Black Ops 2 canon confirms Mason and Hudson fates after 12 years

It's been 12 years since Black Ops 2, and now I feel a pang of pain across my chest as I type it, knowing my childhood was over a decade ago. That pain can join my back pain, neck pain, and pain in the ass father-in-law. Sounds familiar, probably.

Anyway, despite being 12 years old, Call of Duty's acclaimed Black Ops 2 was left on a cliffhanger that was never truly resolved, as the fates of two operatives were left to the choice of players via multiple endings.

But now, Black Ops 6's timeline has actually solidified one ending to be canon, and it is a sticky fate for our beloved heroes.

Jason Hudson and Alex Mason are confirmed to be dead in Black Ops 6

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One of the alternate endings in Black Ops 2 saw you control Alex Mason, who had just been shot by you as Frank Woods (although he thought he was assassinating Menendez with his sniper). Mason gets up after a wound to the leg and comes face to face with Menendez once and for all, where he opts to either kill or capture him.

However, there is one ending where Mason didn't survive the shot - if Woods was accurate to the head - and this has now been confirmed as canon by Treyarch.

Prior to the Black Ops 6 reveal, Treyarch confirmed to content creators that the world where Mason died will be the ending carried forward. 

Given that Black Ops 6 directly follows the timeline of the flashback events in Black Ops 2, this means Mason won't feature in the campaign.

Nor will Hudson, who also dies during Black Ops 2, despite featuring in Cold War alongside Mason and Woods.

Alex Mason, who was the victim of the "numbers" attack, has a son named David, who joined the team in Black Ops 3 and could be featured in the BO6 campaign too. But there is also a wealth of new characters...

Black Ops 6 comes with a fresh crew

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Woods is now the last man standing, given that Joseph Bowman is also dead, and as we wait to see whether the siblings of Bowman and Mason play a role in vengeance, the Black Ops team is being bolstered by some new faces.

Alongside a returning Russell Adler, Woods has built a new crew, including Troy Marshall, the new protégé, who will be your main port of call on the field.

The new main characters in the rogue Black Ops team are CIA handler Jane Harrow, technical genius Felix Neumann, and mysterious assassin Sevati Dumas.

So, Mason, Bowman, Hudson down, Marshall, Harrow, Dumas, and Neumann in, as Black Ops attempts to reshape the franchise with fresh new faces.