Into the Intel I: Project Janus, The Aether, and MWZ

One of my favourite things about the Dark Aether story has been the return of mystery to Zombies’ storytelling.  As exciting (and beautiful) as the Zombies Chronicles timeline was in Black Ops 3, it ended up sucking a lot of the air out of the room.  We got too many answers and not enough questions.  While this made sense – the Aether saga was on its way out– it left little space for fans to speculate and theorise.

Thanks to the world-building accomplished throughout Cold War, Vanguard, and MWZ, many questions plague us as we head into the Black Ops 6 chapter of Dark Aether. I thought I’d crack open the intel and cover some of the things I find most interesting as we head into the unknown. I’ve tried to make clear what is fact and what is speculation, but I’m only human, and my theories are likely not bulletproof.

Project Janus

Project Janus is years in the making at this point, having been teased throughout Cold War.  With it appearing in marketing materials and getting its own part of the Steelbook cover, it’s evident that the secret project of The Director (Eddie, if you prefer) will play a pivotal role in BO6 Zombies. But what actually is Project Janus? We still don’t know what it entails or the rationale behind it. 

From scouring the intel, we can pick up on only a handful of things.

• It includes “some pretty insane stuff”.
• Requiem’s aetherium reserves were diverted to Project Janus during the Ural Mountains outbreak. This decimated Grey and Strauss’ research budgets and made them suspicious of the project.
• Klaus was sent to Berlin and tasked with “cleaning up” the outbreak to protect the security of Project Janus.

With information at a premium, many have looked at the name to shed some light. In Roman mythology, Janus was the God of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. A busy God, indeed. Janus is depicted as a being with two heads, looking backwards and forwards simultaneously.

Unfortunately for us, there are countless ways to interpret Janus in the context of the Dark Aether. Every part of their job description could fit with what we know of Eddie and Requiem. It’s clear that a gateway to the Dark Aether is one of the goals of Project Janus, but that feels like an initial step rather than an end goal. There has to be a reason for so much investment in projects exploring the Dark Aether that goes beyond seizing resources.

It’s interesting that Samantha Maxis’ presence would hinder the project. The glimpses we get of Eddie’s Memos show how much of a threat he saw Maxis. Nevertheless, he experimented on her in captivity, and she proved useful to him. She saved the strike team from Berlin and ultimately sacrificed herself to contain The Forsaken.

This makes me think removing Maxis from the picture was a tactical decision. Eddie predicted that she would not willingly help Project Janus because of her principles, which would be a massive problem for him. I want to give Eddie the benefit of the doubt, but so far, he has been as devious as you’d expect from a Richtofen.

Eddie may have been The Director of Requiem, but he wasn’t working alone. He answered to the Board. The Board of what/who? We have no idea. A cabal hidden in the darkness sounds like something out of the Societe Occulte’s playbook, but we are unaware of the group’s status post-World War 2.

Whoever it’s comprised of, the Board was most unhappy with Eddie’s actions during Mauer Der Toten. His directive to the Strike Team resulted in the closure of the Berlin gateway to the Dark Aether. In his memo to the Board, Eddie stressed the importance of preparation, and that one misstep in Project Janus could result in catastrophe. The stakes of this scheme are high, and the outcome will undoubtedly have massive implications for our universe and the Dark Aether.

While he did explain his actions to some extent, Eddie played his cards close to his chest and did not divulge all the information he had. Perhaps his relationship with the Board isn’t as mutual as they think. Project Janus could mean different things to different people; what the Board wants may not be what Eddie wants, and vice versa.

The Board’s motivation for Project Janus is unknown, but there are a few leads on what Eddie may be after. The leading theory is that Eddie is trying to find a way to bring back his wife and child, who may have accidentally been killed by Weaver and Maxis.

All we know about his family is that he keeps a picture of them on his desk, but several pieces of intel hint at Weaver and Maxis’ mistake on the field returning to haunt them. The “Fifteen Days” intel is particularly damning as Eddie says he was “very forgiving about the whole thing” after Maxis brings up her and Weaver’s shared trauma.

Maybe Eddie goes home to his wife and child after a hard day at work, pours himself a drink and sticks on Columbo –it’s a possibility! We don’t have a smoking gun, but there’s enough evidence to say with reasonable confidence that Eddie’s motive for Project Janus and the Dark Aether is personal.

From their interactions, Eddie seems more aware of where he came from than Maxis does. If he knows about their origins, it can only mean bad things for the brand-new universe they walked into at the end of Tag Der Toten. You can’t repeat the past, but that doesn’t stop people from trying—especially Edward Richtofen.

The intro cinematic for Terminus only strengthened the theory that Weaver was involved in an apparent hit on Eddie. Richtofen and Weaver have a clear history, and the blog post’s use of the term “burn the whole house down” when discussing Weaver seems coy.

The Relationship between Aether and Dark Aether

The Aether story ended in Black Ops 4’s Tag Der Toten, but elements of it live on. The ending of Tag Der Toten established that almost everything in the Aether multi-verse was banished to the Dark Aether.  The only known caveats are Sam and Eddie, who were given a chance to start a new life, and Ultimis and Primis, who died to resolve the paradox.

One of the Lost Souls audio logs aptly refers to the Dark Aether as the “rubbish dump of time”. With elements of Aether already appearing in Cold War, like the perk machines, pack-a-punch and mystery box, it’s only a matter of time before we see additional relics.  Perhaps the return of Gobblegums in Black Ops 6 will be related to discovering vestiges of the “old world”. 

I think Treyarch’s handling of Aether is healthy. It spanned over ten years and means a lot to Zombie fans. Still being able to pull gameplay mechanics, lore, and characters from it means Treyarch can season the new stuff with the right amount of nostalgia.

That said, I hope it doesn’t go overboard. I do not want to see Primis and Ultimis. The conclusion of Aether was a beautiful—and slightly upsetting—ending to their story. Maybe they could return in a way that further enhances their characters and progresses the story like Bungie managed with Cayde-6 in Destiny 2: The Final Shape, but I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking. Let them rest. There are plenty of other ways to incorporate Aether that won’t jeopardise the past.

Thankfully, it sounds like Craig Houston thinks the same, as he said as much in an interview surrounding the launch of Alpha Omega in Black Ops 4:

I find it interesting that Craig mentioned Victis, considering how they end up in the Dark Aether after Tag Der Toten.  At the time, we had no idea that the Dark Aether would be so important in future instalments of Zombies, but the writers likely did. Watch back the Tag Der Toten cutscene and see how much the Dark Aether is emphasised.

Many are still holding out hope that Victis will pop up somewhere.  I’d love a definitive answer on what happened to them, but I don’t think it’d be pretty.  Victis were a formidable crew when they put their mind to it, but I doubt they could survive in the Dark Aether for aeons.  Look what happened to Zykov, a trained soldier, after just 40 Earth years in it.

Treyarch was very careful not to reference 115 in Cold War, Vanguard or MWZ, but we’ve had two references to it in the marketing for Black Ops 6: the “115 sold” on the Melee Macchiato perk teaser and the Reflect 115 camo pre-order bonus. It may be nothing, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

The Curtain Closes on MWZ

Ava Jansen and Operation Deadbolt are heading towards a confrontation with The Entity in the finale of MWZ. Jansen, Samantha Maxis’s biological daughter, has been tormented by The Entity since a young age, and the outbreak in Urzikstan has only made it worse.

With MWZ set more than 30 years after the start of Black Ops 6, it’s hard to tell what Treyarch has planned for Jansen. Is she going to let the entity in? Does she have the heart of her mother? Do they share the same powers? Will her actions change the past? I really don’t know.

Time travel isn’t out of the question; time works differently in the Dark Aether. The combination of time travel and the multi-verse created so many headaches in Aether, though, and it may be something Treyarch wants to avoid using if possible.

We still don’t know what happened to the Requiem Heads in 1996. We know they return in Black Ops 6 as our playable crew (minus Strauss), which starts in 1991, but the events that led to their probable demise are still a mystery. One thing is certain: Ravenov knows more about their fate than he’s letting on. The reason he can still operate in the field at his age has always been suspicious, and it’s likely a result of the events of the ’90s.

Speaking of our Russian comrade, it’s not looking great for him. Jansen’s vision in the Season 2 cutscene ended with her slitting his throat.  On separate occasions, he has promised Jansen and Miller that he’ll discuss the past with them after the Outbreak is resolved.

Miller: Um, excuse me Ravenov, feel free to send me packing, but I've noticed you're not rattled by anything going on here. Also, people've been saying Greene didn't have a choice in bringing you on board.

Ravenov: My expertice came... at a high price. Being here, it is my duty. We all have out instructions.

Miller: Hmm... I've got history with this kind of things too. The place I grew up - it was a town by the name of Lib-

Ravenov: -My God... You were there? But you would have been so young... how did you possib-

Miller: -Holdup. You know about what happened? Every pencil neck I've ever spoken to said those files were sealed.

Ravenov: People... they tell me things. I know it was a tragedy.

Miller: Well, shit. I've kept my mouth shut, worked my ass off in the service, and convinced the powers that be to assign me to Deadbolt - just to find out that you're the one with the answers?

Ravenov: Perhaps I can help? When you have the time, record what you remember. And I can do my best to connect the dots for you. Separate fact from fiction.

Miller: You'd do that?

Ravenov: I promise.

Miller: Deal. Now, that means you can't go dying on me.

Ravenov: I... am good at keeping promises.

Let’s hope Ravenov is telling the truth because, to me, it feels like he might meet his end in the finale.

I recently wrote about keeping faith in the Dark Aether story. Much of this year’s outrage has been overblown, but I think some of the fears of MWZ’s impact on Dark Aether are valid. MWZ has potentially wiped out Maxis, Weaver, Grey, Carver, Strauss and Ravenov – many of the most popular characters from Cold War Zombies.  

We’ll start Black Ops 6 Zombies in 1991. By 1996, Maxis is still missing following failed attempts to rescue her. Grey, Carver, Strauss, and Weaver will likely die in 1996, as Grey’s message to Jansen looks to have been filmed momentarily before whatever happens.  I’m hoping for a twist or two so we can spend more time with these characters. 

It’s a bold decision that doesn’t make sense now but might once the Black Ops 6 story gets going. It seems like a massive gamble, considering we know the fate of three-quarters of our Black Ops 6 crew before launch, but there’s always the chance things aren’t quite what they seem.

This is why I’m hesitant to judge anything story-related until we see the direction Black Ops 6 is headed.  There are so many different roads to travel — the MWZ finale will likely narrow them down. Hopefully, Treyarch has picked a good one!

Knowing we’re only seventy-odd days away from a new Black Ops game feels good, but after an incredible reveal last week, the wait feels even longer. For now, there is much to speculate. I had been working on this one for a few weeks but had to push it back due to the reveal. Part II is in the works, covering further theories and things to look out for in BO6 Zombies. Fans of Chaos should enjoy that one.