Board Thread:Wiki discussion/@comment-18014300-20200504004330/@comment-18014300-20200504043122
As to the matter of dating the beginnings of the organizations, with Sol's analogy regarding the French Fifth Republic, that's what nations boil down to—people (or simply well-placed power brokers) organizing lands into a country with borders and handing down laws for the citizenry based on which side of the line they live on. France is currently the Fifth French Republic because the previous four were constructed and dissolved for various reasons. I don't understand how it's "perplexing" for a French citizen to think of themselves as the Fifth French Republic rather than France, but that is the technical line in the sand for the sake of creating an objective historical record. It is all relative, and "France" as a concept can easily coexist with the more technical "Fifth French Republic". World War I was called the "Great War" until World War II happened. Only a true cynic would call it "World War I" in the time prior to II breaking out, like it was a certainty that II would happen. But II is named as such in historical records because a war of similar scale involving multiple nations occurred 20 years prior, and the Great War was re-named World War I. Similarly, the Hidden Ones were re-named the Assassins, the Order of Ancients was renamed the Templar Order, and those labels endured for longer than any name to date.
It looks like you misread this part. I didn't say that "it would be perplexing for a French citizen to think of themselves as the French Fifth Republic rather than France" at all. I said—rhetorically by the way—that it would be perplexing if a French person were to think that France as a country didn't exist prior to the French Fifth Republic. I've seen theoretical arguments like that before, including one video on YouTube about which is the oldest country, which argues that technically France ceased to exist (but was recreated) when a new government was formed, such that the French Fourth Republic and French Fifth Republic are two entirely different countries. But most everyday people would instead think of it as the same country with two different organizations of government.
Apart from that, I think you made great points, especially in regards to Kassandra not being a proto-Assassin. Cris, who should be responding to this thread soon, has told me before that the second edition of The Essential Guide calls her a proto-Assassin. I don't have my copy of that book with me at the moment, so I cannot verify this. Based on your argument, I agree that she doesn't seem to be a proto-Assassin (but keep in mind I haven't played through all of the DLC so I don't know her full story).
Even so, I am a bit unclear what your position on my proposal is. It sounds like you agree with me that the Hidden Ones should be called Assassins?