Detailed Analysis - Side Narratives
The Templar Agents
On Ezio’s mission to erode Cesare Borgia's influence from Rome, Ezio must eliminate several Templar agents who are terrorizing the people of Rome to increase their hold on the city. As Ezio continues his campaign he will have the opportunity to eliminate the Templars so that he can improve the conditions for the people of Rome. Coming across many scenes of tragedy and signs of distress, Ezio learns more about the Templars, which Cesare has recruited to keep the people terrified. One such instance is when he finds a grieving man, burying his deceased fiancé who owned a store and refused to close and so a Templar killed her. At another point, Ezio finds a woman he has been badly beaten by her husband who now works for the Borgia as a Templar. Learning more about these Templars continues to show just how merciless and cruel the Templars are and why there is an inherent need for the Assassins to eliminate them, which Ezio swiftly does.
While in the last few games, we were used to hunting Templars in the main story, it was good to highlight a focus on people lower in the Templar hierarchy, who are no less devious and dangerous. While it is good to keep an eye on these Templars, it is however a shame how these characters are so shallow compared to past Templars and Brotherhood could have done a better job at highlighting the cruelty of the Templars and learning more about the individual as it keeps them as standard bad guys.
The Followers of Romulus
Aside from the Templars causing economic discourse and increasing their influence, the Borgia also had a secret group in the city working for them terrorizing the citizens of Rome, known as the Followers of Romulus. These skilled warriors, wore wolf-like clothing to honour their leader, Romulus, who according to legend, was raised by a wolf as well as his brother Remus. Romulus was also the founder of the city of Rome and its first king. The followers would terrorize the people of Rome to deliver them into the hands of the church. After Ezio meddled in their affairs, they were then tasked with hunting down the Assassins. Ezio first met them when they ambushed him and were swiftly killed, after which he found a lair and found a scroll with a key attached. He also found an encoded message that could not be cracked. Trying to figure out what the followers were doing, Ezio hunted the other lairs to find out what messages they were receiving and find the other scrolls eventually breaking their strength and forcing the remaining members into hiding.
The scrolls that Ezio found would unlock an ancient vault under a part of the city which housed an ancient armour, belonging to Marcus Brutus, an original member of the Assassins who assassinated, Caesar. An incredible piece of world-building to show just how old the assassins are and the events they have taken part in. The followers of Romulus were a nice change of pace from the typical Templars we were used to hunting and provided a new challenge for Ezio as well as giving him additional Brotherhood history.
Da Vinci
Making a welcome and fun return ins Leonardo Da Vinci. Ezio’s family friend from the last game, who decoded the codex pages, made new weapons for Ezio and provided Ezio with a kinship he is not necessarily able to have with the Assassins. While it is important to note that Leonardo is not an Assassin, he has been a treasured ally of the Brotherhood for many years, although he is more loyal to Ezio than the Assassins. When we meet him, he is under the captive employ of the Borgia who have forced him to create war machines, so that Cesare can continue his conquest of Italy. Leonardo approaches Ezio with the hope of having Ezio destroy the war machines, and their blueprints and bring down the Borgia. Ezio also finds an important ally in Leonardo as Ezio has lost most of the codex weapons Leonardo made of him years ago. To have a chance against Borgia, Leonardo provides him with the weapons he has lost so Ezio can continue on his mission against the Borgia. As well as focusing on creating the codex weapons and providing Ezio with information, Leonardo also comments on many actions taken in the world. While Leonardo has been a willing accomplice to Ezio’s effort, it’s amazing to see just how much Ezio keeps him in the dark, not because Ezio doesn’t trust him but because he seeks to keep Leonardo out of the Assassin and Templar conflict as much as he can, so that Leonardo remains safe. When Leonardo asks about one of Ezio’s targets, Ezio pretends to not know and instead encourages Leonardo to talk more about his work and future endeavours and it’s strange to think that many of Leonardo’s innovations and works had Ezio’s hand in them, as he provided Leonardo with safety and support. Da Vinci’s character in Brotherhood also acts as a nice change as most of the other characters are either Assassins or Templars and it helps to see the actions of either side through the eyes of someone who is not a member.
Cristina
When we first meet Ezio in AC2, we were also introduced to a love interest of his, Cristina Vespucci. We first meet her when Ezio sneaks through her window and they have a nice of pleasure. While Ezio does charm many women throughout AC2 and even Brotherhood, Cristina is the one who he had a true love for as she was his first. Sadly this would be the last time we ever see her in AC2 as she is never mentioned again and does not have agency in his story. As Desmond continues to improve his sync with Ezio’s memories in Brotherhood, he eventually uncovers memories that Ezio had repressed and these memories are of Cristina. By finding these memories we can learn much more about Cristina and her later life and how much of an impact she would have on life and personality later on. The first memory is about their first meeting and it was honestly refreshing to see that young and nervous young man and to see how he has transformed into the calm, decisive, and wise man we have grown to know. While Ezio has had his fair share of romantic encounters across AC2 and Brotherhood, they all just kind of blurred together as it never seemed like Ezio was really attached to any of them. Thanks to the memories we gain access to, we can see that had Ezio’s life not detoured the way it did, he would have had a life with Cristina and would have probably been happy together. However, this was not to be, as seen through the other memories, Ezio chooses his Assassin life and his quest for vengeance and often makes things awkward for Cristina.
Despite being a character loved by realistically, every AC fan, it still shows that he was human and was prone to making mistakes, it’s sad that on his path of vengeance he wasn’t going to get a happy ending, and sadly neither was Cristina. Not long before he would confront Rodrigo, Ezio found himself in Florence was under the control of a religious madman who took the Apple from Ezio who was injured and unable to do anything about it. This madman would cause what would be known as The Bonfire of the Vanities and many nobles were stripped of their possessions and often killed. Cristina and her current husband were no exception. Ezio would come across her husband, near death, and would tell Ezio that guards went after Cristina. Ezio would chase down the guards attacking Cristina and swiftly eliminate them, but not before they gravely injured her. Cristina would die in Ezio’s arms and this would signify a great shift in the Assassin and only continues to show how strong he is. While Ezio is no stranger to lose, he was always able to find purpose in their deaths by creating a goal. With his father and brothers, it was revenge, with Mario it was justice, but one would think his first love and perhaps greatest at the time would weigh heavily on the Assassin and in many cases it would. Throughout AC2 and Brotherhood, he would have other romantic encounters but he wouldn’t be deeply invested in many of them as the loss and the eventual death of Cristina broke something in the Assassin, where he wouldn’t feel like he could connect or maintain any type of relationship. The idea of Ezio having repressed memories and how these would open up even more context to the Assassin was a wonderful idea by the dev team and I hope it is something that they experiment more with in the future. The progression needed to open up the repressed memories that felt earned and also allowed us to find out more about Ezio’s romantic life, instead of the little flings we saw in the past.
The Modern Assassin's
Following on from AC2, we re-join Desmond and his fellow Assassins as they seek to find Ezio’s apple of Eden to find the Precursor Temples. To continue going through Ezio’s memories they have to find a location safe for the Templars. As Desmond goes back into the Animus he now has the opportunity to leave whenever he wants and it’s a good thing to do as depending on different stages of Ezio’s journey, the dialogue between the team members will change. While AC2 allowed us to learn about the histories of the Assassins, Brotherhood instead focuses on progressing the relationship between the cell as they continue to work together. Shaun continues to be a somewhat, insufferable know-it-all, although he does have his rare moments of fascinating insight into the history and his sarcasm can sometimes be an endearing quality for the Assassin, even so far as to demand an espresso machine if he ever sees a fabled assassin base. Lucy continues to try and be the teams rock as she keeps the Assassin’s focused on their task and goes so far as to organize work charts but it is clear that the the toll of the war with Abstergo is weighing on her, and perhaps even more. Rebecca continues to be the fun and perhaps the busiest member of the group, constantly making adjustments to the Animus and keeping the other Assassin’s in good spirits.
The bond between these 4 Assassins, is an endearing one as despite not being a huge focus of the game’s story it helps to humanize the Assassins and develop them as actual people. Being actual people they are prone to the problems that anybody else is privy to. Being kept underground with not much to do, doesn’t give people much breathing room and makes people more irritable. At one point Desmond stood in front of a statue of Altair, throw’s a racial slur, at which point Rebecca called him out on it with Desmond snapping back. Lucy and Shaun would of course put in their 2 pence as they try to de-escalate the situation. Where most stories have the core group escalate a conflict where they would come to blows, it’s good to see this group be understanding with each other as they sum up their situation. Lucy, Rebecca, and Shaun continue to be great sounding boards for Desmond as he seeks to understand more about what’s going on in the world on the Assassin and Templar front. At one moment, Lucy leaves the sanctum and Desmond joins her for a quick chat. Despite Lucy being the rock that helps keep the team together she admits her doubts and some regrets about being disconnected from the world and people and how she has spent so much time looking for the Pieces of Eden, she wonders if the fight between the Assassin’s and Templar’s will ever end which in fairness she is right. The 2 groups have been fighting for thousands of years and their conflict continues to go back and forth with neither side ever really gaining any ground. Desmond’s maturity in helping Lucy come to terms with her fears helps cheer them up.
These 4 characters continue to be one of the highlights of the Modern Day story and honestly as many times leave the Animus characters behind in funny and endearing ways. While Ezio and the characters we met in the past are very likable and it’s exciting to see their stories unfold, they have already happened from the perspective of the Animus. The stories of the Modern Day Assassins is still unfolding and their futures are tied to the information they find in Ezio’s journey if they manage to find the apple then they might be able to gain ground in the war. These characters are incredibly fun to interact with and I can only hope Ubisoft continues to build upon these characters.
The Modern Templar's/Abstergo
During their escape from Abstergo in AC2, Desmond, and Lucy enter a room filled with numerous Animus booths and test subjects, showing that Abstergo is doubling down on the Animus project. At the time we thought this was because they were exploring other genetic memories to find more Pieces of Eden’s. In Brotherhood, however, we learn that there is a much more cunning and dangerous move behind this. Witnessing Desmond’s incredible skill and lethality was no doubt a treat for Dr. Warren Vidic: The man who abducted Desmond and head of the Animus project. While speaking with Lucy, we learn that Abstergo is using genetic Animus memories to train their field agents. Renaissance Assassins and Templars had access to several skills that have not been used by their modern counterparts for a long time but with Desmond’s ability to attain these skills in such a short time and with excellent results, it would make sense that Abstergo would want their field agents trained with these skills.
In the multiplayer, we play as Abstergo field agents who are entering the Animus and taking on the roles of various Templar agents. They are tasked with hunting each other in a virtual environment where they will be able to pick up the skills of the Templars whose memories they are accessing. Most games usually have a multiplayer component but don’t often try and show any type of narrative as they tend to focus on fun experiences which in fairness should be the goal as the single-player narrative is typically contained. For Ubisoft to make the effort to show why there is multiplayer now and how it can relate to the overall story is brilliant and hopefully, one that will continue to be an exciting modern-day plot point. While in the Assassin sanctum, Desmond also gains further insight to a Templar satellite launch known as “The Eye”. Learning more about it from Lucy and the other Assassins, the Templars seek to retrieve more POEs, specifically Apple’s and place them into a satellite network which gives the Templar’s complete control of the world and its inhabitants. This type of plot sounds a little far fetched but given exactly what the Apple’s are capable of and the lengths the Templars would go to to get the perfect world that they’ve wanted for centuries.
Subject 16's Truth
Like in the last chapter, Subject 16 hid encrypted messages and information on certain landmarks. Subject 16, Desmond’s predecessor, committed suicide after prolonged exposure to the Animus and hid clues in Ezio’s memories from his early years and even in his years in Rome. Solving the original Glyphs gave us video footage of Adam and Eve running from unknown individuals but inside those glyphs were string numbers that relate to coordinates in the Animus, Shaun tells Desmond this so that he can find the coordinates and unlock more files. Instead of information about other POEs and their place in history, we are instead treated to an array of interesting puzzles that teach us more about history in general and hone our skills. Unlike the messages from AC2 which were doable, these puzzles are much more complex and difficult, which is a good thing as there is something arguably much more valuable encoded in the data.
On decoding the data, there is no video message like before but instead, a large data file that Rebecca unlocks for Desmond. Desmond must navigate this data file and at the end of it, finds a date version of the infamous subject 16 shortly before his death. After hearing so much about subject 16 and the ordeal he went through at Abstergo, it’s a truly chilling notion that we are talking to a man who has been dead for a while now and even more so seeing as his madness is ever-present. Somehow 16 knows of Desmond already and gives a warning that “she” isn’t who Desmond thinks he is and that everything he hopes to gain and the people he wants to help are already gone. Desmond continues to be confused and surprised and asks 16 to elaborate. 16 only tells Desmond to find Eve and her DNA and recounts about the sun… and Desmond’s son. Before Desmond can ask any more questions 16 disappears before telling Desmond he will be with him always. Desmond is bought out of the Animus by a worried Lucy who doesn’t seem to know what happened. Whatever was encountered in the Animus seems to be gone. The knowledge Subject 16 had was only matched by his increasing insanity from The Bleeding Effect. While most of what he was able to communicate to Desmond could be the result of his madness and not be relevant at all, with everything else we have been able to find, it is fair to say that there are some elements of truth for Desmond. It is a shame that this is not touched on again in Brotherhood’s story as it is largely overlooked.
If any of what 16 said is true, it could have some very dangerous implications for Desmond’s future and the future of the Assassins but for now, we will have to wait for the next entry to understand more of what Subject 16 was trying to tell us.
