Copy URL

A recap of...

Assassin'S Creed Unity

In 2014, Abstergo releases their Helix software, which allows access to genetic memories, to the general public as a gaming device. While playing through a memory of Jacques de Molay (Mario Desmarais), in which he orders a fellow Templar to hide his codex and sword during the sacking of the Paris Temple in 1307, the player is contacted by the Assassin Brotherhood through their agent, codenamed "Bishop" (Kate Todd). Bishop invites the player to join the Assassins as an initiate, and presents an Abstergo video memo describing the capture of a Sage who contains precursor DNA. Abstergo hope to use the Sage to compile a precursor genome. Bishop directs the Initiate to locate another Sage, whose corpse they hope to recover.

The Initiate relives the memories of Arno Dorian, a French-Austrian nobleman. Orphaned in 1776 after his father Charles was assassinated, Arno was taken in by François de la Serre, Grand Master of the French Templars. In 1789, Arno is given a message to deliver to de la Serre, but leaves it in his office and goes to meet with his childhood friend Élise, de la Serre's daughter, following her initiation into the Templar Order. Arno later finds de la Serre murdered, and is framed as the killer. He is imprisoned in the Bastille, where he befriends a fellow prisoner, Pierre Bellec (Anthony Lemke), who knew his father. Bellec invites Arno into the Brotherhood after they escape during the Storming of the Bastille.

Returning home, Arno is turned away by Élise, who reveals that the message he failed to deliver was a warning of her father's impending murder. Arno joins the Brotherhood to eliminate the Templars behind de la Serre's death. During his investigation, Arno rescues François-Thomas Germain (Julian Casey), a silversmith held hostage by the acting-Templar Grand Master Lafreniere (Noel Burton). Arno assassinates Lafreniere, only to discover that he was the one trying to warn de la Serre and that Germain is actually a Templar extremist who staged a coup after being banished from the Order by de la Serre. When Germain begins murdering Élise's faction of Templars, Arno persuades her to parley with the Brotherhood. The Assassin Mentor Mirabeau (Harry Standjofski) agrees to help, hoping to broker peace between the Orders, but is later murdered by Bellec, who sought to prevent the alliance and purge the Assassin leadership he saw as weak to allow the Brotherhood to be reborn. Arno is forced to kill Bellec when he tries to defend his actions as a necessary evil and convince Arno to join him.

While searching the Tuileries Palace for potentially damning letters from Mirabeau to King Louis, Arno encounters Napoleon Bonaparte, who helps him escape. Arno realizes that Germain plots to spark a mass revolt against the King, and assassinates the Templars aiding him with Napoleon and Élise's help, rekindling his relationship with the latter in the process. With the Revolution in full swing, Arno tracks Germain to Louis' execution, but chooses to protect Élise rather than pursue him. Élise rejects him for this, and Arno is exiled from the Brotherhood for his rash actions. Falling into a drunken depression, Arno languishes for months before he is found in Versailles by Élise, who convinces him to return as Paris is tearing itself apart during the Reign of Terror. With Élise's help, Arno discredits Maximilien Robespierre, whom Germain had placed in charge of maintaining chaos. After Arno and Élise find Robespierre, Élise shoots him in the jaw and makes him write down Germain's location.

Arno confronts Germain, who is empowered by de Molay's sword—a Sword of Eden—and pursues him to the Templar crypt underneath the Paris Temple, where Élise soon arrives to help. After Arno is temporarily incapacitated, Élise tries to take on Germain by herself, but the Sword explodes, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain. Arno kills Germain, who confirms he is the Sage and that he wanted to purge the Templars who had forgotten de Molay's teachings. The game ends with Arno explaining how his understanding of the Creed has changed, and promising to watch over Paris and keep Élise's memory alive. Years later, Arno recovers Germain's skeleton and places it in the Catacombs of Paris. Bishop is relieved, confident that Abstergo will not be able to find it.

The main character of the game is Arno Dorian (Dan Jeannotte), a native Frenchman who was born in Versailles to an Assassin father. After his father is killed by Shay Patrick Cormac at the end of Assassin's Creed Rogue, Arno is adopted, unaware that his new family holds a senior position within the Templar Order, with his new father figure being the Templar Grandmaster. Arno blames himself when his adoptive father is murdered, and so sets out on a quest of redemption that brings him into the Brotherhood of Assassins, where he slowly rises through the ranks, much like Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze as seen in previous games. Arno's love interest is Élise de la Serre (Catherine Bérubé), the daughter of the Templar Grandmaster who adopted Arno, who also sets out to investigate more about her father's death and its role in a growing ideological change within the Templar Order that threatens its core values. The era also features appearances from several historical figures, such as the Marquis de Sade (Alex Ivanovici), Maximilien Robespierre (Bruce Dinsmore), and a young Napoleon Bonaparte (Brent Skagford).