- "This... is... it. The Aether, the infinite, the reality beyond. Beyond the world you know, beyond your perception."
- — Doctor Monty
Agartha, also known as the Aether, the Infinite, and the Final Universe (all by Doctor Monty), Paradise, the House, and The Place Above Creation, is a dimension that exists outside of the known and unknown Universe. It is known as the first dimension and is the home of the Keepers, and the former home of the Apothicons.
The House (and retroactively, Agartha) was first seen in Kino der Toten, specifically Samantha's Room. It appeared in two versions, one as a normal room, and one that is completely destroyed and covered in blood, holding many teddy bears. The house returned in the Origins outro, and from then made many appearance over the series.
Agartha itself was first mentioned in the map Shangri-La, where the explorers Brock and Gary were trying to locate the gateway to Agartha, only to find themselves trapped in a seemingly endless time-loop.
It was controlled by the powerful, ancient Keeper known as Doctor Monty and placed above all of creation, before it along with the Multiverse was plunged into the Dark Aether at the end of Tag der Toten.
Overview
In The Beginning
- "Once the Great War ended with the defeat of the Apothicons, the Keepers ascended to become the wards of all universes. The surviving Apothicons were cast out, banished to the dark Aether beneath creation. After eons of exile in the dark Aether, the Apothicons evolved into twisted creatures that now bear little resemblance to their keeper brethren. The Apothicons ceaseless desire is to reenter creation to consume and corrupt all the universes. It is the Keepers that guard against these perpetual attempts to reenter creation, and guard against any beings that may have fallen under the influence of the Apothicons."
- — Kronorium excerpt 654371979
In the beginning, the Keepers created the Summoning Key to manipulate the Aether. With this power, they created Agartha, the Aether's physical manifestation, where they would make their home. A Keeper remembered only as "The First One" would seed the other, uninhabited dimensions with new life using the Summoning Key. However, a small contingent of Keepers discovered and experimented with a dimension known as the "Dark Aether", opposite to Agartha. This dimension corrupted this faction, with their experiments leading to the creation of the Aether Pyramid - which allowed them to hold power over reality itself. Among these corrupted Keepers was the Shadowman. During the Shadowman's corruption, the being who'd come to be known as Monty became corrupted in an attempt to save his friend. The Keepers soon fell into civil war with the corrupted faction, marking the beginning of the War of Agartha. After the war, the corrupted Keepers were banished from Agartha to the Dark Aether and eventually evolved into the malevolent race of the Apothicons. Meanwhile, the uncorrupted Keepers would ascend to become the wards of all reality against the Apothicon threat.
The Great War
Hellbent on returning to Agartha, the Apothicons planted Divinium meteors in different Dimensions in order to cause chaos amongst the humans that resided there, as well as hiding the Aether Pyramid on the Moon. Their plan worked, and a gateway opened in Earth, allowing the Apothicons to escape and attack mankind. However, 4 heroes known as Primis, alongside the Keepers, fought back the Apothicons using Elemental Staffs in a terrible battle known as The Great War.
Richtofen's Obsession
Later, after touching the Aether Pyramid (now known as the MPD), Edward Richtofen became obsessed with finding Agartha and initiated a decade's long plan to take control of it. As a result of Richtofen's actions, Samantha Maxis was teleported to the MPD where she entered it, while her father Doctor Ludvig Maxis was teleported to The Crazy Place, where he learned to fuse his soul with electronic devices. After being brought by Schuster and Groph to the Moon, Maxis tells Samantha to "kill them all" and kills himself as his soul fuses with the Moon's electronics. As a result of these events, Samantha assumes control of the Aether.
Richtofen later gathered "Tank" Dempsey, Takeo Masaki, and Nikolai Belinski to initiate his goals. When the group, known as Ultimis, arrived at Kino der Toten, the visited the house's attic in two versions, one as a normal room, and one that is completely destroyed and covered in blood, holding many teddy bears.
Brock and Gary
In the map Shangri-La, the explorers Brock and Gary were trying to locate the gateway to Agartha, only to find themselves trapped in a seemingly endless time-loop. Sally, the assistant of George Romero, is sent back in time and becomes entrapped in the same loop.
Richtofen's Grand Scheme
Traveling through time, Ultimis gathered the Vril Device and Focusing Stone to eventually allow Richtofen to usurp control of the Aether from Samantha, switching bodies with the little girl. His contact with Agartha, however, was cut short when Maxis fired rockets towards the Earth, destroying it.
A Broken World
Richtofen and Maxis would later attempt to recruit a group known as "Victis", consisting of Samuel J. Stuhlinger, Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Marlton Johnson and "Russman" to activate three Polarization Devices to grant them power over the Aether's energy. The group followed the instructions of Maxis, who then used the Aether to reach Samantha by plunking Samantha's soul from Richtofen's body at the Moon, leading to destruction of the Earth. However, Maxis was directly teleported to Agartha by Doctor Monty and promptly destroyed.
Samantha's Entry
After the events of Buried, Samantha is sent through space and becomes imprisoned in Agartha. In another dimension, during the Little Lost Girl easter egg, the Origins crew, also known as Primis, opens a portal in an area known as "The Crazy Place", in favor of freeing Samantha from Agartha. This dimension's version of Maxis is sent to Agartha in the form of a drone through the portal, arriving at the house, where Doctor Monty recreates a physical manifestation of him despite the absence of Maxis' soul.
Gathering the Children and the Final Universe
At the request of Doctor Maxis, Primis Richtofen then gathers a soul of his alternate self-using the Summoning Key in Dimension 2210, and the alternate selves of Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai. These souls are then brought to the house in Agartha.
Primis arrives in Agartha, but unfortunately brings the Shadowman (who was trapped in the key) with them, possessing Maxis' body and unleashing the Apothicons in Agartha. At the behest of Doctor Monty, Primis defeats and destroys the Shadowman, with Maxis and Sophia using the Summoning Key to destroy the Apothicons once and for all. Doctor Monty then sends Primis back to the Great War, completing the cycle of the universe.
The Broken Cycle
In another cycle, the Shadowman instructs the Warden to trap Primis within Alcatraz to use Richtofen's blood to open a gateway to Agartha, or "Paradise". After escaping from the Alcatraz Pocket Dimension, a version of Primis from another cycle is assisted by a post-Great War Richtofen, and led to the Pentagon to collect Ultimis.
After collecting Ultimis, Primis and their alternate counterparts traveled to the Broken Arrow facility Camp Edward in Nevada in an attempt to gain the Elemental Shard. There, they encountered and reactivated the A.I Rushmore. After completing various tasks, the crew eventually is led to the A.P.D, where they find Cornelius Pernell, the head of the Broken Arrow program, who has been turned into an electrical being after entering the A.P.D. Calling himself the Avogadro, the deranged Pernell threatened to kill Primis and Ultimis, and "ascend to Agartha". However, the crew gained the upper hand, defeating the Avogadro and sending him near the Hanford Site in Washington. In Agartha, Maxis brought Samantha and Eddie to the teleporter in the basement, and teleported them to Camp Edward to rendezvous with Primis. However, Doctor Monty entered the basement and revealed his true form to Maxis. Maxis proceeded to activate the teleporter, sending the children away from Doctor Monty's grasp. Enraged, Doctor Monty attacked and began to devour Maxis, killing him. When Samantha arrived at Camp Edward, she demonstrated her powers in a fit of anger over the loss of her father, destroying the camp. Samantha proceeded to give a speech to Eddie, promising that they would fight the Great War, return to the House, and kill Doctor Monty once and for all. When Victis was teleported to Siberia by Ultimis Richtofen, he instructed the crew to build an "Agarthan Device". After the construction of the device, it is brought to Primis Nikolai, who uses it to destroy the Summoning Key, plunging all of creation into the Dark Aether (save for a single uncorrupted universe) - including Agartha and Monty.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Maxis ending to Buried, Maxis mispronounces Agartha as "Argatha".
- Doctor Monty would reference this later in Revelations, wondering if the correct pronunciation was either "Agartha" or "Argatha".
- In folklore, Agartha refers to a hypothetical kingdom that is deep within the Earth's core.
- As part of the achievement I've seen some things... added to Zombies Chronicles, players are required to visit the house's attic, in both of its versions.
- In the Origins cutscene, the house's attic is full with many references and items from the Zombies universe.
- The Black Ops III multiplayer map Infection features the house outside of the map. This multiplayer map has several other references to Zombies.
- The bloody version of the house's attic contains a poster of "Faust", telling the story of a man who sold his soul to the devil. It is the only poster from Kino Der Toten that appears in the house.
- The poster does not seem to appear in the Origins version, however the "Escape from the Tomb" poster from Mob of the Dead and Shadows of Evil does show up there.