Jim Holden
- "You make sure you do take his cock and balls before you finish him. You make that bastard suffer."
- ―Holden to Jennifer Scott, regarding her desire to kill Reginald Birch, 1757.[src]
James "Jim" Holden (c. 1720s – 1758) was an ally and close friend to Haytham Kenway, the first Grand Master of the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Services under Haytham[edit | edit source]
In his youth, Holden served in the British Army under General Edward Braddock during his campaigns in the Dutch Republic, including the Siege of Bergen op Zoom in 1747. His brother had been executed at the same gallows where Haytham Kenway was nearly killed before managing to save himself. To avenge his lost kin, Holden aided Haytham in his investigation to find a mercenary who was allegedly involved in an attack on Haytham's childhood home and the murder of his father Edward, following which the pair became close friends.[1]
From there, Haytham invited Holden to London to aid him in his further investigations, under the guise of his "gentleman's gentleman." These included Holden waiting in a carriage outside the Theatre Royal to aid Haytham's escape following his assassination of a patron of the Assassin Order.[2] After suspecting the treachery of Reginald Birch, Holden quickly became the only ally Haytham could trust with such sensitive information regarding his father's murder and the disappearance of his sister, Jennifer Scott.[1]
Capture[edit | edit source]
Following Haytham's failed attempt to access a First Civilization storehouse in Colonial America, Holden aided the Templar in his efforts to locate Jennifer. Around 1757, while Haytham increased the Templars' influence in the American colonies, Holden privately tracked Jennifer to the Qasr al-Azm, a Damascan palace, where she had been transferred to work as a servant after initially serving as a concubine in the Ottoman court at Topkapı Palace.[1]
After Haytham was informed of Holden's discovery, he returned from the American colonies and joined Holden in infiltrating the palace under the guise of eunuchs. Once the pair located Jennifer, however, they were discovered and Holden stubbornly chose to stay behind and delay the guards while Haytham and his sister made their escape. As a result of this act, Holden was captured and sent to the Abou Gerbe monastery on Mount Ghebel Eter, Egypt, to undergo operations to become a eunuch.[1]
In September 1757, Haytham tracked down Holden but greatly suspected that he had already been castrated. Proven true, and on seeing Holden suffering from dehydration as a result of being buried to his neck in the desert, a furious Haytham burned down the monastery and killed many of the priests who conducted the operations on other men before carrying his weakened friend to safety. Following this, Haytham located a cottage where they would be safe, and he and Jennifer gradually nursed Holden of his injuries, though the process took several weeks.[1]
Assault on Birch's chateu and death[edit | edit source]
In October, Holden joined Haytham and Jennifer on an assault on Reginald Birch's chateau in France, after Jennifer had informed Haytham that Birch was responsible for both her disappearance and their father's murder. Following Birch's death, Holden helped Birch's prisoners Monica and Lucio Albertine escape. However, as Haytham attempted to apologize to the Albertines for the conditions in which his fellow Templars had put them through, Lucio unforgivingly stabbed him in the torso, but luckily missed Haytham's heart.[1]
As a result of this sudden attack, Holden and Jennifer cared for Haytham in Birch's chateau during his recovery over the coming months. Once Haytham had fully recovered by January 1758, Holden committed suicide via hanging, feeling he had fulfilled his duty to his friend yet also unable to cope with the injuries and emotional trauma inflicted upon him at Abou Gerbe. Haytham and Jennifer subsequently attended his small funeral.[1]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Jim Holden is a supporting character in Oliver Bowden's 2012 novel Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, who also makes a minor, unnamed appearance in the video game Assassin's Creed III. In the novel, Holden is described as a young man in "his late twenties, with close-cropped, gingery hair" when Haytham first meets him in 1747. However, in his appearance in the memory "A Deadly Performance", he is depicted as an older-looking man with white hair. This is because Holden's character model is not unique and is used for multiple NPCs throughout the game.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The name James originates from the old Hebrew name Yaakov (Jacob), which means "one who takes by the heel" or, more plainly, "supplanter". Holden is derived from the Old English word hol, meaning "hollow" or "valley".
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Close-up of Holden -
Holden with Haytham -
Holden attending to Haytham -
Holden riding off with Haytham in the carriage
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Forsaken