The lore behind the Die Rise Easter Eggs

[anonymous]

Guten tag everybody! It is widely acknowledged that the labor we process during Easter Egg quests are not merely joyous and challenging minigames, but also often make sense on a story scale. Usually, the Easter Egg quests are being written by the developers also involved in working out the story, hinting at a clear overlap in the two concepts. Considering quest and story are one and the same, this doesn' t mean their correlation is always clear. It is for that reason that I created this thread, inviting all of you to participate in this ''think tank" of converting the actual steps of Easter Eggs into logic that makes sense in the story. 

 

Today I would like to discuss Die Rise, which, after looking into it, is a pain in the ass to convert it into story. Additionally to that, I never did the Easter Egg myself, and the sequence of steps sometimes differs a bit depending on the guides I found on internet, not making it easier either. But utilizing the quotes of Richtofen and Maxis, we may be able to make something of this.

 

Connecting the elevators and the symbols

 

Spoiler

So in this step, four players have to stand on four similar Chinese symbols that can be found on the elevators. After this, they have to stand on the same symbols appearing on the ground somewhere in the map. I found a quote of Maxis which is likely referencing to this step:

 

"The alignment has begun. You are on the right path. Please, continue. You must trigger the symbols in the correct order, an order that only trial and error will reveal."

 

It seems that standing on the elevator symbols led to an "alignment" which must be continued by triggering the symbols on the ground in the correct order. To understand this I think it is essential to understand the meaning of the symbols. The term "alignment" reminds me very much of celestial bodies, but of course that is nothing more than mere guessing. @DragonGJY I was wondering if you could make up something of this symbol, or if it may return in certain Chinese philosophies or mythologies?

 

The spheres

 

Spoiler

 

When obtaining a sniper rifle, Richtofen says the following: 

"We must neutralize any errant energy fields in order to prevent Maxis from enacting his plan. Take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the sources do not fall under his control, [laughs] if you can find them!"

 

This is obviously a reference to the balls that can be found in the big Dragon board. These are "sources of errant energy fields". Now I have never done the Easter Egg myself, but can someone describe how these spheres look like? Do they look technological, like the Vril Sphere on Moon or perhaps even the Summoning Key? The Germans require the players to shoot them, teleporting them into the smaller Dragon statues in the spawn room. I'm think there is a possibility these spheres are artifacts of some kind, perhaps linked in some way with Dragons or Naga' s, ancient warriors of the Vril-Ya. They also seem to be tied with Shangri-La, so perhaps this sphere artifact originates from that site?

http://blackopsofficialfansite.yolasite.com/resources/Singola-1.png

After transporting the spheres to the small dragon statues, Maxis says this:

"It is working! The sphere has relocated! Now, one more must be found."

 

Richtofen' s path

1. From now on, Maxis and Richtofen' s path split up: Richtofen wants to destroy the spheres because they could help Maxis in doing his stuff, very similar to how Maxis orders us to destroy the Amplifiers in Buried because they are essential for Richtofen. Just casually sabotaging each other, and it seems that whatever toxicant is in the Sliquifier, rapid liquidation works the best:

 

"The balls! It's all about the balls! You must purge their energy before Maxis interferes! Perhaps a rapid liquidification will suffice, yeah? Then do it!"

 

Interesting that he mentions that this causes the balls to be purged of energy, like there was already some kind of energy inside. And whatever is inside the Sliquifier, it draws this energy away.

 

2. Taking care of Maxis' spheres, Richtofen requires you to place trample steams around the Tower, and shoot zombies at it. Note that this is very similar to Tranzit, where you must kill zombies under the Tower to power it up (either by releasing their 115 or their Life Fore).

 

"The spire, it needs the energy of the undead. We must find a way to make our blood sacrifice"

 

3. After this, you need the Galvaknuckles to punch the Tower.

 

"Only with your combined energy can we fully control the tower. You need a conduit for the electrical energy contained within your living flesh. Any ideas? Oh, I know. How about those electric knuckle-thingies?"

 

Richtofen mentions the Tower requires the energy of Victis. Something to do with their souls?

 

Maxis' s path

1. As for Maxis, he desires you to grab the balls and them them to the Buddha room. Two players must stand in front of the golden statues and kill zombies to charge the artifacts, presumably similar to how we charge the Apothicon eggs in Shadows of Evil? In that case, it is Life Force of the undead that is sucked in the egg-like artifacts.

 

"The energy within the spheres is in flux. Fear not, we will need them in due course. Now, find the enlightened one. A blood sacrifice alone is not enough. Reincarnation is key."

 

2. You now need to stand in front of the Buddha statue ("the enlightened one"), and one of the players must, tragically, die. After this, someone with the Krauss Defibrillator must revive him. While reading some Easter Egg guides, it seems to be that Russman specifically is the one that must be reincarnated. Is that true? If that' s the case, it may have something to do with Russman' s elusive nature and the fact that his mind is fading away so often. Is his soul even his?

 

3. Now, use the Trample Steams to blast the artifacts at the Spire. Maxis will say the following:

 

"Ah, yes! Do you see? The energy of their broken souls has been released! Their energy fields remain in flux. Matter must be transformed before it can be contained. The Spire must be energized as fire and light. Create a field with which to bind it."

 

Additional evidence that the spheres contain the life force released at prior Blood Sacrifice. It is strange to me, however, that this couldn' t be done directly like we do with Richtofen' s quest in Tranzit: directly killing the undead under the Tower. Why did it had to be done via the artifacts? Perhaps to "cleanse" their life force from the Dark Aethereal spectrum and convert it into "light" Aether?

 

Something I am not so sure about is when the following quote comes in. Can someone help me?

 

"Excellent! The energy fields are changing, transforming, flowing. Ah, you are on the right path. You must look for objects of steel. With the appropriate weapon, their energy fields can be manipulated"

 

The difference

 

All in all, the two quests are quite similar. Except that Richtofen can directly use the energy of the undead, while Maxis needs to kill them in the Buddha room and converse their energy via the spheres. What' s more, Richtofen can directly use Victis'  energy via the Galvaknuckles embedden in their living flesh, whereas morbid Maxis needs a full reincarnation of poor old Russman. Different types of the ethereal spectre perhaps?

 

What' s also remarkable is the various mentions of "energy field", which, if I search that on internet, refer to the following things:

 

Ahh, lots to chew on there, isn' t it @Mattzs? But we can get into that discussion later, first I'm interested how y'all think about the story-wise relevance of Die Rise' s Main Quests.

[RadZakpak]

A few corrections when it comes to specifics, because this EE is very buggy and for that reason there was a lot of misinformation. But according to trial and error and the code, this is a more accurate series of steps for Maxis' side: https://www.reddit.com/r/CODZombies/comments/gi9z1w/actual_die_rise_guide_for_maxis_side_tired_of_the/

 

 

The main contentious step is the "reincarnation is key" one. Apparently Russman has nothing to do with it. You only have to pack-a-punch the ballistic knife and go shoot the buddha statue or somewhere near it after killing enough zombies and triggering the "reincarnation is key" line.

 

After that, for some reason Misty and Marlton have to be the ones to pick up the balls or the game will glitch.

 

So I think he says, "Ah, yes! Do you see? The energy of their broken souls has been released! Their energy fields remain in flux. Matter must be transformed before it can be contained. The Spire must be energized as fire and light. Create a field with which to bind it."   after shooting the buddha statue, implying you should use the trample steams and the balls to create the field.

 

Then, after creating the field, he would say, "Excellent! The energy fields are changing, transforming, flowing. Ah, you are on the right path. You must look for objects of steel. With the appropriate weapon, their energy fields can be manipulated" with the weapon of steel being the galvaknuckles at the end. It's possible he might be using Victis' energy also, he just isn't implying it. But regardless, they are used to manipulate energy acquired in a different manner. I also find it interesting that it must be done in a specific way, hitting the different directions of the tower in a certain order, which feels like it would relate to some pseudoscience about energy and the poles, but I'm no expert there.

 

As for what the balls are, they seem to be made of the same material as the lion statue and have a similar pattern to its neck collar. I have to assume it's just some kind of mysticism at play. 

 

[anonymous]

51 minutes ago, RadZakpak said:

I also find it interesting that it must be done in a specific way, hitting the different directions of the tower in a certain order, which feels like it would relate to some pseudoscience about energy and the poles, but I'm no expert there.

Now you said something interesting here, let' s dig a little deeper in it:

 

Apparently, the order of the four different directions can be found by using the Mahjong tiles that are scattered around the map:

東 - East

南 - South

西 - West

北 - North

This is not the first time the four cardinal directions are hinted in the story. On the Moon loading screen, one can see a picture of the Vril Interface in front of the MPD, with the following 'advertisement':

Quote

 

SENSATIONAL!

Not dissimilar to the Aztec and Mayan calendars, the Mythos disc defines the celestial patterns for your practical and magical purposes. Cipactli, Ehecatl, Calli, Cuetzpalin, Coatl, etc. are represented in non-visible form. Abide by its magical powers and use

 

The five Aztec deity names that are mentioned each stand for a cardinal direction: Cipactli (crocodile; east), Ehecatl (wind ; north), Cali (house; west), Cuetzpalin (lizard; south) and Coatl (snake; east). The ad mentions that the Vril Interface, or Mythos Disc, defines celestial patterns for someone's own "practical and magical purposes", which I assume are those of the MPD occupant's. These four directions also return in the mystic 'Vril Map' found in Call of the Dead. Tying this with the Global Polarization Device at Die Rise, it actually makes sense since it is generally believed that the Tower resonates the will of the MPD occupant through the Aether across Earth. In all four directions may not literally imply North, East, South and West, but coult hint at the four dimensions of space-time, manipulative for those that gain control over the Tower.

 

The symbol on the Dragon sphere looks like a swastika to me, but not a Nazi (right-turned) but a Hindu (left-turned) one. In Hinduism, this spiritual symbol stands for a lot of things, but one of them is the four cardinal directions: North, South, East en West, symbolizing the flow of the universe.

 

I' ll come back later to reply on the rest!

[RichKiller]

Although Die Rise itself had very little story, it introduced concepts which have been used since Origins to begin solidifying the Aether storyline. While examples vary, I want to bring in two of the unexplained examples:

 

Quote

Kronorium Excerpt 27101978
The life force from the dead world allows the bearer to flow with all creation.

Quote

In these dark days, I find myself clinging to the belief that there may still be a way to set things right.

 

Though my understanding of the ethereal realm remains limited, I am convinced that the manipulation of the energy fields within all matter is vital to uncovering the dimensional gateway itself. It is my sincerest hope that somewhere in the realm beyond my beloved Samantha still lives.

 

I can only pray that Edward will have the courage to fulfill the vow he made all those years ago.

 

Now, since this post has inspired me to finally have a look into the Mahjong game, I thought I'll be sharing this:

 

Mahjong has different types of tiles. There are those who are referred to as "Honor Tiles", which consist of the four winds, as well 3 dragons. So since the Easter Egg revolves around the dragons, this seems to be a good reason as for why picking this game to be used in the Easter Egg (beyond it being a a traditional Chinese game).

[anonymous]

On 10/29/2021 at 5:30 PM, RichKiller said:

Although Die Rise itself had very little story, it introduced concepts which have been used since Origins to begin solidifying the Aether storyline. While examples vary, I want to bring in two of the unexplained examples:

 

 

Now, since this post has inspired me to finally have a look into the Mahjong game, I thought I'll be sharing this:

 

Mahjong has different types of tiles. There are those who are referred to as "Honor Tiles", which consist of the four winds, as well 3 dragons. So since the Easter Egg revolves around the dragons, this seems to be a good reason as for why picking this game to be used in the Easter Egg (beyond it being a a traditional Chinese game).

 

Interesting you mention that, indeed there are four stones referring to the cardinal directions and three to dragons. I'm curious what the symbolism behind this is.

[anonymous]

Not sure where to post this, but I just discovered the Treyarch symbol is called a 'Triquetra'. Remember that we saw them at the Focussing Crystals in Shangri-La? They represent a trinity between something: In Buddhism often being life-death-rebirth (undead resurrection?) but sometimes also past-present-future (Shangri-La loop?). Perhaps it could also refer to Richtofen's plan to ascend his soul, requiring three items: The Focussing Stone, the Vril Rod and the Vril Sphere.

[anonymous]

Short note about the balls. First of all, the statues that hold them are so-called Foo Lions, a traditional aspect of Asian mythology. It is often depicted with a pearl in its jaws, and this ball is said to represent the "sacred breath", whatever that means (I suppose life force?)

 

"The lion is one of the divine beasts of Chinese mythology, with the ability to drive off evil spirits. According to Chinese lore, stone lions are able to cleanse shar chi, or “poison arrows,” the negative force emanating from sharp corners, sickness, imposed authority, busy crowds and jarring structures such as lamp posts, obelisks and traffic lights. This ability to drive away negative spirits and energy explains the original placement of these statues at the entrance to Buddhist temples (...). A pair of lions is often seen guarding hotels, restaurants, banks and factories (...)."

 

Cleaning negative energy eh? 

 

Richtofen when talking about the spheres:

We must neutralize any errant energy fields in order to prevent Maxis from enacting his plan. 

The balls! It's all about the balls! You must purge their energy before Maxis interferes! 

 

Maxis:

The energy within the spheres is in flux.

The energy of their broken souls has been released! Their energy fields remain in flux.

 

I think the balls are carriers of energy, able to change them to the positive or negative aide of spectrum

 

[Hadi77KSA]

On 10/21/2021 at 2:39 PM, RadZakpak said:

this is a more accurate series of steps for Maxis' side: https://www.reddit.com/r/CODZombies/comments/gi9z1w/actual_die_rise_guide_for_maxis_side_tired_of_the/

Ah, I remember correcting some steps of that guide.

 

On 10/21/2021 at 2:39 PM, RadZakpak said:

Apparently Russman has nothing to do with it. You only have to pack-a-punch the ballistic knife and go shoot the buddha statue or somewhere near it after killing enough zombies and triggering the "reincarnation is key" line.

I'd like to emphasise that this is true. The quote, however, is "Reincarnation will reveal the way forward."

 

On 10/21/2021 at 2:39 PM, RadZakpak said:

After that, for some reason Misty and Marlton have to be the ones to pick up the balls or the game will glitch.

Fun fact, it doesn’t matter who picks up the balls. I have proven that in a comment to the post you’ve linked.

 

On 10/21/2021 at 2:39 PM, RadZakpak said:

Then, after creating the field, he would say, "Excellent! The energy fields are changing, transforming, flowing. Ah, you are on the right path. You must look for objects of steel. With the appropriate weapon, their energy fields can be manipulated" with the weapon of steel being the galvaknuckles at the end.

That quote is after having completed the sequential floor symbols step, not after completing the Trample Steam step.

The "objects of steel" refers to the balls in the dragons' mouths, while the weapon refers to any sniper rifle.

 

I consider the most-correct Die Rise Maxis Easter Guide to be either the current CoD Wiki Fandom's guide, or my guide which includes each of Maxis' quotes along with what triggers them divided into which steps they occur in.