No More Assassin’s Versus Templars
As any longtime fan on the Assassin’s Creed franchise will know, the story of the games is based on a vicious blood feud between the noble and virtuous Assassins and the evil and wicked Templars. This alternative take on history has served as the driving narrative for the overwhelming majority of the franchise. It was only in Origins and Odyssey that this plotline was changed in order to at least appear somewhat historically accurate. In reality, both the Knights Templar and the cabal of assassins that the game is based on were formed in the Medieval Era around the Second Crusade. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla faces the same dilemma as Origins and Odyssey as both groups would not exist for a few hundred years after the Viking Age.
To get around this pickle, the writers at Ubisoft are going just fill this void with eerily similar factions. The two groups that served as Assassin and Templar fill-ins in Origins are going to make a return in Valhalla. Some have claimed that this is just blatantly lazy written, but it appears as though Ubisoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place thanks to the time period they have chosen for their next game.
Ubisoft employees have hinted that the classic struggle between the two bickering factions will not play as large of a role as in previous games, but they will still be present in the game. It seems strange the Ubisoft would suddenly disapprove of bending real history in order to make a compelling story as that is what the whole franchise is based on. Perhaps they have had a change of heart. The previous two AC games have both made the extra effort to teach the players about the history of each time period. Hopefully, Valhalla will be no different.