Unanswered questions in COD: Black Ops 6

Key conclusions

• Four years later, Black Ops 6 brings back the spy vibes and familiar faces from the series.

• Unresolved plot threads leave questions about Case's fate, Adler's actions, the Pantheon's plan, and more.

• The mystery of the Pantheon's agenda, Cradle's possession, and the involvement of higher-ups remains open.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is well-loved for its single-player campaign. The plot brings back to you the spy feelings of Black Ops: Cold War. It also continues its story after the series was absent from this scale for four years, bringing with it many familiar faces.

By the end of Black Ops 6, we'll see where the fan favorites are in 1991 and what the new surviving characters look like. However, we still do not know everything about the story and its heroes. In classic Call of Duty fashion, there are plot threads that we hope to see resolved in future entries.

6

Did the case survive?

We still have so much to learn about him

Case is the mysterious protagonist. Like a classic retro hero, he lacks voice and personality. It still has an important backstory directly related to the game's plot. He was a test subject for the Cradle, the biological weapon at the heart of the game's story.

Jane Harrow, the villain in the game, knows him as such. So it's only fitting that the game ends with a showdown between the two of them in a wrecked helicopter. The helicopter sinks as the Cradle's hull breaks and the two inhale the weapon into their lungs.

Case chokes Harrow as the screen fades to black and her eyes shoot beams of light, indicating that the weapon's hallucinogenic properties have taken effect. This is the last time we see Case. He does not appear in the epilogue and is not mentioned. So is he going through it? If so, has Cradle caused him irreparable harm?

5

Did Adler kill Harrow's parents?

We would believe it, but there is no concrete evidence

During the Separation Anxiety mission, you will learn about Harrow's past and why she joined the Pantheon. While searching for her memories, you see her parents killed by an unknown assailant. At first it turns out to be Adler. Later in the same mission, Frank Woods questions this, and Harrow can't be sure that Adler did it.

The game never confirms if he did. While it's hard to pin the blame on him without more evidence, Adler is the type of operative who is willing to do anything when ordered to do so by higher-ups or if he believes it will benefit the greater good. We can't say for sure that it was him, but the fact that it's plausible says a lot about his character.

4

What is the new Pantheon plan?

There is no way they will just go away quietly

The ending reveals that there are still agents inside the Pantheon. Although Jane Harrow is missing from the frame, the last photo before the credits roll shows Jackson Kane, a minor character in several missions, in CIA Director Daniel Livingston's office.

With Pantheon still a threat to the CIA, what's their next move? Will this be the focus of the next Black Ops game, or, like many recent Call of Duty games, will the story trickle out gradually in the cinematic that opens each multiplayer season?

3

Why were Harrow's parents targeted?

Were they really traitors?

Jane Harrow's disdain for the CIA stems from the fact that the agency killed her parents when she was just a child. But why did they do it at all? Were they traitors? This flashback takes place at the height of Cold War paranoia. If they weren't traitors, perhaps paranoia got the better of the agency and they preemptively took their own lives based on bad evidence.

During this era, people lost their jobs and livelihoods because of suspicions of communist sympathies. It is not far-fetched to suggest that they were targeted because the CIA only suspected that they were double agents.

2

Does Pantheon still have a stroller?

Did they save some?

Although the final level takes place in Luddy, the guard house that serves as the game's hub, you and your team foil a plan to free the Cradle in Washington, DC. Daniel Livingston and the CIA solve the problem off-camera, stopping the Cradle from infecting the DC population. Did pantheon use all the cradle they had for this plan or do they have more?

If the latter is true, what's stopping them from trying again? With the information known in the intelligence community, Cradle will no longer work for a false flag operation, as everyone will know that Pantheon did it. However, it's easy to see some sinister uses for the weapon even outside of a false flag attack.

1

Who else is in the Pantheon?

Higher-ups should be involved

Jane Harrow and Jackson Kane are two confirmed major players in the CIA pantheon. One of them doesn't count, but there should be more than just Agent Kane and a bunch of cannon fodder for the players. They need funding from generous donors and more senior staff from within.

Learning more about the paramilitary group would help flesh out the Pantheon. Making them a more distinct group and giving them more things to do in the future will make the Black Ops sequels more connected.