The main story inFrostpunk 2is a direct continuation from the original game, thirty years later. It opens with the death of the Captain, New London’s dictatorial leader. While Frostpunk 2 makes it clear that the Captain and his legacy are a big deal, it focuses much more on the Steward and the Council as they seek to chart a course for the city’s future.

If you haven’t played the original game, or just need a recap, here is a quick biography of New London’s controversial ruler, whose iron fist helped the city survive the Great Storm.

Big Ben juts out from the snow, all that remains of London by 1916 in Frostpunk 2.

The Great Frost

The Captain was the player character inFrostpunk’s main scenario,A New Home.While his title comes from his position as leader of his expedition to the north in the wake of the climate catastrophe, it’s unknown whether he had a military background before that. In the opening of Frostpunk 2, which starts in 1916, he appears to be about 70 or 80 years old, so we can assume that he wasborn in the mid-nineteenth century.

In the Frostpunk timeline, a sudden shift in the global climate occured in the 1880s; crops failed around the world, and the ensuing famine caused the rapid collapse of industrialized nations, including the British Empire. The remnants of the British government sent survivors to outposts near the North Pole, wherelarge coal depositscould be used to fuelGenerators, enormous structures capable of heating and powering a small city as long as their furnaces could be kept burning.

the generator in the middle of the New London Crater in Frostpunk.

Winterhome, the British military’s main research outpost in the north, was to be the largest of these cities, providing support and leadership to the smaller satellite settlements.

The Founding Of New London

The Captain was the leader of the expedition meant to settle near the Generator in thecrater southwest of Winterhome.It’s unknown whether he was the original holder of this post or if it fell to him after casualties above him in the chain of command; given the massive numbers of deaths during the collapse of the Empire and the subsequent evacuation of the British Isles, that isn’t out of the question. Inclement weather separated the Captain from many of his followers, and he arrived at the Generator withonly a few dozen people.

Undeterred, the Captain organized work shifts, ordered shelters constructed, and ultimately got the Generator running despite his limited workforce. Over the next several weeks, he and his people were able toraise signal balloonsat the top of the crater to guide the remaining settlers to them; survivors started arriving, providing more hands to work and more mouths to feed.

Faithkeepers rally together as their fervor and favor increases in Frostpunk 2.

Faith And Order

As New London began to secure its position, scouts in the Frostland attempted to make contact with other settlements. One by one, they sought British and American Generator cities, and each time they found only frozen bodies. Even Winterhome had fallen - it became clear thatNew London was on its own.

In the face of falling morale among the people, the Captain resolved to give them something to believe it beyond mere survival. Depending on theplayer’s choicesat this stage of the campaign, the Captain eitherenforces strict order and discipline, keeping the people too focused on daily routine to worry about anything else, orbuilds a new faitharound the Generator as a bringer of warmth, to foster a sense of community. In both timelines, a handful of the city’s people take on a zealous fanaticism, becoming the Captain’s enforcers.

a shipwreck and a lost shoe in a frostland blizzard in the intro to frostpunk 2.

The Great Storm

New London’s greatest test during its early years was theGreat Storm, a weeks-long blizzard that saw the temperature plummet to negative-triple-digits Centigrade. Just keeping the Generator active in conditions it was never meant to survive took extraordinary measures. The Captain ordered strict rationing of food and fuel, andtwenty-four hour shiftsin the city’s coal mines, working miners to death and exhaustion to ensure the survival of the greater colony.

The Storm cemented the Captain’s place as the unquestioned leader of New London. He wouldretain that post unchallengeduntil his death, decades later.

the elderly Captain in his wheelchair pushed by an attendant, looking out the window over New London in the intro to Frostpunk 2.

Was The Captain Murdered?

The opening cinematic of Frostpunk 2 shows the Captain, now an old man in a wheelchair, reflecting on his choices and the city he’s built. As he is lost in his thoughts, possibly drugged or delirious, a woman wheels him into the streets andleaves him there naked in sub-zero temperatures, causing him to quickly die of exposure. It’snever mentioned during Story Modewhether the Captain was murdered - which, given his importance to the city, seems like it would be a bigger deal - soit’s possible that this scene is metaphoricalrather than literal.

Whether his death was intentional or not, we know that the Captain, nearing the end of his life, hadmade arrangements for succession.While he never implemented a Council or other parliamentary structure during his lifetime, he made it clear that he wanted one after his passing, led by aSteward.The first Steward - the player character in Frostpunk 2 - isthe Captain’s handpicked successor, but their rulemust be approved by the Councilin a vote of confidence during its first session.