The Black Ops Timeline(s)

[Tac]

Hello all, Tac here. I am posting the timeline from Treyarch's website here on CoDz. I intend on eventually having this page list out the various multiple endings to Black Ops Cold War and how they lead to other games, but for now it will just be some info from their site.

 

World at War - 7 intel

Spoiler

 

August 17, 1942

Private Miller is rescued from imprisonment by Sgt. Roebuck at Makin Atoll during the battle of Makin in the Gilbert Islands, part of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army.

 

September 176, 1942

Red Army soldier Dimitri Petrenko encounters Viktor Reznov in Stalingrad, Russia. Reznov needs help assassinating General Heinrich Amsel, an infamous German commander in Stalingrad responsible for massacres throughout the Motherland. Petrenko successfully assassinates Amsel, and the two escape the war-torn city.

 

April 3, 1945

Petty Officer Locke, manning the gun of a PBY Catalina fighter plane, defends an attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy on a US Naval Fleet south of Okinawa, Japan.

 

April 16, 1945

Dimitri Petrenko and Viktor Reznov successfully break the German line in Seelow Heights, Germany, about 90km east of Berlin. They acquire transportation to Berlin in their final move to the German capital.

 

April 24, 1945

The Red Army sets foot in Berlin, encountering a major battle with Germany’s last line of defense.

 

April 30, 1945

Petrenko and Reznov breach the Reichstag in Berlin, defeating the defending Waffen-SS. They raise the Soviet flag in victory.

 

May 29, 1945

Roebuck's company attacks the Japanese Imperial Army at Shuri Castle on Okinawa Island, Japan. Miller's actions will mean the difference between life and death for Roebuck and Polonsky.

 

Black Ops - 14 intel

Spoiler

 

October 29, 1945

Viktor Reznov leads Russian General Nikita Dragovich to a ship containing samples of biochemical weapon Nova 6 gas in the Arctic Circle, and is ultimately captured and imprisoned after British commandos storm the ship. Dimitri Petrenko loses his life in the process after Dragovich exposes him to Nova 6.

 

April 17, 1961

On the ground in Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion, CIA operatives Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Joseph Bowman attempt to assassinate FIdel Castro under US orders. They fail the mission, taking out a body double instead. Mason is captured and brought to Dragovich.

 

[REDACTED]

Alex Mason is progressively brainwashed through experimental methods by Dragovich, who intends him to act as a sleeper agent.

 

October 6, 1963

Alex Mason and Viktor Reznov lead a prison break from a labor camp at Vorkuta in the Soviet Union. During the breakout, Reznov stays behind to hold off the Soviet prison guards while Mason escapes.

 

November 10, 1963

At the Pentagon, President John F. Kennedy instructs Mason to eliminate Nikita Dragovich in the interests of the United States.

 

November 17, 1963

Following President Kennedy's orders, Mason embarks on Operation Flashpoint with Woods, Brooks, and Bowman. The team infiltrates a Soviet launch facility with intent to sabotage the Ascension Group, rescue Special Agent Grigori Weaver, and gather intel on Dragovich.

 

January 21, 1968

Mason and CIA Special Agent Jason Hudson meet up with Woods in Khe Sanh, Vietnam to investigate evidence of Soviet activity around Laos and Cambodia.

 

February 2, 1968

As the Tet Offensive ravages the city around them, Mason, Woods, and Bowman fight through in an effort to locate a Russian defector with intel on Russia's involvement in Vietnam. They successfully evacuate from Huế City, South Vietnam after an intense firefight against the North Vietnamese Army.

 

February 4, 1968

Colonel Lev Kravchenko tests Nova 6 gas on the local population of Vietnam and Laos.

 

February 9, 1968

Hudson is sent to Kowloon City, Hong Kong to interrogate Dr. Daniel Clarke, one of the engineers responsible for the creation of Nova 6. Meanwhile, Mason, Woods, and Reznov are shot down while flying over Viet Cong territory in search of Kravchenko. They find his abandoned compound rigged with explosives and barely manage to escape the trap alive.

 

February 18, 1968

Hudson and CIA operatives Grigori Weaver, Terrance Brookes, and Bruce Harris infiltrate a Soviet base in Yamantau, USSR to seize evidence of weaponized Nova 6 gas. Agent Harris is presumed KIA after falling from a catwalk destroyed by an RPG blast. Once inside the facility, the team is contacted by Doctor Friedrich Steiner, the creator of Nova 6, to make a deal for his life.

 

February 19, 1968

Mason, Woods, and Bowman infiltrate a compound in Laos in pursuit of Dragovich’s right-hand man, Colonel Lev Kravchenko. The men are taken captive by Viet Cong guerillas and forced to play Russian Roulette. Bowman resists, and is killed by a Spetsnaz operative in the process. Mason and Woods manage to escape in a Russian chopper and track down Kravchenko's hideout. After jumping out a window followed by an explosion, Woods and Kravchenko are both considered KIA.

 

February 23, 1968

Mason and Reznov head to Steiner's location on Rebirth Island to kill him, while Hudson and Weaver race to meet with Steiner before he can be killed. When they arrive, it is already too late. Mason believes Reznov to be Steiner's killer, but Hudson and Weaver bear witness to a different truth.

 

February 26, 1968

After Mason is revealed to have been brainwashed for some time, Mason and Hudson board the Russian ship Rusalka in time to stop a Nova 6 payload from being released in the United States. Mason drowns Dragovich and makes it to the surface with Hudson to be greeted by Weaver and a massive American fleet. The crisis is over.

 

 

Black Ops Cold War - 0 intel

Spoiler

Though nothing is officially on the Treyarch homepage's timeline for Black Ops Cold War we've filled in some dates.

 

Unofficial timeline:

 

January 8, 1981

Mason receives an unexpected phone call from Hudson, who wants to get the old team back together. If Mason will return as a CIA operative, he’s to immediately report to Amsterdam to rendezvous with his former partner, Sgt. Frank Woods, along with the mysterious operative, Russell Adler. As it turns out, a covert mission to end the Iran Hostage Crisis would end up revealing a far greater threat.

 

January, 1981

Newly-inaugurated President Ronald Reagan receives a national security briefing regarding the imminent threat of Perseus.

 

 

Black Ops II - 12 intel

Spoiler

 

July 2, 1986

Jason Hudson calls Alex Mason out of retirement to rescue their old friend Frank Woods, who has been captured by narco-terrorist Raul Menendez in Angola during that country's brutal civil war.

 

September 5, 1986

Mason and Woods fight off a Russian attack on the Mujahideen compound in Afghanistan while investigating Raul Menendez's involvement in selling arms throughout the region.

 

September 25, 1986

Raul Menendez’s sister, Josefina, is killed by a stray grenade during a raid carried out by Mason, Hudson, and Woods on Menendez’s compound in Wasa King, Nicaragua.

 

December 20, 1989

Woods and Mason are sent to Panama with orders to capture a high-value target with connections to Raul Menendez. Tricked during a sinister plan, Woods mistakenly shoots a disguised Alex Mason, believing him to be Menendez at the time. Menendez captures Hudson, Woods, and Alex Mason's son, David. Hudson sacrifices himself in order for David and Woods to survive.

 

June 19, 2014

After Menendez begins the well-funded social and political Cordis Die movement, thousands of rioters sympathetic to Cordis Die take to the streets of Pyongyang and Tehran. 

 

June 19, 2021

Cyberterrorists plunge world markets into chaos. Raul Menendez uploads a video revealing himself to be the leader of Cordis Die and blames the US for the attacks.

 

April 19, 2025

Looking for information on Menendez, Joint Special Operations Command agents David "Section" Mason and Mike Harper visit Frank Woods at The Vault, a CIA retirement complex.

 

April 20, 2025

David Mason, Mike Harper, Javier Salazar, and Crosby infiltrate a remote Cordis Die compound to try to find info on Celerium in the Hkababo Razi Mountains, Myanmar. They uncover intel from a source regarding Menendez's plans to execute a massive cyber attack.

 

June 12, 2025

Evidence surfaces from surveillance in Pakistan that Menendez has hidden a cyber weapon called "Karma" on the floating city Colossus.

 

June 18, 2025

Menendez is captured and brought on board the USS Barack Obama for interrogation. Salazar is revealed as a traitor, helping Menendez escape as the ship suffers a major attack.

 

June 19, 2025

David Mason plays a significant role in defending Los Angeles, California from a major drone attack. The drones are US-owned, but turned against America in a technological takeover.

 

June 19, 2025

David Mason leads an attack on a Haitian facility where the drones are being controlled. Before he can return them to US hands, Menendez orders the drones to self-destruct, leaving the US defenseless against an attack by Cordis Die. The ending of the game is largely determined by the player's choices.

 

 

Black Ops III - 1 intel

Spoiler

 

[REDACTED]

The progression of military technology leads to the deployment of robotic humanoids and cybernetic supersoldiers on the battlefield. After an explosion laced with Nova 6 gas kills 300,000 in Singapore, a team of cybernetic Black Ops soldiers faces off against Corvus, a conscious artificial intelligence.

 

 

Black Ops IV - 1 intel

Spoiler

 

[REDACTED]

CIA operative and businesswoman Savannah Mason-Meyer recruits some of the world's most elite soldiers for a secret initiative entitled Project Blackout, using Combat Immersion simulation technology to train them.

 

 

[anonymous]

Excellent work! Where do you have this intel from?

[Tac]

Currently all these dates are listed on Treyarch's homepage, https://www.treyarch.com/. On the right side of the homepage are game markers that you can click and they are seemingly setting some of the narrative they want us to remember.

[RadZakpak]

Glad to have these posted somewhere, for once Treyarch eventually retires the current design.

 

One thing that stuck out to me in the Black Ops section was how every piece of intel was related to a mission except:

 

February 4, 1968

Colonel Lev Kravchenko tests Nova 6 gas on the local population of Vietnam and Laos.

 

In terms of the larger narrative, that seems more inconsequential, but perhaps it could be important in Cold War? Maybe we will witness what Kravchenko has done in the first mission, which is set in Vietnam.

 

 

On a similar note, Black Ops 2's timeline is mostly missions, except:

 

June 19, 2014

After Menendez begins the well-funded social and political Cordis Die movement, thousands of rioters sympathetic to Cordis Die take to the streets of Pyongyang and Tehran. 

 

June 19, 2021

Cyberterrorists plunge world markets into chaos. Raul Menendez uploads a video revealing himself to be the leader of Cordis Die and blames the US for the attacks.

 

The choice of including these entries might be to emphasize Menendez's role, and he and his father may play a role in Cold War. He states his father was killed by an American in Nicaragua, and he ran a massive drug trade there.

[PINNAZ]

6 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

One thing that stuck out to me in the Black Ops section was how every piece of intel was related to a mission except:

 

February 4, 1968

Colonel Lev Kravchenko tests Nova 6 gas on the local population of Vietnam and Laos.

 

In terms of the larger narrative, that seems more inconsequential, but perhaps it could be important in Cold War? Maybe we will witness what Kravchenko has done in the first mission, which is set in Vietnam.

 

That is indirectly quoted from BO1 Intel - Victor Charlie

Quote

February 4th 1968. The stabilising agents supplied by Doctor Clarke have met with much success. Recent field tests on the indigenous populace have shown this to be the most effective strain of Nova 6 produced thus far.

[anonymous]

Also @EL3MENTAL 115 posted this picture on the discord:

I like the idea and it would make sense: BOCW being where the BO1 timeline splits into MW or BO2/3/4. Only time will tell whether this is the case or not.

[Tac]

Quote

 

January 8, 1981

Mason receives an unexpected phone call from Hudson, who wants to get the old team back together. If Mason will return as a CIA operative, he’s to immediately report to Amsterdam to rendezvous with his former partner, Sgt. Frank Woods, along with the mysterious operative, Russell Adler. As it turns out, a covert mission to end the Iran Hostage Crisis would end up revealing a far greater threat.

 

Added the above quote to Black Ops Cold War from this link: https://www.treyarch.com/game-intel/2020/08/Black_Ops_History_Mason

 

[carbonfibah]

Nice dude

[JuanCornetto]

Great  work!

[Selcuk Erbek]

Awesome, nice work!

[SilasBlackfyre]

This is perfect! fantastic work @Tac

[Tac]

I should probably update this... I wonder if the site has even changed