Calculations

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"They had these tools, these powerful machines, that could predict possible futures. Not what was going to happen, but wha-what could happen... probabilities. And... well, they spent a lot of energy trying to decide what was the most likely scenario for the future. Theirs and ours."

―Desmond Miles, 2012.

Minerva projecting herself into the future

Calculations allowed the Isu to study alternate, future timelines. Minerva was particularly proficient in their application from within the Nexus, a vaguely explained temporal disruption.

Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva worked to influence several individuals throughout humanity in the centuries ahead of them to prevent a recurrence of a solar flare from devastating the planet after seeing one coming in their own species' near future. When Odin later travelled to Útgarðar to search for "the mead", a catalyst that could help save him and the Isu faction of Æsir, he encountered Minerva, who referred to the Calculations as "seiðr".

After his consciousness was uploaded into the Grey and the 2012 Second Disaster was averted, the human Desmond Miles discovered that the cataclysm, a particularly stubborn 'node' in the timeline, kept trying to reassert itself. Desmond thus edicated himself to the study of the calculations in an effort to reduce the chances of a recurrence. By the time Layla Hassan joined him in his efforts eight years later, Desmond had forgotten his original identity and morphed into an entity known as "the Reader."

Notable instances

Isu Era

After Odin used the supercomputer Yggdrasil to perceive potential outcomes following the impending solar flare or ways to avoid it, he was haunted by the revelation of Fenrir's fated role to kill him in Ragnarök. This drove him to find the means to avert his and the Æsir's end, ultimately culminating with the Æsir using Yggdrasil to be incarnated centuries later. Unbeknownst to him, Loki also had used the calculations to successfully time his infiltration of Yggdrasil's vault and plant a replica of his consciousness and genetics into the human genepool.

Minerva constructed two builds of the Eye based on her studies; the first to communicate with Desmond Miles through his ancestor Ezio Auditore in 1499, and the second to commune with Desmond again on the day of the impending Second Disaster in 2012.

Ancient Greece

Kassandra and Deimos touching the Pyramid

In the 5th century BCE, the Cult of Kosmos was in possession of a Piece of Eden known as the Pyramid, which allowed them to witness visions of both the past and possible futures. They used this information in their efforts to take over the Greek world by starting the Peloponnesian War.

In 431 BCE, when Kassandra infiltrated the Sanctuary of Kosmos and touched the Pyramid at the same time as her half-brother Alexios, who served the Cult as their enforcer Deimos, the siblings witnessed visions of their childhood which allowed them to determine each other's identities.

Several years later, when Kassandra returned to the Sanctuary after having eliminated the Cult, she again touched the Pyramid and saw a vision of her father Pythagoras who revealed that Kassandra had been destined to wipe out the Cult and restore the balance between order and chaos. Pythagoras then explained that the fight between order and chaos would continue for millennia afterwards, as Kassandra was shown visions of the conflict between the Assassins and Templars.

In 422 BCE, the Isu Aletheia explained to Kassandra—and through her, Layla Hassan, who was reliving the Spartan's memories—that the Isu had spent so much time looking for alternate futures where "everything remained the same", rather than ones where the Isu and humans might work together to survive, that it ultimately cost them any chance of survival.

Renaissance

Ezio using the Apple to see the future

In 1504, Ezio Auditore used his Apple of Eden to look into the future and discern what threat Cesare Borgia still posed following his arrest. Learning that Cesare had escaped imprisonment in Castel Sant'Angelo, Ezio immediately set off to capture the Templar. As the docks near the Castel were busy, Ezio used the Apple to pinpoint his target's exact location, ultimately allowing him to prevent Cesare's escape.

In 1506, Ezio, at Niccolò Machiavelli's suggestion, reluctantly used his Apple to track down Cesare's right-hand man Micheletto Corella, but was only shown a vague image of a castle in Spain. When he asked the Apple why it was not showing him what he wanted, the artifact "spoke" to Ezio and told him to relinquish it, so that future generations may make use of it. After indicating the place where it should be hidden, the Apple revealed Micheletto's whereabouts—Naples—as a parting gift.

Golden Age of Piracy

A Piece of Eden shaped like a crescent amulet, which was said to contain "all knowledge of mankind's past, present and future", could be used to access the calculations. In 1725, after coming under the amulet's influence, Edward Kenway experienced several visions of the past and the future, including one of the Dutch sailor Hendrik concealing a sea log within Ferdinand Magellan's cross. This confirmed to Edward that he was on the right path to find Magellan's "treasure" and that he needed to find the cross in Cebu.

Rajah's vision of World War II

Later, the Visayan chief Rajah, who had acquired the amulet, was shown visions of the future conflicts that awaited the Filipino people, most notably the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II. These visions determined Rajah to prevent them from coming to fruition by securing his peoples' independence through a violent revolution, though he was defeated by Edward Kenway before he could succeed.

After claiming the amulet, Edward experienced more visions of the future, both real and probable, including a timeline where his ally Shimazu Saito was slain by the Rattan Shield Company, and another one where he was killed by the Chinese Assassin Xiao Han in the Sultanate of Sulu. During his fight against Xiao Han, Edward was shown a vision of his eventual death in 1735, as well as the demise of his son Haytham Kenway in 1781, making him hesitate to take Xiao Han's life.

After losing the amulet to Xiao Han, Edward continued to suffer from its lingering effects and experience visions of the future, until he was eventually healed by another Piece of Eden he retrieved from the Shwedagon Pagoda.

American Revolution

In 1769, when Ratonhnhaké:ton communed with Juno via a Crystal Ball, she instructed him to join the Assassins and showed him the consequences should he not do so: the Templars would breach the sanctuary near Kanatahséton and the world would not be saved from the coming apocalypse.

Washington's Apple of Eden projecting a vision of an alternate timeline

Following the end of the American Revolutionary War, George Washington began suffering from nightmares caused by an Apple of Eden he had retrieved during the Siege of Yorktown, which showed him a possible future where he ruled the United States as a tyrant. When Washington showed the Apple to Ratonhnhaké:ton, the latter was subjected to the same visions, revealing that if he had never joined the Assassins, he would not have been present to prevent Washington's corruption by the Apple and the United States' collapse into civil war.

Modern times

When Nikolai Orelov touched the Imperial Sceptre, a Staff of Eden, during the Tunguska event, he saw events from the past and future. Through the Bleeding Effect, his descendant Daniel Cross saw his eventual meeting with the Mentor.

Inside the Colosseum Vault, Juno showed Desmond Miles what would happen if he did not kill Lucy Stillman: Abstergo Industries would have arrived to claim Ezio's Apple of Eden and placed it in the Eye-Abstergo satellite, dismissing its importance in preventing the Second Disaster.

When Clay Kaczmarek's consciousness merged with Desmond, he acquired Clay's knowledge of calculations, which he later documented in a series of cell phone message memos. In the messages, he noted several versions of himself: one who got married early and had a son, the reality who stayed single in New York, one who went to San Francisco to be a waiter, one who got a job at an auto body shop in Chicago, and one who never left The Farm in the first place.

Minerva later showed Desmond that if he did not use the global aurora borealis device and release Juno from the Grand Temple, then the cataclysm would destroy humanity, but he would lead the survivors in a restart of civilization. Long after his death, history would repeat itself, with Desmond worshipped as a god while his teachings would be twisted to justify mass genocide.

Behind the scenes

Darby McDevitt, the lead writer for the 2011 video game Assassin's Creed: Revelations, has stated that "Calculations" was the in-house term for parallel universes in the series and added that Clay Kaczmarek went insane because he saw too many possible futures, in addition to suffering from the Bleeding Effect.

In the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, the jötnar Gunnlöð referred to calculations as seiðr. In real life, seiðr is a form of magic practiced by Scandinavians during the Late Iron Age. The practice of seiðr is believed to be a form of powerful magic which primarily revolves around precognition, prophecy and shaping the future.

Gallery

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  Pythagoras appearing to Kassandra in a vision projected by the Pyramid
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  Kassandra's vision of a fight between Assassins and Templars
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  Minerva speaking to Desmond across space and time
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  Edward Kenway's vision of his death at Xiao Han's hands
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  Edward's vision of his actual death
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  One of Ratonhnhaké:ton's visions during his "spirit journey"
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  Ratonhnhaké:ton with an apparition of his alternate self
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  Nikolai Orelov's vision during the Tunguska explosion
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  Daniel Cross' vision of the past and the future
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  A projection of Jupiter speaking to Desmond

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Fall
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only) (first identified as 'Calculations')
• Assassin's Creed III
  • The Tyranny of King Washington
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
• Cike Xintiao: Chang'an Wang
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple