Borderlands 2 Plot

The story of Borderlands 2 takes place five years after the original storyline of Borderlands, with the Hyperion corporation now controlling Pandora.  This time, six adventurers (Maya, Zer0, Axton, Salvador, Gaige, and Krieg) set out to become vault hunters when they are attacked by the game’s main antagonist Handsome Jack, a former employee of Hyperion.  Claptrap, the robot guide from the first game, discovers that they have not been killed by Handsome Jack’s plan and escorts them to safety.  The mysterious woman Angel once again contacts the vault hunters and tells them to head to Sanctuary.

The adventurers must complete a series of trials throughout the game.  First, they must find the “criminal” Firehawk, who turns out to be friendly Lilith from the original game.  They must then rescue Roland from a group of Hyperion robots.  Next, they must seek out Mordecai and the new character Tiny Tina in order to get the vault key back from the Hyperion train.

Their mission to intercept the train is actually a trap, and instead of a vault key, the train carries the Hyperion cyborg Wilhelm.  The vault hunters defeat Wilhelm and take his power core back to Sanctuary in order to power their shields.  In another plot twist, the vault hunters discover that Angel has been working for Handsome Jack all along, and she hacks the new power core in order to leave their city defenseless to Hyperion’s (and Handsome Jack’s) satellite weapons.

In order to retaliate, Roland asks the adventurers to enlist the help of Brick in order to reach Angel and defeat Handsome Jack.  Unfortunately, after they defeat Angel, Handsome Jack kills Roland and enslaves Lilith so that he can use her magical powers to power-up the key and use it to open the vault of the “Warrior.”  With the help of Brick and Mordecai, the vault hunters seek out the new vault and attempt to stop Handsome Jack.

They arrive to the vault just in time to see him using the newly charged key to release the Warrior, whom they must defeat.  Once the Warrior is defeated, Lilith is freed, and the vault hunters execute Handsome Jack.  When Lilith attempts to destroy the vault key, however, she accidentally activates a map that reveals vaults all over the galaxy.  The game ends with this revelation (Gearbox Software, 2012).