Joseph Lynch

Joseph Lynch (1955 – 2016) was the father of Callum Lynch and, along with his wife Mary, a member of the Assassin Order.

In 1986, he helped his wife take her own life to prevent Abstergo Industries from using her genetic memories to find an Apple of Eden. However, in the process he was captured himself and spent the next thirty years as Abstergo's prisoner, eventually going blind after suffering neurological damage from resisting Abstergo's attempts to place him in the Animus.

In 2016, Joseph was reunited with his son, who had also been captured by Abstergo, and told him the details of Mary's death, which led Callum to eventually forgive his father after resenting him for years. Joseph was later killed during an escape attempt by Abstergo's other Assassin prisoners.

Biography

Kidnapped by Abstergo

In 1986, Joseph helped his wife commit suicide to prevent her capture by the Templars, who sought to use her genetic memories to locate an Apple of Eden previously held by one of her Assassin ancestors. Holding Joseph's arm, she stabbed herself in the neck with his Hidden Blade and bled to death.

Joseph captured by the Templars

After Mary's death, Joseph found himself unable to kill his son as Mary had instructed him to do, and instead urged Callum to flee before the arrival of the Templars led by Alan Rikkin. After Callum's departure, the heartbroken Joseph surrendered to the Templars and was brought to the Abstergo Foundation. There, Joseph was put into an Animus but resisted synchronization with his ancestors, refusing to let the Templars discover the secrets of his bloodline. As a result, he suffered neurological damage and became blind.

Mary's death continued to haunt Callum for the next thirty years, the young child being unaware of his parents' allegiance to the Assassins and believing that his father had killed his mother. Alone in the world, the orphan came to resent Joseph and later developed a deep hatred for men who attacked women. At some point before 2016, Callum killed a pimp after he witnessed the man beating one of his prostitutes, a sixteen-year-old girl, and was sentenced to death by a jury due to his criminal record.

Meeting Callum and death

It was not until 2016, when the Templars faked Callum's execution and brought him to their facility in Madrid, that Joseph and his son were reunited. Desiring Callum's full cooperation, Alan Rikkin decided to give him Joseph's old Hidden Blade and to let him confront his father. As Rikkin had foreseen, and after hearing the truth from his father, Callum decided to spare Joseph and help the Templars, to get revenge on both his father and the Creed for which his mother had died.

Joseph reuniting with Callum

Later, after Callum discovered the location of the Apple of Eden, the other prisoners mutinied in order to prevent the Templars from acquiring the artifact. Rikkin ordered the evacuation of the facility and the execution of all the prisoners. Using the blade that Callum had left to him so he could take his own life, Joseph killed a guard but was soon overwhelmed and stabbed to death.

At the same time, when a crowd of Callum's various Assassin ancestors manifested themselves through the Animus after he fully synchronized with Aguilar, Joseph and Mary both appeared in front of their son. Nodding to them, Callum finally came to terms with the circumstances of his mother's death and forgave his father, swearing allegiance to the Assassins.

Behind the scenes

Joseph Lynch is a character in the film Assassin's Creed. He is played by Brendan Gleeson as an old man and by his son Brian Gleeson as a young man.

Gallery

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  Joseph in 1986
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  Joseph helping Mary commit suicide
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  Joseph's death

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed film (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization