For those of you who don't know the core story I would suggest watching youtube and paying close attention too
1- the major easter eggs on each map with them. 2-each maps radios. 3-the ending cutscene for origins. 4-real life history such as green run, the great leap forward.
(I have not used fake info or injected anything that is not info given on a map in one way or another. I have not added fake elements or aliens or any other non mentioned things many have come up with, I have simply used info from radios and past events in the game to explain what unfolds. I also used what bits of history the game uses. it would be a good idea to understand the story well before reading this because it would take three huge walls of text to explain an already huge wall of text. I do not want to discuss each map in detail such as the ascention easter egg or Shangri la's easter egg ect ect. those who think the story has inconsistencies most likely 1- missed certain details. 2- filled in details on their own by overthinking certain aspects. it would be highly doubtful that treyarch would end the series on such a lame note. please re-watch the origins ending cut scene and pay attention to what sam says at the end.
First of all I think what happens during origins is non-canon to the story along with mob of the dead. it seems like they put inconsistencies on purpose. But I do believe the point of the Easter eggs is cannon, such as the origins cut scene and the infinite loop on mob of the dead.
I will start with the origins cut scene. I think maxis, Sam and Richtofen are from current time (which appears to be around 1960-1970.) keep in mind the nukes shot at the earth are CCCP Russian which are cold war. the siren we hear during the cut scene are the nukes from moon. which would contain 115. If they are at kino there is a teleporter near them. (if we use the infinite loop from mob of the dead the origins ending cut scene makes sense.)
You might ask, if Sam and richtofen are the same age the entire story cannot work can it? Lets say you time travel and something goes wrong, sam and maxis end up in 1937 or so and richtofen ends up in 1927 or near that time. maxis and Samantha cannot age due to that time not happening yet. If you listen to radios from various maps such as moon, you know that the teleporters are never 100% correct. If they teleport to escape the area they might be sent through time and separated.
richtofen and Samantha sound American so the story must be a lie? If sam and richtofen spoke german for a while they could have picked the accent up.
Why do sam and richtofen have all the toys of every character and map if the storyline really happened? I think maxis made them toys to help prepare them for what he would know is coming soon. How would he know?(there are two of sam and maxis, two in the aether and two living normally as they would near kino der toten before the zombies.) also note there is a second richtofen who just arrived at moon with takeo Dempsey and nikolia. maxis is in the aether with sam at this time because he got shot next to the device, they have been in the aether since 1942 according to one of the moon radios. Since maxis is in the aether he can take control of himself. remember that in the buried easter egg richtofen could take control of anyone as long he was in the aether. (I don't think maxis would kill richtofen as a kid because he thinks he can change the events that happen. such continuing the loop) Also remember their is still an army of zombies but they are hidden and put into containers and they are non-active. The richtofen on the moon knows this because he was apart of 935, He chooses this time because he can make the dreams and stories from his childhood happen. Plus who's body is better than his own to control the world with? richtofen would have his body to control on earth and he could control the zombies and rule the world.(will continue at a lower segment.) also note there is only a zombie army built by 935 not a world full of zombies on the loose.
Why would the old crew be in 1960-1970 and why is there no zombie apocalypse yet in 1960-1970? If the nukes that hit earth contain 115 and are CCCP that means it has to be in 1960-1970 (keeping in mind that the story is an infinite loop and that they have time travel.) The reason there is no zombie apocalypse yet is because all the zombies that are out there are in those capsules because richtofen and maxis couldn't agree. (remember that mystery on kino, those are zombies in the capsules.)There is a radio that describes this event where they could not agree and the 935 zombies end up in capsules until they agree. The zombie apocalypse doesn't happen until after the nukes. In call of the dead the radios explain how richtofen captures and tests on takeo, Dempsey and nikolia in 1939ish. Meaning origins has to be non-canon. (keeping in mind that origins is non-canon with the exception of the ending and this is why at the ending they say it is a kids game.) The only reason the nukes happen is because maxis cannot allow adult richtofen to rule the world because he would enslave maxis and Samantha and everybody.
What clues does treyarch give us that origins is non-canon except for the easter egg ending video? remember the intro? Huge robots, things that don't exist in 1918, it says Nazi's exist at that time, it shows 935 which has not formed yet. It shows the old crew who do not exist yet. it shows 115 as blue. wait did I say blue? yes if you watch the opening cinematic and pause it at 0:25 that is the rock from shi no numa. also there are magical staffs. These all tie into it being a kids game.
What clues does treyarch give us that mob of the dead is non-canon? Helldogs from a wall. neither sam nor richtoven control the zombies. Its 1934 no one can be in the conduit machine on moon because it remains empty until 1942 when sam enters. the radios on moon describe richtofen finding the moon machine empty when he taps it and gets shocked. Plus the eyes are pure red. Thus meaning this map is the kids playing again. The easter egg holds only one meaning. it shows that they are in an infinite loop, this is fortified by the easter egg where if you start on motd and don't move, you die and the camera pans up to moon. I think they are hinting that everything happening is in an infinite loop.
Why does maxis nuke the earth? Because he fails at stopping richtofen from switching with Samantha.
Why is there no zombies invadeing in their real lives? because sam is in the conduit machine on moon keeping the zombies asleep in the capsules, to keep the world at peace. If richtofen ends up in the conduit machine he will wake the zombies up and enslave the world with the 935 zombie army. thus is why maxis sends the nukes at earth, he would rather everyone dies than be tortured and enslaved by richtofen. BUT maxis ends up failing at killing everyone and thus stoolinger russ and misty and marlton survive. He must now convince them to help him before richtofen can.
The new crue is actually the old crew. Richtofen controls the zombies first. Samantha controls them second. On World at War nacht der toten and verruckt and shi no numa and der riese are not given dates upon entering the map because the date is nowhere near WW2 and they want to keep the time secret. During the many easter eggs with richtofen on black ops he explains many times that you are re-visiting each map. When you complete the buried easter egg as maxis he explains that richtofen will be back in his body and sam will be back in the aether. Maxis must be the story line they go with because we know sam somehow gets back in the aether. (if they had given dates in any map it would have given away the entire story thus is why the origins ending is so important, it gives us a real time line to use.)
Heres where I confuse you all with timelines. Moon is first. then nuketown zombies. transit, die rise and buried and five are all directly after the nuke. nacht der untoten, verruckt, shi no numa, der riese, kino der toten, ascention, shangri la are far after the nukes after sam gets richtofen out of the aether and maxis completes his buried easter egg promise. The Reason its called origins is because it all begins at kino with the teleporter , but story wise moon is the first map we play on. (the maxis in the aether knows theres a teleporter in kino because he was part of 935 and thus can warn the living maxis to have the kids come down and teleport away from the nukes he just launched.)
lets discuss richtofen, takeo, nikolia, Dempsey. You are revisiting each map at a later time some time way after the nukes hit earth and way after maxis removes richtofen from the aether and puts sam back in. they have to gather certain components so richtofen can get back into the aether machine. he knows everything because it has already happened. many places with the things he needs are 935 bases. which are from world war two. that is why every radio is from 1938-1945. But every map is after the nukes hit the earth and after sam re-enters the aether, this is why every map seems trashed and is still filled with what we assume is fog but is actually remaining fallout. That is why there is no magma on the ground, it has all re-solidified and the earth is recovering. Sam is trying to stop richtofen because she knows what he is doing because she has been pulled out of the aether at an earlier time on moon by richtofen. If sam can succeed at killing richtofen then the loop can end. The reason there are so many zombies is because they have been on the earth ever since the 115 nukes hit. also note that if richtofen can stop the nukes on moon than the loop can end.
Lets discuss misty, marlton, russ and stullinger. They are directly after the nukes hit and the first crew. marlton can be heard in the bunker on nuketown zombies. we know he somehow gets to transit. all four meet on transit. they must either help maxis or richtofen. Since we have yet to finish their story we cant be sure of anything. I would guess that the very final map on a future game or such will cause a loop broken or loop continues reaction.( we can only speculate at this time.) on transit you activate a beacon, on die rise you activate a beacon. on buried you activate a beacon. if all three activated with richtofen then he says he is going to keep the crew alive because he needs them for something we haven't done yet. if you choose maxis he says he will kill the crew and switch richtofen with sam (which has to happen for richtofen to need the golden rod and egg.) again I cant go any farther until there are more maps or easter eggs. (I think the loop ends on richtofen and continues with maxis. again only speculation due to the lack of more info.)
If you need anything clarified ask. if something is confusing you I can try and clarify. if you need a fact check as, It is possible it is all just a game, but I don't think treyarch would do that, They could also leave the story and start a new one from scratch with those sirens in the origins cut scene, I do not think they did that.