title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The seventeenth season of the American medical drama television series "Grey's Anatomy" was ordered in May 2019, by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), as part of a double renewal with the sixteenth season. Shortly after, Krista Vernoff signed an agreement to continue serving as the showrunner of the series. Filming on the series began in September 2020 while the season did not premiere until November 12, 2020, both dates being delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the 2020–2021 broadcast television season. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television only allowed seventeen episodes to be produced, the fewest of any season since the fourth season. Numerous safety protocols were also implemented across various areas of production to prevent COVID-19 transmission.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: All starring cast members from the previous season returned with the exception of Justin Chambers, who departed early in the sixteenth season. In addition, Richard Flood and Anthony Hill, who both appeared in the sixteenth season in recurring and guest capacities, respectively, received promotions to the main cast. This season also marked the return of former series regulars Patrick Dempsey, T. R. Knight, Chyler Leigh, and Eric Dane to the series. Meanwhile, main cast members Giacomo Gianniotti, Jesse Williams, and Greg Germann all departed the series during the season. Former series regular Sarah Drew also appeared in the season as part of Williams' departure.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: "Grey's Anatomy" centers around the professional and personal lives of a group of medical professionals that work at the fictional Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Nearly every main storyline in the season centered around the COVID-19 pandemic with a number of plot points also connecting to spin-off series "Station 19" through fictional crossover events. The season primarily received mixed reviews from critics and remained ABC's most-watched scripted series even though viewing figures dropped significantly from the previous season. The season eventually concluded on June 3, 2021. Despite initial uncertainty from the cast, crew, and the network, the series was eventually renewed for an eighteenth season.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The number in the "No. overall" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "No. in season" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans in millions who watched the episodes live. Each episode of this season is named after a song.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: On May 10, 2019, ABC renewed "Grey's Anatomy" for both a sixteenth and seventeenth season. Krista Vernoff, who serves as the series showrunner and an executive producer, signed a multi-year deal with ABC Studios in 2019 to continue working on "Grey's Anatomy" and spin-off series "Station 19". The deal also attached Vernoff's production company, Trip the Light Productions, to the series. Production on the sixteenth season was later cut short as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, finishing only twenty-one of the twenty-five episodes ordered; at the time it was unknown whether or not the four additional episodes would be produced as part of the seventeenth season. In September 2020, "Variety" reported that the season would begin filming later that month. Pompeo announced that filming had begun on September 8. An ABC insider later revealed that the network was looking to produce a season of sixteen episodes, down from the twenty-four to twenty-five episodes per season that had been produced since the eighth season, but that the number could change since conditions were uncertain due to COVID. One additional episode was ordered, bringing the total episode count of the season up to seventeen.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The lower episode count caused the season to tie with the fourth for the second-lowest number of episodes, only having more than the first. To limit the spread of the coronavirus, cast and crew members only worked ten-hour days compared to the usual twelve hours. The number of people in each scene also had to be reduced to allow for social distancing. Vernoff said that face masks were worn by all cast and crew members while not filming, including between takes and during rehearsals, and that speaking was not allowed in the hair and makeup trailer. Cast members carried their own makeup bags to do last-minute touch-ups, and different camera lenses were used to make people standing far apart appear closer together. In addition, the cast and crew members received testing for the virus three times a week. In March 2021, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that another spin-off series was in the works following an interview with ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich. A few days later, ABC Signature President Jonnie David clarified that they only meant to show support towards "Grey's Anatomy" and that a spin-off was not being discussed as the network was focused on future seasons of "Grey's Anatomy". Despite an initial uncertain future from Vernoff, Pompeo, and network executives, the series was renewed for an eighteenth season.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Kim Raver, Camilla Luddington, and Kevin McKidd each signed a three-year contract in July 2020, keeping them attached to the series through a potential nineteenth season to portray Dr. Teddy Altman, Dr. Jo Wilson, and Dr. Owen Hunt, respectively. Pompeo signed a one-year contract to return as Dr. Meredith Grey, the title character, making per episode and also receiving producing credits on both "Grey's Anatomy" and "Station 19" along with a signing bonus totaling around $20million total for her work. On July 30, 2020, it was announced that Richard Flood and Anthony Hill had been promoted to series regulars. Flood recurred in the previous season as Dr. Cormac Hayes while Hill made a guest appearance in the nineteenth episode of the sixteenth season as Dr. Winston Ndugu. Justin Chambers was the only main cast member from the previous season not to return to the series after departing early in the sixteenth season.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: A number of previous series regulars appeared in the season during a storyline revolving around Meredith Grey battling COVID-19 while imagining herself on a beach. Patrick Dempsey was the first actor to return to the series as Dr. Derek Shepherd; Dempsey's last appearance was in the eleventh-season finale, "You're My Home". He recurred throughout the season, appearing in four episodes total. T. R. Knight also returned as Dr. George O'Malley in "You'll Never Walk Alone"; Knight last appeared in "Now or Never" in the fifth season. Chyler Leigh and Eric Dane both appeared in "Breathe" as Dr. Lexie Grey and Dr. Mark Sloan, respectively. Prior to their return, Leigh and Dane last appeared in the eighth-season finale "Flight" and "Remember the Time", the second episode of the ninth season. Due to travel restrictions, Leigh was not able to travel to Los Angeles where production takes place, instead she filmed her scenes in Vancouver, Canada. Leigh was filming "Supergirl" at the time; a green screen was used to eventually place her on the beach and an apple box was used to simulate rocks while tennis balls were used in place of Pompeo and Dane for dialogue portions.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Giacomo Gianniotti, who portrayed Dr. Andrew DeLuca, exited the series as a main character after being killed off in "Helplessly Hoping." He later appeared in two other episodes as a vision to Raver's Dr. Teddy Altman. On May 6, 2021, it was reported that Jesse Williams, who joined the series in the sixth season as Dr. Jackson Avery, would be departing as a series regular following the fifteenth episode, "Tradition". As part of his departure, former series regular Sarah Drew returned as Dr. April Kepner in Williams' penultimate episode, "Look Up Child", after last appearing in the fourteenth-season episode "All of Me". Greg Germann, who had portrayed Dr. Tom Koracick since the fourteenth season, also departed in "Tradition", being written out in the same storyline as Williams' character. Williams and Germann both briefly reprised their roles in the season finale, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." Germann is expected to return as a guest star in later seasons while Williams said that he would be open to returning in the following season.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Stefania Spampinato continued to make recurring appearances in the season as Dr. Carina DeLuca after being promoted to a series regular on spin-off series "Station 19". Debbie Allen and former series regular Jason George also continued to appear in recurring roles as Dr. Catherine Fox and Dr. Ben Warren, respectively; with George also being a series regular on "Station 19". Phylicia Rashad, Allen's sister, guest starred in the season's twelfth episode, "Sign O' the Times". In addition, Barrett Doss, Jay Hayden, Grey Damon, Danielle Savre, and Okieriete Onaodowan made guest appearances as their "Station 19" characters in crossover events. Mackenzie Marsh was cast in a recurring role for the season to play Val Ashton. Eric Roberts reprised his role as Robert Avery in "Look Up Child". Lisa Vidal and Melissa DuPrey recurred as a mother-daughter pair named Alma and Sara Ortiz who were part of Grey Sloan's new intern class. Robert I. Mesa was also cast in a recurring role for the season portraying James Chee, the first indigenous doctor on the series.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The largest storyline of the season centered around the doctors in the series battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Krista Vernoff initially considered beginning the season prior to the pandemic or not including it at all but ultimately decided to begin it in the peak of it stating:


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: To properly tell the story of the pandemic, the writers opted to begin the season in April 2020, with time slowly progressing throughout the season, instead of telling the story from a present-day standpoint, as done in previous seasons. Zoanne Clack, a medical doctor who serves as a consultant, writer, and executive producer on the series and previously worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the goal of the season was to accurately show the infection rate and transfer of COVID-19. A sub-storyline centered around the pandemic was Meredith Grey contracting the coronavirus early in the season. Grey drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the season imagining herself on a beach scene seeing past and present characters of the series. Other central characters were also written to have the coronavirus including Germann's Tom Koracick and the mother of Dr. Miranda Bailey. Bailey's portrayer, Chandra Wilson stated that nursing homes, where the characters mother was located, were largely affected by the coronavirus so that when the script was given to her she knew that the experience needed to be told.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The season also touched on other issues such as police brutality, racial profiling, and the murder of George Floyd. The episode centering around George Floyd included the internal conflict of characters deciding whether or not to participate in protests. The exit of Williams' and Germann's characters, Jackson Avery and Koracick, respectively, was explained by their characters leaving Seattle and traveling to Boston in aim to "combat the inequalities in medicine as leaders of the Avery Foundation." Germann's character stated before leaving, "I want to be an ally, I want to spend whatever time I've got left making this lousy, stinking place better, I'll operate, I'll administrate, I'll do anything. I don't want money, I don't want a title, just let me help", and explaining that while he was in the hospital with the coronavirus that he had six roommates and was the only white person. Later storylines in the season centered around COVID-19 vaccine trials and the struggles of adoption. The final two episodes featured periodic time jumps allowing the final episode to end in April 2021.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: When ABC revealed its fall schedule for the 2020–2021 broadcast television season, it was reported that the season would hold its previous timeslot of Thursdays at 9:00pm Eastern Time (ET), serving as a lead-out of "Station 19". It was later announced that the season premiere would take place on November 12, 2020. The second episode of the season aired outside its regular time slot at 10:00pm ET, immediately following the first episode in a two-hour back-to-back timeslot. Six episodes aired prior to the mid-season finale on December 17. ABC initially planned to air the remaining episodes beginning on March 4, 2021, but delayed its return by one week. The second half of the season then began airing on March 11, 2021, with the season's seventh episode. This episode also aired outside of its regular timeslot due to a programming delay as a result of a presidential address by Joe Biden, and began broadcasting at 9:25pm ET. The season finale aired on June 3. Internationally, the season aired in simulcast in Canada on CTV while in the United Kingdom episodes began airing on Sky Witness on April 17, 2021.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Hulu continued to hold next-day streaming video on demand rights to the series during the season and the most recently aired episodes were also available for streaming on the ABC website. The season was added to Netflix on July 3, 2021, as part of a streaming deal that adds some ABC Shondaland series to Netflix thirty days after the final episode of the season airs. Outside of the United States, the season, along with all past seasons, was added to Star, a content hub within the Disney+ streaming service. A 4-disc DVD set containing all seventeen episodes was released in multiple regions on June 7, 2021.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Ani Bundel with "NBC Think" stated that the season stayed true to the medical community, noting that even though cheerful and funny moments were mixed in, viewers were not able to forget how many people had died. Alex Cranz from "Jezebel" felt that the season premiere crossover was "a series of memes ripped straight out of May 2020 instead of November 2020", writing that he would have liked to see the episodes three to four months earlier. "TVLine"s Charlie Mason mentioned that the rules of Meredith's beach were confusing because she was able to see people that were both dead and alive, also saying that although it seemed nice at first, it eventually lost its appeal. Meanwhile, Jack Wilhelmi from "Screen Rant" said that the return of Patrick Dempsey to the series was a "major mistake"; however, Saloni Gajjar of "The A.V. Club" stated that all of the former series regulars that returned during the season helped bring nostalgia to the series, particularly mentioning Sarah Drew giving Williams' character a believable exit. Rebecca Nicholson from "The Guardian" said that the show properly made what is considered the new normal, normal.


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: Patrick Dempsey and T. R. Knight both received a nomination in the 2021 Gold Derby Awards for Best Drama Guest Actor. The award was lost to Charles Dance for his work on "The Crown". The season was awarded The ReFrame Stamp, a certification given to scripted television productions that hire "women or individuals of other underrepresented gender identities/expressions [...] in four out of eight key roles including writer, director, producer, lead, co-leads, and department heads." At the 47th People's Choice Awards "Grey's Anatomy" was nominated for The Show of 2021 and The Drama Show of 2021. Ellen Pompeo also received nominations as The Female TV Star of 2021 and The Drama TV Star of 2021, both for her work on the series. The Drama Show of 2021 and The Female TV star of 2021 both won in their respective categories, while the other two nominations went to "Loki" and Chase Stokes for "Outer Banks", respectively. For the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards "Grey's Anatomy" received it's tenth nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, an award in which nominated television series must have an LGBT character in a leading, supporting, or recurring role; but it was ultimately awarded to "Pose". Chandra Wilson also received an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination for her work on the series at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards. This award was lost to Mary J. Blige for "".


title: Grey's Anatomy (season 17)

text: The season was ABC's most-watched television series during the 2020–2021 television season. Throughout its broadcast, in same-day viewership, the season averaged a 1.02 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 5.17 million viewers, down 20 and 17 percent, respectively, from the previous season. In Live+7 the season averaged a 1.9 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 8.16 million viewers, down 17 and 13 percent from the sixteenth season.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581 is a painting by Russian realist artist Ilya Repin made between 1883 and 1885. It depicts the grief-stricken Tsar of Russia Ivan the Terrible cradling his dying son, the Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, shortly after the elder Ivan had dealt a fatal blow to his son's head in a fit of anger. The painting portrays the anguish and remorse on the face of the elder Ivan and the gentleness of the dying Tsarevich, forgiving his father with his tears.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin used Grigoriy Myasoyedov, his friend and fellow artist, as the model for Ivan the Terrible, and writer Vsevolod Garshin for the Tsarevich. In 1885, upon completion of the oil-on-canvas work, Repin sold it to Pavel Tretyakov for display in his Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The artwork has been called one of Russia's most famous and controversial paintings. It has been vandalised twice, once in 1913 and again in 2018. It remains on display in the Tretyakov Gallery.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The Tsarevich Ivan's death had grave consequences for Russia, since it left no competent heir to the throne. After the Tsar's death in 1584, his unprepared son Feodor I succeeded him with Boris Godunov as "de facto" ruler. After Feodor's death, Russia entered a period of political uncertainty, famine and war known as the Time of Troubles.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The details of the Tsarevich's death are unknown and controversial. The Tsarevich died in 1581 in the Alexandrov Kremlin, the residence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible from 1564 to 1581, and the centre of his oprichnina and "de facto" capital of the Russia.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In a letter addressed to Nikita Zakharin and Andrey Shchelkalov in 1581, Ivan the Terrible wrote; "[he] cannot go to Moscow because of [his] son's illness" without identifying the illness. Several contemporary Russian chronicles mention the Tsarevich's death without providing any details. According to the Piskarevsk Chronicle, the death occurred at midnight. None of these chronicles suggest the death of Ivan Ivanovich was violent. Other sources provide a more-detailed version of the death, saying the Tsarevich was mortally wounded by his father during an argument. One of these sources, the , reports the following:


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The sources indicate the event took place on 14 November 1581 and that the Tsarevich would have died on 19 November, but the dates reported vary. The diary of the "dyak" (clerk) says; "some say (of the Tsarevich) that his life was extinguished because of blows by the hands of his father, after trying to prevent him from committing an ugly act".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Contemporaneous foreign sources are more eloquent; Jacques Margeret, a French mercenary captain in service in Russia, wrote; "there is a rumour that he (the tsar) killed the eldest (son) with his own hand, which wasn't the case, because, although he struck him with the end of the rod and he was wounded by a blow, he did not die from this, but some time later, on a pilgrimage journey".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Another version is reported by the papal diplomat Antonio Possevino. According to him, in November 1581 in the Alexandrov Kremlin, Ivan the Terrible found his daughter-in-law Helen lying on a bench in undergarments.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: 18th-century Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin also believed the Tsarevich died because of his father but under different circumstances.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Ilya Repin relied on Karamzin's story to paint "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581", one of the most-striking paintings of his chrestomathy. Russian imperial historian Mikhail Shcherbatov, who studied the different versions of Ivan Ivanovich's death, considers Possevino's version the most plausible and the Russian imperial historian Vasily Klyuchevsky called it the only reliable version.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin began working on the painting in Moscow. A first overall sketch, with the character of the Tsar turned to his right, dates from 1882. The idea of the painting, according to Repin, is linked to his confrontation with the themes of violence, revenge and blood during the political events of 1881; additional sources of inspiration were the music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and the bullfights Repin witnessed during a trip to Western Europe in 1883.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: On 13 March 1881 in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Tsar Alexander II was killed by a bomb thrown by Ignacy Hryniewiecki, a member of the revolutionary organization Narodnaya Volya. The bomb also seriously injured Hryniewiecki, who died a few hours later. Hryniewiecki's accomplices the Pervomartovtsy were executed on 13 April 1881. Repin, who visited Saint Petersburg in mid-February 1881 for the opening of the Wanderers' exhibition, was present when the tsar was killed. He returned there in April, and attended the execution of the attack's perpetrators and their accomplices.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin's friend, poet Vasily Kamensky, wrote in his memoirs Repin had told him "how he had witnessed the public execution of the Pervomartovtsy" (Zhelyabov, Perovskaya, Kibalchich, Mikhailov and Rysakov). "Ah, as it was nightmare times," – sighed Repin – "complex, appalling. I even remember each board on the breasts, with the inscription "regicide". I even remember Zhelyabov's gray pants, Perovskaya's black hat".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Several of Repin's next paintings; "Refusal of confession" ("Отказ от исповеди" (1881)), "Arrest of a propagandist" ("Арест пропагандиста" (1882)) and "They Did Not Expect Him" ("Не ждали" 1884–1888); were devoted to the Pervomartovtsy. He also wrote several times in his memoirs about this period of his creations: "This year followed like a trace of blood, our feelings were bruised by the horrors of the contemporary world, it was frightening to confront it: it will end badly! ... We had to look for a way out at this key moment in history." For Repin, there was a link between the events of 1881 and the scene represented in "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581" from exactly 300 years earlier, in which the Tsar is the murderer.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Another inspiration for the painting was the symphonic suite "Antar", which was composed by the Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and is composed of four movements; the opening movement, vengeance, power and love.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin's painting is also striking because of its representation of blood, which is seeping from the Tsarevich's temple and remains on the floor in a puddle after his father has picked him up. According to Repin's memoirs, he was influenced by his 1883 trip to Europe, where he witnessed bullfights:


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The painting depicts one of the rooms of the from the 17th century while the accessories, throne, mirror, and kaftan were painted at the Kremlin Armoury. The chest is part of the collections of the Rumyantsev Museum.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Most of Repin's work involved the choice of models; he sought the faces he needed from acquaintances and passers-by. The models for Ivan the Terrible were the painter Grigoriy Myasoyedov and the composer , while the landscape painter and writer Vsevolod Garshin modelled for Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich. When he was asked about choosing Garshin, Repin replied:


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: According to Polish-American art historian Elizabeth Kridl Valkenier, the incorporation of Garshin's face completes and allows her to be fully satisfied with the painting.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Although the painting is sometimes called "Ivan the Terrible kills his son", Repin did not paint the moment at which the Tsar hits the Tsarevich. The work does not represent violence but its resolution. Ivan the Terrible holds his son. His eyes "bulging with horror, despair and madness", he embraces him by the waist. Tsarevich Ivan, weeping, gently waves his hand.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Two modifications to the preliminary sketches show the distance established by the painter with the altercation; the sceptre with which the Tsar strikes his son's temple is in his hand in the first sketches while in the final painting, it is on the floor in front of them. The bloodstain where the Tsarevich's head rests on the floor, which is very visible in the oil sketch Repin made in 1883, and which he kept and resumed later, is erased in the shadows of the final painting. Ivan Ivanovich's dress no longer has a long bloodstain. The represented moment becomes one of remorse, forgiveness and love. The painting also shows, in its centre, the reality and the irreversibility of the tsar's act: the blood flows from his son's temple and the attempt Ivan the Terrible makes to contain it with his left hand is hopeless.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The painting's canvas is one of Repin's largest works; its dimensions are comparable to those of the "Barge Haulers on the Volga" and the "Religious Procession in Kursk Governorate".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The two characters are crisscrossed with each other in the centre of the painting. They are depicted in a twilight and stand out from both the foreground of the canvas and the darker background. The gesture with which Ivan the Terrible hugs and supports his son's waist is reminiscent of the paintings "The Return of the Prodigal Son" and "David and Jonathan" by Dutch painter Rembrandt, which Repin studied and admired since his formative years, and are housed in the Hermitage Museum.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The construction of the painting is based on objects and pieces of furniture that are distributed around the characters: the crumpled red carpets on the floor, the Tsarevich's boots, the sceptre, the throne that was overturned during the argument, one of the ornamental balls that sparkles at the level of the son's eyes, and his cushion. Behind the figures, other pieces of furniture, such as the stove, the mirror of the Armor Museum and the chest of the Rumyantsev Palace, are less discernible. The back wall of the room is partly covered with a red-and-black diamond pattern. At the top left is a narrow bay.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin wrote he refused "the acrobatics of the brush and painting for the sake of painting" and that "the beauty, the touch or the virtuosity of the brush" was not the only important things because he had always pursued "the essential: the body, as a body". "Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan" is "painted with such a diversity of craftsmanship and with such a rich palette of dark chords" that it is, according to Russian painter and art critic Ivan Kramskoi, an "authentic orchestra". An "intense red" or "blood red", and "thick and saturated crimson red" predominates. It is painted with pure colour, with no additions, and then reworked by the painter with an extraordinary diversity of shades.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The scarlet red of the blood flowing from the wound on the Tsarevich's temple stands out, as do the reflections on the folds of his kaftan, and finally the dark-red puddle of blood on the red carpet, and this tension of colours resonates with the tragedy depicted on the canvas. In the centre, the magnificence of the Tsarevich's kaftan contrasts with the darkness of Ivan the Terrible's black coat. Repin breaks this combination of blood red, pink and dark-brown tones with the complementary tones of the green of the Tsarevich's boots and the deep-blue of his velvet trousers. White light, "cold and weak", which penetrates through a narrow bay, attenuates this tension of colours and further reinforces the dramatic tension of the scene.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: For Repin and his contemporaries, the painting's first symbolic function is to express the existence of violence and moral rejection, which must be the object. According to Ivan Kramskoi; "it seems that a human being, after having carefully looked at this painting, even if only once, will be forever protected from the wild beast he has, as they say, in him".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The representation of the aftermath of the father's altercation with his son is a historical episode and illustrates a person's "eternal" capacity to physically harm their neighbour. The painting can be understood as a pictorial parable of the phrase "you shall not kill".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The picture also seemed to approach a more-particularly religious inspiration, showing "Christian love and forgiveness" can repair crime, even infanticide. The tsarevich's gesture and face are "almost like that of an icon", the tear that runs down the wing of his nose seem to depict forgiveness. The similarity of the gesture of Ivan the Terrible's right arm with those of the figures in the two Rembrandt paintings also aligns with this position.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In the interpretation of the work, the personality of the writer Vsevolod Garshin provides additional details. In this period, Repin used Garshin as a model in several other paintings, including "" (1884) and the large painting "They Did Not Expect Him", in which Garshin poses for the main character. Work on "They Did Not Expect Him" began in 1884 and ended the year of Garshin's suicide in 1888.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Repin appreciated Vsevolod Garshin, whom he considered an "incarnation of the divine" during their friendship and after his death. He wrote "his pensive eyes, often mixed with tears provoked by some injustice, his humble and delicate attitude, his angelic personality, with the purity of a dove, were those of a God". Repin's painting refers to Garshin's physical features, his personality and his deeply peaceful thought.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The painting's political significance of the painting cannot be eluded because of the reactions to which it was immediately the subject. Repin combined Ivan the Terrible's killing of his son with the assassination of Alexander II. Neither Repin nor Russian art critics expanded upon this point.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: French critics wrote about the point. According to Alain Besançon, the tsarevich's murder by the tsar is a central scene of the Russian myth, which Repin was the first to represent: the history of Russia would be built on the sacrifice of sons killed by their fathers.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Pierre Gonneau supports a converging position, stressing this sacrificial vision refers "to the symbolic roots of the monarchy because the sacrificed tsarevich finds himself in a position to embody the forces opposing the authority of the tsar". It makes a link with the trial of Tsarevich Alexis, son of Peter the Great, and his death as a result of torture. This other conflict between a father and his son is the theme of Nikolai Ge's 1871 painting "".


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In 1909, on a commission from the industrialist and collector , Repin painted a second version of "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan", which he called "Infanticide" (). It is on display at Voronezh Museum of Fine Arts. The second version was painted 25 years later than the first. In this version, Repin added a female character in the background and unveiled more colours than in the original painting, taking it in a more "luxuriant" direction, while Tsar Ivan's face is collapsed in grief.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In 1885, "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" was shown for the first time to Repin's painter friends, among whom were Ivan Kramskoi, Ivan Shishkin, Nikolai Yaroshenko and Pavel Brullov. According to Repin, his hosts were stunned and silent for a long time, waiting to see what Kramskoi would say:


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: The very conservative Attorney General of the Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev told Alexander III of his "repulsion" and perplexity about the painting, which did not please the Tsar and his entourage, and on 1 April 1885, viewings of the painter were forbidden. It was the first painting to be censored in the Russian Empire, and Pavel Tretyakov, who bought it, was told to "not to expose it, and more generally not to allow it to be brought to the attention of the public by any other means". The ban was lifted on 11 July 1885 after the intervention of the painter Alexey Bogolyubov.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: On 16 January 1913, "Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan on 16 November 1581" was slashed three times with a knife by a 29-year-old iconoclast, son of the furniture maker Abram Balachov. The curator of the Tretyakov gallery , learning of the vandalism of the canvas, threw himself under a train. The painting was restored almost to its original state with the help of Ilya Repin.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: Some Russian nationalists continue to protest the painting's exhibition because they believe it was painted as part of a foreign smear campaign and that the scene depicted is inaccurate.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In October 2013, a group of Orthodox historians and activists, led by Vassili Boiko-Veliki, an apologist and supporter of the canonization of Tsar Ivan, addressed the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky to ask him to remove the canvas from the Tretyakov Gallery on the grounds it offends the patriotic feelings of Russians. The director of the Tretyakov Gallery Irina Lebedeva formally opposed the request.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: In May 2018, the canvas was again attacked in the Tretyakov Gallery by a drunken visitor who broke its protective glass with a metal bar. The painting suffered serious damage; it was pierced in three places in the central part of the work, which depicts the figure of the tsarevich. The gallery said the frame was also badly damaged but that "by a happy coincidence" the most precious elements of the painting, the depiction of the figures' faces and hands, were not damaged. According to some Russian media, the vandal said he had attacked the painting because he thought the depiction was inaccurate. The attacker was imprisoned for two-and-a-half years.


title: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

text: "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" remains one of Russia's most famous paintings, and the most psychologically intense of Repin's works. The work appears briefly in the third episode of the 2019 HBO miniseries "Chernobyl".


Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis () is a made up word coined in 1935 by the then president of the National Puzzlers' League, Everett M. Smith. It has sometimes been used as a synonym for the occupational disease known as silicosis, but it should not be as most silicosis is not related to mining of volcanic dusts, and no evidence of silicosis has been found in populations exposed to crystalline silica in volcanic ash. It is the longest word in the English language published in a dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries, which defines it as "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine volcanic dust".


title: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

text: Clinical and toxicological research conducted on volcanic crystalline silica has found little to no evidence of its ability to cause silicosis/pneumoconiosis-like diseases and geochemical anlayses have shown that there are inherent factors in the crystalline structure which may render volcanic crystalline silica much less pathogenic than some other forms of crystalline silica.


text: Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis and is known in the United Kingdom as black lung.


text: This word was invented in the daily meeting from the National Puzzlers' League (N.P.L.) by its president Everett M. Smith. The word featured in the headline for an article published by the "New York Herald Tribune" on February 23, 1935, titled "Puzzlers Open 103rd Session Here by Recognizing 45-Letter Word":


text: Subsequently, the word was used in Frank Scully's puzzle book "Bedside Manna", after which time, members of the N.P.L. campaigned to include the word in major dictionaries.


text: This 45-letter word, referred to as "P45", first appeared in the 1939 supplement to the "Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition".


text: Any references on the internet to pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis or silicosis being caused by 'sharp particles [which] lacerate lining of lungs; causing victim to leak air from their lungs while simultaneously bleeding into their lung cavity' are inaccurate. Particles of a size able to enter the lung (< 10 μm diameter) gently settle on the lung lining rather than cutting or abrading the surface.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Atif Aslam is a Pakistani playback singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He has recorded many songs in both Pakistan and India, and is known for his vocal belting technique.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam predominantly sings in Urdu, but has also sung in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Pashto. In 2008, he received the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, the fourth-highest civilian honor award from the Pakistani government. He is also a recipient of several Lux Style Awards. Aslam made his acting debut in 2011, with the Urdu social drama film "Bol". In 2019, he was awarded a star in the Dubai Walk of Fame after his nomination for the best singer in Pakistan. He was also featured in the Forbes Asia's 100 Digital Stars, published in December, 2020. He refers to his fans as "Aadeez" ().


title: Atif Aslam

text: Atif Aslam was born on 12 March 1983, into a Punjabi Muslim family in Wazirabad, Pakistan. He went to Kimberley Hall School in Lahore until 1991, when he moved to Rawalpindi, and continued his studies at St. Paul's Cambridge School in Satellite Town. In 1995, Aslam returned to Lahore, where he continued his studies at a Divisional Public School and College (DPSC) branch. He proceeded to attend Fazaia Inter College for his HSSC from 1999 to 2001, and later went to PICS to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science. In an interview, Aslam revealed that his ambition around this time was to become a professional cricketer.


title: Atif Aslam

text: After separation from Jal, Aslam released his first album titled "Jal Pari, on 17 July 2004," produced by Sarmad Abdul Ghafoor, having 11 tracks, which was an instant hit.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam's Third solo album titled "Meri Kahani", having 12 tracks, released in 2008. It was produced by Sarmad Abdul Ghafoor. In 2008, the album was nominated in 7th Lux Style Awards in the category "Best Album". Album's song "Hangami Halaat" was nominated in 2009 in "MTV Brrr Music Awards" in the category "Best Rock Song".


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2008, he recorded three versions of Pehli Nazar Mein and Bakhuda Tumhi Ho from "Race" and "Kismat Konnection" respectively composed by Pritam with lyrics by Sameer and Sayeed Qaudri respectively. Pehli Nazar Mein catapulted him to Bollywood mainstream success and also won him IIFA Award.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In the 2009 romantic film "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani", he sang two songs Tu Jaane Na and Tera Hone Laga Hoon including remix versions of both songs, all were composed by Pritam with lyrics by Irshad Kamil and Ashish Pandit, which fetched him several nominations. He sang advertising Olper's Qawwali "Hum Mustafavi". In Coke Studio Season 2, his five songs were released titled as "Jal Pari", "Kinara" (co-sung by Riaz Ali Khan), "Wasta Pyar Da", "Mai Ni Main" and "Humain Kya Hua".


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2011, he sang a song from the film F.A.L.T.U, composed by Sachin-Jigar titled "Le Ja Tu Mujhe" with lyrics written by Sameer Anjaan. The same year, he sang two songs "Hona Tha Pyar" and "Kaho Aaj Bol Do" with Hadiqa Kiani for the film Pakistani film "Bol" in which he was cast as the lead role.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In this year, he recorded two songs for the film Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, "Tu Muhabbat Hai" and "Piya O Re Piya" excluding sad version of the later, compositions of Sachin-Jigar. He recorded two songs "Bol Ke Lub Azaad Hain" and "Mori Araj Suno" for the Hollywood film The Reluctant Fundamentalist.


title: Atif Aslam

text: He also performed three songs in Coke Studio's Season Five titled "Charka Nolakha", "Rabba Sacheya" and "Dholna". He also sang the advertising song "Juro Ge To Jano Ge" for Jazz Pakistan.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Main Rang Sharbaton Ka was nominated at World Music Awards in 2014 for "Best Song". "Main Rang Sharbaton Ka" fetched several awards and multiple nominations for him. Zameen Jaagti Hai and Tu Khaas Hai were released in Pakistan.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2014, he recorded 2 songs for the film Entertainment, "Tera Naam Doon" and "Nahi Woh Saamne". Both songs were composed by Sachin-Jigar with lyrics written by Priya Panchal. He also sang QMobile Noir i10 advertising song "Dil Se Dil" and Etisalat advertising song "Faasle".


title: Atif Aslam

text: He worked with Sachin-Jigar for the song Jeena Jeena for the film Badlapur, The song Jeena Jeena topped various charts and was one of the biggest hits of 2015, which also got him a nomination for the Filmfare award for best playback singer. Same year he also recorded Dil Kare for Ho Mann Jahaan.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam's rendition of "Tajdar-e-Haram" crossed 285 million views on YouTube in July 2020, originally released in 2015, it became the first video origin in Pakistan to achieve the landmark record. The qawwali-song, originally sung by Sabri Brothers, was released on 15 August 2015 in "CokeStudio Season 8" and has been viewed in 186 countries across the world. Also, it is Aslam's first individual video on YouTube to make the record.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam worked with musician Arko Pravo for the chartbuster song Tere Sang Yaara from Rustom which topped "Bollywood Life" chart, got nominated for "Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer". Atif worked with Mithoon for four versions of the song "Mar Jaayen" from Loveshhuda in 2016, penned by Sayeed Qaudri.


title: Atif Aslam

text: "Dil Dancer" from the movie Actor in Law released, which earned him LUX Award for best playback singer. He sang"Yaariyaan" song with Ali Zafar, composed by Sahir Ali Bagga which released on 2016 Defence Day. He collaborated with Maher Zain for the song "I'm Alive" and sang "Jal Pari" for the advertisement of Huawei Honor 5X.


title: Atif Aslam

text: At the start of the year, "Hoor" song from Hindi Medium released. After which, Romantic song "Baarish" from Half Girlfriend composed by Tanishk Bagchi and Ballad song "Musafir" from Sweetie Weds NRI were released. Romantic song "Darasal" composed by JAM8 released the same year. 2 Ballad songs "Main Agar" from Tubelight and "Jaane De" from Qarib Qarib Singlle were out, composed by Pritam and Vishal Mishra respectively. In December 2017, "Dil Diyan Gallan" from Tiger Zinda Hai released, composed by Vishal–Shekhar and lyrics by Irshad Kamil. The song has garnered over 670M views on YouTube as of January 2021. His first Bengali song "Mithe Alo" from Cockpit film was also released.


title: Atif Aslam

text: The same year, Pehli Dafa starring Aslam and Ileana D'Cruz was released, which was a composition of Shiraz Uppal. A single "Younhi" written by Atif himself released on Atif's birthday, which featured Aslam and Nicolli Dela Nina. "Noor-e-Azal" Hamd released, sung by Aslam and Abida Parveen, a composition of Shani Arshad. He also sang ISPR song "Kabhi Percham Main", which was released on 2017 Defence Day.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2018, a total of 19 songs were released by Aslam. Romantic song "Dil Meri Na Sune" was composed by Himesh Reshammiya for film Genius. "O Saathi" from Baaghi 2 written by Arko, "Paniyon Sa" from Satyameva Jayate, "Tere Liye" from Namaste England and "Tera Hua" from Loveyatri were major hits in the charts. He voiced for three recreated songs "Jab Koi Baat", "Dekhte Dekhte" for Batti Gul Meter Chalu which took the "official Asian music chart number 1" and recorded "Chalte Chalte" for Mitron. Other songs include "Sehmi Hai Dhadkan", three versions of "Selfish" for Race 3 and two songs "Tum" and "O Meri Laila" from Laila Majnu lyrics by Irshad Kamil.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Pakistani song Thaam Lo from Parwaaz Hai Junoon was also released during the same year, which earned him the LUX Award for the best playback Singer. He sang "Humain Pyaar Hai Pakistan Se", released on 2018 Defence Day. "12 Bajay" was released in December 2018.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In January 2019, the "Auliya" song from Hum Chaar was released, composed by Vipin Patwa. "Baarishein" released on 13 February 2019, a day before the 2019 Pulwama Attack. He performed at 18th Lux Style Awards and sang "Mujhe Dil Se Na Bhulana" with Momina Mustehan as a tribute to Bangladeshi-Pakistani actress Shabnam.


title: Atif Aslam

text: "In Dinon" and "Anjaana" from the Superstar film were also released. Pardadari, sung by Aslam and Abida Parveen also released.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Coke Studio started with songs of Aslam in Season 12. Aaye Kuch Abr, Mubarik Mubarik and Wohi Khuda Hai were released.


title: Atif Aslam

text: The song "Kinna Sona" became a topic of controversy as it was originally recorded by  Aslam for the film Marjaavaan, but the track was replaced at the last minute by Indian singer Jubin Nautiyal. The song was a mix-and-match blended cover with heavy inspirations from Pakistani Sufi Islamic Qawwali music that was sung by NFAK. In June 2020, T-Series released the original cover sung by Aslam on YouTube, but was forced to remove it and immediately issued an apology after a threat-laced campaign led by various right-wing Indian nationalist figures and parties such as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2020, Atif released ten-year-old song "Woh Mere Bin". He also sang Zong advertisement song "Aik Naya Khaab".


title: Atif Aslam

text: In April 2020, he recited Azaan shortly after which Coke Studio released Asma-ul-Husna in May 2020, recited by Atif Aslam and produced by Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan as an expression of solidarity with humanity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It features voices from the universe recorded by NASA, thirty three backing vocalist from across the globe and the sound of Daf with pronunciation supervised by Hafiz Idrees giving it the feat of having 4M views in just four days on YouTube and as of December 2021, it has received over 50M views. Atif Aslam worked for an ad of Infinix Mobile Zero 8. "Kadi Te Hans" released on 20 November 2020 by VELO Sound Station which got 2.5M views in two days of its release.


title: Atif Aslam

text: On 26 February 2021, Atif released the song "Raat" which was a poem by Munir Niazi. A tribute to Musarrat Nazir "Chale To Kat Hi Jayega" premiered on 19 March 2021 and received 14 million views in 3 days. On 26 May 2021, Times Music released Atif's Unreleased song "Jee Len De" from the Movie "Romeo Akbar Walter" (RAW) starring 'John Abraham'. Atif released the song Rafta rafta on 21 July 2021. On 24 October 2021, Coke Studio released his new song <nowiki>"</nowiki>Cricket Khidaiye<nowiki>"</nowiki> with Faris Shafi and Talal Qureshi on the occasion of T-20 World Cup 2021. Also, this year he will do his debut drama 'Sang-e-Mah', he announced on his Instagram account and the trailers are also released.


title: Atif Aslam

text: On 25 January 2022, Atif Aslam along with Aima Baig performed PSL National Anthem, the song titled as "Agay Dekh".


title: Atif Aslam

text: A song featuring Kiara Advani, an ad for Coca-Cola, an upcoming song of Pakistani film "Delhi Gate", a composition of Imran Zak titled "Woh Pal" are not announced yet. In an interview at Capital Talk with Hamid Mir, Atif revealed an untitled Bengali song that would be released soon. Some unreleased songs of Atif Aslam that were replaced by other Bollywood artists includes "Chashni",


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam then made his solo debut concert in New Jersey in Summer Beats 2008 at Sovereign Bank Arena, which also featured Kailash Kher, Richa Sharma, and Amanat Ali. After a solo debut concert in New Jersey, Aslam returned with his band and special guests to Queens Colden Center, New York for a performance on 2 July 2010.


title: Atif Aslam

text: He continued to tour the world with headline performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London, alongside Jay Sean.


title: Atif Aslam

text: On 22 April 2012, Atif Aslam became the first Pakistani to perform in London's O2 Arena a concert spectacular to promote love, peace, and unity among Pakistan and India. Aslam performed for four hours. This was followed up by shows in Manchester and Glasgow.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In 2012, he was invited for three concerts at the World Trade Centre in Dubai. This was followed by his debut concert in Bangkok at the Centara Convention Centre on 6 October 2012.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In December 2012, Aslam was named among top performers of Dubai for 2012 alongside Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Il Divo, Gotye, Evanescence, and Swedish House Mafia.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Atif Aslam is the first artist from Asia, and the second artist after Bryan Adams, who is permitted to perform inside the Dashrath Rangasla National Football Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.


title: Atif Aslam

text: In April 2013, Aslam performed for the first time at the LG Arena in Birmingham following which he became the first artist from Asia to perform twice at London's O2 Arena. Also in concert at the O2 were Bollywood stars Shaan, Malaika Arora Khan & Bipasha Basu.


title: Atif Aslam

text: As a result of his immense popularity and fan following, Atif Aslam has also performed in Bangladesh and Kenya.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Atif Aslam performed alongside Sonu Nigam in three occasions, one of which is a concert Shaam-e-Dostana at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Malaysia.


title: Atif Aslam

text: Aslam made his acting debut in the 2011 Pakistani movie "Bol" along with Pakistani actress Mahira Khan.


title: Atif Aslam

text: He made his television debut by a Pakistani series Sang-e-Mah (Urdu: سنگِ ماہ, transl. Moonstone)in January 2022 on HUM TV with tragic drama and romantic plot where, he played the leading role of Hilmand. Sang-e-Mah is the second instalment in the trilogy after Sang-e-Mar Mar . it is written by Mustafa Afridi, directed by Saife Hassan and produced by Momina Duraid.Here he shared screen with actors like Sania Saeed, Nauman Ijaz, Samiya Mumtaz, Hania Amir, Kubra Khan, Zaviyar Nauman Ijaz, Omair Rana and Najiba Faiz.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (stylized as Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII) is a 2018 multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on October 12, 2018. It is a sequel to the 2015 game "", the fifth entry in the "Black Ops" sub-series, and the 15th installment in the "Call of Duty" series overall.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Black Ops 4" is the first mainline "Call of Duty" title without a traditional single-player campaign mode. Instead, it features the Specialist HQ, which focuses on the backstories of the game's multiplayer characters, known as "Specialists". The missions take place between "Black Ops II" and "III" chronologically. Some of the Specialists also carried over from "Black Ops III". The multiplayer mode is the first in the series to not feature automatic health regeneration and introduces both predictive recoil and a new ballistics system. The game included three Zombies experiences on release day, four if a special edition of the game, or the Black Ops Pass, was purchased. The locations of the maps include the RMS "Titanic", a Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt, and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The game also introduced a battle royale mode called Blackout, which features up to 100 players in each match. Many characters from this and other "Black Ops" titles can be used as the player's character model in this mode.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Development for the game started shortly after the release of "Black Ops III". Treyarch chose not to create a traditional singleplayer campaign for the game at the beginning of production, instead focusing on a new 'Career' mode with a greater focus on the multiplayer aspect. They cited an increased interest for multiplayer and lack of time spent by the playerbase on the campaign mode as reasons why they shifted their focus. "Black Ops 4" utilizes Blizzard's Battle.net platform for the Windows version instead of Steam, the first game in the series to do so. Teasing of the game began in March 2018, with a full reveal taking place later in May. Two betas were held for the game; one for the multiplayer in August and one for Blackout in September. The release date was moved up to October instead of the series' usual November in an attempt to avoid coinciding with the release of other high-profile games.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Pre-release reception of the game was negative due to the game's lack of a campaign mode and the Black Ops Pass, a season pass that distributes downloadable content (DLC) in the form of "Operations". "Black Ops 4" received positive reviews upon release, with praise towards its three modes, particularly Blackout, while it received criticism for the game's lack of a campaign mode and the design of its microtransactions implemented in updates. Despite physical retail sales for the game being the lowest in the series in a decade, it was the best-selling digital launch in Activision's history, surpassing 2017's "".


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game. Unlike previous titles in the "Call of Duty" series, "Black Ops 4" is the first entry to not feature a traditional single-player campaign, and contains only Multiplayer, Zombies and a new battle royale mode called Blackout.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Black Ops 4"s multiplayer features the return of Specialists, unique soldier characters with special abilities and traits. At launch, the game featured a total of ten Specialists, six of which (Ruin, Prophet, Battery, Seraph, Nomad, Firebreak) are returning characters from "Black Ops III", while the other four (Recon, Ajax, Torque, Crash) are new additions. Unlike "Black Ops III", the game allows only two unique Specialist per team, in order to emphasize the role of each character. Following launch, more Specialists (Zero, Outrider, Spectre, Reaper) were added to the roster, with unique weaponry and equipment.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Multiplayer has also been reworked with various changes for more tactical and team focused gameplay. Automatic health regeneration is removed in favor of a manual healing system (with each player having a health bar), weapons are now given predictive recoil patterns, and a mixed ballistics system, using both hitscan and projectile damage, is employed as opposed to just hitscan. Weapon customization is also emphasized, allowing for deeper personalization of players' arsenals; attachments are also given tiers, with tier-2 upgrades providing even bigger improvements to the weapons. Certain weapons also offer Operator Mods, which significantly change how a weapon works, while costing a significant portion of the 10 customization slots per class. A new Gear slot was also implemented in create-a-class, allowing for the selection of a single powerful item such as Body Armor.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: In addition, the game includes Specialist Headquarters, a solo mode featuring short tutorials (known as Onboarding missions) that feature backstories on various Specialists in the game. The missions are set within the same narrative world of the Black Ops campaigns, between the events of "Black Ops II" and "Black Ops III".


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Zombies returns as the cooperative multiplayer mode for "Black Ops 4". The game mode features a wider range of customization, allowing for more personalized play styles. Mechanics of the game can be customized via "Custom Mutations", which include over 100 variables, such as overall difficulty, zombie speed, health, damage, and more. Time-limited events known as "Callings" are also promised to be included in the game for long-term engagement. Similar to the Nazi Zombies mode in "", custom loadouts are included to allow players to select different starting weapons, equipment and special upgradable weapons, as well as perk selection to be available in each match. A new game type, Rush, is introduced into Zombies, where the players build up points and multipliers and compete against one another for the highest point possible until death. "Black Ops 4" features a new form of consumable items called Elixirs, which grant temporary buffs to the players upon activation; and Talismans, special modifiers that are applied at the start of each match. Elixirs are provided in five types: Classic, Common, Rare, Legendary and Epic; the first is unlocked permanently via player progression, while the latter four are consumable and only craftable using the in-game currency. Talismans are also consumable, and can only be acquired in the same method.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Black Ops 4" is also the first game to feature two distinctive, separate storylines for Zombies. At launch, the game features three on-disc maps: "Voyage of Despair", which takes place on the RMS "Titanic"; "IX", which takes place in an Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt; and "Blood of the Dead", a soft-remake of the "Black Ops II" map "Mob of the Dead", taking place once more in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The former two maps form the new "Chaos" storyline, and star a new cast of characters: Scarlett, Shaw, Diego and Bruno; while "Blood of the Dead" returns to the original "Aether" storyline established in the previous "Black Ops" games, and stars the four original characters (Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen; also known collectively as Primis). A fourth map, titled "Classified", is included in the special editions of the game and the "Black Ops Pass" at launch, and is a remake of the "Black Ops" map "Five", featuring the original incarnation of Primis (known as Ultimis) as the playable characters. The map "Dead of the Night" features a celebrity cast, in maintaining tradition of previous "Black Ops" games containing one Zombies map with playable characters portrayed by celebrities.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Black Ops 4" features a battle royale game mode called Blackout which serves as a stand-in for the campaign mode. While utilizing the traditional "Black Ops" combat style, the mode includes the largest map featured in a "Call of Duty" title. Players compete against each other through locations appeared in previous "Black Ops" games. This mode will also feature land, sea, and air vehicles for players to use. The game mode features various playable characters from the entire "Black Ops" series, such as Alex Mason from the original game, Raul Menendez from "Black Ops II", and the Primis crew from Zombies.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: In Blackout, up to 100 players, who can choose to play as Solo, Duos, or Quads (squads of 4), drop into the map via helicopters, and must scavenge for loot to survive as the last person(s) standing, while a circle collapses and narrows the map's playable area. In addition to regular weapons, players can equip health kits, armors, ammo types, attachments, as well as perk consumables. AI-controlled zombie enemies also spawn at Zombies-themed locations, such as Asylum or Lighthouse, and upon being killed drop Zombies loot items, such as the Ray Gun or Cymbal Monkey. Several vehicles, such as the ATV and helicopter, are also available for traversal around the map.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Similar to "Fortnite Battle Royale" and the main multiplayer, Blackout features special modes that change the presence or mechanics of physical items in the Blackout world. Modes such as 'Close Quarters' emphasise a faster and more aggressive playstyle through the exclusion of long-range weapons, while others like 'Fast Collapse' feature a faster narrowing of the circle. Later updates included a different map, called 'Alcatraz', which features a significantly smaller map, which is supposed to represent Alcatraz Island. Main differences between Alcatraz and the regular map include the fact that only 40 players are allowed per match, there are respawns included, and no vehicles are present.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: The Multiplayer/Blackout mode takes place in the 2040s, and is centered around the Specialists, a group of global elite soldiers hired by researcher Savannah Mason-Meyer (Evangeline Lilly), granddaughter of Alex Mason (Sam Worthington). The initial Specialist roster includes: infantryman Donnie "Ruin" Walsh (Christian Rummel), demolitions expert Erin "Battery" Baker (Morla Gorrondona), Medical Sergeant Jarrah "Crash" Bazley (Mark Coles Smith), militia officer Kerk "Ajax" Rossouw (Stelio Savante), JGSDF soldier Katsumi "Recon" Kimura (Daisuke Tsuji), former British Army Corporal Kieran "Torque" Mackay (Matthew Waterson), ex-arsonist Krystof "Firebreak" Hejek (Adam Gifford), 54 Immortals enforcer He "Seraph" Zhen-Zhen (Judy Alice Lee), survivalist Tavo "Nomad" Rojas (David Cooley), and engineer David "Prophet" Wilkes (Dwane Walcott). Additional Specialists later join the roster, including: hacker Leni "Zero" Vogel (Stephanie Lemelin), scoutswoman Alessandra "Outrider" Castillo (Loreni Delgado), assassin Spectre (Roger Garcia), and combat robot EWR-115 "Reaper" (Keith Silverstein). Other characters featured in the Specialist Stories include: Jessica Mason-Green (Alexa Kahn), Savannah's sister and a former squad mate of Ruin and Battery; Sergeant Frank Woods (James C. Burns), Mason's best friend who appears as an instructor in the Specialists' training program; Viktor Reznov (Piotr Michael), a Red Army soldier who was Mason's ally prior to his death; and Raul Menendez (Kamar de los Reyes), former leader of the terrorist organization Cordis Die who plays a vital supporting role in Savannah's research.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: The Chaos story of Zombies mode features a new cast of characters, starring: adventurer Scarlett Rhodes (Courtenay Taylor), former French Foreign Legion soldier Bruno Delacroix (Andrew Morgado), Mexican spy Diego Necalli (Christian Lanz), and British chemist Stanton Shaw (Nick Boraine). Scarlett leads the other three in search of her father, Alistair (Charles Dennis), who has mysteriously disappeared following an encounter with the Order, an ancient cult worshiping a dark power lead by the High Priest (Fred Tatasciore). "Dead of the Night", a prequel to Scarlett's story, features a different crew of characters, who are Alistair's associates: the Rhodes family butler Godfrey (Charles Dance), stage show cowboy Gideon Jones (Kiefer Sutherland), phony psychic Christina Fowler (Helena Bonham Carter), and Brigadier General Jonathan Warwick (Brian Blessed). Other characters include the Oracle of Delphi (Cissy Jones), who guides Scarlett's crew toward their goal, and Perseus (Andrew Morgado), the demigod son of Zeus who became a zombie warlord after failing a trial.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: The Aether story of Zombies mode continues the story from "Black Ops III", and follows the Primis crew: Edward Richtofen (Nolan North), "Tank" Dempsey (Steve Blum), Nikolai Belinski (Fred Tatasciore), and Takeo Masaki (Tom Kane), as they try to continue their mission of securing their souls from fractured dimensions at the behest of Doctor Monty, an omnipotent being who resides in the Agartha dimension. Along their journey, Primis teams up with their original incarnation, known as Ultimis, while also receiving assistance from Victis, a group of survivors who previously interacted with Richtofen: Abigail "Misty" Briarton (Stephanie Lemelin), Marlton Johnson (Scott Menville), Samuel Stuhlinger (David Boat) and Russman (Keith Szarabajka). Other characters include: the Shadowman (Robert Picardo), leader of the Apothicon race who opposes Monty and the Order of the Keepers; the Warden of Alcatraz Penitentiary, who subjected himself to becoming the Shadowman's servant and is tasked with imprisoning Primis; Doctor Ludvig Maxis (Fred Tatasciore), an ally of Primis from Dimension 63 who attempts to contact them occasionally from Agartha; Samantha Maxis (Julie Nathanson), Ludvig's daughter from the original dimension who now also resides in Agartha as a cleansed soul; Eddie, the cleansed soul of Richtofen from Dimension 2210 who now resides in Agartha in the form of a child; Rushmore (John de Lancie), an artificial intelligence operating the systems of Camp Edward, a Broken Arrow facility; Cornelius Pernell, Broken Arrow's Director who was transformed into an pure electric being following an experiment; and Pablo Marinus, a Mexican test subject of Group 935 who lives in their Siberian outpost as a hermit.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: In the year 2043, during a covert mission involving a mercenary group, Jessica Mason-Green, a US Army Specialist is presumably killed while her two squad mates, Donnie "Ruin" Walsh and Erin "Battery" Baker, escape with critical injuries. Two years later, Savannah Mason-Meyer, a trillionaire researcher and Jessica's sister, recruits ten of the world's most elite soldiers, including Ruin and Battery, for a top-secret project against an unknown threat. Savannah uses a Combat Immersion program to train the Specialists in a virtual simulation, with Sergeant Frank Woods acting as their instructor.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: While taking a break from training, Ruin discusses with Battery about their survival two years prior, and that he received a warning message from a mysterious individual. At some point, the individual contacts Ruin at his home, tipping him off to an ambush by mercenaries. Ruin survives the ordeal, and arrives at a warehouse where he confronts the individual, revealed to be Jessica who remained alive and went undercover. It is implied that Savannah intends to eliminate all the Specialists she hired, and that she was somehow responsible for the botched mission in 2043. Woods is then shown in an asylum, standing beside a wheelchair-using Alex Mason. As Mason mutters to himself, Woods tells him that it has always been him "in the box".


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Intel files unlocked from completing Specialist tutorial missions reveal additional stories. Savannah is revealed to be running Project Blackout, an experiment that is implied to be about resurrection of the dead through unknown means. The project was successful in reviving four subjects, referred to as "archetypes": Mason, Woods, Viktor Reznov, and Raul Menendez; the latter is tasked with overseeing the project alongside Savannah. Jessica, who disapproves of Savannah's actions, was revealed to have been actually shot by Savannah during a heated argument between the two sisters. Battery is revealed to have been seeing flashes of numbers, an effect of the brainwashing technique that , further hinting that the event of the mission in 2043 may not have been real. Woods, who is involved in a relationship with Savannah, is tasked with brainwashing Mason, using the same technique from before, for an unknown purpose. The latter was then allowed to meet Reznov, who Woods claims to have survived the events of Vorkuta.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On March 20, 1912, treasure hunter Alistair Rhodes hosts a party at his mansion in England, where many of his associates are invited. However, the Order, an ancient cult who has been after Alistair for some time, kidnaps him by enslaving his butler, Godfrey to do their bidding. Using a mysterious device called a Sentinel Artifact, the Order releases a substance called Prima Materia, transforming all of the guests in the mansion into zombies, sparing only Godfrey and three other guests: Gideon Jones, Christina Fowler, and Jonathan Warwick. The four band together to battle against the combined forces of undead, werewolves and vampires roaming the mansion. After successfully completing the trial, the four put an end to the undead outbreak, but Godfrey, under the influence of his dark self, murders the other three and inadvertently sets the mansion on fire. He is then killed by Alistair's daughter, Scarlett, who then gives chase to her father's kidnappers. She fails to rescue Alistair, but finds a letter he left behind, instructing her to seek out three of his most trusted associates: Bruno Delacroix, Diego Necalli, and Stanton Shaw.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: After recruiting Alistair's three friends, Scarlett boards the RMS Titanic with them in search of a Sentinel Artifact, which is kept locked up. They successfully acquire it, but then encounter a member of the Order who activates the artifact, transforming every ship crew member and passenger into zombies. Just as the ship crashes with an iceberg, the four work together in order to recover the Sentinel Artifact and restore it. In doing so, they activate an ancient trial, which tests them with various puzzles and tasks. Upon successful completion of the trial, the Prima Materia's effect is reversed, and all passengers on the Titanic are reverted to their human state. The crew discovers an apparition of a gateway, but before they could interact with it, they are forced to escape as the ship sinks. Shaw points the crew toward their next destination, Delphi, Greece in order to find answers. Unbeknownst to the crew, Bruno possesses the same marking that Godfrey had, hinting at his dark self taking over.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Scarlett and the gang are guided by the Oracle of Delphi to an ancient cavern where the gateway is located. After inhaling a mysterious vapor, they begin to hallucinate and are taken back in time to an Gladiatorial Arena in Roman Egypt, where the High Priest of Chaos ses a Sentinel Artifact to turn slaves into zombies and pit them against gladiators for entertainment. The crew, now taking on the form of gladiators, is forced to fight for survival, as they complete various challenges to appease the four Gods: Danu, Ra, Zeus and Odin. Upon completion of the challenges, they face off against a combined force of undead warriors in the arena, and emerge victorious. The completion of the trial opens a portal to the Library of the Nine, but the High Priest fails to access it. He then has Scarlett and the rest executed despite their demand for clemency.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Snapping out of the hallucination, Scarlett then inputs the symbols she saw on the portal into the gateway, allowing the crew to enter the Ancient City of Delphi. They meet up with the Oracle, who has been trapped here for centuries amidst an ongoing Sentinel Trial. Hoping to prevent the ancient demigod Perseus from slaying the Olympian Gods, she assists them in fighting against the zombie horde roaming the city, as well as various ancient mythical Greek creatures. In the midst of the trial, Bruno's dark self takes over temporarily and secretly kills Shaw, then revives him using the Scepter of Ra, allowing Shaw to also be enslaved by his dark self. The trial reaches its culmination as the crew battles against Perseus and his winged steed Pegasus, and triumphs. While Scarlett attempts to free the Oracle, the other three follow her directions to look for Alistair, only to find that he and other Order members have been petrified. Diego runs back in horror, and discovers that the Oracle was Medusa in disguise. Medusa renders Scarlett unconscious after acquiring certain knowledge from her mind. Diego manages to retrieve Scarlett and hides, as Medusa declares her eventual ownership of the Library, and world domination.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: During their mission to secure their own souls, the Primis crew takes a detour to Alcatraz Island, where Edward Richtofen plans to acquire blood vials, items he deems necessary for his "insurance policy", to protect his companions. Upon encountering a past version of himself, Richtofen is given the Kronorium book, and learns that the contents of the book have changed, and that his own blood is now demanded by the prison's Warden. Through their attempt to survive his wrath, Primis learns that the Warden, working for the ancient Apothicon race via the Shadowman, intends to use Richtofen's blood to power a special machine called the Dark Mechanism, due to it containing a massive amount of Aether energy. After gaining the trust of the various spirits residing in the prison, Primis engages in a final showdown against the Warden and his zombie hordes, aided by the spirits of Alcatraz. Richtofen eventually enters the Dark Mechanism and willingly lets it extract his blood, hoping for a chance at defeating the Warden. This in turn releases another Richtofen, who has lived through , and kept himself cryogenically frozen under Alcatraz for years. Using the fire elemental gem from the ancient Staff of Fire, the newly awakened Richtofen greatly weakens the Warden, allowing Primis to defeat him and free all souls in Alcatraz from their torment. Having broken the cycle, Richtofen hands the Kronorium to Nikolai Belinski and passes over the leadership mantle, convincing the latter that his soul is needed to defeat the omnipotent Doctor Monty. The new cycle's Richtofen is left to die as his blood is drained by the Dark Mechanism.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Back in the original timeline, , the Ultimis crew attempts to teleport to the Moon immediately, but instead ends up in The Pentagon in 1963. Meanwhile, at the Ascension Facility in Russia, the scientist Yuri Zavoyski tricks his partner Gersh into activating a black hole device, sucking him in it, per the orders of a corrupted Samantha Maxis. Yuri uses the device to travel to the Pentagon and unleash the zombie horde, experimented on by the US Government, against Ultimis. The four battle against the undead across the Pentagon, as well as the Groom Lake facility of Area 51. Unbeknownst to them, a future version of Ultimis, following the destruction of the Earth in 2025, time-traveled back to Groom Lake months before the arrival of their past selves. Richtofen, whose body was occupied by Samantha's soul from the future, went into a comatose state when her soul was sucked out; however, he was revived when a zombified Richtofen arrived some times later and interacted with his comatose self, transferring his consciousness to the new body. As the future Ultimis remains in captive at Groom Lake, Primis arrives and convinces them to leave together in preparation for "the great war".


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Primis and Ultimis travel together to Camp Edward, a nuclear testing facility run by the American research group Broken Arrow, in search of an Elemental Shard. They activate the facility's artificial intelligence, codenamed Rushmore, who agrees to give them the shard in exchange for them proving their worthiness. After completing several tasks and demonstrating the core values of Broken Arrow, Rushmore then proceeds to open the APD (American Pyramid Device), which houses Broken Arrow's Director, Cornelius Pernell, who has been transformed into an electric being following an experiment with the shard. Dubbing himself "Avogadro", Pernell then battles Primis and Ultimis, but ultimately fails and is teleported to . The crews retrieve the elemental shard, but then learn from Doctor Ludvig Maxis, who has been residing in Agartha, that Monty is aware of their plan. Maxis reveals that Monty would be able to wipe out the Apothicons and the presence of Element 115, but at the cost of his own life; thus, he intends to perpetuate the cycle. As he attempts to send Samantha and Eddie to safety, Monty reveals his true form and devours Maxis. Samantha arrives at Camp Edward, regaining her Aether powers once more, and swears vengeance on Monty.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Primis and Ultimis take a temporary break in a forest, and celebrate before their final battle. Back in Alcatraz, the cryopods in Richtofen's lab open, releasing the Victis crew from their slumber. Ultimis Richtofen, as well as Primis Nikolai, instructs Victis to go to the Group 935 outpost in Siberia to construct an "Agarthan Device", said to be capable of granting its user any wish they desire. At the Siberian outpost, Victis encounters Pablo Marinus, one of Richtofen's former test subjects who was assumed to have died, and receives his help in constructing the device, using the blood of an ancient Apothicon being, a container dubbed the Seal of Duality, and the Elemental Shard. After fully powering up the device, Pablo uses it to travel to the Great War, where he would assist Primis Richtofen in sending him back to Alcatraz and break the cycle. The Agarthan Device is then sent to Primis Nikolai, who uses it to destroy the Summoning Key. Nikolai reveals the truth that the Kronorium showed him: despite their best efforts, they would be doomed to repeat the cycle if they ever participate in the Great War. He also reveals that he and the rest of Primis/Ultimis are the catalysts that perpetuate the cycle, and as long as any of them exist, it will allow Monty to keep the cycle going, ensuring the survival of both the universe and himself. As a result, Nikolai has both crews killed by poisoning their drinks, then asks Samantha to kill him. The destruction of the Summoning Key also ensures the entire multiverse, including Monty, the Apothicons and Element 115, are banished to the Dark Aether. As Samantha and Eddie walk toward a light in the darkness, each member of Primis and Ultimis can be heard in the background revealing their desires for a life after the war.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: According to a report from "Kotaku" editor Jason Schreier, Treyarch originally planned for "Black Ops 4" to have a campaign, titled "Career", continuing from the story of "". It would have been set in a 2070s post-apocalyptic world where four players could progress through the story, split into teams of two (with an option for solo players to play with AI bots). However, in early 2018, the team decided to cancel the campaign mode due to technical concerns, timing, and negative playtesting feedback. Combined with publisher Activision's decision to release the game in October, the team resorted to creating the Blackout battle royale mode as a replacement for the traditional campaign. In August 2022, assets and details of the Career mode were leaked online, revealing further details of the story which featured two major opposing factions, the World United Nations and the Free People's Army. Gameplay would include PVP and PVE sections, abilities similar to those from "Black Ops 3", side-objectives, and companion characters based on the same game's multiplayer specialists.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: According to a report from Insider Gaming, Treyarch intended for the multiplayer in "Black Ops 4" to be similar to hero shooters such as "Overwatch". Due to negative feedback from playtesters in early 2018, the Multiplayer was reworked to be more familiar to resonate with the "Call of Duty" community. Changes included reimplementing Scorestreaks, removing an all-new Escalation system, scaling back the Specialist systems and a re-introduction of Pick 10 and traditional perks. War mode, from "", was also planned for the game but ultimately scrapped.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On February 6, 2018, "Eurogamer" indicated that Treyarch's 2018 "Call of Duty" title would be a new entry in the "Black Ops" sub-series, following 2015's "". On March 5, "Call of Duty" news site Charlie Intel received images of gaming retailer GameStop's internal database that showed listings for items that were meant to market "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4".


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On March 7, 2018, NBA player James Harden was seen prior to playing a basketball game wearing a hat bearing an orange logo. People pointed out the similarities between this logo and previous ones for "Black Ops" titles, which both featured Roman numerals colored orange. Harden later confirmed that this was indeed advertising for "Black Ops 4". On March 8, the game was formally announced by Activision and a teaser trailer released for it; a reveal event was on May 17, 2018.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" was released on October 12, 2018, on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It is the first "Call of Duty" title to be released in October since "Call of Duty 2"; titles since then have all been released in November. The release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" a month earlier was thought to be due to Rockstar Games's much anticipated release of "Red Dead Redemption 2" on October 26. Like previous titles, a private beta for the multiplayer mode was offered to players who pre-ordered the game. On July 11, 2018, Activision and Treyarch announced the dates for the multiplayer beta: PlayStation 4 players had an exclusive first beta weekend from August 3 to 6, while a second weekend from August 10 to 13 was offered to all platforms. The Windows platform received an open beta for all players from August 11 to 13, while players who pre-ordered the game could play from August 10. Activision also announced a beta for the Blackout mode, which took place from September 10 for PlayStation 4, September 14 for Xbox One and Windows, and ending September 17 for all platforms. Like the multiplayer beta, the Windows platforms also had an open beta for Blackout which began September 15.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: The Windows version exclusively uses Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net platform, and will not use or be available on Steam for the first time since 2005's "Call of Duty 2" (which got a Steam release later).


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On June 11, 2018, Activision and Treyarch announced three special editions available for "Black Ops 4": the Digital Deluxe, the Digital Deluxe Enhanced, and the Pro Edition. All three editions contain the "Black Ops Pass", a special season pass that grants access to "Classified", a bonus Zombies map available at launch, in addition to four more maps to be released in 2019, as well as twelve multiplayer maps, and four exclusive characters for use in Blackout mode. Rather than distributing new maps via map packs like previous "Call of Duty" titles, the "Black Ops Pass" will deliver new content on a more frequent basis throughout the year. Players who pre-order any digital editions of the game on PlayStation 4 also receive the "Back in Black" map pack for "Call of Duty: Black Ops III". The pack contains four remastered multiplayer maps: Jungle, Summit, Slums, and Firing Range (all of which are included in "Black Ops 4" at launch). A collector's edition titled "Mystery Box Edition" was also announced, which contains various Zombies-themed physical items, such as a collectible Mystery Box based on the mechanic of the same name in-game, lithographs based on the three on-disc Zombies maps, and figure pins based on the four main characters of the Zombies Chaos story. A Windows-only edition containing Multiplayer and Blackout modes called the "Battle Edition" was released on December 6, 2018.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On September 20, 2018, Activision and Sony revealed their partnership for "Black Ops 4", which allows the PlayStation 4 version of the game to receive all content updates, including free and paid content, seven days before other platforms, as opposed to the 30-day gap that was present in previous "Call of Duty" titles.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: As opposed to the traditional downloadable content model of four map packs, "Black Ops 4" receives frequent updates in the form of "Operations", which are themed events across all game modes, featuring a variety of free and paid limited-time content for the game, as well as the Black Ops Pass content. Following the reveal of the game's third Operation, Grand Heist, Treyarch and Activision announced their plans to feature six Operations in the game for 2019. The game features a tiered loot system called "Black Market Contraband", in which players can earn progress in tiers to earn cosmetic items by playing Multiplayer and Blackout within the duration of an Operation. The Black Market, the in-game virtual store, also features exclusive cosmetic items only purchaseable with "COD Points", a microtransaction currency. COD Points can also be used to trade for Nebulium Plasma, a currency used to craft and receive random Elixirs and Talismans in the Zombies mode. Following an update in February, the game reintroduced purchaseable lootboxes called "Reserve Crates", which contain additional cosmetic items beyond the Contraband stream.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On June 20, 2018, Dark Horse Comics revealed that they would be publishing the second season of the "Call of Duty: Zombies" comic book series, which was first launched in October 2016. The second season, which is a prequel focusing on the four new characters of the Chaos story, released its first issue on September 5, 2018, with 3 additional issues to follow. Treyarch's Co-Studio Head Jason Blundell and Lead Writer Craig Houston are once again behind the story of the series, and Justin Jordan and Dan Jackson return as writer and colorist, respectively, while Andres Ponce and Mauro Vargas join the series as penciller and inker, respectively. The cover art for each issue is drawn by E. M. Gist.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: On September 26, 2018, Activision announced a new 10-issue comic series featuring the Multiplayer Specialist characters, released for free on the official Call of Duty website. The series serves as a prequel to the game, with each issue introducing a Specialist and their background prior to the events of the game.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Upon rumors emerging that "Black Ops 4" would not have a single-player campaign mode, reactions from the "Call of Duty" community were negative. The official confirmation by Treyarch of the absence of a campaign led to many fans expressing their disappointment. In response to the criticism, Dan Bunting, studio co-head at Treyarch, stated in an interview with "Eurogamer" that "We are delivering so much more of what players spend most of their time doing in our games in the series", implying that fewer fans took their time to play the single-player than the multiplayer. In an interview with "Polygon" in May 2018, Bunting later revealed that a traditional campaign for the game had never been intended, and appeared to repudiate earlier reports that Treyarch had scrapped work on it due to time constraints.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" received "generally favorable" reviews across all platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic. In its 9.5/10 review, "Game Informer" wrote: ""Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" makes a sacrifice that's sure to be off-putting to some with the lack of a campaign, but the surrender of tradition comes with sweeping and significant benefits. Blackout is the best battle-royale experience available today, zombies offers crazy customizable co-op, and multiplayer keeps things grounded for those looking for the classic core." "Electronic Gaming Monthly" gave the game 8.5/10, writing: ""Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" has made some bold changes to the series, and ultimately, they're for the better. The inclusion of a battle royale mode is a first, and even the more familiar multiplayer and Zombies survival mode are not what they once were. Changes are always risky, but in "Black Ops 4"s case, it worked out for the better." "IGN" wrote that ""Black Ops 4" has a few rough edges, but any of its three modes make for an enjoyable shooter experience that feel distinct and personalized." It gave separate reviews for each mode with Blackout receiving then highest at 9/10, Zombies with 8.5/10 and the Multiplayer with 7.8/10. The whole game was given a score of 8.5/10.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: In June 2018, following the reveal of the game's season pass, Activision received heavy backlash from the community for the downloadable content program as it was confirmed that map packs cannot be bought separately from the pass. Players and critics compared the release model unfavorably to other companies' approach toward free content, such as Electronic Arts with "Battlefield V", criticizing Activision for focusing on the monetization of downloadable content and microtransactions, and splitting the game's community.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: Several weeks after "Black Ops 4" release, a microtransaction system allowing for the purchase of cosmetic items which provided no gameplay advantages was incorporated into the game, drawing criticism for being overpriced while offering few benefits in return. "Forbes" Erik Kain called the cosmetics system as "[falling] short to various degrees." He criticized that progression in the game's Black Market Contraband, allowing the player to advance through tiers and unlock items, was "far too slow" and encouraged real-world money to speed up progress; Special Orders (cosmetic item bundles) not only required real money, but also subsequent hours of grinding in order to unlock said items; and that the Black Market shop's biggest drawback was that the cosmetic skins were "hot, steaming garbage". In summary, he condemned Activision for being "far, far too greedy at this point". Despite this, in another article, Kain felt the microtransactions did not ruin his overall enjoyment of the game, which remained "very fun, very polished ... a well-balanced first-person shooter." Wesley Yin-Poole of "Eurogamer" also felt that the game presented a "soul-destroying" grind for players looking to unlock desired items through hours of playtime, inciting them to pay for microtransactions instead and unlock the content sooner.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: In February 2019, the game received further criticism when Activision implemented the use of loot boxes into the microtransactions system. Yin-Poole noted how many fans were disgruntled at their design, as they did not note the probability of obtaining an item, and also contained duplicates of items a player may already have gained. He lamented that it felt the "fantastic" core game was buckling under pressure to generate more money for Activision, citing its additional season pass, Black Market Contraband, and paid-for cosmetics, and called the overall design "convoluted, confused and inescapably money-grabbing". Kain echoed these complaints, further criticizing the cost of loot boxes and only being available by paying real-world funds, saying "There are so many ways you can spend your money in "Black Ops 4" at this point, it's just ridiculous." He attributed their inclusion to the game underperforming in sales for Activision. As a result of the loot boxes, some fans also accused developer Treyarch's design chief David Vonderhaar of lying as he had initially stated that unlocking Blackout characters could not be achieved through microtransactions. Vonderhaar responded by saying "I can tell you what we have done and what we plan on doing, but things change that I can not predict or I didn't know about. Doubly true with the business side of things which have little insight into and even less control over ... I answers the questions as best I can with the information I have at the time I am asked."


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: "Black Ops 4" grossed over $500 million in worldwide retail sales within its first three days of release.


title: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

text: The game was the second best selling title in US in November 2018 behind "Red Dead Redemption 2". In February 2019, Activision announced that the game did not meet expectations.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: Sailor Moon," originally released in Japan as and later as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon", is a Japanese superheroine anime television series produced by Toei Animation using Super Sentai motifs. It is based on the manga of the same title written by Naoko Takeuchi that was published from 1991 to 1997 in "Nakayoshi". "Sailor Moon" first aired in Japan on TV Asahi from March 7, 1992, to February 8, 1997, and was dubbed for release in various regions around the world, including North America, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Australia, Europe, and Latin America.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: The series follows the adventures of the titular protagonist whose civilian name is Usagi Tsukino, a middle school student who is given the power to become the Pretty Soldier. Joined by other Sailor Soldiers, she defends Earth against an assortment of evil villains. The anime also parallels the maturation of Usagi from an emotional middle school girl to a responsible young adult.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: Due to the success of the anime in the United States, the manga comprising its story was released by Tokyopop. "Sailor Moon"'s popularity has spawned numerous additional media based on its universe, including films, video games, and soundtracks. A second animated adaptation, "Sailor Moon Crystal", which is a reboot series that more closely follows the manga, began streaming worldwide from July 2014 onward.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: A 14-year-old underachieving young schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino meets a magical talking cat named Luna. Luna gives Usagi the ability to transform into a magical alter ego — Sailor Moon — tasked with locating the moon princess and battling the evil forces of the Dark Kingdom. When Usagi transforms for the first time into her magical sailor suit with Luna's help, she overreacts and reluctantly accepts her fate, not sure what has happened to her. At the time she does not know the enemies she will face, the friends she will make, or the experiences ahead of her. As she moves forward, she accepts her fate, and realizes the importance of fighting evil.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: The Dark Kingdom — led by Queen Beryl — summons various monsters called Youma in order to sap energy from humans and feed it to an evil entity known as Queen Metaria. They also seek the , a gem capable of limitless power.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: As Usagi battles against the Dark Kingdom, she is joined by other girls also awakening as Sailor Soldiers: the timid but intelligent Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), the hot-headed miko Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), the tomboyish but romantic Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter), and the aspiring idol Minako Aino (Sailor Venus). Minako is joined by Artemis, her feline advisor and Luna's partner. The Sailor Soldiers are often supported by the mysterious Tuxedo Mask whose civilian form is Mamoru Chiba, a college student with whom Usagi eventually becomes romantically involved.


title: Sailor Moon (TV series)

text: After continually thwarting the Dark Kingdom and defeating several of its generals, Usagi awakens as the moon princess — Princess Serenity — and acquires the Silver Crystal. However, Mamoru is captured by the Dark Kingdom and brainwashed into working for them. The Sailor Soldiers learn of their past lives on Silver Millennium, an ancient kingdom on the moon. There, they served as Serenity's friends and bodyguards, and Serenity was in love with a prince from Earth named Endymion (Mamoru's past identity). However, the Dark Kingdom attacked and destroyed Silver Millennium, resulting in the deaths of Serenity, Endymion, and the Sailor Soldiers. Serenity's mother — Queen Serenity — used the power of the Silver Crystal to vanquish Queen Metaria and end the war. She also used the crystal to send the fallen Sailor Soldiers into the future to be reborn on Earth, hoping to give them a second chance at peace.