Assassin Creed Revelation

Plot

Following the ending of Brotherhood, present-day protagonist Desmond Miles has fallen into a coma due to the combined stress of being forced to kill Lucy Stillman and being controlled by Juno, the hologram attached to the Apple of Eden. While Shaun Hastings stays behind in Rome to attend Lucy's funeral, Rebecca Crane takes Desmond to New York City and meets with his father, William Miles. In an effort to save Desmond's mind, the duo places him back in the Animus, though this time in the machine's safe mode, known as the "Black Room".

Upon awakening on Animus Island, the original Animus testing program located within the Black Room, Desmond meets the preserved consciousness of Clay Kaczmarek (Subject 16), who occupied Abstergo's Animus before him. Clay explains that Desmond's mind is broken, and the only way for him to repair it is by reliving his ancestors' memories until there is nothing left for them to show Desmond, at which point the Animus can separate Desmond from Ezio and Altaïr, and awaken Desmond from his coma.

Desmond enters the Animus Island's memory portal, which places him back in the perspective of Ezio Auditore. Four years after ending the life of Cesare Borgia, Ezio has traveled to the former Assassins' fortress in Masyaf to discover secrets Altaïr had previously discovered, and find the true purpose of the Assassins. Upon arriving, he finds Masyaf taken by the Templars, who mark him for death. Ezio escapes to the bowels of the castle, where he discovers the entrance to Altaïr's library. He learns that five disc-like "keys" are required to unlock the door. He also learns that the Templars have discovered one underneath the Ottoman Sultan's palace. The rest lie hidden in Constantinople, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. He travels there and is greeted by Yusuf Tazim, leader of the Turkish Assassin Order, and befriends a young student named Suleiman. Ezio learns that the keys were hidden in the city by Niccolò Polo. While searching for the old Polo trading post, Ezio encounters and befriends Sofia Sartor, a young Italian traveler and book collector, and eventually falls in love with her. Ezio discovers the locations of the remaining keys with Sofia's help, all the while keeping his intentions, growing feelings and position a secret from her.

Meanwhile, Constantinople is in chaos due to conflicts between Prince Ahmet and his brother Selim, who are quarreling over who will inherit the Sultanate. Caught in the middle of the conflict, Suleiman reveals to Ezio that he is an Ottoman prince (Selim's son) and that he suspects the Templars are behind the feud. Ezio uncovers evidence that Manuel Palaiologos, with Templar support, is attempting to raise an army to overthrow the Ottomans and re-establish the Byzantine Empire. Ezio kills Manuel and recovers the final key, only to discover that Ahmet is the true mastermind of the Templar plot to open Altaïr's library.

During these events, Ezio uses the keys in his possession to witness Altaïr's life after the events depicted in the first game. After killing Al-Mualim, Altaïr took possession of the Apple of Eden and assumed leadership of the Assassins. One of the Assassins, Abbas, did not support Altaïr due to past events, and for killing Al Mualim. When Altaïr and his wife Maria left Masyaf for 10 years to fight off the Mongol invasion, Abbas staged a coup d'etat, seizing control of the Assassins and executing Altaïr's youngest son Sef. Altaïr sought revenge; but as Maria tried to stop him, another Assassin stabbed Maria in the back. Altaïr was forced to flee with his elder son, Darim, and went into self-imposed exile for 20 years. Altaïr eventually returned to Masyaf, killed Abbas, and took his rightful place as the leader of the Assassins. In the process, Altaïr told the dying Abbas the truth of the latter's father's death. Years later, Altaïr encodes his memories on the five keys Ezio would find, entrusting them to Niccolò.

Returning to Constantinople, Ezio discovers that Ahmet has killed Yusuf and kidnapped Sofia, demanding the keys in exchange for her life. Ezio agrees but immediately gives chase upon ensuring Sofia's safety. He recovers the keys, but before he can deal with Ahmet, Selim arrives with his armies and executes Ahmet himself, stating that their father "made his choice". Due to his son Suleiman's endorsement, Selim spares Ezio but tells him to leave Constantinople and never return. After completing this memory, the Animus begins to delete excess data—including Animus Island. Clay imprints his genetic memories onto Desmond before sacrificing himself to prevent Desmond from being deleted by the Animus.

Ezio and Sofia return to Masyaf, where Ezio uses the keys to unlock Altaïr's library. He finds it empty except for Altaïr's skeleton and a sixth key. He discovers that the library was not meant to hold books—rather, it was a vault meant to house Altaïr's Apple of Eden. Through the key, Ezio learns that Altaïr had sealed himself inside to preserve its secret from the Templars. Ezio leaves this Apple in the library, stating that he had seen enough for one life. He then begins talking directly to Desmond, not knowing exactly who (or where) he is, but knowing that he is watching. While talking he discards his weapons, signifying his retirement as an Assassin. He tells Desmond that he realizes that he is a conduit for a message, and expresses hope that Desmond will be able to find answers to the questions he and Altaïr had worked so hard to uncover.

Suddenly, Desmond is approached by Jupiter, a member of the First Civilization. He explains that the First Civilization had built numerous vaults to study methods to save the planet from destruction. All of the data collected was transmitted to a central vault, where the data was tested. None of the methods were effective, however, and they failed to stop the solar flare from destroying their civilization. Jupiter shows Desmond the location of the central vault, which from the map is located somewhere in New York, and tells him that he must save the planet from an impending second solar flare.

Upon hearing Jupiter's words, Desmond awakens from his coma and finds Rebecca and William standing with him, along with Shaun, who has returned from Rome. Desmond states that he knows what they must now do; meanwhile, the central vault activates underground.