The Chronology of Red Alert - Command & Conquer Lore

The Red Alert series is founded on time travel. Let's trace the chronology of the games; every timeline jump, split and merger.
Special thanks to KeybladeWXV for help with the script and throughout production.
Special thanks to CCHyper for kindly making the intro, for providing the Chrono Vortex footage, and for help throughout production.
Footage from the Command & Conquer games.
Music by Frank Klepacki, Timothy Michael Wynn and James Hannigan
Vector faction logos made by Josef Reichelt at ArtStation
RA3 faction logos by TheFlagandAnthemGuy at DeviantArt
Consider supporting future videos on Patreon: / nostringsprd
#commandandconquer

[@Jay-ln1co]

"He who controls the past, commands the future. He who commands the future, conquers the past." -Kane

[@mikfhan]

Love that quote :) a slight alteration of Orwell's 1984 it is one of the very first sentences we see when installing Red Alert. I like to think Einstein's initial time travel was a signal the Scrin homed in on, prompting them to launch Tiberium toward Earth. It is unsure what "ascension" means, but that quote comes to mind. How can one man be of same age in 1940 and 2040 both? Someone gave Einstein the final clue to unlock time travel. Schrödinger's Kane indeed. To be or not to be, Kane lives in death!

[@dusgy1]

KANE LIVES!! PEACE through POWER!!

[@ShadowPriestBear]

KANE LIVES IN DEATH!

[@animeweng]

He who fucks up the past, fucks up the future. He who fucks up the future, fucks up the past. Endless fucking.

[@Deathbrecht]

@@animeweng A'fucking'men. 🤫🙄😇👍

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

I'm escaping to that one place that isn't corrupted by EA. *holds back chuckle* SHPAAYCE.

[@silasg3650]

SHAPAYAAASHHHE

[@trutbay]

SHPAAYCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@spectrobeshakozorax1092]

Guess what... Im back baby, CnC has returned

[@MAG_1204]

SHAPAYSSSSE

[@bassybossy]

I whish there was a way to easily save or bookmark youtube comments

[@carlodidonna1478]

dude, if C&C ever returns to glory, you should really become a narrator for the games (or cutscene director) honest to God, your C&C videos are amazing.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much for this kind comment, it really means a lot! I don't think they'll ever notice this little channel, but I'd do whatever if they asked!

[@CathrineMacNiel]

nah. Cutscenes would still HAVE to be directed by Joe Kucan. He is the Messiah after all.

[@TFD_Animations]

I think he meant like a EVA-like announcer for ingame stuff, i would like that, but you’d be angood narrator as well.

[@camokid_za1520]

@@NoStringsPrd If you keep at it, they're bound to! Your production quality is superb!

[@cilenesera6761]

second this

[@Gigas0101]

3:17 The way Einstein says "We lost some men..." Just tears me open. You can feel the performance.

[@Hornat355]

That scene reminded me of the Philadelphia Experiment

[@eugeniaamariei8626]

​@@Hornat355Yeah.

[@SgtCandy]

The one series which asks the real questions, such as "how much time do we have to mess with before Tim Curry runs the USSR and George Takei becomes Emperor of Japan?"

[@RexZShadow]

Ikr the best time line. And J.K.Simons as president of the United States.

[@tungus-]

@@RexZShadow who turns out to be George Takei's android spy

[@TheNobody1324]

So in conclusion: TIME MACHINE And Kane I can see you worked hard on that chart

[@Blox117]

and a lil bit of tiberian twilight

[@User-hg4xn]

@@Blox117 no

[@eugeniaamariei8626]

​@@Blox117Tiberian what?

[@KTLam]

As a teacher in Physics and grown up in the ages of Westwood, I really love your 'Schrodinger's Kane' explanation! Really deep and fantastic overview.

[@moisesmunguiafalloutmoises112]

Cody (alternate history hub): This isn't really a Video about lore since...there isn't really alot of it? no strings Prd: Hold my C&c lore book

[@primisimperator2189]

AltHistoryHub has a headache to rush the summary of the Red Alert lore.

[@moisesmunguiafalloutmoises112]

Yeh, but he didn't bother explaining on Kane in RA1 or explaining the Japanese side and it would be funny to see how he makes funny anime references or make fun of George Takei

[@sonogamirinne7172]

Cody he clearly bias toward the allied in c&c franchise

[@mastertadakatsu]

It was probably ment as a LOL Random Vid to capitalise on the Remakes.

[@codyhamilton7682]

he did Cody's dirty with that one... much preferred this video

[@DrAnimePhD]

I love that you found a way to incorporate Generals into the timeline somehow. Would be a cool theory if Generals took place in Einstein Prime’s reality

[@kwizzeh]

One could even say it takes in a reality very similar to our own :thinking:

[@leftwardglobe1643]

@@kwizzeh I've always imagined that Generals takes place in a third fork where Kane exists and Stalin is killed by him, but Tiberium simply never arrives on earth. Allowing for all of the military buildup and similar technology from the mainline games such as particle cannons and lasers to occur, as we see in Generals, but without the Brotherhood playing a significant role (I suppose it's possible that after kane's prophecies ring false they slowly reorganize into the GLA, or even act as the catalyst for their formation in some other way, but I find that unlikely, and it's possible they just persist in the shadows waiting for an event that will never come), and without any of the additional developments we see in the mainline universe as a result of Tiberium such as sonic weaponry. As a result, the world follows a similar but altered version of modern events. Instead of GDI forming, we get the United States operating much of the advanced equipment we would have otherwise seen in their hands and playing a much stronger role in European politics thanks to their heavy involvement in the Second World War. In place of the USSR, China takes center stage as the strongest Com Bloc power, extending their influence over much of the middle east and potentially even sections of the former USSR. The GLA then rise as disparate groups of Islamic extremists and political dissidents in opposition to foreign influence. Both from China and western powers such as the United States. Things just degenerate from there.

[@maxkim7937]

@@leftwardglobe1643 seems well thought out. i just wish that they continue the games with no interference so we could see more of generals lore play out...

[@exidol4211]

I mean yeah, Generals existed because it followed the timeline that we had irl. The Cold War didn't even brought the Allies and Soviet into killing, instead it was just all about spies and getting other countries to join their campaign on Democracy or Communism. This would lead to the USSR losing just like in real life, and would later on create the rise of terrorism aka The GLA. USA was super advanced for their time as well like having a Particle - Uplink Cannon as their super weapon that's kind of similar to the Ion Cannon.

[@madsword19]

​@@leftwardglobe1643I actually saw a counter-theory on KZbin suggesting that the Anthrax the GLA and Dr Thrax use might have Tiberium as one of the ingredients.

[@SomeGuy-ty7kr]

this is everything I ever wanted in a CnC timeline video! I had the exact idea about generals being the "original timeline" and I'm so glad to see someone else thought of it.

[@lockretvids]

In the end, it all comes down to Kane... You can't kill the Messiah

[@arandomdoomer2065]

EA: *are you challenging me?*

[@helisadel792]

From god to Kane

[@684avatar]

WE FIGHT FOR NOD!!!!

[@ciphergamingsouthafrica8502]

The donuts empire, i mean EA, can

[@許進曾]

@@arandomdoomer2065 EA: You dare challenge your creator.

[@MatthewCobalt]

You're video presentation so professional. I would have honestly thought this was an official documentary, both from the production and the voice. I wish you luck in the future and for greater opportunities.

[@NoStringsPrd]

That's high praise, thank you so much for your kind comment, I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

[@Sly88Frye]

I like your take on the red alert storyline a bit more than what alternatehistoryhub said. I mean they explained the story quite well but they kept talking about like it was a complete joke. I mean a lot of crazy things happen that just would not be possible like how many time machines can there be, but the way you describe the story got me a lot more invested.

[@barosromanow1094]

Na he made a lot of mistakes and didnt understand the story well. But this video is gold.

[@Sly88Frye]

@@barosromanow1094 Perhaps you're right.

[@SupremeRTS]

I love these command and conqier lore videos. So much effort is put into them. Have you ever considered talking about the c&c 3 Intel database. Theres lots of interesting things in there

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you! I've used the Intel Database for the previous videos, particularly the Kane video. I'm not sure I can really set a whole video on them, but yes, lore from the Database will definitely be used in the Tiberium universe videos

[@matic651]

@@NoStringsPrd The best thing EA made were the Intel Data Base expanding the lore a lot.

[@FurroTheWolf]

@@NoStringsPrd So does that mean Kane were Exist in red alert and all of those timeline will ended up in tiberium (Except General which not made by westwood And not part of Westwoodverse)

[@Grizabeebles]

@@FurroTheWolf Kane is most definitely a time traveller and he's aware of how these splinter timelines work. Including the reasons why some timelines collapse and others do not. Perhaps Kane's true goal is to collapse the splintered Command and Conquer timelines into a single timeline powerful enough to overtake our own. As the Einsteins said, one timeline must _eventually_ take precidence over another. If Kane's world-altering missile created the Scrin homeworld...

[@eone199]

@@Grizabeebles but in the end EA games will never let it happen, which is why EA games tries to butcher C&C series even when it is already dead

[@michaelbeale2498]

At 12:00... That's the time line I remember. Actually got goosebumps. Playing red alert for the first time and seeing Kane was the first time we saw that maybe Kane is who he claims to be.

[@AJZulu]

Red Alert 1 Soviet Campaign is true prequel to C&C.

[@TELEFONMASTLP]

I absolutely love this! Such a great and indepth depiction of the timeline mess that is C&C, and how everything comes to be. I especially love the insertion of "Schrödinger's Kane" which essentially creates a whole new universe. Amazing job as always, C&C lore is truly fascinating!

[@SidMajors]

Love how you said "open the box and examine the cat". You well cultured man :D Amazing, amazing work on this video, mate. Frigging love it.

[@GunRunner106]

We are going to have to act, if we want to live in a different world .

[@GunRunner106]

@@Nuuk_Nuke_Nook ya didn't watched the video, didn't ya?

[@Nuuk_Nuke_Nook]

@@GunRunner106 Actually, i did. Thrice, But, i kinda don't understand your comment.

[@GunRunner106]

@@Nuuk_Nuke_Nook Einstein 'acted' because he "wanted to live in a different world."

[@RecklessJames]

@@Nuuk_Nuke_Nook lol if you dont get the connection, then you're not a real C&C fan m8. Einstein's actions lead to not only 1 new world, but possibly 2 of em. in other words, this goes very well with one of the first songs we ever hear in-game for the series... Act On Instinct. (its sad that i have to actually explain it tho)

[@RecklessJames]

I understood that reference! :3

[@Darkfire7881]

Great video as always! And perhaps thee most epic way I have ever heard the Command and Conquer universe described

[@fallsky_19]

Stefan: Without the rise of the Third Reich Captions: Without the rise of the n a u g h t y G e r m a n s Honestly i accidentally left the captions on but im glad i did lmaooo

[@NoStringsPrd]

So theres a good reason why I did that. I didn’t trust KZbin to keep the video up if I started talking about WWII, which was why I didn’t say Hitler’s name out loud. Then I got paranoid about the captions and thought it best to avoid the phrase ‘third reich’.

[@fallsky_19]

@@NoStringsPrd the algorithm is really one tricky game to play lmaoo

[@RecklessJames]

@@NoStringsPrd Lets just hope it doesn't one day mistake "naughty" for being something sexual, haha!

[@AbuHajarAlBugatti]

@@fallsky_19 its worde than KGB becaude you know atleast whst they would arrest you for. Nowadays we live in constsnt paranoia nd fear about what we are allowed to say in this Free modern world

[@ciphergamingsouthafrica8502]

And in turn no Americans, good

[@pepijn23]

Moral of the story: Never invent time travel if it’s even slightly possible. Seriously, this series story rivals that of Cod Zombies. Time Travel, Teleporters, Meteors, Magic Raw material, ancient religions, Nazi’s, Soviet Union, Total Destruction of earth, cold war, Global Initiatives, wonder weapons, Edgy characters, and a Teddy Bear. Cod zombies is simply an alternate C&C universe, and Element 115 is simply Tiberium in disguise. You can’t change my mind.

[@Brite-um2tq]

115 is a real element, actually. It's called Moscovium.

[@rgmusic4769]

As a kid I would watch my brother play this game on PC and I never understood the game I just remembered hearing "Training, until ready" lol I was playing mostly mario games As a adult now I cant believe how much great lore there is behind this game I am looking forward to the remastered coming soon on steam I told my brother about the remastered and he was really excited

[@TheAmishStig]

Dude...I just...yeah. Dude. This is some next-level passion, with a level of production chops that is just unreal. I really need to reinstall this game series now...

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, really glad you enjoyed it!

[@Andres33AU]

9:59: Pikachu face, lmao. This is excellent! I love the Red Alert games and anything Command & Conquer, and this was very well narrated and structured!

[@Viper_213X]

This is so deep. I love how you explained everything. the C&C community should give you an award.

[@mikfhan]

And it gets the mind going - something must have given Kane the knowledge to exist across timelines. Or maybe Kane himself was the genesis of such technology. FutureTech, the technology of peace :P kzbin.info/www/bejne/noubaIGKl82Gla8

[@Hammer_Of_Olympia]

Excellent video as always. I honestly didn’t realise how convoluted the Cnc universe was but maybe that’s because I mainly played these games as a kid.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you! In fairness, this only get convoluted when looking at it as a whole. Each of the Red Alert games are very self-enclosed in terms of the story, all you need to know going in to it is that some stuff happened before, but you don't need to know details. But it really is staggering how surprisingly deep the C&C lore can be! You can really tell the devs loved what they were making.

[@Hammer_Of_Olympia]

No Strings Prd I know, was always more of a fan of the Tiberium series

[@08-145]

I love the red alert story it is just insane and i love being some bad ass commander where at the end you become a hero to what ever faction you led i love it plus the cheesy b-movie cut-scenes are just classic plus love the lore videos man there always so well done.

[@Nugire]

I like how each timetravel device works a bit differently. C&C1: You basicly travel to the past in an alterative dimension/timeline identical to yours, but change events for that timelines future. But you yourself get send back to your own time without changes to your timeline. C&C2: Same as before, but you don't return to your own time/dimension. C&C3: Same as one, but the timeline you return to has changed. The "alternative dimension" from the first game could also explain the Kane thing. The soviet and the allied campaigns are already seperate timelines, that already are different the moment Einstein arrives there, just that the difference is well hidden. In one Nod/Kane already exists which lead to an

[@Fudgeoff6628]

God damn you have an extremely soothing voice and perfect pitch/tone for the delivery. It adds to what I feel is a expertly crafted script. Well done Stephen, I oh so very much love reliving the series through your hard work.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

[@commanderstormhawk2615]

You never cease to impress me with the production-quality of your videos. You gave me a new appreciation for the CnC games that I didn’t even think was possible. Thank you for making these videos, Stefan!

[@lisathelisaful]

Personally I always thought that the Tiberium Timeline happened AFTER Yuri's Revenge. If the Tiberium timeline happened after RA1 soviet victory I feel as if Nod would be much stronger than the guerrilla force seen in the games. However I am basing this off the fact that the canceled Renegade sequel was going to explain what happened in between Yuri's Revenge and C&C 1, so I may be mistaken. Nothing against your interpretation though. Good job on the video.

[@FrankCastle-tq9bz]

Shotmaker Not likely - you see, it’s the victory of the Soviets in the first war that sets the stage for the rise of the Brotherhood of Nod: the point of that conflict was to ensure that no empire commanded a controlling interest of the globe - if the allied forces win, the U.S./NATO comes into being. In “Red Alert” we see Kane manipulating Stalin into ordering the deaths of his command staff shortly before the Soviets achieve victory - this was done so that Kane can implode the Soviet Union on command via flunkies he replaces them with (leaving the door open for Nod to fill a massive power vacuum): if the allied forced win, he won’t be able to cause the U.S./NATO empire to implode because he wasn’t able to perform an equivalent deed on them.

[@MuHePaJlkA84]

Renegade 2 would feature another reality with post-yr nod-like faction. Ra1 was planned as direct cnc prequel after all

[@detaineepyramid]

You get many cool points for politely stating your opinion and not faulting anyone for their own; well played.

[@ryanphillips4123]

Excellent video! I love the Red Alert series, but I've never seen the full story laid out like this.

[@Mattanja1992]

Expertly done! It was an absolute joy to watch. I didn´t catch many of the connections you demonstrated when I played the series. Makes my favourite RTS series even cooler!

[@finegamingconnoisseur]

The ending where you sign off and Einstein in the background speaking those eerily prophetic words, "Time will tell... sooner or later... time will tell." That was a good way to finish this very informative and well put together video.

[@cameronhudson8773]

Another excellent video man. Really liked the ending explaining the possible alternate realities into red alert and tib wars and generals. All because of a time machine. Excellent transition.

[@mjc0961]

"A big white snowy thing that communists live in." Nice humor here. 👍

[@ciphergamingsouthafrica8502]

You mean Washington?

[@killerofgems5923]

I cant imagine how much time your videos take. The scripts are amazing the editing is phenomenal and the content is accurate. What more could i possibly ask for?

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed them!

[@aygwm]

I love these campy old cut scenes! What a time to be alive…

[@Endgame707]

9:10 this part is funny haha 😆 lol

[@Tichooon]

"Me irl making this chart" hehe nice. Awsome video dude!

[@Hungeryan]

4:57 "Yuri has 2 human brains. Oh that's why he's so smart... And a third in his head." *Ouch, that hurt!* By the why if you didn't knew already the Chronosphere techonlogy was named after the God of Time from the Greek Mythology, Chronos.

[@ricardoguanipa8275]

I would had prefered the Timeline were EA was never existed

[@LunaPPK]

so we be missing half the games made in the past and the industry would not be as strong as it is now days. EA is shit now days but they where pretty good back in the day and where one of the bigger publishers that even help gaming get big.

[@Melvinshermen]

Luna Kaze Then again is worth it

[@Melvinshermen]

Luna Kaze again is maybe worth it

[@Melvinshermen]

Ricardo Guanipa and also bullfrog and westwood would be buy be thq or ubisoft or take two

[@alialatrach9788]

I want to see a new C&C title that follows C&C3's events where C&C4 never existed! Oh right, I'm sorry, C&C4 never existed actually! My bad!

[@KingChinny]

Wasn't Tiberium named after the first place it was found; the River Tiber?

[@florianlucs7229]

That's what GDI propaganda wants you to believe

[@NoStringsPrd]

That's according to GDI, as that is where it was first discovered. Kane however asserts that he knew of it long before, and that he himself named it after Tiberius Drusus Caesar.

[@FrankCastle-tq9bz]

GDI says so - Kane claims otherwise.

[@openize1928]

Kane named Tiberium and people named the river Tiber, because the river had Tiberium. And then people re-found tiberium and named it after the river.

[@anjew94]

@@openize1928 its a real river. Its name has nothing to do with Tiberium and Tiberium definitely didnt exist there before coming to earth

[@TheAquarius87]

I love how you squeeze in the tiberium universe in this chronology, at the end. Westwood wanted to merge the two universes at soms point, I remember, where it turns out Yuri was Kane's lacky. Under EA, that plotpoint was dropped. Great video! Loved every second of it

[@SomeGuy-ty7kr]

I actually like the plot better with the timelines being separate, so, I guess I'm thankful to EA for at least one thing.

[@vileluca]

In the one universe, there is Kane In the other, Kane is Yuri, and Kane as we know him doesn't exist. They're the same person but depending on which one exists in the world decides which timeline you have. Consider they're the only people in the entire franchise with supernatural powers. Kane is immortal. Yuri is actually a telepath.

[@fergusmacrae7590]

Mate these videos are incredible it's so good to see people putting proper effort into their work despite being a smaller channel. Keep it up, this channel is gonna take off

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much for this, it really means a lot! Glad you enjoyed them!

[@mini2239]

Interesting question here: Does Kane not exist in our/generals timeline? Tiberium hasn't shown up on Earth in either scenario, and there's no sign of Nod. Rather than call this a plot hole I've decided to pick up a tin foil hat and start determining my own theory. We know that Kane was born before WW2, so then what happened to him? Why did he disappear. What we can say for certain is that it had something to do with the Second World War. Perhaps originally Kane was actually successfully killed during the (normal) Second World War, but one must ask how? He survived an ion strike? The only scenario that could compare would be the atomic bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Was he perhaps on scene during those attacks. Manipulating the Axis powers during the war? Or perhaps during the Second World War, or as a direct consequence of it Kane's influence was destroyed or nullified. He's still alive, but powerless... But this leads to another question, where's the meteor? Why would the lack of Hitler prevent that? Well I have another theory. Assuming the real world timeline of the Hitler WWII caused the fall of Kane then perhaps he had not only predicted Tiberium but had caused it. Sometime after WWII. This may be why the Scrin know of Kane, perhaps he goaded them into infecting the planet. We always knew that Kane had predicted Tiberium, but what if he was the cause? This was fun to theorise

[@NoStringsPrd]

Sorry about the wall of text! This reply kind of got out of hand Since the campaigns of RA lead to two different universes based solely on whether Kane exists (he's only shown to exist in the Soviet campaign and not seen in Allies, RA1 is unquestionably canon to both universes as RA2's manual mentions the events and C&C3's Kane Criminal Dossier references it), it's reasonable to presume that in the Allied campaign he doesn't exist. So for the original timeline, I went with the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment at an analogy: As I understand Schrodinger's Cat, the cat in a sealed off box with poison is considered both alive and dead until it is observed and the results affect the world outside the box. Until we observe the cat, until the effects of Kane's existence (such as Nod) are known, we could be in either a reality in which he does exist, or one in which he does not, so until we know we could say Kane both exists and doesn't. When Einstein appears in 1924, we can check for whether Kane exists, because now we have two different timelines depending on whether he does or not. At the end of the day, if Kane does exist, the Einstein from that timeline would be the one travelling back in time, but until we know whether Kane does or doesn't exist, we don't know, so I put them both onto one dotted timeline. This leads to four possibilities; key: Timeline A is the original timeline. Timeline B is the timeline started in 1924 when Hitler was assassinated. If Kane does not exist, I'll put a 0 and the end. If Kane does exist, I'll put a 1 at the end. Timeline A0 (top line); WWII happens as with the real world. In 1947, Einstein invents a time machine and travels back in time, then returns to Timeline A0 a moment later, and lives out the rest of his days. We know that this timeline has more advanced technology than the real world, so plausibly this could become the Generals timeline, which is characterised as being like the real world but with more advanced technology. Einstein, his mission accomplished, may have destroyed or hidden his time machine afterwards, we know he's a pacifist. Kane does not exist in this timeline, so (for reasons I'll return to) the meteor never comes to Earth in 1995, and we can speculate that the war against the GLA begins in 2013. This timeline covers the very beginning of Red Alert 1, and presumably the Generals universe later on. Timeline A1; Kane existed thousands of years ago, and forms the Brotherhood of Nod. At some point in history, Kane and the Scrin have contact with one another; Kane knows far too much about alien stuff even before he acquired the Tacitus, which has been on Earth for presumably millennia, holding information about Tiberium and the Scrin. The Scrin have Kane in their data matrix, so this meeting or meetings was/were two-way, so unless Kane is an alien (I doubt it), the Scrin must have visited Earth in the past and survived the encounter to log it. Whatever form this meeting took is likely the source of some of Kane's 'prophecies', and, I'm speculating, could have been the reason the Scrin took interest in the Earth to begin with. We know Kane was awaiting Tiberium before it arrived, and this couldn't have been because of the Tacitus because it hadn't been translated yet. It's possible he was the one who attracted the Scrin's attention to Earth for them to seed it with the meteor in 1995, since he required it for his plans. WWII happens, maybe this Einstein also invents a time machine too and goes on to create Timeline B1, and maybe Nod interfere with Nazi Germany like they did the Soviets. The meteor arrives in 1995, and an alternate Tiberium universe occurs. No known C&C games take place in Timeline A1 at all, although if you want you could bung Tiberium Alliances and Tiberian Twilight into A1 if you want to be rid of them from the main Tib timeline! Timeline B0 (bottom line from 1924); In 1924 Hitler is suddenly killed by an unknown assailant. RA1 Allies campaign takes place and the Red Alert timeline begins. Kane does not exist, the Scrin never took interest in the Earth, and so no meteor arrives in 1995, though that year hasn't happened yet in any of the games in this timeline. This timeline covers RA1 Allies + expansions, RA2, Yuri's, RA3 and Uprising. Were the iPhone game from 2008 still possible to play, this may be included too. Timeline B1 (green line from 1924); Same as Timeline A1 up until 1924, at which Hitler is suddenly killed. RA1 Soviets campaign takes place, the Brotherhood grows out of the Soviet Union, which collapses after Stalin's assassination. This leads to the Tiberium universe, covering RA1 Soviets, Tib Dawn, Ren, Cov Ops, Tib Sun, Firestorm, Kane's and Tib Wars. There are unconfirmed assertion here (the two RA1 campaigns lead to different timelines because Kane only exists in one, Generals is in Timeline A0, Kane is responsible for the Scrin's Tiberium seeding of Earth) but I think it mostly fits, and other than Generals the assumptions have some form of canon information to merit backing them up.

[@mini2239]

@@NoStringsPrd I'm not sure we can just remove Kane from a timeline without completely and utterly altering it. I hardly think Kane and Nod began their manipulations during the Second World War (either timeline A or B), but depending on the skill of the commanders of the Allies and Soviets that would be the deciding factor in WW1. So assuming that Kane and Nod gambled everything on an Axis or Soviet victory (timeline dependent) then if the Allies win in spite of Nod's influence (as they did in timeline A, or may have done in timeline B) then Kane is killed/ weakened beyond hope. His rise is pre-empted and the Allies unknowingly prevent Kane's plans. If the Soviets win (an Axis victory being impossible) than Kane moves onto his plans. It makes sense that Kane would back the anti-allies faction. The Allies had large amounts of influence with their colonies in many of the places that Tiberium would propagate in most efficiently. Like Africa at the time. This what leads me to conclude that Kane lead to the seeding of the planet sometime after the Second World War, maybe with some other alien technology. One much less useful than the Tacitus but still able to cause the seeding

[@Nugire]

@@NoStringsPrd One thing that buggers me is the following: The fact that the is a ressource called ore on the surface of lots of places. Especially during RA2 and YR it is present everywhere, even inside major cities like washington. also there is a more valueable 2nd varient of it. It's basicly Tiberium without the harmful effects on terrastrial life. Not sure what to make of it.

[@Eboreg2]

One of the interesting things about space is that it is very big and empty. What that means is that you can't just send a meteorite towards a planet and expect it to hit with 100% accuracy. What's more, doing this for multiple planets in multiple solar systems is... well... so improbable as to be effectively impossible. What does this mean for the Command and Conquer universe? Well, it's obvious, the Tiberium meteorites actually have some kind of guidance system. The possibility of the Scrin visiting Earth before attempting to seed it with Tiberium raises an interesting question: what if the guidance system homes in on a beacon placed on the planet in question? It's very possible that all of the fighting in Italy during the Hitler version of WWII accidentally destroyed this beacon making sure that the Tiberium meteorite missed Earth and is still drifting aimlessly in space to this very day. In the Stalin version of WWII, Kane made sure that the Tiber river did not see the intense barrage of artillery and aerial bombardment that it did in the Hitler timeline preserving the beacon. However, in the Hitler version, he did not have enough influence to do so and the Brotherhood of Nod was rendered moot purely by circumstance. A broken man, Kane dissolved the Brotherhood of Nod, his dreams of ascension no longer viable, but perhaps he could tell the world the truth about Tiberium. As such, he took on a falsified name and became an actor in a small video game company by the name of Westwood Studios where he played... himself.

[@Lowlightt]

@@Eboreg2 Incorrect. You infact can send a meteorite towards a planet and expect it to hit with 100% accuracy. Its all Math. As long as you have enough information concerning its trajectory and the forces that will act on it (gravity) you can plot a 100% accurate course for it and send it on its way. Even right now we have the ability to send satelites to other galaxies with very high accuracy. Just because of Math.

[@jarkkoratikainen4726]

Honestly this channel deserves so many more subscribes

[@jariss.5207]

Shame you dont upload more often. Videos on topic of CnC universe with this good quality are rare...

[@NoStringsPrd]

Now that I've gotten the three biggest topics out of the way, I'm planning on taking on the smaller topics which I hope to get done faster. I know my release frequency so far hasn't been ideal, I'll do my best to get the time between videos down. Thanks dude!

[@ryanstephendark6220]

This deserves way more view, great video explaining the time lines of a great franchise and how they all link together

[@arandomperson4709]

One true jewel....of a video you made there.... Also.....you did well to mention Kane...

[@dragonwolfworm]

Red Alert 1 is my favorite in the franchise. It's brutal, unforgiving and felt like an actual war. Red Alert 2 had improved mechanics and graphics, but was far more silly in it's approach. Still a classic though. Red Alert 3 had Tim Curry. That was the only thing worth remembering.

[@dolphinsupreme1697]

I'm not a big fan of the gameplay of RA3 but the cut scenes are always good for a laugh.

[@obelic71]

@@dolphinsupreme1697 that mission that you as a conscript and a bear are the only one left from an invasion force to capture the emperor.🤣 Later misson in that game you can liberate that conscript and bear. RA3 is the funniest of all RA, well know actors in the cut scenes.

[@KingOfLesbia]

Cnc 4 is hated for clear reasons(it was total shit) but I still dont get why people don't like red alert 3 its goofiness was a continuation of red alert 2 goofiness and it played exactly like a cnc game should play. Other than cartoony graphics which honestly didnt bother me at all but I could see some people not liking it.

[@Raduldo]

@@KingOfLesbia It was far too cartoonish for me. That's why I enjoy CnC3 so much.

[@WHOARETHEPATRIOTS475]

Red alert 1 : Cold war documentary Red alert 2 : Cold war sitcom Red alert 3 : Anime

[@Alpha-kt4yl]

Amazing work, I would love to see more cause no one else is making the stuff you do.

[@AdamMichalMarkowski]

Mind blown man! I guess I kinda subconsciously noted the difference between Einstein from intro and allied campaign but never put enough thought to it to realize that's not same guy we met in campaign, nor would I ever be able to come to the conclusions you made about timelines being connected like that for all three games! This is brilliant! You did some Amy Henning level of mending the plot that was damaged due to games switching Studios and different writers doing their own stuff!

[@Xenogrief]

another fantastic Cnc vid, great job!

[@toadacus3145]

Thanks for another fantastic C&C! video keep up the work!

[@shep9231]

Stephan, you do amazing work, your love for the lore really shines though.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!

[@youtoobe556]

Damn, these videos have so much passion behind them. Thanks for tying the C&C universe together so eloquently!

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed them!

[@spasjt]

This is seriously the clearest and most logical compilation of the entire C&C franchise. Your analysis, comprehension as well as ability to harmonize some plot holes the games made throughout the years, are presented in such an engrossing entertaining way that I must ask if you have ever considered presenting this video to the various video game studios or film industry producers? It would be a doozy to actually do it well but if such a project were undertaken and done right, the remastered version of C&C could start the spark of a new interest in the C&C universe for a new generation thereby giving it the final push to reach the big screen. The last few years of attempts at making video games into movies are pockmarked with success and failure but I think that C&C, being a more *ahem* "realistic" setting, might help.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much for this, this is really kind of you! I really hope the Remasters are good and take off when they launch, they're in this great position right now that they could really make an impact on the industry, and hopefully lead to a return to classic RTS About this video, I don't think anyone would pay it much mind, but thank you!

[@spasjt]

@@NoStringsPrd We must persevere! *For king and country!* ;)

[@MrMarinus18]

Red Alert never made complete sense. In reality Hitler not being there would harm the power of the USSR. Since they couldn't just invade Europe without rallying the world against them. Also Hitler was far more a hindrance than a help to the German army and without him the countries of Europe would provide a united front to the USSR rather than fight each other. Them joining really isn't as crazy as you might think. France was locked in a political struggle between communists and nationalists with some even feared that it might turn physical. What united France in the end was the Nazi's since they were fiercely anti-communist and Germany was the historical enemy of France so Nazi Germany provided a common enemy. Britain was very anti-communist and even sided with Hitler on some of his policies. They even were about to fight a war against the USSR because of Finland but the invasion of France happened before that could get into gear. Britain also was historically quite friendly with Germany and was their main advocate at the Versailles treaty. The main reason they turned against Germany was that Germany supported Italy who was attacking British positions in Africa and because Britain was a big supporter of minority groups which the Nazi's ruthlessly suppressed. Without Hitler the French could very easily fear the communists enough that they fight with Germany and the British already were opposed to the Soviets. Italy also opposed the Soviets since the Soviet's were anti-colonialism.

[@spasjt]

@@MrMarinus18 I don't think it was crazy for the Allies to join up. Unless you're saying So Strings said that but I'm pretty sure he didn't say that either. If you want to go down a rabbit hole.... You're right about France's divided nature and hatred of Germany, but since you are bringing a more in-depth look at historical real life politics, I gotta disagree with you on a couple of other points. Hitler's rise helped the continent of Europe to mobilize its forces for a second industrial world war but there's no reason to think that Stalin's mobilization would not have encouraged the same thing for the same reasons in a new timeline. In real life, the Versailles treaty made Germany hate the other Allied WWI powers because the burden of paying for war damages fell squarely on Germany and its allies (among other things). The British were not friendly with the Germans even if a few elements of the British representatives at the treaty were not as harsh as other nations. I am fairly certain Britain didn't agree with Germany on anything after WWI. BUT, in the fantasy timeline they might have been more friendly since the first WWI was over and there was no "Mein Kampf" to start a second word war of vengeance, and thus the 'hatchet' could have been buried in the face of a new threat. As far as Finland is concerned, without Hitler's Germany, we can assume all sorts of political theories for one idea or another but it'd be purely speculative. Still, it's likely that Finland would have allied with more European countries without Hitler's Germany taking all the political focus and thus Russia would have not have attacked a potentially united Europe. Lastly, Italy didn't attack Britain they attacked Ethiopia. That was all they did because the Italian military was a joke throughout WWII. Germany and Italy didn't attack any British target until Britain declared war after the invasion of Poland. Furthermore, without Germany's propaganda, power, and political guile, I doubt the Italians would have attacked anyone - even Ethiopia.

[@boofhead711]

Damn fine work as usual, its allways nice to see people keep this stuff alive.

[@MAG_1204]

The entire CnC RA series is basically everybody betraying everybody with time machine

[@JeriDro]

absolutely amazing work by the story designers and you for explaining it so well

[@vinicioscaires7647]

Stefan, eu sou brasileiro, tenho 24 anos e desde Dune: Tha Battle For Arrakis (emulado através de um Dreamcast) sou vidrado em RTS, Command & Conquer: Retaliation foi o meu primeiro contato com a franquia e de lá pra cá eu nunca vi um conteúdo sobre a mesma tão legal quanto o seu. Meus parabéns!

[@TrekWarlord]

me: what are your thoughts on time travel? command and conquer: yes

[@alialatrach9788]

I like to believe that General Krukov from RA3 is the same who we play as in RA2.

[@NoStringsPrd]

I accept this as my new headcanon

[@mashtonish]

Great video, great lore overview, great actors in the video... This is super interesting stuff. Wish more people could see it.

[@powah3]

Waw very good documentary on the CNC lore!

[@sea_emperour346]

That intro was perfect

[@NoStringsPrd]

Full credit to CCHyper for offering to make the intro

[@Megalotron]

This was amazing;y done, as a hardcore C&C fan since childhood when Tiberium sun had yet to come out for at least 3 years, this brought me a lot of joy. I hope C&C videos never stop being made, and yours was very well made and very professional.

[@NoStringsPrd]

Same! I also grew up playing Tub Dawn and RA1 as a child Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it, it really means a lot!

[@Megalotron]

@@NoStringsPrd No problem my dude, we shall keep this franchise alive in our hearts and in the upcoming remaster. If I may throw in my own view....I always kinda saw RA2 as the replacement Korean/Vietnam War for the Tib timeline and RA3 (had the Empire been introduced earlier or scraped) could have been that universe's Gulf War before the Tiberium comet, but timelines, what ya gonna do? I've also got my own view of how Kane shoulda been handled based on all the religious OT references around him that leans heavy on it, like he literally cannot be killed and those that try are punished and thus C&C 4 shoulda been dealing with that, he either turns earth into his tiberium version of heaven or he's locked away in a fully automated vell orbiting just out of the pull of a black hole to prevent escape attempts til the end of time. But that's just a brief rundown of my opinion. C&C lives in death!

[@Nietzsche8492]

Fantastic explanation of the timelines of C&C. Very difficult to explain this to someone who has no knowledge of what's going on. Definitely will use this as reference in the future!

[@crabohato4954]

13:24 so basically, if Kane is born, the USSR wins the first Red Alert game. And this in turn causes the Tiberium games to happen. But, if Kane was never born, the Allied Nations win and create the rest of the Red Alert games. But never in the Red Alert games does Tiberium ever crash on Earth. So the existence of Tiberium on Earth is also dictated by weither Kane is alive.

[@outlanderart7273]

Great video. Happy to see more of your vids again.

[@juliovictormanuelschaeffer8370]

1:07: that's the Schrödinger's Cat Theory, Stefan: Einstein not only created the Red Alert Timeline by killing Hitler, but he may have also created a timeline where no war ever happened.

[@haconen3201]

Absolutely fantastic mate

[@jefftaylor1186]

So Kane not existing makes the meteor not hit Italy in 1995? That means he’s directly tied to the Scrim.

[@KaosNova2]

But even Kane existing appears to be tied to the altered Timeline from Red Alert 1

[@mindmachine134]

you did an outstanding job with this ! your hard work is really appreciated !

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!

[@kyon_gold]

I'm saying the one word that you deserve.... GREAAAT!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely gorgeous.

[@TheEddykotta]

Great video! I really love the Red Alert games, great music, wacky cutscenes and it turned out to be a great bonding experince with my older(12 years older) brother

[@psycho-schematics8735]

So in conclusion: Einstein is the one one who started the c&c series. Just one more sucess of this legend.

[@PhoeNiXz89]

I'm enjoying these videos, and thank you for the subtitles!

[@thebonf1re]

You have quality videos bro! Every single of them takes me back to moment when I played original C&C first time on my friends computer in middle 90s. I remember competing with my friends who get most of the kills in RA skirmish against hard opponents. Cant wait the remakes! No pressure, but you got me as a follower and you will be my main source of info about the C&C related stuff ;) Keep up the good work! He who controls the past, commands the future. He who commands the future, conquers the past. - Kane

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you so much, your comment has made my day! Really glad you enjoyed the videos mate!

[@EdzCreationz]

This universe is so exciting and had so much potential, great job

[@DangerangTheAIMan]

I love how you merge all the cnc timelines like that, all the change in the timelines because Mister Einstein thought he was a smart boy lmao

[@carolheward6479]

The crystal was named after the river tuber where it first landed. There are other errors one near the start aswell

[@NoStringsPrd]

That Tiberium was named after the Tiber River is GDI's official stance. Kane refutes this in the Nod campaign of Tib Dawn, stating, "Discovered by the Brotehrhood, that is, and I named it after Tiberius Drusus Caesar." Given Kane had knowledge of Tiberium before it came to Earth, he likely named it before GDI even knew of it.

[@dracmeister]

Woah. That's kinda freaky that the display of timelines is similar to the one I showed to my friend when I was explaining C&C lore to them. Good to know I got most of my facts right.

[@JimmyTurner]

Good shit my dude. Glad I found the channel.

[@zestmeister7729]

i live near Landsberg, stunning to see this here and there was also a Yuri campaign planned for YR, wouldve that been the timeline for Yuris total victory?

[@NoStringsPrd]

Probably, I haven't read much about that. Yuri did have a tital-victory timeline, it was just suddenly merged with the Allied victory timeline, so he was kind of cheated out if his victory

[@dunkk2508]

Dude, you deserve far more subscribers.

[@bruhb7611]

Red Alert 2 Soviet ending is still the best timeline. Eternal Cosmic USSR

[@NoStringsPrd]

"This is why I hate videos game, it appeals to like the male fantasy..."

[@hybriel8171]

Yes comrade!

[@LanternOfLiberty]

Having played some of these games - but not all of them - since the 1990s, I'm very happy to finally get an overview of all that weird timelines. Kudos.

[@rebelcybran5850]

But we both knew Nod could grow no further in Stalin's shadow. Peace Through Power!

[@hugobm3736]

I've been watching your videos like a marathon since I discovered this channel. Nice work man, it's good to see some interesting facts (and theories?) about my favorite game franchise. I'd include one more branch in that timeline: Mental Omega's view on the events of Red Alert 2. Seriously, that mod is amazing, too bad it's definitely not going to be included in the official lore.

[@uroboros1369]

We truly don't deserve such content Stefan.

[@mashtonish]

This lore is neat. Thanks for the retelling. It's pretty cool to sometimes recognize actors, lol

[@thewhitelotus7667]

Great vid! Just one question, what happens to Yuri in the Kane - timeline?

[@NoStringsPrd]

So we don't know a great deal about Yuri's history, but he did say this in a cutscene; "When the Soviet Union was new, there were those of us that Stalin turned to for our particular skills. We were trained to turn men's minds to our will. This is Stalin's psychic legacy." So Yuri's Pschic Corps was probably formed by Stalin, or at least under him. We have no evidence of the Corps' activity in RA1, so it's likey the project didn't come to fruition until too late, or that it at least wasn't used widely. Both Allied and Soviet campaigns end with the Soviet Union collapsing like a flan in a cupboard, but the reason behind both is different. In the Allied campaign, the Soviets lost to the Allies. Since there's no Kane and no brotherhood, the Union was allowed to reconstitute, and Yuri provided his services to Romanov, who wanted more technologically advanced weapons to counter the Allies' tech (from the RA2 manual). In the Soviet campaign timeline, we can only speculate. We know that the Psychic Corps must have existed prior to the war ("When the Soviet Union was new"), unless Kane had already disuaded Stalin of that idea to mitigate threats to the Bortherhood. It's possible Yuri was KIA during the war. It's also possible that due to the way the Union was brought down from within by the Brotherhood, the Psychic Corps disbanded completely. The Soviet Union never recurred in the Tiberium timeline, which was probably by Kane's design, so since he most likely knew about Stalin's Psychic Corps, he would have wanted to make sure that was dead and buried too. For headcanon purposes, the Brotherhood could have absorbed the research from it for use in their propaganda machine, since we know how adept Nod was at that stuff. There's no evidence of Yuri being prominent in any way in the Tib universe, so I think it's most likely he's dead and never had much impact on the timeline. Since all we can do is speculate, you can go with whatever headcanon you like. Personally, I reckon the Psychic Corps still existed to begin with, but that Yuri and the other psychics were killed by Kane's order some time around the events of RA1 to make sure there would be no threat of the Union continuing after the war. That or Kane disuaded Stalin from devoting many resources towards the project.

[@thewhitelotus7667]

@@NoStringsPrd Thank you for the fast and extensive answer!

[@Don_Giovanni]

Great script! I Enjoyed it thoroughly!

[@foxstar9086]

7:52 wow that’s a lot apocalypse tanks there’s that saying go big go home

[@mikemandalorian9226]

I know the lore but i just couldn't stop watching this video. I love C&C and i miss this game so much :) Great video!

[@BlitzDragoon7115]

Can you do Generals next

[@NoStringsPrd]

There's really not a great deal to cover in Generals unfortunately, this is something I've been thinking about since I know there are a lot of Generals fans. There are other things I'm planning on doing first, but I do plan to take a look at Generals at some point.

[@boarbark]

love those timeline layouts! nice work

[@commandonite8364]

I stumbled upon a novel years ago where the writer tried to connect all the different timelines and universes of the entire command and conquer franchise including tiberium, red alert and generals into one universe. It is called: The Return of Kane. It mainly shows the return of Kane to earth after his ascension and how he wants to save earth from the inevitable Scrin invasion, also it describes what happened to Nod and GDI and a view on world history from Kane's perspective.. It is a very interesting read even though the writer never finished it but I highly recommend it to all C&C fans. www.fanfiction.net/s/7580418/1/The-Return-of-Kane Btw, awesome video man keep it up.

[@jeffreywinch3850]

Amazing video and very professional voiceover!

[@NoStringsPrd]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!