Couch Vikings, rejoice - 'Assassin's Creed: Valhalla' is finally here!
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While just about every Assasin's Creed game can be played as a standalone story, the games do all connect to each other (as well as to various spin-off comics and other media) to form a larger narrative. If you're new to the franchise and don't feel like going back and playing through every single game until now, this synopsis should be a great way to catch up. For the purpose of clarity and brevity, this summary will focus just on the main games.
THE GENERAL GIST
The overarching narrative that runs through every single game is the struggle between two shadowy orders that seek to shape the world in their own way. The Templars (who end up going by several names through the games) want to use ancient alien mind-control technology to manipulate humanity supposedly to create a utopia. Their counterparts, the Assassins (who are the "good" guys) fight for free will. Every single game basically just follows this conflict through various historical time periods. Each game also follows a modern-day storyline of both these organizations and their continued struggle.
Here are a few quick glossary terms to know first:
The Animus: a machine that allows users to relive the memories of anyone through history. Initially, the Animus only allowed access to memories of one's own genetic ancestors, but later versions allow you to view anyone's memory as long as you have a DNA sample.
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First Civilization/Isu/Precursors: a race of highly advanced humanoids who possessed long lifespans and incredible technological prowess that led to many humans thinking of them as gods, though they don't think that of themselves. The Isu created humans to be their slaves and do grunt work for their advanced society and used their tech to keep humanity subjugated.
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As the Isu interbred with humans over the generations, their mind control tech became less and less effective, and humanity, led by two Isu-human hybrids named Adam and Eve, rebelled against their masters. Unfortunately, an extinction-level solar flare wiped hits Earth, wiping out the Isu and leaving only a few human survivors behind, who then repopulated the Earth and forgot about the Isu.
Pieces of Eden: Extremely powerful Precursor artifacts that allowed the Isu to control and enslave humanity. They can take many forms and have different abilities, though most seem to be for maintaining humanity's subservience. The "Pieces of Eden" are technically a subset of all Precursor artifacts, but the terms are often used interchangeably.
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Sage: a member of the Isu called Aita who has been continuously reborn on Earth as a human. Sages have more advanced abilities than a normal human, as well as the ability to remember all of Aita's memories.
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We've put the modern-day storyline at the very end of this article, as it's somewhat complicated and (frankly) not as interesting as the whole "doing parkour through history" part of the game. The games also jump back and forth throughout history, so we've arranged this synopsis to be more like a playthrough of the franchise from its beginnings to today, than a historical timeline. Ok, let's dive in!
Assassin's Creed
The first game in the series focuses on the Middle East circa 1176 AD, during the time of the Crusades. We relive the memories of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Assassin Brotherhood who is tasked by his mentor, Al Mualim, to track down an ancient artifact called the "Apple of Eden." Altair's arrogance on this failed mission gets one of his fellow assassins killed and disables another, earning him a demotion to the bottom rank where he must relearn everything (thereby giving us a tutorial in all the Assassin skills) and assassinate nine powerful members of the Knights Templar.
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Upon killing the final Templar, Altair returns to the Brotherhood's stronghold in Masyaf to discover that Al Mualim has taken the artifact for himself and been corrupted by it. Altair resists the Apple's mind control and defeats his mentor, after which the artifact reveals a glowing map with the locations of other Pieces of Eden around the world.
Assassin's Creed II
The second game takes us to the Italian Renaissance era, circa 1459 AD, where a young nobleman named Ezio Auditore witnesses his family being framed and murdered for a crime they didn't commit. Determined to avenge his family, Ezio eventually realizes his father was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood and takes the mantle of Assassin himself.
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His quest for revenge leads him to the discovery of a massive conspiracy by the Templars to install their Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia, as the next Pope so they can recover the Isu artifacts hidden in the Vatican.
Ezio eventually overpowers (but doesn't kill) Rodrigo and uses the artifacts he collected to open an Isu vault where a holographic projection of one of them warns him of a coming catastrophe in the future (modern-day).
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Picking up immediately after the events of ACII, Brotherhood starts with Ezio grabbing the Apple of Eden for safekeeping and retiring to a quiet village. His retirement is cut short when Rodrigo's son, Cesare Borgia, lays siege to the village and steals the Apple back to Rome, where his father is still very much alive.
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Ezio travels to Rome, sets up a new network of assassins, and eventually manages to defeat the Borgias once and for all before hiding the Apple in an Isu temple hidden beneath the Colosseum.
Assassin's Creed Revelations
The final chapter in the Ezio trilogy sees Ezio in the later years of his life, where he takes a pilgrimage to Masyaf to learn more about the roots of the Brotherhood. He learns that the keys to Altair's library are in Constantinople, and travels through the Ottoman Empire to find them while also helping settle a dispute for the throne.
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After acquiring the keys and entering Altair's library, he is greeted by another Isu projection which speaks through him and directly to you/the modern-day protagonist, Desmond (more on him later). She once again warns of an upcoming cosmic catastrophe similar to the one that wiped out the First Civilization and reveals the location of a vault that should help avert the impending doom.
Assassin's Creed III
Jumping all the way to the days of the American Revolution (circa 1773), we now follow the tale of an entirely new Assassin - Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor Kenway, a bastard child born out of an affair between a British Templar (Haytham Kenway) and a Native American woman who saved his life. Connor saw his tribal home burned down by Templar colonists at a young age and vowed revenge. He joins the Assassins to stop the Templars, meeting people like George Washington along the way.
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Connor eventually finds a First Civilization key for an Isu Temple, but decides to bury it underground.
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
The next game in the series takes us back in time slightly to the Golden Age of pirates in the Caribbean, ~1715 AD. Honestly, it's like Ubisoft said "Ok, so hear me out - Assassins, right? BUT... they're also pirates!" Sounds cheesy, but it was actually super fun and remains one of the most beloved games in the franchise to date.
We now relive the memories of Connor's paternal grandfather, Edward Kenway, who sort of stumbles his way into the Brotherhood after unknowingly killing an Assassin traitor and assuming his identity as a means to profit.
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After learning that the Templars wish to use an ancient Isu Observatory to be able to locate anyone, anywhere on earth with just a vial of blood (almost like how phylacteries work in Dragon Age!), Edward understands that if he wishes to preserve the swashbuckling freedom he and his pirate buddies currently enjoy, he'll have to take sides in this battle. While he does successfully thwart the Templar plan, it's sadly not enough to stop the pirate's life from disintegrating in an ever-more civilized world.
Edward retires peacefully to London, siring Haytham Kenway, who himself goes on to become a legendary Templar and father of Connor Kenway from ACIII.
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Staying in the Colonial Era (~1756 AD), AC Rogue follows the story of Shay Cormac, an Assassin who grows disillusioned with the Brotherhood after learning that they sent him on a mission they knew in advance would cause massive civilian casualties.
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Shay abandons the Brotherhood and joins the Templars, feeling that they are less of a threat than the Brotherhood would be were they to acquire all of the Pieces of Eden. He then hunts down his former allies, including the father of the protagonist from the next installment of the game.
Assassin's Creed Unity
Picking up around 1776 AD, AC Unity follows the story of Arno Dorian, the son of the Assassin killed in Paris by Shay Cormac. After his father's death, Arno is adopted by a Templar Grand Master (without realizing that his adopted father is part of the very organization that killed his father). He also begins a secret, youthful affair with his new stepfather's daughter, Elise, which is abruptly ended after stepdad gets murdered and Arno is framed for it.
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After busting out of the Bastille with a little help, Arno decides to learn more about his real father and the Brotherhood, into which he is inducted. Elise, meanwhile, becomes a skilled Templar operative in her own right and, despite that allegiance, occasionally assists Arno on his quest for vengeance. In a dramatic final battle with the Grand Master of the French Templars, Elise is struck by a fatal blow from the Sword of Eden before Arno finally manages to get the upper hand.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
AC Syndicate is the most modern historical time period the franchise has visited to date, set in Victorian Era London circa 1868 AD.
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London has fallen under control of a Templar Grand Master, Crawford Starrick, and two twin Assassins, Jacob and Evie Frye arrive to rectify the situation. While Jacob takes back the streets by building up his own gang and taking down rival ones, Evie launches the search for a Piece of Eden she believes to be hidden somewhere in the city. Unsurprisingly, the game ends with a dramatic showdown between the Frye twins and Starrick deep beneath Buckingham Palace, and the Isu artifact known as The Shroud is returned by the twins to its proper vault.
Assassin's Creed Origins
Let's take it ALLL the way back to Ancient Egypt in 49 BCE. AC Origins follows the journey of Bayek of Siwa, who is kidnapped along with his son, Khemu, one day by a masked group known as The Order of Ancients (proto-Templars). They take them to an underground temple and force Bayek to hold a glowing sphere (the Apple of Eden) and open a vault. As Bayek and Khemu struggle to escape, Khemu is murdered by one of the members of the Order. This leads Bayek and his wife, Aya, to begin their individual missions to avenge their son, which leads to interactions with the likes of Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIII, and Julius Caesar.
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Bayek and Aya eventually do manage to kill all five men responsible for Khemu's death, but come to realize the Order is far bigger than they realized. They then create their own precursor to the Assassin Brotherhood called 'The Hidden Ones,' and we learn that the iconic AC logo came from an imprint in the sand left by Bayek's eagle skull pendant.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
AC Odyssey takes us even further into the past to the Peloponnesian War (~431 BCE), where you play as either Kassandra or Alexios (although Kassandra is actually the one whose story is canon). Descended from the line of the great King Leonidas of Sparta himself, your character is thrown off a cliff while trying to stop the ritual sacrifice of your sibling (which was demanded by an oracle to prevent the fall of Sparta).
Presumed dead, your character grows up to be a mercenary ('Misthios') and takes on the contract to kill a general named the 'Wolf of Sparta' - who turns out to be dear-old stepdad who pushed you off the cliff all those years ago. Lurking in the background is your sibling, who has grown up to become the leader of the Cult of Kosmos (again, proto-Templars). These cultists are secretly using the power of a Piece of Eden to foment chaos on both sides of the war.
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The Misthios eventually wipes out the Cult and also discovers the hidden city of Atlantis, which is guarded by the Misthios' true father, Pythagoras. We learn that an Isu named Alethia transferred her consciousness to the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus that Pythagoras carries, which has given him superior abilities and an immortal lifespan. Pythagoras then passes on the staff to the Misthios.
AC Odyssey was also unique in that the game actually had multiple ending paths depending on the choices you make throughout the game, though the overall conclusion is still the same.
Modern Day
As stated much earlier in this article, the modern-day storylines of the games are basically just a continuation of the ancient war between Templars and Assassins.
The Templars started out as the 'Cult of Kosmos,' which then evolved/was reborn as 'The Order of Ancients,' then became 'the Templars,' and eventually formed a multinational corporation called Abstergo. Different names, same goal - world domination via the use of Isu artifacts.
The Assassins were much more consistent, merely going from 'The Hidden Ones' to the 'Assassin Brotherhood.' Their goal has always been to let humanity remain firmly in control of its own destiny.
Our modern story begins with a bartender named Desmond Miles, who is abducted by Abstergo and forced to relive the memories of his ancestor, Altair Ibn La'Ahad so that Abstergo can learn the locations of the Pieces of Eden. Desmond is rescued by an Assassin double-agent at Abstergo named Lucy Stillman (voiced by Kristen Bell, btw!).
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After learning about the cataclysmic event awaiting humanity in 2012 (thanks to Ezio's visions in the Isu temples/vaults), Desmond and the Assassins get to work trying to find a way to prevent that disaster by further diving into Desmond's genetic memories, all while on the run from Abstergo's goons.
Eventually, Desmond finds an Isu temple where an Isu called Juno, who wants to re-enslave humanity, states that she can protect the Earth from extinction, but doing so will cost Desmond his life. Desmond complies, the Earth is saved, but the evil Juno's consciousness has been set free.
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Over the course of 'Black Flag,' 'Unity,' and 'Syndicate,' we play as a first-person character working for Abstergo's entertainment division. The Animus has advanced to no longer being restricted to the user's genetic memories, but rather the memories of anyone via a DNA sample.
We learn that Juno is now attempting to regain physical form, aided by a shady Abstergo employee who is actually a Sage whose Isu consciousness, Aita, is Juno's husband. The various Pieces of Eden that these games center around are all essential to Juno regaining physical form.
Juno's arc was then kind of just... abandoned by Ubisoft and concluded in a spin-off comic book series where she briefly manages to inhabit a human body before being killed by an Assassin.
We then get into 'Origins' and 'Odyssey,' where we have a new playable character to replace Desmond - Layla Hassan. Layla is a former Abstergo employee who later sides with the Assassins (without actually joining the Brotherhood). During 'Odyssey', Layla discovers the ruins of Atlantis and encounters the Misthios, still youthful as ever thanks to the Staff of Hermes.
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The Misthios warns her that the conflict between the Assassins and Templars is a necessary, eternal battle between chaos and order. The world is doomed if either one prevails outright, and it's Layla's destiny to restore the balance between them. The Misthios then gives the staff to Layla before finally passing away.
OK, that's it. Now go forth and conquer Valhalla!
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