Detailed Analysis - Main Narrative DLC
In the Modern Day story, while Desmond is still in his coma, a restored memory before Ezio’s confrontation with Cesare is unlocked. One of the individuals suggest giving Desmond a sedative as his heart rate is racing but the other wants the memory to unfold, as the Apple is useless without the location information from the memory. The Modern day, post apple retrieval is in a tenuous position as we are without Shaun and Rebecca and there is no knowledge of their whereabouts or condition and instead there are unknown individuals that are looking after Desmond whose intentions seem to trying to find information relating to the apple.
In 1506, during his hunt for the escaped Cesare, Ezio visits Rome to check in on his friend Leonardo Da Vinci. Ezio is seeking to charter a ship and Leonardo, eager as ever, suggests a captain he may know. Leonardo is also working on several projects, such as The Mona Lisa and a huge discovery he is eager to tell Ezio about, involving Pythagoras. Leonardo intends to escort Ezio to the docks himself cannot leave his workshop unattended and so Ezio volunteers to find Leonardo’s assistant, Salaì. Finding Salaì in the company of several strange figures, they leave but are quickly pursued by them. On their way to the workshop, Ezio inquires who those men are and what they may want from Leonardo. Salaì informs Ezio about a hidden catacomb in Rome where he found the entrance to an ancient temple, possibly hiding secrets by Pythagoras. Arriving at the workshop, they find evidence of a struggle and Leonardo missing, much to Salaì’s distress. Ezio assumes he was taken to this temple but neither knows the location. They find a message from Leonardo pointing Ezio to paintings that were housed in the Villa Auditore while he was researching the catacombs, quickly assuming that Leonardo must have hidden something about the catacombs in the paintings. Ezio, believing that the paintings were destroyed in the attack, is told by Salaì that only 2 burned and the rest were taken by the Borgia. Ezio embarks on a mission to find the paintings, so he can find clues to the location of the Temple and find Leonardo.
As Ezio moves swiftly to acquire the paintings we can catch up with some familiar faces, both family and enemy otherwise. Finding Lucrezia Borgia, her position has changed dramatically in the years since we’ve seen her. Married in a new home with a title and status, one would think that Lucrezia would be content, but she is depressed, lonely, and somewhat fearful of her life. In a funny twist, she tries to seduce Ezio, which the old Assassin only uses to his advantage before giving mindful advice about healing her pain, tying her up, and running out the window, pursued by guards. An interesting call back to his younger years except for this time nothing exciting happened. Getting in touch with Claudia allows Ezio to see that his sister and in effect, the Brotherhood are thriving and doing quite well in his absence. He undergoes this task, all while encountering the same mysterious people, now revealed to be The Cult of Hermes led by a man named Massimo. Finding all the paintings, Ezio finds all the clues and discovers the entrance to the catacombs and so leaves to find his dear friend.
Entering the catacombs he overhears Leonardo being tortured for his knowledge of how to enter the temple. While making his way to Leonardo, he overhears the leader, Massimo, conversing with Leonardo. How they both wanted to improve humanity with the knowledge in the Temple and how Leonardo was helping them but eventually saw them as extremists. The group speaks of excellent motives to help people but have gone too far, killing indiscriminately, to achieve their goals. Ezio reaches Leonardo and is begged by the group's leader to convince Leonardo to open the temple. Ezio slaughters the group and eventually eliminates their leader. The leader had good intentions wanting to abolish the social classes and borders of the world but allowed himself to be waylaid by his wants and his killing capacity. One would think Ezio would be acting as a hypocrite, killing someone who wants to help humanity, as this is a pillar of the Assassin's beliefs. The main difference is, the Assassins want people to walk towards truth and freedom themselves and would never kill civilians, otherwise, they are not true Assassins. Massimo and the cult of Hermes made for an interesting enemy group but were sadly too underdeveloped and underutilized to pose any significant agency or threat.
Saving Leonardo they decide to venture into the Temple to find the knowledge within. As they make their way there, Leonardo discusses how he had faith that Ezio would find him and his hope that Salaì is safe. Leonardo quickly tries to hide his affection but Ezio approves of Salaì. To see Leonardo open up about his love for Salaì to Ezio is an endearing trait of their friendship, Ezio would never judge Leonardo for this, thanks to his admiration and respect for Leonardo and loyalty to the Creed. Reaching the near end of the Temple they find a pillar with similar symbols shown by the Apple. After rearranging the pillar so that is in the right order, the final room opens up and it is a Precursor room. The knowledge held within is not knowledge but instead a series of letters and numbers that make no sense to the pair. 43, 39, 19, N, 75, 27, 42, W, the numbers and letters shown are coordinates. Ezio, realizing that the information is not for them but perhaps for Desmond, encourages Leonardo to leave. Ezio encourages Leonardo to speak more about the exciting developments happening in Leonardo’s life, which Ezio happily listens to showing again the great friendship that the pair share. In the Modern Day, one of the individuals watching Desmond allows him to be sedated now that they have what they need.
The Da Vinci Disappearance was an intriguing and exciting new adventure in Ezio’s life that checks in on the friendship he has with one of AC’s most endearing and likable characters. The DLC story also helped to progress the main modern-day story as it seems the Modern Day characters now know where exactly a precursor temple is and hopefully save the world, however, the safety of Desmond, Rebecca, and Shaun is still in question and should provide an interesting plot point in the next entry.