the scenery to the crew’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it arrival. It makes me wonder whether the cinematics were produced before the map locations were fully locked in, as I vaguely remember reports that Modern Warfare Zombies’ cinematics were created in a single batch. If the occasional awkward cut is the price we pay for intro cinematics that look as good as Paradox Junction’s, I can live with it (though it does little to dampen the belief that Nuketown wasn’t originally planned for Black Ops 7).
The text “I think you’re getting to him” appearing in the lower third is an irregularity worth nothing. That format is usually used for time and location in Zombies cinematics, yet here it seems to be a quote. Oddly enough, this only appears in the English-language version, and there’s no dialogue to accompany it.
You’d think there’s no way a Call of Duty promotional asset would be uploaded without being thoroughly checked, but the original Twitter post was removed, and the intro was reuploaded with the audio fixed. Curiously, the text remained following the re-upload, so I’m choosing to believe it’s intentional until we hear otherwise. It’s more exciting that way.
Has Jansen found a way to communicate with the crew without The Warden noticing? Or is someone else watching the Throne Room? Maybe if we all insist it’s Samantha, she’ll just show up again as if nothing happened. Whatever the case, it’s clear The Warden is rattled, and the events of Paradox Junction may push him over the edge. The big man is seething!
Zomb-sieve
As I was putting the finishing touches on this post, Xbox decided that the barrage of leaks for Paradox Junction wasn’t enough and posted a thirty-second gameplay trailer early. Accidental marketing happens from time to time (I remember a similar incident with Zetsubou No Shima), but Treyarch really needs to do something about these leaks, man. I don’t want to see any more roasters teasing story spoilers.
The trailer itself showcases Nuketown before and after the nuclear blast. That’s a potentially interesting idea, but it’s disappointing to see most of the gameplay take place on the traditional Nuketown layout. I’ll wait until I play the map before writing it off completely – a sublime quest can radically improve a Zombies experience for me – but it wouldn’t be on my first page of choices for a new map.
The reception is exactly what you’d expect: people are not happy. I may not be holding a pitchfork just yet, but I certainly understand the frustration. Nuketown, for the third time, is uninspiring. There are a few locations that might get away with it because of their importance to the mode–Nuketown isn’t one of them. It’s an iconic Call of Duty map, but far less so for Zombies.
The biggest question I have is: why Nuketown of all places? Unless there’s a massive story curveball coming, it feels out of place. That leads me to think it’s down to budget, scope, or a late pivot in development.
As much as I love Black Ops 7, its poor performance led Activision to apologise for it. With so much money at stake, budget cuts would not surprise me. I would not be surprised if the Zombies Team is stretched thin. Then again, maybe it’s simply a desperate attempt to get more players through the door.
We don’t know, and that might be the biggest problem. We never know. We’re in dire need of someone from the Zombies Team to speak candidly with us again. Say what you want about the direction of the mode under Jason Blundell, but he was a pro at engaging with the community: he explained the reasons behind decisions, shared behind-the-scenes tidbits, and managed to set realistic expectations even when he was being cryptic.
Since Black Ops 4, we haven’t had that same level of candour. It’s understandable, given the vitriolic withering that took place during that game’s lifecycle, but I wish Treyarch would find ways to engage more openly with the Zombies Community. Respectfully, the clean-cut corporate feel of blog posts and CODPODs doesn’t cut it, and while the Dev Talks are better, they still feel overprepared and neutered.
We’re at the stage where the only information we get is marketing fluff or unverifiable leaks. We don’t necessarily need someone blinking Morse Code and becoming a fan-favourite figure again; we just need to hear directly from the Zombies Team and be treated as players rather than consumers.
While some of this might come across as negative, I’m just calling it as I see it: I am looking forward to Paradox Junction. I still enjoy Black Ops 7. I’ll always love Zombies. The vibes just aren’t great right now. A new map will hopefully change that, even if it’s Nuketown again.
If we survived Vanguard Zombies, we can survive this. That’s not to say we shouldn’t voice our concerns, though. At a time like this – when communication between Treyarch and the community is low – it’s vital that our feedback is loud, clear, and constructive.
Bring on Paradox Junction, and if it all goes to hell, at least we have Blackout 2. Kinda.
