Assassin’s Creed Retrospective Part 2
The Past
We are introduced to Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad in the DS game Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chornicles which was a prequel to Assassin’s Creed 1. Within that game he goes on various missions to learn more about the Templars and a Holy relic called the Chalice. Not much important to the overall plot happens here as his story really kicks off in Assassin’s Creed 1.
In the Holy Land during Third Crusade the full-fledged master assassin, Altair is sent on a mission to Solomon’s Temple to retrieve a “Piece of Eden” by the Assassin leader, Al Maulim. During the mission Altair breaks a bunch of assassin codes, gets his friend Malik’s arm cut off, Malik’s brother dies and he fails the mission. Miserably. When he returns to Masyaf he finds that even with one arm Malik succeeded in getting the Piece of Eden. As a punishment, Al Mualim strips Altair of his rank and tells him to go on nine assassination missions to kill key Templars throughout the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus to reclaim his honor.
After he kills all nine Templars we find out that Al Mualim was a Templar in disguise and he wanted Altair to kill the biggest threats so he could have the Apple to himself. After a major fight full of holograms and mind games Altair kills Al Mualin and takes the Apple which reveals a holographic globe which shows other locations of “Pieces of Eden”.
After the events of AC1 we get the PSP game AC:Bloodlines where see Altair go on another mission to assault the Templar order which has plans to take over Cyprus. Altair encounters Maria Thorpe, a Templar and Rovert de Sable’s former steward, and takes her prisoner. After several escapes and recaptures Altair saves Maria’s life and keeps her hidden from the Templars. Later she returns the favor and actually saves Altair’s life. After using the Apple and killing his enemies Altair helps Maria recover and they eventually head east together. As we see later in a quick memory in AC:Brotherhood, Altair meets up with the ex Templar, Maria and they make sweet, sweet sexy time.
In AC: Revelations we join Altair again as the new leader of the assassins. Next in command, an assassin named Abbas, has a problem with Altair and his leadership. While Altair and his wife Maria leave to take on the Mongols, Abbas stages a coup and takes control of the Apple and the assassin order. When they return they find that Abbas has killed Altair’s youngest son and in an attempt to kill Abbas, Maria is killed as well. Altair is forced to flee for 20 years. We find that Abbas sucks as a leader so when Altair comes back he is able to immediately regain the trust of the assassins and shoots Abbas in the face with his new-found weapon, the hidden gun.
Regaining the control of the assassins and the Apple, Altair is able to see the future. Knowing what the future holds he stores his memories in special keys and gives them to Niccolo Polo (Marco’s daddy) to hide where ever he sees fit. Niccolo hides them in Constantinople in underground dungeons and stores the secrets to their locations in his books.
300 years later we meet Ezio Auditore da Firenze who lives in Italy during the Renaissance. His family was betrayed by a close friend of his father’s in the midst of a political coup d’état so that the Borgia can take over parts of Italy. Ezio’s father and brother are hung in public execution. Before his death Ezio’s father gave him instruction to find his secret stash which turns out to be his assassins gear. Ezio, his mother and his sister flee to their countryside villa in Monteriggioni and Ezio is trained by his uncle Mario to become an assassin. Once he is ready he sets off to find and kill Rodrigo Borgia who now has an Apple and the Papal staff (another Piece of Eden). Rodrigo believes he is the prophet and he can open the vault under the Vatican to meet God. Along his travels Ezio meets up with allies like Leonardo da Vinci who aids him with awesome assassin inventions, and Machiavelli who turns out to be part of a larger order of assassins. After taking out a few key figures and working his way closer to Rodrigo, Ezio is finally able to confront him and kick his Popely ass. He then uses the Apple and the Papal staff to open the Vault under the Vatican and speak with one of “Those Who Came Before”, Minerva.
In Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Ezio’s home of Monteriggioni is destroyed, Mario is killed and the Apple is taken. He is sent to Rome where he meets with Machiavelli. Ezio is tasked with rebuilding Rome and the Brotherhood by recruiting assassins for their order. He succeeds in releaving Rome of the Templar influence and goes after a new threat Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo, who killed his dad and I’m pretty sure he nailed his sister. Ezio recovers the Apple and uses it to kill Cesare’s army and defeats Cesare by leaving him to the “hand of fate”(he throws him off the side of a castle wall). Ezio hides the Apple in a new Vault under the Santa Maria Aracoeli in Rome.
Several years later in AC: Revelations we see Ezio as an old man. He has traveled to Masyaf to unlock Altair’s secret library. Templar’s capture him but he breaks free and finds the door which is sealed by the 5 keys Altair created over 300 years ago. He tracks their locations to Constantinople where he meet Yusuf Tazin, the leader of the local assassins and an Italian book keeper (and bangin’ hottie), Sofia. With Yusuf and Sofia’s help he is able to stop the Templar control in Constantinople and find the keys hidden by Niccolo Polo. Making his way back to Masyaf he opens the door to discover Altair’s final resting place, one last key retaining Altair’s final memory, and the Apple he took from Mualim so long ago. Ezio admits he has seen enough and that he will leave the Apple where it sits. Before he leave the room he speaks directly to Desmond. His hope is that Desmond can complete what he and Altair worked their entire lives to start and that his days as an assassin are over.
In the epilogue video Embers, we see retired Ezio has settled down in the Italian country side with his love, Sofia and their two children Marcello and Flavia. While in his vineyard Ezio notices a strange figure speaking to his daughter, Flavia. This person is Shao Jun, and assassin from a China who needs help to save her people and her order. She asks Ezio to teach her since he was such a pimp in Italy. During a trip to Florence Jun’s presence has attracted some unwanted Templar attention and they are forced to fight. After they defeat the Templar attack Jun explains that her mentor was supposed to be the one who would visit Ezio but he was killed by the same men they just defeated. Ezio sends his family to stay with Machiavelli while things blow over. That night they are attacked again and they are able to defeat the soldiers in awesome fashion. The next day Shao Jun leaves but not before Ezio gives her a small chest commenting that it might help her some day. She states that she will only open it if she “loses direction”. It’s not clear what exactly was in the chest but it could be the Masyaf keys, or possibly his journal or the codex pages he’s collected during his travels. Days later Ezio travels to Florence with Sofia and Flavia to do some shopping. As Ezio sits on a bench watching his wife and daughter buy groceries a strange man sits next to him speaking of how ugly the women of Florence are. Despite him being a dick he calmly tells Ezio that he can rest now before he walks away. With his vision blurring Ezio looks has his wife and child and smiles. We then see a terrible look on Flavia and Sofia’s face as they watch Ezio suffer a heart attack and die at the age of 65. Left behind was a letter addressed to Sofia which reads:
“When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it. I had time, but I did not know it. And I had love, but I did not feel it. Many decades would pass before I understood the meaning of all three. And now, the twilight of my life, misunderstanding has past into contentment.
Love, liberty, and time: once was so disposable, are the fuels that drive me forward. And love, most especially, mia cara. For you, our children, our brothers and sisters. And for the vast and wonderful world that gave us life, and keeps us guessing. Endless affection, mia Sofia.
Forever yours,
Ezio Auditore.”
Come back again next week for the 3rd and final part of our massive Assassin’s Creed Retrospective. This time we’ll finally catch up with our main protagonist, Desmond Miles.
