Ethan Frye

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"Don't allow personal feelings to compromise the mission."

―Evie Frye, quoting her father, 1868.

Ethan Frye (c. 1825 – 1868) was a schoolmaster and a Master Assassin of the British Brotherhood during the Victorian era. He was the husband of Cecily Frye and the father of twins Jacob and Evie Frye, as well as the great-grandfather of Jacob's granddaughter Lydia Frye. Through Evie, he is an ancestor to the 21st century Assassin scientist Jackie O'Connell.

A close friend of the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir, Ethan was tasked with hiding the Koh-i-Noor following its retrieval by Arbaaz. He also agreed to oversee the training of Arbaaz's son, Jayadeep Mir, shortly after the death of his wife and the birth of his own children. Ethan grew close to his student and saved his life when Jayadeep was sentenced to death after a botched mission by convincing the Indian Brotherhood to exile him to London.

While training his children in the Assassins' ways, Ethan and his allies sought to liberate London from the Templars' control and acquire the Pieces of Eden hidden within the city. Though Ethan died of pleurisy before he could succeed, his mission would ultimately be accomplished by Jacob, Evie and Jayadeep.

Biography

Early life

"Cecily and your father were partners, inseparable. The only duo that came close to challenging Mr. Starrick. And very much in love, at least, from the small amount I have been told."

―Duleep Singh describing Ethan and Cecily's partnership to Evie, 1868.

Inducted into the British Brotherhood of Assassins in his teenage years, Ethan operated in Crawley, a town south of London, where he also worked as a schoolmaster. In 1841, he traveled to Amritsar in the Sikh Empire and met the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir, who entrusted him the Koh-i-Noor, one of the Pieces of Eden sought by their enemies, the Templars. The two Assassins became good friends in the process.

Returning to England after hiding the Koh-i-Noor, Ethan married the Welsh woman Cecily, who later joined the Brotherhood. Their partnership became renowned for its efficiency. At some point, Ethan saved the mill worker George Westhouse from a gang of robbers and subsequently inducted him into the Brotherhood, acting as his mentor alongside Cecily. The three ran various missions together and, in time, Ethan and George became close friends.

By 1847, Cecily was pregnant and eventually gave birth to her and Ethan's twins, Evie and Jacob, on 9 November, but died from complications shortly thereafter. Broken by his wife's death and blaming the newborn twins for his loss, a distraught Ethan accepted his mother-in-law's offer to raise his children until the age of six. In the meantime, Ethan returned to India to take up the training of Arbaaz's son, Jayadeep Mir.

Assassin teacher

"What we are doing is right... My doubt, dear Arbaaz, lies in the application of that ideology, and this doubt is what keeps me awake at night, wondering if we fail our children by molding them into our image, when in fact we should be teaching them to follow a path of their own."

―Ethan in a letter to Arbaaz Mir, 1859.

Teaching the boy swordsmanship and theories, Ethan put Jayadeep's lessons into practice in the streets of Amritsar. Despite Ethan's harsh and gruff manner, the two eventually developed a mentor-pupil bond. On one occassion, during a stealth lesson, he ordered Jayadeep to return with information gained from eavesdropping. The student returned to his mentor with a gossip about his past, which Ethan admitted was true before telling Jayadeep that their friendship had awakened a parental instinct inside him.

Ethan eventually transitioned Jayadeep's training from wooden swords to steel ones and discovered that the talented Jayadeep had a weakness for violence. He told this to the boy's parents, much to Arbaaz's anger and Pyara Kaur's sadness. Nevertheless, Ethan left for England in 1853 after his time with Jayadeep had made him decide to properly take care of his children and mourn his wife's passing. He raised Evie and Jacob in the philosophy of the Creed, advising them to learn patience and to never let personal feelings get in the way of the mission. He also instilled in them a sense of social duty, teaching them to help the people achieve freedom rather than simply eliminating oppressors. Evie took his words to heart, whereas Jacob merely wanted to drown them out.

Six years after his departure from India, Ethan received word that Jayadeep would embark on his first assassination mission. Worried for the boy, he wrote a letter to Arbaaz in which he expressed his belief that they should let their children find their own path instead of instilling in them their own philosophies. However, Arbaaz refused his request to delay Jayadeep's mission.

Ethan later learned that Jayadeep had failed his mission and, as punishment, was being held prisoner at the Assassin base known as the Darkness, awaiting execution. Concerned for his student, he immediately traveled to Amritsar and interrogated Jayadeep, confirming his suspicion that the reason for his student's failure was his weakness for violence. Ethan then went to Arbaaz and pleaded with him to spare his own son's life by banishing him to London under the alias "The Ghost". Arbaaz agreed and thanked his friend. Ethan then sent Jayadeep to London, with money and a new name: Bharat Singh.

Working with the Ghost

"I trust the Ghost. I trust him to look after himself. Most of all, I trust him to recover the artifact."

―Ethan to George Westhouse, 1862.

When Jayadeep arrived in London, Ethan gave him documents about active Templars in the country and told him to blend in with the poor. Jayadeep was to work undercover in the underground railway construction to spy upon the Templars there. In 1861, Ethan met with the Assassin Simeon Price and his apprentice Pierrette Arnaud, who sought information on the Irish Assassin Oscar Kane. However, Ethan had never heard of him, but told them to find "The Ghost," who might be able to help them.

The following year, Ethan tracked down the thief Boot, who worked as a courier for the British Templars. Threatening him with his Hidden Blade, the Assassin interrogated Boot to uncover the identity of his boss. However, before the man could answer, he was shot by an unidentified individual, who also accidentally killed an innocent girl while aiming for Ethan. Angered by the death of an innocent, the Assassin chased and eliminated the man, who turned out to be Boot's employer Robert Waugh, without further questioning him.

Returning to George's home in Croydon, Ethan lied to his friend about the circumstances of his assassination of Waugh as the Assassins planned their next move. Ethan then tasked Jayadeep to dispose of Waugh's body at a railway site which was being used by the Templar Cavanagh to search for a Piece of Eden. This was part of the Assassins' plan to have Jayadeep ingratiate himself with Cavanagh and infiltrate his inner circle in order to gather more intel.

After Waugh's body was discovered, Ethan bribed and intimidated the street urchins in the Belle Isle slums to distract police officer Frederick Abberline while he secretly replaced the corpse with that of a pony. After successfully recovering Waugh's body, Ethan took it to the horse slaughterhouse to dispose of it. Later that evening, Ethan left a message for Jayadeep on the tombstone of the Marylebone Church, signaling "danger".

Outside of Jayadeep's assignment, Ethan often discussed the progress of the mission with George, as well as the Templars' activities in London. On one occasion, Ethan noted that Cavanagh had been meeting with Grand Master Crawford Starrick recently and that Lucy Thorne spent a lot of time on Cavanagh's project, so he emphasized to George the importance of the Ghost's role in the mission.

Later, after Cavanagh began to suspect Jayadeep's true identity and affiliations and had the Indian Assassins Ajay and Kulpreet captured for interrogation, Arbaaz wrote a letter to Ethan to warn him that Jayadeep's identity may have been compromised. However, the Templars intercepted the letter, which confirmed Cavanagh's suspicions about Jayadeep. He subsequently ordered the Assassin to kill the solicitor Charles Pearson, who had found an Apple of Eden at the railway site.

Unsure how to proceed, as he did not wish to murder an innocent man, Jayadeep met with Ethan to ask for his advice. The senior Assassin decided that he would kill Pearson himself to acquire the Apple, and told Jayadeep to lie to Cavanagh that he agreed to perform the assassination. However, the following night, Ajay arrived at the Frye household and gave Evie a cryptic letter for Ethan before leaving abruptly.

Sensing something was amiss, Ethan decided to pursue Ajay, eventually ambushing him alongside Evie, Jacob and George. Cornered and wracked with guilt, Ajay apologized to Ethan before taking his own life. After deciphering Ajay's letter, Ethan learned that the Indian Assassin had betrayed the Creed and revealed Jayadeep's identity to the Templars, putting his life in danger. Despite this, Ethan decided against warning his student to abort his mission, having faith in his abilities and believing he would succeed.

Confronting Cavanagh

Ethan: "We were so close, George. The artifact was just a few feet away from me, as far away as you are now. I almost had it."

George.: "You did your best."

Ethan: "Then my best was not enough, because the operation did not succeed, George. I ran an unsuccessful operation."

—Ethan reflecting on his failed mission with George Westhouse, 1868.

During the inauguration of the railway, Ethan was hiding in the crowd, waiting to assassinate Charles Pearson with a blowpipe. Frederick Abberline, who was also present, spotted Ethan and saw that Cavanagh's henchman Hardy was about to attack him, so he intervened and attacked Hardy first, saving Ethan's life. With Abberline's help, the Assassin killed Hardy and the other Templar thugs before rushing into the railway tunnel, where Cavanagh had fled with the Apple of Eden after killing Pearson.

Ethan saved Jayadeep from Cavanagh, who used the Apple's powers against them, and the two Assassins fled the tunnel as it began to collapse due to an explosion caused by the Apple. After informing Jayadeep of what Ajay had said, his student was saddened by Ethan's inaction and decided to end his partnership with him because of their different philosophies. After Jayadeep left, Ethan attempted to recover the Apple from the tunnel, but was ultimately unsuccessful, as the artifact had been claimed by the Templar Marchant after killing Cavanagh.

Months later, Ethan visited Jayadeep at his residence in the Thames Tunnel, trying to comfort him after his student blamed himself for his friend Maggie's death at the hands of the Templars. However, Jayadeep did not want to see him and asked him to leave. In 1865, Ethan and George accompanied Jayadeep's parents when they came to visit him, and they eventually succeeded in convincing him to adopt a new identity, Henry Green, and return to the Brotherhood.

Death

"I'm sorry, Ethan. I'm sorry for slumbering when I should have been here to help guide you into the next world."

―George Westhouse, upon finding the deceased Ethan 1868.

Ethan spent the following years focusing on his children's Assassin training, until he contracted pleurisy, which he eventually succumbed to in January 1868. In his final weeks, Ethan tried to limit Jacob and Evie's visits to his deathbed, not wishing to be a burden on his children, and instead spent most of his time in George's company.

The two old friends discussed the future of the Brotherhood and Ethan asked George to complete his children's training so that they would be ready to retrieve the Apple of Eden he had failed to obtain. Although George hoped his friend would recover from his illness, Ethan knew that his end was near and claimed that he had failed both the Brotherhood and Henry, but he hoped that the next generation of Assassins would be more successful than the last.

After his death, Ethan was buried in Crawley and George notified the Assassin Council of his demise, leading them to send their condolences. In keeping with the Assassins' tradition, his funeral was quiet and inconspicuous, with only George, Evie and Jacob in attendance – three mourners and a priest who helped bury Ethan.

Legacy

"I'm starting to think Father didn't know everything about everything."

―Evie reflecting on Ethan's teachings, 1868.

Following their father's death, Jacob and Evie both sought to uphold his legacy in their own ways. While the former had felt limited by Ethan's guidance and hoped to prove himself to the Brotherhood, Evie wished to continue Ethan's search for the Pieces of Eden. Nevertheless, the twins were united in their common desire to liberate London from the Templars' grasp. Despite George's efforts to dissuade their ambitions, claiming that it was not what Ethan would have wanted for them, the twins disobeyed him and traveled to London without the Brotherhood's knowledge.

During their time in London, Jacob and Evie received help from Henry, for whom Evie soon developed romantic feelings, which came into conflict with Ethan's teachings about letting emotions compromise their missions. As Evie strongly adhered to her father's lessons, she initially hesitated to pursue a relationship with Henry, making her the target of frequent mockery from Jacob.

Evie and Jacob arguing about Ethan

The twins often times argued over Ethan's lessons, because unlike his sister, Jacob loathed them and believed that he finally had the opportunity to unleash his potential without his father holding him back. In time, however, Jacob discovered that there was some truth to Ethan's words and that the absence of self-control led to chaos, which Jacob experienced first-hand, causing him to become less reckless with his actions.

Meanwhile, Evie learned from Henry's great-uncle, Maharaja Duleep Singh, about the history of her parents and how much Cecily's death had affected Ethan. After Singh warned her that pain can blind people and make them say outlandish things to protect their loved ones, Evie concluded that her father had not been right about everything and decided to rely on her own beliefs moving forward.

Personality and traits

"I'm thirty-seven years of age, and I've seen more than my fair share of kills, and I know that notions of justice, equity and retribution play a second to skill, and skill is subordinate to luck. When fortune turns her face to you. When the killer's bullet goes elsewhere, when he drops his guard, you take your chance, before she turns away again."

―Ethan defending himself to George Westhouse, 1862.

Ethan delighted in courting with danger and was unafraid of accidents that the Hidden Blade may cause. He had a sense of justice especially for the innocents and once assassinated a target because it accidentally killed a young girl. He was a strong follower of the Creed and believed that the Assassins' philosophy was right. Nevertheless, he doubted the application of these philosophies to his own children and chose to teach Evie and Jacob to make their own path rather than model them into an image of himself. He also believed in every Assassins' individuality and that by embracing their uniqueness, they would become a huge asset to the Brotherhood.

Following his wife's death, Ethan was heartbroken and initially blamed his newborn children for the loss before deciding to distract himself from his mourning by training Jayadeep. Mentoring the young Assassin awakened a paternal instict inside Ethan and he decided to use the lessons learned from training Jayadeep to raise his own children. Despite this, he continued to have a fatherly relationship with Jayadeep.

By contrast, Ethan was relatively cold and distant to Evie and Jacob, which was likely done on purpose as one of the principal lessons he taught them was to never allow personal feelings to compromise their missions. However, both Evie and Duleep Singh later came to the conclusion that this outlook on life was flawed and born from the suffering Ethan had experienced after his wife's death.

Skills and equipment

As a trained Assassin, Ethan was a skilled freerunner and a master of stealth. He was also talented in spying and interrogation. In addition to a Hidden Blade, he wielded a Pall Mall Colt revolver.

Behind the scenes

The name Ethan (איתן) is of Hebrew origin, meaning "firm", "strong" or "impetuous". It may also be a reference to Aethon, Zeus' eagle that ate at Prometheus' insides, which would fit with the Assassins' frequent avian theme. Frye is a derivative of the English word free.

His original name might have been intended to be Emmett Frye due to it appearing on a list of known British Assassins in Isabelle Ardant's office.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Underworld (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (mentioned only)
  • Jack the Ripper (mentioned in Database entry only) (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion (mentioned in Database entry only) (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy
• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot (mentioned only)

References

fr:Ethan Frye zh:伊森·弗莱