The Creed In Shadows

The Creed in Shadows

"It might be that this idea is only the beginning of wisdom and not its final form."

- Edward Kenway

There are a lot of Assassin's Creed quotes I could have used to start this mini-essay, but I chose this because it highlights the importance of the Creed in Assassin's Creed Shadows. There is a lot of knowledge and lore imbued in the game's story, but it's only at the beginning of its journey as the entire premise of the game is, a new creed is rising. Before I continue, I will warn of potential spoilers for both ACT 1 and ACT 2 of the game. As the title has been out for a few weeks now, I'm confident a lot of players will have managed to navigate these moments of the story. Plus, these are the essential parts that show us the creed, that is rising.

I understand a lot of fans will look at shadows with quizzical expressions and wonder if this is an assassin's creed title, where are the assassins in white hoods? Where are the templars? But this line of thinking overlooks what truly makes an Assassin's Creed title, the philosophy of order vs freedom. One person or a group banding together to shake off the shackles of oppression and free the people to walk their own path. That is what Shadows is, a title that delves deep into what makes up the ideologies of the creed and what drives a group of individuals to stand up to oppressors.

But Shadows does more than that; Shadows caters to a niche side of the lore to finally connect it to the larger narrative of the mainline games, and I'm going to cover both of these points below and help highlight where the Creed is in Shadows.

Memories

The niche side of the lore comes from the very short-lived and ios exclusive title Assassins Creed Memories, a game that first truly explored feudal Japan. Through the eyes of Hattori Hanzo, a shinobi assassin who existed from 1542 to 1596. If you look closely at this period, you can see it intersects with Shadows, which was set in 1579. But this isn't just a coincidence. This is a very clever way for Assassin's Creed to grow the niche mobile title and embed it into the wider game narrative.

What is also interesting about Hattori is he was a member of the Kakushiba ikki, a sub-group of the Assassin brotherhood in Japan, and in his life, he travelled to a village in Iga and saved a farmer by the name of Fujibayashi Masayasu, from corrupt Samurai who where demanding a tribute.

After beating the Samurai, Fujibayshi asked to be trained in the ways of the shinobi but was declined due to his stature as a farmer of weak skill. Looking at this you would assume like I did that it is just a small tie-in to Shadows, however, Fujibayshi would later change his last name to Nagato and would eventually not only grow to the ranks of jonin, a rank of shinobi but he would also eventually join the Kakushibia iki. The same sect of brotherhood Hattori was a part of.

In 1564, his wife gave birth to their daughter Naoe. That's right, Naoes father is not only a member of the Assassin brotherhood, but his protective nature of Naoe led him to train her in the arts of the shinobi. So, from birth, Naoe was destined to be a part of the Assassin's brotherhood and was secretly trained in their ways. So even though there are no white robes or profound creed lectures or doctors trained to Naoe, she is officially an assassin from birth and even creates a new sect of Kakushiba, like after the fall of Iga.

So, for players wondering where the assassin is, there may not be the traditional white robes we are used to and the traditional gameplay and story of older titles, but they are still a part of the lore, a lore entry that predates this game by 10yrs.

The shinbakfu in this game may look like your typical RPG order members from the last 3 titles, but through your journey of Yasuke, you will uncover their roots and run deeper into the templars than any title has done since 2015. For a traditional assassin's creed story set-up, the game delivers but does it in a way that is respectful to culture and the lore already established.

The Philosophies

Another huge part of the franchise that has slowly dwindled to focus more on, what is life and what Is death. The discussion of freedom versus order and what it truly means to be free? And this is where Shadows shines the brightest; sometimes, the dialogue may be hit-and-miss for some fans. The ideas behind the words embody what the creed is all about.

There is a moment later in Act 2, after the defeat of a shinbakfu member, where Yasuke is debating if their actions are right for them to fight for justice like the shinbaku. But Naoe tells him he's the embodiment of justice and this line is important for the philosophies of the creed. As old quotes from earlier titles, all share the same idea that assassins are free to fight for justice, but they must be prepared to carry the consequences. And Yasuke is doing just that, every action they take weighs heavily on him.

By contrast, Naoe 's line of embodying justice confirms to Yasuke that he's not just fighting blindly for the sake of justice, but he's striving to uphold the values and become a justice, something all Assassins have done over the years. There are so many moments like this in the story; each shinbaku holds its own ideas of justice and freedom, and some even argue that freedom is cowardice. This is a typical trope of templar thinking, but they may not be worshipping the father of understanding in the traditional sense. They are still a part of their branch in the same way the kakKakushiba Wiki are not a traditional brotherhood, but it's established by the assassins to uphold their values and protect the innocent.

Conclusion

Assassin's Creed Shadows is not what fans expect when they hear a Templar vs Assassin story. We have been shown the same basic idea of the story since AC 1 to Syndicate. And with Origins to Mirage, trying to keep the series fresh they overlooked certain story elements that made the series what it is today. Mirage was the step forward, but Shadows is the game that brings back what it truly means to be an Assassin's Creed title. Not just in gameplay and visuals but in the feeling and the story itself, and sometimes a story can carry an idea and lore better than what we can see.

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