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thou-babbling-brook · 4 months ago

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YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT WITH ALL OF THESE THOUGHTS!! I would like to add my two cents bc Altaïr gets skipped over in character analysis too much

One thing I REALLY don’t like in AC Rev and Secret Crusade is that they introduce that Altaïr had a family. Like. Okay?? The fuck do you want me to do with that information? While I understand it gives Altaïr some angst, I also think it takes away from a big part of the Levantine brotherhood in AC1. His name is Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad. He is the Son of No One. HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FAMILY BECAUSE THE WHOLE POINT IS THE BROTHERHOOD IS THIS FUCKED UP FAMILY CONTROLLED BY A CORRUPTED PATRIARCH (AL MUALIM) THAT HAS DEHUMANIZED ITS MEMBERS. Altaïr being named the Son of No One is so crucial to his character because it represents how he has been raised to be nothing but a killing machine for Al Mualim. Being the Son of No One in an era where your identity is innately tied to who your family is supposed to show, again, that Altaïr has ties to nothing but the Brotherhood in an unhealthy and manipulative way.

With that in mind, so many of the dialogue scenes hit different when you remember this is all he was raised to do. Even if we keep with Umar and Maud being his parents, he has still been stripped of his name (which should have been Altaïr ibn Umar) and dehumanized down to the level of a dog working for his master. And we see Altaïr point this out when he chastises Al Mualim for making him fetch his honor “like some damn dog,” because that’s all he IS!! It is all he is and all he has been raised to be. The entire brotherhood is made up of nothing but manipulated hounds bred for assassinations. It’s a corrupted order that mirrors the Templars because, ultimately, they’re on different sides of the same coin.

That’s also why it’s so important that Altaïr reflects on these things as he’s reforming the brotherhood and basically becomes the father of the modern day brotherhood. He takes his lessons of the creed to heart and seeks to share them with the rest of the brotherhood. The goal of the Assassins is to rise above and dispel the illusion of the world and its power structures. The creed commands them to be wise because yes, nothing IS true, but that is what makes the world both terrifying and beautiful, and understanding that nothing is true is a great power that should be handled wisely and with respect for humanity.

Additionally, something I don’t think the games actually delve into enough is the “corruption” of the apple on Altaïr. Like, we hear about it, or people throw accusations, and we hear bits of dialogue, but we never actually see it for ourselves. One of Altaïr’s biggest character flaws is his arrogance and pride, which is natural because of how he’s grown up. It makes sense for his character, then, to be drawn to this weapon of God to understand it, because it is ARROGANT of him to believe he could. I think Ubisoft really could have played on this that while yes, Altaïr is a much wiser and calmer and overall just fucking nicer guy, it’s because he chooses to be, but his fatal flaw is still his arrogance and hubris. PLAY ON THAT!! Him believing he could possibly understand such an object is FOOLISH, much less CONTROL IT!

Overall, while I do enjoy bloodlines, one big gripe I have with it is I WISH we could have seen hints of Altaïr being corrupted. For example, when he whips out the Apple on the crowd and controls them, that’s HORRIFYING????? And it’s especially horrifying for Altaïr’s character because HE WAS CONTROLLED BY THE APPLE?? SO WHY WOULD HE DO IT TO OTHERS, EVEN FOR GOOD?? This would be a great place to show he is still arrogant in some ways for believing he could even possible control it. I also wish Maria had actually called him out on it rather than her little “I’m not sure if I’d call your hands the right ones.” She just witnessed him mind control an entire crowd with that thing, WHY THE FUCK DID SHE NOT FREAK OUT ON HIM??

This could’ve been a great way for us to see nuances into their relationship. Listen, I love Altaïr and Maria (and Malik) as a romantic relationship because it really does fit, but I also think it would’ve been far more interesting to see just how much of an impact the Apple had on them. For instance, maybe Altaïr was a better father and husband when Darim and Sef were younger, but overtime as he delved deeper into the Apple and its contents, he became far more distant and rooted in the Brotherhood. I could do a whole separate character analysis for Maria on this front, but this could help show how the Apple is not MEANT for humans, despite the Isu blood in his veins. We also could’ve seen some more LONG TERM EFFECTS. One big headcanon I see go around is Altaïr blending time and space and not being sure when things were because his mind is scrambling from looking into the past, present, and future. Like fuck yes, that’s actually so good. I wish Ubisoft had thought of that for more than five seconds aside from the dialogue with Darim that could be simply mistaken for Altaïr having dementia or some shit.

I feel like what works best for Altaïr as a character flaw in regard to his personal life and the brotherhood is his hubris. Like, if you’re gonna do shit with him, you can show how it evolves but remains a flaw. For example, in AC1 it’s about how he thinks he’s better than everyone and above the creed and thus has mentally dehumanized everyone because that’s what he was taught to do. By the end of the game, he is much wiser and kinder because he CHOOSES to be. But he’s still human, and I don’t think that arrogance would just go away. Again, Altaïr being arrogant in believing he could control or understand the Apple would be a great way to show that because it just develops him further while still demonstrating how that key flaw is his downfall.

There’s a REASON that the Bible verse Al Mualim quotes is Ecclesiastes 1:17-18. “For in much wisdom is much grief. He who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” It’s a WARNING because as we established, the Apple is “temptation itself,” and Altaïr is not above that. His desire for knowledge to become better is still impacted by his arrogance, because some part of him believes if he keeps looking into the Apple, he’ll be able to understand the world. But by doing so, and believing he can have it all, he is actively tearing his ties to these things away: his marriage, his family, his Brotherhood, etc.

I think Altaïr being a tale of caution for Ezio could have still worked, as Ezio also struggles with that arrogance and not knowing when to stop the fight or when to stop with the Apple. I wish we could’ve also seen some actual effects on EZIO for using the Apple. Seriously, I feel like we just throw it around willy nilly like it’s not a nuclear weapon 😭

Anyways. Loved your rant just wanted to add on because this was too good to miss

You know what, fuck it, I have to speak my truth! (this is gonna be a rant, so anyone who actually likes assassin's creed revelations and/or the secret crusade, be warned or maybe don't read this at all)

remember how altaïr talks to king richard at the end of ac1, and richard is like "[humans] come into the world kicking and screaming, violent and unstable. it is what we are. we cannot help ourselves."? and how altaïr answers "no. we are what we choose to be." and how that ACTUALLY has meaning bc he himself was "violent and unstable" at the beginning of the game but he has learned and is now CHOOSING to be a better person who cares about others and humanity at large? remember how his calmness and gentleness was something that he ACQUIRED over the course of the story?

and remember how in revelations they then suddenly had a PRE-AC1 altaïr say about the first of his targets "no man should pass from this world without knowing some kindness." and be all wise and calm and collected during a nice little chat with al mualim, who suddenly acts all fatherly? (like, this is suddenly supposed to be a positive relationship? what??)

also, during the confession the target says to altair: "you put too much faith in the hearts of men, altaïr. [...] humans are weak, base, and petty." and altaïr answers: "no. our creed is evidence to the contrary." KJASJFJDKL???? like, it’s almost insulting how close this exchange is to the one with richard. you know, the one that was actually earned after a whole game of character development. like WTF??? cool congrats now that development means nothing. like, apparently that was just altaïr reverting BACK to being the exemplary assassin who understands and believes in the creed that he was apparently just born as. (i also hate how having a young inexperienced altaïr saying this implies that altaïr's faith in humanity is a sign of naivete instead of a sign of the wisdom he has gained after being confronted with counter arguments for a whole game, and also something that distinguishes the assassins from the templars who use humanity's supposed wickedness to justify controlling them like in AC1, but whatever)

altaïr’s development in AC1 mattered BECAUSE he is not NATURALLY a good person, it actually said something about humanity's capacity for both bad AND good and how humans don't have to be forced to be good through mind control bc they can by their own free will choose to be better when taught how and when allowed the freedom to grow. but no. apparently altaïr has just always been calm, wise and gentle. and he just sort of forgot about that during AC1 bc…. ? bc of adha?? bc of abbas???

oh don’t get me started on the whole abbas thing. (it doesnt even make sense that abbas is so hung up about his father and "his family’s honor", like what about the whole point of al mualim not allowing parents to be close to their children bc it would make them weak? like, my dude, you’re not supposed to HAVE any family aside from the brotherhood)

they used the throwaway character that had like 5 lines and made him into altaïr’s main antagonist in revelations… like, abbas wasn’t supposed to be this ONE dude who had personal beef with altaïr, he was just supposed to show how while altaïr’s revered by many, a lot of his brothers also hate him, bc 1) altaïr is a shitty person at this point and 2) bc there’s no real feeling of community and family in this version of the brotherhood, but just a pervasive sense of competition and jealousy — these assassins don’t care about their goal of safeguarding humanity bc they’re too hung up on petty squabbles and divided by rivalries (you know, the things that made malik hate altaïr even before solomon’s temple and that he overcomes in the end which enables him to forgive and to reconcile with altaïr so they can work together and stop al mualim? (you ever just think about "we are one. as we share the glory of our victories, so too should we share the pain of our defeat. in this way we grow closer. we grow stronger." and cry? bc i do. all the time. malik, the man that you are))

and now abbas is altaïr’s childhood best friend turned lifelong enemy?? like, bowden bent over backwards to come up with an explanation for why altaïr is an arrogant ass at the beginning of AC1, when the explanation is right there: he was raised to kill without asking questions and was constantly praised for how good he is at murder, which resulted in him becoming arrogant and disregarding human life. like, it doesn’t have to be some shakespearean family feud type shit. and guess what, this "simple" explanation actually plays into the story’s themes, who’da thunk!

(like, abbas might not have been a "fleshed out" character in AC1, but he had a specific function and now that function is gone. mr bowden, mr mcdevitt, you know characters are allowed to simply exist to tell us something about their worlds and the systems they live in and sometimes that’s more important and also more interesting than having every single character have a detailed backstory to explain all their behaviors, right?)

with all of this revelations loses all nuance in regards to the levantine brotherhood and also the creed in general. like, altaïr being a master assassin at the beginning despite being a terrible person and not actually understanding the creed is a criticism of the brotherhood and the creed itself. like, it said something about the order that someone like altaïr was able to get that high in rank, simply bc he's good at killing, which also tells us what is considered important in the al mualim era assassin order. when you make altaïr’s arrogance the result of his personal conflicts instead of how we was raised by a brotherhood that only valued one's ability to kill, you lose that characterization of the assassin order itself!

and by suddenly making al mualim a semi good "father figure" you also downplay his manipulation of not only altaïr but all those under his care. (altaïr says something about al mualim being "as a father" to him exactly twice in the codex, but he doesn’t mean by that that he WAS a father to him, what he means is that he was the CLOSEST THING he had bc HE DID NOT HAVE PARENTS, not because his mother died in childbirth and his father was executed when he was young btw, BUT BECAUSE IT WASN’T ALLOWED, like his parents actually lived but weren’t allowed to be close to him, he says he came to view al mualim’s "weak and dishonest" love as enough and even better BECAUSE HE HAD NOTHING ELSE, BECAUSE AL MUALIM ISOLATED HIS ASSASSINS FROM THEIR FAMILIES. al mualim "loved" him bc he was good at killing people for him! hm, i wonder if this could be trying to say anything about cults and indoctrination and the inherent contradiction in fighting for peace and free will by taking children away from their parents and raising them to become killers?? like, altaïr wasn't ~the special orphan boy~ taken in by al mualim bc his father died a hero's death, it was "the way of the order" to have al mualim be the closest thing to a parental figure for everyone to ensure absolute loyalty! altaïr saying al mualim was like his father is not supposed to make you go "oh, he must have actually been a good guy for altaïr to consider him a father", it should make you go "oh that's kinda fucked up that he considers the dude who made him into a killing machine and who manipulated him a sort of father figure"!)

and then in revelations they suddenly portray that relationship as positive and healthy??? like, it would be one thing to give it some nuance by delving into the psychology behind al mualim’s "love" and maybe showing how al mualim did care about altair in a complicated, fraught sort of way (like, you know, there’s a lot of interesting things you could say about al mualim at several points addressing altaïr as "my child" in AC1 and how that parallels Garnier referring to the people he drugged and abused as his "children", and what that says about how the templars view the people who they say they want to save and in whose best interests they supposedly act (in any case, al mualim doesn’t use that phrase because he has any real parental feelings but rather to patronize and to invalidate any objections, like in a "mother knows best" way))

but they even fucking DARE to parallel that relationship with that of altaïr and darim in revelations, by having the reflection in the puddle of darim hugging altaïr showing altaïr hugging al mualim…. like their relationship wasn’t inherently abusive but just tragically cut short because al mualim was just "corrupted by the apple"… like WHAT???? so it’s not the very real problems like grooming, manipulation and indoctrination and the hierarchical structure of the brotherhood itself (all of which are antithetical to the assassin ideology), it was just the evil apple all along. great. that’s DEFINITELY a lot more interesting.

god im sorry i really dont want to spread negativity but this is driving me INSANE. like, somebody please tell me im not crazy bc i feel like somehow most of the fandom is in agreement that revelations and the secret crusade have better storytelling and characterization than ac1.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, can we talk about how, even IF we completely ignore AC1 and treat revelations altaïr as his own character…. the narrative still doesn’t really work?

basically, the whole point of his story in rev is that "he gave his whole life to the brotherhood", this obsession led to him not using his time with his family which has him ending up dying alone in a dark library and this in turn makes ezio reevaluate his life choices…. except. he doesn’t? neglect? his family? or whatever? like, his devotion to the assassins is sort of painted as this tragic flaw that leads to a lonely death bc it supposedly comes at the cost of his family, but… his wife has joined the assassins, (at least) one of his sons is in the brotherhood and even when he goes to protect the assassins against the mongols, he takes his family with him (except for the son who stays behind bc he has a family of his own and who, ironically, ends up dying bc of that)… like, you can’t describe altaïr as a good husband and father in the database and have his son tell him that "everything that is good in me began with you, father" when they say goodbye, and then want to make us believe that he put his family behind the brotherhood and that that is a character flaw that leads to his tragedy.

because you HAVE to have a character’s tragedy be the result of a character flaw. like. that is how tragedies work. otherwise it just becomes tragedy for the sake of tragedy which is… boring bc it has no purpose. and we know it is SUPPOSED to have purpose bc ezIO FUCKING QUITS BEING AN ASSASSIN AFTER WITNESSING IT!

it’s like they want to have their cake and eat it, too — they didn’t want to actually make altaïr a bad husband/father, but still wanted to make his life a tragedy where he loses his family which is why instead they outsource all responsibility to abbas who now has to be the reason for ALL the deaths.

like, they try to make at least maria’s death kind of sort of the result of altaïr’s rashness or whatever but like… these guys KILLED THEIR SON and TOLD HIM THAT ALTAÏR HAD ORDERED HIS DEATH. like, altaïr losing it in response to that is not rash, it’s fucking logical and justified! if anything the scene made me angry at maria for trying to stop him. like, GIRL, he was YOUR son too??? but god forbid we give female characters actual real emotions, she has to fill the role of "voice of reason who dies for altaïr’s man pain" i fucking guess.

like, it’s this weird mix where his tragedy is simultaneously painted as his own fault but also not really bc abbas is the one responsible for all the shit that happens. it just… it just doesn’t really go together.

the only way to make his story make sense narratively and to give it actual purpose is by looking at it in the context of ezio’s story, bc the things he sees in altaïr’s memories are supposed to be a revelation (ha!) to ezio specifically. and i guess that’s maybe the crux of it all — altaïr’s story in revelations was conceived of first and foremost to support ezio’s story and development. which is probably also why many people maybe don’t notice bc, having skipped ac1 and started with ac2, the majority of people mostly care only about ezio and only really appreciate altaïr’s story in as far as it serves to push ezio forward. (tho i’ve also seen a few people say that ezio is also written kind of weird in rev, but i’ve never really been an ezio girly myself so i can’t speak to the truth of that)

like, altaïr dying alone in the library doesn’t really have to make sense for his character, i guess, bc it’s only really supposed to be a cautionary tale for ezio.

so, i guess, for once, they actually had a MAN dying for another man’s character development, which is pretty woke actually. ubisoft, i take everything back jksdsfjhgdsahfhsdhfghfdsgjhsdgjh

#assassin’s creed #ac1 #altaïr ibn la’ahad #reblog #babblingbrook babbles #this shit pisses me off genuinely #how Ubisoft characterizes Altaïr after AC1 high key has me tweaking #especially in regard to the Apple and its inherent horror #like okay bro OKAY BRO

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