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Assassin's Creed: What if, that which never was, came to be?
Written by Sorrosyss, January 22nd, 2023
Warning: Some spoilers from across the franchise.
Like every narrative franchise, there are often key moments within stories that stay with fans. A major character death often brings a pivotal change in direction for humanity, and in the case of Assassin's Creed – sometimes an entire change to the history that follows. But what if those moments had played out differently? Have you ever wondered? Enter the multiverse theory. You might already be familiar with the concept, but if not, it basically hypothesises that there are infinite realms of different realities, contained within a collective multiverse. What does this mean in relation to our reality though? Well, let's say one day you are travelling to work in your car. You pull up to a junction. You turn left, make your way to work, and your day goes along fine as normal. However, in another reality, you might have turned right at that junction, deciding to refuel your car, and regrettably crashed into another
The multiverse is thus often used as a convenient way of telling stories that never have or never did came to be. You're probably most familiar with this from the works of Marvel, who literally have a TV show titled “What If?”, which explores the alternative storylines of their major characters. They also cover the concept of branching timelines and realities within the Loki TV show, with different Loki 'variants'. Of course, they are not alone in using the multiverse as a narrative tool, as DC Comics also had their
Of course, when you look at Assassin's Creed, it's actually not been a stranger to the multiverse either. Take for example, the Tyranny of King Washington DLC for Assassin's Creed III, which portrayed an alternate reality where George Washington fell to the corruption of Isu technology and ruled over America with an iron fist. There are a few other examples within the comics, but arguably the main rationale for seeing these parallel universes within the franchise has been as a result of the scrying technologies of the First Civilization, the Isu. Through devices such as the Eye, they were able to see future timelines as pure
With this in mind, if we were keen to see potential different realities for new stories, it would make a lot of sense to have the primary framing device simply being the viewpoint of a scrying Isu within the Nexus, such as Juno. Being so far in the past, they literally would have the entirety of humanity's timeline at their disposal. There are a few other potential ways of implementing this unique storytelling perspective though. Take for example, the Reader depicted in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Whilst his body might be long gone, after touching the pedestal in 2012 Desmond's 'essence' if you will continues within the Grey as the Reader entity. There he looks at all the calculations of potential futures with the aid of connection to the Yggdrasil device, trying to find a way to stave off catastrophes that seem to inevitably befall the Earth and humanity. Of course, now that Layla has also
There is a third option available to us as well. This lies within the nature of the Animus, specifically with the software itself. As a product of Abstergo, we know the company has never exactly been very altruistic with the truth. If we recall Assassin's Creed Liberation, we actually play an in-universe Helix video game product depicting the life of Aveline de Grandpré. The original ending to the game is conveniently manipulated, in that it shows Aveline evidently yielding to and joining the Templar Order. Thanks to the help of the Erudito hacker group, the player is then able to see the actual turn of events. This apparent censorship again offers us a back door into other realities. How much of our other simulation experiences over the years presented by an Animus have been the actual truth as it happened? Or did Abstergo manipulate other data as well? It is possible, especially given the Liberation precedent. There are in fact a few pieces of transmedia that actually suggest that a simulation can be hacked from an outside source
Officially, Ubisoft's stance on multiverses has been that there is only one timeline, which is of course our main Assassin's Creed universe. I'm not sure though that what we are suggesting in this article is to actually change or intersect the existing lore, rather to investigate what came before, what could have been, and what could yet come to pass. Traditionally, multiverses offer a convenient escape route for writers. If your franchise suddenly has numerous plotholes or inconsistencies, or simply too much existing canon to write around, jumping your franchise to another dimension of reality is a very easy way to reset your IP entirely. Perhaps that day will yet come for Assassin's Creed, but that is a question for another time. After all, they said they'd never do a game in Japan at one point... Moving back to our “visions” though. If Ubisoft did want to explore some storylines from the Isu calculations, or to show alternative narratives via Abstergo software, how could they approach this? Well, the most obvious way to achieve this would be
Let me be clear that I am not suggesting these stories replace any upcoming new games and storylines, rather that they are a fun and unique addendum opportunity. The future introduction of the Infinity platform for the franchise thankfully offers a possibility to explore these themes. With a promise of smaller studios being given the creative freedom to do their own concise stories, might one of the Ubisoft teams potentially have a go at doing these alternative reality storylines? For fans, it could be an amazing opportunity for us to have several fan favourite characters back once again, and a great way of bringing back the original voice actors to reprise their roles accordingly. Of course, there is always the deal with Netflix in the background as well, therefore if a game or DLC is not in the offing, perhaps an animated TV show could also achieve the same effect? Something to consider perhaps. Thus comes the moment of truth. What proof of concept stories could we investigate? What narratives from alternative universes would we want to explore? Well, I'm no writer, but here are five examples of what I would consider interesting stories that could be told... JUNO VICTORIOUS The story to this infamous Isu is well known by now, having played the part of the central antagonist to the franchise for most of
Incredibly, this all played out within the transmedia comics, which was a sad way to end a pivotal story arc for the character. Some fans are convinced she has since returned to the Grey to plot yet another return, and with her appearances in both Odyssey and Valhalla, it almost appears that Ubisoft is acknowledging the mistake made in the poor handling of the character. There are certainly some other recent narrative developments that make me think she may well return yet, but that's for another article. However, there is a very simple “What If?” story to plot out here – what if that clone had survived? Juno's hatred for humanity was pretty clear, and I have no doubts that she would have immediately sought to consolidate her power. She would have known the location of various hidden Isu vaults around the world to weaponise her plans, and she would likely have brought back her love Aita, as well as perhaps several other sympathetic Isu members to her cause. The Instruments of the First Will were a human based group that had been loyal to her for evidently decades, who believed that Juno would usher them into paradise within the “Grey”. Whilst those particular humans would have adored the Isu's attempts to take control of the world, the rest of humanity and specifically those already in power would likely have taken issue with this apparent usurper trying to wrest their control and power away. Faced against the overpowering tech of the Isu, the world super powers would have upped the ante all the way until nuclear proliferation would no doubt have resulted in the destruction of vast numbers of humans and their homes. Given the advanced shielding technologies of the Isu, they would have survived, leaving most of humanity as either reluctant subjects, or in open warfare with the First Civilization oppressor. Where would the Assassins and Templars be within this Present Day setting? Forced to team up, perhaps still at odds over how to deal with Juno, it would be a compelling post apocalyptic setting to tell the tale of a new protagonist in humanity's remaining resistance, within its most desperate hour. THE CORRUPTION OF AL MUALIM One of the most influential characters within Assassin's Creed is that of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a Syrian man born into the Assassin
But what if things had gone differently? What if Altaïr had been the one defeated? Without Altaïr, so much of the Assassins timeline would have changed. Ezio would never have finished his path in Revelations, and indeed Desmond would then not have completed his task to open the Grand Temple. Al Mualim would likely have bolstered his position further, perhaps changing the very tenets and ideals of his Assassin Brotherhood to something much darker. Using them as instruments to remove opposition leaders, he would have consolidated his power across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, as more and more fell under the spell of his Apple of Eden. Who then would have the courage to face up to this despot? If the Assassins had begun to conquer, then it would likely have fallen to the Templars to step up to the plate as the only viable counter. With their knowledge of Isu technologies as well, this could be the reality where a new hope lies in a Templar protagonist, as they walk into a world dominated by the most corrupted of Assassin Brotherhoods. INTRODUCING CONNOR KENWAY The man born as Ratonhnhaké:ton in the Mohawk Valley of 1756, later adopted the name Connor before becoming an Assassin in his
Haytham had continually tried to sway Connor away from the Assassins in all of their interactions, even pointing out the deceptions of Washington himself. What if Connor had taken on board this perceived wisdom from his father, and ultimately joined him? Enter Connor Kenway. Proud to take the family name, and believing in the Templar Order's goals, he would no doubt have had to betray Achilles, his Assassin Mentor, and likely have had to kill him. Without Connor's aid, George Washington would likely have failed, or perhaps have been assassinated too – as Charles Lee's ambitions were so abundantly high. With no Assassin presence to stop them, the Templars would have formed the USA into a country of their own design from the outset, altering history in fundamental ways. To see Connor take this darker path first hand, would certainly be an interesting story to witness. UNITY IN LOVE One of the more tragic figures within the history of the franchise was undoubtedly Arno Dorian. Born to the Assassin Charles Dorian,
But what if Elise had survived? Arno certainly had a frictional relationship with the Brotherhood, dropping in and out at times, but I am sure his victory over Germain would have won him some immediate plaudits. The local Templars would likely have had a power vacuum, into which Elise as a de la Serre could likely have pushed for leadership given her father's reputation. With their influential positions in both factions, the two would ultimately have married, and one likes to think they may even have been able to broker a truce within France between the secret groups, providing a unity that was once promised. Whether this truce carried beyond France is an interesting concept to consider. Either way, Elise's death proved to be a traumatic plot point to many fans, with many considering it to be completely unnecessary and pointing to Ubisoft just killing off female leads as a pattern of diminishing female characters in general. In a franchise known for darkness and tragedy, being able to see Arno and Elise together again in this alternative ending would at least give us a happy conclusion for a change. KEEPER OF THE FUTURE The Eagle Bearer, Kassandra, was a human-Isu hybrid who led a campaign against the Cult of Kosmos within Greece in the fifth century
But what if things had taken a different turn? Perhaps Kassandra could have sensed the corruption that lay ahead in Layla's future, and instead elected to retain the staff? Or... perhaps her latent Isu DNA had been permanently changed by the staff, meaning she was still effectively immortal even without it? It's a compelling thought for a character that has become massively popular in the fandom in recent years. What would Kassandra do in the Present Day now though? One could argue she would probably still continue her mission of protecting humanity from Isu artifacts, and invariably find herself caught up in the ongoing invisible war between the Assassins and Templars. Given that it has raged for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years (in some form), there is every likelihood that it would continue long into the future as well. That is ultimately where we could see Kassandra end up, in a futuristic setting where robotics and cybernetics create a new division within humanity, as technology further impacts the battle between control and free will. Having the Keeper in such a setting would finally give us the chance of seeing a Cyberpunk like setting within the franchise, with a neutral observer in Kassandra as our protagonist. With history so often our playground, it might be quite compelling to head in the opposite direction of time thanks to the scrying calculations of Isu technology. ======================================================================= Anyhoo. Those are my ideas and visions for alternate universe stories, but what about yours? Share them in the comments below, or let us know on our social media channels. (Finally, I'd just like to say a very special thank you to BrunoHM for assisting me in visualising this concept and my ideas with his excellent mockup imagery. Thank you!)
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