Assassin’s Creed Shadows may be the latest game in the long-running series, but its feudal Japanese setting places it at the midpoint of the series’ historic timeline. This is because the beliefs of assassins do not progress chronologically. This long-term franchise advances time between each entry, exploring important events that took place up to the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece and the dawn of World War I.
With 14 games in the mainline series and count, the timeline for these events is becoming increasingly complicated. That’s why Passthecontroller has worked together through all the scraps of lore to understand the spanning timeline, comprehensive storyline and how the game fits in through the series. As a result, this timeline covers all important events in the Assassin’s Creed Timeline chronologically.
The ISU era
75,000 BC
You need to cover a bit of lore before you dive into the timeline. When a very advanced civilization of godlike beings ruled the earth, they, known as the waaaay ISU, created humanity to act as slaves. Humanity was placed under ISU control by using Eden’s apples, an incredibly powerful collection of artifacts. However, people generally dislike being enslaved, so Eve and Adam two men stole the apples of Eden, causing something like a revolutionary war.
The war between the ISU and humanity lasted for ten years, but was shortened when the solar flare hit the Earth. The ISU has disappeared. Meanwhile, human ruins were able to rise from the ashes and inherit the Earth.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
431-422 BC – Peloponnesian War
As the Peloponnesian war intensifies in Greece, a mercenary named Cassandra discovers a cosmos cult. A shadowy organization that secretly coordinated the war. Among their numbers is her long-lost brother, Alexios. Cassandra learns that the cult has targeted Alexios. Because he carries the genes of the legendary Spartan King Leonidas, his grandfather’s gene.
Cassandra embarks on a mission to stop the plans of the cult that controls Greece. Meanwhile, she learns that the organization uses an ISU device that calculates possible futures to control the war. Cassandra kills key members of the cult, destroys ISU devices, and ends the Greek conflict.
During her quest, Cassandra is reunited with her biological father, Pythagoras. Pythogoras gives Kassandra staff from Hermes, an ISU artifact promoting immortality, and asks him to become the eternal guardian of Atlantis.
The origin of the assassin’s beliefs
49-43 BC – Ptolemy Egypt
The order of the ancients in the era of Cleopatra’s rule over Egypt – Another The shadow organization that worked in partnership with the Cosmos cult – lures Bayek and his son to peacekeepers. This order considers Bayek’s pedigree to be the key to unlocking the ISU Vault, but he cannot. In a battle to escape his temptation, Bayek accidentally kills his son. Devastated, he vows to revenge on the person in charge.
Bayek and his wife Aya are working to dismantle the orders. This establishes Egyptian control using its doll Faroa, Ptolemy, and leads both Cleopatra and Julius Caesar to the ranks. The couple can track down and kill men who are unfairly treating them, but they learn that Order is not a local villain, but is actually an earth-based plot intention that aims to rule politics and religion by finding and using the apples of the ISU of Eden. To combat the suppression of command, Bayek and Aya establish what is hidden. A secret group of spies and assassins operating in Egypt and Rome.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
861 – The Golden Age of Islamic
Almost a century later, the hidden ones have established many bases around the world, including the mountain fortress of Alamute in Iran. There, Basim, a street thief in Baghdad, is trained as an assassin and is tasked with investigating the order of the activities of the ancients in his hometown. Basim discovers that this order seeks a Sui temple buried under Aramat, and helps assassins dodge the order’s invasion forces. Inside the temple, Basim finds a technically advanced prison that once held Loki. This is now considered a god by the Nordics. Basim finds out that he is Loki’s reincarnation and vows to revenge on those who imprisoned him in his previous life.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
872-878 – Vikings invasion in England
Over the next decade, they will travel to England with the Viking Clans to hunt more members of the ancient orders. There, the clan leader Sigurd and his brother Aver travel around the country looking for allies to help them establish their reconciliation, the Ravens Thorpe. To support the neighbouring community, the pair learns about the tyranny of King Alfred, the leader, in the order in which they overthrow the current regime and replace it with the Christian system.
After discovering the ISU artifact, Sigurd begins to experience a vision that makes him a god. Returning to Norway to investigate hallucinations, Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are the reincarnation of Odin and Ther, the Isu whom Loki had imprisoned, and that he is hunting them to enact a revenge. Eivor survives attack and traps Beimim in a simulated world generated by an ISU computer shaped like a Yggdrasil tree. Wounded by the event, Sigurd gives the Klan leadership to Aver, and Aver returns to England, defeating King Afeld in the Battle of Chippenham and returning to Ravens Thorpe as a hero.
assassin’s creed
1191-The Third Cross
The next 300 years will be hidden adapted and changed, eventually becoming known as the Brotherhood of Assassins by the end of the 11th century. The enemy will also evolve. King Afeld’s quest for a god-fearing system transforms the order of the ancients into the Knights Templar of the Order. But while the structure of cults is new, its goal is not. The Knights of Templars are still succumbing to hell in establishing a new world order.
During the Third Crusades, assassin Altaia ibn Rahad worked with the Brotherhood of the Holy Land to steal an Apple of Eden from the Knights of Templar. The theft is successful, but Altaia’s arrogant tactics lead to the death of his fellow assassin, Kadar. Brotherhood leader Al Marim employs Altaïr in hunting and assassinating nine Knights of Templar leaders to make up for his mistakes.
Altaïr completes his work, but by killing each Templar, he gradually stitches together the plot and uses the Apple of Eden’s Power. But there’s a twist. Al Marim plans to work with the Templars to double-cross to secure the apple for himself and use his power to force the world to impose “peace.” Altaïr has no choice but to kill his former master and control the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed 2
1476-1499-Italian Renaissance
Fast forward to the Italian Renaissance, Ezio Auditore da Florence has found himself enrolled in the Brotherhood of Assassins as he seeks revenge for the deaths of his father and brother (the process you have sorted it out by the Templars). Using the equipment and new tools of his father’s assassin, developed by Leonardo da Vinci himself, Ezio fights a war with the Borgia family of the Knights of Templar. This is a quest to see Ezio owning the Apple of Eden, revealing the location of the secret Isovoort under the Vatican. However, the Templars already know this secret, and Grandmaster Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope, making it accessible to the hidden rooms of the Vatican. So there are no other options. Egio must challenge the literal ruler of the Catholic Church to boxing matches.
Ezio, an emerging victory, uses apples to seal the vault. Inside, he faces the vision of Is Minerva, who is telling the assassins his imminent fate as he will fall on Earth in 2012.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
1499-1507-Italian Renaissance
Ezio may have defeated the Pope in a boxing fight, but he did not kill him. This decision backfires when the Pope Army of Borgia besieged Ezio’s Monteriggioni Villa and steals Eden’s apple. In retaliation, Eggio helps the weakened Brotherhood of Assassins build its strength and numbers. The assassin dismantles the Roman regime and reclaims the Apple of Eden, hiding in Isavoa, beneath the Roman Colosseum, which is safe from the Knights of Templars.
Revelation of the Assassin’s Creed
1511-1512-Ottoman Civil War
In search of more information about the mystical ISU, Ezio travels to Mashaf, the headquarters of the former Assassin Brotherhood, to investigate the library built by Altaia. To be bothersome, the Templars have already discovered the library and are beginning to collect the five keys needed to unlock it. To stop their progress, Eggio travels to Constantinople, where he forms an alliance with the Ottoman assassins against the local Byzantine Knights of Templars. His efforts disrupt the Knights of Templar’s goal of reestablishing the Byzantine Empire and securing the library keys it claims.
Ezio within the Masyaf Library discovers Altaïr’s body. The former assassin leader had locked himself up with his own Eden apple to protect it from the hands of the Knights Templars. Apple projects a message from another ISU, Jupiter. He reveals that important data is being collected in the grand temples that can help humanity survive the Apocalypse. Understanding that this knowledge is not for him, but for the mysterious observer, Eggio leaves the library and continues to lock the apple inside as Altaia intended. He retires from his duties, but soon afterwards he dies from injuries accumulated over 30 years in cooperation with brotherly love.
Shadow of the assassin’s beliefs
1579 -Sengoku period
We know little about the shadow stories of the Assassin’s beliefs at present, but what we know is that in the 16th century African mercenaries travel to Japan with Catholic Jesuit missionaries. There he meets Oda Nobunaga, the powerful Lord, in the process of politically unifying the country’s war clans. Nobunaga makes the African one of his samurai. Taking the name Yasuke, Africans helped invade IGA states in 1581 as part of the Nobunaga campaign. Iga has Naoe, the daughter of Shinobu Ujibayashi Nagato. Despite coming from the other side of the conflict, Yasuke and Naoe eventually unite in pursuit of shared goals.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
1715-1722 – The Golden Age of Copyright Piracy
During the golden age of copyright infringement, villain Edward Kenway finds himself caught up in a new Templar plot after killing an assassin and taking his place. He attended a secret meeting, and the Knights Templars arrived in the Caribbean, seeking an observatory, an ISU machine that can spy on humans. So they want to blackmail world leaders. However, only the “Sage” can unlock the observatory. The human reincarnation of ISU Aita. The Knights of Templars are seeking the present reincarnation of Aita, a pirate named Bartholomew Roberts.
Edward sees the opportunity to use the observation deck and embarks on a quest to find Roberts and confuse the Templars. He is allied with the Pirates group and helps establish an independent pirate republic before eventually uniting with Roberts. The pair unlocks the observation deck, but they disagree with what to do with it. Edward is soon betrayed by Roberts, who shoots an artifact in the shape of a skull, powering the device, and locking Edward inside. Edward proves well-versed enough to quickly escape, and soon pursues Roberts to retrieve the stolen skull and takes his bloody revenge. He then returns to the observatory, assassinating Laureano de Torres Iayara, the leader of the Knights of Templar, sealing his skull and determining that the safety of the world is more important than a personal quest for wealth. His war against the Templars is concluded, and Edward returns to his home in England, where he lives his days with his daughter Jennifer and son Haytham.
The Assassin’s Creed Illness
1752-1776 – The war between France and India
Shay Patrick Cormack is sent by the Brotherhood of Assassins to retrieve ISU artifacts from a temple in Lisbon. Shay’s intrusion of the temple causes an earthquake that almost completely destroys the city. Stripped by guilt, Shay decides to leave his brotherly love and steal their maps of the isu temple. The assassin tries to kill Shay for his betrayal, but he is rescued by the Knights Templar, who takes him to New York.
For years, Shay gradually climbed the orderly ranks of the Knights of Templars, killing as many prominent assassins as he did. His work places him in the path of former master Achilles. He pursues the Arctic Circle in hopes of halting the quest for brotherly love in more ISU temples. There he and Haytham Kenway of the Templars – yes, son of Edward Kenway! – Injures Achilles, but stops killing him, leaving him alive, preventing the assassin from excavating any more ISU temples.
On a trip to Versailles in 1776 to eliminate the Assassins, Shay suggests that the Templars would launch a revolution in France in response to the recent uprising caused by American assassins.
Assassin’s Creed 3
1754-1783 – The American Revolution
The Knights Templars set their sights on unlocking the ISU’s magnificent temple. Haytham Kenway kills a London man to get his keys and moves to a Mohawk equipment location in the American colony temple. Haytham fails to resolve the way to unlock the temple, but finds himself falling in love with a Mohawk woman named Kanyehiti. Together they have a child, Ratonfu Hake: Ton, but Haytham eventually abandons his new family.
A few years later, the Mohawk settlement is burned to the ground, killing Kanyeti: IO. In search of revenge, Ratonhnhaké: Ton renames Connor Kenway and trains to become an assassin along with the passive Achilles. Against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Connor eliminates the Templar hidden in the British army. His quest ultimately reunites him with Haytham, and he wants to work together to establish some kind of peace. However, Haytham believes that it is important for the Templars to control the country, and that the contradictory ideals of the two end with the son killing his father. Connor takes the ISU Grand Temple Key and fills it with the Knights Templar denying its final goal.
The assassin’s beliefs are released
1765-1777 – Spanish occupation of Louisiana
Arriving alongside Connor’s journey, New Orleans-based Assassin Abelin des Grandpres learns the Knights of Templar plot to control Louisiana. Following the trail, Abelin learns that this plot is part of a much larger plot organized by the “company man” who uses slaves to excavate the Chance Temple. In her crusade to confuse the Templars and free the slaves, Aveline collects three components and forms an ISU device called the “Prophecy Disk.”
Abelin eventually discovers that the man in the company is her own stepmother, grooming her with the intention of seducing her by the Knights Templar. Aveline kills her stepmother and then activates the prophecy disc that tells the story of Eve. Leader of human rebellion against the ISU.
The unity of assassins’ beliefs
1789-1794 – The French Revolution
Arno Dorian is orphaned as a child when Shay Cormack murders his father in Versailles. He is taken to François de la Sale, the grandmaster of the French Knights Templar, and grows up with his new sister, Ellis. As an adult, Arno is framed for the murder of Delaserre and is imprisoned in Bastille. There he meets members of the Assassin Brotherhood, offering to help pursue his adoptive father’s murderer.
The Brotherhood investigation reveals a rift within the Knights of Templar, led by extremist François Thomas German. Germanic plans to rebel against the French monarchy and ignite the revolution. As Paris falls into chaos, Arno and élise work together to track down Germain. They chase him into the basement of the Templars underground, where he tries to use the sword of Eden, the powerful Iso weapon, to kill Arno. However, the sword explodes unexpectedly, killing Ellis and hurting German. In his final moments, Templar reveals that he is the current sage. Arno later seals German’s body in the Paris Catacombs, ensuring he will remain out of reach of the Knights Templar.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
1868 – Victorian England
In 1868, Twin Assassin Jacob and Evie Fry arrived in London looking for another ISU device, the Shroud. They soon discover that the Templars have fully controlled the city using industry figures, political leaders, and organized crime. The twins are divided into completely parallel goals. Jacob focuses on assassinating the Knights Templars’ leadership, and Evie tries to defeat the Knights Templars in a race to find Shroud.
While all of his insides are killed in Jacob’s bloody banquet, Crawford Starick, the leader of the Knights of Templar, knows that Shroud is held in a safe under Buckingham Palace. He steals the device, but when Jacob and Evie assassinate him, his plan to kill the British leader is stopped. The twins return the Shroud to their vault and win another victory for the Assassin Brotherhood.
The following year, Jacob became the head of the London assassin, and Evie manages to pursue and assassinate Grizzly serial killer Jack the Ripper. The pair later moves to the countryside, where Evie raises her daughter, Lydia, as an assassin. During World War I, Lydia was tasked with investigating German spy facilities in London by Winston Churchill. Lydia’s mission concludes when she kills the leader of the espionage network, which has been revealed to be the latest ISU sage.
Transition period
1914-2012
While the majority of each Assassin’s Creed Game is set during a historic period, the series as a whole uses framing stories set during the modern era. During the transition period between the Victorian era of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and the beginning of the modern storyline, the Knights Templar creates the Abstergo industry. Founded in 1937, Abstergo is part of the efforts of the Knights of Templars to rule the world through capitalism. In the late 1970s, Abstergo began developing Animus. It is a virtual reality machine that allows you to explore memories of human ancestors. By exploring the past, Abstergo wants to take control of the future.
Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, and 3
2012
In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles was accused of Abstergo Industries and was forced to use Animus. Abstergo is trying to find apples from Eden and other ISU artifacts using Desmond, a descendant of Altaïr. Thankfully, Desmond has Mole, the Brotherhood of Assassins who works for Abstergo and Lucy Stillman. She helps him escape from the facility.
Desmond works with Lucy and her teammates Sean Hastings and Rebecca Crane to take her to the Brotherhood Safe House, where she explores the memories of his ancestor, Ezio. Through his encounter with Eggio with Minerva under the Vatican, Desmond learns of the imminent apocalypse and kicks off his quest for assassins to prevent the end of the world.
By exploring more of Ezio’s memory, Desmond can find the Apple of Eden hidden beneath the Roman Colosseum. Unfortunately, Apple owns Desmond and projects the vision of Junho of the malicious isu who forces him to kill Lucy. The traumatic ordeal places Desmond in a coma, but he still can explore Ezio’s last memories despite such a medical emergency. Through them he observes that Egio reveals the discovery of Altaia’s library and the message of Jupiter to reveal the existence of a magnificent temple.
Awakening from his coma, Desmond travels with Sean and Rebecca to the Is Grand Temple in New York, where he meets William Miles, Desmond’s father and leader of the modern-day Assassin Brotherhood. Relive Connor Kenway’s memories, Desmond can find the temple keys. Inside, we discover that ISU technology can prevent apocalypse, but can make the sacrifice of killing Desmond and unleashing the imprisoned Junho, who is set to control humanity. Desmond decides to sacrifice himself, believing that humanity can defeat Junho.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
2013
Abstergo continues his hunt for ISU technology through memory of his ancestors using samples taken from Desmond’s body. In the hopes of discovering the observatory’s location, Abstergo assigns the nameless researcher “The Noob” to explore Edward Kenway’s memory.
During their mission, Noob is tasked with hacking Abstergo’s computer, hunting information about assassins by John Standish, the head of the company. Standish is eventually revealed to be a modern sage, and he intends to use Nouve as Juno’s host. However, since Junho is still not ready to appear in the world, there is no Standish attempt to kill Noob to keep her existence a secret. Unfortunately for him, he is killed by Abstergo’s security, who believes in the person responsible for the hack.
The unity of assassins’ beliefs
2014
In a bold attempt to track down the remains of a former sage, Abstergo opens the “helix” to the public. Video game-like software that allows players to experience genetic memory. Guided by an assassin called Bishop, the unnamed Initiate relives the life of Arno Dorian in search of the ruins of François Thomas German, a wise man from the 1700s. Learning that Arno sealed German bones in the Catacombs in Paris, the bishop believes that the body of the sage is safe from Abstago’s grasp.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
2015
The following year, the Initiate is tasked with finding a shroud, a hidden ISU device in London. By exploring the memories of Jacob and Evie Fry, the Initiate learns that the Shroud is hidden beneath Buckingham Palace. Sean Hastings and Rebecca Crane are sent to retrieve it, but Abstergo beats them. By hacking the senior templer’s computer, the assassin learns that Abstergo intends to use shrouds to create a living isu. Juno has also turned his eyes to Shroud and is revealed to be manipulating Abstergo employees in an attempt to thwart the Knights Templars’ plans.
The origin of the assassin’s beliefs
2017
Layla Hassan, a researcher at Abstergo, has ambition to take part in the company’s Animus project. To prove her talent, she develops a new version of Animus that allows her to explore memory through DNA samples, skipping the need to find biological offspring completely. On a trip to Egypt, she discovers the mummified bodies of Bayek and Aya and uses their DNA to relive the origins of what is hidden. Layla is then contacted by William Miles. William Miles offers the position of the Assassin Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
2018
Using DNA samples recovered from Leonidas’ spear, Leila is able to relive Cassandra’s memories and discover the location of Atlantis. In the mythical city, she met with Greek mercenaries and lived for centuries thanks to the staff of Hermes. Cassandra explains that the world needs a balance between the Templars and assassins to prevent disasters, revealing that Leila is prophesied to bring that balance. In her final act, Cassandra presents the staff of Hermes. Released from her duty to protect Atlantis, she dies in Leila’s arms.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
2020
After observing fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field, Leila and the Assassin’s Recovery Viking remain in New England, using them to explore Aver’s memory. Through them, Layla discovers the existence of a Yggdrasil computer in an ISU temple in Norway. At the same time, assassins know that the magnetic field turbulence is the result of ISU technology reinventing the apocalypse in which Desmond Mile became active in 2012.
Laya moves to a Norwegian temple and uses Yggdrasil to enter the simulation and find a way to stabilize the magnetic field. Inside, she meets Basim, trapped in Aver, and a man called the “reader” is a manifestation of Desmond’s mind. Abandoning her deadly form, Leila works with readers to prevent future apocalypses. Meanwhile, Basim escapes the simulation and insists on Hermes’ staff. It is revealed that Hermes is silenced in Loki’s lover, Areteia. He then joins the Brotherhood of Assassins and begins his quest to track Loki’s children using their animus.
Matt Purslow is Passthecontroller’s senior feature editor.
