Synch Nexus

"Your brain is hash. Too many ghosts in your head, too many voices. So how do you fix that? You claw your way back into the stored data, you find unfinished memories, and you crack them open."

―Clay Kaczmarek to Desmond Miles, 2012.

Ezio Auditore speaking to Desmond Miles

A Synch Nexus was a moment achieved after an individual had fully experienced the genetic memories of one or more of their ancestors, with nothing left to observe. It was necessary to avoid the harshest consequences of the Bleeding Effect.

Notable occurrences

Desmond Miles

On 10 October 2012, shortly after the Assassin Desmond Miles recovered an Apple of Eden from the Colosseum Vault beneath the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, the Isu Juno appeared and influenced him into fatally stabbing his teammate Lucy Stillman, whom Juno revealed to be a Templar spy hoping to steal the Apple for Abstergo Industries' doomed Eye-Abstergo project. The mental strain proved too much for Desmond and he collapsed, falling into a coma. Returned to the Animus to sustain his consciousness, Desmond "awoke" in the Animus' safe mode Black Room, where he met a digital construct of the Animus Project's sixteenth test subject, Clay Kaczmarek.

Altaïr's Apple of Eden creating a Synch Nexus between Ezio and Desmond

Clay told Desmond that the only way to escape was to achieve a Synch Nexus, the complete conclusion of his ancestors' lives, which were threatening to permanently bleed into Desmond's own memories and personality. Desmond thus began to relive the last memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore, searching for the Masyaf Keys that would, in turn, allow him to relive key moments in Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's life.

Upon completing these memories, Desmond achieved a Synch Nexus when he witnessed Ezio enter Altaïr's library and acknowledge Desmond's presence. After Ezio encouraged him to continue his and Altaïr's life work and activated another Apple of Eden, Desmond was pulled into the Nexus. There, the Isu Jupiter told him about the Grand Temple and the Great Catastrophe, and after this conversation, Desmond awoke from his coma as a result of completing the Synch Nexus.

Callum Lynch

In 2016, Callum Lynch was abducted by Abstergo Industries and forced to relive the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha at the Abstergo Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Madrid, to help the Templars track down an Apple of Eden. Despite learning of his Assassin heritage, Callum had no interest in joining the Brotherhood, as he blamed his father Joseph and, by extension, the Assassins for the death of his mother Mary, and eventually entered the Animus voluntarily to help the Templars find his ancestor's Apple, so they could use it to destroy the Assassins.

Callum seeing an apparition of Arno Dorian

However, after witnessing the sacrifice of Aguilar's partner María to safeguard the Apple, Callum finally understood what Joseph had felt when Mary asked him to kill her and prevent the Templars from using her to find the artifact. As the Animus broke due to the strength of a Leap of Faith performed by Aguilar, Callum nonetheless remained synchronized with his ancestor and witnessed him giving the Apple to Christopher Columbus for safekeeping.

Callum was then surrounded by ghostly apparitions of several of his Assassin ancestors, including Aguilar, Arno Dorian, and his own parents. Mary encouraged her son to swear allegiance to the Creed passed down through generations of their blood, and Callum, having finally come to terms with his mother's death, accepted. He then joined his fellow prisoners in staging an escape from the Abstergo facility and officially joined the Assassins, thus achieving full synchronization with Aguilar.

Noa Kim

In 2023, Noa Kim, suffering from a severe case of the Bleeding Effect and believing himself to be his ancestor Edward Kenway, sought out a Piece of Eden housed within the Shwedagon Pagoda in order to reverse the damage to his psyche. As Noa and Shimazu Sei attempted to retrieve the artifact, however, they were forced to overcome a series of trials created by the Piece of Eden, meant to test if they were worthy of claiming the artifact's power.

Noa talking to Edward

Noa was confronted by an apparition of Edward, which he overcame after deducing that he was not meant to fight his ancestor but instead face himself. The Piece of Eden then tempted Noa by offering to answer his life's biggest question: the mystery of his family's roots and what had truly happened to his father. However, Noa refused, claiming that he would stop looking into the past for answers and instead forge his own path alongside the people he cared about.

This response satisfied the artifact, which allowed Noa to claim it. Before that, however, it emanated a golden light that engulfed the room, and briefly transported Edward's consciousness to the future, allowing Noa to speak with his ancestor.

Edward was comforted by the thought of one of his descendants learning the same lesson he had, and assured Noa that the path to his present was safe in his hands. Meanwhile, Noa re-stated that he would try to find his own path and face whatever challenges awaited him, after which he retrieved the Piece of Eden and was cured of the Bleeding Effect.

Gallery

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  Desmond and Jupiter in the Synch Nexus
• 
  The apparition of Aguilar seen by Callum
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  Noa achieving a Synch Nexus

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed film
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple