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Main Quest · The Archon

There Archon Be Only One

The Archon’s quest rebuilds the shattered Pack-a-Punch, sets the Relic Mirror beside it, and performs the surgery the whole arc promised: severing Kortifex from Wolfram Von List. It was Kortifex’s plan all along — free of his host, he talks the Construct into crowning him the Archon, and the boss fight Treyarch billed as the mode’s biggest closes Vanguard Zombies. The quiet ending happens in a sealed Stalingrad room, where Gabriel Krafft learns his wife is long dead, shoots Von List, and walks out three days later into the rest of the saga.

Difficulty: ExpertSolo availableSpoilers: high
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Spoiler warning

This walkthrough reveals the map's finale. Continue only if you want to know how it ends.

Preparation

Before you start

Prerequisites

  • • The Temple’s Pack-a-Punch rebuilt
  • • The Relic Mirror placed
  • • The Decimator Shield strongly recommended

Walkthrough

Step by step

  1. 01

    Rebuild the machine

    Restore the Pack-a-Punch Kortifex shattered — the spell that also killed Die Wahrheit’s last men.

  2. 02

    The severing

    Place the Relic Mirror and cut Kortifex loose from Von List — exactly as he intended.

  3. 03

    Three trials

    Pass the Construct’s tests of Mindfulness, Resilience and Sacrifice.

  4. 04

    The Archon

    Fight Kortifex crowned — the boss Treyarch built at a scale the mode had rarely seen — until his corpse falls into the deep Dark Aether.

  5. 05

    The sealed room

    In Stalingrad, Krafft and the discarded Von List end their war with a forged letter, a pistol shot, and a three-day wait for the door.

Following along in-game? Switch to Guided Mode for one step at a time on a screen you can read at arm's length.

References

  1. 1.Your Gameplay Guide to Vanguard Zombies (Official) — Treyarch (official). treyarch.com · Nov 3, 2021 · accessed Jul 22, 2026Official
  2. 2.Vanguard Zombies maps — Call of Duty Wiki — Call of Duty Wiki (Fandom). callofduty.fandom.com · accessed Jul 22, 2026Community-verifiedcorroborate

Last reviewed Jul 15, 2026. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction.