Arthur Pendragon
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- "Arthur was a good soldier for Avalon until he obtained new advisors."
- ―The Lady of Avalon speaking about Arthur, 878 CE.[src]
King Arthur Pendragon (fl. 5th century – c. 537) was a Romano-British leader who led the defense of his people against the Anglo-Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. He was also a leader of the Order of the Ancients.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Early life and reign[edit | edit source]
Arthur Pendragon was born to Uther Pendragon[1] and his wife Igraine.[2] According to legend, Arthur possessed a sacred sword called Excalibur, which he pulled from a stone as a young man, thus proving that he was the Britons' true high king.[3] After performing the feat, Excalibur was formally given to Arthur by the Women of the Mist.[4]
Arthur also owned a mantle that allegedly had the ability to turn the user invisible.[1] Arthur used Excalibur to rally his people as their newly-crowned king to fight in defense of their lands against the invading Anglo-Saxons[5] during the Battle of Badon in 516.[6]
Downfall and death[edit | edit source]
At some point following this, he formed the Knights of the Round Table[1] and unknowingly fathered a son, Mordred, with the Lady of Avalon.[7] Arthur served Avalon as a soldier for some years before gaining new advisors in the form of the Order of the Ancients. However, due to their meddling,[4] Arthur died during the Battle of Camlann, after being betrayed by his wife Guinevere, his best friend Lancelot, and Mordred.[5]
Legacy[edit | edit source]
One of Arthur's trusted allies, believing that Excalibur's power should not belong to anyone, placed the sword within an ancient structure beneath Stonehenge with an accompanying note before dying, hoping that Excalibur would serve whomever found it next.[7]
After Arthur's death, he became an important part of folklore all over England, such that countless places and peoples were said to have interacted with him, regardless the veracity of the claims. Indeed, as the Assassin Shaun Hastings observed in 2020, "In England, 'local lore' always gets back to Arthur somehow".[8] In one notable example from the Viking expansion into England in the 9th century, Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan found a note during her travels claiming that Arthur once fought a woman by the name of Winniwulf Seaxdottir to a draw for the title of "Ruler of the Britons".[9] Later, Eivor retrieved Arthur's sword and note after gathering 11 tablet inscribed with depictions of the Treasures of Britain.[1]
By the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, a brewery had brewed a beer named "Merlin & Arthur Imperial Stout". In 2015, Shaun Hastings used the Animus to sample this beer and then wrote a tasting note voicing his displeasure at it.[10]
In 2012, the Assassin Clay Kaczmarek collected details on Arthur's sword while Abstergo Industries held him captive at their Animus Project laboratory in Rome. He then hid the information within the Animus 1.28 in Glyph puzzles for his successor, Desmond Miles, to find.[3] Sometime in early September,[11] Desmond solved the puzzle set titled "Instruments of Power", in which Arthur was included in a list of historical individuals who had wielded a Sword of Eden.[3]
In October 2016, during the Master Templar Simon Hathaway's search for Jeanne d'Arc's Sword of Eden, he reflected on how history had forgotten his ancestor Gabriel Laxart and scoffed at the idea of the concept of reincarnation, thinking that people who believed they were new incarnations of people always believed they were important figures like King Arthur or Queen Elizabeth.[12] Days later, after he had retrieved the Sword and delivered it to Alan Rikkin, he gave a rousing speech. Reflecting on this, Rikkin was of the opinion that Arthur's view of the Templars' role was idealistic and misguided, seeing his failure as proof that the Order was meant to follow a different path in the 21st century.[5]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed II (painting only)
- Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (mentioned in Database entry only)
- Assassin's Creed: Heresy (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first identified as "Arthur Pendragon")
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse (mentioned only)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- ↑
King Arthur on Wikipedia
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Assassin's Creed II – Glyph #5: "Instruments of Power"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse – Chapter 7
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Assassin's Creed: Heresy – Epilogue
- ↑ Historicity of King Arthur on Wikipedia
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse – Chapter 12
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Database: Stiperstanas
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Notes from Eivor's travels: "Scroll Reeking of Lost Heroism" [citation needed]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Database: Merlin & Arthur Imperial Stout
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – The Desmond Files
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Heresy – Chapter 9
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