Editing Reginald Birch

{{Era|Individuals|Templars}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = Reginald Birch ACIII.png
|birth = 1705<br>[[London]], [[Kingdom of England]]
|death = 9 October 1757 (aged 52)<br>Droupt-Saint-Basle, [[Kingdom of France]]
|species = [[Human]]
|database = [[Database: Reginald Birch|Reginald Birch]]
|affiliates = [[Templars]]
*[[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Rite]]
[[Assassins]] {{c|Feint; 1723 – 1735}}
}}
'''Reginald Birch''' (1705 – 1757) was the [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] of the [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Rite]] of the [[Templars|Templar Order]] and a successful [[England|English]] businessman. Operating primarily from the British Templar headquarters located in [[London]], Birch was responsible for the recruitment and training of [[Haytham Kenway]], who was the son of Birch's employer [[Edward Kenway]], a prominent [[Assassins|Assassin]].

In 1754, Birch ordered Haytham to travel to [[United Kingdom|British]] America to find a [[Grand Temple|First Civilization storehouse]] after the retrieval of [[Grand Temple Key|its key]]. This expedition led to the establishment of a strong Templar presence in British America, and later the [[United States]].

==Biography==
===Early life===
Birch was born in England in 1705 to a London [[Merchants|merchant]]. Following in his father's footsteps, he began his dealings at a young age, and by the time he had reached his mid-20s, Birch owned several merchant [[ships]] mainly involved with the shipment of tea to British America.<ref name="Database">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[Database: Reginald Birch]]</ref>

In 1723, [[Robert Walpole]] appointed Birch as one of Edward Kenway's senior property managers.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag]]''</ref> Two years later, Birch became obsessed with the [[Isu|First Civilization]].{{Cite}} Around this time, he began courting Edward's daughter, [[Jennifer Scott|Jennifer]]. His true goal was to gain access to the [[Edward Kenway's journal|journal]] written by Edward, which contained his research on First Civilization settlements in [[North America]].<ref name="Forsaken">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forsaken]]''</ref>

===Recruiting Haytham===
Birch was first introduced to Haytham Kenway in 1733 on his eighth birthday, when Birch met the Kenway family at {{Wiki|White's|White's Chocolate House}} on Chesterfield Street. On the way back home, the group was attacked by a mugger, who attempted to steal [[Tessa Kenway]]'s necklace. Birch threatened to kill the man but was dissuaded by Edward. The two men smiled after putting aside their disagreement.<ref name="Forsaken"/>

[[File:Friend of the Family.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Birch watching Haytham's sword training]]
Over the following two years, Birch became a frequent visitor to the [[Kenway Mansion|Kenway household]] and was deemed a suitable match for Jennifer, although she disliked him. Birch also sent [[mercenaries]] from [[Edward Braddock]]'s regiment to blackmail [[Jack Digweed]], Edward Kenway's valet, into revealing the location of the journal, but he did not know where it was. Afterwards, Birch had a conversation with Haytham about his [[Swords|sword]] training and learned that his father kept his steel sword in a secret compartment in the games room, indicating the journal's location.<ref name="Forsaken"/>

Jennifer soon discovered Birch was a Templar and informed her father, leading to a row in his office. Birch tried to threaten Edward into giving him the journal, but he refused. A day or so later, Birch sent his mercenaries to attack the Kenway manor, who killed Edward, kidnapped Jennifer and stole his journal. Birch arrived, ensuring Edward's killer would not do the same to Haytham, and they escaped the household as it was set on fire.<ref name="Forsaken"/>

Shortly before Edward's funeral, Birch was appointed the family councilor and Haytham's guardian. He had Jennifer sold to [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[Slavery|slavers]] and then told Haytham he would be coming with him to [[Europe]] to "search" for her. After he introduced him to Braddock, Haytham told Birch that Digweed was behind the attack as he had been away, and Birch and Braddock discovered he had fled, providing someone to pin their crime on.<ref name="Forsaken"/>

===Grand Master===
After acquiring Edward's journal, Birch spent many years decoding it and learning as many of its secrets as he could. It was from this journal that Birch first learned of the Grand Temple and afterwards made it his Order's top priority to locate it and obtain its contents. To this end, he recruited [[Lawrence Washington]] into the Templar Order and upon his return to [[Virginia (state)|Virginia]] in 1738, he was instructed to locate the Precursor site and to be Birch's eyes and ears in the Colonies.<ref name="Lawrence of America">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[War Letters#Lawrence of America|War Letters: "Lawrence of America"]]</ref>

After five years of searching for Digweed, Birch and Haytham bought a chateau near [[Troyes]], [[France]], where he continued to train Haytham in the ways of the Templars, eventually inducting him in 1744. When it became clear that Haytham was a skilled killer, Birch sent him to assassinate a greedy merchant in [[Liverpool]], as well as an Austrian prince. In 1747, Birch sent Haytham to retrieve Edward's journal from [[Juan Vedomir]], a Templar who was meant to be decoding the journal, but had begun collaborating with the Assassins.<ref name="Forsaken" /> The same year, Grand Master of the Maltese Knights Hospitalier [[Manuel Pinto da Fonseca]] called for aid against the Ottoman Empire and the French Empire, both influenced by the Assassins.<ref name="The Hospitaller's Plea">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[War Letters#The Hospitaller's Plea|War Letters: "The Hospitaller's Plea"]]</ref>

When Haytham met Birch in [[Prague]], he was informed that Tessa had died. After attending her memorial, Haytham discovered Digweed was living in west [[Germany]]. Birch traveled with him to find Digweed but sent two of Braddock's mercenaries to reach him before he could reveal the truth to Haytham. As Haytham reached Digweed's location, he saw one of the mercenaries about to slit Digweed's throat. Haytham engaged the mercenary, chasing him into the forest. While Haytham was thus distracted, Birch took the opportunity to silence Digweed permanently.<ref name="Forsaken" />

However, before Haytham killed the mercenary, he learned that his father was an Assassin who was killed for one of his possessions. The mercenary also revealed that he served in the [[British Army]] under Braddock, rousing Haytham's suspicions. After an argument, Haytham rode to chase the other mercenary, whom he had seen riding back to Braddock's regiment in the [[Netherlands|Dutch Republic]].<ref name="Forsaken" />

In 1748, Birch was contacted by [[Madeleine de L'Isle]], who told him about a Precursor artifact called the [[Heart of the Brotherhood]] that was stolen by a slave woman named [[Jeanne]] a year earlier. Upon discovering that Jeanne had been purchased by [[Philippe de Grandpré]], Madeleine asked Birch to use his influence in the financial world to hinder the profits made by his company. When he was vulnerable, she would approach him with an offer of marriage that would allow him to restore his business and provide her with an opportunity to get close to Jeanne and the Heart.<ref name="Arranged Marriage">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[War Letters#Arranged Marriage|War Letters: "Arranged Marriage"]]</ref>

When Birch discovered that Washington had made no progress with his search for the Temple and that there was an Assassin Brotherhood established in the Colonies, he sent Lieutenant Colonel [[George Monro]] to the Colonies in 1750 to assist him, stating in a letter that while Monro was to be Washington's subordinate, he was still "his better in every way".<ref name="Monro">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[War Letters#Monro|War Letters: "Monro"]]</ref>

It was also around this time that he learned of the existence of the [[Prophecy Disks|Prophecy Disk]] in [[Chichen Itza]] from [[Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer]], who requested to create a work site to excavate the Mayan city and attempt to locate the artifact. Birch complied with de Ferrer's request and created an operation to acquire slaves to send to Chichen Itza to dig for the disk and other Precursor relics. While initially headquartered in [[Florida]], per the suggestion of his agent [[John Harrison]], Birch had the operation moved to [[Louisiana]] under Madeleine's command to avoid detection by the Assassins. She impressed Birch with her resourcefulness, and was promoted to [[Master Templar]] sometime around 1751.<ref name="Chichen Itza">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[War Letters#Chichen Itza|War Letters: "Chichen Itza"]]</ref>

===The Grand Temple===
{{Quote|Go forth, Haytham – and bring honor to us all.|Birch to Haytham, shortly before Haytham's trip to America, 1754.|Assassin's Creed III}}Haytham reunited with Birch at White's in 1753, telling him of his service with Braddock in the army and his concerns over Braddock's bloodthirsty actions, believing he was abandoning the Order. Unconcerned, Birch gave Haytham his latest assignment, which was to kidnap [[Lucio Albertine]], a [[Corsica]]n scholar who could decode the journal. Haytham captured him, but he expressed concern over Lucio and his mother [[Monica Albertine|Monica]]'s treatment after coming to Birch's chateau and seeing them chained in the cellar. Birch gave him his word that they would be released safely once their work was done.<ref name="Forsaken" />

[[File:A Deadly Performance 2.png|thumb|250px|Birch informing Haytham about Miko]]
A year later, Birch attended the musical ''{{Wiki|The Beggar's Opera}}'', by [[John Gay]], in the [[Theatre Royal]] in London. Birch proclaimed his happiness at the play's revival, referring to it as Gay's "best work by far". Birch then ordered Haytham to obtain a precursor artifact from an attending patron and member of the [[British Assassins|Assassin Order]], [[Miko]]. After Haytham had retrieved the key to the undisclosed Grand Temple, Birch secured Haytham's passage to [[Boston]] for him to find the First Civilization storehouse and establish a permanent [[American Rite of the Templar Order|Templar presence]] in British America.<ref name="A Deadly Performance">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[A Deadly Performance]]</ref>

Haytham returned a year later, having learned that his valet [[Jim Holden]] had located Jennifer. Wary of Birch, Haytham told him his search in America had given him a clue to a site in the [[Middle East]] and convinced Birch to stay while he continued the quest.<ref name="Forsaken" /> The same year, Birch had become known to the [[American Brotherhood of Assassins|Colonial Assassins]] and along with several Templars operating in Louisiana and France such as [[Francois de la Serre]], Haytham Kenway and [[Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer|Rafael Joaquin de Ferrer]], was among the targets listed in the [[Davenport Homestead]]'s manor.<ref name="Freewill">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Freewill]]</ref>

===Death===
{{Quote|I tried to do what was right, Haytham. Surely you can understand that?|Reginald Birch's final words, 1757.|Assassin's Creed: Forsaken}}Once Haytham rescued his half-sister in [[Damascus]] and discovered Birch had ordered the attack on the Kenway Manor, the Templar stormed Birch's chateau. Once inside, Birch tried to justify his actions to Haytham by explaining that he did everything for the greater good. Haytham reprimanded him for turning him into a Templar through lies and deceit. Birch then engaged in a struggle with Jennifer, before she eventually killed him by throwing him into a sword that Haytham had planted in a door.<ref name="Forsaken" />

==Legacy==
[[Jayadeep Mir]] once compared Birch to [[Crawford Starrick]] due to his powerful influence and ruthlessness, he even thought that it was like Birch himself had returned through Starrick.{{Cite}}

Birch, like [[François-Thomas Germain]] and [[Jacques de Molay]] was one of the fathers of the current capitalism used by the [[Templars]] getting influence all over the planet collaborating with different sections of the Order, which allowed him to internationalize the hunt for [[Pieces of Eden]], a model used by today's Templars.{{Cite}}

In December of 2012, while the Assassin [[Desmond Miles]] was reliving the memories of Haytham Kenway, his friend and colleague [[Shaun Hastings]] told Desmond that Haytham's father Edward and Reginald were long time business rivals despite being a family friend and employee of the Kenways. In Birch's [[Database: Reginald Birch|database]], Shaun mistakenly wrote "(Birch) worked together (with Haytham) as members of the Assassins" due to being unaware that Birch and Haytham were [[Templars]],<ref name="Database" /> until Desmond relived Haytham's [[The Braddock Expedition (memory)|assassination]] of [[Edward Braddock]].<ref name="The Braddock Expedition">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[The Braddock Expedition (memory)|The Braddock Expedition]]</ref>

By 2015, his name was on a list of known British Templars used by the Templar [[Isabelle Ardant]].<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[21st century conversations#Assassin's Creed: Syndicate|Modern day]]</ref>

==Personality and characteristics==
Reginald Birch was a fanatic obsessed with gaining the power of the Isu by any means necessary while masking it beneath the veneer of a chivalrous Knight Templar to indoctrinate Haytham. He was prone to deception, both to his enemies and to his supposed allies; his mastery of this art allowed him to ingratiate himself with Edward Kenway, an Assassin rival. However, Reginald's self-interest and manipulation of others was his weakness, leading to his downfall.<ref name="Forsaken" />

He was diligent in expanding the influence of the British Rite, establishing the Colonial Rite and actively coordinating with other branches. While he ostensibly maintained cordial relations with the other rites, being sure to cultivate strong connections through the exchange of gifts and intelligence, his preoccupation with the First Civilization was resented by many of his peers as an impractical waste of resources. [[Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer]] of the [[Louisiana Rite of the Templar Order|Louisiana Rite]] in particular despised Reginald because the de Ferrer family were indebted to him and thus were compelled to oblige his wishes.<ref name="Chichen Itza" />

==Behind the scenes==
Reginald Birch is a character introduced in ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'', where he is voiced by [[Gideon Emery]].

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
ACIBirchWig.jpg|A young Birch wearing a wig
ACIBirchGrandMaster.jpg|Birch in his Templar attire
</gallery>

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Forsaken]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' {{c|mentioned in War Letters only}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' {{Mo}}

==References==
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[[Category:1705 births]]
[[Category:1757 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:English people]]
[[Category:Londoners]]
[[Category:Merchants]]
[[Category:Templar Order members]]
[[Category:British Templars]]
[[Category:Grand Masters]]
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]]
[[Category:Entrepreneurs]]