Is the next Assassin's Creed set in the Ottoman Empire?
[Update: The Facebook page has changed to a new teaser loop, showing Altaïr‘s birth date and a symbol of a double-headed bird holding the Apple of Eden and a blade — an image of which is now in the gallery]
Another tiny piece got revealed in the Assassin’s Creed Facebook tease-a-thon. This time it shows the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the seal of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I (1494-1566) and a date: June 24th, 1459.
That date is simply Ezio’s birth date, but it does follow the capture of Constantinople — which was subsequently renamed to Istanbul — by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. This event started a period of expansion for the Ottoman Empire, probably thanks to a piece of Eden in the hands of the Templars who facilitated the taking of Constantinople in the first place.
The previous teaser showed the Arabic name of Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, who also went to nearby Cyprus in the PSP game Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines. But also the date 1165, the date Altaïr was born and a time when Assassin parents probably did some assassinating of their own. Ok, maybe his mother took a break for a couple of months.
Exploring the hints in the teasers may lead to possible story spoilers though, thanks to history classes and investigative journalism involving Wikipedia and Google. So be warned if you were one of those people who didn’t want to read up on Rodrigo Borgia when going into Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Turkish website Oyungezer noted that some of the dates of the Animus files in the previous teaser correspond with key events in history. Sultan Beyazid II, son of Sultan Mehmed II who conquered Constantinople, died on May 26th, 1512. November 6th, 1494 is the birth date of Sultan Suleiman I (also known as Suleiman the Magnificent).
September 10th, 1509 is when a devastating earthquake hit Istanbul and killed around 10,000 people. It’s unlikely that Ubisoft would just leave this to be a natural disaster when they can just link it to something like a Piece of Eden. The last date in the list of Animus files, June 15th, 1511, is still unknown but might be the birthdate of the new protagonist.
Interestingly, Sultan Beyazid II’s final years feature a battle for succession between his sons Selim I and Sehzade Ahmet. Selim eventually dethroned his father, who died before reaching the destination where he planned to retire in peace. Sultan Selim I himself died of an infection in 1520, although some historians claim he may have been poisoned.
The dates of the Animus files and the hints so far seem to at least point to a new protagonist who is one of the descendants of Altaïr. The story of Beyazid II and Selim I in particular would make for a typical Assassin’s Creed back story, and an Ottoman setting would certainly make sense from a gameplay and wider story perspective.
The codex wall map from Assassin’s Creed II does have a weird blob where Istanbul is located, but it’s hard to see if there is actually a Temple there or if it’s just a mess of lines or a symbol. However, if you overlap it with a map that shows the growth of the Ottoman empire, there are quite a few temples, vaults, and Piece of Eden locations within its later borders.
If the new protagonist is indeed born in 1511, then he would grow into adulthood during Sultan Suleiman I’s reign — whose seal or Tughra is displayed in the teaser. Suleiman I also started a golden age for the Ottoman empire and expanded the empire to encompass some of the locations of possible Temples of Those Who Came Before. Perhaps he was an Assassin himself, eh?
[Thanks omaraty009!]
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