Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign: Ending and Post-Credit Scene Explained

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Ending Explained
Who Is Vladimir Makarov?
What Does This Mean For The Future?

The story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 takes players from the streets of Amsterdam to cartel-owned villas to the Chicago skyline and everywhere in between as Task Force 141 attempts to stop a missile strike on the US. A story with high stakes, moral grays, and betrayal, its ending sets the stage for the future of the rebooted subseries with some major implications going forward with a post-credit scene that calls back to one of the most infamous events in the original Modern Warfare trilogy. This article will give a breakdown and explanation of the ending and post-credit scene of the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

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Modern Warfare 2- How to Redeem a Beta Code | Modern Warfare 2- How to Play the Beta | Dates and Platforms | Modern Warfare 2: How to get Early Access to the Campaign | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- New Ledge Hang Mechanic Explained | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- Prisoner Rescue Game Mode Explained | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- New Perk System Explained | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- Knock Out Game Mode Explained | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- How to Switch Between Killstreaks and Scorestreaks | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- How to Weapon Inspect

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Ending Explained

After taking back The Mexican Special Forces’ base from Shadow Company and taking out their leader, Graves, Task Force 141 tracks down Hassan and his last missile to Chicago. The team is able to take back a skyscraper from the terrorist cell Al-Qatala, where they are able to kill Hassan himself and stop the launched missile from hitting its target of Washington, D.C. With the situation dealt with and covered up, the team meets with their CIA contact and friend Laswell at a bar. As the group finally has a time of calm after the globe-trotting story.

It is during this scene that Laswell tells Price that General Shepherd, whose off-the-record black bag operation led to Hassan and Al-Qatala getting their hands on the missile systems and ordering Graves and his PMC Shadow Company to terrorize Las Almas and betray 141, has gone underground. While Laswell says they will find the disgraced General, she tells Price that they need to move on to a new target.

Laswell gives Price a photo of a new player that they don’t know the name of. Price tells her that the man in the photo isn’t new and they know who he is as he passes the picture to the rest of the team sitting at the bar which includes Soap, Gaz, and Ghost. When asked, Price tells her that the man’s name is Makarov.

The credits roll until a scene taking place on an airplane starts to play which sees two passengers putting together pistols that they had broken down into individual parts and smuggled onto the plane. One of the terrorists picks up the phone and replies to a message from someone known as “M.” They receive the message “No Russian” before destroying the phone and then enacting their plan.

The name Makarov and the phrase “No Russian” are some of the most important when it comes to the narrative of the original Modern Warfare 2 from 2009. For new players who might not know what this character and event mean to the story going forward in this new Modern Warfare canon, we will need to explore who Makarov was in the original trilogy and what his actions and goals lead to.

Who Is Vladimir Makarov?

Vladimir Makarov is the protégé of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare antagonist Imran Zakhaev and the leader of an Ultranationalist Terrorist cell known as the Inner Circle. Following the death of Zakhaev, Makarov continued his mentor’s goals of toppling the Russian Government and returning it to the strength and prominence it once held, and having the country control the world. He also harbors a deep hatred for Price and Soap since they are the ones that killed Zakhaev. His plan is to start a new World War, which he kicks off with the infamous “No Russian” mission that sees him and his compatriots, including an undercover CIA operative Joseph Allen, firing into a crowd of people in Zakhaev International Airport. Speaking only English and leaving behind Allen’s body, Makarov is able to pin the attack on the Americans.

What we see in the post-credit scene of 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 is a new take on “No Russian,” where the terrorist don’t shoot into a crowd at an airport but instead hijack a plane, though we don’t see the fallout of this action. With Zakhaev not being a prominent character in this new Modern Warfare storyline, the question now is where exactly Makarov falls into the story. We know that it was a Russian PMC that stole the missiles from Shadow Company and provided them to Al-Qatala, so it could very much be possible that this PMC could be the new Inner Circle led by Makarov. What exactly his goals are in this new universe is still up in the air.

The event leads to a full-scale Russian invasion of mainland America, which continues from Modern Warfare 2 into Modern Warfare 3. Makarov also orchestrates multiple terror attacks across the capital cities of Europe in Modern Warfare 3 as well as kidnaps the President of Russia, using his hostage to make himself the leader of the nation and kick off World War 3. We will need to see if this new interaction of Makarov is able to cause these world-changing events s his original version does. His story comes to a close with Price killing him at the end of Modern Warfare 3, which also served as the conclusion of the original trilogy.

What Does This Mean For The Future?

While all this could be setting up a story of the inevitable Modern Warfare 3, this post-credit scene could also be pointing towards the possible leak of campaign-focused DLC or could play the role of antagonist in the story that will carry over to Warzone 2.0 and the multiple seasons of content for the game over the next year. This is the role that Zahkaev’s son, Victor played in the original Warzone during the 2019 Modern Warfare life cycle. Wherever Makarov does make his next appearance, he will be a major player going forward. This along with Shepherd surviving beyond Modern Warfare 2 will lead to the remnants of Shadow Company likely playing a larger role as Task Force 141 will need to contend against the rogue PMC and whatever group Makarov is running with. Add in Captain Price’s apparent familiarity with Makarov and his promise to Shepherd that he will kill the General, and the story going forward could be building to a massive confrontation between the three.

Infinity Ward did confirm in a tweet that the Raids that will be coming to Modern Warfare 2 will be following up on the events of the campaign, saying that “each seasonal phase will advance our ongoing story, as old friends and new enemies tie-up loose ends.” This could point towards Makarov playing a major role in the narrative surrounding the Raids.