The Observatory

This article is about a memory. You may be looking for the complex itself.

The Observatory was a virtual representation of one of Edward Kenway's genetic memories, relived by a research analyst at Abstergo Entertainment in 2013 through the Animus Omega.

Description

Edward and the Sage Bartholomew Roberts made their way through the jungle and into the Observatory.

Dialogue

• Bartholomew: Is that pirate hunter dead?
• Edward: Aye. By my own hand. Why is it you alone can find what so many want?
• Bartholomew: I was born with memories of this place. Memories of another time entirely, I think. Like a... like another life I have already led.
• Edward: Curse you for a lurch, man, and speak some sense.
• Bartholomew: Not today. After you captain. The path ahead is dangerous. The men native to this land will put up a fight, Edward. Are you willing to push back if necessary? To kill if needed?
• Edward: You'll hear from me soon.

Edward made his way through the jungle and caves, dispatching the Observatory's guardians, and then spoke to Bartholomew.

• Edward: Are we close, God dammit?
• Bartholomew: Somewhat. The path winds further still, beset by more unruly men. Go...

Edward continued clearing the caves and jungles of guardians, until he finally reached the complex, seeing an altar with executed explorers and pirates before it.

• Bartholomew: Ah, you see here? The handiwork of men born and bred to protect this place. The Guardians of the Observatory.
• Edward: How long have their kind been here?
• Bartholomew: Oh, at least a thousand years or more. Dedicated men. Very deadly.
• Edward: Is this the Observatory? All this?
• Bartholomew: Aye. An almost sacred place. All it needs is a drop of my blood... and the door opens, after almost eighty thousands years.

After opening the Observatory door, Bartholomew turned and shot his four crew members. Edward pulled one of his pistols. 

• Edward: Jaysus, Roberts! Have you gone mad?
• Bartholomew: Quite the contrary, Edward. These wags would have gone mad at seeing what lies beyond this gate. But you, ah... I suspect you're made of sterner stuff. Now, pick up that chest, and carry it hither.

Edward took the chest and followed Bartholomew inside.

Edward following Bartholomew into the Observatory

• Bartholomew: Dirty and decrepit. Not quite as I remember. But it has been over 80 millennia.
• Edward: Oh rot. That's impossible.
• Bartholomew: Step as if on thin ice, captain. I must say, I am quite taken by this new vocation of mine. And it may amuse you to know that I have authored my own articles of conduct.
• Edward: A creed of your own, eh?
• Bartholomew: To keep the peace, yes. I forbid all gambling upon the deck, for instance, for it leads to more conflict than camaraderie. Desertion during battle is forbidden. And I require that all men keep their pieces and cutlasses clean and fit for service at all times...
• Edward: Sensible.
• Bartholomew: And punishable by death if disobeyed.
• Edward: That's a step further than I'd go.

The two entered the main chamber.

• Edward: Look at this place!
• Bartholomew: Beautiful, isn't it?
• Edward: Aye. Like something out of a fairy tale, or one of them old poems.
• Bartholomew: There were many stories about this place once. Tales that turned into rumors, and again into legend. The inevitable process of facts becoming fictions, before fading away entirely.
• Edward: More blood vials.
• Bartholomew: Yes. These cubes contain the blood of an old and ancient people. A wonderful race, in their time.
• Edward: The more you talk, man, the less I understand.
• Bartholomew: I don't expect you to. Only remember this; the blood in those vials is not worth a single reale to anyone anymore. It may be again, one day. But not in this epoch. Here we are. Place the chest just there.

Edward set the chest down at the base of an armillary sphere.

• Edward: What's that noise?
• Bartholomew: Ah yes. A security measure. Just a moment.

He touched the skull and deactivated the site's defenses.

• Bartholomew: There we are.
• Edward: So what is this place?
• Bartholomew: Think of it as a large spyglass, such as we sailors carry. A device capable of seeing great distances.

Bartholomew activated the armillary sphere.

Edward and Bartholomew watching Jack Rackham's perspective

• Edward: This is bloody witchcraft.
• Bartholomew: No. This is mister Jack Rackham. Somewhere in the world, at this moment.
• Edward: Nassau. This is happening right now? We're seeing through his eyes?
• Bartholomew: Aye.

The men watched a projection of James Kidd and Anne Bonny against the cavern wall.

• Anne: I don't know, Jim. I haven't the faintest idea how to pilot a ship. That ain't work a woman does.
• James: Tosh! I've seen a score of ladies who can reef a sail and spin a capstan.
• Anne: And would you teach me to fight? With a cutlass, like? And maybe handle a pistol?
• James: All that and more. But you have to want it. And work for it. There's no stumbling into true success.
• Jack: Oy! Lad! That's my lass you're making love to! You lay off or I'll cut ya!
• James: Up your arse, Rackham. Lad is the last thing you should be calling me.
• Jack: Oh! Oh, is that right, is it? LAD!

The projection faded and the armillary sphere returned to its rest position. Bartholomew removed the vial with Rackham's blood.

• Bartholomew: A curious bunch. Let's try another. Governor Woodes Rogers.

Bartholomew placed a vial with Rogers' blood in the skull.

• Woodes: You have a bold idea. But I must think it carefully through.
• Laureano: A simple pledge of loyalty is all you need suggest to the House of Commons. An oath, a gesture, and a simple ceremonial dram of blood taken from the finger. That's all.
• Woodes: The ministers may give me trouble, but it should be easy enough to convince the House of Lords. They do adore an excess of pomp and circumstance.
• Laureano: Exactly. Tell them it's a show of fealty to the king... against those revolting Jacobites.
• Woodes: Yes. Indeed.
• Bartholomew: Ah, these Templars.
• Laureano: The crucial detail is the blood. You must get a sample from each man. We want to be ready when we find the Observatory.
• Woodes: Agreed.

Bartholomew deactivated the sphere and removed the skull from it.

Bartholomew removing the Crystal Skull from the sphere

• Bartholomew: A precious tool, you see?
• Edward: Sorcery. That's what it is.
• Bartholomew: Not so. Every mechanism that gives this device its light is a true and physical thing. Ancient yes, but nothing supernatural or strange.
• Edward: We'll be masters of the ocean with that.
• Bartholomew: Oh... Such ambition.

Bartholomew backhanded Edward, causing him to fall into the chasm beyond the device.

• Bartholomew: There's nothing in my code about loyalty, boy! You played your role, but our partnership is done!
• Edward: You're a dead man, Roberts!

Edward escaped from the Observatory and arrived at the beach, though severely injured.

• Edward: Roberts!

Edward managed to fight off Bartholomew's crew, but eventually succumbed to his injuries and fell to the ground.

• Bartholomew: Oh, your Jackdaw has flown, Edward, eh? That's the beauty of a democracy... the many outvote the one. Aye, you could sail with me, but... with a temper as hot as yours, I fear you'd burn us all to cinders. Luckily, I know the king's bounty on your head is a large one. And I... intend to collect. Have you... have you ever seen the inside of a Jamaican prison, boy? Have you?

Outcome

Edward discovered the location of the Observatory, but was betrayed by Bartholomew and imprisoned in Port Royal.

If the player uses Sleep Darts on the guardians it'll make getting the two synchronizations for this mission much easier as the sleep darts will help make sure the guardians don't move from their spots if they see Edward approach them, although the player will have to wait until after they woken back up or it won't count to the objectives.

Behind the scenes

If Eagle Vision is used at the beginning of the memory, Bartholomew's crew members who remained outside the jungle will glow red, while Bartholomew and the rest of his crew will remain blue. However, at the end of the memory, all of Bartholomew's crew turn red, as they are hostile to Edward at that point. The crew members that Bartholomew killed, however, will still glow blue.

Gallery

• 
  Edward, Adéwalé, and Bartholomew in Long Bay
• 
  Edward navigating the jungle
• 
  Edward dispatching one of the Guardians
• 
  Edward heading for the caves
• 
  Edward and the others approaching the Observatory
• 
  Bartholomew shooting his crew members
• 
  Bartholomew showing the skull to Edward
• 
  Bartholomew punching Edward into the pit
• 
  Edward escaping from the chamber
• 
  Edward removing a splinter from his side
• 
  Bartholomew standing over the wounded Edward

References

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag