Isu incarnation
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I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given. |
An Isu can be incarnated in a human individual. While initially believed that this process only happened[1] with Juno's late husband Aita,[2] incarnations of whom are referred to as Sages,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Where the Sages of Aita and Vejovis, another Isu, manifest in different individuals throughout human history, instances of the Asgardians' rebirth are only known to have occurred in one person each. Among that group were Eivor Varinsdottir, the incarnation of Odin; her adoptive brother Sigurd Styrbjornsson, Týr's incarnation; and Svala, the rebirth of Freyja.
Sages
- Main article: Sage
The most prevalent Isu incarnations are those of the Isu Aita, known as Sages. These Sages reappeared many times throughout history, bore a physical resemblance to Aita, and were recognizable by their anisocoria and heterochromia.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag[3] Another factor which complicated this plan was that, as with Sages, there was a risk the human could choose to not act on their Isu memories.[4]
Characteristics
Predecessor's impulses
In stark contrast to Sages who were only plagued by memories of their previous incarnation Aita, the reborn Asgardians had aspects of their lives often partially or fully repeat themselves in the lives of their human incarnations. Like Odin, Eivor had a strong aversion to wolves, [citation needed] had the raven Sýnin as her familiar echoing Huginn and Muninn,[5] and when connected to Yggdrasil, regularly lost an eye fighting alongside the einherjar in a simulation of Valhalla.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag and had his right arm severed at the elbow,[6] echoing the tales in Norse mythology about how the god of justice Týr lost his right arm to the wolf Fenrir.[7]
Halfdan Ragnarsson, the incarnation of Thor, had a strong affinity for using his hammer Orthstirr in battle,[8] regularly threw it,[9] and was extremely paranoid about being poisoned,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag and foreshadowing the thunder god's demise in Ragnarök from Jörmungandr's venom.[10] Even Rig Reidarasson was haunted with strong impulses to kill the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, though he did not know his target's name and described him as a "man with the mark in the House of Shadows",[11] unknowingly following Heimdall's initially fated role to kill Loki even as he was slain in turn.[12]
Convenience of the incarnations
In the particular case of the reborn Asgardians, the specific time period and the bloodline where they would be born were specially planned to happen at the same year span and region of the globe. As such, with the exception of Loki, all the reborn Isu grew up between the end of the 8th century and beginning of the 9th century in bloodlines native to Northern Europe.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag even though Heimdall had done his blood transfusion at the same time as his counterparts.[13] When Rig tried to kill Loki's incarnation Basim Ibn Ishaq in Constantinople, he returned to his crew stating that "[He] had become before [his] time", adding that he "was born too early and [was] alone, without [his] father [or] friends" after concluding that Basim had not been born yet.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Physical features and similarities
These incarnations could be identified by a mass of dark veins on their necks.[14] Additionally, at least two Isu incarnations, Eivor Varinsdottir and Basim Ibn Ishaq, possessed the rare ability of Eagle Vision, indicating a high concentration of Isu DNA.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
History
Isu Era
- Aletheia: "Have you heard? The High Council has stripped the Mother of her title. For gifting our tormentor her seventh method of salvation."
- Loki: "The seventh method? Is it viable? Why were we not told?"
- Aletheia: "I've heard whispers and rumors. It seems the seventh requires a human host."
- —Aletheia and Loki.[src]-[m]
Desperate to save the life of her husband Aita, who had been left in a catatonic state after being used as subject test to the fifth method of salvation,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Desperate for the Mead, Juno investigated their research sites and found the Mímisbrunnr, which was meant to receive the Mead when ready. [citation needed] Soon after, she began to inquire and plot out multiple ways to take it in order to save her beloved, actions that eventually exiled her from the city guarding the Temple.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Odin managed to successfully steal the Mead from the city of Útgarðar, but not without deceiving Minerva and battling with Jupiter himself.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag she was able to successfully insert her late husband's essence into a human bloodline, tweaking the functions of the solution to reincarnate his beloved indefinitely for the following millennia.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
Viking Age
During the Viking Age, the incarnations of the Æsir finally appeared. The first was Rig Reidarasson, a Viking born in the late 8th century who was the incarnation of Heimdall. During his life, Rig was plagued by the memories of Heimdall, believing them to be visions of the gods. His life, adventures and struggles to seize the hallucinations were immortalized in the Rigsogur, a saga written by the monk Brissy the Elder.[15]
In the 9th century, Thor and Sif were reincarnated respectively in the Vikings Halfdan Ragnarsson and his friend Faravid, though they were unaware of this link. In 865 CE, when King Ælla of Northumbria executed Halfdan's father Ragnar Lothbrok by throwing him into a pit of snakes,[16] Halfdan and Faravid conquered his kingdom and executed Ælla in return in 867 CE.[17]
Abbasid Caliphate
Around 844 CE, Basim Ibn Ishaq, the incarnation of Loki, was born in the Middle East, specifically in the Abbasid Caliphate's capital city of Samarra.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Meanwhile, Loki's consciousness took the form of Nehal, Basim's alleged childhood best friend, who accompanied him at every step and encouraged him to pursue his own self-interests while trying to remind Basim of "who he truly was."[18]
Originally a simple street thief, Basim eventually joined the Hidden Ones in 861, after being rescued by the Master Assassin Roshan following his accidental murder of the caliph Al-Mutawakkil.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
After the Order's leader Qabiha informed him of the Alamut Temple prior to being slain by Roshan, Basim decided to investigate the site.[19] Although Roshan, who had deduced her apprentice's true nature by herself, tried to stop him, fearing what the temple might awaken inside Basim, she was ultimately defeated by him. Inside the temple, Basim discovered several Memory Seals, one of which contained the recorded memories of Loki from the time he had been imprisoned there millennia prior.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag the prince Sigurd Styrbojnsson for Týr,[20] and his foster sister Eivor Varinsdottir for Odin.[21]
In 870 CE, during a raid on one of Kjotve the Cruel's territories, Eivor captured his slave Gull, the incarnation of Iðunn.[22] Together, they eventually went up the Feiknstafir mountains to the Temple of Heimdall,[23] where they found an Apple of Eden that had been locked away. When Gull touched the artifact, she recovered Iðunn's memories, and armed with the knowledge necessary to control it, used the artifact to restrain Eivor. As the Temple began to collapse from the damage sustained in Eivor's fight with Kjotve's men who also sought the treasure, Gull was left to her destiny on a precarious ledge with the Apple while Eivor decided to help her clan who was being attacked by Kjotve's Wolf Clan.[24]
That same year in Constantinople, Sigurd met Basim, who served as leader of the local Hidden Ones bureau, and his acolyte Hytham.[25] Recognizing the mark on Sigurd's neck,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag This act permitted Harald Fairhair, Freyr's reborn self, to unite Norway under his crown.[26] As Harald became the lord of Fornburg, Sigurd, Eivor, and Basim went to England in order to establish a new colony,[27] while Svala returned to the Yggdrasil Chamber, guided by Freyja's memories,[28] to enter a simulation of Valhalla.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tagCite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag After that, Sigurd attributed to his sister the task of continuing to gain friends throughout England in order to expand the settlement while he and Basim adventured through the new lands.[29]
During this time, Basim tried to reveal to Sigurd his true nature, but when this failed, he decided to prompt the man to search for the Saga Stone, a door fragment from Yggdrasil's chamber with engraved Isu script that he hoped would spark Sigurd's memory.[30][31] Some time after, Eivor assisted her brother with his search in Oxenefordscire, with the three Æsir incarnations allying themselves with Fulke,[32] an Order of the Ancients member who possessed the artifact and studied both it and the reborn Isu.[33] Together, they fought Lady Eadwyn,Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag They ended up being tricked by the Ancient, who fled with Sigurd. The Hidden One and the Viking then found her sanctuary in Canterbury, discovering that Fulke had cut off Sigurd's arm and that she had taken him to the fortress of Portcestre, in Suthsexe.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Nevertheless, the torture that Sigurd had endured greatly altered his personality after being exposed to Týr's memories, and he now saw himself as a god.[34][35]
During one of her adventures in early 876, Eivor allied with Halfdan and Faravid to fight the rebelling King Ricsige and his Pict allies.[36] After Halfdan became the new king of Northumbria, an argument arose between Faravid and the new king, the latter accusing his friend of poisoning him. This greatly affected Halfdan, who rapidly became depressed, though Eivor helped him to recover his morals.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag[37] Jötunheimr,[38] Svartálfaheimr,[39] and Niflheimr.[40]
In 877, Sigurd and Eivor returned to Norway,[41][42] entering the Yggdrasil vault by pronouncing the words carved on the Saga Stone. Inside, they encountered the supercomputer and used it to enter the simulation of Valhalla, encountering Svala as Freyja, who had been there for the past four years. Despite initially enjoying the simulation, Eivor realized that everything was fake and managed to convince her brother to leave, while Svala stayed. However, Odin's consciousness tried to force Eivor to stay in the simulation, with her fighting it in her mind and ejecting herself from the machine, repressing her Isu side.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Although the Vikings won the fight, conquering England in its totality, the confrontation resulted on several casualties on their side, including Soma, Hjorr Halfsson, and Hunwald. After giving the warriors their last rites, Eivor had a discussion about possible afterlives with Guthrum, venting to him that she would now seize her time among her friends and family rather than wish and strive for Valhalla after having witnessed its emptiness while in Yggdrasil's chamber.[43]
True to her word, Eivor spent the following decade trying to help the Raven Clan as its jarlskona to the best of her abilities, even traveling to Ireland and Francia to establish new alliances and stop possible threats.[44][45] Eventually, around 889, an older and more mature Eivor realized that she could not suppress her Isu self, Odin, forever and rather than reject his influence entirely, she decided to learn from his memories. However, believing her clan would not be able to understand, she chose to do so away from them.[46]
Prior to her departure, Eivor went to bid farewell to all of her friends and allies in England and Norway, including Sigurd, who had since settled in Alrekstad, and Harald Fairhair, who by this point had become aware of his own nature as Freyr's incarnation. Staying in Alrekstad for three weeks, Eivor, Sigurd and Harald reminisced about their past lives together[47] before Eivor eventually left for Vinland in North America.[48] There, she would spend her final years conversing with Odin, who helped her understand the Isu's history.[49] After her death, Eivor was buried near modern-day Concord.[50]
Modern times
- "You bested me. I don't know how, but you did. Yet I'm the one left standing. And now I can take from you anything I want... your memories, your skills, your secrets. They're all mine. And when I have them, I will put them to good use. To find my children. And bring my family back together."
- ―Basim addressing Eivor's remains, 2020.[src]-[m]
In 2020, the Assassin Layla Hassan, who had discovered Eivor's grave and relived the Viking's memories in the Animus, found and accessed the Yggdrasil chamber and connected herself to the supercomputer, hoping to find a solution to a series of anomalies affecting the Earth,<ref name="ACV MD"> caused by the activation of the global aurora borealis device in 2012.<ref name="AC3"> Inside the Grey, she met the consciousness of Basim, who revealed that he had sent Layla the message leading her to Eivor's remains and told her how to save the planet.<ref name="ACV MD">
However, after Layla followed Basim's instructions, she inadvertently freed the Hidden One from his imprisonment inside the Grey. Thanks to the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, which Layla had dropped, Basim rejuvenated his physical body and was reunited with the consciousness of Loki's lover Aletheia. He then met with Layla's fellow Assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, who were angry to learn that Basim had abandoned Layla inside the Grey, but nonetheless agreed to grant him an audience with their Mentor, William Miles.<ref name="ACV MD">
While Shaun and Rebecca were away, Basim used the Animus to relive Eivor's memories in the hopes of finding any clues to lead him to his children: Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr.<ref name="ACV MD"> While he did not find any, witnessing Eivor reject Odin's influence made him realize that the Viking's relationship with her Isu self was different from his own relationship with Loki, and that he had been wrong to try and exact revenge on Eivor for Odin's actions.<ref name="TLC MD"> When he later began to experience the Bleeding Effect, Basim saw a vision of Eivor smiling and nodding at him; a gesture he returned, symbolizing their friendship and mutual respect.<ref name="ACV MD">
Eventually, Basim was met in the Animus by a hologram of William, who questioned his motives. After the former Hidden One claimed that he still cherished the Creed and wished to help the Assassins in their fight against the Templars, William agreed to work with him, but first requested a sample of his blood, to allow the Assassins to relive his genetic memories.<ref name="TLC MD">
Known reborn Isu
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Song of Glory (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga
- Assassin's Creed: Rebellion – The Ravens' Wound
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla webcomic
- Assassin's Creed: Where's the Assassin? (non-canon)
- Little Miss Eivor (non-canon)
- Discovery Tour: Viking Age
- Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse
- Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
- Assassin's Creed: The Golden City
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage
- Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game
References
