Puppeteers is the second season that was available in Year 5 of Tom Clancy's The Division 2. It ran from October 3, 2023 to February 5, 2024.
After Mari Singh and the first set of Castle members were recovered from Black Tusk's custody during the events of Broken Wings, an enigmatic Hunter known as The Recruiter was in the open, which gave the Division a headstart to recover the second set of kidnapped civilians to find him and hunt him down.
Puppeteers also featured the return of Incursions in Division 2, with Paradise Lost as the first
Manhunt: The Recruiter[]
After recovering Mari Singh and the first set of hostages, Agents will turn their focus on locating the remaining people missing in order to learn more about Natalya Sokolova's plans against The Division.
Agents must find the rest of the hostages. Among them is Vikram Malik, who was taken by the Black Tusk who once worked with Sokolova. Rescuing Malik means learning more about what she is scheming. As part of their rescue mission, The Division must hunt down and confront The Recruiter, the prime target in Season 2. Taking down The Recruiter will help uncover the secrets behind who and why he is recruiting.
Additionally, as each hostage is rescued, agents will see new upgrades to areas of The Castle as part of the settlement's ongoing rebuild.
Manhunt Storyline[]
Not long after Mari Singh and her fellow civilians were rescued, Agent Brian Johnson revealed himself after being missing for a while, doing his part to assist fellow agents in rescuing yet more civilians kidnapped by the Black Tusk which included: Cindy McAllister, Mel Arnold, Jack Arnold, Vikram Malik in addition to taking the fight against The Recruiter.
After the civilians were rescued, Division agents were sent to Camp White Oak alongside the Mobile SHD Server under Johnson's custody so they could rescue Vik's sister, Birdie. However, it would turn out that Agent Johnson is the Recruiter and was attempting to escape with the Mobile SHD Server. During the fight, he revealed that he and the Hunters are doing what is necessary, and claimed to the agents that they went rogue the moment they allied with Agent Kelso despite ISAC marking them on-mission. Regardless, The Division managed to beat the Recruiter with the help of Birdie using the countermeasure and mortars against him. With his death, the Mobile SHD Server was secure.
However, fear and suspicion arose due to the reality that Hunters are embedded within the Division, with questions raised whether Kelso can be trusted. Around that time, Natalya Sokolova would spread propaganda broadcasts in an attempt to legitimize Black Tusk's cause to civilians.
Additionally, Division agents discovered a good deal of insurance comms left behind by Brian Johnson strewn across different locations in D.C. Those audio logs reveal Johnson's misgivings regarding Kelso, his loyalty to Calvin McManus, and his subsequent recruitment to the Hunter program.
Meanwhile, the Meret Estate, a rich estate turned community settlement and led by former socialite Mackenzie Meret, was under heavy siege by the Cleaners. A backup team of Division agents were sent there to eliminate the hostiles, which included Wright and the Cleaner couple, "The Lovebirds". After securing the estate, it was discovered that the Meret Estate heiress and Natalya Sokolova share a past history together. And that Sokolova ordered Wright (who was secretly an agent for the Hunter Program) to raid the community and kidnap Mackenzie and used McManus's connections to provide Rogue SHD Tech for the Lovebirds as plausible deniability.