Edward Kenway (memory)

Edward Kenway was a virtual representation of one of Edward Kenway's genetic memories, relived first by a research analyst at Abstergo Entertainment in 2013 through the Animus Omega, and then by another user as an altered representation through the Animus EGO.

Description

After an attack on the ship he was aboard, Edward found himself stranded on a deserted island with an Assassin.

Dialogue

Amidst a heavy storm and enemy cannonfire, Edward rolled a cannon into its position on the deck.

• Crewman: Hold fast! She's on us!

A cannonball struck behind Edward, knocking him down and killing the crewman. Kenway stood up, extracted wood shrapnel that had embedded in his right arm, and returned to his cannon.

• Edward: Can you see her?

Edward looked at the approaching ship and saw an Assassin casually walking on a spar behind the jib and along the forecastle.

The Assassin on the HMS Intrigue

• Edward: Man the cannons!

He ran aft to the quarterdeck, where Captain Abel Bramah stood by the helm.

• Abel: Our helmsman's dead! Someone take the wheel! Kenway! Take the bloody wheel! Hughes is dead, Kenway! You'll have to steer this bastard!

Edward took the wheel and attacked smaller gunboats that accompanied the larger ship.

• Abel: Uncork the cannons, lad!
  Unload all the shot we have!
  Fire on those bastards!
  We'll give a good broadside. Ready!

Lightning hit the enemy ship and made it vulnerable.

• Abel: Bring us close, Kenway! We can scuttle her!

Edward got in close to the ship and sank it. As the crew celebrated, the gunpowder magazine caught fire.

• Crewman: The magazine! It's going up!

Kenway and some crew ran to deal with the fires, but a larger explosion forced them back. Abel shoved them back even as the fire continued to grow.

• Abel: Douse the flames! Get in there, you mongrel!

The Assassin appeared and assassinated him, with Edward being the only witness. They stared each other down for a moment before both were blown overboard by the magazine explosion. Edward landed in the water, the impact rendering him unconscious as he began sinking. He remembered a conversation that he had with his wife Caroline Scott while they lay in bed, some years earlier.

Edward with Caroline

• Caroline: Is it dangerous? Edward?
• Edward: Hm?
• Caroline: Privateering. Is it dangerous?

Edward smiled.

• Edward: Wouldn't pay so nice if it weren't.

Caroline frowned.

• Caroline: Why not sail with the king's navy? Earn a proper wage. Sail under gentlemen.

Edward scowled and looked at her.

• Edward: Sod the navy's gentlemen. For every shilling I'd earn, the captain'd get six hundred. That's no way to earn a fortune.
• Caroline: We don't need a fortune.

Edward rose to a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

• Edward: It's not about need, Caroline. I want food that don't make me sick. I want walls that hold back the wind. I want a decent life.

He looked back at her. She looked down in contemplation of his idea.

• Caroline: H-how long would you be gone with these privateers?

Edward turned to sit facing her.

• Edward: A year, I reckon. Two at the most.
• Caroline: All right. No more than two... promise me...

Edward's mouth flattened in a grim line and he looked down, unable to reply. The flashback ended and Edward woke up drowning deep in the water, surrounded by dead crew and wreckage from both ships. He swam up to the surface and towards the beach.

OriginalResynced

He looked at the burning debris around him.

• Edward: Sod it.

There was another explosion from the wreck.

• Edward: Damn!

He was forced to dive under some debris to avoid burning.

He stumbled to the shoreline, dropped to his knees, and rolled to his back in exhaustion. He laughed looking up at the sky, amused at his survival. The injured Assassin dragged himself up from the waters, his left hand trying to staunch heavy bleeding from his gut.

Edward haggling with Walpole

• Edward: Was it good for you as well?
• Duncan: Havana... I must get to Havana.
• Edward: Well, I'll just build us another ship, will I?
• Duncan: I can pay you. Isn't that the sound you pirates like best? One hundred escudos.

Edward slowly raised himself to sit up. He grabbed a washed up alcohol bottle and looked inside, but seeing it was empty, he tossed it aside.

• Edward: Keep talking.
• Duncan: Will you or won't you!

Edward rose to his feet and stood over the man, reaching for his belt.

• Edward: You don't have that gold on you now, do you?

The man swiftly drew a flintlock pistol with his right hand. Surprised, Edward stumbled back to land on the sand while the man struggled to his feet and kept his weapon trained on him.

• Duncan: Bloody fucking pirates!

He attempted to shoot Edward but failed as the gunpowder was wet. Seeing his weapon was useless, the man discarded it and ran off into the jungle. Edward laughed, stood up, and prepared to give chase.

• Edward: I am on to you, sneaksby!

He climbed tree trunks in pursuit, navigating above the jungle floor.

OriginalResynced

• Edward: Come on, mate! We're off to a bad start! It's a hundred leagues or more to Havana! Will you walk that distance?

Edward climbed up a series of ladders and wood huts to a tower viewpoint and looked for the Assassin.

• Edward: Posh git. Where's he running to?
• Duncan: Follow and I'll kill you!

Edward saw the man leap from a hut to a tower and then perform a Leap of Faith to the waters below.

• Edward: We could work together on this!

He copied the man's actions and continued his chase.

• Duncan: Keep your distance!

The man shot Edward, who chased him deeper into the jungle until they reached a cliffside clearing with low shrubs and wide puddles. Edward attacked him, and because of the man's severe injuries, he was easily defeated and killed.

• Duncan: Follow and I'll kill you!
• Edward: Come on, mate! We're off to a bad start!
  We could work together on this!
  It's a hundred leagues or more to Havana! Will you walk that distance?

Edward saw the man perform a Leap of Faith from a simple wood tower. Edward climbed up a series of ladders and wood huts to the same tower and copied the Assassin's actions, landing in a pile of palm leaves and bolting out to continue his chase.

• Duncan: Keep your distance!
• Edward: Posh git. Where's he running to?

He crossed more raised huts and dove off into the waters below. Surfacing, he spotted the man exiting a small cave.

• Edward: Forget what I said. We can start over.
• Duncan: Shove off, you vulture.

The man shot Edward, who took an alternate route deeper into the jungle along tree branches and toppled trunks.

• Edward: This one vanishes into shadow.

He reached a small clearing filled calf-deep with water and with low shrubs. He looked around for his quarry, seeing no evidence of his passage. , The man activated his Hidden Blade from above and behind him, attempting to air-assassinate his intended target, but Edward noticed and dodged the attack, resulting in the Blades breaking upon hitting the ground and the man's stomach wound worsening. They both drew swords.

• Edward: Now we've drawn swords, mate. I'm beginning to think that you're not keen on my aid.
• Duncan: My business bears greater purpose than a thief like you could comprehend.

Edward attacked him.

• Duncan: I warned you.
• Edward: Why the ill temper? Hiding something?

Edward wounded the man further.

• Edward: We don't have to fight. Let's make a deal.
• Duncan: Filthy cutpurse!

He swung his blade in a large arc, straining his wounds and slowing him down.

• Edward: That looks painful.
• Duncan: Die you leech!

As Duncan blocked one sword with his arm, Edward stabbed him through the chest with the other, killing him.

Edward dragged the body to a rock and removed a pouch from the man's belt. Opening it, he withdrew a small glass cube and a letter from the Governor of Cuba Laureano de Torres y Ayala.

Edward reading the letter

Señor (Mr.) Duncan Walpole. I accept your most generous offer, and await your arrival with eagerness. If you truly possess the information we desire, we have the means to reward you handsomely. Though I will not know your face by sight, I believe I can recognize the costume made infamous by your secret order. Therefore, come to Havana in haste... And trust that you shall be welcomed as a brother. Su más humilde servidor, el gobernador (Your most humble servant, Governor) Laureano Torres y Ayala.

Edward stripped the corpse of its robes, dragged it into the bush to obscure it from anyone, and donned the clothes himself. He inspected the set of Hidden Blades, but being unskilled in their usage and seeing that they were irreparably damaged besides, he tossed them into the brush.

• Edward: Mr. Walpole... let's collect your reward.

OriginalResynced

Edward heard a gunshot in the distance and investigated the source. Perching on a tree hanging off the cliff, he saw a ship in the bay.

• Edward: That schooner'll do me just fine...

• Edward: Now to find my way off this bleedin' rock.

Perching on a tree hanging off the cliff, he saw a ship in the bay.

• Edward: That schooner'll do me just fine... if only I can preserve some of its crew.

He saw that a squad of British Army soldiers were holding a man and his crew hostage for questioning.

• Soldier 1: The Commodore's gone ahead to Kingston. We're to commandeer this lubber's ship and follow.
• Stede: S-sorry, uh, Kingston? No, no... our destination is Havana. I'm just a merchant—
• Soldier 2: Quiet, you bleedin' pirate! You'll hang for the mess you made out there.
• Stede: Sir, I had nothing to do with this attack. My crew and I had merely anchored to water and resupply!

Some of the crewmen attempted to escape.

• Soldier 1: Hold it! Stop them!

The Redcoats shot the crewmen, killing them.

• Soldier 1: Give me one reason I shouldn't vent your skull.
• Stede: Take my sugar! Take anything you like!
  I'll pay you! Anything you like!
  Oh God. Oooooh God!
  Ahhh!
  Ah!

Edward killed the British soldiers and rescued Stede. He helped him to his feet.

Stede thanking Edward for the rescue

• Stede: By God's grace, sir, you saved me. A profusion of thanks!

Edward looked at the ship in the bay.

• Edward: Is that yours?

Stede uneasily indicated the dead body beside him.

• Stede: It is my vessel, yes. But, ah... here lies its poor captain. And I have no art for sailing.
• Edward: I can pilot her myself. No mind.
• Stede: You don't mean to abscond with my ship, do you?

Edward gaped, caught off-guard by the accusation, before smiling and evading the question.

• Edward: I'm Duncan. What's your name, friend?

He stuck out his hand for shaking.

• Stede: Stede. Stede Bonnet.
• Edward: Well Mister Bonnet, let this stay 'twixt us... but I am on a secret errand for His Majesty the King, God save him, and I must get to Havana with speed.
• Stede: Ah... that is a relief, sir. Havana is also my destination. Our ways lie together!
• Edward: Natural allies then.

He turned around, drew a sword, and used it to pry open a crate that he thought held loot, only to see nothing of value and close the lid.

• Stede: Oh, you put me at ease, sir. To think I took you for a pirate when you first appeared.

Edward walked over to inspect another crate, with no luck.

• Edward: Did you?
• Stede: Yes! You have an... uncommon way of handling yourself. Quick and easy, if I may say. Gave me quite a fright! But all things considered, I think it's turned out to be a rather fortuitous day, hasn't it?

Edward started swimming towards the ship.

• Stede: Lacking a rowboat, I'm afraid we'll have to swim to my ship.
• Edward: Hardly the worst thing to happen.
• Stede: Oh... Oh, this is difficult. I should have taken the coat off!

They swam to the ship.

OriginalResynced

• Stede: Welcome aboard, Duncan. She's a modest schooner but well-suited to my purpose. Trafficking cargo from my plantation and such.

He sat on an adjacent crate to Edward's right.

• Edward: She'll do fine. There's a strong wind now. Let's strike to full, shall we?
• Stede: Ah, there's a tug of the wind at my hair! I find a bracing comfort in the feel and smell of the ocean. The raw stink of... of possibility!
• Edward: That's a top way of seeing it, mate.

Edward sailed out of the bay.

• Stede: We've really opened it up now, haven't we! Those sailors were quite animated by the idea of pirates roaming these waters. Is it a real danger, do you suppose?

Stede complimenting Edward

• Edward: A possibility. But most pirates stalk the windward passage between Cuba and Hispaniola.
• Stede: Oh, I see. Yes, that is a bustling strait. But I shouldn't worry about being waylaid by pirates, truth be told. My ship is small and I have nothing of immense value. Sugarcane and its yields, molasses, rum, that sort of thing.
• Edward: There's not a pirate living who'd turn his back on a keg of rum.
• Stede: Well, yes... yes, I suppose that's true. You're a natural sailor, Duncan.

Just as they left the bay, a whale jumped nearby.

Stede spoke to the few crew that remained onboard.

• Stede: 'Twas no thanks to you lot that I'm back. You can thank Duncan, here.

He sat on a crate to Edward's right.

• Stede: Welcome aboard, Duncan. She's a modest schooner but well-suited to my purpose. Trafficking cargo from my plantation and such.
• Edward: She'll do fine.
• Stede: If you are so inclined, you may steer her yourself. My helmsman and quartermaster were among those killed.
• Edward: Ready yourselves, lads. The Spanish Navy hunts in packs, and we make for Havana.
• Sailor: Ahoy.

Bonnet complimenting Edward

• Edward: Has a good feel. We'll first strike to half-sail to get ourselves moving.
• Stede: Ah, there's a tug of the wind at my hair! I find a bracing comfort in the feel and smell of the ocean. The raw stink of... of possibility!
• Edward: That's a top way of seeing it, mate. There's a strong wind now. Let's strike to full, shall we?
• Stede: We've really opened it up now, haven't we!

A whale jumped near the ship.

• Stede: Oh! what a magnificent creature.

The ship exited the bay into open waters. Stede got off his crate and walked behind Edward to the other side of the quarterdeck.

• Stede: You're a natural sailor, Duncan.
• Edward: I did a decent trick at the helm some time ago. Two years before the mast as a privateer.
• Stede: Dash my buttons! Your life seems a grand one, if I may say. So full of adventure! How marvelous.

He leaned against the railing and looked out.

• Edward: I have seen my share of strangeness, aye.

Outcome

Edward assumed Duncan Walpole's identity, rescued Stede Bonnet, and sailed for Havana.

Behind the scenes

If the memory is replayed while Edward wears the shark hunter outfit, it shows him wearing Hidden Blades even when he technically had not retrieved them from Duncan's body yet.

A graphical error happens when Edward is approaching the shore after waking up underwater, where overcast, rainy skies change within seconds to cloudless, sunny weather.

The cutscene where Edward picks up Duncan's robes is meant as a visual allusion to a similar scene from the 2009 video game Assassin's Creed II in which Ezio Auditore da Firenze uncovers his father Giovanni's robes in the memory "Family Heirloom". However, unlike Ezio, who was born into the Assassins via the House of Auditore and willingly joins their cause, Edward inverts the connection between character and the group by misappropriating the outfit to serve his own ends.

References

An image gallery is available for Edward Kenway (memory)