Board Thread:Assassin's Creed general discussion/@comment-24760042-20150610144015/@comment-77.65.90.176-20161117132223
Just saw this debate and hey, it's here on the wiki.... The way I understand it, it's that among many Grand Masters of the past, there was always a grand master/region with the highest authority (for example, Crawford Starrick/London). The Modern Order seems to be more centralized, for the sake of globalization and progress (and BECAUSE OF globalization and progress, when communication is easier), hence Grand Masters serve their traditional role of importance but they are no longer so high in the hierarchy. Inner Sanctum seems to be the center of big operations/decision making, with 3 Templar Guardians (Alan Rikkin is just one of them) governing over their actions and General of the Cross governing over the whole.
Just to make this clear:
"By the 20th century, the Templars were no longer ruled by a single Grand Master or independant leaders but instead by a council of the Order's brightest members, the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order. The Sanctum was in charge of creating a globalized plan for the Order and to ensure the cooperation of all the Rites and their leaders, while also preventing any corruption of the Templar ideals.
While still in charge of their respective and autonomous Rites, the Grand Masters were nevertheless accountable to the members of the Inner Sanctum and their inquisitor, the feared Black Cross. Furthermore, the Inner Sanctum was in charge of promoting the Grand Masters, keeping their numbers under strict control."
So far, General of The Cross seems to be the ultimate boss, and with things going as they are, I fear he may actually be a sage or something. LOL. (Or at least in Juno's pocket).