Search

Ben is a Digital Analyst working alongside TOWCB Core Team to assist with SEO, branding, and social media to increase our overall digital presence. By joining the AC Partnership Program, Ben hopes to gain experience he can use in his future marketing career. He is a driven behind-the-scenes Assassin doing great work helping the admin team grow our online community. Previous Next Digital Analyst Ben Weal Previous Partner Ben is a Digital Analyst working alongside TOWCB Core Team to assist with SEO, branding, and social media to increase our overall digital presence. By joining the AC Partnership Program, Ben hopes to gain experience he can use in his future marketing career. He is a driven behind-the-scenes Assassin doing great work helping the admin team grow our online community. Instagram Work

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: First Impressions Review Share 21 May 2026 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database We are thrilled to announce that three members of TOWCB Team have had early access to Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced across two events hosted by Ubisoft, which took place in April 2026. The first was the Paris Preview event, which TOWCB Team Leader Colum Blackett attended, with the second taking place in the UK in Woking, which our very own Aaron Young (VP Team) and James Davis (Video Content Creation Team) attended. The impressions embargo has now lifted, so here are our initial thoughts and feelings about the upcoming title! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUm8Cr4dGY ''It’s visually stunning and I would say it’s the best looking game Ubisoft have ever made. Being able to dive anywhere at will, is a massive improvement & it’s vibrant, beautiful and alive'' Huge thank you to Ubisoft for the early access opportunities. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced releases July 9th 2026. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author A collection of articles from The Ones Who Came Before team. TOWCB Team

Assassin's Creed Mirage Officially Announced: TOWCB Analysis News Share 1 Sept 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Today, 1st September, Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin's Creed Mirage (codenamed Rift) is the title of the next Assassin's Creed game, and that more information would follow at the Ubisoft Forward event taking place September 10 at 9PM CEST | 12PM PT. The news comes after a difficult week for Ubisoft, with various leaks revealing different aspects about the game, but today pressure mounted significantly when a promotional image showing potential DLC content circulated social media sites. Copyright strikes were issued, but ultimately, the game was revealed through a series of social media posts at 5pm UK Time. It's always a shame to see leaks spoiling surprises, but we can't wait to learn more about Mirage, which for many will be a relief as the series looks to issue a hard reset and focus on stealth, a once fundamental pillar of the franchise. Could this Assassin be Basim Ibn Ishaq from Assassin's Creed Valhalla in his younger days? Analysis It appears that Assassin's Creed Mirage will have a Middle Eastern setting, and if rumours are to be believed, the game will centre around the city of Baghdad in Iraq. Going off the architecture I would say that this is probably true, meaning Mirage could act as a bridge between Valhalla and the original Assassin's Creed game. In the background we can see what appears to be a bustling market place, with the intended target, potentially being a Abbasid Caliphate solider. Going off the Assassin robes, we can safely assume that this game is set pre-Altair, putting it somewhere in the time period between 878 & 1165 AD. Everything about this image screams Assassin's Creed, but not the recent entries. Straight away the colour scheme reminds me of Istanbul from Assassin's Creed Revelations mixed with an Assassin wearing robes very similar to the Levantine Brotherhood. It's possible that the building in the background could be the Palace of the Golden Gate, the official residence of the Caliphate in Baghdad during the early years of the Abbasid Caliphate, as suggested by community member Arshak from Assassin's Creed Landmarks. If it is indeed Basim Ibn Ishaq, as the rumours suggest, he was a frequent visitor of Baghdad's House of Wisdom according to the Assassin's Creed Wiki. This Assassin has a particularly pointed hood, resembling that of an Eagle. It almost looks like a more simplistic version of the hood worn by Altair, lacking the sharp and rigid details but keeping the smooth cloth-like effect. I like how the blue undertones stand out in this image, as we are so used to Assassins mixing white and red. It could be that this Assassin is a novice, and that in this version of the Brotherhood, only Master Assassins are allowed to wear the red sash. It's hard to age the man beneath the hood, but I would put him at somewhere between 20 and 30, suggesting that this is a new recruit to join the Brotherhood. I also notice that this Assassins has very limited weaponry, supporting the theory that he is new to the Brotherhood. He would surely have to earn additional melee weapons such as throwing knives. Although I like the outfit, I would say that it is very basic, suggesting a lack of experience and rank. perhaps we start the game as a low level Assassin and work our way up to a higher rank. From the image we can't quite tell if the Assassin is missing his ring finger, as was required for early hidden blades, and also acted as a symbolic action which showed commitment to the Brotherhood, usually taking place during an initiation ceremony. Going off the potentially time period though, it seems likely that this Assassin would indeed have had his finger removed, as was the case with Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. One thing that instantly distinguishes this character from Altair and the Levantine Brotherhood is the Eagle companion, which did not make it's way into the AC games until AC Origins. There has always been a strong bond between Assassins and birds in the series, and looking back at early AC1 concept art, we can see that a young Al Mualim also has a feathered friend to accompany him. Here's hoping that the developers find a way to make this feature more useful in the games, as currently it has limited use for many players. It would be cool if the main character could train his bird to peck out the eyes of enemies, or drop stones or knives from above. Finally, take a look at the intricate wood carvings and decorative designs that surround the huge archway, which are typical of Arabic doorways in larger structures. Going off the designs, I would say that this soon-to-be assassination takes place in a meeting place such as the House of Wisdom or even a mosque. We can't wait to learn more about Assassin's Creed Mirage at Ubisoft Forward, so turn on mobile notifications and bookmark the site for more information! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Carlos Ferro Interview: Da Vinci's Destiny Interview Share 31 Mar 2020 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database Our community admin Colum Blackett had the opportunity to interview veteran voice actor Carlos Ferro, best known for voicing Leonado Da Vinci in the Assassin's Creed series and Dominic Santiago in Gears of War. Behind the Voice Actors lists 30 roles that Carlos has been credited with, but he has also provided additional voices such as NPC's and background characters in many games and TV shows. About: Carlos' first career in the entertainment industry was as a DJ. Leaving music for a career in theatre and television, his work eventually led to a stint as an artist in residence at Cornell University. He has since gone on to receive a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Solo Performance for his portrayal of Sal Mineo in the show SAL. He has continued acting in television, both on-camera (in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Genesis) and in animation voice-over (Justice League, Spawn). He also had a short speaking role as Olivero Sisko in Big Top Scooby-Doo!. He has worked with director John Landis and actors Jerry Lewis, Harvey Fierstein and Dudley Moore. (Wiki) His most recent credited voice acting performances were for the 2019 adventure game Shenmue III, where he lent his voice to multiple characters. Col: Hi Carlos, thank you for joining us today! Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself, and the time you spent working on the Assassin's Creed series. Carlos: Thanks for having me! I’m an actor/voice actor that had the privilege of portraying Leonardo DaVinci in the Assassin’s Creed franchise! Col: In Assassin's Creed 1, you voiced the leader of the Assassin Bureau in Damascus. The character adds an element of much needed comic relief to quite a serious game. How did you find the interactions with Altair? Carlos: I wanted to give that character a bit of snark. Let’s just say, it came naturally. LOL 'Most impressive, my friend. The others said you make a mess of things, but not I. No, I was sure you'd come through. And come through you have.' Col: Have you completed AC1, and would you be interested in returning to the series if Ubisoft were to remaster it one day with additional content? Carlos: I try to complete all the games I work on. AC1 blew my mind, to be honest. I would be honored to return in any capacity. Col: When you were first brought in to work on the series, what were your initial thoughts? Could you see the franchise becoming as big as it is today? Carlos: Nobody can really predict that kind of success. Putting History, Geography, Science Fiction, and Action in a gaming context knocked me out. I wanted to be as good as the rest of the cast. Carlos regularly attends comic con conventions. Here is with Assassin's Creed Community members. Col: Do you have a favourite moment of AC1, and are there any elements that you would personally consider vital that all Assassin's Creed games should try to incorporate? Carlos: I’m a big fan of Desmond Miles. I like the idea of ancestors and what may come with them. Col: Moving onto AC2, had you ever had to speak Italian for a role before voicing Leonardo? I have. Though not as much as I do as Leonardo. Michael Corleone springs to mind. I was blessed with Dialect Supervisor Ida Darvish-Gadd being at all my sessions to make sure I didn’t slip up. Col: Most of Leonardo's key moments are in his interactions with Ezio, where he provides the role of both friend and inventor. What was it like working with Roger on these moments, and do you have a favourite? Carlos: Roger Craig Smith is one of my favorite Voice Actors. Whether we were at sessions together or I was hearing his voice in my headphones, it was very easy to get into character. My favorite scene is when I communicate to him that “women provide little distraction.” His delivery of, “I don’t get it” is perfect and hilarious. Col: Have you kept in touch with any of the other voice actors from the AC games, and have you worked with any of them on other projects since? Carlos: Video games have such huge casts, it’s thrilling to see actors I’ve worked with before or actors I admire, in the cast list. Though we rarely record together. Where I see my colleagues often is on the road at Conventions. Roger Craig Smith, Adrian Hough, Matt Ryan, Cas Anvar, Victoria Atkin, and Paul Amos are some of my favorite people and world-class actors. My dream is a full-reunion event with the fans. Col: Other than Leonardo, who else would you have liked to have voiced in the games? Carlos: I want to play an Assassin. Col: Other than the games, you also did the voiceover for Assassin's Creed: Ascendance, a short 8 minute animation where Leonardo warns Ezio about the Borgia influence in Roma. Did this project feel different to working on the games, and how long roughly did it take to record the lines? Carlos: One full day, as I recall. The process was the same but I was knocked-out by the DaVinci styling in the animation. It’s one of my favorite things. Col: Leonardo returned in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and even got his own DLC. How did you prepare to take on the role of an older, wiser Da Vinci? Carlos: Having created the character from scratch in AC2, it was pretty organic. Col: One of the reasons Leonardo remains so popular is his positive mentality, somehow always managing to see the best in humanity in the darkest of times. He is a true ally to the Assassins, but also helped to provide some of the more challenging missions in Brotherhood. Do you ever hear fans mentioning the difficulty of the Da Vinci's War Machines missions? Carlos: I hear about that Tank...all the time. LOL Personally, I love the flying machine. Col: When you meet fans at events, what are the most requested Da Vinci lines people want to hear? Carlos “HOW EXCITING!” I’m also fond of “I’ve taught a man to fly!” Col: I would like to personally thank you for signing my Hidden Blade, which I now keep in a glass cabinet. Do you own Assassin's Creed merchandise, and did you keep anything at all from your time working on the games? Carlos: I have displays from stores, figures, the flying machine. Though my favorite AC treasures are DaVinci inspired art and gifts from the fans. Leonardo Da Vinci art by Lisa Zaman. You can buy art prints by Lisa for a limited time here , the profits of which are donated to The Italian Red Cross. Col: Do you have any tips for our audience on how to get into voice acting? What would you say is the first step? Carlos: Be an actor first. Study and prepare. That was where it started for me. Col: Have you ever cosplayed as Leonardo. If not, would you ever consider doing so? Carlos: I would! But it would have to be perfect. I’m that guy. LOL I’m blown away by the craftsmanship cosplayers around the world have brought to Leonardo and Ezio. It’s beautiful. Col: Have you been following the more recent games, and where would you like to see the series to explore next? Carlos: I keep up. There was an Assassin’s Creed inspired art exhibit in Paris some time ago. There were Assassins in every time and from every country, it seemed. I remember loving a female Assassin flying through the air with laser hidden blades. I think the sky’s the limit. Literally. We would like to say a huge thank you to Carlos for joining us for this interview, and to Kim Beacham for making it possible! You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram You can also book a personalised message from Carlos on Cameo comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Summon the Brotherhood: A Review of the Summoners War X Assassin’s Creed Crossover Event Review Share 10 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Colum Blackett Back To Database Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal ( Moonchildgecko ) from TOWCB Art Team . Starting in the month of March through May 1, 2023, Summoners War is collaborating with the Assassin’s Creed franchise for a variety of events including a themed dungeon, exclusive Arena opponent, and five characters from the games. Ubisoft is well known for their openness to cameos or crossovers with properties within their own IP umbrella and other companies. It is a simple way to promote both games and introduce fans to each other and the respective works. This is most commonly seen with mobile games as the games as a service model results in various events that are great for promotion and drawing in new players that hopefully will continue to play once said event has ended. What is Summoners War Summoners War is a gacha-based team building RPG game where players “summon” characters using scrolls of various types to collect characters of various designs and strength levels (or ranks). These characters are upgraded by playing through turn-based levels where your team of 2-5 characters (based on level difficulty) will fight waves of enemies, progressing through a story based around the releasing of a “dark magic” in a fantasy world (something that I did not pay much attention to). The game walks you through all aspects of the game through tutorials and quest lines, showing you how to level characters via EXP and absorbing weaker characters, merging creatures to get new ones, and building a personal island with multiple buildings that provide things like shops, storage, and speciality focus for things like summoning and mining resources. Event Story The story for this event has fan favorite and original Assassin, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad appearing on the player’s island with the Assassin’s Headquarters. He informs the host character, Ellia, that he is searching for the Templars and asks for both her and the player’s help. This Headquarters building acts as a daily Assassin Quest hub that will reward the player “Codex Pages” and game materials such as currency and summoning scrolls in return for completing quests such as fighting the mysterious Master X in the PVP Arena or completing a set number of campaign or dungeon missions. The Codex pages are used to claim rewards from the various event campaigns that will be discussed below. Characters The characters included in the crossover between Summoners War and Assassin’s Creed are Kassandra from AC Odyssey, Bayek of Siwa from AC Origins, Eivor Varinsdottr from AC Valhalla, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad from the original Assassin’s Creed, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze from AC Revelations. Each character (with the exception of Altaïr) can be summoned in any of the five character types, Water, Fire Wind, Light, and Dark. Altaïr is a Light exclusive character that is rewarded in an event that is detailed further in this article. During the time I played the game and events, nearly 60 hours, I was able to get each of the featured Assassins with a mixed coverage of types (all but Darkness). My first character was Kassandra, followed by Bayek and Eivor, then Altaïr from one of the event campaigns, and lastly Ezio after multiple batch summons from the RNG based gacha system. I played with each character, focusing on leveling and evolving them quickly to reach the higher start ranks which improves their stats and chances at success in the various game modes. I reached the highest ranking of 6-Stars with Bayek and Kassandra before ending my initial playthrough of the game. I was able to play the full campaign (non-event themed) on nearly all difficulty levels, using these characters to progress through the story quickly. Event Dungeon An exclusive event dungeon is included with the update that started the collaboration with Assassin’s Creed and has players work through a pathway dungeon that varies in difficulty depending on direction selected. The enemies are at post game levels (from my experience) and unfortunately for me were too difficult to fight even with the high levels of my characters (from both Assassin and Summoners War). Due to this, I was unable to explore the dungeon in full but was able to at least see what the boss was for the event. The Legion Commander of Conviction is the event boss and is a really cool design. This Templar commander looks like a formidable foe to defeat with your team of Assassins or other characters. Per the notes in the image, he uses magic power from the Piece of Eden that is influencing the dungeon. I had hoped to defeat him at least once during my play, but the dungeon feels more designed for those that are already playing the game. Altaïr Giveaway Event The first Event is designed around collecting Altaïr, and is broken down across 7 rounds where players must defeat a set number of Monsters & fight a set number of matches in the Arena to be rewarded energy and currency for the game. Once they have completed the two tiers for each round, they are provided a Hidden Mission that will reward more currency & summoning scrolls. At ranks 3 & 5 players are rewarded Ezio themed Emojis for the game chat and the Assassin Altaïr at the end of round 4. The final round 7 rewards an Assassin’s Creed Summoning Scroll which gives a guaranteed Assassin summon, whereas the normal scrolls can reward an Assassin, but it is random among the other characters. What is nice about this event is that you do not have to complete the Hidden Missions to progress, you only have to defeat Monsters and fight in the Arena, but you do have to complete them for the themed rewards. Altaïr is rewarded after finishing a set amount of Assassin Missions from the Headquarters. Collab Gift Bag & Monster Skill Level-Up Event The second event is based around collecting the Codex Pages from playing during the event. Players can claim energy and currency each day after gathering Codexes in increments of 10 (up until 40) and then Summoning Scrolls every 20 pages from 20 - 180. At 100 scrolls collected and 200 scrolls collected the player is rewarded with exclusive themed items. First is a Collab Outfit for Ellia that dresses her as an Abstergo Scientist, Ellia opens her book to release an orb of light and adjusts her glasses before closing it again. Second is a Collab Building, the Assassin Post, which has five spaces for players to display your Assassins (or whatever character you choose). Players can place this anywhere on their Island and activate it to see a cool hologram display of the Animus field and the Assassin’s Emblem. Pages are not consumed for these items but, the Codex pages can be used to pay for caches of items from upgrade monsters, scrolls, runes (used to boost characters), currency, and energy. This is a great way to progress quickly as a new player as players only have to play the game and save the Codex Pages for the caches. It is also the event that players can claim Codex Pages to rank up the skills of the Assassins which is normally obtained by using duplicate characters of the same name to level up that Assassin (ie. using Kassandra to level up Kassandra). Collaboration Treasure Chest Event This event is broken into two mission sets assigned by Ezio and Summoners War character, Archangel. Ezio requires you to clear Brotherhood missions from the Headquarters and enter the Arena, World Arena, or Guild content gamemodes. Archangel asks for players to Enter dungeons of various types and play Scenario missions (story missions). Once players complete 2 Ezio missions and 3 Archangel missions, they are given a Key to open one of 28 chests that reward similar rewards to the caches from the previous event. Once all chests are claimed, the keys can be exchanged for energy and currency. Trial of Ascension Event One of the various game modes is the ladder based Trial of Ascension where players climb a battle tower and are rewarded every 10 levels. In this event, each level cleared gives the player 1 point that can be used to claim Summoning Scrolls every 20 points up to 150 (the last two rewards at 120 and 150). There is also a reward for clearing the first 10 floors on Normal and Hard difficulty. If the player clears Floor 50, they can claim an Assassin’s Creed Scroll for an Assassin summon. Assassin’s Creed Scroll Giveaway Event Bayek hosts this event and rewards points for completing an array of missions that each reward different amounts of points and allow the player to claim rewards every 1,000 points. The best reward is an Assassin’s Creed Scroll at 6,000 points. There isn’t much to this event, just a lot of play required. When the event had started, I claimed around 2750 points as I researched the game for this event. Collaboration Special Reward Giveaway Event What appears to be the final event has players defeat the Boss in the Event Dungeon and clear Assassin Brotherhood Missions. Players will be rewarded an Assassin’s Creed Statue, Kassandra Emojis, an Assassin Brotherhood Rainbowmon Transmog (which is used for upgrading a character), and lastly the Assassin’s Fortress building for their island. There is still time to claim these for the event, but if players have the same difficulty curve that I experienced, that may not be possible to get the all. When I first started the event, I rushed through most of the game just attempting to get the Assassin characters. Over the 60 hours I played for this article, I started to follow along with the Summoner’s Way questlines to figure out what to do and enjoyed playing the game more once I did that. I made a few mistakes and used characters for leveling my Assassins that hindered me from completing quests until I summoned that character again, but with all of the prizes I received from the events, they were easy to replace. The game is worth looking at just for the crossover, and can be played afterwards if you end up liking the game, but jump in sooner than later as the individual events end within the next few weeks and if you want these characters, they won't stick around forever, so jump in and help the Brotherhood! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

Guiding Shadows: A Review of Assassin’s Creed The Golden City (LIGHT SPOILERS) Review Share 16 Jan 2023 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Ashlea Blackett Back To Database “They worked in the dark to serve the light, but were they never allowed to exist in it as well?” (AC The Golden City - Chapter 21) LIGHT SPOILER WARNING for story themes and subjects Overview The tenets of the Assassin's br otherhood have been the guidelines for each holder of a hidden blade since before the series began, alongside the maxim and "working in the dark to serve the light". Yet, many Assassins have questioned what they are taught, as have the ones they have protected. Who are the Assassins to decide who lives and who dies? Who are they besides birds of prey that hide where the light is afraid to go? Constantinople (as depicted in Assassin's Creed Revelations) The Golden City is the newest novel from Aconyte Books and is written by Jaleigh Johnson, a New York Times bestseller and chosen author for the ABA Spring Indie Next list. Within this tale is an isolated story following fan-favorite Assassins Hytham and Basim Ibn Ishaq in 867, Constantinople. The young Acolyte Hytham joins Basim to investigate the conspiracy plot of Emperor Basil I to kill his son Leo VI with the assistance of the Order of the Ancients, as well as spy on his mentor for the Brotherhood as they began questioning Basim’s priorities over the Creed. Hytham (as seen in Assassin's Creed Valhalla) Hytham has been a guide to the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla story for some time now. Previously, he was seen in Sword of the White Horse by Elsa Sjunneson, and soon he will return in The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North–Logs and Files of a Hidden One by Rick Barba. His character has been expanded upon and revisited multiple times in the Valhalla series, as an anchor to the Brotherhood for multiple mainline characters, but his persona has never been explored before this title; The Golden City . This is a Hytham, post Assassin’s Creed Mirage but pre-AC Valhalla . A Hytham that is unsure if he can trust his mentor and at times, himself. A man who doesn't question his skills, but strives to become more like his experienced mentor. The story opens with a look at the relationship between Hytham and Basim, sparing as the Acolyte admires his mentor's skill and demeanor as he tries to figure out who Basim is as a person and Assassin. Within the first chapter, Hytham sees something in Basim that resembles a man who has “trod the same stretch of earth for decades or longer”. My thoughts immediately turn to the trailer for AC Mirage and the djinn that we as fans have speculated to be the Isu Loki invading the mind of Basim; something that Basim references (the djinn) when discussing the nightmares of the prince later in the story. The story continues with the explanation of the plot, a mission for the “young eagle” to protect Prince Leo in an environment where anyone could be an enemy or pawn of the Order of the Ancients. It is in the palace of the Emperor where he meets Prince Leo and learns of the dangers surrounding the future leader of the city. A child that has experienced multiple accidents that in truth were poor attem pts on his life , hidden by a paranoid father who believes the child to be an illegitimate heir to the throne. Fatherhood is an underlying subject throughout the story with both positive and negative connotations. It is where I find Jaleigh shines the most as she weaves together a bond between a frightened child and the guardian assigned to protect him. A man who never had the chance to have his own family, but knows the sacrifice he must make to be a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. It's a relationship that he sees and questions between himself and Basim as a student and mentor. A journey of the Protector and Ward that echoes other media like Logan and The Last of Us . It is this theme that drives my opening quote as Hytham allows his personal feelings to fuel the mission he was tasked with by the boy’s mother, Empress Eudokia Ingerina. Basim ibn Ishaq The first signs of a tie-in to Assassin's Creed Valhalla can be seen via Basim’s interest in the Viking people as he yearns to learn more about the Eagle Clan, led by the warrior Thyra, head of the Varangian Guard, servants of the Emperor and his family. While it is not explained in detail, the players involved know that Basim is looking for someone specifically within the Vikings. This of course is what leads to the two Assassins seeking out Sigurd Styrbjornsson and his step-sister, Eivor Varinsdottir in AC Valhalla. Review The Golden City has plenty of combat depicted in great detail and can be visualized with ease. This is something I have always enjoyed and looked for in the transmedia of the series. From the sparring between partnering Assassins to close combat melees in the streets, the action is plentiful but not overwhelming. Between the clash of scimitars and precision of knife throws, a balanced conspiracy plot is picked apart with each page turn alongside the caring scenes of Hytham and Leo. Reflecting back on the story a few days after finishing, I found that the conspiracy was a good way to craft this standalone novel as it kept the elements of Hytham's mission contained and easy to keep track of. Looking at games like Valhalla where you have multiple storylines to remember, this book's focus on protecting the prince and investigating Hytham made a relaxing read. Even when the opposition was revealed, I found myself thinking about the surprise reveal, but not needing to double back and try to find missing clues. The same can be said about Basim. I learned multiple personality traits about the Master Assassin, but nothing that felt like an easter egg, or direct reference to another piece of media. Knowing that Hytham and Basim are alive in Valhalla made the potential worry of loosing a character to the Order of the Ancients non-existent. However, I didn't see that as a negative as I still had the full story to explore and fully admire the characters' individual world building and growth. The story is similar to a DLC expansion to the story. I think a lot about Bonfire of the Vanities and Assassin's Creed II, where the story was isolated to a new district with supporting characters that we met previously as Ezio. You have a good story that is tied into the main campaign, or in this case Basim and Hytham's backstories, but if you didn't get a chance to play that DLC (or read this book) you wouldn't be missing out of any key elements. Does the book go into the depth of the two Assassin's relationship? It does, and that may give players of Valhalla a better idea of the thoughts the Assassin's have in the game. Yet on the other side, I could not tell you anything that gives a peak into Mirage outside the mention of Roshan and Basim's mention of the djinn which I noted earlier. It feels like Batman: Year One in many ways where Hytham has been an Assassin for a while, but is still an Acolyte in the story. This leaves a lot of room for more stories and the journal releasing this year with Journey to the North could fill in more of the time between Mirage and Valhalla. Comparing The Golden City to other Aconyte Books titles, I would say this is a good title to be added to their expanding transmedia line of books, and while I would rank it towards the lower half of the releases (6 books including Golden City ) it isn't bad; I still enjoyed it. However where Geirmund's Saga read like the novelization of one of the games, Sword of the White Horse focused on a story based on Arthurian legend, and The Magus Conspiracy was a multi-decade conspiracy thriller, The Golden City feels like a character arc for Hytham, developing him further, but it doesn't hinder the enjoyment of Valhalla or the series in whole. Assassin’s Creed The Golden City is a great book for readers that enjoy drama, action, and stories of relationships without any prior knowledge of the Assassin’s Creed universe. Fans of the series will find a great introspective into the mind of an Assassin and a perfect read to excite for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The book releases on April 4, 2023, in the United States and Globally as an Ebook. It will be available in paperback on June 22, 2023, in the UK. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

Breaking News: Ubisoft Announces Assassin's Creed Crossover for Valhalla and Odyssey, marking the return of Kassandra News Share 13 Dec 2021 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Ubisoft has today officially announced a new project titled 'Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories', which will add new content to previously releases entries, see the return of fan favourite characters, and answer the many unanswered questions that the series still poses. Launching December 14th 2021, the crossover event will see the immortal Misthios Kassandra meet Eivor the Wolf Kissed. The announcement follows months of speculation fuelled by datamining discoveries and leaks. At it's core, the crossover content is fan service, and a great way of getting players to return to Ancient Greece, alongside introducing new players to previously established characters. The short but free experiences are split between two entries, with each storyline lasting 2-3 hours per game. The crossover kicks off with an addition to Assassin's Creed Odyssey titled 'Those who are Treasured'. The Misthios (Kassandra or Alexios) must learn to live with her new found immortality, and is persuaded by her friend Barnabas to go on a treasure hunt, leading to the discovery of a Piece of Eden. The Valhalla crossover titled 'A Fated Encounter', has Eivor travel to the Isle of Skye in search of a mysterious object that has been causing the locals to experience nightmares. In a teaser trailer released earlier today, she initially mistakes Kassandra for Randvi, something which fans will no doubt pick up on, as during the marketing campaign for Valhalla, theories circulated that Randvi could actually be Kassandra in disguise due to their similarity in appearance. Kassandra and Eivor clash, creating a battle that will no doubt be a challenge for players. Also added to each game are new areas of the map to discover, with the introduction of Korfu (a Greek island in the Ionian Sea) and the mysterious Isle of Skye in Scotland. It's also worth noting that Ubisoft have decided to stick to canon for the Valhalla crossover storyline, only allowing Kassandra to meet Eivor on the Isle of Skye, something which is to be commended after two very one sided marketing campaign for both Odyssey and Valhalla, which heavily featured the non-canon protagonists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08BAVRV6dBc Official Crossover Promo Image Although the crossover storylines are on paper, fan fiction, the team seem to have found a way of bringing it to life in a lore friendly way. It could perhaps be that the concept is the first real glimpse at what lies ahead with 'Assassin's Creed Infinity', a project that is being led by a new cross-studio collaborative structure that will see one group within Ubisoft made up of multiple teams working on Assassin's Creed coherently. The new content is also potentially a big stepping stone for the series, as only a few years ago, the pitching of a crossover storyline within Ubisoft may have found itself side-lined to transmedia material such as a comic book. Execution is everything when it comes to adding new content to previously released games, as it risks creating lore errors and inconsistencies which could lead to retcons. If done correctly though, it has the potential to establish a platform that can be used to tie up loose ends and finally answer the many lingering questions that still remain years after release. For example, what happened to Arno Dorian, and did Connor and Shay ever meet, Although fans will no doubt be excited about the crossover storylines, they are not a new thing for the series. Unity and Rogue shared a narrative bridge as Shay Cormac travelled to Paris to assassinate Arno's Dorian's father, a moment we see in both games. In Assassin's Creed Liberation, Aveline de Grandpré is sent to New York to assist fellow Assassin Ratonhnhaké꞉ton / Connor with a mission. The concept of the pair becoming love interests was initially explored during pre-production, in a pairing dubbed 'Connorline' by the internet, but the two were ultimately decided to be incompatible by the development team. The possibilities for 'Assassin's Creed Crossovers' are endless, and we here at TOWCB can't wait to experience the new storylines. Look out for our reviews over the coming weeks. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Previous Next Admin Colum Blackett (Col_96) Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. X (Twitter) Work

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: 13th - 19th August 2022 Community Share 20 Aug 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week I will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s showcase is in collaboration with VPGamersUK . Each capture is my pick from the daily themes. Thank you to everyone who participated. 1) Columns Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Theme: Architecture This week’s first capture comes from @ 6VAC1 over on Twitter. First up we have a beautiful shot of some columns in Odyssey. When it comes to architecture the Assassin’s Creed games are some of the best places to take photos. The sheer volume of buildings within a single game is off the scale. I picked this shot due to the angle and colours. This capture really does give off a sense of height and grandeur. The saturation adding to the details, it’s no wonder Ubisoft have been commended for their building design. Link to set 2) Frigg Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Theme: Citizens Photo number two comes from @ dpruttz_vp a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community. Next up we have a Citizen of Asgard, who is also a former lover of Odin. I did enjoy Frigg and Havi’s team up at the start of the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC. It is a shame it is such a small section. This awesome shot really catches the eye, with the fiery background and the excellent pose from Frigg. I am very impressed with how the details of her outfit have been highlighted, mostly thanks to the blurring of the background. What an amazing piece of virtual photography. 3) Fox Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Theme: Wildlife This week’s third shot comes from @ PodToGo a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community. Photo number three was an easy choice, I love foxes and this photo is one of the best I have seen of that animal. As I have said before, Ubisoft have been perfecting the art of nature in their games of late. The pose of the fox in this shot is adorable and credit to PodToGo for finding this moment. I would love to know how long the Virtual Photographer waited to get this picture. I am really liking the portrait aspect for this capture as it encompasses the stance of the fox so well. A truly wonderful piece of wildlife VP. Link to set 4) Out of the Desert Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins Theme: Assassins VP number four comes from @ Jakeste66386991 a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community . What can I say about this capture other than, it is jaw-dropping. This gorgeous silhouette of Bayek has to be one of my favourite’s pieces of virtual photography since I have been running these articles. I never really add borders to my shots but I must say the white around the edges of this one just makes the photo pop. I love the way Bayek is walking across the dunes towards the sun with the rays casting shadows behind him. What an incredible shot. 5) Sickles Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Theme: Weapons The final capture of the week comes from @ petta_velan a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community. This week's final shot depicts an Egyptian Viking readying his sickle swords. I remember when these weapons were added during the Wrath of the Druids DLC, they were a great addition to the game. I actually think they go very well with the Egyptian armour too which, of course, also released with that DLC. I really like how the sickles are showcased here, allowing us to see the engravings. It’s cool how they match the bracers and tattoos, giving Eivor a proper warrior feel. Link to set And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Photo Mode Review Community Share 18 Mar 2025 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Turið Torkilsdóttir Back To Database Ubisoft are back with another entry into the wonderful world of Assassin’s Creed. This time we are off to the highly sought after Japanese setting. This series just seems to be going from strength to strength and is now one of the most established franchises in the gaming industry. With Ubisoft doubling down on their core IP’s it is safe to say that this is only the start of a new wave of games from the historical playground that is Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t deviate too far from the previous RPG titles, but then again why would it. They have all seen huge success and Shadows even takes some cool learnings from the extremely popular Mirage. Once again Shadows features a photo mode but for the first time Ubisoft have moved away from the classic UI. This latest entry sees us enter Japan with a focus on dual protagonists. Something that Ubisoft Quebec have dabbled with before in Syndicate. We are thrown into 16th century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku period. For the first time in the RPG titles, we will have the Assassin Brotherhood fighting against the Templar Order. The player can flip between Fujibayashi Naoe a female shinobi, or Yasuke, an African samurai who is inspired by an historical figure of the time. The story starts off very promising and aligns itself in a similar way to Origins. Shadows does well to introduce characters and give them meaning. There is a clever use of flashback to further our connection to Naoe, this serves the story in deeper ways than we have previously seen. The early stages of the game can feel a bit slow and the lighting flat, but once you exit the prologue the game becomes far more impressive. There is a considerable leap in night-time lighting which does allow for some very unique captures. Gameplay wise Shadows really pushes forward with the mechanics of the previous entries. There is an increased sense of satisfaction when entering an encounter and the finishers are brutal. Everything just seems so smooth and effortless. At its core though Shadows is a Ubisoft game and does what it knows best. There is a world building that is so rich and full of life that you really feel like you are in the Animus playing out a genetic memory. The Photo Mode: If you have played any of the RPG games, you will be familiar with the Assassin’s Creed photo mode. Ubisoft have pretty much run the same system for four games now with just minor evolutions. It was a solid photo mode and despite not having the bells and whistles of a Sony version it was widely appreciated, especially for newcomers, to the virtual photography world. This time around we have a few upgrades with the new UI being the most noticeable. Accessing the photo mode has not changed, with a click of L3 & R3 you will be free to snap away. We are still not able to capture during cutscenes, but this isn’t common practise, so I am not surprised. Despite the new UI everything works as you would expect, and we only have four tabs to work with, making this a soft reboot of the photo mode. The composition mode has minimal on-screen distractions with all your options being confined to a box in the lower right-hand side of the screen. A simple press of (triangle/Y) will remove the editing functions and allow you to view your capture unimpeded. The camera action closer resembles what you would use in real life. The movement however is a little rough and lacks the smoothness of the old version. There is a generous range, but it remains restrictive especially now we don’t have a bird companion to use. The bumpers on your controller are able to rotate 90 degrees for those nice portrait shots, a simple function that is essential to a virtual photographer. The zooming function that I so loved in the previous games has been replaced with focal length and the narrowing of the field of view still acts in the same manner but feels a little rougher and lacks the speed we are used to. Now that it is controlled by a slider you can at least see the value so once you find a nice setup it is easier to repeat. There are a few grids to play with but in the most part you will probably find yourself only using the rule of thirds option. The camera will still pass through characters if you get too close and collision course with objects in the world can sometimes impede a nice composition. However, Assassin’s Creed has always been generous with movements of the camera and this remains in Shadows. You can even take it underwater for those quirky captures. You will be pleased to know that in my time with the game I have not observed that the DoF has any bugs like previous versions. There is no flicker when DoF and high contrast combine and the DoF issue where it would sometime just not operate has been fixed. The DoF function has been slightly complicated by adding focus distance and aperture sliders. The auto focus cursor of the old titles has gone, and you don’t have just one slider to operate. There is an auto focus toggle that mostly comes in handy for close-up captures. Once again, its baby steps in terms of evolution, and it’s mostly a case of learning to use it. The third tab on the new UI is where you will find arguably the most interesting improvements. Filters have now been removed from the upper section of the photo mode and instead we have two options: FX Filters and Filters. The former being the most intriguing with filters that complement the setting of the game. Most notable are the Red Dragon and the Ink as they can turn a normal capture into something quite different. Sadly, we cannot make any manual adjustments to the FX Filters, but it is possible with the standard filters. This is good because I found these to be limited. Along with the filters we have our other colour-orientated sliders. You can increase/decrease the values to adjust temperature and tint to balance the colour tones of your capture. In addition, saturation can be used to increase your vivid output or introduce some nice black and white to proceedings. The pace in which these sliders move can be quite frustrating and you will find that the higher values can negatively affect the skin tones of character making them appear sunburnt. That being said, this is not too dissimilar to what we have experienced before and functions adequately for the user’s needs. I was very surprised to find the fog option has been removed. This for me feels like a huge loss given it was a much-celebrated function that is rare to see in a photo mode. Bloom has also been removed so you are left to rely on the games weather and lighting to create atmospheric photos. Both of these options were so interesting to play around with, however I have found Shadows to be on another level in terms of lighting and ambiance so hopefully we won’t miss out too much. I mention above that the lighting has improved and that is the case for the majority of the game. There are times when things will look a little flat and muddy, but I often found the landscape to be quite majestic and vibrant. The real noticeable improvement with lighting is at night where people and points of interest seem to have a spotlight on them. Admittedly this can seem a bit forced but I have found it to be hugely beneficial for night-time photography, something that was mostly impossible in Valhalla. Sadly, we haven’t been given the custom lighting options or the ability to change the time of day. The latter is something that I wish Ubisoft had implemented, especially as it featured recently in Star Wars Outlaws. We are not left without options though with the games new seasonal mechanic there are ample opportunities to diversify your captures in varying ways. It is worth noting that Ubisoft has continued with their support to virtual photography by including the ability to capture straight to Ubisoft Connect. Your captures will be compressed but they will be uploaded to Shadows Photo Mode website for you to obtain. Not only that but they will appear on the world map in the location of your photo. Other players will then be able to view these, making it a great feature for showing off your Shadows adventures. Shadows features two extremely powerful protagonists who contrast perfectly. The cleverly designed switching between the two allows us to take photos of each with ease. They both make for great subjects and the return of loot drops from Odyssey, means there is far more variety of styles to capture. Unfortunately, with no tattoos or hair customisation like we had in Valhalla there are limited options to put your own stamp on both characters. Additionally, both characters lack expressions meaning most portraits look the same. Nonetheless we have been treated to a fluid combat system that includes some devastating finisher moves. All of which pose opportunities for interesting and stylistic photos. Plus, the world we are in is so populated with both intriguing places and inhabitants who act out their daily lives. There are small villages and huge castles to explore, that have been well executed in terms of design and detail. Being an Assassin’s Creed game we are obviously treated to picturesque scenery and distinct wildlife. All of this plays into the hands of a virtual photographer who can at a click of two sticks turn feudal Japan into works of art. Rating: Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t pushing any boundaries with the game or the photo mode, but I am not sure it has to, and it doesn’t stop it from being one of the best entries in the series. It is however probably the most polished Assassin’s Creed we have had to date. Ubisoft perhaps finds themselves fighting against unrealistic expectations brought about by the quality of the Sony exclusives over the last few generations. What’s obvious is that Ubisoft knows how to handle the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and you can see the love and dedication that has gone into this entry. There will not be many of the core fanbase who are not happy with what they see. Ubisoft should be praised for giving us a new photo mode, despite it being a little safe. There are better and more intuitive photo modes out there, but it could always be argued that if it isn’t broke why fix it. Assassin’s Creed is all about the characters and the beautiful world in which it is set. A standard functional photo mode is all you need as the beautiful backdrop of Japan will provide the rest. Thanks to Ubisoft for providing a code for the purposes of this review. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Interview with Magnus Bruun (Eivor in Assassin's Creed Valhalla) Interview Share 21 Dec 2020 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database To celebrate AC Day, we interviewed Magnus Bruun, who provided the voice and mo-cap performance for the male version of Eivor in Assassin's Creed Valhalla! Colum: Hi Magnus, thanks for joining us today! I'd like to start by exploring your Assassin's Creed journey. When you first auditioned for the role, did you know that it was for an Assassin's Creed game or a Viking related project, and was it always with the intention of playing male Eivor? Magnus: When I first heard of the project back in the spring of 2019, it was called The Black Wolf Saga and was an animated Viking series to be filmed in Canada. So when I made my selftape I had no idea what was actually going on, nor did my agent. It was first when I got the call back and the invitation to come to London for the audition that we found out that it was Ubisoft who was producing it, but we still didn’t know exactly what it was. So I flew from Copenhagen to London still in the blind, but when I entered the audition room and was met by Darby McDevitt and three other directors from Ubisoft Montreal it all became very clear. Also I originally auditioned for the role as Sigurd, but that changed when I got the call back and for my two days of castings in London I was auditioning for Eivor. Colum: What were your initial thoughts on the character? Magnus: I loved Eivor, such a great character to dive into. Eivor is stubbornly independent, honor bound, strong and adventurous but also a character dealing with a childhood trauma trying to find the way to a brighter future. Colum: This is the first time the series has split a character into both male and female versions. How did filming work, and did you take turns with Cecilie to film scenes? Magnus: I shot almost all of the cinematics for Eivor so we never really took turns, but we did shoot one scene together, though I really can’t talk about that one since it would spoil the game for the players who hasn’t completed it yet. I love the fact that everyone playing AC Valhalla gets to met and live as Eivor and that you as a gamer make your own choice to how and who your Eivor is going to be, so I think the character choice in the game is working very well. I also really love Cecilie Stenspil's acting and voice work and I think she did an amazing job with the character. Colum: How are you finding the motion capture, and do you ever get used to it? Magnus: I found the motion capture a bit weird an unsatisfying in the beginning because I just came from shooting two seasons of The Last Kingdom. On the big Netflix set in Hungary I had an army, was riding a black stallion, looking like a true Viking warlord in my armour with scars, full beard and face tattoos, and now I had to be clean shaven for the facial scans and HMC (head mounted camera) and my costume was a tight spandex suit with small dots all around, not very ‘Vikingy’. At the Alice Studios in Montreal there was nothing, or all most nothing. It’s an enormous room with green screen, a hundred cameras on the ceiling and four steady-cam operators walking around you, but there are no horses, the castle is made of boxes and when I jump over Yggdrasils roots (spoiler, sorry), it’s just me jumping over some big ropes and sandbags lying on the floor. So I had to cope with that, but after a few days it gave me a lot of freedom. In a studio like this everything is suddenly possible and from the moment I fully understood that, I embraced it and never looked back. BTW the people working at the Alice Studio were so professional and helpful and they made all my weeks of shooting feel great, adequate and very fun. Colum: Did recording during lockdown present any challenges, and did the team manage to overcome them? Magnus: I filmed my last performance capture in Montreal the day after the Danish Prime Minister locked Denmark down. Then I flew home and we actually managed to record all the rest of the voice overs without having any real difficulties, thank God! Talking about the voice work I have to give my utmost respect to my voice director Thor Bishopric. Working with him made Eivor come to life in the voice-overs and I have a feeling that we created the character together. I also want to praise Allan Beaupre our incredible voice designer, Sebastian Vaskio my sound technician ninja and all the other wonderful people working with me and Cecilie Stenspil during the hundreds and hundreds of hours we used in voice studios all over Canada, England and Denmark. There wouldn’t be any Eivor in this game without their tireless work. Never forget! Colum: Do you think that your time working on The Last Kingdom contributed towards any of Eivor's traits? Magnus: Portraying Cnut in The Last Kingdom definitely gave me a great deal of stamina towards playing Eivor in AC Valhalla. Though they are two very different characters, (one off them allegedly being being a villain) they are both Viking warriors getting more and more power and influence. Family and a home for their clan and their people are important to them and they are both very ambitious, but then it sort of ends there. Cnut being the unsung hero of his own saga, Eivor actually is the real hero of the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Saga. I shot my last scene as Cnut for season four of The Last Kingdom a week before I flew to Canada and started the first motion capture shoot as Eivor, so I was in the mindset of a Viking and had been it for more than three years, and that helped a lot. Colum: Which type of flyting do you prefer? Normal (insults) or reverse (compliments)? Magnus: Normal flyting with insults of course! Colum: Which missions were your favourite to shoot, and did you have fun working on the game? Magnus: My favourite part of the game is the main story with Sigurd and Basim and in details I think everything involving Fulke, brilliantly portrayed by Gaia Weiss. The four of us had so much fun shooting all the performance capture scenes and Gummi, Carlo (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson & Carlo Rota), Gaia and I had a blast in Montreal when we had any spare time. And YES I obviously loved working on the game and I love that it’s still not finished. I’m currently working on the DLC’s, Seasons and press for the game, so Eivor is still out and proud and doing all the dirty work. Also I made some great friends in Montreal and I don’t think I want to go back to my old life without Darby McDevitt and Alain Mercieca in it. Best damn writers, brains and lovely funny people I’ve ever met. Period. Colum: Do you have a favourite (non-spoiler) line? Magnus: As Eivor returns to his childhood home in Norway he says: ‘Home. Or it used to be home… Now it’s nothing but bone.’ And may I just add that I freaking love Norway in the game. It’s the most beautiful stunning place! Colum: Have you had much time to play Valhalla yourself? If so, are you focusing on story or exploration? Magnus: I haven’t been playing the game much since the release, but I’ve played it while we where making it. I’ve been watching some of my friends play it and I enjoy that a lot. The thing is that I know everything. I have read it all. Said almost all of it. So there’s no surprises. But when I’ll finally sit down and dig deep into it, I’ll plow through the main story so I can listen to my great colleagues work. And then I’ll go back to Norway and just explore. Jump from Island to island and enjoy the northern lights. AC Sisterhood graphic by Dylan and Sebastian Dell’Aria from The Mentor's Guild Colum: How do you feel the game has been received overall, and have you seen any of the fan content created to celebrate its arrival? Magnus: It feels like most people really enjoy the game and that makes me happy. Of course we can’t satisfy everybody but when millions of people are playing the game that’s always a hard thing to do. I heard there were people wanting Eivor to sound like Kratos from God of War, those people are hard to please. (BTW I love Christopher Judges voice) Back when we approached the character we wanted Eivor to be someone people would listen to, someone people would fall in love with, make alliances with someone to follow and genuinely like as well as be afraid of at the right times. We wanted to make a real human being with strengths and flaws. So if you are only looking for a bloodthirsty Viking, sorry, Eivor can be that, but not all the time. About the fan content and art. I freaking f****** love it! Keep it coming! Colum: One thing that was noticeable during the marketing campaign was the focus on male Eivor over female, contributing towards the creation of the AC Sisterhood movement. Do you have a message for fans picking up the game for the first time regarding character selection? Magnus: I believe that AC Sisterhood is a very important movement and I really think you should keep up the incredible work you are doing and keep pushing. Things are changing in the world and also in the gaming communities and the female representation will change for the better even though the battle sometimes feels Sisyphean. I’ll personally do what I can to push things in the right direction and you can always call on me for help, I mean that. When my Eivor arrives in England the first place I will go is the western part of Wessex. Here I’ll find myself an underground entrance so I for the rest of the game can show off some powerful tattoos with the most wonderful logo! And I think that you should pic the Eivor you want. It’s a great game anyway you play it. Cecilie Stenspil did a fantastic job with her Eivor and I did my absolutely best with mine. Whatever choice you make you can always switch whenever you play it or you can let the Animus decide. Just go with your gut feeling. I think I’m gonna give Female Eivor a go because I’ve been listening to my own voice for all my life and I know how I’ve said and played every single one of the eleven thousand lines Eivor has in the game, so for me it’s time for a change. But pick your poison it’s a good drink anyway you drink it. Colum: You recently attended the Assassin's Creed Valhalla launch event in Denmark, organised by the Ubisoft Nordic team. How was it? Magnus: Yes I did, and it was great. Drunk Uncle Covid has f***** up the entire planet at the moment, so obviously it wasn’t the launch we wanted, but we had a good time. I met a lot of fans of the franchise, talked about making the game and signed posters. When we get to the other side of this weird period in the world I really look forward to meeting more fans at conventions but at the moment it has to be online, sadly. We’ll prevail and when the sun shines again it’ll all be perfect. So wear your face mask and take care of each other then we’ll get to the other side faster. Meanwhile I’ll make you a second DLC. Deal? Cheers Magnus Look out for our Assassin's Creed Valhalla review, coming January 2021! We would like to thank Magnus for joining us for this interview, and to Kim Beacham and DMJ Consultancy for making it possible! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Previous Next Writer Michael Smith Previous Partner Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Twitter | Timeline Work

Article detailing the location of Grand Magister Vitus Burial Site in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and the clues that can lead you there. Community Guides Assassin's Creed Valhalla Guide: How to find the Secret Burial Site of Grand Magister Vitus By William Hede HojelseSkole 5/4/21 Share Top Stories The Assassin's Creed Community are raising money for Ocean Conservancy. Donate today In this article I am going to be show you how find Grand Magister Vitus' burial site in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Magister Vitus was a high-ranking member of the Hidden Ones who oversaw the evacuation of the brotherhood in the fifth century. Vitus is mentioned a few times throughout the game in documents found in the Hidden One’s bureaus, and in the description of the Magister armour set that can be found throughout the various regions. Edited by Ashlea Buckley Finding the clues Interview with Magnus Bruun - Eivor Assassins' Creed Valhalla Merchandise Guide Q&A with Abubakar Salim - Bayek of Siwa TOWCB Plans for 2021 Netflix announce upcoming live-action Assassin's Creed series Female Vikings: The Real History Building an Assassin's Creed Community: Getting Started Mentors Guild Announcement Interview with Benoit Richer: Valhalla Co-Dev Game Director Interview with Eric Baptizat: AC Valhalla Game Director Interview with Jordan Van Andel (JorRaptor) Colours in Assassin's Creed: A Short Review 6 ways to stay entertained in the Assassin's Creed Community during isolation Interview with Carlos Ferro - Da Vinci 5 ways you can support TOWCB Interview with Jesper Kyd Top Stories Decrypting the Code We hope that you found this guide useful! Check out the Database for more Assassin's Creed Valhalla Tips, Tricks and Guides. Save 10% on officially licensed Assassin's Creed Origins merchandise with the code "TOWCB" In order to find him we will have to travel to the southern coast of cent. More specifically to two towers called Dover Pharos and Dover fortress. Once you are at the Dover Pharos you will need to climb to the top. There you will find a marking in the shape of a triangle. Left of the triangle there should be the Roman number: l. Next up we will travel to Dover fortress. There you will find a tower similar to the one at Dover Pharos. Again, we will have to climb to the top of the tower you will find another triangle a little different from the one found in Dover Pharos. Instead of the roman number l there will be the roman number ll just right of the triangle. Now this took me a while to figure out but the hint here is to consider Dover Pharos and Dover fortress as the first and the second vertexes of the triangle. As seen below. Now the third vertex is where you will need to go in order to find Magister Vitus’ unmarked burial site. Near the area seen above you will find a well, covered with wooden planks. Break the wooden planks and you will be able to climb down into the well. Here you will finally find the remains of Magister Vitus. You will also notice an Assassin insignia engraved on the floor. In the back of his tomb you will find different things such as the roman number lll confirming that this is the right location. You will also find the hidden one’s insignia at the bottom of his tomb. As one of the last things you will find a cryptic message on a scroll. Now this message can be deciphered by reading the letter every other two letters. Original text mlmaoensadqmvvacixanimomvsasdclovimlbipenane tnvetir tiavlts deciphered text m lm a oe n sa d qm v va c ix a ni m om v sa s dc l ov i ml b ip e na n e t n v et i r t i av l ts Now using a decoder will leave us with the message:' Mandvcamvs libenter allos qvi nos dominent at mea maxima cvlpa vitvs Which if you translate it in latin means: "We gladly bite those who would dominate us, but I failed. Vitus ." With this translation we can for sure be certain that this is Magister Vitus burial site About the Author William is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who recently joined TOWCB AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer. Throughout 2021, William and other writers will be joining the admin team in a collaborative effort to create an Assassin's Creed Valhalla Guide Database, which you can find here . William Hede HojelseSkole

TOWCB 5 Year Anniversary News Share 18 Sept 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Check out the ways in which we celebrated our 5 year anniversary! New Website Launched On the 10th August 2019 we launched our new website! The site is one of our most ambitious projects to date, and provides an interactive platform for members of our passionate community. We will be working hard to provide regular content that is both interesting and engaging. Stay tuned for more. Brotherhood of Venice Interview We released an interview with Thibaud de la Touanne, Founder of Triton Noir, the Montreal based studio behind Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice. You can read it here. Follower of Romulus Giveaway We ran a giveaway for an exclusive Follower of Romulus Figure from the AC Brotherhood of Venice tabletop board game, kindly donated by the Triton Noir team! Congrats to our fan Shell from the UK for winning this limited edition prize! Bundle Giveaways To celebrate the launch of our new website, and 5 years as an Assassin's Creed community, Ubisoft kindly donated a range of items for a giveaway! Congrats to our fans Cole from the US and Nader from Egypt for winning the epic merchandise bundles! Assassin's Creed Movie Interview We released an interview with Chris Wildgoose, Weapons Concept Artist on the Assassin's Creed Movie! You can read it here Giveaway We teamed up with Lisa Zaman and ran an art giveaway! Three lucky winners received exclusive art prints to add to their collections! Congratulations to Peter from Denmark, Joseph from Michigan and Adrienn from Hungary! We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported TOWCB, and hope to see you all again in August of next year for the year 6 celebrations! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

AC Community Questions: Aita_Sageblood (Nathan) Interview Share 19 Jul 2025 Written By: Edited By: Aita_Sageblood Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome back to another article in our Assassin's Creed Community Questions series, made up of interviews with Assassins based around the world. This week, we are joined by Nathan ( Aita_Sageblood ), who recently joined our Assassin's Creed Partnership program as an Art Team Member! Col: Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role within the Assassin's Creed Community. Nathan : Hello, my name is Nathan, also known as Aita_Sageblood on my socials, I am a 25 year old self-taught digital artist from the UK with a…borderline unhealthy obsession with the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Regularly playing the games and drawing fanart of the characters since early 2018-19. I have been a fan of AC since about 2013 when I found a “Brotherhood and Revelations” game bundle in a game bargain bin; quickly fell in love with the games, everything from the (at the time) world breaking graphics, the more mature gameplay and an intricate and fascinating story that spanned many games, what wasn’t there to love? And, well, the rest is history! My love for the franchise only grew further when I found myself on an App called Amino, where I was a curator of the AC fan group for a time; finding so many likeminded fans thoroughly cemented my passion for AC as a whole. Col: Are you looking forward to working alongside the team during the launch of the 2025 AC Community Fundraiser? Nathan: I had heard of groups such as the "Mentor’s Guild" and "Isu_Network" over the years, both from what they do and their close relationship with Ubisoft. I had always held a dream of one day being fortunate enough to take part in such a group, yet thought it was nothing more than a fantasy. So, when I was invited, needless to say I was over the moon at the prospect of lending my skills to the group. Col: How excited are you for the future of Assassin's Creed? Nathan: The future of Assassin’s Creed is certainly a tantalising prospect to consider, from its moderately humble beginnings to current day, it’s been a long journey and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Will we see more of Basim/ The Isu Reborn in future instalments? How about finally uncovering the secrets of the Isu before the Toba Catastrophe? Will Shaun Hastings be involved? (He better be!) Col: Which Assassin's Creed game have you been playing recently, and which game are you playing next? Nathan: After recently getting the platinum on AC Shadows, I have since gone back and started my fourth playthrough of Origins, which has to be my absolute favourite AC game and protagonist in the entire series. Col: Have you visited any of the locations from the games? Nathan: I have actually recently come back from a holiday to Egypt! Starting in Cairo, then down to Luxor and back again, it was a childhood dream come true, even if my tour guide was starting to get a little tired of me saying things like "I climbed that!" and "Bayek did X-thing here!" :P Col: Which Assassin's Creed game is your favourite and why? Nathan: As I mentioned previously, Assassin's Creed Origins has to be my absolute favourite in the entire series, not only because I have been obsessed with Ancient Egypt since I was a young boy, but also because of just how amazing Bayek's story was, from a grieving and vengeful father to a wise and talented mentor of the Hidden Ones. Aya and Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins (2017) Col: Have you attended any events within the Assassin's Creed Community? Nathan: Unfortunately, not... unless attending MCM Comic Con in homemade cosplays of Ezio and Jacob Frye? Col: Do you have a favourite Assassin's Creed community moment/ story you would like to share? Nathan: A personal favourite moment from my time in the Assassin's Creed community over the years, has to be during MCM ComicCon 2018, where I met up with many fellow AC fans in cosplay, had many a good laugh and eventually played hide and seek to see who of us was a "master assassin" in disguise. (IE grown adults in hiding in crowds of other cosplayers and avoiding each other.) Col: What would be your dream setting for the upcoming AC Netflix TV show or future game? Nathan: Seeing as we were already lucky enough to experience the founding of the Hidden Ones through Bayek and Aya's journey; my dream game or show would be the flipside and experience the founding of the Order of The Ancients/Templars similar to Shay's story in AC Rogue. Especially as they seem to have been aware of humanity's original purpose as slaves to the Isu during pre-history. Col: Do you have any personal AC goals you would like to achieve? Nathan: While it has been a far-of-dream of mine to be a part of a group such as the Isu-Network, a personal goal of mine is to one-day be lucky enough to visit the Ubisoft Montreal offices; however, I don't believe that'll ever be possible as its closed to the public; but you never know? Ubisoft Montreal Studio (Via Ubisoft) Col: What would you say is your most significant community achievement to date? Nathan: The fact that there is still an incredibly active fanbase for a game that is so passionate about Assassin's Creed is already and achievement in and of itself; but I believe that the most significant has to be how a large percentage of us regularly get together to find ways to support charities all around the world. Col: What is your favourite part of being a community member? Nathan: I have only been a part of the Isu_Network for just over a month, but the fact I have already been welcomed in with open arms and given the opportunity to share my thoughts/opinions with the group as a whole is incredibly heart-warming to me; I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Col: Do you collect AC merchandise? If so, what is your favourite item? Nathan: Hehehe, may not be an American, but I plead the fifth. Joking aside, yes, I suppose it could be said that I have an...extensive collection of Ac merchandise; everything from collector's editions of every game to the statues by PureArts. However, as hard as this is to choose, my absolute favourite bit of AC memorabilia has to be a pack of limited edition playing cards that I was lucky enough to be sent from Ubisoft during the 15th anniversary where they had seen my fanart and had chosen me to receive such a lovely gift. Col: What advice do you have for people looking to get into content creation? Nathan: While I should recommend things like looking at current trends and analytics; what I would personally recommend is finding something that you personally enjoy doing, whether fanart, fanfiction or something else entirely; and simply making/sharing it when you've finished. It doesn't have to be a certified masterpiece or the next big thing; start small and work your way up. As long as you're passionate about it, share it with your fellow fans, the majority of us will support you. Col: Where can our community members find you online? Nathan: You can find on various social media platforms. Like Instagram , X (Twitter) and Cara , under the name Aita_Sageblood... look, I'm not the most creative with usernames, ok? :P However, I most frequently use Instagram, so if you'd ever like to have a chat, ask for art advice or anything else, please do not hesitate to pop me a message. :-) We would like to say a huge thank you to Nathan for joining us for this interview. Keep an eye out for his content on his own personal channels (above), and also TOWCB social media platforms (below). comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author In June 2025, Aita_Sageblood (Nathan) joined TOWCB's Art Team in an effort to widen the variety of art styles on the team. He is known online for his vibrant digital artworks, bringing colour and energy to each and every project. In January 2026, Nate was promoted to Art Team Leader, and throughout 2026 will be working alongside TOWCB's Art Team on a variety of projects which range from creating art for fundraising to live art creation watchalongs! By joining the AC Partnership Program, we aim to boost his profile within the community and create a meaningful relationship with Ubisoft. Aita_Sageblood

TOWCB Channel Trailer Released Other Share 29 Mar 2024 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database We are pleased to present the new and updated channel trailer for The Ones Who Came Before. edited by Team Leader Colum Blackett (@ Col_96 ), featuring music by Gustav Poulsen (@ Gargudon ). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARTZOV4OpCQ We hope that this trailer represents the relationship between the Core team and our Isu_Network, a global network of content creators around the world During the editing process, Col included two references that he hoped fans would pick up on. The first was the timing of the footage showing UbiCypher (Joe), Twitter lead admin for @ Isu_Network , which airs as the narration says that our content includes 'lore analysis and facts'. This is a nod towards Joe's daily posting schedule which includes Assassin's Creed lore and trivia. The second is right at the end, as Gargudon's narration says 'make sure to subscribe and follow us on socials', Col added footage of Ezio following a target on a rooftop. We hope that you enjoyed our new channel trailer! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. You can find links to all our our social media platforms below. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author A collection of articles from The Ones Who Came Before team. TOWCB Team

Understanding the Isu Language: The Basics Analysis Share 30 Sept 2024 Written By: Edited By: Edenoi ActualSpider-Man Back To Database If you've been following the Assassin's Creed series recently, you've probably noticed a mysterious language associated with the precursor civilization from which this website gets its name, the Isu. It isn't just gibberish: the Isu language is an actual language with its own grammar and vocabulary, originally created by a developer formerly with Ubisoft named Antoine Henry. Over the past few years, a number of people in the Assassin's Creed fan community have worked to understand the language, including myself (Eden), TOWCB's own ActualSpider-Man , bool0011 on Reddit, Tormis Narno and, most famously, the people over at Access the Animus . This article will serve as a kind of jumping off point for a series of articles examining the Isu language, starting with the fundamentals and including links to further topics. Let's start with some context. If you're reading this article, you're probably aware that in the world of Assassin's Creed, humans did not create the first civilizations on Earth. An ancient, technologically advanced species called the Isu built cities that predate humanity and which lasted until an apocalyptic event wiped out their entire world around 75,000 BC (an event known in the real world as the Toba Catastrophe and supposedly caused by a supervolcano eruption). The Isu, though long gone, left behind many of their near-magical devices (referred to as Pieces of Eden) and lived on in myth as the inspiration for the deities of various religions, such as the Roman Minerva or the Norse Odin. In the real world, many of the languages which originated in Europe and parts of Asia, such as English, German, Spanish, Russian, Farsi and Hindi, evolved from an ancient, lost language known as Proto-Indo-European. There are no surviving examples of Proto-Indo-European, but linguists have worked to reconstruct much of the language by studying and comparing the various languages descended from it. In the world of Assassin's Creed, Proto-Indo-European was itself a descendant of the language of the Isu. What this means in real-world terms is that Antoine Henry created the Isu language by looking at reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European and working backwards to build something that could've changed over time to become Proto-Indo-European. For this reason, you might recognize some of the words in the Isu language. For instance, the Isu word for "mother" is the very similar machtér, and the Isu word for "hidden" is kḷto, which looks a lot like the English word "cult." In this series of articles, I'll include the connections I've identified between Isu and Proto-Indo-European (sometimes abbreviated as PIE). Note that not all linguists always agree on how Proto-Indo-European words should be reconstructed. For the purpose of my own analysis which you'll see in these articles, I've used the reconstructions on Wiktionary (like Wikipedia but a dictionary), which are very consistent with the known Isu lexicon. While the Isu language can be transcribed into the Latin alphabet (the one you're reading right now), the Isu actually wrote in their own alphabet, which you can see here in both a capital and cursive script: Image taken from the Codex Transferendum by Your Friendly Neighborhood Mentor The script I'm referring to as capitals (by analogy with Roman square capitals) doesn't actually have anything to do with uppercase letters, but rather was used by the Isu to inscribe text in stone (or adamant) and can be found at the top and left in the image, whereas the cursive script was used to write manuscripts on soft surfaces such as paper. In fact, one such manuscript exists in the real world: the Voynich manuscript, which contains text in an unknown script and which has never been successfully translated. The Isu alphabet in the Assassin's Creed series is thus based on the letters that appear in the Voynich manuscript. The mysterious text in the Voynich manuscript The Canterbury manuscript from Assassin's Creed: Valhalla written in the Isu language In these articles I will pretty much exclusively write Isu text in the Latin alphabet, for both ease of writing and ease of reading. Look out for more articles in the series, coming October 2024! Related Articles comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Eden is a codebreaker who joined The Ones Who Came Before during the Assassin's Creed Shadows promotional campaign, helping the team to decipher numerous codes and puzzles used for marketing. She is also a high school Maths tutor, and has previously published a few short TTRPG's with more projects in the works. She first started playing Assassin's Creed in 2010, and is especially interested in the glyphs and puzzles, and platforms such as Assassin's Creed Initiates that expand the lore in creative ways. Edenoi

Assassin's Creed Mirage Roshan Cosplay Project by Rick Boer's Fantasy Productions Community Share 22 Jun 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Here are some photos from the Roshan Cosplay Project currently being created by the team over at RBF-productions-NL ( Rick Boer's Fantasy Productions), a company dedicated to delivering high-quality custom-made props and costumes. Although Assassin's Creed Mirage has not yet been released, we can't wait to learn more about the former-slave turned Hidden One we first met in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The Assassin's Creed Mirage reveal trailer made it clear that Basim's Mentor, voiced by the wonderful Shohreh Aghdashloo would be a hit within the community, and it's been great to see this project come to life through regular social media posts. Back in September, we rounded up images for the Basim Ibn Ishaq cosplay project, which you can find here. We will be updating this page as the team over at RBF-productions-NL release more images. Links to their social media channels can be found below. Original release: 8th May 2023 Updated with new photos 22nd June 2023. Website | Instagram | DeviantArt comments debug Comments (1) Write a comment Write a comment Sort by: Newest Guest Oct 15, 2023 Merci Colum, from France Like Reply About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Assassin's Creed Shadows Trailer and Promo Images Unveiled News Share 15 May 2024 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database Assassin's Creed Shadows (formerly titled 'Codename Red') was today revealed to the world with the release of a 'World Premiere' Cinematic Trailer, alongside promotional images appearing on retail / video game news sites. Here you will find our round-up of the images and videos that were released to kick-start the promotional campaign. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vovkzbtYBC8 A seriously impressive trailer showing off the dynamic combat system and duel protagonists who come together to fight for what seems to be a newly-formed branch of the Brotherhood. An interesting concept! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhMOQowMjM8 Ubisoft released an official breakdown of the trailer A new series of the 'Echoes of History' podcast began. Concept Art That concludes our round-up of the media released on day one of the AC Shadows marketing campaign! Stay tuned here at The Ones Who Came Before for all things Assassin's Creed. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

“Database Entry Added”: A Look at ACToys’ Assassin's Creed Character Blind Box Reviews Share 18 Jul 2022 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Colum Blackett Back To Database Assassin's Creed Blind-Box Vinyl Figure Case of 6: "Assassin's Creed" is an action-adventure game series developed by Ubisoft Montreal Studio. The game series is an action game with a high degree of freedom and beautiful graphics as its biggest selling point. Players will control an assassin in each game, bringing players a deep sense of substitution by cleverly interspersing important historical figures and historical events in the mission. Each Assassin's Creed Blind-Box Vinyl Figure Case includes 6x blind packaged figures. Please note: Item selection is random. Items are in blind packaging. We cannot accept requests for specific items, nor can we accept returns on opened items. You may receive duplicates.Breakdown not available at this time. Our factory package guarantees that there will be no missing or duplication of characters in a set, as long as the agent does not change the package. Welcome to another Assassin's Creed merchandise review, this time, unboxing the new Assassin's Creed Character Blind Box figures by AC Toys, who we would like to thank for sending a review copy. Blind boxes originated in Japan as fukubukuro (Japanese for “lucky bag”) during the 1980s, and were sold during the New Year as a random assortment of items at a discounted price. The excitement of not knowing what you would receive made these a very popular gift and would have people lined up for blocks to get one for themself. Over the course of the last decade this trend has seen a spike in popularity with the growing trend of unboxing videos, loot crates in video games, and collectors attempting to complete the full set of all the prizes one would find in a series of blind boxes. Blind boxes can be found for all kinds of pop culture, from artistic pieces produced by brands like TokiDoki with various colours or designs of unicorns, to video games such as Overwatch with small representations of the characters in their roster. Boxes are sold individually or in cases that would contain multiple figures in small bags or packaging. The average blind box would show the various items one could obtain when opening the surprise pack and would include the odds of finding each character based on the number of boxes purchased (though not guaranteed). Blind boxes that would list items as a 1:5 would be something that you could find easily and possibly receive duplicates, whereas a 1:50 odds would mean you as the consumer would have a better chance of locating a rare figure if you purchased an equivalent number of blind boxes. Rare, or “Chase” figures would normally be included in a series as the “holy grail” of said release and in my experience would be hidden even further by depicting the item on the packaging as a silhouette instead of an image of the item itself. Ubisoft has worked with blind box lines in the past, releasing small cartoon style figures from Jazwares, the previous manufacturer of their collectable action figures, to keychains or “hangers” of characters from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. While they are no longer sold in stores, these collectibles can be found on sites like Ebay or other digital marketplaces in bulk at various prices based on the popularity of the series or the popularity of the individual character. Retail stores would even have exclusive characters that you could only find by purchasing the blind box at their store, marked with a “Only at” or “Exclusive” label on the packaging. I myself has purchased a full case of the Jazware blind boxes to find a full set with a few duplicate Assassins and learned after that the American video game store, GameStop had a limited “Master Ezio” in his black robes from Assassin’s Creed Revelations that I had to purchase separately at a higher price due to its rarity. It had been a long time since Ubisoft had released any form of blind box for its properties as they had a larger focus on individual series of figures or statues such as their “Ubisoft Heroes” collection. Then in January of 2022, ACToys, a Chinese figure manufacturer, teased on Twitter that a new line of their pre-painted figures were coming for Assassin’s Creed. The figures were visible enough in the image (shown below) to see who was going to be included, but not so clear that you could see the details of each character. Two days later, they unveiled the full set of six characters from Assassin’s Creed, three pairings from the Ezio Collection, AC III, and Black Flag. Fans took to the artistic style of these figures immediately and began asking if they would be available worldwide. Seeing characters such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Haytham Kenway, who did not have a lot of representation in merchandise previously, made fans even more excited. Unfortunately, fans would learn that the figures would be sold only in China and other Asian markets. However, at the time of this article, I have been able to find import shops which offer worldwide shipping such as Entertainment Earth, and Big Bad Toy Store that are taking pre-orders for the series that is set to be available in October 2022. The Ones Who Came Before were given the chance to preview these figures thanks to ACToys who sent a case of six blind boxes to myself for review. In the continuing text of this article, I will give my honest opinion of these figures and why I think it is worth trying to purchase a set for yourself as a collector or fan of the Assassin’s Creed games. I received the box in mid-July and from the start knew this was a quality product based on the packaging of the case alone. As shown in the image above, the case included six blind boxes with the collector's guide displayed on both the case and individual box sides. The case itself is perforated in two locations, on the lid so that it can be folded to display the Assassin’s Creed logo (as shown) and diagonally from the top of the case at the back, to the lower front end where removing the excess packaging would display the boxes in a tray that makes removing them easier for a retail environment. I personally won't be doing the latter of the display options as it would remove the listing of certain characters with the torn section. On the packaging next to the image of each character, is their name in Japanese, however, the odds of finding each figure are not stated, as I was sent a full case which included one of each character. This is beneficial for those that want to collect a full set, but can make it difficult to find the character of your choice when purchasing individually as there is no way to tell which character is in which box. On the back of the packaging is a warning that the figures are suitable for players over 15 years old and that these are for display only and could be damaged if played with. As most of the figures include small parts such as swords or an arrow, there is always the worry of smaller children misusing the product or trying to consume it. The figures are packaged in a locking plastic mold and covered with a thin sheet of plastic to protect the figure during transportation. Each character (regardless of faction affiliation) comes with a plastic base that resembles cobblestone flooring displaying the Assassin insignia. Small pegs will hold the character securely in place, allowing them to stand up. While these figures do not have movable limbs, the accessories can be positioned as you see fit. In addition, each figure is accompanied by an art card with the character’s image and name displayed, the back of which shows the same design as the one on the front of the blind box. The figures stand at 10.5 cm with the 7 cm diameter baseplate and weigh around 65 grams. The first character I unpackaged was Ezio Auditore staged in his iconic pose from the cover of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. His detailed white robes with Assassin insignia, bracers and double hidden blades (which are sharp at the points, ouch!) are present. His face is shown with his characteristic smirk and very vibrant hazel/brown eyes. The detail of the paint work by artist Alohell, even shows the scar on Ezio’s lip that he received from a thrown rock by rival Vieri de’ Pazzi at the beginning of Assassin’s Creed II. To partner with Ezio is his close friend, the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Based on his character art from Assassin’s Creed II, Leonardo holds a compass and his flying machine replica that was scaled for use by Ezio when infiltrating the Palazzo Ducale to save the Doge of Venice, Giovanni Mocenigo. From Assassin’s Creed III, Ratonhnhaké:ton, better known as Connor Kenway, comes with his bow and a single arrow that is knocked into his hand. With this figure, it took me a bit to balance the arrow as everytime I picked it up it would fall off. I fixed this by paying closer attention to where I was setting the arrow and making sure that it was pushed into the groove of his fingers correctly. I also was disappointed that his face is not as visible as the other characters but this is due to the design being based on the artwork of the game where his face is hidden as well. I enjoy the figure regardless, but I do favor the others more. The second figure from AC III is Haytham Kenway, Connor’s father. I had trouble finding the affiliated artwork that this design of the Templar Grandmaster was based on. He comes with an attachable sword and wields his hidden blade that he stole from the Assassin Miko during Assassin’s Creed II. Haytham’s face shows his age through the fold lines on his skin, and the back of his cape shows the Templar Cross in its design. Finally from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag comes the duo of Edward Kenway and Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch, pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy. Both figures come with an attachable sword (or two in Blackbead’s case), and are based on official artwork from the game. Out of all of the characters in this series, I find these two to be my favorites as Kenway’s design was instantly recognizable from the cover of the game’s art book, and I have always loved the character Blackbead as he was depicted in the game. Unlike Leonardo and Haytham, Blackbeard has had previous merchandise releases so this new figure is a great addition to any Assassin’s Creed or pirate fan. ACToys’ Assassin’s Creed Blind Boxes retail for 95 Yuan (£11.86 GBS/$14.06 USD) and again are available for purchase in China exclusively. However, as I stated at the start of this article, I have been able to locate full sets for roughly $100 USD online. ACToys has stated in response to multiple inquiries on Twitter that they are looking at expanding into additional international markets, but do not have any additional information on when this could happen. As a pre-order bonus or early adopter bonus, a limited edition metal pin of Leonardo’s flying machine is packaged within the box with Leonardo, so fans that purchase a box could get that extra bonus for free! I asked ACToys for the number of pins that were produced but they are keeping that information close to the chest, so if you have interest in these, I would look at getting a set as soon as you can. Fans also asked about missing favorites such as Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad from the first Assassin’s Creed game and ACToys replied and confirmed with myself via private message that they are in active discussions with Ubisoft about a second series of figures. For fun, I think the following characters should be used for the second wave of figures. From Assassin’s Creed, Altaïr and his mentor Al Mualim. From Assassin’s Creed Unity, Arno Dorian and Élise de la Serre. From Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Jacob and Evie Frye or Henry Green as a standalone character. From Assassin’s Creed Origins, Bayek of Siwa and Aya of Alexandria. From Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Kassandra and her brother Alexios (Deimos), I would also love to see Barnabus or Herodotus as well. From Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Evior Varinsdottir and Basim Ibn Ishaq as we have not received any figure or statue of the Assassin yet. What characters would you like to see ACToys produce in a future series? Leave a comment below or let us know on Twitter @ACFirstCiv, @Isu_Network, or myself directly @thelordreylus. comments debug Comments (1) Write a comment Write a comment Sort by: Newest Guest Oct 03, 2024 I got these at a convention not too long ago. As someone who loves Assassins Creed, I had to get them. There isn't a lot of merchandise for stuff like this in my country so seeing them made me so happy. AND I got the Leo pin, so even better. I love these guys, their designs are on point and the quality is absolutely amazing. If they ever do make more series of them with other assassins and allies, then I would happily go broke XD. For ideas, I would say they should do characters such as Altair (and maybe a good combo would be with Malik or Maria), Arno (either with Elise as said, or adding to the historical figure allies, even Napoleon), Jacob and Evie together definitely, and all others mentioned above already. Maybe even assassins like Aveline or throw in Shay to add in with the AC III boys, then in that case characters like Adewale, Yusuf, Greenie ext. would also be nice fits. I would definitely be willing to complete the collection if they continued to make them <3. Like Reply About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith