Following the ending of Brotherhood, present-day protagonist
Desmond Miles has fallen into a coma due to the combined stress of being forced
into killing Lucy Stillman, being controlled by 'Juno' the hologram attached to
the 'Apple of Eden' or a piece of Eden with hints of prolonged exposure in the
Animus. While Shaun Hastings stays behind in Rome to attend Lucy's funeral,
Rebecca Crane takes Desmond to New York and meets with his father, William
Miles. In an effort to save Desmond's mind, the duo places 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 consciousness of
Subject Sixteen, who occupied Abstergo's Animus before him. Sixteen 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 Auditore. Four years after ending
the life of Cesare Borgia, Ezio has traveled to the former Assassin's fortress
in Masyaf to discover secrets Altaïr had previously discovered, and find the
true purpose of the Assassins. Upon arriving, he finds Masyaf taken by the
Templars, who mark him for death. Ezio escapes to the bowels of the castle,
where he discovers the entrance to Altaïr's library. He learns that five
disc-like "keys" are required to unlock the door; that the Templars
have one underneath the Ottoman Sultan's palace; and the rest lie hidden in
Constantinople, part of the Ottoman Empire. He travels there and is
greeted by Yusuf Tazim, leader of the Turkish Assassin Order, and befriends
a young student named Suleiman. Ezio learns that the keys were hidden in
the city by Niccoló Polo. While searching for the old Polo trading post, Ezio
encounters and befriends Sofia Sartor, a young Italian traveler and book
collector, and eventually falls in love with her. Ezio discovers the locations
of the remaining keys with Sofia's help, all the while keeping his intentions,
growing feelings and position a secret from her.
Meanwhile, Constantinople is in chaos due to conflicts
between Prince Ahmet and his brother Selim, who are quarreling over who will
inherit the Sultanate. Caught in the middle of the conflict, Suleiman reveals
to Ezio that he is an Ottoman prince (Selim's son), and that he suspects the
Templars are behind the feud. Ezio uncovers evidence that Manuel Palaiologos,
with Templar support, is attempting to raise an army to overthrow the Ottomans
and reestablish the Byzantine Empire. Ezio kills Manuel and recovers the final
key, only to discover that Ahmet is the true mastermind of the Templar plot
to open Altaïr's library.
During these events, Ezio uses the keys in his possession to
witness Altaïr's life after the events depicted in the first game. After
killing Al-Mualim, Altaïr took possession of the Apple of Eden and assumed
leadership of the Assassins. One of the Assassins, Abbas, did not support
Altaïr due to past events, and for killing Al Mualim. When Altaïr and his wife
Maria left Masyaf for 10 years to repel the Mongol invasion, Abbas staged a
coup d'etat, seizing control of the Assassins and executing Altaïr's youngest
son Sef. Altaïr sought revenge; but as Maria tried to stop him, another
Assassin stabbed Maria in the back. Altaïr was forced to flee with his elder
son, Darim, and went into self-imposed exile for 20 years. Altaïr finally
returned to Masyaf, killed Abbas, then took his rightful place as the
Assassins' leader. In the process, Altaïr told the dying Abbas the truth of the
latter's father's death. Years later, an aged Altaïr encodes his memories
on the five keys Ezio would find, entrusting them to Niccoló.
In Constantinople, Ezio discovers that Ahmet has killed
Yusuf and kidnapped Sofia, demanding the keys in exchange for her life. Ezio
agrees, but immediately gives chase upon ensuring Sofia's safety. He recovers
the keys, but before he can deal with Ahmet, Selim arrives with his armies and
executes Ahmet himself, after saying that their father "made his
choice." Due to his son Suleiman's endorsement, Selim has Ezio leave
Constantinople, warning him never to return again. After completing this
memory, the Animus begins to delete excess data—including Animus Island.
Sixteen sacrifices himself to prevent Desmond from being deleted by the
Animus.
Ezio and Sofia return to Masyaf, where Ezio uses the keys to
unlock Altaïr's library. He finds it empty except for Altaïr's skeleton and a
sixth key. He discovers that the library was not meant to hold books—rather, it
was a vault meant to house Altaïr's Apple of Eden. Through the key, Ezio
learns that Altaïr had sealed himself inside to preserve its secret from the
Templars. Ezio leaves this Apple in the library, saying "I have seen
enough for one life." He then begins talking directly to Desmond, not
knowing exactly who (or where) he is, but knowing that he is watching. While
talking he discards his weapons. He tells Desmond that he realises that he is a
"conduit for a message". He 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 had built numerous
vaults to study methods to save the planet from destruction. All of the data
collected was transmitted to a central vault, where the data was tested. None
of the methods were effective, however, and they failed to stop the solar flare
from destroying their civilization. Jupiter shows Desmond the location of the
central vault, which from the map 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. Desmond states that he knows what they must now do;
meanwhile, the central vault activates underground.
No comments:
Post a Comment