Attention, all Hell Divers. Your hard work on Meridia has paid off in a big way. The Terminid Threat in Helldivers 2 took a major hit when the entire planet got sucked into a wormhole. Many Hell Divers were evacuated to Super Earth, leaving players wondering what happened.
After completing the Major Order “Operation: Enduring Peace” in Helldivers 2 on June 2, citizens of Super Earth were treated to a forced evacuation of the planet. Upon returning to their Galactic War Hub, an important message from Super Earth HQ played for them. The planet was sucked into a black hole, “drawing in every Terminid spore within several billion kilometers.” The planet is no longer accessible to dive onto, marking it the first planet to be demolished. You can still visit the black hole where Meridia used to be, but now the Galactic War Table issues a “Retreat Order.” Finding a mission while orbiting the black hole simply brings you to a neighboring planet, such as Oshaune.
Operation: Enduring Peace was a source of headaches for the Helldivers 2 dev team and players alike. A hotfix had to be put out to prevent spawns on top of key locations during the mission. Many players reported receiving little to no credit for an otherwise perfect run of the main objective, a bug left untouched during the quick hotfix. But the buggy mess ended much faster than many players predicted, with the last 40 or so percent going down within just a few hours, according to some players. The Black Hole may have been an in-universe fix to a mission causing everyone strife.
Of course, such a cataclysmic event caused quite a bit of press. Players were fortunate to document the historic retreat, such as this post by u/interjessing-salary. Comments on the post are full of people talking theories about what truly happened on Meridia, including a player who reports their Democracy Officer told them they broke the chain of command to “protect Super Earth’s investment” in your Super Destroyer. Further comments on a post labeled “What in liberty’s name did we just do?” by u/wh1msyofficial fueled the intrigue further. Players wonder if this is a “door for new guests,” like the hyped Illuminate faction from speculations. Others wished it could have been Hellmire instead—and we’re on that boat for sure. But a sentiment many Helldivers 2 players share was this event was really cool and showcased Arrowhead Studios’s continued ability to impress players with their game-changing events.
Now, we just have to wait for the Meridia Memorial Cape.
