The Untold Secrets of Assassin’s Creed’s Desmond Miles Revealed

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38 years ago, on March 13th, 1987, a person referred to as Subject 17 by Abstergo Industries was born, but for many Assassin’s Creed enthusiasts and members of the Assassin Brotherhood, this individual was more famously recognized as Desmond Miles. For a period of five years, from 2012 onwards, Desmond Miles served as the central figure and main protagonist in the entire Assassin’s Creed series, with his ancestry involving both Assassins and Templars being the focus of all major Assassin’s Creed games until his passing in 2012.

Instead of concentrating mainly on the adventures of figures from the past that have passed, Miles stands out as a vital link to the present within the games by drawing upon his ancestors’ recollections to aid the world. As Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to launch later this month, let us delve deeper into Miles’ life, demise, and enduring impact on the series.

The Life and Assassin Birthright of Desmond Miles

Raised in seclusion as the sole child of Assassin Mentor William Miles and a woman yet unidentified, Desmond Miles spent his early years within an off-the-grid, transient hideout for Assassins, known as the Farm, nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was here that he learned about the Assassins’ ancient conflict with the Templars and embraced their philosophy – nothing is absolute, everything can be done – yet didn’t fully grasp its essence until maturity. For much of his youth, Desmond was educated in basic Assassin abilities, but he had limited social interaction due to restrictions against intermingling with society for fear that the Templars might track them down and assault the compound. As he reached his teenage years, Desmond began to doubt the Templar threat and ran away at age 16.

Over the course of his adult years, Miles chose to break away from the teachings and habits associated with the Assassins, opting instead for self-determination, and eventually moved to New York City. For almost a decade, Miles led a fairly ordinary existence and even took up work as a bartender, but his tranquil life was abruptly disrupted in September 2012 when he was abducted by Abstergo and transferred to their Animus Project lab in Rome. Now labeled Subject 17, Miles found himself unwittingly participating in Templar Warren Vidic’s project to revisit the DNA memories of his 12th-century ancestor, Altair Ibn-La’Ahad, during the Third Crusade. The objective was to locate artifacts known as Pieces of Eden (POE). As Miles delved into Altair’s recollections within the Animus, he gradually started developing the master assassin’s abilities through a process called the Bleeding Effect.

Desmond Miles’ Return to the Assassin Brotherhood

At the Animus Project lab, Miles was assisted by Lucy Stillman, who secretly worked for the Assassins and was Vidic’s aide. After Miles exposed the locations of various POEs (Pieces of Eden) from Altair’s memories, Stillman helped free him, and he was rescued by fellow Assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. From then on, Miles experienced the recollections of his 15th-century relative, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, during the Italian Renaissance. This allowed him to find an Apple of Eden and enhance his fighting abilities. Throughout his time as Ezio, he discovered that the makers of the POEs, the ancient Isu, had forewarned of a calamity from the sun expected on December 21, 2012. Eventually, Miles and his companions were compelled to escape to Monteriggioni, where they uncovered an Apple of Eden hidden beneath the Roman Colosseum.

The Death and Afterlife of Desmond Miles

When Miles felt the Apple, it triggered the memories of Isu within him, compelling him to murder Stillman and induce a coma. Hastings, Crane, and the resurfaced William Miles inserted Desmond into the Animus with the intention of mending his psyche. In this state, Desmond encountered the residual consciousnesses of Abstergo Subject 16 and fellow Assassin Clay Kaczmarek.

In the Animus, Desmond relived critical events in Altair’s and Ezio’s lives to stabilize his mind, but he also discovered the truth about the Isu’s downfall and how to prevent their destruction from happening again. It was during this experience that Kaczmarek disclosed Stillman’s Templar allegiance and revealed that Desmond’s escape from Abstergo was part of Project Siren.

In New York, Desmond awoke to discover a secret Isu temple, designed to safeguard Earth from solar destruction. To ignite this temple, he needed a Key of POE, leading him on a journey through the memories of his ancestors – Templar Haytham Kenway and Assassin Connor Kenway (son of Haytham). Balancing these historical recollections, Desmond also undertook present-day missions as an Assassin, completing tasks such as retrieving Isu artifacts from the Templars, rescuing William Miles who’d been abducted, and assassinating key Templar figures like Daniel Cross and Vidic. Eventually, after retrieving the key, Desmond triggered the planetary shield but paid the ultimate price – his life – and released Juno, an ancient Isu conqueror, from her confinement.

Desmond Miles’ Afterlife Explained

After the storyline of Assassin’s Creed 3, the modern-day plot took a backseat but Miles’ influence continued in several subsequent games. Following Miles’ demise, Abstergo retrieved his body and extracted his DNA memories, enabling Templar agents to relive their ancestors’ memories, such as Edward Kenway, who is Haytham Kenway’s father, to locate the Isu Observatory. In Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, it was disclosed that in 2005, Miles unwittingly became a father to a son named Elijah, who proved to be a Sage with stored Isu memories. Miles did not reappear in another Assassin’s Creed game until Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, where it was unveiled that his consciousness lived on within the Isu network called the Grey, transforming into an entity known as The Reader, working tirelessly to prevent human catastrophe.

In the Assassin’s Creed video games, Desmond’s illegitimate son Elijah isn’t present in a physical sense, but he plays a significant role in the comic series, Assassin’s Creed: Uprising. Here, Elijah assists in defeating the Isu Juno.

The Impact and Influence of Desmond Miles

In the early Assassin’s Creed games, some players found the contemporary segments disruptive because they frequently interrupted the immersive historical sequences. However, Desmond’s narrative served as a connecting thread between these stories, emphasizing how past events, even those from centuries ago, can have profound effects on current events, both positively and negatively.

The tale deepened the enigma, as players gradually uncovered links between Assassins and Templars and significant global events, institutions, and eras, much like Desmond did. Essentially, Desmond’s transformation from Assassin’s Creed 1 to Valhalla, illustrated how the contemporary narrative can be equally captivating and essential as the well-known historical escapades.

In the period spanning from Assassin’s Creed 3 up until Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, players were left curious about possible Assassins or Templars in Desmond’s ancestry, either before Altair or after Connor. This absence of a familial connection has made some games released post-Black Flag feel disjointed, as no modern-day characters have been linked to historical protagonists in the Assassin’s Creed series since 2013. However, this lack of family history didn’t stop Desmond’s character and modern-day narrative from setting the stage for Layla Hassan’s adventures in Assassin’s Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla – marking her as the first true modern-day protagonist since Desmond’s demise. The executive producer of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Marc-Alexis Cote, has stated that Ubisoft aims to reestablish the harmony between past and present events that was best exemplified by Desmond.

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2025-03-13 13:05