Detailed Analysis - Main Narrative
Heroes' Journey - Basim's Destiny
Something that Mirage has going for it as well as recent titles from the series is that every entry is both a sequel and a prequel. Continually moving forward in the Modern Day story while also being selective with its periods. Succeeding Valhalla (2020), Mirage follows the story of Basim, a young street thief on the streets of Baghdad. When we met him in Valhalla, Basim was a Hidden One (Assassin) of good standing, lethal, wise and as it turns out, hiding a few secrets. In Reality, Basim was an Isu (First Civilization) who reincarnated into a human many centuries later after the Second Catastrophe that wiped out the First Civ. In recent titles, the Isu storyline has become increasingly entangled with different mythologies, starting in Egypt and most recently with Norse with Basim himself being a reincarnation of Loki, the Norse God of Mischief.
Having the opportunity to follow his life before the events of Valhalla and learning what made him the man he is now is an exciting prospect because Basim was certainly likeable enough before his initial betrayal in Valhalla. Starting Basim’s journey in Baghdad we meet a street thief who has been scrounging to survive with his best friend Nehal. Basim is someone who sees the injustices forced upon the people by those in power and seeks to change things for the better Whereas Nehal is more concerned with her and Basim’s survival and this can put them at odds at times but this is effective for progressing the story. Naturally, this shows just how naive he is but it shows he has a good heart and since he’s an Assassin’s Creed Protagonist, you know he’s gonna be put into a position to pursue his dream and make a difference. Perhaps Basim's greatest conflict is his inner conflict. Even when he was a boy, Basim has been haunted by the shadows of a "Djinni", a spirit that haunts Basim's Dreams.
When he and Nehal infiltrate a royal palace they spy a secret meeting between the Khalifa (Ruler of Baghdad) and the Order of the Ancients who are the Villains of the game. The Khalifa is meeting with the order to hand over an object that he unearthed and this object is Basim and Nehal’s target so they strive to Acquire it. After touching it Basim activates the object which shows an arcane vision with scattered fragments of dialogue. Unfortunately, this slows them down and during their attempt to take the device, Nehal murders the Khalifa in self Defense and this causes things to spiral out of control with Basim cutting off ties with his old friend and running only to be found by the Hidden Ones, more specifically Roshan.
Meeting Roshan would be the catalyst for Basim to realise his dreams and make things right with himself and this would also create a dynamic that would be pivotal to Basim's growth. As a student, Basim is eager for Roshan's approval and to prove himself to the Hidden Ones and to his credit he is a dedicated student who is quick to learn and thrust himself into the fight between the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients. Armed with the tools he needs and his eagle companion, Enkidu. During his initiation, Basim and Roshan learn that the Hidden One's presence in Baghdad is diminished and so they journey to the round city to rectify that.
From the second Basim enters Baghdad he proves to be an efficient and intuitive Hidden One. Eliminating the puppets and members of The Order of the Ancients and fostering allies in the city, Basim proves to his mentor how dedicated he is but what makes this story more dramatic and conflicting is when Nehal comes back into his life. After eliminating his first target, Basim spots Nehal and even though he has sworn himself to the Hidden Ones and forsaken his former life, it is difficult for him to leave someone he cares for deeply behind. As Basim continues on his journey, Roshan and Nehal come to act as the respective Angel and Devil on his shoulders but they often don't have much bearing on his journey as he only seems to ask them for advice instead of changing his motives until we reach the end of the story.
After questioning the motives and frankly, attitude of Roshan, Basim begins to feel a sense of uneasiness especially since he seems to be making progress but things don't seem to be changing for him. This shows a selfishness in Basim but this is natural as he joined the hidden ones to make up for his past and everything he is doing doesn't seem to be helping him with his conscience. Things come to the head as he closes in on the leader of the order of the ancients. As he prepares himself to eliminate them, Roshan and Nehal's advice comes to a head. Nehal feels the leader of the order could give Basim some much-needed answers about himself and all Roshan wants is for him to eliminate the leader and this brings things to a head.
Before Basim can deliver the striking blow, the leader pleads to help Basim get his answers, and that there is a temple underneath the Hidden One's sanctuary that can give him his answers. Before Basim can consider an offer, Roshan eliminates the leader, knowing Basim may falter from his task so Roshan is prepared. Roshan gives Basim an ultimatum, accept his duties and responsibilities as a Hidden One or relinquish his standing because she will not allow access to the temple. Basim's need for answers naturally trumps his need to be a hidden one but he doesn't outright attack Roshan, rather they part ways. Reuniting with Nehal, Basim returns to the sanctuary and in a stroke of odd luck, the sanctuary is under attack by remnants of the order. Thankfully he doesn't have to fight his fellow hidden ones but that doesn't mean he's not in for a fight. Protecting as many of his brethren as he can, we dread to find Roshan so we do not encounter a tense situation but to add to the drama this would occur.
Reaching the base of the temple he finds Roshan who has clearly fought her way to the temple to protect it but didn't expect Basim. After a vicious fight, Basim is victorious and spares Roshan. No matter what it's doubtful that Basim would ever kill Roshan, especially after everything she did for him, even after Roshan's perceived betrayal. For years, no one has been able to access the temple but upon approaching the doors, the temple opens for Basim because it knows who is, more specifically what he is. Basim and Nehal enter the temple and after exploring the inner workings of the chambers, Basim discovers the true meaning of his nightmares, the Djinni and even Nehal but that's something to talk about later on. More importantly, he learns who he is and emerges from the temple with a clarity that he has never had before but he has also lost something. Uncovering his identity as Loki, Basim emerges and rejoins his fellow hidden ones, tricking them into believing that he is the same man who entered the temple. At one point Basim calls his trusted eagle companion, Enkidu, but Enkidu attacks Basim instead of perching on his arm. It goes to show that the man we journeyed with in his fight against the order is most definitely the same man anymore, in fact, there's a case to be made that Basim doesn't exist anymore. During his training, Basim struggled to bond with Enkidu but after some time, Enkidu grew comfortable around Basim. Now that Basim has his former memories, Enkidu instinctively knew Basim was gone and attacked him.
Basim underwent a deeply profound journey as he sought to understand what he wanted to be and who he was at his core. Having lost everything at a fairly young age he found solace in his friends and then even with the hidden ones, but that still wasn't enough for him. Basim has always wanted to be more, not only to himself but to others and he has shown his ability to inspire others and tip the scales of power in favour of the people. Beneath all of that were his nightmares, the visions of his Djinni and this created the need for him to learn as much as he could about himself and in the process he lost himself. He may have his memories and history but for all intents and purposes, Basim is gone and now only Loki remains, with his own goals and purposes in sight and for now the Hidden Ones are his best chances of fulfilling his goals. We all knew this was bound to happen, seeing this bright and dedicated man become the trickster we met in Valhalla, we knew that we were gonna see this happen but it was very bittersweet to see it as the man we may or may not have grown attached to is gone, replaced by a man who is nothing like the Basim we know. Basim's journey is definitely in the format of a hero's journey, but Basim isn't the typical hero we're used to and he may not even be a hero as his future leaves many questions up in the air that isn't likely to get answered soon and that's because Basim has another journey to go on before we understand what his plans are.
Plot Device - Memory Seal
Making a welcome return to the Assassin’s Creed Narrative are the memory seals. Introduced in Revelations (2011), they were Pivotal plot devices that progressed both Ezio and Altair’s story in meaningful and fulfilling ways. Since then we haven’t seen them and they haven’t been mentioned in meaningful ways but now they have made a return as an important part of Basim’s story. I’ve spoken about when Basim and Nehal infiltrated the Khalifa’s palace but I never said why. When Basim Visited a den full of street urchins and a base of operations in the city he met his friend Dervis who gives out contracts for the Hidden Ones.
When we meet Basim, he has already performed tasks for the hidden ones several times and respects their cause. So much so that he strives to be a part of their group and will go to any lengths to try and join them, much to Nehal and Dervis' annoyance. When the hidden ones approach Dervis they want information about the Khalifa's palace so they can learn about a meeting between the Khalifa and the order of the ancients. Naturally, the story wouldn't be able to progress without Basim thinking he could do what more skilled people could ever do.
Protecting her friend, Nehal of course accompanies Basim to the palace where they spy a meeting between the Khalifa and the order of the ancients. The Khalifa is the most powerful man in Baghdad and to see him being a subservient to the order only shows their power. The Khalifa has uncovered an object of significance for the order and this is what the hidden ones want. When The order and the khalifa leave the room leaving the object in the most secure room in the palace, Basim and Nehal seize their opportunity. The object is of course a memory seal, an ancient device that is imbued with memories. In Revelations Altair imbued 6 memory seals with important messages for future Assassins and they allowed Ezio to gain an insight into Altair's life and decide to lay down his arms. Typically they can't be utilised unless someone has a higher concentration of Isu genes so Basim has no problem accessing it.
Damaged and fragmented the disk activates when he touches it and shows him visions of what seems to be a confrontation between 2 people, most likely long ago. Before the memory can be finished they are interrupted by the Khalifa which leads to Nehal killing him in self-defence, much to Basim's horror. After they feel, Basim cuts ties with Nehal and he hides, with the memory seal in his possession. It wouldn't take too long before Roshan would find Basim, having been made aware of the Khalifa's murder and it would be from here that Roshan would recruit Basim into the Hidden Ones. This event with the memory seal would force Basim to leave his old life behind and thrust him into the conflict between the hidden ones and the order of the ancients but the memory of what the seal showed him would stick with Basim and would make him hungry for answers.
Long after this, Basim would be a fully accomplished Hidden One in good standing, having single handily eliminated the order from Baghdad but regardless, the memory of the seal knawed at him constantly and eventually it came to a head when he made efforts to enter the temple under Alamut and fight Roshan, his trusted mentor. Without the memory seal, Basim's journey would never have progressed but it feels like they could have been integrated to represent greater narratives but it was a nice call back to classic Assassin’s Creed Games.
Trope - Loss of Loved Ones
At the heart of every Assassin’s Creed story and their heroes’ is the loss of loved ones and this is what drives them on their path forward. Naturally in a game with Assassin in the title, we can expect people to die but unfortunately, the death of loved ones happens consistently in virtually every Assassin’s Creed story. Ezio became an Assassin and saved most of Italy because the Templars killed most of their family and Connor lost his mother when he was 6 years old and it goes on and on.
Losing family or friends is at the core of Assassin’s Creed but after many, many titles it has become a tired cliche/Trope for the series and with Mirage it doesn’t change. Sadly Mirage’s way of utilising this technique is significantly weaker. At the start, Basim comes to a covert of child thieves with whom Basim is well-liked. Basim has a bond with these kids and they're a nice lot but we meet these kids for about a total of 15 mins. When Basim learns the hidden ones want something in the Khalifa’s palace, he wants to get it so he can prove to the hidden ones his worth and this is where the trope comes into effect.
When Basim finds the Memory seal the khalifa finds him and Nehal and is killed by Nehal in self-defense. Running from the palace, pursued by all the guards in the city, Basim and Nehal separate and meet back at the den, only to find all the children have been brutally killed. Basim blames Nehal for this and it's because of this that he decides to cut ties with her. Their deaths are sad and while they impact Basim's story they sadly don't tug at the heartstrings of both new and old fans of the series. It also lacked the shock factor as we saw this move happening a mile away whereas past titles at least gave us as players an attachment to the characters that are killed so sadly Mirage did not do a good job at recycling the trope.
Agency - Basim's Demon
At the core of Basim’s journey are his nightmares. In his dreams, he is haunted by visions of Djinni. The only other person he has told is Nehal, his most trusted friend. When Basim first sees the Djinni in our view, he constantly runs from the spirit and is paralyzed by fear whenever it draws near. After the events at the Khalifa’s palace and cutting off ties with Nehal, Basim sees the djinni one last time, during his training to become a Hidden One. This isn’t a coincidence. Through much of his life, the Djinni seems manifested by fear and Uncertainty as part of his training he learns to embrace his fear and focus on the moment. An agent of justice, Basim learns to find stillness in his mind and he would not see the Djinni again for a long time but things don’t last forever.
After Basim eliminates his first target, Basim sees the djinni again, in fact, everytime he assassinates a target, the djinni always comes to Basim, drawing ever closer to him. This begins to concern Basim as the djinni has never been anything more than a phantom, a Mirage so to speak. This would no longer be the case as with every kill, the Djinni would draw ever closer to Basim, reaching out for him. This would culminate in manifesting doubts for Basim and the hidden ones and he would eventually be forced to enter the precursor temple under Alamnut and discover a secret long bruied about himself and the Djinni but we'll reach that part soon.
Plot Twist - Roshan's Motives
When we meet the mysterious and Secretive Hidden One, it’s when Basim learns of a new contract from Dervis who is a conduit between Basim and the Hidden Ones. When Basim learns of the hidden ones' interest in the Khalifa’s palace, Basim goes in their stead and causes the Aforementioned trouble. After finding his little hobble, he rests until the next day he is found by Roshan. Roshan’s motives seem to be information since Basim saw the meeting and wants to know exactly what he heard and saw as well as what information the memory seal contained.
Basim knows little but he shows a keen spirit and a good heart. With these qualities in mind as well as the fact that Basim won't be safe on his own, Roshan takes him to Alamut, the sanctuary of the Hidden Ones. Basim trains tirelessly, dedicated to becoming an agent and a valued member of the group, under Roshan's watchful eye. During their time together, Roshan imparts much of her knowledge to Basim and he in turn trusts her with his past and his personal demons. There is a strong bond between Teacher and Student, the teacher has a duty of care over their student and the student trusts them to teach them about the world. Basim's dedication to the Hidden Ones is admired by Roshan and she takes pride in his progression and this would only grow.
As Basim eliminates the order in Baghdad his visions of the Djinni continue to plague him and draw ever closer to him he confides in Roshan seeking help. Roshan, not really believing him does offer words of wisdom but the words are less about wisdom and more about subservience, encouraging Basim to focus on the tasks at hand. With Roshan asking him to help others Basim, struggles as he is constantly at odds with himself because of this. Not only that but because of Nehal, Basim begins growing doubts about Roshan which doesn't help during his final mission in Baghdad. When he confronts the leader of the Order of the Ancients, Basim is stalled from eliminating them as she claims to hold the secrets of who Basim is. Hesitating, Roshan eliminates the leader after having followed Basim, uncertain of his resolve. This breaks the trust between Teacher and Student and forces Basim to make a choice, to ignore his own needs or relinquish the Hidden Ones. Roshan is uncertain of his needs so she decides to give him a choice, come near the temple and she'll kill him, a daring blow for Basim.
When Basim draws near to the Temple, it's revealed that Roshan knew there was more to who Basim was and that the whole reason she recruited him was so she could keep an eye on him. Roshan preached freedom for all but didn't see the same for Hidden Ones. They are in service to the people and because of that Roshan sees a direct link between disobedience to the Hidden Ones to betraying them and the people. Roshan is so devout that she pledged to protect the temple, even if it meant killing Basim, her pupil and fellow Hidden One. When Basim enters the temple and re-emerges, her dedication to the Hidden Ones is not shattered but rather dulled. It's unclear what she expected from her fellow Hidden Ones about what to do with Basim but it's clear she was unhappy with what was decided as Basim remains with the Hidden Ones. Because of this, she walks away, after spending many years with the Hidden Ones, she decides to leave them behind because of Basim. Basim's actions would have many ramifications but this one is more impactful to the Hidden Ones as it would sow a seed of doubt for the Hidden Ones concerning Basim, after losing their arguably greatest warrior and Basim different to when he walked into the Temple.
Roshan’s motives show much of the hypocrisy of the Hidden Ones (Assassins). Although the Shadowy order preaches free will and equality, it doesn’t show the same for many of it’s own members, asking them to relinquish who they are and be in service to the people. While they have improved in the years since Mirage’s store, this is still a core failing of the order and Roshan’s betrayal shows an underlying issue with them and it shown nicely in Mirage’s story. It was an effective twist, although when it hit, it felt like we did see it coming but the same can’t be said for the next twist.
Plot Twist - Nehal's Identity
After Basim, Nehal is the first person we meet on Basim’s adventure. His childhood friend and trusted Confidant, Basim and Nehal’s relationship lies at the heart of Mirage’s story and would become the cornerstone of the story. Nehal acts as a domino which forces many of the events in Mirage’s story and Basim’s journey to unfold and her true purpose becomes very interesting and was actually quite shocking when we found out.
Basim's closest friend, Nehla is a rebellious and self-centred person who encourages Basim to look out for himself quite often, often finding his need to help the Hidden ones foolish. Despite this, she is no less supportive even so far as infiltrating the Khalifa's palace with Basim. Her loyalty shows when Basim is attacked by the Khalifa and she kills him to save her friend.
Her killing of the Khalifa caused the killing of many innocent people and this caused a rift between her and Basim. They eventually wouldn't meet again for a long time, until Basim killed his first target and spotted her at the marketplace where it happened. Seeking to reconnect with his old friend, even though he swore an oath to leave his old life behind, Basim ignores this in favour of help. When Nehal enters his life again, so too does the Djinni that haunts him. An odd coincidence, unlikely as coincidence is not something that happens often in Assassin's Creed. Back in Brotherhood (2010), coincidence has never been what it seems and the case would be the same in Mirage's story.
Proving to be the Devil on his shoulder, Nehal constantly questions Basim's motives, encouraging him to think for himself which continues to invite more doubt into his mind. Everytime Basim kills a target the Djinni continues to get closer to him and is never able to run. One would wonder if Nehal is even Basim's friend as it seems she doesn't accept or support his choices. A true friend may not accept the choice but they have an almost unspoken duty to support them but isn't evident in Nehal and things come to a head when Basim hunts down the leader of the Order of the Ancients.
After Roshan's betrayal, Nehal cares for Basim after his exertion and travels with him to the temple. As they find signs of a siege, Basim loses consciousness and can't find Nehal. Nehal only reappears again as Basim is about to enter the temple. Nehal has had a bad habit of pulling a Batman now and then, disappearing without a trace and this would be understood finally as Basim enters the Temple. When Basim finds a hidden chamber, he finds a capsule which looks to house a secret. Wasting no time, Basim opens it, against Nehal's insistence, only to find the impossible: Nehal is inside the capsule.
During Basim's journey, Nehal has been there from the beginning, usually by his side, at moments in his life which caused uncertainty and support and she was always there, but she wasn't. Nehal was never there to begin with. It took a while to see but no one other than Basim had ever interacted with Nehal, no one ever acknowledged her. That's because she has always been trapped in the capsule, its true purpose is clear, it's a prison.
This brings up another point, whenever Basim was with Nehal, the Djinni never seemed far away. The first time we saw it, the Djinni was face-to-face with it. When he cut ties with Nehal and joined the Hidden Ones, the Djinni still haunted him but began to leave him when he found stillness in the Hidden Ones. As soon as Basim killed his first target doubt crept into his mind and allowed the Djinni and Nehal to come back into his life, every time he killed a target, his doubt grew and this allowed the Djinni to get closer and Nehal certainly wasn't helping and now we know why.
Nehal and the Djinni are the same entity with a much deeper meaning. Seemingly entering his mind, Basim comes face-to-face with the Djinni and comes to terms with what it is, Basim himself or rather something else. The Djinni is a memory of a past life that represents pain and misery. Accepting this Basim banishes the Djinni from his mind. This should have been the end of it but seeing as it's a prequel and we know how Basim turns out we know exactly what will happen next. After banishing the Djinni, Nehal comes to him.
The Djinni was a memory, Nehal is Basim's entire past life. A personality that he has resisted for so long. He accepts that he may never see Nehal again but accepts her and reunites with his past, becoming Loki. It's unclear exactly why Basim's past life looked like Nehal, possibly to make it easier to accept or perhaps because she resembled someone in his past life, but either way, Nehal's plot twist was something I didn't actually see coming and learning that the Djinni was essentially an aspect of Nehal was also an original storytelling idea.
Future Prospects - Modern Day
Assassin’s Creed has never been a game that has always supported a dual narrative. In the modern day, we follow an individual who would relive the memories of their ancestor using the Animus, a device that unlocks genetic memories and Recreates them, exactly how they happened. The Animus is an incredible idea that is both original and inspired by things like “The Matrix” and has served as the foundation for the series since its debut and it Isn't going away anytime soon.
What perhaps is going away is the Modern Day Narrative. Containing a dual narrative the modern day focuses on the current struggle between the Assassins and Templars while someone uses the Animus to find an edge in the past using the DNA of an individual. In recent games, we had been following Layla Hassan who joined the Assassins in 2017. In 2020 she received a strange message to find the remains of a Viking warrior, Eivor Varrinsdottir. What makes Eivor so special is she is like Basim, an Isu reincarnation of a precursor known as Odin. Eivor likewise encountered the Hidden Ones and travelled with them to England and helped them eliminate the Order of the Ancients. While her main point of contact was a Hidden One named Hytham, he was only a novice, Eivor was actually dealing with Basim.
Proving to be a strong ally, Basim aided Eivor's exploits in England but had a purpose in mind. He was planning to betray Eivor. Having gained his memories, Basim sought to find those responsible for wronging him in the past and Odin/ Eivor was one of them. Despite Eivor not having their memories, Basim attacked Eivor but bested the Hidden One trapping him in a stasis of sorts. 1000 years later, Basim would trick Layla into finding him so he could escape and she would take his place. Basim was set loose upon the Modern world and rejoined Layla's Assassin comrades, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. Seeking to bring the fight to the Templars, Basim requested a meeting with the Assassin leader William Miles.
While Basim was exploring Eivor's memories, William met him in the Animus and they discussed an allegiance. William had a condition and that was for Basim's DNA so that he could view his memories. It's assumed that not only did he relive the memories but he wanted to show the memories to the rest of the Modern Day Assassin, insisting they change the way they operate and question the Creed like Basim did. It shows a curious prospect of what the future might look like but unfortunately, this is all the information we are given about current events. Over the past few entries, the Modern Day narrative has shown a consistent downward spiral and it's only gotten worse with Mirage. While Mirage's story might open the chapter for something new, it is worrying to see that Modern Day isn't getting much attention but hopefully, that is primed to change. In the coming entries, Ubisoft will be making strides on improving the Modern Day story with the inclusion of "Infinity", a future project that is meant to shine a light on the Modern Day for the foreseeable future.
