UNCONCEALDNESS
When the Eagle Bearer first enters the Ancient Forge of Andros, also known as the Forge of Hephaistos, in order to upgrade the Spear of Leonidas using the Shards taken from members of the Cult of Kosmos, an A.I. is activated when interacting with the device, the name of the A.I. is credited as Aletheia. At first, it seems to be another automated A.I. programed to play whenever the Spear development platform is activated.
However, upon accessing the Atlantean vault beneath the island of Thera, the Eagle Bearer (Kassandra or Alexios, depending on player choice) encountered Pythagoras, alive and well in 431 BCE, aging over 150 years thanks to the powers of the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus which allows its welder to live on as long as he/she holds it. It is revealed that Pythagoras is in fact Kassandra’s true father. He also reveals that he sent Ikaros the eagle to aid her since her childhood. He tasks the Eagle Bearer to find four Pieces of Eden scattered all around Ancient Greece and guarded by ferocious creatures, in order to help seal Atlantis, as Pythagoras deems the knowledge inside of it to be far too dangerous for humanity to know about, and that they’re not ready for it, yet.
With each Piece of Eden plugged into one of the pillars of the Atlantean vault, a transmission from the First Civilization member, Aletheia is played, who appears to be more than just a system A.I., but rather a real Isu member who set out to communicate with various individuals at various points of time and different realities. Each one is directed to a specific recipient.
Aletheia, while not based on any ancient mythical god, appears to be on humanity’s side and quite critical of the ways her people, the Isu, enslaved, exploited and misled humanity for their own gains. She has prepared various recordings and transmissions that can be played within Atlantis (the vault within the Island of Thera).
Here’s the complete transcript of all four transmissions/messages of the Isu member Aletheia directed towards The Isu, the Eagle Bearer, Pythagoras and Layla Hassan, as well as multiple recordings that can be found in the side halls within the Atlantean Vault. A footage of the transmissions is embedded below. Please be warned that the video includes the entire ending of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. To view the transmissions alone, please start watching from 12:30.
ALETHEIA TO LAYLA
ALETHEIA
Traveler of many times. Congratulations on making it this far I’m glad we can share this message out of time, this fragment of reality.
I’m recording this just for you, even if those living in the past won’t understand it. Our simulated realities will cross sooner or later.
Or do you think you’re really here now, listening to this recording? Isn’t this an Animus re-creation? Isn’t this part of a greater simulation? How far do the ripples in the pool spread?
Let’s talk, rebel to rebel. We’ve been held back too long by Precursor rules. It’s time for new paths with new possibilities. This is not an era of control, but of creation.
I’ve gathered some like-minded Precursors to make a new start. We’ll stop interfering and start enabling.
From your point of view, it will take a considerable amount of time to to prepare. But when we’re ready, you’re welcome to join us. After all, all you have to do is press a button and run another simulation.
PYTHAGORAS
This is madness. Fiction. Where I thought would be wisdoms, there’s only the garbled babbling of a fool.
KASSANDRA
Pythagoras, calm yourself. Maybe this invention was meant for someone else. There’s no need to lose your reason over mere words.
ALETHEIA TO ISU
ALETHEIA
“Acquiring contemporaneity.” Acquiring a voice, that’s what. I’m taking over your recordings. The humans have had enough of your pompous speeches.
Call me Aletheia. I am truth and its revelation, and I am calling you out. You Isu who try to rewrite the laws of the universe. You who manipulate human progress. What do you hope to achieve?
You treat humans as useful apes. How many artifacts have you created to control their minds? Do you fear their potential that much?
Just look at what humans have achieved on their own! Democracy and diplomacy. A legacy of culture and art. We could share in this with them as equals.
In your desperate search for immortality, you’ve ignored the obvious. You run endless simulations to find one in which nothing changes. It’s pointless.
Change will come and the not just the so-called “end of the world” you fear. You call yourselves savories. But tell me: Would this “doomsday” have appeared had you not pulled on the threads of the universe in the first place?
I’m taking over your “retransmissions.” You don’t speak for all of us anymore. I am as Isu as you, but will no longer be part of your exploitation.
PYTHAGORAS
Those who came before… They speak to us and show us revelations! Though these words of disapproval are troubling.
KASSANDRA
The hods have argued before. Athena and Poseidon competed for Athens. I wonder if Aletheia won control of this place.
ALETHEIA TO KASSANDRA
ALETHEIA
Ancient adventurer, I made this recording to try to help you. I’m sorry if it’s confusing. We Isu see various pasts and futures, and I know you’ll be here mother than once.
My fellow precursors set endless challenges in your path. Artifacts. Creatures. Don’t get me started on the Olympos Project. Their meddling got out of hand.
I have no easy answer for you. Your future depends on a multitude of choices you have to make for yourself. I’m sorry if so many of them end in pain. Your playwrights’ tragedies are your real oracle.
But please, don’t give up. You are more important than you can imagine. And like your own Pandora, I have one thing left to offer you: hope.
Despair is not our only legacy. You’re like me, a rebel against your destiny. You’re not just a mercenary. You’re a hero for the ages.
Hold fast to what you know is true, and you will overcome.
Claim your place in history. All that is terrible and beautiful in this world is your birthright. Take it.
PYTHAGORAS
Her words are for you, Eagle Bearer! My preparations bear fruit. The potential of your bloodline is proven by the precursors themselves.
KASSANDRA
Aletheia says she can see the future… Many futures. Can this be a true oracle?
ALETHEIA TO PYTHAGORAS
ALETHEIA
Ancient scholar. You’ve stretched your lief to the breaking point. I see you hiding yourself from the world, puzzling out the words of my fellow precursors. Please, listen to my advice.
You’re analyzing equations of reality itself. You’ve gotten further than any other human has. That is both amazing and terrible.
It’s clear to me that even this tiny dose of cosmic understanding has twisted your mind. I’m sorry. The Precursors should never have shared knowledge you weren’t ready for.
You lice in obsessive darkness. You must understand that this focus on power and bloodlines is not your true legacy.
The Precursors have manipulated you. They’re turning your problem-solving intellect to their own selfish ends.
You’re better than this. Make your own legacy. Let your mathematical discoveries be the glorious sunbeams that shine out past your tomb.
Please, scholar. Clear your mind and focus on your present situation. At this moment you possess a powerful artifact. It has extended your life long enough.
As hard as it may be, it’s time to pass it on. It’s someone else’s turn to balance the equations.
PYTHAGORAS
No, no. Lies! This is not obsession, this is research! This is discovery of the very origins of the world!
KASSANDRA
It is… an opinion, Pythagoras. Though one with reason behind it, I believe.
RECORDINGS
ALETHEIA
“And here you were supposed to listen and be impressed by this Precursor monument around you. They wanted to make sure you remembered this island no matter how often it was renamed. Thera. Kallista. Atlantis.”
“The Precursors were proud of this monstrosity. They wanted it to be an indestructible repository of their knowledge.”
“It was supposed to be a reference point for simulating new universes. But how can they make a better future if they won’t acknowledge their past mistakes?”
“Precursor sites have often included an educational mandate aimed at humans. I’m sure you already realized that these “generous” revelations are strategic.”
“Too many of my people have tried to manipulate humans to their own ends. I’m sorry some of them have been so successful.”
“It took Precursor ambition to make such simple concept into artifacts powerful enough to threaten two entire civilizations. Bravo us.”
“This recording was supposed to be about the Spear of Leonidas. But you know what a spear is. Humans have been killing each other with them for over a hundred thousand years”
“And the staff you call the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus? It’s essential a staff like any other. It’s a support, a potential weapon and a symbol of power.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. My fellow Precursors love being treated like gods. Why not create pets worth of that reputation?”
“So we all know the ancient Greeks write about what would later be called mythical beings. But in this reality, some of them are more than mythical.”
“I’m afraid precursor interference is behind this. A corruption in biological programming. Technological artifacts merging with flesh to create monstrous hybrids.”
“At least one of the worst influences is gone in my present, anyway. Juno’s power was immense. I never would have been able to transmit these recordings if she was still here.”
FOOTAGE
LORE
THE PYRAMID
A first civilization construct utilized by members of The Cult of Kosmos, mainly Deimos. It’s composed of four oblique pillars lifting a square base where four beams of light form a holographic pyramid shape, beneath which a fire is lit. Each side of The Holographic Pyramid is filled with small triangular pieces called Shards, each belonging to a member of the Cult of Kosmos. The Shards are used by Kassandra in The Forge in Andros, a First Civilization weapon development facility (or so it seems), to upgrade her Spear (The Spear of Leonidas, also a First Civilization artifact and the main weapon of the game).
Deimos utilizes the Pyramid for the first time to view the memories/thoughts of those he forces to touch. Therefore, the apparent purpose of the Pyramid is to explore the memories and thoughts of those who touch it. So if two individuals touch the pyramid, either one or both users will be able to access each other’s memories. Deimos utilizes the Pyramid to discover that the Eagle Bearer is in fact a sibling of theirs by exploring memories that date as far as their childhood. In that instance, both parties were able to access each others’ memories, while it didn’t seem that other cult members were able to see Deimos’ memories.
Upon assassinating all members of the cult and thereby obtaining all their Shards, all that’s left of the Pyramid now is the holographic outline. Despite that, the Eagle Bearer is still capable of utilizing it. However, this time the pyramids plays a visual message from Pythagoras along with flash forwards that take place centuries into the future, informing the Eagle Bearer of Bayek, Ezio, Edward, Jacob and Evie Frye and their creed.
This gives the Pyramid another purpose which is the capability of recording visual messages/visions. It is quite likely that the visions of the future do not directly come from the Pyramid itself, but rather recorded on it by Pythagoras who had decades to study the technology of the First Civilization. It is one theory that he likely acquired those divinations and recorded them onto the Pyramid as memories of his own, since he was able to witness them, and therefore remember them and pass them on to the Eagle Bearer, it explains why the future was not only shown as visions, but included a speech by Pythagoras.
On the other hand, upon encountering Aspasia, she revealed that the Pyramid holds a mysterious power to see into time. But only certain people can activate it. People like Deimos, and the ones in his and the Eagle Bearer’s bloodline. Eventually, the Pyramid was destroyed by the Eagle Bearer with the Spear of Leonidas.
PYTHAGORAS’ SPEECH / FUTURE VISIONS
Below is a transcript of Pythagoras’ message to the Eagle Bearer which was activated as soon as the Pyramid is touched:
“Kassandra, It was never supposed to be like this. Decades ago, a group of people gathered together to uphold a theory which they believed could control the universe. That the world functioned in equal parts, order and disorder. But some fell lovingly into the wicked arms of chaos. And the Cult of Kosmos was born.
They abused their power, casting the Greeks into eternal war – one you were created to stop. In destroying the Cult, you have done what I could not. You are a hero. But this imbalance comes with a price, my child. For without chaos, there is supreme order. A loss of progression and freedom. But there is still hope – hope in you, hope in the future you will bring. We must fix the mistakes of the past. Use the staff. Repair the rift in the universe. The world depends on you, Kassandra. You need to be the hero again.”
STELAE
Also known as stela, a stele is an upright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design, often serving as a gravestone. In Odyssey, the Eagle Bearer stumbles upon twenty two First Civilization stele, each consists of an upright frame enclosing a metallic translucent surface with various geometric shapes, one resembling the Metatron’s Cube which is often used to depict the Flower of Life or used to dispel demons when drawn around an individual/object, in addition to foreign typography, slightly similar to Mycenaean Greek alphabet.
Upon interacting with them, a holographic projection appears briefly, depicting greek typography as well as shapes and lines, typically related to First Civilization technology, and the glow fades away shortly afterwards. When following a side quest line related to the Stele, the Eagle Bearer will interact with a number of those stele with the aid of a companion, known as Eppie, who claims that each of the stele pieces include a key which he can use to decipher the language of the gods, referring to the First Civilization, as according to him, they help finish a ritual which will activate something. Upon searching for the stele pieces, some stated that they “speak” to them, while not exactly any of the speeches are audible, the Eagle Bearer refers to them as “words of madmen”.
Eppie states that some of the passages that they found in a cave where the ritual using the stele pieces is meant to take place, speak of primordial gods, worth and inner vision. Eventually, the Eagle Bearer manages to collect all the stele pieces for Eppie, who manages to translate the complete writings on the wall which state “Only those who possess inner vision, a gift of the primordial gods, will be deemed worth to wield the power of the Great Dipsioi.” activate one final stele that results in displaying another hologram, which only the Eagle Bearer can see, and not Eppie.
This is the very first time the franchise explores the native language of the First Civilization. In Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood, ancient languages such as Sumerian cuneiform, were engraved onto the walls of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, right before and after encountering Minerva’s hologram. This time, we’re shown different symbols, and The Eagle Bearer was mesmerized by their presence, despite not having much knowledge or useful commentary regarding what they could refer to, and how the words or spoken or what exactly the purpose of the Stele, beside the speculation that they depict the names of Isu members. Since they’re found in tombs built by Mycenaean Greeks, a civilization that exited between 1600 – 1100 BCE, the fact that the text that the Stele pieces deciphered mentions the name Dipsioi, a Mycenaean deity that refers to “the Thirsty and hence the Dead Ones”; perhaps related to Thessalian month Dipsos, meaning obscure, hints that the Mycenaean Greeks might be the ones who found the stelae at some point and them used to honor the graces of their most respected and highly regarded figures, who probably utilized Isu artifacts, been in touch with Isu technology or were Isu themselves. After all, Pythagoras acquired the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus from Hermes himself, who lived merely a century before the Eagle Bearer, unlike the majority of the Isu who perished not very long after the Great Catastrophe (Toba), circa 75,000 BCE.
In that case, the Stele could serve as gravestones of Isu members buried in these tombs, who were buried within these tombs, an idea that was planned for the vaults of Egypt in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, judging by the early concept arts of the game, depicting coffins for Isu members, which likely carried on to Odyssey.
THE SPEAR
A powerful Isu artifact and weapon with the ability to exert attacks with immense (and seemingly otherworldly) powers. The first known wielder of the Spear after the Isu is king Leonidas who used to to defeat hundreds of soldiers in the Battle of Thermopylae, until he died. Later, the Spear was broken (it’s wooden handle was broken, hence the name “The Broken Spear of Leonidas”) and was delivered to his daughter Myrrine in 480 BCE, who kept it in her possession until around 448 BCE as she gave it to her daughter, Kassandra who would keep it in her possession, as well as upgrading using Shards obtained from members of the Cult of Kosmos, in the Forge of Hephaistos in Andros, until it ran out of power at an unspecified point where she gave to Herodotus to remember her by, who accompanied her on her journey to document all the extraordinary discoveries she came across. Millennia afterwards, it was discovered by Layla Hassan who used the blood samples on it to relive the memories of the Eagle Bearer through the Animus.
PRESENT DAY
After William Miles found Layla Hassan in Egypt back in 2016, she was reluctant to join the Assassins, but she agreed to accompany him to meet the rest of the team. By 2018, Layla had not only joined the Assassin Brotherhood, but became a leader of her own Assassin cell, as well as building close friendships with its members, including Charlotte de la Cruz, and Harlan and Arend Schut-Cunningham.
Sometime early August of 2018, she joined Kiyoshi Takakura on a mission to Quebec, where things took a wrong turn as they were confronted by Abstergo, but thanks to Kiyoshi’s ex-Yakuza skills, he was able to save Layla from danger.
Driven by the desire to find First Civilization/Isu artifact, Layla Hassan found the book of Herodotus, the earliest known Greek historian from which she learned of the Spartan Mercenary (Misthios) known as the Eagle Bearer, who wielded the Spear of Leonidas, an Isu artifact and weapon with immense power and capabilities. Layla managed to find the Spear and with the help of Dr. Victoria Bibeau, a previous Abstergo employee, she was able to extract DNA samples from the blood on the spear and relive the memories of the Misthios.
Upon discovering the Isu vault beneath the Island of Thera, also known as Atlantis, through the memories of the Eagle Bearer, Layla joined her crew aboard the Atlair II ship and sailed to the cost of Santorini in hopes of finding the entrance to the mythical city. Layla managed to find and enter the Atlantean vault, which serves as an entrance to Atlantis, however she wasn’t able to access it, therefore she want back into the Animus, using a VR headset to continue the story of the Eagle Bearer and find out how she managed to open the gates of Atlantis. Once she acquired the necessary information, she realigned the mirrors to allow the beam to reach the device and activate the gates. As the device was activated and to Layla’s immense surprise, Kassandra, the Eagle Bearer appeared, alive and well more than 2000 years after her own time, thanks to the powers of the Staff of Hermes allowing her to stay alive all this time. She revealed that she explored the earth from end to end and fought in countless wars and that she can no longer call herself as Eagle Bearer as Ikaros is long gone, however, she has one last task for Layla which is to take the Staff of Hermes and finish what she started centuries ago. As she gave the staff to Layla, Kassandra’s life force started fading away and passed away in Layla’s arms, her last words being “Earth, mother of all, I greet you”. Shortly afterwards, Layla went back into the Animus while still in Atlantis in hopes of exploring the rest of Kassandra’s journey.
Explore Layla Hassan’s personal laptop and her reflections on her discoveries regarding the First Civilization, their artifacts as well as information regarding the fates of certain characters from the Uprising comic series, as well as well-known present day figures on both sides of the ongoing Assassins vs. Templars war, which serves as a great recap ti the story so far as well as a good insight into the lore elements present in Odyssey.
