Assassination
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Assassination is the killing by sudden or secret attacks, often for political reasons or revenge.[1] Over the centuries, political organizations like the Templar Order and most prominently the Assassin Brotherhood, have carried out innumerable assassinations of their enemies to advance their causes.
Background
The term assassination comes from the word assassin, which in turn comes from the Arabic word for "Hash-Smokers". Historian Shaun Hastings argued that the Hidden Ones adopted the later name of Assassins as a mark of pride.[2] Both incarnations used contracts to outline targets, explain the reasoning for their targeting and even to specify manner of death at times.[3][4][5]
Though precise in their methods, both sides of the Assassin-Templar War did not complete assassinations at times, due to choice or circumstance. For example, Louisiana Assassin Aveline de Grandpré spared the life of Antonio de Ulloa[6] and Colonial Templar Shay Cormac would intercept Assassin contracts and prevent them from accomplishing their tasks.[7] Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore prevented Templars from killing high profile people such as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus[8] and then-prince Suleiman I.[9]
Assassination techniques
Hidden Blade
The first recorded use of the Hidden Blade was dated from the 5th century BCE, when Darius used it to assassinate King Xerxes I in Persia.[10] Centuries later, his hidden blade was given to Aya by Cleopatra to aid in their quest to take down the Order of the Ancients. Aya would gift it to her husband, Bayek,[11] who would first use it against Eudoros, a member of the Order.[12] The use of the Hidden Blade would come to define both the Hidden Ones and their later incarnation, so great was their usage.[13]
Levantine Assassins Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Malik Al-Sayf worked to improve the methods of assassination using the Blade, three of which Altaïr documented in his codex: "from on high, from ledges, and from hiding places". These would later be dubbed "air assassinations"[14] "ledge assassinations" and "hidden assassinations".[15] Altaïr himself described these methods as basic, though critical.[13] In the same codex page, he introduced another improvement: the addition of a second identical Hidden Blade for the Assassins that needed to dispatch two targets at once.[13] This method was called a "double assassination".[16] All of these were taught to Assassin recruits[17] and became recognizable to Templars.[15]
Poison
A slower method of assassination, but still widely used, was poisoning, which allowed elimination of targets without the use of force.[18] Babylonian assassin Iltani used poison against Alexander the Great in her quest to retrieve his Staff of Eden[19] and Hidden One Amunet gave Cleopatra a vial of poison she used for her suicide.[20]
At some point before 1191, the use of poison was forbidden among the Levantine Brotherhood, and it was not before Altaïr became a mentor that the prohibition was lifted.[21] In his codex, Altaïr reserved a section for instruction on how to construct an alteration to the Hidden Blade that allowed poisoning of targets, as well as instructions on how to distill the poison.[22]
Poison also allows for many different approaches in an assassination. The method used in Margaret of York's death, for example, was to separate the compounds of the poison into harmless ingredients which were admnistered through her food, makeup and pillow.[23] Queen Isabella I of Castile was slowly poisoned through her food until she succumbed.[24][25] Black Cross Albert Bolden used a Templar pin with two types of poison, one that killed instantly and another that took one hour for its effect to take hold.[26]
The Assassins and Templars made ample use of poison darts in their arsenal, regardless of the method of delivery: Aveline de Grandpré used both a blowpipe[27] and a modified parasol,[28] Colonial Templar Shay Cormac used an air rifle,[29] French Assassin Arno Dorian used the Phantom Blade[30] and the Frye twins used their Assassin Gauntlets.[31]
High-profile assassinations
Italian Assassin Domenico Auditore built a sanctuary beneath his villa at Monteriggioni and included seven statues to honor the memory of the Assassins "who guarded the freedom of humanity when it was most threatened". These were the statues of Qulan Gal, Darius, Wei Yu, Amunet, Iltani and Leonius; who were thought of having performed high profile assassinations, and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Accompanying the statues were seals engraved with the famed weapons. [32] Though neither Qulan Gal nor Amunet were directly responsible for the assassinations of Genghis Khan and Cleopatra (respectively), they were involved in their deaths.[33][20]
- Qulan Gal assassinated Genghis Khan with a bow and arrow.
- Darius assassinated Xerxes I with a Hidden Blade.
- Wei Yu assassinated Qin Shi Huang with a spear.
- Amunet assassinated Cleopatra with an asp.
- Iltani assassinated Alexander the Great with poison.
- Leonius assassinated Caligula with a dagger.
Other notable assassinations were the assassination of Julius Caesar engineered by the Hidden Ones,[34] the assassination of An Lushan by Li E,[35] the assassination of Cesare Borgia by Ezio Auditore[36] and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[37]
References
- ↑ Merriam-Webster dictionary. Assassination.
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Shaun's notes – The Hidden Ones
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – A Brief History of the Hidden Ones
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Layla Hassan's personal files – Files: "Session Report: SHastings"
- ↑ Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Overrun and Outnumbered
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – A Governor No More
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Assassin Interception (Scott Lawson)
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Copernicus Conspiracy
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – The Prince's Banquet
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Legacy of the First Blade
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Aya
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – End of the Snake
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 13
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Unity companion app – Les Invalides: You'll Pay For This
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Mister Walpole, I Presume?
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Lessons and Revelations
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 2
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 5
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Assassin's Creed: Origins (comic) – Issue #04
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 6
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 21
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Contracts: London, England
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Contracts: Barcelona, Spain
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Ending Isabella
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Templars – Issue #03
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The False Mackandal
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Prélude to Rebellion
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – By Invitation Only
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Unity – The Kingdom of Beggars
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Cable News
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II – A Change of Plans
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Reflections – Issue #02
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Pax Romana
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone