Board Thread:Series general discussion/@comment-28601337-20160602221928/@comment-37215976-20181016231122

I love how people find such passion in such things like the Assassin's Creed series and I can't help but want to get involved. In case you're wondering I am in full support of the Assassin's and their beliefs. Not just because I respect their ideology more so then the Templars but because the brutality and cruelity of the Templars is quite disturbing and unforgivable in most cases. Now that's not to say the Assassin's are innocent, not by a long shot. In fact I can see why the Assassin's would be feared by many in that regard. However, it is the human aspect of the Assassin's that I agree with the most.

Consider this if you will, and please read to the end so that you can understand my reasoning for this example. Haytham Kenway was the son of the famous pirate Assassin Edward Kenway who grew up in a high society standing during his childhood and onward. His father was murdered and his sister taken by mercenaries on the behest of a high ranking Templar named Reginald Berch simply because said Templar was denied the chance to marry Haytham's sister. Now one would expect that Haytham would fight against such an organization in respect for his family but that wasn't the case. Instead he joins said organization and, although he gets revenge on the Templar, becomes the very thing that ruined his life. What once was a brash and conceited young man became cold and ruthless killer with no regards to innocent life. People like the carraige driver in AC3 and several unarmed prisoners were ruthlesly slaughted without reason and his opinion on the lower class was that of distain as he cared little for what happened to those who suffered and only enjoyed the company of those who were intelligent and of higher class. He taunted his own son about his failures during their final fight and abandoned his lover after the fact, in addition to murdering another Templar who went rouge on the grounds of, not for being the right thing to do, but because it was against the Templars beliefs.

Now the only reason I bring up Haytham is because their are many people who try to justify and stand up for him because of the "good deeds" he did but in reality the truth is far less pleasent. You see, Haytham never did any of those things. We did. The players, the fans, the casuals, and the hardcore, we were the ones that did the good things, the side missions, the helping and the saving. We just used Haytham for the adventure. We did those things not because they were simply the right thing to do, although there are people who did, it was because we were rewarded with points and money and equipment and achievement did we take interest. Still there are some people who would go on a killing spree if they could simply BECAUSE they could. That in itself is Templar ideology, to use someone against their will and to make them do what we want. Sure there are people who do good, but most people don't have such a callous attitude toward human life and see others as expendable. To trust such a person to do the right thing after forcefully brainwashing several people is insanity at best and monsterous at worst. It's as the old saying goes, absolute power currupts absolutely. Several dictators in history have proven that and I believe that if the Templars win, the same will happen.

Naturally we are more or less punished for the death of innocents and other rule breaking but that only applies to the player, not Haytham. Haytham had no qualm about killing people who disagreed or were in the way, innocent or not and while their are more then likley some bad Assassins, they are, more or less, held accountable for their actions. Templars are only held accountable when it conflicts with their ideals, not the misdeeds they do. Even his father Edward, although a serious bastard in his own right, cared about his friends and loved his family more then anything. Even during his pirate years, Edward only did so in the beginning because he wanted to prove to his wife that he could provide for her after losing his LEGAL job as a privateer, and even still, his actions were because of Edward's personal selfishness and had nothing to do with the Assassin's. In fact, Edward didn't really join the Assassin's in the first place. He just helped them out because of his own reasons and, while he did have a strong connection with them, was for the most part just Edward the pirate, not Edward the Assassin.

This is just one of many examples of Templar cruelity with the addition of Shay Cormac (I didn't want to open THAT bag of worms or else I would be writing for hours so I won't go into detail) in Assassin's Creed Rouge and a strike to the assumption that a player controlled Templar being an overall good person.

With the Assassin's humanity has a choice to make things better for the world. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted." A saying that means that we can all make a decision of what we believe in, good or bad. Sure we have made some pretty horrible choices but we also have done great things to fix those bad choices. We abuse the freedom we have at times but we also use it for good. That's what the Assassin's are to me. Those who give us the choice to not only make mistakes but also learn from them, to not only cause tragedy but to also create joy, to not only bring sadness but give happiness. The Templars expect us to trust them blindly and take away out choices while expecting them to do the right thing even though they would gladly burn down an orphanage full of infants if it aligned with with their goals. Theirs doing what's good for humanity and then theirs being humane. It may not be perfect and their are probably some decent people for the Templars but overall I believe in the Assassin's. 

We might all make mistakes but hey...

We're only human.