History Recap / AgeOfEmpiresIIIActIIIce

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: By going after the Black Family, Warwick ensures the failure of his [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot master plan]] and his own death.

** The campaign disregards all plausibility by having [[WritersCannotDoMath Morgan's fourth son Stuart and grandson John]] living in North America during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). They don't even look old. [[spoiler:The only possible explanation is that Morgan drank from the FountainOfYouth, but then, why would its effects be a mystery to his great-great-granddaughter, Amelia?]]

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Stuart Black, John Black, and Warwick]] eat the dust [[spoiler:halfway for the former and at the very end for the latter two]] of the campaign.

** "Strange Alliances" begins with John, Kanyenke/Ká:nien and a small contingent counterattacking the invading Cherokee, only to find out that [[spoiler:the Cherokee are in league with the British]]. Then a Town Center wagon escapes from the invaded settlement, and it's used to start a new town.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar was [[spoiler:an attempt by the Circle of Ossus to obtain the Fountain of Youth by using the Russian Czar to conquer the Americas for them while the Western colonial powers were distracted and weakened from killing each other]].

* FadeToWhite: In the final cutscene, [[spoiler:after the explosives are detonated and the avalanche buries the Russians]], there's a brief moment of the trope symbolizing [[spoiler:death in snow]].

** After being attacked by Warwick, Nonahkee's Iroquois/Haudenosaunee allies with the French, who are fighting the British in the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar. John tells her that she "should not trust the French". The French aren't a problem in "Ice"... however one of the cutscenes in ''Steel'' is named "Never trust a French prospector", [[spoiler:and the BigBad of the campaign is of French extraction]].
** The campaign ends with [[spoiler:the birth of John's son and Amelia's father, Nathaniel Black, a PosthumousCharacter who was "a patriot, not a businessman", and who wasted the fortune given to the Blacks by the British government for John's actions]]. In the expansion's campaign ''Fire'', you discover that [[spoiler:Nathaniel wasted that family fortune helping build the Continental Army and fighting against the British in the UsefulNotes/AmericanRevolution]].
* HeterosexualLifePartners: John and Kanyenke/Ká:nien. [[spoiler:It continues long after [[TragicBromance John's death]] with Kanyenke/Ká:nien helping raise his son and granddaughter, although in fairness, those are also his nephew and grandniece.]]

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler:Warwick bites the dust in the final cutscene after escaping punishment and defeat for the duration of the campaign]].
* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Warwick [[spoiler:defects from the British army]], attacks a colony guarded by the Black family company and kidnaps Stuart Black. When John investigates, he finds that [[spoiler: the Circle has enlisted the help of the Russian Empire to conquer North America for them]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: By going after the Black Family, Warwick ensures the failure of his [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot master plan]] [[spoiler:and his own death.]]

* EscortMission: In "Respect", one of the sub-missions is to escort a lost Indian girl to safety on her village. Another sub-mission requires you to escort a [[MightyGlacier beefy and slow-as-a-snail]] Buffalo to a tribe.

** It's possible to hire Hessian Jaegers upon reaching the Industrial Age. Hessian Jaegers are one of the main antagonists of ''The [=WarChiefs=]'' [[Recap/AgeOfEmpiresIIITheWarChiefsActIFire Act I: Fire]].

The second act of the base game, ''Ice'' takes place after [[Recap/AgeOfEmpiresIIIActIBlood Morgen Black and the Knights of St. John's defeat of the Circle of Ossus]]. It follows Morgan's grandson, John Black, a mercenary who's being paid by the British colonies in order to protect them. Accompanying him is Kanyenke (Ká:nien in ''Definitive Edition''), an Iroquois/Haudenosaunee tracker who's also part of John's mercenaries and is John's best friend. They answer a call from John's uncle, Stuart Black, about the colony being under attack from Cherokee invaders. It's later revealed that these invaders are in league with forces commanded by Warwick, a renegade British general.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: John Black leads a company of them.

The missions that compose this campaign are "Defend the Colony", "Strange Alliances", "The Rescue", "The Seven Years' War", "The Great Lakes", "Respect", "Warwick's Stronghold" and "Bring Down the Mountain".

** "Respect", the mission where Kanyenke and John try to gain the favor of the Lakota Tribe Chiefs, has a cap of 10000 XP. The moment said XP is reached, the mission ends.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The British army John and Kanyenke defeat in "The Seven Years' War" joins them in their pursuit of Warwick's army.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: John and Kanyenke. [[spoiler:It continues long after [[TragicBromance John's death]] with Kanyenke helping raise his son and granddaughter, although in fairness, those are also his nephew and grandniece.]]