Hey everyone, yesterday was a crazy day with DC Fandome releasing a ton of news. Rek worked hard to bring all of those posts out to you, so today I am here with a little theory for you to read.
Be sure to check out all of those DC Fandome posts because there was a lot of news yesterday here on the blog!
So, let’s begin this theory by telling you what it is and then I will give you my evidence. This is a possible insight into the Vanguard Zombies story, so be warned if I am spoiling something important.
With the release of Vanguard’s Zombie’s gameplay trailer and the initial story trailer, we see a familiar zombies mode that is very similar to Cold War Zombies. However, something that really stood out to me is the red portals.
In Cold War Zombies, the portals are very clearly using the Dark Aether energy and are a purple color. However, in this first look we see that these portals are distinctly red. We can assume by the same portal design that these portals are also using Dark Aether energy. So, why are they red here?
Well, this is when the theory comes in. We know that Vanguard Zombies is a prequel and we know that it will directly connect to Cold War’s story. Thus this change does have some significance as they would otherwise be the same type of energy and portal. These portals, should be the same!
However, they are not and Treyarch would not make this change if it wasn’t important. This means that there must be a reason as to why these portals from World War 2 are a different color to what we find in Cold War.
Now, let’s take a step back because we have clarified that this change is important. Why the color red? and Why might the color purple be important knowledge for later?
In the Vanguard Zombies trailer, we see red energy and runes showing up everywhere as it seems to be an important color connecting the Dark Aether to the real world. We also see something else at the end of the trailer which appears to be vitally important to the story.
And that is Kortifex The Deathless!
We see him appear in the original trailer in a way that eludes to him controlling the main antagonist of the Vanguard Zombies story, Von List. In fact, in the blog post they released, Treyarch mentions that Kortifex is not a friendly god to the players.
“Our Special Forces operatives are stranded in the snowy graveyard of Stalingrad, with no backup and no means of communication, held in by the dark magic of Kortifex the Deathless. Kortifex is one of five Dark Aether entities bonded with mortals via their otherworldly artifacts. The other four — Saraxis the Shadow, Norticus the Conqueror, Inviktor the Destroyer, and Bellekar the Warlock — are in revolt against Kortifex”
So, we know from this that Kortifex is in a position of control and that the other four ancient gods are going against him. It also shouldn’t be lost on you that Kortifex is distinctly connected to the color red and that his magic all seems to have a red aura around it. Tied to his position of control, perhaps this is pointing us to the conclusion that Kortifex is in control of the Dark Aether and that the portals are red because he is currently in control of the domain.
This makes even more sense when you see that the other ancient gods are revolting against him, possibly trying to take over the throne. It also fits really well in Treyarch’s zombies style as it is reminiscent of the days when we asked who was in control of the zombies as their eye color shifted depending on the one in control. This seems very similar.
So, now that I have brought up evidence as to why the portals of Vanguard are red, there is only one question left.
Why are the portals in Cold War purple?
Well, there is a pretty convenient answer to this. Inviktor The Destroyer. His purple aura is incredibly similar to the purple we see used in all of Cold War’s Dark Aether. Perhaps by the end of Vanguard we will see Inviktor take the throne…
Except there is one more possibility I would like to bring up…
Anyone remember the Gold Aether crystals from Forsaken?
They kind of have a similarity to Bellekar The Warlock’s style.
So, What does this mean for the ending of Vanguard Zombies and the shift in power that is destined to happen?
Perhaps this means that the Dark Aether will be split up among the other four ancient gods and we just haven’t seen Sarasxis and Norticus’ influence just yet.
Wow, that was a long theory, but I felt like it needed to be said before the Vanguard Zombies’ story started. These five ancient gods are so interesting to look at visually and conceptually. Will we be able to affect the outcome for which one becomes the future leader of the Dark Aether?
I’m not sure, but it has been really fun to think about. Already Vanguard Zombies has a hundred times more story that Cold War’s counterpart and I am all for it.
What do you think about this theory and the direction Vanguard zombies is going as a whole?
Thank you for reading!
~Seppin
SeppinRek 
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