Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Part 1-1
Avast, ye scallywags. We’re moving from the golden age of platformers in Astro Bot to the Golden Age of Piracy in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
Streamed at https://www.twitch.tv/newdarkcloud
I’m quite fond of Edward. Matt Ryan (not Robin Atkin Downes as I mistaken convinced myself) plays the role with a seemingly effortless charisma befitting his roguish archetype. Unlike most of our other lead characters up to this point, Edward isn’t a good person at the start of the game. He’s a scoundrel, charlatan, and pirate who is only out for himself and whatever fortune he can carve out for himself.
Neither Ezio nor Ratonhnhaké꞉ton started as members of the Assassin Order, but they were quickly inducted into overarching conflict through their own personal tragedies. They choose of their own volition to get involved, knowing that their targets are in positions of far greater power than their stations imply.
Edward is not like them. His tragedies relate more to the era than the specific Assassin/Templar war that spans the metafiction. At the start of Black Flag, he is nothing more than a pirate in literal sea full of them, who happens to stumble onto an Assassin without even realizing who he’s targeting. He has no knowledge of, nor is the victim of, any grand conspiracy. Like anyone in his “profession”, he is seeking an easy mark in pursuit of simple wealth. As far as motives go, it’s about as down-to-Earth and relatable as they come.
No protagonist before or since comes from a similar position, stumbling into a global conspiracy by sheer virtue of choosing exactly the right target (or the wrong one depending on perspective). It gives him more room to grow than nearly any other lead character, and they take advantage of it over the course of the campaign.
No Comments