The Call of Duty: Black Ops timeline is a confusing, long-winded tale that features plenty of backstabbing, deception, bad guys who somehow survive death-defying events, and a cast of characters spanning the series, some of whom meet untimely demises. The timeline starts in the 1940s during World War II and currently ends in 2062 with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. It may not be very clear, but there’s a slightly easier way to try and make sense of it all now.

With the release of Black Ops 7 right around the corner and this game being set ten years after Black Ops 2, but also nearly thiry befor Black Ops 3, Activision has made the wise decision to release a timeline video that covers the most important events from the events of the games in the lead up to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 from the series earliest characters like Alex Mason, Frank Woods, the soviet baddies Kravchenko and Dragovich, and then the eventual introduciton of Raul Menendez, CIA ops like Russell Adler, groups like Pantheon, The Gukd and then David Mason who will be our lead in BLOPS 7.

Although the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 may sit close to the timeline of Black Ops 3, this game is being pitched as a sequel to most things in Black Ops 2. The stories the team has been crafting over the past couple of years provide a more satisfying wrap-up for many of the characters and story elements left dangling in the background of BLOPS 2 and the games since then.

Check out the timeline video below to get your head around the rather complicated timeline and help prepare yourself for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.