With the release of Black Ops 6 coming later this year, people have been speculating about the status of fan favorite character, Alex Mason. For years, his status has remained up in the air, due to having multiple-choices that can be made during the Black Ops 2 Campaign, affecting the ending of the game, & the story moving forward. However, with recent reveals & developments, we may have our answer to the question that’s left players stumped for years, is Mason canonically dead or not? Let’s delve a bit deeper into the subject.
IS MASON DEAD OR ALIVE?
While at Treyarch studios, Developers told us that ‘Alex Mason’ is officially dead in the Black Ops Timeline. This has ended a 12 year mystery surrounding his fate since Black Ops 2 due to the options of multiple endings you can get in that Campaign.
ALEX MASON COULD STILL BE ALIVE
It’s a possibility Treyarch could have been purposely misleading us at the studio and with some of the marketing recently, so we can be surprised if Alex Mason does make an appearance in the Black Ops 6 Campaign or the Post-Launch story. The 30-year gap when Mason went missing between the past & futuristic missions of BO2 probably would’ve been the easier route (story wise) considering they could’ve told several stories explaining where Mason was during those 30 years.
ALEX MASON FLASHBACK MISSIONS
There could be two possible ways they could incorporate Alex Mason into Black Ops 6 even if he’s canonically dead during the time period of Black Ops 6 such as, pulling a Soap from season 4 of MW3 (2023) and doing a flashback-type mission where you could get more narrative about Alex Mason in a cutscene that happens to take place before the ‘Suffer With Me’ mission in Black Ops 2. However, the flashback treatment Soap got in MW3 (2023) wasn’t a narrative decision considering MW3 (2023) doesn’t really have a post-launch story.
ALEX MASON DEAD MAKES SENSE.
Woods during Black Ops 2 was a very ruthless character, especially during the past missions of BO2 after his rescue from Angola. It would have definitely been out of character for Woods to not take the opportunity to take the headshot to kill Menendez once and for all.
OFFICIAL BLACK OPS TIMELINE
At my visit with Treyarch 2 weeks ago, (apart from the ability of getting your hands on Black Ops 6) there was a Q&A going on with the team at Treyarch and even some people from Raven. They went ahead and showed us the official Black Ops timeline.
The Timeline Consists Of:
- Call Of Duty: World At War
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 1
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 (late 80s missions)
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3
BO2 FUTURISTIC MISSIONS ARE CANON
After the Q&A from Treyarch, a lot of the community that was at the event did take it as the Black Ops 2 2025 missions weren’t canon because they weren’t featured on the official Black Ops timeline. It would’ve made sense to include the Black Ops 2 (2025 missions) on the official timeline right in between Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 4, however, it would have not really been necessary to include the Black Ops 2 (2025 missions) considering if they’re still keeping the original canon of the BO2 ending (where the death of Menendez causes an insurrectionist which sets up the events of Black Ops 3). It’s a possibility COD 2025 could cover these events considering according to leaks, COD 2025 will be a Black Ops 2 sequel taking place 5 years after the events of Black Ops 2.
THE END
What are your thoughts on Alex Mason being canonically dead in the official Black Ops timeline? How are you feeling that the Black Ops 2 (2025 missions) are still considered canon? For a full breakdown on Mason being canonically dead & Black Ops 2 (2025 missions) still being canon, check out our recent video down below:
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