Mechanics like the insta-kill hidden blade and social stealth finding their home in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s “RPG-lite” approach, and the game truly feels like a balance between the old and new. On top of that, the story brings back familiar faces while introducing brand new ones, and to cap it all off, there’s a very subtle reference to some mostly-ignored lore in Assassin’s Creed 2 in the main story.
Due to the nature of this article, there will be MASSIVE SPOILERS ahead for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. If players want to make the connection themselves or experience the ending fresh, please TURN BACK now.
Eivor sees the Isu known as Odin, Tyr, and others survive “Ragnarok,” but as the secret ending removes the cultural lens, it shows how this group of Isu survived the Great Catastrophe by drinking a special mead to be reincarnated years later. This was one way the Isu tried to survive the event, but as seen throughout the franchise, it’s not the only. One other important piece of Isu lore is how they created humanity to be slaves…until a rebellion was concocted by two Human-Isu hybrids, Adam and Eve.
In Assassin’s Creed 2, players unlock the above video after finding all 20 Subject 16 glyphs. It shows how they try to escape, gives an odd glimpse at Isu society, and it made little sense at the time. The Human-Isu War would later be more contextualized as an event that distracted both groups from the forthcoming Catastrophe, at least for the pantheon based on (or that inspired) Roman deities. It seems that the Norse pantheon may have been distracted by Loki, but whether those connect is neither here nor there.
Boiled down, Adam and Eve were the original characters to resist Isu rule in the Assassin’s Creed games. Some Isu worked with humans to prevent the catastrophe again in 2012, but there have been Isu like Juno who are repulsed by the idea. Adam and Eve were celestial-like representations for humanity’s protection against the world’s catastrophes, even when going against the Isu.
In the same context, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s ending makes the most sense. Players meet The Reader who is actually Desmond Miles, being transformed into a being of pure energy by August 2020. His mind has been in the gray so long that, while immediately identifiable, he is effectively a new character. Layla joins him to explore the various possibilities and calculations for timelines to protect Humanity from yet another catastrophe, as all timeline end in one.
Just like Adam and Eve before them, Layla and Desmond (or The Heir and The Reader) must protect the future of humanity. Adam and Eve were distracted by the war with the Isu, and while the Assassin-Templar Conflict serves as the main distraction now, it’s crux has always been due to the Isu. Juno manipulated this conflict before, and now it seems Aletheia and Basim (who is, interestingly, the new main character in Assassin’s Creed, at least for now) are up to something. Perhaps The Heir and the Reader are able to do something to turn Basim, but regardless, it seems the two will be going up against the Isu, just like Adam and Eve.
Just to add some more fuel to the fire, Desmond is voiced by Nolan North. The Reader is voiced by Nolan North, but these aren’t the only two. In Assassin’s Creed 2, Nolan North also voices Adam, which helps draw a direction connection, now more spiritual than familial, with Adam and Desmond. What becomes of these similarities, if anything at all, remains to be seen. But Assassin’s Creed Valhalla puts the modern-day story in a position it hasn’t been in years, and that’s only good for whatever comes next.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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