Hmmm, i hate to resurect an old thread, but i wanted my 2 pennies worth.
I always veiw it like this;
Red Alert: Kane is a Soviet advisor to Stalin right? Yes he is, but he has a secret agenda, he's the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, a secret and ancient organisation. Nod and (possibly) kane have existed for thousand's of years, but he has been waiting for the right time to reveal himself. To do this he would need a stable economic base and a "front" for the brotherhood to expand. This came in the form of the Soviet Union. By assimilating Europe and thus become a massive world superpower, Kane could establish funding and start to make Nod what it is today.
We know this because this is what westwood intended, thats why the cutscene at the Soviet ending with Kane and his accomplice ok?
Therefore we assume that the Soviet ending is canon right?
In between Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn: Sometime in this period, Kane discovers Tiberium at the Tiber river, and names it after Emporer Tiberius (or he names it after the Tiber River, take your pick, i choose the Kane version because Kane seems to be lore on Tiberium). Kane for some reason seems to know a lot about this mineral, and he seemed to know it would arrive (at what point he learns this i don't know, either between RA and TD or between TD and TS). So, Nod perfects a way to harvest this mineral and becomes massively wealthy through it, to the point where it becomes a displaced state of sorts, a Superpower with no territorial base. All the time it is using the Soviet Union as a front for this, so as not to arouse too much suspicion.
Right, also at this time, running alongside what i've just wrote. The United Nations realises it can ill afford another war similar to the one in Red Alert, also it realises it needs a rapid reaction force to deal with international terrorism. This comes in the form of Black Ops 9 (i think the name is) which would eventually become the Global Defense Initiative. The GDI aims to protect the world from terror and opression and many states send military units to be part of this new task force (including Russia after it dissolves from the Soviet Union) The UN realise Tiberiun for what it is, a dangerous chemical thats extremely dangerous to human life, and as such take measures to halt or delay its expansion.
Now we come to Tiberian Dawn: It's 1990, Kane siezes the oppurtunity to reveal Nod to the world, he leaves the Soviet Union to fend for itself, leading to its eventual collapse and the subsequent seperation (similar to the real life event). Nod markets itself as the protector of the people and as such many Thirld World countries voice open support for the cause, Nod uses extensive propaganda techniques to gain support and as such Nod's already vast bank account soars. GDI see's Nod for what it is and begins a military campaign to stop Kane and his ultimate plan (the same plan that involves every Tiberian game). Which they thwart by destroying his temple, thus ending TD and leading to Tiberian Sun.
That is the official Canon, and the idea that makes the most sense, based on the evidence we have in FMV's and Literature.
Now Red Alert 2. Red Alert 2 is a spin off game created by EA/Westwood that wasn't meant to fit in with official Canon (as it couldn't exist at the same time as Tiberian Dawn). It was meant to be a 'what if?' game, what if the Allies won? Russia would be defeated, Premier Romanov (or whatever his name is) was installed into power by the Allies and they left Russia to rebuild. Soon Russian pride and thrist for revenge lead them to invade the USA and the events of Red Alert 2 and subsequently Yuri's Revenge took place.
Red Alert 2 was meant to be a cheesy/camp spin off title that wasn't intended to be Canon. Westwood created the Tiberium niverse, it was there brainchild. The series started with Tiberium and will end with Tiberium. The same goes for Red Alert 3, it follows the spin off series of Red Alert 2.
C&C Generals isn't cannon at all and isn't worth mentioning in this topic, it was created by EA to be a fresh start to Command & Conquer, they ballsed it up and realised people wanted the original story back.
So, what we get is this;
Official Canon (Tiberium Universe): Red Alert ---- Tiberian Dawn ---- Tiberian Sun ---- Tiberium Wars
Red Alert 2 Spin-off: Red Alert 2 (which should really have a different name) ---- Yuri's Revenge ---- Red Alert 3
Generals spin off: C&C Generals ---- Generals: Zero Hour.
That it the most logical, and probably offical progression of the games, otherwise it just gets complicated with questions like
"Red Alert 2 comes just before TD? So where are the prism tanks in TD?"
That is because it's two different storylines, not one. They should be treated as seperate games franchises, not the same.
Im sorry for such a long post
but thats just my opinion on the matter, and im sure a lot of people will agree
KaRsKiN out
