Board Thread:Wiki discussion/@comment-18014300-20200504004330/@comment-28601337-20200510190628
Hi JA Skywalker! I'd like to reply to some arguments of yours in your comment. All in good faith, of course!
We shouldn't rely on similarities to assume which group is a proto-Group and which isn't. That requires deep analysis like the one we are doing here. I must say that some of the similarities you mention are correct, but I have to counter-argument those of "order and chaos". The Templar Order never considered chaos as the ultimate objective, but as a mean to and end. Their objective is ultimate control. With the Cult of Kosmos, this isn't the case. In the game, the group is disorganized, persuing different objectives, constantly arguing between themselves, starting a war that wasn't in the Templar's (Ancient's) plans.
That's the main problem here with the Cult. By definition they are not proto-Templars because the Templar Order already existed by that time and they were known as the Order of the Ancients. It's confirmed in the Essential Guide and in Origins (in not a so good way) that the Templars and the Order of Ancients are the same group and they were founded not by Cain, but a Egyptian Pharaoh: Smenkhkare in 1334 BCE. The Cult of Kosmos was founded between the 6th–5th century BCE (aprox. 900 years later) when the group called the Cult of Hermes split up in two sub-groups, one that believed that disorder was superior to order and the other believed the opposite. The Cult of Kosmos was the first one, the fell into the arms of chaos. They abused their power and started the Peloponnesian War for selfish gains.
The Cult and the Order were allies and worked together in the Greco-Persian War, they wanted Xerxes to rule over the Greek World, but eventually this alliance fell apart when the Cult started the Peloponnesian War, the Order didn't like that and broke any connection they had with the Cult, even to the point to tell their members to kill any Cultist should they found about their presence.
So by definition, they are not proto-Templars, because the Cult wasn't founded before the Templars were, but after. We shouldn't consider every group that fought for control before the Templars as proto-Templars, because that needs a connection, despite these group has similarities or none at all. The same with the groups that came before the Assassins. The only connection I see possible is Aspasia. The Cult ending leaves us some hints of her future: She will join the Order of Ancients. This hasn't been confirmed tho.
Feel free to reply! Stay safe!