In an interview with Eurogamer, Lead Director, Ashraf Ismail revealed that there won’t by any Time Anomalies where the character gets whisked away to another time period because of the Animus. However, he immediately brought up ‘Exotic Moments’ which will take place instead, when asked about the presence of Time Anomalies, which leaves us wondering and speculating regarding what these segments can be. Since they were brought up in response to Time Anomalies, they seem to serve a similar purpose. From what we’ve seen from the franchise, so far, there have been few instances when a character is able to skip to a different time period or reality while the modern day protagonist is within the Animus.

One of the examples of abandoning reality while within the Animus (or the Helix) is hallucinations often induced by different substances/drugs. Arno Dorian experienced his rebirth hallucination after drinking from the Chalice at the Assassin Headquarters in Paris. The hallucination was more of an introspective look at Arno’s life rather than a vision of the future. Ratonhnhake:ton also experienced hallucinations after drinking the tea of the Great Willow which lead to a vision/hallucination where Ratonhnhake:ton would visit the Sky World, and upon coming back/waking up, he’d gain a new ability.

Both examples could potentially qualify as Exotic Moments, where Bayek might be able to somehow interact with Ancient Egyptian gods or visit the underworld, Duat similarly to how Ratonhnhake:ton visited the Sky World.

The Apple of Eden, a technology of the First Civilization that puzzled numerous members of the human race for millennia, which is capable of miraculous effect and creating illusions that enthrall those that fall under its beam. An Apple fell into Connor / Ratonhnhake:ton’s hands at some point and when he and George Washington clashed over it, leading both to witness an alternate version of history where George Washington became a king and Connor remained Ratonhnhake:ton and his mother did not die as she did in the actual story, leading to the events of The Tyranny of King Washington DLC for Assassin’s Creed III. Since it’s officially confirmed that the Apple of Eden will indeed be part of Assassin’s Creed: Origins, we can speculate that these Exotic Moments might be visions of alternate history and future. Since Minerva’s calculations allowed her to view different versions of history depending on present circumstances, we could likely be able to see multiple points in the history of Egypt.

It is worth mentioning that among the rumors that preceded the official announcement of Assassin’s Creed: Origins claimed that the game will feature moments set in different points of Egypt’s history. Of course, rumors are never a reliable source, however, since Exotic Moments were mentioned as a similar thing to Time Anomalies, speculations arose regarding whether we’ll see the Napoleonic Wars in one of those moments, and feature Arno Dorian. When fans asked the actor and face model behind Arno, Dan Jeanotte about whether he’s involved in Origins or not, his response was “Can’t confirm or deny”.

Arno Dorian found an Apple of Eden in Dead Kings DLC, and had it sent to an Assassin mentor going by the given name “Al Mualim” who is located in Cairo. Arno also fought alongside Napoleon Bonaparte who led his Napoleonic Wars to Egypt. It must also be noted that there were three Obelisks in Egypt and they were called Cleopatra’s Needles, one of which is now in Paris, France. Those Obelisks were from Heliopolis, the city of the sun god Ra (who is mentioned in a text in Assassin’s Creed: Origins). They were transported to Alexandria by Cleopatra VII, who is confirmed to be part of Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

Knowing how Egyptian mythology is often linked to Ancient Astronaut Theories, which are the basis for the First Civilization mythology of Assassin’s Creed, and often uses real life artifacts and translate them to fit the mythology of the franchise. The Obelisks are regarded as memorial monuments documenting great historical events. It is possible that since ancient artifacts are often linked to the Isu (who are confirmed to be behind the construction of the pyramids, in Game Informer magazine), those Obelisks might be some sort of memory recording devices, which upon interacting with them, show a vision/glimpse of the most important moments in history. (Special thanks to Son_of_Sekhmet, on Twitter, for the detailed historical information).

In another remarkable moment from Assassin’s Creed: Origins announcement trailer, Bayek is seen in an encounter with a giant snake/serpent. Lead Director Ashraf Ismail stated in an interview with Eurogamer that while he cannot comment on the possibility of the appearance of such mythological creature, upon experiencing the game, it will all make sense. Which leads us back to the illusions of the Apple of Eden, which is confirmed to be part of the game. Such illusion may likely be used to guard a special entrance to an Isu vault or the location of the Apple itself from which its projecting the illusion of the snake or another hidden artifact.

In my previous article, Parallels, I explored the connections between Altair and Bayek and their respective games and how Origins both aesthetically and story-wise reminds us of the first game and its protagonist. Now regarding the possibilities of what Exotic Moments will be and how they’ll manifest themselves. Among the elements that Altair and Ezio came in touch with during his lifetime that come close to allowing someone to witness a vision of someone else’s life or relive and walk in a previous user’s footsteps who recorded their life on them, are the Memory Seals, also known as the Masyaf Keys, which are First Civilization technology that allows their user to record their memories on them and pass them on to someone else to relive them. They work in a similar manner to the Animus.

During Altair’s exile to Alamut, he managed to track down and find six Masyaf keys in the Isu temple beneath the Alamut fortress. He later used them to record his own memories on them. Now the Masyaf Keys that Altair found are likely not the only ones in existence. In addition, Aveline de Grandpré came in contact with similar artifacts called Prophecy Disks which are similar in design and purpose. They are also First Civilization technology but instead of allowing you to relive memories, they show holograms of recorded events, and they’re made of two parts that can be activated when united together along with an Amulet (also known as ‘The Heart of the Brotherhood’, an Isu artifact in the shape of an oval locket).

Bayek might find Prophecy Disks or Memory Seals in the temples and pyramids of Egypt which contain recorded memories of key historical moments which he can relive or preview as a hologram, which could be what Ashraf Ismail referred to as Exotic Moments.