by Nova May 19,2025
Assassin's Creed Shadows marks the latest chapter in the expansive Assassin's Creed series, set during the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. This setting situates it at the midpoint of the series' historical timeline, despite the franchise's non-linear progression through history. From the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece to the dawn of the First World War, each installment delves into pivotal historical moments.
With 14 mainline games and counting, the timeline of these events grows increasingly intricate. IGN has meticulously analyzed every piece of lore to construct a comprehensive timeline that organizes the centuries-spanning narrative of Assassin's Creed in chronological order. This detailed timeline covers all the key events from the earliest days to the present.
To understand the Assassin's Creed timeline, it's essential to delve into the lore. Far back in time, a sophisticated civilization known as the Isu ruled Earth. These god-like beings created humans as their slaves, controlling them with powerful artifacts called the Apples of Eden. However, humans, led by Eve and Adam, rebelled against their Isu masters after stealing an Apple. This sparked a decade-long war, which abruptly ended when a solar flare devastated the Isu population. Humanity then rose from the ashes to inherit the Earth.
During the Peloponnesian War in Greece, mercenary Kassandra uncovers The Cult of Kosmos, a clandestine group orchestrating the conflict. She learns that her kidnapped brother, Alexios, has been transformed into a powerful weapon by the Cult due to his lineage from the Isu-descended Spartan King Leonidas. Kassandra's mission to thwart the Cult leads her to destroy an Isu device used to manipulate future outcomes. Reuniting with her father Pythagoras, she receives the Staff of Hermes, an Isu artifact granting immortality, and is tasked with guarding Atlantis.
In the era of Cleopatra's reign, The Order of the Ancients, allied with the Cult of Kosmos, kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son in an attempt to access an Isu vault. After his son's accidental death, Bayek, alongside his wife Aya, vows to dismantle The Order. They uncover its global conspiracy to control politics and religion using the Apples of Eden. In response, they found The Hidden Ones, a secret society of spies and assassins operating from Egypt and Rome.
A century later, The Hidden Ones have established strongholds worldwide, including Alamut in Iran. Here, Basim, a Baghdad street thief, is trained as an assassin to counter The Order of the Ancients' pursuit of an Isu temple beneath Alamut. Inside, Basim discovers a prison once holding Loki, an Isu revered by the Norse. Learning he is Loki's reincarnation, Basim vows vengeance on his former captors.
Basim joins a Viking clan in England to pursue members of The Order. Clan leaders Sigurd and Eivor aid local communities while uncovering King Alfred's tyrannical rule as part of The Order's agenda. After discovering an Isu artifact, Sigurd experiences visions suggesting his divinity. Basim reveals Eivor and Sigurd as reincarnations of Odin and Týr, and attempts to exact revenge. Eivor traps Basim in a simulation generated by the Yggdrasil computer, and returns to England to defeat King Alfred, solidifying their status as a hero.
Over the next three centuries, The Hidden Ones evolve into the Assassin Brotherhood, while The Order of the Ancients transforms into the Knights Templar, still aiming to establish a new world order. During the Third Crusade, assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad aims to steal an Apple of Eden from the Templars. Tasked with assassinating nine Templar leaders to atone for his mistakes, Altaïr uncovers their plan to use the Apple's power. He learns that his mentor, Al Mualim, betrayed the Templars to seize the Apple for himself, prompting Altaïr to kill him and assume leadership of the Brotherhood.
In Renaissance Italy, Ezio Auditore seeks vengeance for his family's execution by the Templars. Utilizing his father's equipment and Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions, Ezio battles the Templar-aligned Borgia family. He secures an Apple of Eden, revealing an Isu vault beneath the Vatican. After defeating Pope Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio encounters the Isu Minerva, who warns of an impending catastrophe in 2012 and hints at a network of Isu vaults that could prevent it.
Despite sparing Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio faces the consequences when the Borgia's Papal Army attacks his villa and reclaims the Apple. He rebuilds the Assassin Brotherhood, becoming the leader of the Italian Bureau. They dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and secure the Apple, hiding it in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.
Seeking more Isu knowledge, Ezio travels to Masyaf to access Altaïr's library, but finds Templars already pursuing it. In Constantinople, he allies with Ottoman Assassins against Byzantine Templars, disrupting their plans to revive the Byzantine Empire. Inside the library, Ezio finds Altaïr's remains and a message from the Isu Jupiter about data crucial for surviving an apocalypse. Ezio leaves the Apple locked away as intended and retires, later succumbing to his injuries.
Set in 16th-century Japan, Assassin's Creed Shadows follows an African mercenary and a Jesuit missionary who encounter Oda Nobunaga, a lord unifying Japan's warring clans. The mercenary, named Yasuke, becomes a samurai and joins Nobunaga's campaign to invade Iga province, home to shinobi Naoe. Despite their opposing sides, Yasuke and Naoe eventually unite for a shared cause.
During the Golden Age of Piracy, Edward Kenway infiltrates the Templar search for The Observatory, an Isu device capable of spying on humans. Only the 'Sage,' a reincarnation of the Isu Aita, can unlock it. Edward allies with pirates, including the Sage Bartholomew Roberts, to disrupt the Templars. After retrieving the Observatory's power source from Roberts, Edward assassinates Templar leader Laureano de Torres y Ayala, secures the device, and returns home to live with his family.
Shay Patrick Cormac, sent by the Assassin Brotherhood to retrieve an Isu artifact, inadvertently causes an earthquake in Lisbon. Guilt-ridden, he defects and steals the Brotherhood's map of Isu temples. Rescued by the Templars, Shay rises through their ranks, killing Assassins and ultimately confronting his former mentor, Achilles, in the Arctic to halt the Brotherhood's search for Isu temples. Shay later suggests sparking a revolution in France.
Haytham Kenway, seeking to unlock the Isu's Grand Temple, falls in love with Mohawk woman Kaniehti:io, fathering Ratonhnhaké:ton (later Connor Kenway). After Kaniehti:io's death and the destruction of their village, Connor trains as an Assassin and eliminates Templar influences during the American Revolution. Reuniting with Haytham, their conflicting visions lead Connor to kill his father and bury the Grand Temple key, thwarting the Templars' plans.
Aveline de Grandpré, an Assassin in New Orleans, uncovers a Templar plot to control Louisiana through the 'Company Man,' who uses slaves to find an Isu temple. Aveline assembles a 'Prophecy Disk,' learning that the Company Man is her stepmother, who intended to induct her into the Templars. After killing her stepmother, Aveline activates the disk, revealing Eve's story as the leader of the human rebellion against the Isu.
Orphaned Arno Dorian, taken in by the French Templars' Grand Master, is framed for murder and imprisoned. An Assassin helps him escape and uncover a Templar schism led by François-Thomas Germain, who ignites the French Revolution. Arno and his sister Élise pursue Germain, who attempts to kill Arno with an Isu Sword of Eden. The sword explodes, killing Élise and wounding Germain, who reveals himself as the Sage before Arno seals his remains in the Paris Catacombs.
In Victorian London, twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye seek the Isu Shroud. They find the city under Templar control through industry, politics, and crime. Jacob focuses on assassinating Templar leaders, while Evie races to find the Shroud. After Templar leader Crawford Starrick steals the Shroud, the twins kill him and return it to its vault, securing another victory for the Brotherhood. Later, Evie tracks down and assassinates Jack the Ripper, and during World War I, her daughter Lydia thwarts a Templar espionage network led by another Sage.
The Assassin's Creed series features a modern-day framing story. During the transition from the Syndicate era, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries, a pharmaceutical company aimed at controlling the world through capitalism. In the late 1970s, Abstergo develops the Animus to explore ancestral memories, hoping to control the future through the past.
Desmond Miles, a bartender descended from Altaïr, is abducted by Abstergo to locate Isu artifacts through the Animus. With help from Assassin mole Lucy Stillman, he escapes and joins the Brotherhood. Exploring Ezio's memories, Desmond learns of an impending apocalypse and locates an Apple of Eden. Juno, an Isu villain, possesses Desmond, forcing him to kill Lucy. Desmond later sacrifices himself in the Grand Temple to prevent the apocalypse, inadvertently releasing Juno.
Abstergo uses Desmond's samples to continue their search for Isu technology through Edward Kenway's memories. The researcher, known as "The Noob," is manipulated by John Standish, the modern-day Sage, to hack Abstergo's systems. Standish's plan to host Juno within The Noob fails, and he is killed by Abstergo security.
Abstergo releases "Helix," allowing public access to genetic memories. An Assassin initiate, guided by Bishop, relives Arno's life to locate Sage François-Thomas Germain's remains, safely hidden in the Paris Catacombs.
The initiate searches for the Shroud through Jacob and Evie's memories, learning it's beneath Buckingham Palace. Abstergo retrieves it first, intending to create a living Isu. Juno manipulates Abstergo employees to sabotage these plans.
Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher, develops a new Animus version and uses Bayek and Aya's DNA to explore the origins of The Hidden Ones. She is then recruited by the Assassin Brotherhood.
Using DNA from the Spear of Leonidas, Layla relives Kassandra's memories and discovers Atlantis. Kassandra, immortalized by the Staff of Hermes, explains the need for balance between the Assassins and Templars. She gives Layla the Staff and dies, relieved of her duty.
Layla and the Assassins investigate Viking remains to explore Eivor's memories, uncovering the Yggdrasil computer. Amidst Earth's magnetic field fluctuations caused by Desmond's actions, Layla enters the simulation to stabilize the field. She meets Basim, who escapes with the Staff of Hermes containing Aletheia's consciousness, and joins the Assassins to search for Loki's children.
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