Spoiler Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad and Ezio Auditore Da Firenze: An Unlikely Brotherhood

[Ganondork]

Throughout the Assassin’s Creed series, you see the First Civilization have a hand in just about every Assassin-based event. From Al Mualim to Desmond Miles, you see their interventions affecting the game. Rarely ever do you see bonds form from their meddling, though. However, there is a single instance.

During Ezio’s time as an Assassin, he lives under Altaïr’s shadow. He hears about the Mentor’s great achievements. He uses weapons and armor that the Master Assassin developed. He even learns many unlikely lessons from the Syrian Assassin. However, this connection grows stronger in the events of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

The entire plot of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on Ezio’s part is to recover the five Masyaf Keys so he may find the ancient wisdom left behind by the great Assassin, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad. One may expect such an endeavor to do nothing for their relationship; a relationship of respect only on Ezio’s part. However, with the powerful capabilities of the Masyaf Keys, Ezio only strengthens his bonds with the old Assassin.

Prior to obtaining any Masyaf Keys, he is confronted by the Templar, Leandros, and his army of men. In a letter to Claudia that is read aloud as he battles them – and is about to be hung – he says something rather interesting. It shows that Ezio has greatly matured, and perhaps is foreshadowing towards how he will feel about Altaïr in the coming months.

My story is one of many thousands, and the world will not suffer if it ends too soon.

This particular quote shows how humble Ezio has become as he has become middle-aged. While it’s very possible that he’s saying another person will one day fill his spot as an Assassin, doing everything that Ezio did and more, he may also be saying that someone has gone above and beyond what he can do already. He may be talking about Altaïr.

Once he obtains the first Masyaf Key, you begin to see the changes in Ezio. Each Masyaf Key showed Ezio a piece of Altaïr’s life that even Desmond was yet to see. With the conclusion of each memory, Ezio made small remarks about how tragic Altaïr’s life was, and occasionally, praising his abilities as an Assassin. It is without a doubt that he held a great respect for the Assassin. Perhaps more than the average Assassin ever did.

It’s no secret that the Italians as a whole are very family-oriented, and believe in an extended family that goes well beyond blood. This is why Ezio shows great affection to people like Leonardo da Vinci, and Bartolomeo d’Alviano. It’s quite possible that such affection and brotherly love can be extended to a Mentor who lived centuries prior.

However, it wasn’t until Ezio found himself in Altaïr’s library after retrieving all of the Masyaf Keys that he shows such signs of true brotherhood between the two Assassins. In front of the Italian Assassin was the skeletal remains of the Great Altaïr. He was in such awe that he had such little to say.

No books… No wisdom… Just you, fratello mio [My brother].

While possibly symbolic, you see how much he truly respects Altaïr when he continues, saying.

Requiescat in pace, [Rest in peace] Altaïr.

This had to be the defining part of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for me, securing itself as my favorite Assassin’s Creed game. Such final rites were never given to Altaïr, as he died alone in Masyaf. Three hundred years later, he finally received it. This in itself was powerful to me, and it showed the unity that Ezio began to feel with Altaïr. I always felt that he feels so close to the Syrian Assassin that he doesn’t feel the need to refer to him in a formal fashion – saying Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad – and simply calls him Altaïr.

You see how Altaïr too knows of Ezio’s presence, much as Ezio is aware of Desmond’s witnessing of his life events. He mentions that the Apple of Eden that his vault contains must be kept hidden until the one it’s meant for finds it. This person inevitably becomes Ezio, who leaves it there for the Templars to claim years later.

Altaïr, who is hardened from years of tragedy and loneliness, does not show quite as deep of affection for Ezio as Ezio does for him, however. Much like Subject 16 is reluctant to assist Desmond, Altaïr does it entirely out of duty. Altaïr knows nothing of Ezio’s accomplishments, nor does he know what strong bonds are created at the hands of the First Civilization’s hand.

Without the First Civilization’s intervention in the situation – the need to provide Desmond with needed information about the catastrophe that struck the People Who Came Before – such bonds would never have been forged. Ezio would have seen the Syrian much as Mario and Giovanni Auditore did; a man with infinite wisdom, but without the slightest idea that the man lived a life of tragedy.

This knowledge is also a powerful bond that helps forge their unity. Much like a friend confides in another, forming a bond, Altaïr shares his life experiences with Ezio. This is perhaps Altaïr’s only sign of brotherhood with Ezio; he didn’t have to store his memories in the keys; he only had to hide them away.

In the end of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, you witness an interesting thing never seen before; two men forge a bond that no two other men could possibly have; Altaïr and Ezio have a brotherhood that defies time itself. They lived centuries apart, and yet Altaïr confides information to Ezio that few others see, much like an older brother, and Ezio show him much respect, just as a younger brother might. Their defiance of time and their conflicting cultures are cast aside due to a mutual philosophy. This philosophy brings the two great men together, creating an unforgettable sense of brotherhood that the Assassins so greatly thrive on.