Assassin's Creed: Outside the Animus

 

Disclaimer:
1. The writing is spoiler heavy. Read only if you have already played the games or have no plan to play these games in future.

2. Inside Animus or original AC story is not concern of this writing. Here, only outside Animus plot will be described as it is so underrated and also complex.

3. DLC’s are not covered.

Assassin’s Creed (2007)

In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles is kidnapped by agents of Abstergo Industries, the world's largest pharmaceutical conglomerate, and is taken to the headquarters in Rome, Italy. Under the guidance of Dr. Warren Vidic and his assistant Lucy Stillman, Desmond is forced to participate in a series of trials revolving around the "Animus", a machine capable of translating the genetic memories of his ancestors into a simulated reality. Vidic instructs him to relive the early years of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad , a senior member of the Assassin Brotherhood during the time of the Third Crusade by entering the Animus.

Desmond's dive in Animus reveals "Apple of Eden", a relic of a long-forgotten civilization said to possess god-like powers. He also comes to know about fights between the assassins and order of Templars, also megalomaniac face of mentor and superior assassin Al Mualim.

Discovering inside Animus also unlocks a secret map which reveals the location of countless other Pieces of Eden around the world. Coming back from Animus, Vidic reveals to Desmond that Abstergo is the modern incarnation of the Templars. Lucy, who turns out to be a mole planted by the modern-day Assassins, mysteriously disappears. While awaiting her return, Desmond discovers strange drawings covering the walls of his room, which foretell a catastrophic event that will wipe out humanity.

 

Assassin’s Creed II (2009)

After the events of Assassin’s Creed I, Desmond Miles is rescued from confinement by Lucy and taken to a remote safehouse, where he meets her team, consisting of historian and analyst Shaun Hastings and technician Rebecca Crane. Using design plans stolen by Lucy, they construct their own version of the Animus, which they intend to use to train Desmond as an Assassin through the so-called Bleeding Effect, which allows the user to learn all their ancestor's skills at a rapid pace. Desmond is assigned to investigate the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

But Desmond starts to suffer side-effects from the Bleeding Effect, unwillingly experiencing a memory in which Altaïr is shown continuing his ancestry with Maria Thorpe, a Templar turncoat he previously encountered on his adventures and fell in love with. He also finds a series of glyphs similar to the drawings he found in his cell, which, when deciphered, reveal a vision of two human slaves stealing an Apple. The video ends with the ASCII codes (in binary) for "EDEN". The team theorizes that the two humans may be Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.

Back in 1499, Ezio beat Rodrigo, the main antagonist and paired Apple of Eden with Papal Staff (which is also a Piece of Eden) and entered to “the vault”, a chamber believed to contain a power greater than any the world has ever known. Inside, Ezio is contacted by a strange woman named Minerva. Aware that Desmond is listening (in current timeline), Minerva explains how her people, the First Civilization, created humanity to serve them, but were subsequently destroyed by a great catastrophe. The survivors joined forces with their former servants, building a network of vaults to both preserve their technology and culture and serve as a preventive measure against a future disaster. Before vanishing, she tells Desmond that only he has the power to fulfill the "prophecy", leaving both Desmond and Ezio confused as to what she means.

In current timeline, Abstergo agents led by Vidic enter the hideout and force the team to escape and abandon everything but the Animus. As they head to a new location, Lucy informs Desmond that the Assassins have detected strange occurrences in the Earth’s Magnetic Field; namely, a solar flare scheduled to pass the planet in a few months, that would likely trigger the same event that ended the First Civilization.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010)

After escaping the Templars' (Abstergo’s) attack, Desmond, Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun flee to Monteriggioni, establishing a new hideout in the ruins of the Villa Auditore, Ezio’s home. After restoring the electricity in the old tunnels under the villa, Desmond dives in Animus. Their mission is to find the Apple of Eden, an important and mysterious artifact that could prevent the impending disaster coming that believed to be perpetrated by the Templars.

Inside Animus, Desmond comes to know about battle between Ezio and Cesare, son of Rodrigo and main antagonist of current game. Ezio defeats Cesare and akes the Apple and hides it in a First Civilization Temple built underneath the Roman Colosseum.

In current day, Using the coordinates taken from Ezio's memories, Desmond, Lucy, Shaun, and Rebecca travel to the Temple, intending to use the Apple to locate the remaining Temples and keep the other Pieces of Eden out of the Templars' hands. As Desmond makes his way into the Temple, he is confronted with holographic apparitions of Juno, who appears to be of First Civilization; however, she is neither audible nor visible to Lucy, Shaun, or Rebecca. Most of her comments center on humanity's lack of knowledge. Eventually she gets angry.

As Desmond approaches the Apple and touches it, time freezes around him, though he can still move and speak. Juno cryptically states that Desmond is descended from her race, and is their enemy; she also says there is a woman who would accompany him through "the gate," but must not be allowed to. She takes control of Desmond's body and forces him to stab Lucy in the abdomen. Both fall to the ground, with Lucy dead and Desmond entering a coma.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (2011)

While Shaun stays behind in Rome to attend Lucy's funeral, Rebecca takes unconscious Desmond to New York City and meets with his father, William Miles. In an effort to save Desmond's mind, they place him back in the Animus, though this time in the machine's safe mode, known as the "Black Room".

Upon awakening on Animus Island, the original Animus testing program located within the Black Room, Desmond meets the preserved consciousness of Clay Kaczmarek (Subject 16) who occupied Abstergo's Animus before him. Clay explains that Desmond's mind is broken, and the only way for him to repair it is by reliving his ancestors' memories until there is nothing left for them to show Desmond, at which point the Animus can separate Desmond from Ezio and Altaïr, and awaken Desmond from his coma. Desmond enters the Animus Island's memory portal, which places him back in the perspective of Ezio.

In 1511, Ezio travels Syria discover secrets of Altaïr and find the true purpose of the Assassins. He eventually unlocks Altaïr's library and finds Altaïr's Apple of Eden there. Ezio learns that Altaïr had sealed himself inside to preserve its secret from the Templars. Ezio leaves this Apple in the library, stating that he had seen enough for one life. He then begins talking directly to Desmond, not knowing exactly who or when (or where) he is, but knowing that he is watching. He tells Desmond that he realizes that he is a medium for a message, and expresses hope that Desmond will be able to find answers to the questions he and Altaïr had worked so hard to uncover.

Suddenly, Desmond is approached by Jupiter, a member of the First Civilization. He explains that the First Civilization tried their best but failed to stop the solar flare from destroying their civilization. Jupiter shows Desmond the location of the central vault, which is located somewhere in New York, and tells him that he must save the planet from an impending second solar flare. Upon hearing Jupiter's words, Desmond awakens from his coma and finds Rebecca and William standing with him, along with Shaun, who has returned from Rome.

 

Assassin’s Creed III (2012)

Desmond, his father William, Rebecca and Shaun find the Grand Temple of the First Civilization in a cave in New York state and access it using their Apple of Eden. After partially activating the temple, Juno uses it to communicate with Desmond. Desmond is placed in the Animus where Juno's influence causes him to experience the life of his ancestor Haytham Kenway in 1754. Later, Desmond is shifted to experience as Connor, Haytham’s son. But Desmond is occasionally roused from the Animus to retrieve power cells from Manhattan and Brazil, necessary for activating the Temple, before the Templar Daniel Cross can take them. William goes after the final cell himself but is captured by the Abstergo Industries. Desmond assaults the facility, kills Cross, Vidic and rescues his father William in Italy.

Desmond retrieves the Key and accesses the Temple's inner chambers. Juno informs him that activating the pedestal will save the world, but at the cost of his life. Minerva appears before them, opposing the plan as it will free Juno, who was sealed away in the temple to prevent her conquering humanity. Juno and Minerva explain that if the solar flare occurs, Desmond will be one of the few survivors in a post-apocalyptic world and become a mentor to the other survivors. After Desmond's later death, he will become revered as a god, whose well-intended legacy will be manipulated to control future generations, restarting the cycle of religious conflict throughout history. Desmond chooses to sacrifice himself in order to save humanity and give them the opportunity to fight Juno rather than be destroyed. William, Shaun, and Rebecca leave the temple as Desmond activates the pedestal; a global aurora protects the planet from the solar eruption. Juno commends Desmond's choice and declares that it is time for her part to begin.

 

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

Two years after the events of Assassin's Creed III, samples taken from Desmond Miles' after his death have allowed Abstergo Industries to continue exploring his genetic memories using the Animus' newfound cloud computing abilities. An unnamed player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment, from their Montréal headquarters, to go through the memories of Edward Kenway, an eighteenth-century pirate, the father of Haytham Kenway. Abstergo are searching for a First Civilization structure known as the Observatory, and are using Edward's memories to find it. Outside Animus the game is continued in first person till Assassins Creed: Origins, so player characters identity is not revealed. 

In the present day, the player is contacted by John, Abstergo Entertainment's information technology manager. John convinces the player that their employers know more than they are telling and encourages them to investigate in more detail. He convinces the player to hack several Animus terminals and security cameras and then has them deliver the information taken to Shaun and Rebecca, who are working undercover to infiltrate Abstergo. When the facility is locked down after the hacks are discovered, John arranges for the player to access the Animus' core, at which point Juno takes into an non-material form. She reveals that although it was necessary to open her temple to avert disaster, the world was not ready for her, and she is unable to affect it or possess the player character as her agents intended. John is unmasked as the reincarnated form of Bartholomew Roberts (a sage and one of main antagonist of current game) and attempts to murder the player to cover up the failed attempt at resurrecting Juno, but is killed by Abstergo's security before he can do so, thus implicating him as the one responsible for the hacks. With the Sage dead, the player is contacted by the Assassins as they continue their infiltration of Abstergo, but neither side is able to explain the Sage's presence or identify his followers, the Instruments of the First Will (secretive polytheistic religious organization who worship the First Civilization as their deities).

*Sages, classified as Hyper-Hominids by Abstergo Industries, are human reincarnations of the people of First Civilization.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Rogue (2014)

The player is researching Shay's (protagonist of current game) memories for Abstergo Entertainment when they inadvertently trip a hidden memory file that infects the Animus servers. Abstergo is placed in lockdown, and the player cleans the Animus servers out by living Cormac's later memories. Berg, a senior member of the Templars, later orders the player to upload Shay's memories to the Assassin servers in order to weaken their resolve by showing how close Achilles Davenport (mentor of Connor) came to destroying the world and the Assassins betraying Shay. The Assassin Brotherhood responds by cutting off their communications. Berg thanks the player for their help, and gives him a choice: join the Templar order, or die.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2014)

The "Initiate" is a gaming device produced by Abstergo that allows access to many different genetic memories. The player uses it to experience as a templar who hid a magical sword called “Sword of Eden” and a book. After the templar is killed, in modern day, member of the modern-day Assassin Brotherhood, codenamed: "Bishop," hijacks the memory sequence and implores the player to join them as an initiate. Bishop provides an internal Abstergo video memo, in which Abstergo describes the capture of a Sage who contains precursor DNA (which is in a triple–rather than a double–helix). In a project called Phoenix, Abstergo hopes to use the Sage to compile a whole precursor genome for unclear purposes. Bishop provides access to another memory segment and directs the new initiate to locate another Sage, whose corpse they hope to recover. Note that, main antagonist of this game, Germain is also a Sage.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (2015)

In the present day, the player, now an Assassin Initiate, is once again contacted by Bishop from the Assassin Brotherhood and is tasked with reliving the memories of twin Assassins, Jacob and Evie Frye, to find Shroud of Eden hidden in London.

Rebecca and Shaun spy on a meeting between senior Templar figures Isabelle and Álvaro Gramática. Rebecca and Shaun attempt to capture Isabelle but she had anticipated the ambush, revealing that Sigma Team leader Berg and Violet da Costa were there to intercept the two assassins. Nevertheless, the two manage to flee when Bishop detonates a pre-planted explosive.

After beating Starrick, main antagonist of current game inside Animus, the player come to know the location of the Shroud of Eden. Shaun, Rebecca, and Russian Assassin Galina Voronina head to the vault. Unfortunately, Berg, Violet da Costa, and Ardant beat them there and a fight ensues in which Berg is knocked unconscious, Rebecca is shot and wounded and Ardant is killed by Shaun while da Costa escapes with the Shroud. Hacking Isabelle's computer, the Assassins find out the Templars plan to use the Shroud to construct a living Precursor. The recording also shows that Juno is secretly manipulating certain employees within Abstergo from behind the scenes to sabotage the company, and has her own plans for the Shroud. Juno also contacts the player through the simulation, leading them into a new memory segment of Lydia Frye (granddaughter of Jacob Frye), where she tracks down and kills a Sage in a war-torn London during World War I.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (2017)

Layla Hassan, a former researcher for Abstergo Industries, is tasked with finding and retrieving an artifact in Egypt for the Assassin Brotherhood. Instead, she finds a tomb containing the mummies of Bayek and Aya. Hoping to find any relevant information that would secure her a position in the company's Animus Project, Layla decides to relive both Bayek and Aya's memories using a modified Animus without telling her superiors. When Layla fails to report in, Abstergo sends a team to kill her, but their plan fails. Layla returns to the Animus but is later wakened by William Miles, the current assassin mentor and the father of the deceased Desmond. She accepts his offer to work with the Assassins but stops short of actually joining them. The two depart for modern-day Alexandria. In experiencing Bayek's memories, Layla encounters a series of ancient structures built by the First Civilization. Each contains a message that alludes to Layla playing a pivotal role in an upcoming apocalyptic event.

 

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (2018)

Layla Hassan recovers the Spear of Spartan king Leonidas and together with her physician Victoria Bibeau, extracts the DNA of two individuals from it, the siblings Kassandra and Alexios. With help from the Assassins, Layla picks one of the siblings and activates the Animus to find the location of the Staff of Hermes.

Layla uses the data from the Animus to find Atlantis (Ancient and advanced First Civilization city) and activate it with the help of fellow Assassins Victoria Bibeau, Kiyoshi Takakura and Alannah Ryan. As the Assassins analyze the data within, Layla is shocked to find the Misthios (Kassandra or Alexios, whomever you choose to play), kept alive until modern times by the Staff of Hermes. The Misthios warns Layla that the world needs a balance between order and chaos, the Assassins and Templar Order respectively, and either side prevailing over the other will result in the world's doom. The Misthios also explains that Layla is the prophesied one who will bring balance to order and chaos and gives her the Staff of Hermes, sacrificing his/her life in the process.

In “The Fate of Atlantis” DLC, Layla experiences all these trials as the Misthios by order of the Aletheia (An Isu), so she could become the Staff's Keeper. After the rebellion in Elysium (a realm in First Civilization), she was pulled out forcefully from Animus by Victoria Bibeau, who fears what this is doing to her. As the two argue, an Abstergo strike team arrives, and Layla kills all but one, telling him to tell their boss Berg that he lost.

After helping Hades (Brother of Poseidon and an Isu), Layla is once again forced out by Victoria Bibeau, who is taking the staff away to keep Layla from killing herself. Layla takes the staff back and accidentally kills Victoria, angering Aletheia, who fears she chose poorly. Layla is able to convince her to give her another chance. After Atlantis' destruction, Layla is warned of Berg. He wants the staff for the Templar Order to ensure they survive the coming End, but Layla refuses to give it up. They fight and she wins, crippling Berg after telling him the Templars have lost the fight.

* In this game, Greek and Roman Gods are shown as First Civilization. They are also called Isu.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (2020)

A year after the events in Atlantis, the unexplained and continual strengthening of Earth's magnetic field has started to disrupt global satellite communications and is adversely affecting the environment. The Assassins receive a mysterious signal leading them to co-ordinates in England, where Layla, Shaun, and Rebecca Crane digout the remains of a 9th century Norwegian Viking raider, Eivor. Layla, struggling under the influence of the Staff of Hermes and her guilt over her involvement in the death of Victoria Bibeau, enters the Animus to view the raider's memories.

In the Animus, Eivor and Sigurd (Eivor’s brother, not by blood though) are confronted by Basim (fellow from Arab who joined them previously in conquering territories) in a hidden Isu temple, who reveals that Eivor, Sigurd, and himself are reincarnations of Odin, Tyr, and Loki respectively. An enraged Basim attacks Eivor, seeking revenge for Odin's treatment of Fenrir (Loki’s wolf child), but Eivor manages to trap Basim in the computer (yes, in 9th century!) with Sigurd's help.

In the present, it is deduced from Eivor's memories that the strengthening magnetic field is a result of Desmond’s activation of the Isu towers to protect Earth from coronal mass ejection in 2012 (Assassin’s Creed III), with the field growing gradually but persistently ever since. To return the field to its proper strength, Layla travels to the Norway temple (where Eivor and Sigurd entered), bringing the Staff of Hermes to protect herself from the lethal radiation now within. Layla enters the temple's simulation computer and encounters Basim, who has been trapped for over a thousand years. Basim reveals that he was the one who sent the message leading the Assassins to Eivor, and instructs Layla on how to stabilize the magnetic field. This in turn releases Basim. Now trapped in the simulation, Layla encounters a being called the Reader (implied to be Desmond), and together they work to prevent another inevitable extinction event. Meanwhile, Basim steals the Staff of Hermes–containing the consciousness of his lover, Aletheia (I mean lover of Loki)–and rejuvenates his body before escaping the temple. He later meets with Shaun and Rebecca and requests to meet William Miles. After they leave, Basim reenters the Animus to track down his missing children.

* In this game, Norse Gods are shown as Isu. Funny thing is, Loki is now living in current time as Basim.

Source: Wikipedia