Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has not seen its story end with the campaign, as Treyarch is expanding the narrative via its post-launch Seasons. With the story now at its midway point, a recap trailer has been released, allowing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players that have been out of the loop to catch up.
The trailer begins with Season 1 Operator Stitch detailing his first encounter with Russell Adler. The man behind the production of the deadly Nova 6 gas, Stitch was eventually captured and interrogated by Adler. The torture saw Stitch’s eye removed by the CIA agent, with Stitch being behind Weaver’s eye loss originally. This bit of revenge led to the blood feud continuing in Season 1, with Stitch luring Adler to The Pines multiplayer map. Taking the bait, Adler discovered that Nova 6 was being made once again before being captured by Stitch.
The next bit of the trailer recaps Season 2, with the CIA heading to Laos to hunt down Adler. However, the mission does not go as planned, as Adler had already been moved to a different location. Like Woods said in the Season 3 teaser, the CIA was able to find Adler’s new whereabouts, with Call of Duty: Warzone's Verdansk serving as the new hideout for the Russian agent. Hudson sends his soldiers to Verdansk to find Adler, with the recap then touching on the most recent story reveals from Season 3.
Showing clips from the Season 3 gameplay trailer, the recap ends with players getting some insight into Stitch’s plan. The character details his vision for “greater Russia” as he looks over Verdansk, with Wraith’s mission in Yamantau shown off simultaneously. While Stitch continues to torture Adler, Wraith secures the numbers protocol from the snowy mountain base. It is here where the recap ends, and it will certainly be interesting to see where this ongoing story goes next.
While the Hunt for Adler event implies that the character will likely be found soon, he may not be the same once recovered. What exactly Stitch wants the numbers for is unclear, but based on how they were used to brainwash Alex Mason in the original Black Ops campaign, it seems likely that they will have the same purpose in the sequel. In turn, Stitch could brainwash Adler, with Adler helping Stitch pull off his master plan.
While this is purely speculation, it is hard to think of how else Stitch would be using Adler and the numbers, and a turned Adler needing to be killed could explain his absence in future games. For now, though, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War fans will need to wait and see where the story goes next.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.