The Last Rose of England

Assassin's Creed Syndicate took the Assassin's Creed game series towards a major turn when it was released, mainly because of the fact that it introduced two playable protagonists, each one of whom would have their own share of the game's fascinating story. Set in the heart of Victorian London, with steampunk elements that accentuate its unique atmosphere, the plot of this fantastic video game was centered around two important themes: the elimination of London's Templars including their fearsome Grand Master Crawford Starrick, and the search for a powerful Piece of Eden so as to prevent it from being found and used by the Order. The lead characters and Assassins are Jacob and Evie Frye, twin siblings who had been trained in the circles of the Brotherhood and would always operate together as a team. Unlike most of the Assassins before and after them, Jacob and Evie knew who they were and what they could do since childbirth, being the children of Master Assassin Ethan Frye. This explains how they are able to carry on extremely dangerous and demanding missions in such a tender age: the are just twenty years old, yet their expertise and knowledge would be very hard to surpass. 

In spite of the gloomy atmosphere of that specific era's London, what with poverty growing in the slums and the fog occasionally drowning the capital city, the overall feeling that the game gives is that of a throbbing heart: vibrant, feel-good, full of life, an atmosphere that is highlighted even more by its sensational lead characters, their compelling antagonists and their memorable allies. Jacob and Evie have many things in common, but at the same time they are striking opposites. Evie is strategic and thoughtful, planning her moves very carefully before taking action, while Jacob is spontaneous, brash, outspoken and his actions are loud and impressive. A contrast that, however, does not seem to work against their teamwork, since the combination of their different approaches apparently has gotten them that far. Sometimes it is better to act swiftly, some others discretion is the key; this is something that they both know very well, albeit Evie seems to remember it more often that Jacob. The main protagonist is Jacob, but Evie has her fair share of adventuring, exploration and dealing with Templars. Her inclusion in the game was met with enthusiasm (although she is mistakenly considered by many the first playable female Assassin in the series, since there had already been Aveline in 2012's Liberation), and three of the game's most well-structured and aesthetically immaculate quests are set to be played by her (namely, Playing It By Ear, A Room With A View and Change Of Plans); the core of the story, however, focuses on Jacob, and he is the character who undergoes the most notable development.

The beginning of the story introduces the two characters in an unforgettable way, mixing all the elements that are going to be present throughout the progression of the plot: action, brilliant dialogue, gorgeous music, immersive settings. It also sets the pace on how each of the two protagonists should be made use of for a more effective gameplay, although this may change depending on how you play: Evie is supposed to be better at stealth, while Jacob's stronger point is combat; this is also hinted by the weapons that the Fryes have at the start: Evie is armed with a cane-sword, while Jacob has brass knuckles on. As the story unfolds however, you will find that Evie is pretty good at combat too (albeit she is rather weak at countering), and Jacob can carry out extended stealthy sequences with great ease. Hand-to-hand with their predefined combat style, goes the symbolism which they carry as characters. 

With her strategic mind, Evie represents the more typical and diplomatic side of Britain, and also that side of the Empire which stands for justice and equality, but wishes those to be gained via peaceful solutions. Her ways, however, may not be always effective or fair. Her relationship with Henry Green is also a very interesting plot point. Being an Indian Assassin, Henry is part of an unofficial network that watches over London and works secretly to liberate it from the ruthless gangs that control it under the orders of the Templars. Evie meets Henry and immediately falls under his spell just like the British were charmed by his homeland India. Evie of course does not plan to "conquer" Henry in the way that the British Empire conquered India; regardless, her subsequent interactions with him gradually reveal that she is more ready to take action than he is. Henry is usually one step behind, preferring to work in the shadows; this forces Evie to abandon her stealthy approach from time to time, in order to deal with enemies and situations face to face. Evie and Henry are not a conventional pair; this is evident even in their body language. In spite of her lovely facial features, her slender figure and impressive education, Evie's overall posture and temperament are rather rough; her ways of walking and talking are far from delicate and refined. Henry, on the other hand, is very sophisticated and gentle; he moves gracefully and with caution and, although clearly well-trained, would gladly abstain completely from action if he had the option. There is a scene in the memory Playing It By Ear where Evie and Henry unlock an undergound lair in Edward Kenway's mansion. When the concealed trapdoor opens and they are about to descend, Evie signals Henry to proceed first, to which he obeys with a smile. This simple and momentary move is very indicative of the way that Evie views Henry: she is very aware of his fragility, but does not mind to play the role of the protector; on the contrary, she seems very content with how things have turned out. 

Unlike Evie, who seems settled and collected from the start and her character sees minor changes throughout the story, Jacob's presence is far more complex, and his development both as a person and an Assassin is quite impressive. As a character, Jacob is radiant and bright; he is beautiful and captivating, just like the imperial Britain in her essence. In fact he is Britain; the good side of the Empire, which is vibrant, loud, feisty, wants to come on top but not at the expense of others. He too aims for equality, unity and justice, but wouldn't mind to have a good time in the process. He is brilliant and smart; always ready to drop a sarcastic comment or reply with his characteristically British sense of humor. Jacob embeds Arno Dorian's charm and grace, combined with Edward Kenway's sparkling spirit; traits that never pass unnoticed, and unavoidably he often becomes the center of attention. Jacob's physical presence also carries its symbolism: with his dark hair, white skin, rosy cheeks and green eyes he could be considered the male equivalent of the "English rose", in the tradition of beautiful young heroes of fiction, like George Eliot's Daniel Deronda or Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. Despite his young age, he is socially gifted and has a genuine talent when it comes to approaching people and charming them with his personality and wit. His interactions with Pearl Attaway, Mrs Disraeli or Charles Darwin and his subtle flirting with Alexander Graham Bell, obviously having been impressed by the inventor's genius, are quite indicative of this; but it is the effect that he has on the arch-villain Maxwell Roth that is the most interesting and revealing.

Maxwell Roth is the leader of the Blighters, the violent and vicious gang that apparently has been ruling London for quite some time. Roth did not become their leader overnight, which is one of the reasons why he was so impressed by Jacob's fast achieved leadership of the Rooks. In a very short time, and in spite of being frowned upon for his initiative by Evie, Jacob managed to recruit an impressive number of civilians to form his gang which he named The Rooks, alluding to one of London's most prominent symbols, the ravens. Constantly motivated by the passion of their leader, the Rooks soon gained notable notoriety, something that unavoidably caught the attention of Maxwell Roth, who apparently moved heaven and earth to learn everything about his rival awe, Jacob Frye. Eager to meet him and make his acquaintance, he eventually sends him a dinner invitation, to which Jacob replies positively. It becomes clear from the first nanosecond that Jacob finds himself in the same space with Roth, that the leader of the Blighters is already and beyond salvation absolutely smitten with him. You can see it in his eyes, in the way he talks, in the way he looks at Jacob; there is no way this man will be able to avoid his fate. This becomes even more clear when Jacob finds him daydreaming while gazing at a baby crow that he has locked in a cage; the crow's name is Rook, it is a young male, just like Jacob, and the black color of its plumage matches Jacob's dark hair. Seeing the dreamy look in Roth's eyes and the way he snaps out of it after commenting to Jacob that "he is beautiful, isn't he", it is obvious that, in some twisted fantasy, he envisions Jacob in a similar cage, albeit metaphorically on a subconscious and complex level of his mind.

As Jacob gets more and more involved in Roth's activities, having the chance to get to know him better, he secretly starts to form a strange kind of fondness for his supposed enemy. Although he is a Blighter working for the Templars, Roth seems to have a mindset that pretty much corresponds to the values of the Assassins. He is against restrictions of any kind and ardently supports freedom of will. Some time ago, Crawford Starrick hired Roth to train his men, taking partial control of the Blighters himself, making them his pawns and eventually depriving them of their freedom. This was something that Roth could not stand, as it affected him too, and sought a way to put an end to it by weakening Starrick's forces. Knowing that Jacob was working towards the same end, he had the perfect excuse to approach him and ask for his aid, which he did. On a more personal level, Jacob is attracted by Roth's flamboyant personality and colorful lifestyle and how he always seeks ways to have a good time, something that he too loves so much doing. If Roth wasn't so ruthless, he would have been the ideal companion for Jacob, probably in every sense of the word. But it is exactly Roth's ruthlessness that teaches Jacob where to draw the line between personal freedom and uncontrollable anarchy, a realization that is critical for his future development as a person, a gang leader and an Assassin.

The way that in the end Roth relentlessly slaughters his beloved crow and sends it to Jacob as a gift along with his last invitation leaves space for multiple interpretations. On first look, killing the crow symbolizes the end of their partnership; but a second reading of this action could be even more revealing about how seriously obsessed Roth was with Jacob. For Roth, Rook the young crow was a substitute for Jacob the young Rook. Roth held the crow caged because he could not "cage" Jacob. When Roth revealed that he was willing to stop at nothing and would go as far as to endanger the lives of innocent children in order to do what he wanted, the bond that he had formed with Jacob was abruptly cut. This made him realize that there was no way he could win Jacob's heart after this, leading him to violently kill the crow as an overtly dramatic "either you love me or I kill you" declaration. Jacob was a "homme fatale" for Roth: he totally enslaved the almighty leader of the Blighters not only with his beauty and charm, but also with his skills and intelligence, eventually leading Maxwell to self-destruction. Because although it is Jacob who kills him, the way Roth had set everything up it would be to either be killed by Jacob's hand, or die in the burning theater, taking Jacob with him. There was no way that Roth could have walked out of the theater a live that night; he did not simply know it, it was how he had it planned in the first place. Jacob might have sealed Roth's fate, but when Roth kissed Jacob lustfully moments before he died, he made sure that Jacob wouldn't come out of all this unaffected. Which he clearly didn't; having the dead Rook now properly embalmed and placed safely in a glass case as a keepsake, at least says something.

Jacob's development as an Assassin is equally interesting as that of his character. Although Evie's role in the story is very important, as her main mission is to find the Piece of Eden with Henry's assistance, she gets to deal with and kill two Templars only, Dr David Brewster and Lucy Thorne. Dr Brewster was researching another Piece of Eden which proved to be too powerful; working under stress and constant threats, he took his experiments on it a bit too far and at the most critical moment he was killed by Evie, not having the time to maybe avert a massive explosion that followed, destroying the artifact and his laboratory. Lucy Thorne, Starrick's second-in-command, was an expert on the occult and the Pieces of Eden. A highly educated intellectual, she was Evie's rival awe, as they both shared the same passion for research and knowledge. Both Evie's targets are crucial for the progression of the plot, but their assassinations are side activities that essentially support the much harder battle that is the elimination of London's Templars, which is Jacob's part.

Jacob takes on the assassination of powerful Templars who come from different environments and hold crucial positions in society. Rupert Ferris is a ruthless industrialist who unashamedly drinks the blood of his poor factory workers; Dr John Elliotson, once a brilliant heart surgeon, is now a deranged scientist who doesn't hesitate to sacrifice the lives of his patients in the name of research, while distributing a dangerous and toxic drug in the open market, following Starrick's orders; Pearl Attaway, intelligent and skillful but ruthless, controls part of the transportation and seeks more power for herself, secretly working with Starrick who is revealed to be her cousin; Philip Twopenny is a greedy, cold-hearted banker who takes advantage of his position in order to steal money from the people; Lord Cardigan is a corrupt politician who still lives in the glory of his military past; and Maxwell Roth is the aforementioned leader of the Blighters. With the exception of Roth, with whom Jacob was personally involved and his assassination was not strictly associated with the elimination of the Templars, Jacob's targets are people who control society, finance and politics, which means that their deaths would inevitably have serious consequences. Even so, it is not random that it is him who takes on this challenging operation. Through all his high-rank Templars, Starrick had such a huge influence in every aspect of life in London, that it would be impossible to even attempt to weaken him by following a more strategic but time-consuming plan, which was probably Evie's intention at the beginning. This is a fact that is further supported by what Roth says at some point to Jacob, that every time they hesitate to strike, Starrick becomes even more powerful as he gains more time for his plans. Although Evie keeps judging Jacob severely for his up-front and audacious methods, it is his swift and daring reactions that result in a much faster elimination of the problem, giving both of them the opening they needed to deal with and defeat Starrick once and for all. 

 

 

As a hero of fiction, Jacob goes through his own emotional coming-of-age, gradually blooming - like the rose that he is - into an intellectually mature young man, who is even more capable of dealing with the challenges that are integral part of an Assassin's life. This is clearly shown during his brief but determining appearance in the Jack The Ripper story which takes place twenty years after the events in the main game. He has become a respected Master Assassin and he is now more settled and compassionate, more able to control his impetuosity and to know when it is time to follow his instinct and when to give things more thought. Jacob's evolution is even more impressive if you compare it to Evie's notable change after those twenty years have passed. Although she maintains her serious and solemn attitude, it is obvious that she has finally come to peace with the fact that sometimes raw and direct action is the only way possible; or at least the only effective way.