Siege of Viana
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- "They have taken the fight out to the enemy, and there have been bloody battles in the fields outside the town. I would not go any further in that direction, my son; there lies only devastation and blood."
- ―A Spanish man to Ezio Auditore on the siege of Viana.[src]
The Siege of Viana was a military conflict between the Kingdom of Navarre and the Earldom of Lerin. King John III of Navarre and his general, Cesare Borgia commanding the Navarre, against the forces commanded by Luis de Beaumont.
Cesare's escape
- "It was the manner in which he said it. "Chains will not hold me.""
- ―Ezio to Leonardo da Vinci about Cesare's arrest.[src]
In 1503, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Rodrigo Borgia, died from a poisoned apple that was forced down his throat by his own son, Cesare Borgia. With his death, Rome was fully liberated from the Borgia's control. After murdering his father, Cesare was arrested by the newly appointed Pope, Julius II. Cesare was exiled to Spain to be imprisoned at the Castillo of La Mota in 1504. However, in the year 1506, Cesare managed to escape his cell with the help of Micheletto Corella, who provided him with a rope.
After dropping 70 meters to the ground, Cesare landed on top of a servant who had accompanied him, breaking his fall. Despite several fractured bones, Cesare was able to evade the law in a disguise of merchant clothing, later joining his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre, where he was granted full command over the Navarrese army. However, Cesare was pursued by Ezio Auditore, who wanted to kill Cesare and stop any threat he would pose.
Viana under siege
Beginning of a battle
By 1507, King John intended to have the town of Viana captured for the Navarrese forces from the Count of Lerin, who controlled it on Ferdinand II of Aragon's behalf. By March of 1507, King John had Cesare lead 10,000 soldiers to Viana to take the castle. Secretly Cesare intended to take Viana so it would aid him in retaking the city of Rome, which he lost control over due to the Assassin Order. The Navarre forces were able to besieged the Viana countryside and battled with the Viana infantrymen.
Ezio, who had tracked Cesare down to Viana, found him among his men in the countryside, fighting with the Viana soldiers. As the battle raged on, with the forces' cannons destroying the town and surrounding countryside, Ezio charged into the battle in an effort to kill Cesare. Finding Cesare, Ezio lunged towards him with his blade at the ready. However, Cesare was able to hold off the Assassin's attack, demanding to know how Ezio had discovered him.
Ezio quickly claimed that the Apple that Cesare had stolen from his uncle, Mario Auditore, had led him there. Despite Cesare holding off Ezio's killing blow, Ezio eventually gained the upper-hand and overpowered Cesare, striking him across the throat. However, Cesare's armor protected him, and he managed to push Ezio aside. Fleeing, he commanded his soldiers to attack the Assassin, though Ezio fended them off with little effort.
Eventually, the Navarre infantry were able to move into the town and fight with the soldiers there, as the cannons attacked Viana Castle and the siege towers closed in on the town and castle.
Besieged countryside
With Viana and Navarre soldiers clashing, Ezio continued to pursue Cesare. Charging through the battlefield in an attempt to reach the ruins of what was once an olive field, however a cannon ball eventually struck and killed the horse he rode on, forcing him to travel by foot. As Ezio made his way through the outskirts of the city, the chaos only grew worse, with the Navarre siege towers evidently closing in on the town. As Ezio drew closer to the crumbling town, making his way past the bodies of slaughtered soldiers, he eventually arrived at the olive field ruins, where an infantry of Viana soldiers had set up camp.
Stealthily killing any patrolling soldiers and dispatching any who challenged him, Ezio also overheard the soldiers speaking of Cesare's downfall, and the Assassin responsible. Upon reaching the peak of the hill, Ezio caught sight of Cesare, accompanied by several guards, entering the besieged town. As he did so, a woman rushed to Cesare's side, seeking assistance in looking for her injured son, but she was promptly killed and discarded by the Spanish general's men, with Cesare continuing to the city fortress.
Onward assault
- Ezio: "Cesare! The walls surround you. There is nowhere to run."
- Cesare: "Come then, Ezio!"
- —Ezio and Cesare, before their final battle.[src]
While the Navarre infantry reinforced their assault, attacking the city guards, they tortured the civilians, burning down their homes and killing them. As the soldiers killed each other the Assassin also joined the fight and killed many soldiers too. Eventually, a burning and damaged siege tower began to collapse under it's own weight, allowing the Assassin to proceed to the castle. As he climbed the interior of the burning siege machine – which had sustained heavy damage from cannon fire – Ezio was forced to perform a Leap of Faith off of the top once he had reached it, due to the tower crumbling under its own weight.
As most Navarre soldiers drew closer to the castle, several waves of soldiers reinforced the attack. At this point the battle was in favour of Navarre and a siege tower had breached the castle walls, with several soldiers now attacking the castle, Cesare among them. Not long before it would be a matter of time before the Navarrese forces secured victory, which would secure Cesare a major hand in his attempt to retake Rome, Ezio scaled the siege tower and reached the castle walls and defending himself from the attacking soldiers. Ezio ran across the battlements to face Cesare directly.
Final confrontation
- Cesare: "You cannot kill me. No man can murder me!"
- Ezio: "Then I leave you in the hands of Fate."
- —Cesare's final words to Ezio before his death[src]
Finally reaching his arch-enemy, Ezio called out for Cesare's attention and warned him that there was nowhere to run. After killing the guards attacking him, Cesare responded to his claim by immediately challenging the Assassin to one last duel.
As the siege raged all around them, the two men battled face-to-face for the first and last time. Cesare skillfully attacked Ezio with his sword and pistol, dodging his incoming blows and countering his attacks, while also periodically calling in waves of Navarrese soldiers to reinforce him. Despite this, Ezio's own speed and skill were enough to defeat the soldiers and overpower Cesare, slowly breaking off the pieces of his armor that protected him from his hidden blade.
After a lengthy battle, Ezio eventually managed to pin Cesare down beneath him, holding his hidden blade at the Templar's throat. Still convinced in his ways, Cesare claimed that the throne was his right, to which Ezio responded that a leader could not merely take what he wished, and that a true one "empowers the people he leads." Cesare then declared that he would "lead mankind into a new world", but Ezio dismissed him, replying that no one should ever remember Cesare Borgia's name in history.
Enraged, and knowing his death was inevitable, Cesare repeatedly shouted that no mortal man could kill him, to which Ezio declared he would leave Cesare "in the hands of fate", before throwing him from the castle wall to his death.
Aftermath
Subsequently, the siege concluded, and Cesare's body was buried in a marble tomb beneath the altar of the Church of Santa Maria with the inscription: "Here lies in little earth one who was feared by all, who held peace and war in his hand." The Navarre won the battle and Ezio returned to Rome and continued to strengthen the Assassin Order.
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