This actually makes Shepherd not seem like a villain because he's not the usual evil bad guy/traitor, he's just someone who wants Makarov and all the pride for himself, he didn't want the war to end, he wanted to take down the actual villains and be the hero at all costs, and by all costs I really do mean all costs
Shepherd knew that Allans cover was already blown or he even leaked it himself to Makarov to start the war, just so that he could recover from his defeat in the Middle East 5 years prior and be a "hero". For that he sacrificed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and pretty much razed the East Coast and half of Europe to the ground...
They could bring the story close, the remade versions, its going to cost alot of money, time and new story writing because they ruined the original storyline. Creating a new story would have to be worst than the originals plots to get people like me to play it. I never played MW2 growing up, seems like it would have been cool back then but now I just really dislike Call Of Duty for its focus on warzone and not its campaigns anymore
@@AxellMorrenthat’s the thing that made the originals so interesting. They went more grounded with the remakes, but the stakes were astronomically higher, and it lead to ridiculous but jaw dropping set pieces. Crawling through the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, raiding a submarine in a storm looking for a nuke, fighting in Chernobyl, No Russian, fighting in the streets of American suburbs, fighting in the wreckage in Washington DC, watching your ally fire a nuke at said wreckage of washington DC, fighting in the wreckage of NYC, raiding a skyscraper with only one other person, body armor and an LMG and countless others. Every level was epic. Absolutely over the top movie only stuff but god damn it was epic and that’s what people loved about the originals.
from the way he delivers the “30,000 people” line, I get the notion that there isn’t only guilt for losing that many soldiers, but dejection for seeing that nobody cared but him. no other character references the nuke incident but him. you can bring up pride and ego, those certainly play a factor, but from what i can ascertain, shepherds motivation is to cause a war on such a scale that no one can deny that it is happening. he wants to win this war that he’s caused, because he also wants himself and his soldiers to be acknowledged for it. i believe it’s his way of atoning for the rest of the world taking for granted the sacrifices his men made that day.
Yeah its still not excusable. He killed his own men. Not even in order to higher the chances of a mission to succeed. Just because he felt like it. He is disgusting
It wasn't because he felt like it, it was because they might have seen damning evidence against him. Remember, TF141 thought it was odd that Makarov had access to British machine guns and could possibly have seen or even copied the evidence from Makarov's computer, both of which could potentially expose Shepherd's involvement in Makarov's airport attack
You mean he's written like a poorly motivated cartoon villain in the new woke garbage lore of Modern Warfare, where as in the old Modern Warfare lore he was a well written, heroic character. But because of the color of his skin and his sex, woke says he must be bad. Why? No reason, his skin color makes him bad. Now shut up and keep buying it.
General Shepherd is and will always be one of my most hated video game characters. While it is traumatizing to lose 30,000 soldiers to a nuclear blast, it doesn't forgive Shepherd for any of his crimes in MW2. He conspired with a psychotic war criminal like Makarov, started a pointless war that got thousands of Americans and Russians killed (civilians included), and betrayed Task Force 141 to cover up his crimes. That said, this was a nice psychological dive, and I look forward to seeing your channel grow. 🙂
100%, not everyone will agree it and that's okay but super appreciate you watching and for the comment! Looking forward to filming some new ideas and dives 🔥
I agree I even thought it was stressful 30,000 American soldiers lost that is just messed up. Plus it hit hard American moral and especially at home th families of the soldier's. Yes it may not be real life but if that had happen it be very horrible event. Of course there be plenty of people that wouldn't care so many American soldiers died and others think it just deserved when its not. Americans like me don't want my country the world police force. But to many nations people rather we remain it so they don't have to fight for there lives and countries. All the same General Shepard should never have tired to make him self a hero by helping start a war.
I genuinely believe you're supposed to hate him. One of the Rangers at the start says "since when does Shepard care about Danger Close" and Price says the same thing after he bombed his own men to kill you both. He knew Allen would die on that mission, he knew Makarov would find out. He didn't want Allen to complete his mission, he wanted him to die there so a war would spark And then he solidifies your hate for him by killing Ghost and Roach You are supposed to hate him
He paid a terrorist to shoot civilians, and placed one of his own men in an elevator who could've shot those terrorists, and allowed the massacre to proceed so what are you talking about ? .
the problem even worst he knew this terrorist attack would start a ww3, he did it soo he can get the glory, russians had nothing to do with it, and he knew but allowed everyone to blame them for war effort
Author credibility plays a large part in the effectiveness of a persuasive essay like this...mistakes like that wreck credibility smh it gives "I didn't pay attention to simple details"
To this day, something still bugging in my mind and I have my own theories like it seems Shepherd and Makarov were working together that time until the war happened, how did Makarov knew that Alexei is Allen probably Shepherd already tipped off Makarov about Allen and after Allen was killed, Shepherd tasked 141 to locate who supplied Makarov's firearms which is Rojas in Rio Militias like it seems Shepherd tried to give 141 a diversion to be unaware that the war has already begun and Russian troops are beginning to swarm East Coast America. Also, Shepherd already planned to disposed 141 along with Prisoner 627 which is Price and make it looked like an accident, in the mission Gulag, the Navy almost hit 141 not once but twice, first one is during the air attack where one of F-15s nearly collided with Soap and Roach then secondly when they are already in the hall of Gulag where bomb almost directly hit 141, and it seems it was all Shepherd's order when Soap told Shepherd to tell the Air Support to hold their fire. And lastly the confusing part is the mission in Loose Ends (even the title is already a foreshadow event) when it's finally to supposed capture Makarov but seems Makarov was nowhere to be found like he already knew that 141 is coming for him, did Shepherd tipped Makarov again? Then when 141 finally copied all the files into the DSM and rallied on their way to the extraction point where Shepherd and Shadow Company arrived this is where he show his true colors, Shepherd took killed Ghost and Roach then took the DSM for all himself, and if that DSM contains all evidence of Makarov so he would show to everyone that he's the one who get the evidence and convince the Russia that the Americans were set up but unfortunately nothing was mentioned about it all the way to Modern Warfare 3 even the Russia President only mentioned that he wants to negotiate with the US and declare ceasefire, and what if Shepherd deleted the evidence in the DSM? If so why? Because 141 will find out that the Airport Massacre was not just Makarov's idea but Shepherd was also involved so that's why he wanted the 141 to be out of picture??
Yeah I agree, the Loose Ends mission is super suss. I did think this to, was this Shepherd already tipping and actually a deliberate setup by Shepherd. I do think this was, as it all fell into his hands so easily with the DSM and picked them off
There is one thing I saw as a pretty inconsistent about his character. He claims he was in charge of the operation against Al-Asad in 2011 (in MW1) when he says that he "lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye" (the nuke going off in Shock and Awe). But that operation was performed by the U.S. Marine Corps and Shepherd is a U.S. Army General. I don't recall Army Generals being in charge of Maine Operations; it's usually a Marine General who lead USMC operations and occasionally a Navy Admiral can give orders to Marine personnel (when they are on the ship). There are joint operations between the Marine Corps and Army which can have Army Generals being charge of the whole thing (including the Marines); but there isn't much indication that the operation against Al-Asad had any U.S. Army involvement as it appears to mainly have been conducted by the Marine Corps with Marine infantry units, Marine armor units and Marine aviation units.
i think it’s just narrative oversight. just like how shepherd is giving orders directly to a private. or how sgt. foley is taking responsibilities usually reserved for PLs or even PSGs and he’s only an e4. stuff like that only got worse the more i picked it apart
Well if we want to get into the nitty gritty details, Joseph Allen was a PFC and never would be brought onto a CIA Operations in real life, that being said I always recommend ignoring stuff like that cause it is a game.
props to you for using footage from the original game! it seems whenever i try to watch cutscenes or lets plays, everyone wants to use the remastered version which i personally hate.
Shepard's betrayal began when the nuke went off in MW1, "I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye." Makarov was the mastermind pulling the strings to set that nuke off. He was also the one one that blew Alan's cover and told Makarov, all part of his plan. His opening speech lays out his intentions when you really listen to it.
I guess I am the only one who kinda likes him being a bumbling moron in the newer games. It's a nice contrast from the original trilogy, if nothing else.
Yeah he's hated, but i think that's more of a good thing. After he kills Ghost and Roach, you play as Soap for the first time and he would understandably and rightfully be pissed off. He's portraying what you feel. But you can hate a character while understanding them or even liking them as the villain
Damn, this video was so quality that I clicked on your channel to watch another. Then I see you’re a new youtuber and this is your only vid. Keep at it bro, you’ll be big one day.
14:25 In the remaster edition, the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well. Devs probably knew about the popular fan theory of Ghost surviving that encounter, so they made sure he actually died.
Shepard may have the right idea wanting the world to care about his soldiers that give their lives for a better tomorrow, he just went at it the wrong way by doing similar things the villains he is fighting are doing which made him lose the moral high ground.
325th like my dude and gotta say for someone really underated you do your editing and research pretty damn well 😄 Never knew the whole went deeper for shepard but now i see a new light on what made him a villan. Consider me subscribed and also you should do one on Raul Menendez one of my absolute favorites plus theres more too him that people realize 😄
Thanks so much for the comment, I appreciate this so much! Defo took me a long time to get a better understanding from all them years back but so worth it! I'll defo be looking at Raul Menendez in future, looking forward to exploring 🔥
@@StallionFPS hey you're welcome my guy and as someone who edits there own videos i could tell alot of time you put in there and not much people how many hours goes into editing like 5 mins to a video could literally take up to 6 hours just to edit plus sometimes the occasional crashes ( we do alot of comedy gaming videos) 😭 Plus that research into there villaness is also pretty insane!! Alright that s pretty amazing and ill be looking forward to more of your stuff 😄
"It's an ego trip for him at some point" Well...losing 30k men in a nuclear strike will do that for ya. Talk about the massive void of insecurity in there.
Would've been awesome if MW2 actually had some Shadow Company missions to see what it was like from the other side, that would've opened up so many more narratives and observations
@StallionFPS it really feels like such a missed opportunity, maybe if modern CoDs ever stop sucking we'll get some shadow company missions, wish they'd bring back the OG Shadow Company uniforms too.
They ID the body and realise that there was a CIA operator participating in a terrorist attack, leading them to believe that the USA is behind the whole thing. The other four would be either unknowns or known killers for hire like Makarov. Since Makarov is a mercenary and his ties to the ultranationalists aren't common knowledge it'd be assumed that America hired him, which is kinda true seeing as Shepherd is involved.
Well in the cutscene before he says Makarov is loyal to the highest bidder. And I believe canonically Alan is the only death. So an American agent leading a pmc to massacre civvies
@Akial2935 The "No Russian" line has a bit of a double meaning actually. The most obvious being No Russian leaves here alive, while it's also telling the team to not speak Russian. Notice how they all drop the accent before the riot shields show up, with it only coming back at the ambulance. Then they are all using American (i assume issued) weapons. For anyone he didn't see him, and know who he is he is effectively American. Finding Allen dead is just the thing that completes the trick.
The Russian govt probably hired Makarov to do it, the whole purpose was to give the Regime a pretext to attack the US. It was a modern day Gleiwitz radio station. And Shepard helped them do it on purpose.
I mean I can see why people say that but the games based on wars right but deffo so much deeper than just a war here and the insane stories, especially in the older CoDs. Thanks for watching man!
"and the world just fucking watched" is SO underrated in these analyses of Shepard's mental state... bro feels the guilt of what happened, views everyone else as seeing it as inconsequential and is livid that the rest of the world is quick to paint the US as a villain to justify taking it down for other interest groups while Americans themselves do not seem to care about the fact 30 thousand Americans were nuked... this is why he is so prideful in creating heroes and legends while dragging villains out into the light while being 100% ok with having the US burn for it, he wants to cleans the US of weakness and reinvigorate it's people in the crucible of war while pulling Makarov out into the open and ordaining to the world that clearly abandoned America since you don't see the EU doing ANYTHING to alert the US about a Russian invasion into the Atlantic or condemn the attempt to nuke DC that they chose to side with a man who caused it all
Dude I was in the military And I know for a fact that the general would not give a s*** about losing 30000 soldiers, These guys barely even know their soldiers faces and names, Yeah I think this was really about ego cause I've never met a general who gave a s*** about his soldiers this much.
What could make Shepard seem not only more insane, but also a massive hypocrite, is if the theory that Roach is Sgt. Jackson from MW is true. Shepard was willing to kill a survivor of the nuke, literally one of his own men that he pretends to care so much about, to cover his tracks and get the glory he was craving.
The fact that Roach was still alive telling others not to trust Shepard was the worst part. Man didnt die instantly like Ghost did and burned to death :(
Shepard isn’t wrong in his quote about the Russians. Gen. Patton after WW2 said we should have continued through Russia and then he mysteriously died in a car crash during a hunting trip in Germany in 1945
Even though they were marked as war criminal, In MW3 there are hints that Sandman, Grinch, and Trucker knew about General Shepard and his betrayal. They still work with TF141 even though they were still marked as war criminals
*misunderstood* Meanwhile, Shepard causes World War 3, the death of innocent millions, and the catalyst of the largest biological terrorist attack in history. And that’s only the cliff notes.
14:56 Tbh I don't think they have a chance to survive that but if you want a theory here is one. So Roach 100% died because he was burned but we didn't see them put gasoline on Ghost so if he is super lucky he might have lived.
Yes. This was a popular theory back in the day that showed that may have Ghost survived. Unfortunately, in the remastered edition, the devs made sure that the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well.
Yes. This was a popular theory back in the day that showed that may have Ghost survived. Unfortunately, in the remastered edition, the devs made sure that the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well.
The only thing that makes 0 sense is how Shepherd is supposed to feel guilty for the CoD4 nuke when those weren't even his men. Those were marines that died. Shepherd is a ranger general. Completely different.
Fantastic Lore video for your first video. I literally thought this was just one of the series of lore videos but in fact it’s your first video. Great start to this channel. I subbed! 👍
His speech when he was attempting to execute Soap was the only time I had any sympathy for the fallen General. He lost 40,000 men in the blink and the world just watched.
I just need to confirm your trying to say the literal war criminal might not be such a bad guy? The same man who knowing let a terroirs commit a false flag attack against civilians to start a pointless war for nothing but his own ego? The man who killed and betrayed his own men to cover up his crimes. Shepherd is a good villain because he is the embodiment of the US military, something bad happens to me and I’m gonna make it everyone else’s problem. He is a monster no matter how you look at it.
There is no excuse for allowing a bad man to do bad things and helping him do even worse. If Shepard were a true patriot or a ‘legend,’ he would have opted to end this when he had the chance. But hey, if he weren’t who he is, we wouldn’t have gotten this masterpiece of a game.
In all, I think the mistake story wise of OG MW2 and MW3 was they did the Shepherd betrayal too early and making Makarov the villain of MW3. I think, in hindsight, it would have worked so much better if MW2 ends with us getting Makarov thinking, alright, we saved the day, and THEN Shepherd betrays us and MW3 is Price and Soap and the 141 survivors working to clear their name and prove to the world Shepherd was the real villain the whole time.
I never saw Gen. Sheppard as a villain. His actions were measured and calculated, His actions and decisions were valid and justified. Granted they were cold and callous, but they were necessary.
To quote a comedy "Cool motive, still murder" Anyway this video does make it less out of the blue but Shepherd still could have done plenty of other things....AND HE KILLED GHOST AND ROACH
I think you missed several things there, which do slightly change your take on Shepherd: While I agree, that it was the loss of 30000 men under his command, that messed up Shepherd, it did so in a twofold way: a) he developed something of a "survivor's guilt" complex, thinking that he should have died with his men. We get that from his line "And the world just fuckin' watched." b) the guilt from this was the driving factor behind him wanting to become a legend - which he wanted to do to atone for his failure & to honour the men he had lost. Remember that it was Zhakaev and Makarov, who set the nuke off killing the US soldiers. So this was partially revenge for that. So now what did you miss, that does play into all of this (remember I do agree with most of what is in this video. This just is added info): 1) From the Operation Kingfish short movie we know that it was during this operation that Price ended up in the Gulag. It is also IMPLIED (I gotta stress that point) that the intel, on which Shepherd based the operation, was faulty. Since Shepherd was in charge of the mission overall that makes him culpable for Price ending up in the Gulag, sparking the bad blood between the two. That is part of why Price launches the ICBM to EMP the entire US east coast. Yet another incident where Shepherd may have let men under his command down. 2) The massacre in MW2 takes place in the Zhakaev international airport in Moskow, not the Kiev airport. Given that we are shown a statue of Imran Zhakaev with the inscription "martyr of the new Russia" just moments prior it does show you how much the memory of Zhakaev was upheld by the Russian Ultranationalists and Russia in general in the CoD MW timeline. So to apparently have Americans commit atrocities in such a place - now that is just adding insult to injury, pushing the moderate Russians onto the side of the Ultranationalists. That was how Makarov got his blank check to attack the US. 3) Price didn't retarget the ICBM launched from the Typhoon class submarine - he launched it deliberately. He did it for the simple reason, that he knew that the NATO forces would be leaderless without the US standing strong. At that point in time the US needed to play for time to rally its forces on the east coast, where a lot of the important command installations are. Since the US mostly had only infantry contingents ready to engage the Russian landing forces Price pretty much went for the nuclear option: a high altitude nuclear blast aka a large area EMP. [Sidebar: That a nuke also causes an EMP is a well known fact and there have tests of nuclear blasts in low orbit, where there is little/no fallout that falls back to earth but just shuts down giant areas of land. These tests were banned under the partial nuclear test ban treaty of 1963.] The EMP disables the Russian armor and communications, giving the US the time it needs to rally for the counter attack. The major problem with this is: an EMP doesn't give a shit about your flag. The damage price caused to the civilian population with this EMP is incalculable. It furthermore destroyed & delayed a lot of what Shepherd had in place in terms of available assets to resist the Russian forces. So he resorted to using assets, which hadn't been affected by the EMP because they were far away from the impact zone to hunt down the remaining man on his hit list: Makaraov. 4) Price and TF141 knew too much about Shepherd and could piece things together if they actually got to talking with Makarov - yes that was a major reason why Shepherd wanted them dead but apart from that: Price had de-facto gone rouge and set off a nuke. Such insubordination can't go unpunished & Shepherd knew that he had to put Price down or Price would be coming for him, as they both are the type to go for revenge in the long term. Now if Shepherd had taken out Price, he would have turned all of TF141 against himself, as the loyalty of TF141 was to Price - not him. Given how dangerous and skilled TF141 was he couldn't take risks with any of them. If he took out Price they would have come for him. So his only way was to take them out permanently. Yes that was a betrayal of their trust but in his mind he betrayed them in order to serve the higher goal of getting revenge for the 30000 KIA, who had been killed in the nuclear detonation 5 years prior.
"The number 1 most hated man in CoD" Makarov (killed innocent civilians in an airport, bombed various places and so many more before he started world war 3): Am I a joke to you?
I both admire and hate General Shepherd in the OG Call of Duty MW2. He might have good intentions. But his crimes against Task Force 141, the U.S.A, Russia and the rest of the world. No excuse justifies starting WW3, backstabbing his men, and betraying everything everything he once stood for just for vengeance and glory for himself
This actually makes Shepherd not seem like a villain because he's not the usual evil bad guy/traitor, he's just someone who wants Makarov and all the pride for himself, he didn't want the war to end, he wanted to take down the actual villains and be the hero at all costs, and by all costs I really do mean all costs
Thats literally what a villain would do
this explains why he betray 141, this actually alot more sense
Shepherd knew that Allans cover was already blown or he even leaked it himself to Makarov to start the war, just so that he could recover from his defeat in the Middle East 5 years prior and be a "hero". For that he sacrificed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and pretty much razed the East Coast and half of Europe to the ground...
So, handsome Jack but not as good
Crazy how some additional context can change how you view the story! Was awesome to explore Shepherd in a different light
It's why the Old Modern Warfare Lore is way more Cooler and Better than the Reboot Modern Warfare Lore.
Couldn't agree more homie! New Lore just doesn't hit the same
I thought there would be some sparks and beginning of world war 3 in MWIII. Like Fregata and African Militia connections
They could bring the story close, the remade versions, its going to cost alot of money, time and new story writing because they ruined the original storyline. Creating a new story would have to be worst than the originals plots to get people like me to play it. I never played MW2 growing up, seems like it would have been cool back then but now I just really dislike Call Of Duty for its focus on warzone and not its campaigns anymore
@@AxellMorrenthat’s the thing that made the originals so interesting. They went more grounded with the remakes, but the stakes were astronomically higher, and it lead to ridiculous but jaw dropping set pieces. Crawling through the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, raiding a submarine in a storm looking for a nuke, fighting in Chernobyl, No Russian, fighting in the streets of American suburbs, fighting in the wreckage in Washington DC, watching your ally fire a nuke at said wreckage of washington DC, fighting in the wreckage of NYC, raiding a skyscraper with only one other person, body armor and an LMG and countless others. Every level was epic. Absolutely over the top movie only stuff but god damn it was epic and that’s what people loved about the originals.
New modern warfare is like black ops. No wars only small skirmishes
from the way he delivers the “30,000 people” line, I get the notion that there isn’t only guilt for losing that many soldiers, but dejection for seeing that nobody cared but him. no other character references the nuke incident but him. you can bring up pride and ego, those certainly play a factor, but from what i can ascertain, shepherds motivation is to cause a war on such a scale that no one can deny that it is happening. he wants to win this war that he’s caused, because he also wants himself and his soldiers to be acknowledged for it. i believe it’s his way of atoning for the rest of the world taking for granted the sacrifices his men made that day.
Love this idea!
Yeah its still not excusable. He killed his own men. Not even in order to higher the chances of a mission to succeed. Just because he felt like it. He is disgusting
@@mequana
And because his men unknowingly had damning evidence of Shepherd's role in starting the war. So he really did it to cover his ass.
not even that he is responsible for all the deaths of people who died when the invasion happened
history is written by the victor
It wasn't because he felt like it, it was because they might have seen damning evidence against him.
Remember, TF141 thought it was odd that Makarov had access to British machine guns and could possibly have seen or even copied the evidence from Makarov's computer, both of which could potentially expose Shepherd's involvement in Makarov's airport attack
You mean he's written like a poorly motivated cartoon villain in the new woke garbage lore of Modern Warfare, where as in the old Modern Warfare lore he was a well written, heroic character. But because of the color of his skin and his sex, woke says he must be bad. Why? No reason, his skin color makes him bad. Now shut up and keep buying it.
General Shepherd is and will always be one of my most hated video game characters.
While it is traumatizing to lose 30,000 soldiers to a nuclear blast, it doesn't forgive Shepherd for any of his crimes in MW2.
He conspired with a psychotic war criminal like Makarov, started a pointless war that got thousands of Americans and Russians killed (civilians included), and betrayed Task Force 141 to cover up his crimes.
That said, this was a nice psychological dive, and I look forward to seeing your channel grow. 🙂
100%, not everyone will agree it and that's okay but super appreciate you watching and for the comment! Looking forward to filming some new ideas and dives 🔥
I agree I even thought it was stressful 30,000 American soldiers lost that is just messed up. Plus it hit hard American moral and especially at home th families of the soldier's. Yes it may not be real life but if that had happen it be very horrible event. Of course there be plenty of people that wouldn't care so many American soldiers died and others think it just deserved when its not. Americans like me don't want my country the world police force. But to many nations people rather we remain it so they don't have to fight for there lives and countries.
All the same General Shepard should never have tired to make him self a hero by helping start a war.
*_PART 2_*
ua-cam.com/video/l3l3BlDYpzo/v-deo.html
I genuinely believe you're supposed to hate him.
One of the Rangers at the start says "since when does Shepard care about Danger Close" and Price says the same thing after he bombed his own men to kill you both.
He knew Allen would die on that mission, he knew Makarov would find out. He didn't want Allen to complete his mission, he wanted him to die there so a war would spark
And then he solidifies your hate for him by killing Ghost and Roach
You are supposed to hate him
@@lastpringle8904
Oh, I'm fully aware that the writers wanted you to hate Shepherd. The fact that we do just proves they did a helluva job. 😆
The fact of losing 30k men in a blink of the eye and seeing his enemies roaming free does not truly help.
Agreed!
The old general Shepherd had things going for him and he actually knew how to fight. The new one that was just some general.
I couldn't agree with this more! How the old COD campaigns used to hit, I miss it
@@StallionFPS don’t we all…
@@_The_SCP_Foundation_ SCP Foundation you should have captured sheoherd and identify him as SCP 141 : )
@@GameBoyyearsago we already have a 141
SCP-141 appears able to cause criminal activities that would not have taken place
He paid a terrorist to shoot civilians, and placed one of his own men in an elevator who could've shot those terrorists, and allowed the massacre to proceed so what are you talking about ? .
People who think his actions are excusable must be having a big and fragile ego, just like shepherd.
the problem even worst he knew this terrorist attack would start a ww3, he did it soo he can get the glory, russians had nothing to do with it, and he knew but allowed everyone to blame them for war effort
*_PART 2_*
ua-cam.com/video/l3l3BlDYpzo/v-deo.html
@@noahliebers they are the same people who thinks griffish did nothing wrong at berserk eclipse
do you not have to make sacrifices for the greater good?
You said 141 at 1:41
You spotted the hidden Easter Egg, congrats homie 😏
You right
Perfect timing
banger vid, seeing the minds of older characters get explained more is something i didn't know my nostalgia needed
Thanks homie! Was a lot of fun to dive back into the OG General Shepherd again
It's zakhaev Airport, not Kyiv, Kyiv is in Ukraine
Yeah "No Russian" is said repeatedly to take place in Moscow, not Kyiv.
I heard Kiev and I was like hold up
Author credibility plays a large part in the effectiveness of a persuasive essay like this...mistakes like that wreck credibility smh it gives "I didn't pay attention to simple details"
it's Kiev.
it's been Kiev for longer then any of you have been alive.
@@lucifero__
you are gay.
To this day, something still bugging in my mind and I have my own theories like it seems Shepherd and Makarov were working together that time until the war happened, how did Makarov knew that Alexei is Allen probably Shepherd already tipped off Makarov about Allen and after Allen was killed, Shepherd tasked 141 to locate who supplied Makarov's firearms which is Rojas in Rio Militias like it seems Shepherd tried to give 141 a diversion to be unaware that the war has already begun and Russian troops are beginning to swarm East Coast America.
Also, Shepherd already planned to disposed 141 along with Prisoner 627 which is Price and make it looked like an accident, in the mission Gulag, the Navy almost hit 141 not once but twice, first one is during the air attack where one of F-15s nearly collided with Soap and Roach then secondly when they are already in the hall of Gulag where bomb almost directly hit 141, and it seems it was all Shepherd's order when Soap told Shepherd to tell the Air Support to hold their fire.
And lastly the confusing part is the mission in Loose Ends (even the title is already a foreshadow event) when it's finally to supposed capture Makarov but seems Makarov was nowhere to be found like he already knew that 141 is coming for him, did Shepherd tipped Makarov again? Then when 141 finally copied all the files into the DSM and rallied on their way to the extraction point where Shepherd and Shadow Company arrived this is where he show his true colors, Shepherd took killed Ghost and Roach then took the DSM for all himself, and if that DSM contains all evidence of Makarov so he would show to everyone that he's the one who get the evidence and convince the Russia that the Americans were set up but unfortunately nothing was mentioned about it all the way to Modern Warfare 3 even the Russia President only mentioned that he wants to negotiate with the US and declare ceasefire, and what if Shepherd deleted the evidence in the DSM? If so why? Because 141 will find out that the Airport Massacre was not just Makarov's idea but Shepherd was also involved so that's why he wanted the 141 to be out of picture??
Yeah I agree, the Loose Ends mission is super suss. I did think this to, was this Shepherd already tipping and actually a deliberate setup by Shepherd. I do think this was, as it all fell into his hands so easily with the DSM and picked them off
Bruh I thought you had 200k subs wth? This is such a top notch video documentary
I appreciate this comment so much man thank you!
real
I personally didn't even hate him, even after the betrayal. He's fkn badass in the Og series.
💪💪💪
There is one thing I saw as a pretty inconsistent about his character. He claims he was in charge of the operation against Al-Asad in 2011 (in MW1) when he says that he "lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye" (the nuke going off in Shock and Awe). But that operation was performed by the U.S. Marine Corps and Shepherd is a U.S. Army General. I don't recall Army Generals being in charge of Maine Operations; it's usually a Marine General who lead USMC operations and occasionally a Navy Admiral can give orders to Marine personnel (when they are on the ship). There are joint operations between the Marine Corps and Army which can have Army Generals being charge of the whole thing (including the Marines); but there isn't much indication that the operation against Al-Asad had any U.S. Army involvement as it appears to mainly have been conducted by the Marine Corps with Marine infantry units, Marine armor units and Marine aviation units.
damn good observation
Good point maybe that’s just a story flaw
i think it’s just narrative oversight. just like how shepherd is giving orders directly to a private. or how sgt. foley is taking responsibilities usually reserved for PLs or even PSGs and he’s only an e4. stuff like that only got worse the more i picked it apart
Well if we want to get into the nitty gritty details, Joseph Allen was a PFC and never would be brought onto a CIA Operations in real life, that being said I always recommend ignoring stuff like that cause it is a game.
Such a good point, it's defo never covered fully into why and how he got into the positions he did or why he's leading other operations
props to you for using footage from the original game! it seems whenever i try to watch cutscenes or lets plays, everyone wants to use the remastered version which i personally hate.
Thanks for the comment man, yeah I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible
I definately don’t think his actions were justifiable in the grand scheme, however this is a great psychological dive and great video! Nice one
Defo makes you think more into it and thanks so much for the comment man, appreciate it!
Absolutely @@StallionFPS
49 subs is criminal! Always good to see deep dives into the MW lore
I appreciate the support 🙏
There's a difference between understandable and excusable, Shepherd's actions were all understandable but they were definitely not excusable
Fair point man
I usually can't find Cod videos talking about the lore of the games, just gameplays, this is what makes this video so much more special ❤
Thank you for watching ❤️
Keep making high quality stuff like this and your channel will explode
Watch this space 👀🔥
Glad to have found this channel on the first video 😎😎
OG Sheperd definitely deserves a game or even trilogy of his younger years in the military and how different events led to him organizing WW3.
This would be so dope!
The face of shepherd and npc’s gears looked way better in 2009 version than remade version
Preach this!
Shepard's betrayal began when the nuke went off in MW1, "I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye." Makarov was the mastermind pulling the strings to set that nuke off. He was also the one one that blew Alan's cover and told Makarov, all part of his plan. His opening speech lays out his intentions when you really listen to it.
He's probably how Makarov found out about Yuri.
👀👀
truly insane how iconic he was in the old games, only to get some watered down baby temu version in the MW remakes. great video too!
I guess I am the only one who kinda likes him being a bumbling moron in the newer games. It's a nice contrast from the original trilogy, if nothing else.
Just subbed, we need more of these. You’ve changed a fan base. What a legend
This comment means so much, thank you! Defo will be doing more soon 🔥
4:36 how is that hand watch facing up instead of down? I never saw the face of the watch I only saw it’s band thing
This was amazing bro, can’t believe you’re only at 400 subs, you’re gonna grow FAST keep it up 👍🏼
Thanks so much for watching homie and the comment, super appreciated!
U forgot he started this whole war just to be a war hero
Yeah he's hated, but i think that's more of a good thing.
After he kills Ghost and Roach, you play as Soap for the first time and he would understandably and rightfully be pissed off.
He's portraying what you feel.
But you can hate a character while understanding them or even liking them as the villain
Easily one of the best villains I think in CoD
Damn, this video was so quality that I clicked on your channel to watch another. Then I see you’re a new youtuber and this is your only vid. Keep at it bro, you’ll be big one day.
I appreciate this comment so much bro! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment 🫶
"excusable"
yeah tell that to all the people who died in the invasion
I remember screaming at my screen when Sheppard killed Ghost and Roach, I was angry af 😂
Bruh this still hurts right 🥲🤣
@StallionFPS 100% man 😪 it breaks my heart replaying it.
Great First video, keep it going 🙏
Thank you so much! 🙏
Funny thing is that he’s my favorite villain, 2nd being Raul Menendez
Working on a Raul Menendez next, his story is insane!
Great video. Hopefully it blows up and you get the following you're working hard to cultivate. Fantastic production value.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it 😊
@@StallionFPS For sure! You earned a sub.
Him being able to beat Price in melee combat is unforgivable
Damn i never realise the signs of shepherd's betrayal while playing the game over the years
Great video bro
Thanks so much for watching! 🙌
Yoooooo you have a bright future good sir this video is top notch w video❤
Thank you so much homie ❤️
this video gives so much glory to that epic story ! good job fellow fan
Thanks so much for watching and subscribing man, more to come! 🙌
@StallionFPS I hope in your growth ! Friendly advice don't blink so much in front of the camera makes you look anxious anxious
You should talk about the secret lore in the intel and the terminal in BO1
Oooo 👀
W vid man. Praying for your success man.
Appreciate you 👑
CoD's biggest enemy is corporate greed, NOT general Shepard!
amazing video , thank you!
That means a lot, thank you!
The invasion of West Virginia and Washington DC what some of the most intense gameplay I've had in a single player.
For real man, literally gave me goosebumps rewatching the campaign again
Hey, it's your first video and it's good. I'm subscribing, you earned it.
Thanks so much for watching & subscribing man!
Nice Video! Hope to see more from you :D
Thanks so much homie for watching! You bet, working on the next video as we speak xD
now because of this documentary, I want to play the modern warfare series again and don't skip the story lines or cut scenes of the game
I think this was your sign to do it 😏
14:25 In the remaster edition, the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well. Devs probably knew about the popular fan theory of Ghost surviving that encounter, so they made sure he actually died.
100% man, was gonna bring this up but didn't wanna go on a tangent 😂 love it
good video bro, just turn the gain down on your mic. its clipping pretty bad in places.
Noted bro thank you!
Shepard may have the right idea wanting the world to care about his soldiers that give their lives for a better tomorrow, he just went at it the wrong way by doing similar things the villains he is fighting are doing which made him lose the moral high ground.
325th like my dude and gotta say for someone really underated you do your editing and research pretty damn well 😄 Never knew the whole went deeper for shepard but now i see a new light on what made him a villan. Consider me subscribed and also you should do one on Raul Menendez one of my absolute favorites plus theres more too him that people realize 😄
Thanks so much for the comment, I appreciate this so much! Defo took me a long time to get a better understanding from all them years back but so worth it! I'll defo be looking at Raul Menendez in future, looking forward to exploring 🔥
@@StallionFPS hey you're welcome my guy and as someone who edits there own videos i could tell alot of time you put in there and not much people how many hours goes into editing like 5 mins to a video could literally take up to 6 hours just to edit plus sometimes the occasional crashes ( we do alot of comedy gaming videos) 😭 Plus that research into there villaness is also pretty insane!! Alright that s pretty amazing and ill be looking forward to more of your stuff 😄
"Decepticons in human skin" ----Optimus Prime
"It's an ego trip for him at some point"
Well...losing 30k men in a nuclear strike will do that for ya. Talk about the massive void of insecurity in there.
Would've been awesome if MW2 actually had some Shadow Company missions to see what it was like from the other side, that would've opened up so many more narratives and observations
I totally agree man! Could have been a completely different story
@StallionFPS it really feels like such a missed opportunity, maybe if modern CoDs ever stop sucking we'll get some shadow company missions, wish they'd bring back the OG Shadow Company uniforms too.
What I wondering is why many *instantly* hate him because he kills their fav character
Oh yeah it is, killing Ghost and Roach man hurts so much. No wonder most people hate him, I did to but tried to look at it in a different angle
this was amazing, +1 sub
Thanks homie!
Second sub!! Remember me when you blow up
You the goat man! Thanks for watching, glad you loved the video
What’s stupid about No Russian is that the airport CCTV would clearly show a bunch of guys shooting the civilians, not just PVT. Allen
Make it make sense right 😂
They ID the body and realise that there was a CIA operator participating in a terrorist attack, leading them to believe that the USA is behind the whole thing. The other four would be either unknowns or known killers for hire like Makarov. Since Makarov is a mercenary and his ties to the ultranationalists aren't common knowledge it'd be assumed that America hired him, which is kinda true seeing as Shepherd is involved.
Well in the cutscene before he says Makarov is loyal to the highest bidder. And I believe canonically Alan is the only death. So an American agent leading a pmc to massacre civvies
@Akial2935 The "No Russian" line has a bit of a double meaning actually. The most obvious being No Russian leaves here alive, while it's also telling the team to not speak Russian. Notice how they all drop the accent before the riot shields show up, with it only coming back at the ambulance. Then they are all using American (i assume issued) weapons. For anyone he didn't see him, and know who he is he is effectively American.
Finding Allen dead is just the thing that completes the trick.
The Russian govt probably hired Makarov to do it, the whole purpose was to give the Regime a pretext to attack the US. It was a modern day Gleiwitz radio station. And Shepard helped them do it on purpose.
that still does not excuse ghost and roach......
That moment still hits me hard man
Not going to lie, this video feels awkwardly placed with how much you jump back and forth between the timeline to explain the back story.
All of the "intellectuals" who reduced MW2 to "pro-war US propaganda" really just missed the point. Same people who go on about "media literacy" too 😂
I mean I can see why people say that but the games based on wars right but deffo so much deeper than just a war here and the insane stories, especially in the older CoDs. Thanks for watching man!
You should make more contents on spec ops the line and make story comparison spec ops the line with call of duty : )
Could defo be a good thing to explore in future man, thanks for the comment!
So in attempt to make excuses for Shepherd, he revealed that he was even worse than we initially thought?
The worst part of Shepherd is in the end he wins, not the way he wanted too but he still won.
This guy's story is Spec Ops the Line before Spec Ops the Line. Someone who went about wrecking everything around him to satisfy his hero complex.
Yessss 👏👏👏
"and the world just fucking watched" is SO underrated in these analyses of Shepard's mental state...
bro feels the guilt of what happened, views everyone else as seeing it as inconsequential and is livid that the rest of the world is quick to paint the US as a villain to justify taking it down for other interest groups while Americans themselves do not seem to care about the fact 30 thousand Americans were nuked...
this is why he is so prideful in creating heroes and legends while dragging villains out into the light while being 100% ok with having the US burn for it, he wants to cleans the US of weakness and reinvigorate it's people in the crucible of war while pulling Makarov out into the open and ordaining to the world that clearly abandoned America since you don't see the EU doing ANYTHING to alert the US about a Russian invasion into the Atlantic or condemn the attempt to nuke DC that they chose to side with a man who caused it all
Dude I was in the military And I know for a fact that the general would not give a s*** about losing 30000 soldiers, These guys barely even know their soldiers faces and names, Yeah I think this was really about ego cause I've never met a general who gave a s*** about his soldiers this much.
5th sub i am here for the journey
I appreciate you man! Lots more to come
What could make Shepard seem not only more insane, but also a massive hypocrite, is if the theory that Roach is Sgt. Jackson from MW is true. Shepard was willing to kill a survivor of the nuke, literally one of his own men that he pretends to care so much about, to cover his tracks and get the glory he was craving.
The fact that Roach was still alive telling others not to trust Shepard was the worst part. Man didnt die instantly like Ghost did and burned to death :(
Price was the one warning them
Shepard isn’t wrong in his quote about the Russians. Gen. Patton after WW2 said we should have continued through Russia and then he mysteriously died in a car crash during a hunting trip in Germany in 1945
He didn’t? He died in his sleep…
Both Patton and McArthur while amazing leaders did get a bit loopy sometimes.
He’s a man who believes the end justifies the means. By that standard, he became the “means”, which corrupted him so completely.
"Every time someone tries to end a war before it starts, innocent people die."
Even though they were marked as war criminal, In MW3 there are hints that Sandman, Grinch, and Trucker knew about General Shepard and his betrayal. They still work with TF141 even though they were still marked as war criminals
*misunderstood*
Meanwhile, Shepard causes World War 3, the death of innocent millions, and the catalyst of the largest biological terrorist attack in history.
And that’s only the cliff notes.
14:56 Tbh I don't think they have a chance to survive that but if you want a theory here is one. So Roach 100% died because he was burned but we didn't see them put gasoline on Ghost so if he is super lucky he might have lived.
He was shot point blank in the head, no chance.
@@nizzymo No he was shot in the shoulder or the chest not in the head. At least that's what I remember.
Yes. This was a popular theory back in the day that showed that may have Ghost survived. Unfortunately, in the remastered edition, the devs made sure that the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well.
Yes. This was a popular theory back in the day that showed that may have Ghost survived. Unfortunately, in the remastered edition, the devs made sure that the soldier pours the gasoline on Ghost as well.
Love this!
Can’t wait for the next video. You’re seriously talented
Thanks so much for the comment man and for watching! Got the next one cooking 🍳
The only thing that makes 0 sense is how Shepherd is supposed to feel guilty for the CoD4 nuke when those weren't even his men. Those were marines that died. Shepherd is a ranger general. Completely different.
He was the commander of the Marine corps in cod 4
@@Alex58399 he wasn't even an original character in cod4. he was introduced in mw2
@@parkycodhe was retconned to be leading the force. I mean he's leading SAS guys, Iraqis and the navy in this game.
Fantastic Lore video for your first video. I literally thought this was just one of the series of lore videos but in fact it’s your first video. Great start to this channel. I subbed! 👍
Aw thank you so much! Defo won't be the last, cant wait to get the next one posted 🙌
Sad shit, imagine his face the moment he realized that nuke went off.
His speech when he was attempting to execute Soap was the only time I had any sympathy for the fallen General. He lost 40,000 men in the blink and the world just watched.
pretty sure it was moscow not kiev, otherwise we would be seeing ukraine instead of russia
Probably my favorite ending in gaming of all time.
Still gives me chills until this day this whole campaign
I just need to confirm your trying to say the literal war criminal might not be such a bad guy? The same man who knowing let a terroirs commit a false flag attack against civilians to start a pointless war for nothing but his own ego? The man who killed and betrayed his own men to cover up his crimes. Shepherd is a good villain because he is the embodiment of the US military, something bad happens to me and I’m gonna make it everyone else’s problem. He is a monster no matter how you look at it.
There is no excuse for allowing a bad man to do bad things and helping him do even worse. If Shepard were a true patriot or a ‘legend,’ he would have opted to end this when he had the chance. But hey, if he weren’t who he is, we wouldn’t have gotten this masterpiece of a game.
All you had to do was listen to him say "I Lost 30,000 men in the Blink of an Eye and the World just Fuckin' Watched!"
In all, I think the mistake story wise of OG MW2 and MW3 was they did the Shepherd betrayal too early and making Makarov the villain of MW3.
I think, in hindsight, it would have worked so much better if MW2 ends with us getting Makarov thinking, alright, we saved the day, and THEN Shepherd betrays us and MW3 is Price and Soap and the 141 survivors working to clear their name and prove to the world Shepherd was the real villain the whole time.
Why have I never put together that the 141 never knew about Alan….everything makes so much sense now, but I feel like a dumbass😂
It's easy when you're looking at the cutscenes to just assume tbh, I did have a funny feeling Price was getting suspicious and was catching on tho!
,,if you want to do good you have to do some bad"
Yessssss 🔥
'So how do I look'- Troy Baker.
I never saw Gen. Sheppard as a villain. His actions were measured and calculated, His actions and decisions were valid and justified. Granted they were cold and callous, but they were necessary.
To quote a comedy "Cool motive, still murder"
Anyway this video does make it less out of the blue but Shepherd still could have done plenty of other things....AND HE KILLED GHOST AND ROACH
I think you missed several things there, which do slightly change your take on Shepherd:
While I agree, that it was the loss of 30000 men under his command, that messed up Shepherd, it did so in a twofold way:
a) he developed something of a "survivor's guilt" complex, thinking that he should have died with his men. We get that from his line "And the world just fuckin' watched."
b) the guilt from this was the driving factor behind him wanting to become a legend - which he wanted to do to atone for his failure & to honour the men he had lost. Remember that it was Zhakaev and Makarov, who set the nuke off killing the US soldiers. So this was partially revenge for that.
So now what did you miss, that does play into all of this (remember I do agree with most of what is in this video. This just is added info):
1) From the Operation Kingfish short movie we know that it was during this operation that Price ended up in the Gulag. It is also IMPLIED (I gotta stress that point) that the intel, on which Shepherd based the operation, was faulty. Since Shepherd was in charge of the mission overall that makes him culpable for Price ending up in the Gulag, sparking the bad blood between the two. That is part of why Price launches the ICBM to EMP the entire US east coast. Yet another incident where Shepherd may have let men under his command down.
2) The massacre in MW2 takes place in the Zhakaev international airport in Moskow, not the Kiev airport. Given that we are shown a statue of Imran Zhakaev with the inscription "martyr of the new Russia" just moments prior it does show you how much the memory of Zhakaev was upheld by the Russian Ultranationalists and Russia in general in the CoD MW timeline. So to apparently have Americans commit atrocities in such a place - now that is just adding insult to injury, pushing the moderate Russians onto the side of the Ultranationalists. That was how Makarov got his blank check to attack the US.
3) Price didn't retarget the ICBM launched from the Typhoon class submarine - he launched it deliberately. He did it for the simple reason, that he knew that the NATO forces would be leaderless without the US standing strong. At that point in time the US needed to play for time to rally its forces on the east coast, where a lot of the important command installations are. Since the US mostly had only infantry contingents ready to engage the Russian landing forces Price pretty much went for the nuclear option: a high altitude nuclear blast aka a large area EMP. [Sidebar: That a nuke also causes an EMP is a well known fact and there have tests of nuclear blasts in low orbit, where there is little/no fallout that falls back to earth but just shuts down giant areas of land. These tests were banned under the partial nuclear test ban treaty of 1963.] The EMP disables the Russian armor and communications, giving the US the time it needs to rally for the counter attack.
The major problem with this is: an EMP doesn't give a shit about your flag. The damage price caused to the civilian population with this EMP is incalculable. It furthermore destroyed & delayed a lot of what Shepherd had in place in terms of available assets to resist the Russian forces. So he resorted to using assets, which hadn't been affected by the EMP because they were far away from the impact zone to hunt down the remaining man on his hit list: Makaraov.
4) Price and TF141 knew too much about Shepherd and could piece things together if they actually got to talking with Makarov - yes that was a major reason why Shepherd wanted them dead but apart from that: Price had de-facto gone rouge and set off a nuke. Such insubordination can't go unpunished & Shepherd knew that he had to put Price down or Price would be coming for him, as they both are the type to go for revenge in the long term. Now if Shepherd had taken out Price, he would have turned all of TF141 against himself, as the loyalty of TF141 was to Price - not him. Given how dangerous and skilled TF141 was he couldn't take risks with any of them. If he took out Price they would have come for him. So his only way was to take them out permanently.
Yes that was a betrayal of their trust but in his mind he betrayed them in order to serve the higher goal of getting revenge for the 30000 KIA, who had been killed in the nuclear detonation 5 years prior.
"The number 1 most hated man in CoD"
Makarov (killed innocent civilians in an airport, bombed various places and so many more before he started world war 3): Am I a joke to you?
I both admire and hate General Shepherd in the OG Call of Duty MW2. He might have good intentions. But his crimes against Task Force 141, the U.S.A, Russia and the rest of the world. No excuse justifies starting WW3, backstabbing his men, and betraying everything everything he once stood for just for vengeance and glory for himself
Can we talk about how general Shepherd groomed a Private First Class?
15th Sub 💯 lets build this channel
Appreciate you 👑
@@StallionFPS For those of us who grew up playing COD , Gn Shepherd killing Ghost was our first heart break 🥲😅😅