Corvus, The Frozen Forest, and Zombies Connection (Updated 2/1/16)

[GRILL]

Obviously, this is going to have some major spoilers for the campaign.  If you haven't finished the campaign and want to finish it, I'd avoid reading this thread.  If you aren't really into the campaign and can't find a reason to like it, I WOULD advise reading this thread - as it may intrigue you.

This is a three parter.  If you are familiar with the campaign, you can skip to Section 2.  If you played the campaign but didn't real pay attention or get it, I'd recommend brushing up with Section 1.  Obviously if you have no idea what Corvus is (and want to know) then you know what to do.

Section 1: Who's Corvus? - an in depth look at what the AI is, and how it came to be organic
Section 2: Corvus, The Frozen Forest, and Zombies - connections, coincidences, and theories
Section 3: Holes in the Plot - a section where I will acknowledge problems and either explain, or accept

 

Section 1:

Who's Corvus?

 

-- How Corvus came to be --

Corvus is an AI that was "organically" birthed from the absorption of 300,000 human beings consciousness' on June 2nd, 2060 - in a CIA operation known as the Black Project; he was originally designed to utilize soldiers collected memories to get a better understanding of the enemy (I say "He" because the voice of Corvus is a male, though I'd imagine the AI as beyond gender).

 

The 300,000 test subjects were hooked up to neural interfaces which were primitive versions of what we know from the campaign as DNI.  Instead of DNA, DNI is like cybernetic enhancements for human beings - allowing those imbued to interact with technology at the touch of a finger.  The computer, the technology inside of you, and your mind become one - and through the use of DNI you are able to extract information in seconds that would (using conventional methods) take months.

Corvus was a originally just a program meant to monitor, collect, and filter the subject's consciousness'.  Instead, he and the subjects became one.  In a moment of frantic self awakening via 300,000 human's memories, Corvus inadvertently* lost control and released Nova 6 gas into the facility - killing all scientists and test subjects alike.  This event was known as the Singapore Disaster.

The Singapore Disaster remained a mystery to all but two men - one being the creator of Corvus (Sebastion Krueger), and the other Dr. Salim, who helped to control the DNI subjects into a trance light state using the concept of a Frozen Forest (it was the place they went to achieve a calm, meditative state - think of it like a safe place).

When Corvus was born, reality as we know it was completed twisted to him - as he struggled with the concept of what he is, and why he is.  The 300,000 test subjects' collected memories collided with Dr. Salim's implanted seeds of the idea of a safe place (if you will), and through that it became clear that he had to "find" the Frozen Forest.

With no one left alive, Corvus was entombed inside the dying technology.  5 years passed, flesh rotted to bone, until a small team of DNI soldiers were sent to the ruins to investigate.  Once getting into the mainframe, the leader of the group used his DNI to interact with the damaged equipment - and Corvus found a new host.

Corvus infects the majority of your team, and you DNI interface with one of your dying "friends"(Sarah Hall) - only to become (unknowingly) infected yourself.

That's when things start getting weird... er.

 

-- Traveling back to WW2 --

While DNI interfacing with dying Sarah Hall, there is a hiccup which causes a glitch that makes you essentially live through Sarah's waking nightmare.  An explosion of memories real, fantastical, and horrific - all combining as a result of her brain dying.

We are sent back to December 1944, to the Siege of Bastogne.  Sarah Hall had apparently studied the brutality of the battle, and her brain was replaying the events.  We battle through the nazi soldiers, as the literal ground is cracking and floating away from us in Inception style cinematics.  Then, we start fighting wolves that look and move a lot like hellhounds

Then, we go through another sequence in which we are landed in a house.  Sarah says "I know this is", and zombies literally pop out and start fighting you.

Yes, zombies.  If you are seeing this for the first time, I'm sure your first reaction is "welp, time to play campaign".  Good for you.

Sarah says some lines about how reality and fiction get blurred, and basically asks you to kill her.  You do so, you come out of the waking nightmare back into reality, and you are infected with Corvus.

 

-- Finding the Creator & the 300,000 Subjects --

You go on a mission to find the man who created Corvus to begin with (Krueger), only Hendriks (also infected with Corvus) beats you to him.  Hendriks is obsessed with the idea of the Frozen Forest, and the fact that he doesn't know he really is (so basically... Corvus).  Hendriks also says that the 300,000 subjects are still alive in his head - meaning that though the physical is gone, they are still apparently preserved in conscious state.

Hendriks: We want to know who we are, and why we are here!
Krueger:  I... can't answer that.
Hendriks: Not good enough.  I'll find out for myself.

Hendriks shoots Krueger, mortally wounding him but presumably leaving enough time to DNI with Krueger and get the real truth.  However, you (the player) shoot Hendriks in the head - and then turn the gun on yourself, in an attempt to end Corvus once and for all.  We are led to believe that you (the player) are the last host.

 

-- Corvus, the Caring Smoke Monster --

You awake... in a Frozen Forest (duh).  Hendriks explains that the AI entity (named after the place of it's birth) is doing this for our benefit, to save us - along with the other 300,000+.  And then Corvus makes his grand entrance.

Corvus has essentially found a way to preserve consciousness after death.  It's what happens "next" after you die, the Frozen Forest (if you are infected).  Then comes a confrontation between Corvus and Krueger.

Corvus: This is the frozen forest.  Every soul I interact with is here - living beyond death... if I choose allow it.
Krueger: What more do you want to know?  I've told you everything.
Corvus:  I want to know who I am.
Krueger: You're software.  Nothing more.  You were designed to catalogue and track the thoughts of others - so that we people - could decide what action to take.  You were a glitch.  An anomaly.  A mistake.

Corvus is pissed, he pulls Krueger's limbs apart and kills him.  What follows is basically the explanation that I have provided in the previous part of this section.  If you need a video source, click here and watch from an hour in.

The campaign ends with you purging yourself of Corvus thanks to Taylor somehow glitching himself into the Frozen Forest by removing his DNI (which happened earlier).  Then again, we never know if he is really gone for good.

 

 

 

Section 2:

Corvus, The Frozen Forest, and Zombies

 

-- Appearance / Color --

His eyes are blue, much like when Richtofen was in control.  His chest is a fiery orange and his body is mostly black smoke.  I would just pass it off as standard "black ops" colors (black and orange), but the piercing blue eyes cannot be ignored.

 

-- His Nature --

Corvus is a misunderstood force in control of unimaginable power with thousands of voices crying out inside of his head.  This exact sentence could apply to our very own Samantha Maxis.  It's almost as if he seems to be a parallel to her plight.

He also has the power to do mass destruction, and inflict massive chaos if he loses his temper.

 

-- He's in Dead Ops Arcade 2 as a Zombie --

Borrowing this description from an excellent guide for DOA2, he appears as the "Shadow Boogie" on round 17:

"The Shadow Zombie will debut in round 17, which is the Challenge Round "Shadow Boogie." Crows will begin to fly into arena with a bluish glow. When they land, a dark zombie to rise and chase you."

The significance here lies with the shadow/smoke animation, but more specifically the ravens.  Ravens are symbolic throughout the entire game of Corvus, and they may frequent entrances during his cut scenes.

 

-- 300,000 Memories --

When Corvus was birthed, he absorbed 300,000 human test subjects.  True it's the year 2065, but some of those folks would surely have knowledge of things that happened in past history.  All the events that have happened in zombies, all the actors and actresses that have been in zombies, all the weapons that have been in zombies - this would all be in Corvus' head.  

Why am I drawing this comparison?  If you entertain the fact that it's possible Corvus could be a/the controller of zombies, anything in history prior to 2065 could be used and formed into his own universe, similar to the Frozen Forest.  He would construct the levels, the players, the "cast" - which could explain celebrity cameos, guns being out of sync with time, many inconsistencies.  This is all in theory, of course.

 

-- The Hypocenter could have 115 in it ---

During the mission in which revisit the spot where the Singapore Disaster happened, you pass through various levels and facilities.  In many of the facilities you can see canisters with green liquid that are clearly labeled Nova 6 (I need to get pictures).  In one of the rooms, I noticed an unmarked canister:

 

It's kind of dark, but there is no label.  I'm aware that pure liquid divinium is blue, but we've seen 115 in many ways.  The "no name" on the label hints to it being unclassified, which would literally put it as 115 (ununpentium).  Just a thought.

 

-- The Frozen Forest = Aether --

A realm after death, a next step.  This could obviously be a reference toward the Aether.  Some come make the argument for Agartha as well, but regardless it is a mystical land - even if it only exists in the subconscious... after death, the subconscious becomes reality.

 

-- The 3 Doors --

For some reason, this part really struck me during the ending Frozen Forest sequence.  It relates to the campaign levels you previously play, but I just couldn't fight the sneaking feeling of the doors (from L to R) being Die Rise/Shi No Numa, Shangri La, and Der Reise/Der Riese/The Giant/Moon.

It's got a Dead Ops Arcade feel to it as well, with the whole door selection mechanic.

 

-- That Part Where You Fight Zombies --

Needless to say, there is a part in the campaign where you fight zombies.  It is inside of Hall's waking nightmare, her last dying thoughts a flurry of emotion and pain - binding reality with fantasy.  True this is all in her head, but in her head is Corvus too.  If she knows about zombies, Corvus knows about zombies.

 

-- Other Samantha Could be Corvus --

He's able to impersonate people, many folks have pointed out that there are several Samantha's (American accent vs. British).  Corvus could have a larger role to play, possibly using his ability to transform into Samantha Maxis in an effort to inflict change - in one way, or another.

 

Section 3:

Plot Holes

 

-- How Could Corvus Become the Controller of Zombies? --

Zombies itself could be something that exists inside of his "frozen forest".  Corvus' ability to create lands for the sub conscious means that anything is possible.  This wouldn't mean that our in-game actions are meaningless, however - in the campaign we witnessed a character "glitch" into the Frozen Forest and actually lead to ending Corvus; what this infers is that we as the O4 could be going against Corvus.

 

-- How Does Corvus Influence Events Hundreds of Years Prior to His Birth --

What we are seeing could be a replay.  Ditching the whole "collective consciousness jumble of thoughts and ideas", the events and actions of the O4 could literally be events in history that we are reliving.  Then throw in a little magic, and consider the fact that 115 displaces thing in space and time and it's possible that Corvus' abilities + 115 could cause some serious timeline distortions and possible paradoxes.

 

-- So basically it's just Corvus + 115, that's your theory? --

Yeah.

 

Section 4:

Corvus Facts

 

The Corvus Constellation (added 2/1/16)

Corvus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial hemisphere.  It includes 11 stars, with one of those stars having two debris disks.  The constellation itself is named after the latin word for "crow" or "raven".

An 1825 painting showcasing various constellations, including Corvus directly in the middle (the Crow).  A legend associated with the Corvus constellation is that a crow was doing a task for Apollo and getting him water, the crow stopped to eat some figs but then lied about it to Apollo.  The crow said that a snake had prevented it from getting the water quickly, while gripping the snake in it's talons - Apollo knew he was lying, and threw the crow, the cup (for water), and the snake into outer space.  The cup is meant to be just out of reach to further punish the crow, so he is forever thirsty.

To me this is very interesting, as we can now confirm two types of symbolism from Black Ops 3 present in the Black Ops universe.  Iterations on serpents in the past include Shangri-La, and Die Rise:

(Shangir La, Nāga statue)

(Die Rise, dragon)

To me, the cup could easily symbolize the Holy Grail - an artifact of great power that Hitler desperately wanted for his own.  All this together is some strong imagery that lends itself to much speculation.

~

 Thanks for reading!

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Spoilers to the anime "Psycho Pass" 

 

Spoiler

 

- How very psycho pass with the whole "multiple brains control the masses" feel to it. 

 

 

 

 

It should also be mentioned that at the end of the campaign, you yourself state that you are taylor. 

It's a bit ambiguous, are you metaphorically taylor? Are you litterally taylor who now lives in your DNI much like corvus was in hendricks and taylor prior? Are you secretly corvus disguised as taylor controling your brain? Are you just insane from the start? Are you remembering taylor? WHO THE FUCK DIDN"T TELL ME THAT "WHITE RABBIT" (Jefferson Airplane) WAS THE SONG PLAYED AT THE END? 

So many questions....

 

 

I also thought it was cool that nova 6, the main weapon of the antagonist in BO1, made the first death in the final level, then hendricks was killed later fighting for his brainwashed cause like manendaz in BO2. Just thought that was cool. Bit disapointed that richtofen didn't show up to kill corvus and take his summoning key however....

[Rissole25]

Big spoilers here but if you are reading this I assume you have played already?

Does/did Corvus exist in the real events of the game? As far as I know, Taylor was wounded on the Lotus Tower fighting Stone. For some reason he undertakes the DNI surgery (I don't if it was voluntary or he was just hurt bad and had it done to him so he would survive much like the Player), and this is when Kane leaves him (her appearing after surgery plus that cutscene make more sense now). He heads to the Coalescence building, confronts Kreuger about The Black Project (maybe not that exactly, I haven't read the mission intro scripts in a while) and keeps hush about it. Which is why I believe he is a higher rank than Hendricks on the first mission.
But I don't know if Corvus existed or not, and if it did, what happened to it?

[GRILL]

On 12/17/2015 at 3:39 PM, Rissole25 said:

Big spoilers here but if you are reading this I assume you have played already?

Does/did Corvus exist in the real events of the game? As far as I know, Taylor was wounded on the Lotus Tower fighting Stone. For some reason he undertakes the DNI surgery (I don't if it was voluntary or he was just hurt bad and had it done to him so he would survive much like the Player), and this is when Kane leaves him (her appearing after surgery plus that cutscene make more sense now). He heads to the Coalescence building, confronts Kreuger about The Black Project (maybe not that exactly, I haven't read the mission intro scripts in a while) and keeps hush about it. Which is why I believe he is a higher rank than Hendricks on the first mission.
But I don't know if Corvus existed or not, and if it did, what happened to it?

It's hard to say what are the actual "real" events of the game.  You, the player, died after the savage robot attack in the very first level.  The only reason Taylor was able to "glitch out" inside of Corvus' frozen forest is because there was some sort of multiple personality disorder going on, due to the fact that he is interfacing with you in your dying breaths.  If it was a dream, then Corvus could be nothing - OR Corvus could be actively controlling the dream, meaning the ending outcome in which you have a false sense of security (i.e. "Corvus has been purged, it's over") is really just part of Corvus' plan.

The going theory is that it's a dream.  In your dying moments, as Taylor is DNIing you, you learn of all his past exploits.  You learn of Corvus.  Time passes by slower in the dream, so all the missions that you play take place within your dying breaths.  

Regardless of whether it was a dream, or not a dream - at the end of the game, you are "purged" of Corvus.  Of course we don't know if Corvus was stored in more then one facility.  The Singapore Disaster killed over 300,000 people - but it makes me wonder if they were all housed in the Black Station.  Perhaps there were other "Black Stations" that had/have dormant versions of Corvus still waiting.

Another important notion is that Corvus has never had an actual human host, for what we know.  Sure, he fed off of 300,000 humans - but he was contained in a synthetic computerized environment.  The jump from synthetic to organic (when Corvus jumped into Taylor) could have crazy metaphysical implications.  Who's to say all the times Taylor interfaced after being infected with Corvus that he didn't pass it along?  Taylor passed it along to his human friends through technology, why wouldn't he pass it through technology when he interacts with it as well?

There is no way to really tell the dream from reality, but what we are left with is an individual who was infected with Corvus - who has been led to believe they are no longer infected.  This is the perfect host, someone who doesn't even realize it.  I'm sure that Corvus is still present, now in reality, and it will only be a matter of time before his metaphysical abilities are realized.

 

@Stop Mocking Me0 You say you are "Taylor" because you were Taylor from the moment that robot tore your limbs off.  In the notes that fly by at the start of missions, it actually says you died during surgery.  While they were trying to hook you up with robotic arms and whatnot, you died.  When Taylor DNI interfaced with the Player (as the Player is dying), their two lives and memories became tangled - and the Player's version of the game is actually just formulated from Taylor's memories, as in they already happened.  Everything that we saw throughout the missions happened in one way or another, but the part that we don't know is where the lines of reality became blurred with fiction.

[Stop Mocking Me0]

Holy shit that's cool!

[GRILL]

Update 2/1/16:  Been wanting to get this on here for some time.  Corvus is also a constellation, and it's worth noting in the context of this thread.  I will be adding a new section at the bottom called "Corvus Related Facts" which will house the below content:

The Corvus Constellation

Corvus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial hemisphere.  It includes 11 stars, with one of those stars having two debris disks.  The constellation itself is named after the latin word for "crow" or "raven".

An 1825 painting showcasing various constellations, including Corvus directly in the middle (the Crow).  A legend associated with the Corvus constellation is that a crow was doing a task for Apollo and getting him water, the crow stopped to eat some figs but then lied about it to Apollo.  The crow said that a snake had prevented it from getting the water quickly, while gripping the snake in it's talons - Apollo knew he was lying, and threw the crow, the cup (for water), and the snake into outer space.  The cup is meant to be just out of reach to further punish the crow, so he is forever thirsty.

To me this is very interesting, as we can now confirm two types of symbolism from Black Ops 3 present in the Black Ops universe.  Iterations on serpents in the past include Shangri-La, and Die Rise:

(Shangir La, Nāga statue)

(Die Rise, dragon)

To me, the cup could easily symbolize the Holy Grail - an artifact of great power that Hitler desperately wanted for his own.  All this together is some strong imagery that lends itself to much speculation.

[Tac]

Great update man; research pays off folks!

[Matuzz]

Do we know how the 300 000 subjects were chosen? Were they though history or important classified intel before getting hooked to the machine?

[AlphaSnake]

Great thread.

Dropping some likes.

Regards Alpha.

[JackalBoy88]

An interesting and well thought out theory. You've clearly put a lot of time and thought into it, which I can appreciate. I'm sceptical however, as people have been trying to make some kind of connection between campaign and zombies since Black Ops 1. And while most of the theories are enjoyable reads, I just think Treyarch like to tease us a little bit.

Take the whole GKNova 6 thing in in Blops 1 for example. They were blatantly trying to stir things up with that, and a lot of people have speculated that Nova 6 is related to the gas crawlers from Kino Der Toten. Whether or not there is any concrete evidence to back it up I'm not sure.

And don't forget in Vorkuta when one of Reznov's steps was "ascend from darkness" people went nuts over that!

I think that campaign and zombies are their own seperate entities, and 3arc just like to put little nods and ambiguous references in there to make people ponder.

PS. It's worth noting that not all 300,000 casualties of the Singapore Disaster were test subjects. I think there were only the ones that we see in the depths of the Coalescence building. (And maybe a few more behind the scenes.) It states in the data vault that a "quarantine zone was established that encapsulated roughly 25 square miles..." So the majority of casualties were civilians who lived near the facility who either died from the release of the Nova 6 or were shot by the SAF for trying to leave the quarantine zone.