The CnC Storyline and CnC 3, Facts and Speculation Options

[The DvD]

WARNING: This post and it's thread will contain spoilers. Do NOT read unless you're absolutely not planning on playing the Tiberium War missions, or you don't care knowing what will be happening in advance.


Now that that is out of the way, let's get started with what we already know about the situation on Earth after Tiberian Sun: Firestorm.


- Tiberium has expanded over all continents;
- GDI is making efforts to contain the spread of Tiberium;
- CABAL's forces have been defeated, and Nod has lost Kane, but CABAL is still active in some form, while Kane has been cloned;
- GDI Is strong, and transforming into a global superstate;
- Both GDI and CABAL/Kane have translated the Tacitus;


And at the start of Tiberium Wars (2047), the situation is as follows;

- GDI has divided the world into Red, Yellow and Blue zones. Red zones are infested with Tiberium to such and extend that they have become inhabitable; Yellow zones are ravaged, but people can manage to live there. Most of Nod's following resides in the yellow zones. Blue zones are almost totally free of tiberium. They are controlled by GDI.
- Kane has returned, and is leading Nod in agressive movements against GDI;
- There's absolutely no sign of CABAL;


All of the above makes sense if one would assume that another one of Kane's clone has been activated, while CABAL is still hiding.

As the storyline progresses (as was the case with Firestorm, GDI, Nod and Scrin campaigns follow one line of events; The only thing that differs is the outcome), the following unfolds;

- Nod destroys the Philadelphia and start attacking GDI.
- GDI fights back and is quite succesfull, and converges on Kane's new Temple in Sarajevo.
- Kane develops a 'liquid tiberium' device using information gained from the Tacitus.
- Kane tricks GDI into firing the Ion Cannon on his temple where the device was stored; the result is a massive blast of tiberium, followed by shockwave and global fall-out, littering the world with tiberium. Kane reveals that everything is going exactly as planned.
- Aliens (the Scrin) detect the sudden explosion of Tiberium on Earth. They don't quite know why the moment came so soon, but this is their signal indicating that it's time to start the invasion of Earth.
- The aliens start invading, attacking Earthly targets of any allegiance; They start constructing 19 'towers', massive structures that when finished, would provide instantaneous travel to and from Scrin space. These structures are impervious to any attack once finished.
- GDI fights off the aliens and is succesfull in driving them back to their landing sites; Kane, who calls the Scrin the 'visitors' orders Nod to stand idle and to endure the alien attacks. Meanwhile he reveals that the Scrin towers are the key to the future of Nod; Nod obtains codes necessary to control the towers.
- GDI, having no idea what the towers could be used for, destroys all towers while under construction, except the one in Italy, because Kane orders his forces to intervene and halt GDI.
- The aliens, having found their invasion plans in ruins, finish the tower and escape with their mothership, promising revenge. Their leader orders more information about the phenomenon 'Kane', as they have found out he is the one responsible for the tiberium explosion.
- GDI declares victory over the invaders, declaring the finished tower to be 'harmless'.
- Kane reveals that the future is now; he has the codes to the tower and hence a way of instantaneous interstellar travel.

Speculation:
It becomes clear that Kane is NOT some sort of alien puppet; he knows that the Scrin exist and what they are capable of, but in one of the cutscenes he labels them as insects, acting purely on instinct. The role of CABAL is not explained at all. Perhaps CABAL, having translated the Tacitus, decided to clone Kane and use him as a means of ensuring an Alien tower would be built. This seems unlikely at best... it's more likely that the TW writers decided to totally forget about CABAL..

What is NOT clear however is why GDI would label the Scrin tower in Italy as harmless... it seems likely that they will guard it. It's also unclear how Kane plans to use it for his own advantage. It's also unclear wether the Aliens still have control over the tower or that their next invasion has now effectively been delayed a great deal because Kane has the codes for controlling the tower.

Time for an expansion pack or a sequel, i guess...

[Nod Strike]

EPIC WALL OF TEXT!!1

Yeah i read it. Looking forward to an expansion

[ORCACommander]

Knowing EA there will be at least 2 maybe 3

[Clazzy]

I haven't played to the end of GDI yet but the Nod ending baffled me. Who exactly were the Inner Circle of Nod and what was beyond that white light? Did Kane have some form of teleportation at his disposal (firstly to escape Temple Prime) to get there and that's what the doorway is? If that's the case, *where* were the Inner Circle?

[Bittah Commander]

CABAL's forces have been defeated, and Nod has lost Kane, but CABAL is still active in some form, while Kane has been cloned

There has been no indication that Kane has been or was being cloned in either TS or Firestorm...

In my opinion it would make no sense for those towers to be (only) on earth (if I were them, I'd set up a whole network of them). I agree it makes no sense for GDI to declare the last tower harmless, because the Scrin could send new forces through (possibly even unnoticed; I haven't played C&C3 yet, so I don't know exactly how they work) at any time. It's also a quite a coincidence that the last tower that remains is in italy, seeming that's where the first tiberium meteor crashed...


About CABAL and Kane, according to Adam Isgreen (Ishmael) CABAL was actually loyal to Kane and even "thought" the same (Adam didn't explain exactly how or why this was). Supposedly the combination of Kane's mind and the information from the tacitus allowed CABAL to twist Kane's intentions. CABAL obviously doesn't care about Nod (only about Kane and we don't even know whether Kane really cares about Nod) and when Nod wouldn't cöperate (and even wanted to shut CABAL down), cabal must have decided Nod was no longer useful and wanted to get rid of them (if Kane was still concious, he probably could've stopped CABAL with a single word).
So knowing this, after TS CABAL must've tried to save or revive Kane.
Now we see Kane in C&C3 without even a scratch on his face... Only CABAL could have done this (if he has that capability at least), even though Joe Kucan said EA actually just ignored it.
CABAL just letting Kane go once Kane regains counciousness is also plausible, seeming CABAL is (or at least thinks he is) loyal to Kane.

Adam Isgreen's word doesn't really mean anything in C&C3 (it is the original story, but not EA's official story), but if EA follows that part of the story like Adam told it, Kane's presence in C&C3 actually would make sense. The most important condition on which Kane could be in C&C3 is actually the fact CABAL is loyal to Kane, or CABAL wouldn't have let Kane go or Kane really would be a clone.

[tomb]

a few things:

- Have you seen the ending movie of the Nod campaign from Firestorm? Very clearly you'll see a bunch of Kane clones. You'll also hear CABAL say stuff, while his voice slowly turns into Kanes voice (though that might've been done for extra effect)
- The Intel stuff in Tiberium Wars does say a few things about CABAL, though I don't know which entry it exactly was - I think one of the GDI news items. It says that GDI just destroyed the last remnants of CABAL. But also that there were rumors of pods with humanoid bodies inside on that specific site. Probably the same ones you see Kane in at the end of the Firestorm Nod campaign.
- During Tiberian Sun, CABAL actually makes a slip-up, and calls it "my.. your movement". This happens during a map selection screen, though I can't recall the mission it was for.

My thought about the relation between CABAL and Kane: Maybe Kane programmed CABAL himself, or even transferred his mind to CABAL. Kane probably was cloned at least a few times. He was also present in the Soviet Union during Red Alert 1, and in all three Tiberian episodes. that's a time-span of almost 100 years - and he hasn't aged a bit. Also: he is definitely killed at the end of the GDI campaign for Tiberian Sun. It is highly probable that CABAL controlled Kanes cloning processes and systems.

Please note however, that if GDI did destroy Kanes cloning facility, Kane wouldn't be able to "ressurect" himself anymore.

PS: has anyone heard the real voice of Joe Kucan? What a difference with the one he puts on when in Kane character!

[The DvD]

If Kane and CABAL are really of one mind and things happened as Bittah described them, some things actually start to make sense. As TW is set about 20 years after TS/FS, the Kane clone grown by CABAL could have fully matured by 2047. CABAL/Kane could have decided that they could use Nod as a useful tool for achieving their goal(s), so 'they' once more used Kane to take control of the Brotherhood and ensure control of an alien tower.

@ Clazzy: From playing FS it can be deduced 'Inner Circle' is just a group of high-ranking Nod officials.. they were seen being assimilated/captured by CABAL in one of the FS cutscenes. Slavick later mentions that the Inner Circle has been destroyed.

As seen in TS though, Kane doesn't give a shit about his generals (Vega). So it's a bit weird that he would allow his Inner Circle at the time of TW to follow him into 'the future' (the tower).

[Clazzy]

@ Clazzy: From playing FS it can be deduced 'Inner Circle' is just a group of high-ranking Nod officials.. they were seen being assimilated/captured by CABAL in one of the FS cutscenes. Slavick later mentions that the Inner Circle has been destroyed.

As seen in TS though, Kane doesn't give a sh*t about his generals (Vega). So it's a bit weird that he would allow his Inner Circle at the time of TW to follow him into 'the future' (the tower).

They were in FS, but not necessarily here. To be honest, if Kilian was in the Inner Circle then they'd probably be human. However, the question still arises about where they are and how they (along with Kane) escaped.

Kane didn't care about Vega because he was a poor general. He trusted Slavik as he was loyal to Kane and to Nod, which could explain why Kane still keeps him around if that actually is him in TW.

[Nod Strike]

a few things:

- Have you seen the ending movie of the Nod campaign from Firestorm? Very clearly you'll see a bunch of Kane clones. You'll also hear CABAL say stuff, while his voice slowly turns into Kanes voice (though that might've been done for extra effect)
- The Intel stuff in Tiberium Wars does say a few things about CABAL, though I don't know which entry it exactly was - I think one of the GDI news items. It says that GDI just destroyed the last remnants of CABAL. But also that there were rumors of pods with humanoid bodies inside on that specific site. Probably the same ones you see Kane in at the end of the Firestorm Nod campaign.
- During Tiberian Sun, CABAL actually makes a slip-up, and calls it "my.. your movement". This happens during a map selection screen, though I can't recall the mission it was for.

THAT WAS IN THE MISSION WHERE YOU HAVE TO RESCUE THE COMMANDER, BUT IT MIGHT OF BEEN THE ONME WHERE YOU CAPTURE THE TEMPLE.

My thought about the relation between CABAL and Kane: Maybe Kane programmed CABAL himself, or even transferred his mind to CABAL. Kane probably was cloned at least a few times. He was also present in the Soviet Union during Red Alert 1, and in all three Tiberian episodes. that's a time-span of almost 100 years - and he hasn't aged a bit. Also: he is definitely killed at the end of the GDI campaign for Tiberian Sun. It is highly probable that CABAL controlled Kanes cloning processes and systems.

Please note however, that if GDI did destroy Kanes cloning facility, Kane wouldn't be able to "ressurect" himself anymore.

PS: has anyone heard the real voice of Joe Kucan? What a difference with the one he puts on when in Kane character!

[Bittah Commander]

The bodies you see in the tubes in the final Firestorm Nod FMV definitely aren't Kane clones; you can compare the shape of their heads for one and some of them are even clearly females.

@DvD: I didn't say Kane and CABAL were sharing one mind. here's Adam's post on petroglyph:

Kane built CABAL and incorporated pieces of his psyche into the machine while constructing its personality. Ever see the film "Saturn 5"? The robot learned its obsessions and murderous tendencies from the "teacher" it was connected to -- a similar thing happened here. CABAL is an extension of Kane's mind so that Kane would have a completely obedient and cunning ally. Unfortunately, the data from the Tacitus gave CABAL some other desires that allowed him to bend Kane's will and desires....

I guess I didn't fully understand this the first time I read it, but it appears that CABAL learned how (and what) Kane thought by observing him and when CABAL's observations of Kane (who he was -programmed to be- loyal to) and the information he extracted from the tacitus got mixed, CABAL got other desires, which allowed him to bend those of Kane.

So CABAL is actually a learning computer, just like the terminator

In case you missed this quote in another topic of mine:

Ah, CABAL... I remember the day we came up with the acronym. I can still see it on the white-board.

Computer Assisted Bio-organic Artificial Life-form

Great stuff.

Here's to hoping that EA is just saying he's dead, so that he can make his re-appearance as the expansion side after C&C3 is shipped.

...at least we can hope.

The acronym we heard in Renegade was EA's version (they changed it). I know we're talking about EA's version of the CNC Canon now (so I suppose we'll have to use EA's acronym), but when you read the acronym one fact remains: a part of CABAL must be biological. In my opinion that perfectly explains what the bodies in the tubes you saw in the final Firestorm Nod FMV were; the/a biological part of CABAL.

So that should also confirm those bodies weren't clones. And aside from that; if they were clones, then why would CABAL keep Kane's body? If he needed the information from Kane's brain, he'd just take out the brain and get rid of the body (or at least just cut off the head). If you're saying CABAL kept it so that he could make an identical clone of Kane's body; for as far as I know (I know I don't know sh¡t in this matter, but still) you only need a some DNA to make a clone and idea of CABAL wanting to make an identical clone of Kane isn't plausible because the Kane in C&C3 didn't have a scratch on him (meaning that if he is a clone, he definitely isn't an identical clone).
So, once again... No clones