Shimazu Saito
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He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. |
Shimazu Saito (Japanese: 島津 サイト) was a samurai who served as a member of both the Shimazu clan and the Japanese Rite of the Templar Order during the early 18th century. She is an ancestor to the 21st-century Abstergo Industries doctor and Templar Shimazu Sei.[1]
The illegitimate daughter of the Shimazu clan's leader, Saito was brought to Japan following her father's death and was raised and trained in the clan's ways alongside her friends, all of whom were of mixed heritage. Looked down upon by the pure-blooded Japanese members of the clan, Saito and her subordinates were eventually given a chance to prove themselves in 1725, when they were tasked to search for the lost city of Angkor, an alleged Precursor site.
While looking for leads in Portuguese Macau, Saito and her ninja followers attempted to eliminate anyone else who knew about Angkor to conceal the site's existence. One of those people was the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on Angkor's trail and who ended up clashing with Saito and her ninja several times.
During her mission, Saito allied herself with the Macau-based businessman Sun, but earned the wrath of the pure-blooded Japanese ninja serving under her, who believed they were treated unfairly. Led by Saito's former mentor Fuma Sukuna, the Japanese ninja ultimately deserted and formed their own faction, seeking to eliminate Saito for the perceived dishonor she had brought to the Shimazu clan.
Despite their initial conflict, Saito later striked a partnership with Edward after they both realized they needed each other to find Angkor. With the loss of her men due to the war against the Japanese ninja, Saito joined Edward's organization, the Zhang Wei Union, and worked alongside them to search for the lost city while seeking vengeance against Sukuna and his men.
Biography
Early life
- "I had been spirited away to my father's homeland without knowing why... only to suffer an upbringing that seemed altogether cruel and unusual. And yet I was capable to endure my captive years... thanks to my childhood friends, who had accompanied me to the seat of the Shimazu clan. Without their help, I daresay I would not have persevered."
- ―Saito reflecting on her training with the Shimazu clan, 1725.[src]-[m]
The illegitimate daughter of the Shimazu clan's leader, the girl who would become known as Shimazu Saito was born and raised by her mother outside of Japan. Growing up in the countryside, she enjoyed a relatively normal childhood and was initially unaware of her heritage except for the occasional stories her mother would tell her about Japan. However, this changed when Saito's father passed away without leaving an heir, making her the closest claimant to his legacy.[2]
Brought to Japan by the Shimazu clan, Saito was given a new name and responsibility as the last remaining member of the clan's bloodline. Over the following years, she was taught her family's history, traditions, and culture and was trained by several masters,[2] including Fuma Sukuna,[3] to become a living weapon for the clan.[2]
Despite the hardships she faced, Saito was able to carry on thanks to her childhood friends, who had accompanied her to Japan and supported her throughout their training together. However, despite all the victories they brought to the clan, Saito and her friends continued to be seen as outsiders due to their mixed heritage.[2]
Eventually, Saito was made aware of the clan's Templar affiliations and was inducted into the Order before being tasked to locate an ancient site belonging to the Isu. In exchange for retrieving its treasure and restoring the clan's might, Saito was promised that she and her mixed-blood subordinates would be accepted as full-fledged members of the clan. With no other choice, Saito and her ninja followers, including her friends, embarked on a journey to Macau to search for leads to the site's location.[2]
Investigation in Macau
Arriving in Macau in February 1725, Saito and her followers immediately attempted to silence anyone else who knew about the site: the lost Khmer city of Angkor. Their first targets were the Dutch explorer Hendrik, who had stumbled upon Angkor during his travels, and his friend and fellow navigator John Young, who had stolen Hendrik's story and was boasting about his alleged discovery.[4]
Saito dispatched three of her ninja to kill John, but the navigator was protected by the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on Angkor's trail and had approached John after hearing about his story. Hendrik was not as lucky, as he was attacked by Saito's ninja in his room at the Dutch East India Company's dormitories in Macau and succumbed to his wounds shortly after being found by Edward.[5]
Saito encountered Edward for the first time while the latter was trying to hide in an alley from Hendrik's company mates, who had mistaken him for Hendrik's killer. Unaware of his identity or Assassin affiliations, Saito ordered her ninja to capture Edward alive and they ended up chasing him to Macau's port, where Saito watched from afar as Edward effortlessly fought off many of her men.[6]
Impressed by the stranger's skills, she ordered her men to find out everything they could about him.[6] After Edward was saved by John Young and his ship, Saito loosed an arrow at the pair as they sailed away, which Edward dodged.[7]
Attack on the Mandarin's House
After Hendrik's sea log was acquired by the businesswoman Lee Huiyin upon his death and she refused to hand it over to the Templars,[8] Saito led her ninja in an attack on Lee's private residence, the Mandarin's House, in order to retrieve the journal. There, Saito once again ran into Edward, who had also come for the log and had managed to grab it shortly before the attack.[9]
Edward helped Lee's guards fend off some of the ninja before realizing Saito was their leader and attempting to kill her to quickly end the battle. The two engaged in a duel, with Saito coming out on top and managing to break the Assassin's sword. As one of her ninja arrived to pick her up on horseback, Saito revealed her name to Edward and asked for his in return. After the Assassin complied, Saito told him that she would remember his name before she and her ninja retreated, their mission seemingly a failure.[10]
Upon making it to safety, however, Saito revealed to one of her followers that she had successfully acquired Hendrik's log, having taken it from Edward during their duel.[10] After inspecting the log, Saito discovered that the information the Templars sought was encrypted. Deducing that Edward had the cipher needed to decode it, she ordered her men to find and capture the Assassin.[8]
Alliance with Sun
During her time in Macau, Saito formed an alliance with Sun, the head of the Hualien Trading Company, who offered his protection to the Templar and her followers in exchange for their loyalty and Hendrik's log.[11] After an opium shipment belonging to the Far East Company, whom Sun had allied himself with against Lee, was confiscated by the Dutch Navy, Sun reached out to Saito in order to recover it.[12]
Meeting at a temple in Macau, Sun gave Saito permission to kill anyone who got in her way, and reminded her that once Lee and the Europeans foreigners had been driven out of Macau, his merchants would dominate the market, greatly benefiting the Shimazu clan.[12]
As Saito escorted Sun out of the temple, she became suspicious of one of her men, who was actually Edward in disguise, having taken the outfit of a ninja he had killed. Nevertheless, Saito mobilized her followers to attack the Far East Company ship which held the opium. When one of her men expressed concern regarding the mission's risks, Saito told him that it was in fact an opportunity to purge the clan's weak links.[12]
Making their move at midnight, Saito and her ninja attacked the guards protecting the ship, though Saito quickly noticed one of her men sneaking away from the fight and into the ship. Deciding to follow the suspicious ninja, she confronted him in the gunpowder storage room, where the ninja attempted to ignite the gunpowder with a candle. Saito stopped him and recognized the ninja to be Edward, threatening him with her sword.[12]
Following a failed attempt to interrogate Edward about the cipher needed to decode Hendrik's log, Saito caught the Assassin's candle with her sword after the latter had dropped it, leaving her vulnerable for an attack. This was Edward's intention, as he quickly turned around to disarm Saito and managed to punch her in the face, knocking off her mask. Edward then pinned Saito to a wall to try and interrogate her, but was interrupted by the arrival of two ninja who had come to check on their master.[1]
Managing to free herself from Edward's grasp, Saito fought him, but the Assassin escaped after grabbing one of the two ninja present and tossing him into the other. As Saito moved to retrieve her mask, she vowed to make Edward pay for the humiliation he had made her endure, to which the Assassin told her she was welcome to try.[1]
Saito subsequently questioned one of her ninja about the situation on the ship's deck. He informed her that the mainland Japanese ninja had deserted out of discontent towards their treatment and that Lee had arrived with armed men to seize the opium shipment. Outnumbered and outgunned, Saito deemed the battle lost and ordered a retreat.[1]
Shimazu clan civil war
In time, the conflict between Saito's mixed-blood ninja and the Japanese deserters, led by her old mentor Fuma Sukuna, escalated into a bloody civil war. The Japanese sought to eliminate Saito, viewing her as a traitor of the Shimazu clan, and frequently attacked her men in the streets of Macau to draw her out.[13]
During one such attack, Sun went to protect Saito's men, albeit only after the fight had already been broken up by Edward. After Lee, who had allied herself with the Japanese ninja, and the Dutch East India Company, now working with Edward, both joined the confrontation, resulting in a three-way standoff, Sun decided to retreat.[14]
As Saito walked with Sun following the standoff, the latter talked about their alliance and reminded the Templar that she owed him her loyalty because he had protected her subordinates. However, Saito had not failed to notice that Sun had only intervened in the fight when her men were close to defeat, and deduced that Sun was using their partnership to acquire Angkor's treasure for himself. Despite this, she believed that she had no choice but to follow Sun's lead until they deciphered Hendrik's log.[14]
Later, Saito acted as Sun's chief bodyguard aboard his floating gambling hall while they waited for the arrival of Sun's nephew Xiao Han, who could decode the log. After being informed by one of her ninja that Edward had been allegedly spotted in the casino, Saito wanted to investigate, but was forbidden from doing so by Sun, who did not want any bloodshed in his establishment. However, the Templar secretly went against Sun's orders and decided to search for Edward, having deduced that the Assassin was using a decoy to deceive them.[15]
Finding him atop the mast of a ship outside the casino, Saito confronted Edward alongside her ninja and claimed that she would retrieve the cipher to the log from him, one way or another. Edward challenged her to come and get it, initiating a duel between the Assassin and Templar.[15]
Although Edward managed to throw her ninja to their deaths, Saito eventually cornered the Assassin and offered him a chance to surrender. However, Edward, knowing Saito had no intention to spare him, jumped from the mast just as the latter was about to strike him with her sword.[16]
Saito believed the Assassin to be dead and as such was caught off-guard when Edward suddenly appeared behind her, having used a rope to launch himself back up, and tackled her. After they both fell into the water below, Saito's mask fell off and she struggled to stay afloat. Taking notice of this, Edward attempted to drown her and, despite trying to fight him off, Saito was ultimately overpowered and lost consciousness as she was pulled into the depths.[16]
Truce with Edward Kenway
- Saito: "Given the circumstances... it seems doubtful there are any better alternatives. Very well. I accept your proposal. But only until we locate the forgotten temple and its treasure."
- Edward: "Excellent. We'll figure out the rest when the time comes."
- —Saito agreeing to an alliance with Edward, 1725.[src]-[m]
Once she regained consciousness, Saito found herself on the deck of a ship with Edward across from her. The Assassin greeted her and explained that he had saved her from drowning because she was more useful to him alive. A furious Saito immediately tried to attack him, but the Assassin stopped and threatened her with his Hidden Blade before claiming he had no intention to kill her. Saito believed Edward had only shown her mercy because she was a woman and again attacked him, threatening the Assassin with her sword while demanding the real reason he had spared her.[11]
After Edward explained that Saito reminded him of an old friend and that he admired her dedication to her cause, he proposed an alliance, claiming they needed each other. Briefly taken aback, Saito questioned Edward's sudden willingless to work with her, but nonetheless agreed to the partnership, at least until they found Angkor and retrieved its treasure. However, she still threatened to kill the Assassin if he planned on using or betraying her.[11]
As Saito and Edward decided to retrieve Hendrik's sea log from Sun, they heard gunshots in the distance and realized that the Japanese ninja were attacking Sun's ship, meaning the log was in jeopardy.[11] Running towards the ship, Saito witnessed many of her men fall to the blades of the ninja and was sent into a frenzy, viciously killing any enemy in her path.[17]
Once she and Edward eventually reached Sun's ship, they saw his guards and Saito's remaining men fighting against Xiao Han and his fellow Assassins, Liu Qing and Xue Yan. Saito immediately rushed to protect her second-in-command, only to witness him meet his end at the hands of Liu Qing.[17]
A furious Saito attacked Liu Qing, but he eventually overpowered her and destroyed her sword with his guandao. Left at the Assassin's mercy, Saito was saved by Edward, who forced Liu Qing back. After both Liu Qing and Xue Yan were called by Xiao Han to help pursue Sun, who had fled with the sea log, Saito was left alone with Edward and the bodies of all of her dead followers.[18]
As Saito told Edward about her upbringing under the Shimazu clan, she broke down due to the deaths of men, including all of her childhood friends. After Saito claimed she had lost her purpose and had no reason to live anymore, a furious Edward told her to find a reason, as he still needed her help. The two's argument quickly escalated into a fight, during which Saito told the Assassin to kill her, but he refused, claiming that he too had experienced similar losses and that they owed to the dead to keep living. After Edward departed, Saito took one last look at her dead subordinates and found her new purpose: revenge.[2]
When Edward confronted Fuma Sukuna and his men, who were chasing the fleeing Sun, Saito arrived behind him and told the Assassin to recover Hendrik's sea log from Sun while she dealt with the ninja.[2] Seeking to avenge her subordinates, Saito killed some of the ninja before facing Sukuna himself, but he easily disarmed her.[3]
As Sukuna remarked that his former pupil was still no match for him and expressed remorse at having to kill her for betraying the Shimazu clan, Saito pointed out that Sukuna and the other clan members had always seen her and her friends as outsiders. She then declared that she would kill them all in order to avenge those who had stood by her and take over the clan.[3]
Before Saito and Sukuna could fight, however, a firework flew over the ship, signaling Sukuna to retreat. After promising Saito to kill her if they ever met again, Sukuna and his men left the ship as it began to be bombarded with cannon fire by Jeong, an admiral working with Sukuna and Lee.[3]
As Saito looked for a way off the ship, she was reunited with Edward, who informed her that he had lost Hendrik's sea log to the Chinese Assassins, much to her annoyance. However, she was surprised to learn that Edward had thought of an escape plan and the two were soon picked up by John Young and Xialun Qing in a stolen gunboat.[19]
As the group made their escape from the sinking gambling ship, they were spotted by Jeong, who attempted to kill them. Fortunately, they were saved by the timely arrival of the Zhang Wei Union's flagship Fenghuang, which forced Jeong back. After boarding the Fenghuang, Edward welcomed Saito into the Union and told her that the only course for their current voyage was the one towards freedom, causing Saito to smile to herself.[19]
Joining the Zhang Wei Union
- Edward: "Are you feeling better? Try not to take all that to heart."
- Saito: "Oh, it doesn't bother me... In fact, it's rather refreshing. Not even the Shimazu family accepted me as one of their own. And yet he's so insistent... upon the fact that I'm Japanese."
- —Edward and Saito on Yun's attitude towards her, 1725.[src]-[m]
At the Zhang Wei Union's headquarters, Saito was tended to by Qing, who treated her injuries and helped her get changed into more comfortable clothes. However, Saito's recruitment drew protests from the Union's engineer Yun Pyeong-Gyu owing to the animosity between Japan and Joseon following the Imjin War fought between the two countries over a century prior. Saito was unbothered by Yun's comments, as she remarked that it was the first time anyone recognized her as being Japanese.[20]
Eventually, Saito and Yun were able to drop the animosity between them after a friendly archery contest, observed by all members of the Union. Saito complimented the Joseon bow crafted by Yun and managed to beat him in the contest, earning his respect. Later, the two joined Edward in deciphering the contents of Hendrik's sea log, which Saito had memorized. Using the cipher in Edward's possession, Yun was able to decode a hidden message saying that they should follow in the footsteps of Ferdinand Magellan.[20]
Deducing they were meant to travel to the Philippines, Magellan's final resting place, the Zhang Wei Union members made preparations for the long journey ahead. Yun built Saito a suit of armor outfitted with a retractable kunai, which she was grateful for.[21]
After Xialun Qing was recruited to serve as the crew's doctor due to her medical knowledge, Saito questioned why someone with her talents had been working aboard Sun's gambling ship. Qing simply told her that choosing the life one wishes to lead was a luxury afforded to few, causing Saito to understand Qing's position and apologize.[21]
Journey to the Philippines
Once all the preparations were complete, Saito joined Edward, John, Yun, Qing and Rupiya aboard the Fenghuang before the crew sailed towards the Philippines to pick up on Magellan's trail.[21] As they neared Manila, however, their ship came under attack by Jeong's fleet, which had followed them. Serving as a lookout, Saito spotted more enemy ships attempting to flank the Fenghuang and informed Edward and Yun. Using the latter's latest creation – fire barrels which exploded on impact – the crew were ultimately able to sink most of the pursuing ships.[22]
Following their apparent escape from Jeong's fleet, most of the crew celebrated their victory but Saito found it suspicious that they had not faced more resistance. Sure enough, the Fenghuang was soon boarded by Xiao Han, Liu Qing and Xue Yan, who had accompanied Jeong. During the resulting chaos, Saito confronted Xue Yan atop the ship's mast and, declaring her intention to avenge her friends' deaths, engaged the Chinese Assassin in a duel.[23]
Despite Xue Yan's quick reflexes, which allowed her to block most of Saito's attacks, the latter proved to be the more skilled warrior, eventually forcing the Assassin to admit defeat and retreat back to Jeong's ship using a parachute. After Xiao Han and Liu Qing also retreated, Edward ordered Rupiya to sail the Fenghuang into a storm to lose Jeong's fleet. Although one of the admiral's ships managed to follow them, it was quickly sunk by a Dutch East India Company vessel captained by Edward's ally, Jan van Aert.[24]
After Edward allowed Jan to join the Union's search for Angkor, Saito questioned the Assassin's decision. Edward claimed that they could not risk losing their partnership with the Dutch East India Company, even if there was a possibility they would be betrayed, and that they required the company's protection in case they encountered Jeong's fleet again. However, both Saito and Edward remained suspicious of Jan's true motives and questioned how he had been able to track them down so easily.[25]
Arrested in Manila
Later, both the Fenghuang and Jan's ship came under attack by two Spanish Men O' War, forcing them to surrender. Brought to Manila, the crews of the two ships were promptly arrested by the Spanish authorities, due to Jan's alleged involvement in the assassination of the Governor-General of the Philippines, Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda, six years prior.[25]
While Jan and his men were imprisoned in Fort Santiago's dungeon, the Fenghuang's crew were forced to remain inside their ship, under heavy guard. During their imprisonment, John managed to learn that Governor Bustamante had been killed in a riot by supporters of the Archbishop of Manila, Francisco de la Cuesta, and relayed this information to the others. Edward then decided to take matters into their own hands and had Qing distract the guards by bringing them food, allowing the crew to escape the ship undetected.[26]
Following their escape, Saito and Edward retrieved their confiscated weapons from a warehouse and interrogated a soldier, learning where Jan and his men were being held. Edward then located Fort Santiago after climbing to the top of the Manila Cathedral, and decided to take advantage of an ongoing protest to infiltrate the fort and rescue the Dutchmen. Saito believed that they owed Jan nothing, especially since they had been arrested because of him, but relented and decided to head back to the Fenghuang.[26]
En route to the harbor, however, Saito sensed a strange presence nearby and decided to investigate. She saw that the protest in the streets had turned into a violent riot and was being led by a monk who wore a crescent amulet. Deducing that the amulet was what controlled the protesters, she informed Edward after he had rescued Jan and his men, and the Assassin quickly realized that the amulet was a Piece of Eden.[26]
Fight for the Crescent Amulet
As Edward decided to retrieve the amulet from the monk, Saito stopped him and questioned why the Assassins were so interested in the Pieces of Eden, telling Edward to consider his answer very carefully. Edward proceeded to tell Saito about the Pieces' history and how the Brotherhood had been fighting for centuries to keep them out of the hands of people who would use them to subjugate humanity. Agreeing with Edward that the amulet had to be kept out of the wrong hands, Saito joined the Assassin in confronting the monk and his followers in an alley.[27]
After Edward demanded that the monk hand over the amulet, he refused and ordered his men to kill the Assassin and samurai. Saito and Edward easily killed most of the acolytes using their bow and pistols, respectively, but then witnessed the monk using the amulet to bring his followers back to life.[27]
Realizing that the resurrected monks were resistant to pain and that the only way to stop them was to dismember them, Saito and Edward proceeded to do so, leaving the monk defenseless. They then confronted the man and again demanded the amulet, but the monk used it on Saito, causing her to experience visions of her deceased friends.[28]
As the monk used the amulet to conjure illusions of himself and an oni, Saito was initially terrified by the sight of the large creature, but Edward explained that nothing of what they were seeing was real. With the Assassin's encouragement, Saito was able to overcome the illusions and defeat the oni, only to then witness the apparition turn into one of her late friends. As the samurai could not bring herself to attack them, she was struck down and knocked unconscious.[29]
After Edward managed to overcome the illusions, the monk fled with the amulet. Quickly checking on Saito, Edward found that she was still alive but that her body needed to recover from the amulet's effects. He thus left her in the alley to recover and set off in pursuit of the monk.[30]
Once she awakened sometime later, Saito witnessed battalions of Spanish soldiers marching in response to the riot. Deciding to return to the Fenghuang, she began making her way back towards the ship across the rooftops until she heard a commotion below and saw Edward struggling against a group of Visayan resistance fighters. She dropped several smoke bombs and, in the resulting confusion, grabbed Edward and escaped with him to safety.[31]
As Edward struggled to stay awake due to also having fallen prey to the amulet's powers, he told Saito that the artifact was in the possession of the resistance's leader, Rajah, and that they needed to recover it. However, Saito insisted that the safety of their crew was more important and that they needed to return to the Fenghuang immediately, to which Edward agreed.[31]
After the two boarded the ship, the Fenghuang set sail away from Manila, followed closely by Jan van Aert and his crew. When the Spanish Navy gave chase, Jan volunteered to distract their pursuers to give the Union members time to flee. Once they had escaped from the Spanish fleet, Qing tended to Saito, who was still recovering from the amulet's effects, while Edward told the others about their encounter with the monk and the Piece of Eden.[32]
Excursion to Monkey Island
- "Mortals turned into demons... It stands to reason that Kenway would be so wary of them. And after all I've seen for myself, the pieces are finally starting to fit together. The elders of my clan and our rival factions were the same way... blinded by the artifacts' might and desperate to seize them for their own gain."
- ―Saito, after realizing the native warriors were empowered by the Crescent Amulet, 1725.[src]-[m]
En route to Cebu, where a clue to the location of Angkor's treasure could be found, the Union members made a stop at a village to resupply. There, the natives instantly recognized and greeted the crew, as Zhang had recently begun trading with them. While Edward recruited several of the villagers into the Union, John found that a monkey had snuck aboard the Fenghuang and was attacked by it.[33]
While most of the Union members laughed at John's predicament, the navigator called out for Saito to help, only for her to insult him in response. Eventually, Qing was able to calm down the agitated monkey and cradled it until it fell asleep, after which John decided to adopt it.[34]
At nightfall, the Fenghuang departed the village and resumed its voyage towards Cebu. As the ship passed Monkey Island, however, it was suddenly bombarded with mortar fire. Rupiya was able to steer the Fenghuang to safety and Edward instructed him to take cover behind some rocks while the rest of the crew put out any light sources to make them harder to spot.[34]
With the crew trapped and unaware of where the mortar fire had come from, Qing offered a solution and revealed her and Yun's latest invention: a hot air balloon,[34] which they dubbed the Celestial Chariot. After the Union members devised a plan to have someone pilot the balloon and survey Monkey Island from above, Saito volunteered, claiming that she was light enough for the balloon to support her weight. However, John pointed out that she was more muscular than most of the crew, causing Saito to insult him in response.[35]
Eventually, Qing volunteered to be the pilot and took flight in the Celestial Chariot, surveying the island and marking the locations of all enemy encampments. This allowed the Fenghuang's crew to fire on them, but the Celestial Chariot then suffered a malfunction and caught fire, with Qing still inside.[35] After she parachuted to safety, Saito used her spyglass to find the place where she had landed and informed the others that Monkey Island had "claimed" Qing. The crew then decided to go looking for her.[36]
As they approached the island, the Fenghuang came across a fort which had been taken over by Rajah and his native warriors. Edward subsequently devised a plan to lead a small party to the island in search of Qing while the remaining crew members distracted Rajah's men. With that, he left Saito in charge of the Fenghuang, which engaged the fort to buy Edward and the others enough time to reach Monkey Island undetected.[36]
Upon escaping from the fort's line of sight, Saito and the remaining Fenghuang crew hid in a swamp while awaiting the return of Edward's expedition. However, Saito began to suspect something was amiss and that Rajah's warriors would attempt to attack the ship.[36] Sure enough, as soon as a downpour of rain started, rendering the crew's firearms useless due to the wet gunpowder, the warriors boarded the ship, forcing Saito and the others to fight them off.[37]
After threatening to execute any crew member who fled the battle, Saito engaged what appeared to be a monster resembling a Manananggal, slicing it in half. However, she became surprised when the creature did not die and continued to attack her. As another monster boarded the Fenghuang, Saito ordered the crew to ready the multi-barreled muskets built by Yun and fire on their assailants.[37]
In the end, the crew emerged victorious, killing most of the native warriors and taking a few of them captive. After Saito told Yun that she was in his debt, as his invention had saved her life, the engineer unmasked one of the captive Manananggals and was surprised to discover he was human. When Yun questioned how this was possible, Saito claimed that it was the result of the crescent amulet's powers.[38]
Having now witnessed the amulet's abilities first-hand twice, Saito understood why the elders of her clan and their rivals were so obsessed with acquiring it, and feared what might happen if anyone were to wield more than one Piece of Eden. Just then, a lookout reported that more native warriors were approaching the Fenghuang on boats, prompting Saito to order the crew to sail into the open sea.[38]
After escaping from their assailants, Saito and the others witnessed an explosion in the distance, signaling the destruction of Monkey Island's fort. The crew then went to pick up Edward's group, along with several native villagers they had befriended. Once everyone was aboard the Fenghuang, Saito and the others watched as John proposed to Qing, who excitedly accepted. Afterwards, the Union members decided to leave the island and resumed their voyage to Cebu.[39]
Confrontation in Cebu
- Edward: "Your job is to find Hendrik's sea log that the natives took from Magellan's cross. Never mind whatever peril I might be facing."
- Saito: "Are you quite certain? What if I decide to cut and run with the sea log."
- Edward: "Well, I suppose there's nothing I could do to stop you. You're my business partner, not my minion."
- —Saito and Edward prior to infiltrating Fort San Pedro, 1725.[src]-[m]
In Cebu, Saito and Edward went to investigate the city alone in search of the next clue to Angkor's location. Arriving at the Basilica del Santo Niño, the two were surprised to find that Rajah had beaten them to their destination, as his warriors were guarding the perimeter around the church.[39] When Spanish soldiers arrived on the scene and opened fire on the warriors, as well as the civilians Rajah had brainwashed with the amulet, Edward jumped in to rescue a young girl caught in the crossfire.[40]
Saito covered Edward by throwing several smoke bombs and directed him to an empty alley nearby. Once they were safe, Saito criticized Edward for wasting precious time, but the Assassin defended his decision to save the girl and told Saito that she would see things differently once she had a child of her own. Following this, the two entered the basilica, only to find all the priests murdered inside, and were met by Rajah, who had retrieved the clue to the locations of the remaining Pieces of Eden: another sea log.[40]
Following a brief but heated exchange between Edward and Rajah, the latter of whom failed to see the harm he was inflicting upon his own people, the Visayan chief left the basilica, ordering his men to deal with Edward and Saito.[40] Quickly defeating the warriors, the pair tried to chase Rajah, but he had used the amulet to force the Spanish soldiers outside to fight each other.[41]
After making their way past the massacre, Saito and Edward took to the rooftops and the latter used his Eagle Vision to find Rajah's tracks. He then devised a plan to have the Spanish Army corner Rajah and his men and sent Saito, disguised as one of the native warriors, to lure a group of Spanish soldiers in their direction. Despite her personal grievance with the plan, Saito was successful in her task and returned to Edward, angrily confronting the Assassin and vowing to make him pay for dishonoring her.[41]
Before they could argue more, the soldiers chasing Saito caught up with her and she and Edward proceeded to lead them towards the Cebu harbor, where Rajah and his men were located. There, the two were caught in the crossfire between the Spanish Army and the resistance, but fortunately the Fenghuang, captained by John and Rupiya, sailed to their rescue and sunk Rajah's fleet.[41]
After Saito and Edward boarded the ship, the crew chased Rajah and his rebels, who had managed to escape during the confusion. Sailing to Fort San Pedro, which had been taken over by the resistance, Edward devised a plan to infiltrate it using a new and improved Celestial Chariot built by Yun, which could carry up to three people at once. Saito and Edward volunteered to pilot it, and the latter also dragged a terrified John into the balloon's basket, much to Saito's annoyance.[42]
As they reached Fort San Pedro, Saito and Edward dropped several anchors to keep the Celestial Chariot in place and used them as ziplines to descend to the ground, leaving John inside the balloon to provide covering fire. Surrounded by Rajah's warriors, Edward decided to charge head-first in their direction, with Saito following closely behind, and the pair managed to lose their assailants. Moments later, they found Rajah surrounded by the bodies of his men and, deducing the chief had killed them all, they realized that Rajah had succumbed to the amulet's corrupting influence.[43]
Although Saito wanted to fight the Visayan chief, Edward stopped her and insisted that defeating Rajah was his responsibility since they both fought for a common cause: freedom. He then tasked Saito with recovering Hendrik's sea log, which the rebels had hidden nearby, and the samurai reluctantly complied, leaving Edward to face Rajah alone.[44]
After searching an office where she believed the log to be located, Saito spotted a group of civilians fleeing with the journal and confronted them. Promising not to harm them if they surrendered the log, Saito was surprised when the civilians immediately relinquished the journal, having no desire to risk their lives for what they described as "some worthless paper". With the log in-hand, Saito was faced with a dilemma over returning to Edward or running away with her prize.[45]
Ultimately, she chose to return and arrived in time to save Edward from Xiao Han, who had immobilized the Assassin with a rope dart. After severing the rope with an arrow, freeing Edward, he and Saito battled Xiao Han, who was joined by Liu Qing and Xue Yan.[46] However, Saito was quickly defeated and knocked down by Xue Yan, forcing Edward to use the amulet he had taken from Rajah to subdue the Chinese Assassins.[47]
Deciding to spare their opponents and make their escape due to the Spanish Army's arrival, Saito and Edward saw the Celestial Chariot falling out of the sky in the distance. They ran in its direction and boarded the balloon just as John managed to prevent if from crashing. In the process, Saito noticed that she no longer had Hendrik's sea log and, realizing Xue Yan had stolen it from her during their fight, informed Edward.[47]
However, the Assassin's usage of the amulet had taken a toll on his mind, causing him to become largely unresponsive. After the Celestial Chariot landed in the water, Saito, Edward, and John were picked up by the Fenghuang, whereupon John recalled Jan van Aert's words to reconvene with him in the Sultanate of Sulu. He then ordered that Edward be taken below deck to recover while the Fenghuang set sail towards Sulu.[48]
Personality and traits
Originally growing up unaware of her destiny as the heir of the Shimazu clan, Saito enjoyed her simple life in the countryside and greatly valued her friends. After being forcefully taken away from her home and given a new identity, Saito became a loyal servant of the clan and, over the course of her harsh training, was turned into an effective killing machine. Despite this, she managed to retain her humane side thanks to her friends, who accompanied and trained alongside her. Saito hoped she and her friends could one day be seen as official members of the clan, but because of their mixed heritage, they were constantly looked down upon by the clan's Japanese members.[2]
During her mission in Macau, Saito was shown to care about her subordinates' well-being, knowing when to order a retreat after they were overwhelmed,[1] and surrendering Hendrik's sea log to Sun in exchange for their protection.[11] However, her preferential treatment of the mixed-blood ninja, some of whom were her close friends, over the Japanese shinobi led the latter to abandon Saito and brand her a traitor to the Shimazu clan.[1] After witnessing the deaths of her subordinates at the hands of the Japanese ninja, Saito was sent into a frenzy and vowed to avenge her men.[17]
Through her training, Saito learned to be very observant of her surroundings and the people she came into contact with, and as such could not be easily deceived. She quickly saw through Edward Kenway's disguise when the latter tried to infiltrate her ranks using a ninja uniform,[12] and later realized that the Assassin was using a decoy to infiltrate Sun's gambling den.[15] Saito was also aware of Sun's true intentions and the fact that he was using her to further his own ambitions, but believed she had no choice but to rely on him for her subordinates' protection.[14]
Despite their initial position as adversaries, Saito and Edward became unlikely allies after the Assassin saved Saito from drowning. Though she was confused and angry at first, believing Edward had only done so because of her womanhood, she agreed to team up with him, at least temporarily, after the Assassin explained that Saito reminded him of an old friend he had admired greatly.[11] Following the loss of all of her men, Saito lost her will to live, believing she had nothing left to fight for, but Edward told her she owed it to her dead friends to find a reason to keep living. This caused Saito to regain her resolve and develop a newfound respect for the Assassin.[2]
After joining the Zhang Wei Union, Saito felt truly free for the first time in her life as she found herself in the company of people who accepted her for who she was.[19] The only one to oppose her recruitment was Yun Pyeong-Gyu due to his animosity towards Japanese warriors, but the two were eventually able to develop a strong friendship over their shared passion for archery.[20]
That being said, Saito's no-nonsense personality could occasionally cause her to clash with some of her fellow Union members, especially John Young, telling the navigator to "spare [them] the theatrics" during his rant about the loss of Xialun Qing on Monkey Island.[36] She also insulted him in response to a comment he made about her being more muscular than him,[35] and was visibly annoyed by John's terrified reaction when Edward forced him to board the Celestial Chariot.[42]
When presented with an opportunity to betray Edward and run away with Hendrik's sea log, which would allow her to find Angkor's Piece of Eden and claim it for herself, Saito instead chose to return to the Assassin and help him fight Xiao Han. This indicated that, despite their occasional disagreements, Saito had come to regard the Union as her true family and was willing to sacrifice anything for them.[46]
Skills and equipment
Trained by the Shimazu clan, Saito had mastered every aspect of her family's techniques, including swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, stealth and freerunning. As a samurai, she wielded a variety of weapons and tools, including a katana, a naginata,[17] a bow,[7] shuriken,[16] and smoke bombs.[31] During her time in Macau, she wore a metallic oni mask both for protection and to conceal her identity, though she later ended up abandoning it.[2]
Saito's swordsmanship training allowed her to overpower powerful opponents like Edward Kenway,[10] as well as defeat multiple Shimazu ninja at once with just a few strikes.[17] However, she could be defeated by a warrior who relied on brute strength rather than agility, such as Liu Qing, whose superior strength allowed him to overpower Saito and break her sword.[18]
Saito was also a very proficient archer. She nearly hit Edward with an arrow from a great distance away,[7] and bested Yun Pyeong-Gyu, who was regarded as the Zhang Wei Union's best archer.[20]
After joining the Union, Saito received a new samurai-inspired suit of armor from Yun. This armor was outfitted with a special mechanism on the left wrist bracer that allowed Saito to store and take out her kunai at will, functioning similarly to the Assassins' signature Hidden Blade.[21]
Aside from her combat skills, Saito was shown to have perfect photographic memory, remembering the contents of Hendrik's sea log after reading it just once.[20] However, she also had one notable weakness in the fact that she was not a strong swimmer.[16]
Behind the scenes
Shimazu Saito is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. In Episode 37, she is revealed to be the illegitimate daughter of the head of the Shimazu clan, who passed away during Saito's childhood. Although her father's name is not mentioned, going by the webtoon's timeframe, he was most likely Shimazu Tsunataka, who led the clan from 1687 until his death in 1704.[49]
Saito is referred to as a male several times, including by her own mother[2] and several of her followers.[6] Considering her position as the heir of the Shimazu clan, it is possible she was raised as a male and her true gender was kept secret from most members of the clan, who would not accept a female leader.
Saito's life shares a few similarities with the Levantine Templar Maria Thorpe's encounters with the Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad in the 2007 game Assassin's Creed and its 2009 follow-up Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. They are both female Templars who wore masks to conceal their identities and were initially mistaken for a man by an Assassin, following which they were eventually disowned by the organizations they served and were forced into an alliance with the Assassin who had unmasked them.
Gallery
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Close-up of Saito's mask -
A masked Saito with one of her ninja followers -
Saito unmasked by Edward -
Saito donning her mask -
Saito serving as Sun's bodyguard -
Saito facing Edward at Sun's gambling den -
Saito mourning the loss of her men -
Saito and Edward escaping the destruction of Sun's gambling ship -
Saito in her dress after joining the Zhang Wei Union -
Saito in her armor from Yun Pyeong-Gyu -
Saito freerunning across Manila's rooftops
Appearances
References
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