Garnier de Naplouse
- "Do you appease a crying child simply because he wails? 'But I want to play with fire, father.' What would you say? 'As you wish'? Ah... but then you'd answer for his burns."
- ―Garnier de Naplouse
Garnier de Naplouse (c.1147 - 1191) was the second Templar assigned by Al Mualim for Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad to assassinate. He was a doctor and Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier in the city of Acre and a secret member of the Knights Templar.
The Grand Master of the Hospitaliers
Garnier was exiled from France for the cruel and inhumane treatment of his patients (who he saw less as people and more as experiments on whom to try the latest cure-all). He claimed to be a man of science, but he lacked a sense of ethics. The price of knowledge was never too high for him, even if it had to be paid with another man's blood. Because his family had contributed a significant amount of coin to the war effort, he'd been harbored and protected in Acre. There he'd managed to buy himself loyal assistants who allowed him to continue his grim work. He fluctuated between being very articulate and composed, and totally deranged, although he did firmly believe that he was helping those he tended to, inside the Hospitalier Fortress in Acre.
Death
Garnier was assassinated within his Hospitalier Fortress by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad while attending to his victims. Altaïr first saw him attending to a patient who was trying to escape. Garnier had his men break the man's legs so it wouldn't happen again. During his monologue after his assassination, he spoke of how he was actually helping people. He claimed that the people he took were among the poorest and most ill of the other cities, and that many have recovered and thanked him for his help. He said his methods were necessary to free people from the "prisons of their own minds".
Final Words
Altaïr: Let go your burden.
Garnier: Ah, I'll rest now, yes. The endless dream calls to me, but before I close my eyes, I must know: what will become of my children?
Altaïr: You mean the people made to suffer your cruel experiments!? They'll be free to return to their homes!
Garnier: Homes!? What homes!? The sewers? The brothels? The prisons that we dragged them from?
Altaïr: You took these people against their will!
Garnier: Yes, what little will there was for them to have. Are you really so naive? Do you appease a crying child, simply because he wails? "But I want to play with fire, father". What would you say? "As you wish"? Ah, but then you'd answer for his burns.
Altaïr: These are not children, but men and women, full grown.
Garnier: In body, perhaps, but not in mind, which is the very damage I sought to repair. I admit, without the Piece of Eden - which you stole from us - my progress was slowed. But there are herbs, mixtures and extracts. My guards are proof of this: they were madmen before I found and freed them from the prisons of their own minds... And with my death, madmen they will be again.
Altaïr: You truly believe you were helping them?
Garnier: It's not what I believe... it's what I know.
Historical Materials
Garnier de Nablus was the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaliers, a monastic order founded after the First Crusade (1096 - 1099) and who established its first infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. At first, the order cared for pilgrims, but soon made sure armed guards allowed the pilgrims to come to no harm. This escorting force was built up dramatically and became a dominant Christian group along with the Knights Templar. Garnier began his service with the order in 1177, as a commander of the hospital in Jerusalem, and was promoted a decade later. He is known to have died sometime during 1191, fighting for the defense of the Holy Land.
Trivia
- Garnier de Naplouse (also known as Garnier de Nablus) was a real-life leader of the Knights Hospitalier who ruled from 1190 to 1192. In contrast to the in-game depiction of a sadistic and cruel man, the real-life Garnier was a courageous and brave individual who led the Hospitaliers and the Crusaders to many victories, including the Battle of Arsuf.
- It is much easier to air assassinate Garnier de Naplouse than to assassinate him from the ground, as his "patients" will push you around and blow your cover very easily.
- Another method is to blend with the scholars until you eventually pass by Garnier. This is just as effective, though much slower, than an air assassination.
- Garnier de Naplouse's experiments on jewish people is similar to Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele's experiments as well as many other Nazi doctors during the Holocaust.
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