During the eventful beginning of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, the pirate of our hearts Edward Kenway, ex-privateer and currently a sailor on a pirate brig called The Jacobite, survives a nasty naval battle and the even nastier sinking of his ship and finds himself on an idyllic tropical beach with white sand, palm trees and the crystal waters of the sea full of the remains of his fellow sailors and well as of those that were on the HMS Intrigue, the hostile frigate that attacked his brig. Very soon he realizes that he is not alone on that beautiful beach, as there is one more survivor, who not only was sailing on the HMS Intrigue, but he was the one who assassinated the captain of Edward's ship and would surely have killed more sailors had the Jacobite's magazine not detonated, which caused the sudden explosion and subsequent sinking of the brig. 

Edward and Duncan on the idyllic Caribbean beach

Heavily hurt but still resilient, the stranger, knowing that Edward is a pirate, asks him - well, more like, he demands - to help him get to Havana, which was his original destination, by offering a considerable amount of money. Sensing that he does not have any gold on him, however, Edward approaches the man to discuss the offer further. Although Edward's attitude is not really hostile, the man gets defensive and threatens to shoot him, only to find out that his pistol is temporarily jammed due to its exposure in the water. 

Duncan threatens to shoot Edward

He throws away the gun in a fury and runs away, and a long and rather exciting chase ensues, through a flourishing forest with vibrant tropical flowers, rainbow-bathed waterfalls, lovely lagoons and harmless fauna, while Edward makes failed attempts to convince the stranger that they could work together and get to Havana by helping each other out. The other guy becomes more hostile and even shoots Edward (thankfully our hero is only grazed by the bullet), obviously by using another pistol; the chase then becomes even more stressing until they reach a clearing where they have a face-off during which Edward is forced to kill the man on the spot, in clear self-defense.

Edward searches the dead body of his mysterious assailant

By searching the items that he was carrying, Edward finds a letter addressed to the now dead assailant. His name was Duncan Walpole and he was on route to meet the Governor of Havana in order to give him a couple of maps and a glass cube of major importance, in exchange for gold. As it is revealed from the letter, the Governor had never seen Mr Walpole, so he did now know how he looked like, an information that instantly gave the ingenious Edward the idea to assume the man's identity and present himself to the Governor as Duncan Walpole so as to claim the dead man's promised reward. Stranded and without any resources as he was at the coast of Cape Bonavista, this looked like the only possible way out for him. So he puts on Duncan's outfit, takes the cube, the letter and the maps, and sets for Havana.

Edward with Duncan Walpole's Assassin uniform

What Edward did not know was that Duncan Walpole was an Assassin, just about to betray his Brotherhood and join the Templar Order, in which the Governor of Cuba belonged as well, being also the Grand Master of the West Indies Rite. Unaware of this crucial detail and completely ignorant about the existence of Assassins and Templars (they are secret societies, after all), Edward eventually reaches Havana and makes his acquaintance with the Governor, introducing himself as Duncan Walpole. During the meeting, he learns about the existence of the Observatory, a sacred place that carries a rare and special treasure but the location of which is unknown, and only one man, called the Sage, knows where it is. 

Edward in lively Havana

The sham works perfectly, and Edward gets his reward; however later, due to a series of miscalculated and hasty moves, his deceit is exposed and the Governor, furious not only because of having been deceived but also because Edward had killed a very promising and skilled future Templar, who also knew secrets of the Assassin Brotherhood, therefore would have been additionally valuable for the Order, has him captured and sends him off on a prisoner ship. From that point and on, our hero takes his fate in his own hands, manages to free himself with the help of Adewale, an escapee slave from Trinidad, steals a brigantine which he calls The Jackdaw, becomes a pirate captain and sets sail for Nassau, where a group of pirates who were his comrades during his privateering days had established an independent Republic state. A succession of adventures follows, during which Edward gets to know about the Assassin Brotherhood, realizes that he has all the gifts and skills that could make him an Assassin too, meets the Mayan Master Assassin Ah Tabai, who used to be Duncan's mentor and now feels betrayed and is skeptical about accepting Edward in the Brotherhood; he painfully parts with some of his friends one way or the other, and he eventually manages to locate the Sage, who turns out to be fellow pirate Bartholomew Roberts. Edward subsequently reaches the Observatory with him, only to fall in a nearly lethal trap that results in a bounty being put on his head and him ending up imprisoned in a Jamaican jail. 

Laureano Torres threatens Edward in the prison grounds

Because he is a pirate, because of the bounty but mainly because he refused to cooperate with Laureano Torres and his associates by not revealing the location of the Observatory, as part of his punishment he is locked in a cage for several hours each day, both as a deterrent for the other imprisoned pirates, but mainly in order to have him weakened and hopefully make him talk. This routine is repeated for several months until one day Ah Tabai sneaks in the prison grounds, still unsure about accepting Edward in the Brotherhood, but nonetheless willing to help him escape. Just before this happens, the guards who are responsible for keeping an eye on the prisoners in the cages take their positions and they start gossiping and mocking Edward for the unlucky state in which he found himself. As part of their cruel teasing, they call him Walpole, bringing back memories of how it all began; and they deliberately misspell his own name by calling him Conway.

Edward in captivity

There is a very interesting connection between these two names, Walpole and Conway, especially since they are heard the one after the other in the same context, with Edward's real surname being the link between them. Duncan Walpole, the "devilishly handsome" traitor of the Assassin Brotherhood, shares the same surname with Horace Walpole (1717-1797), politician and writer who authored the "Castle of Otranto" (1764), which is considered the first Gothic novel. Long before Gothic literature became popular through the writings of the Victorian era writers, Horace Walpole wrote his eery, chilling novel narrating the story of a family haunted by an accursed prophecy. Walpole himself was a restless spirit, and took on several professions throughout his life, but he was rather solitary, he never married and his closest friend to whom he was also strongly (and probably suspiciously) attached was a cousin of his, named Henry Seymour Conway (1721-1795).

Horace Walpole (by Rosalba Carriera, left) and his cousin Henry Conway (right)

So see how Walpole and Conway, the names with which the guards call Edward, are already connected to each other. But there is one more connection, which again ties them with Edward Kenway. Henry Conway, an army general who had taken on several military operations and was also involved in politics, did marry unlike his cousin and although he too was attached to Horace since they came together for the first time at Eaton College. His wife, the young widow of an Earl, was called Caroline, sharing the name of Edward's wife in Black Flag.

Edward and Caroline in one of the story's flashbacks

Just like her real-life namesake, Black Flag's Caroline was also born in a wealthy family, and her romance with and subsequent marriage to Edward was frowned upon by her parents. For its own part, this fact connects Edward to the real-life pirate captain Samuel Bellamy, also known as Black Sam Bellamy, a London-born buccaneer, who operated in the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy and whose personality and life story seem to have been a major inspiration behind Edward's character. 

 

Captain Samuel Bellamy, by Gregory Manchess

 

Before becoming a pirate and while serving the Royal Navy as a privateer, Samuel Bellamy was engaged to a girl named Mary Hallet, whose family disapproved of their romance. In order to prove himself worthy and become wealthy enough, Samuel turned to piracy, after connecting with Benjamin Hornigold and Edward Teatch (or Thatch, the famous Blackbeard, to whom Hornigold was a mentor). Mary was pregnant when he left, something that Samuel ignored, exactly how things turned out for Edward; but unlike Caroline, who gave birth to Jennifer, Mary suffered a miscarriage. All these facts share many similarities with Edward's life adventures, as does the sinking of the real Spanish Treasure Fleet in 1715 during a disastrous storm, a historical event and the incident that in Black Flag gave Edward the chance to become a pirate captain: while sailing in the waters of the Treasure Fleet's wreckage looking for gold, just like lots of others buccaneers and pirates who had rushed to the site for the same purpose, Bellamy and his friend Henry Jennings eventually joined Hornigold and Blackbeard's pirate crew, similarly how Edward, after surviving the hurricane, in which the Treasure Fleet sunk, sailed to Nassau to reconnect with his old comrades, the very same Benjamin Hornigold and Ed Thatch, with Adewale and his newly acquired crew on his Jackdaw.

 

The Jackdaw sailing away from the sunken Treasure Fleet

 

Although he soon became legendary, Samuel Bellamy rarely resorted to violence, which is why he was fondly nicknamed Prince of Pirates and Robin Hood of the Sea. He was a strikingly beautiful young man, just like Edward; only he had black hair - pretty much like Duncan Walpole; and he used to have his hair tied back in a queue, ditching the wig that was a trend until then - a stylistic modernity that post-humously earned him the nickname Black Sam Bellamy (because he would show off his black hair). As we see in the game, both Edward and Duncan have their hair tied back; and they are both very handsome and attractive, like the real-life captain. It looks like several characteristics of Samuel Bellamy were split between the two characters, which makes their fatal meeting in the Caribbean Sea and the fact that they essentially became one person for the brief time during which Edward impersonated Duncan, even more interesting and intriguing. 

 

Samuel Bellamy (by Don Maitz), Duncan Walpole and Edward Kenway

Furthermore, when during the dialogue with Stede Bonnet on the latter's ship after their meeting, Edward comments that most pirates prefer to sail in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola, he is making a tribute to Samuel Bellamy in fact, as it was in that exact refererred location where the real-life pirate captain spotted the Whydah Gally, a grand slave ship which was carrying big amounts of gold, valuable materials and a large number of slaves. Bellamy went on to capture the ship and eventually claimed its ownership, becoming its captain. Incidentally, the name of Edward's ship, The Jackdaw, alludes to Samuel Bellamy's ship, as the Whydah is also a bird species. The original captain of the Whydah was the real-life Dutch buccaneer Laurens Prins who, in Black Flag, appears as the slave trader who had employed Bartholomew Roberts before attempting to sell him to the Templars. Captain Bellamy became the richest pirate in history, but this came with the biggest cost: he lost his life during a storm in which his ship was caught, after having plundered several other vessels and collected a big amount of gold from them. The Whydah went down and he was drowned with most of his men just off Cape Cod, when he was only 28 years old. Duncan Walpole was killed by Edward at the age of 36, and Edward was murdered when he was 42. They all died young, sharing the tragic fate that so often accompanies both heroes and villains, real and fictional alike. 

The Gothic and Victorian Affinities of Contemporary Horror Games

In the dark and twisted world of the villains in horror games, of the powerful evil characters who pull the strings from the shadows until they eventually make their grand appearance, there is one very special category that usually stands out, that of the evil masterminds who share a strong and unhealthy attachment to the past of their families. Whether their ancestors were glorious or not, most of the times does not matter, as what these complex personalities do is to appear as living representations of their illustrious past, something that, however, rarely - if not at all - gives justice to their noble past. The environments in which these people live, corrupted both literally and metaphorically, are characterized by the presence of gothic and Victorian-era elements which further support the pomposity of their owners and, occasionally, their sadistic tendencies.

The now iconic Spencer Mansion in the very first Resident Evil and its subsequent remakes is one such memorable case. The vast, intimidating villa, with its hidden passages, secret corridors, locked rooms, secluded gardens and spooky basements, is a most characteristic example of an environment that essentially stars in the story where it appears, as the lead characters, Chris and Jill, find themselves trapped inside the house almost as soon as the game begins, with no obvious way out as the area just outside the main entrance is guarded by bloodthirsty dogs. All other exits seem to be locked and getting out requires a long and suspenseful search for keys, mutli-functional objects and puzzle solving, as well as battling dangerous enemies that roam the mansion's grounds. Everything in the villa is vintagey, including its decoration, furniture and other items, but its most creepy feature is the absence of any other human beings, except for our protagonists.

Somewhere in the twisting corridors of a nearly separate wing, there is a vitraux portrait of a girl who once used to live in that place. This was not many years ago, but the vitraux depicts a woman dressed like she comes from a very distant era, alluring to a nostalgic - significant for the house's once human inhabitants - Victorian style, something that matches the overall atmosphere of the mansion and reaches the limits of tragedy when it is revealed that Lisa, the beautiful girl of the portrait, now wanders around the countryside outside the villa in the form of a terrifying, mutated creature. 

Locked in his vast, mazey castle, Ramón Salazar of the original Resident Evil 4 is a sad remnant of his aristocratic and once distinguished family, contemplating the glory of his ancestors while doing very little to live up to their example. The whole area where the castle is located, together with the village close to it and several other installations, seems to be lost in time altogether: the houses look like they belong to at least half a century back and there are farming systems that are made of defunct materials; but it is in the castle grounds where the whole "lost-in-time" eery feeling is intensified, as the heavy, rich decoration comes to contrast with the corruption that runs in all its halls, creating a chilling, unsettling atmosphere.

Salazar himself likes to dress like a gentleman of centuries back, although his whole attitude is not gentlemanly at all. Just like his residence, his appearance as well is a huge guise, like an attempt to make the other people, whom he basically hates, see him like he would have liked to be: an esteemed aristocrat with an illustrious past and an even more impressive present. Instead, he is a caricature of all this, something that is mostly intensified by his nasty demeanor, his innate sadism and the fact that he never felt accepted by his family. 

This last element was not so evident in the original game, but it is of major importance in the recent remake, where Salazar is presented as much more cruel and sadistic, also carrying a stigma which, apparently, he was never able to get over: it is hinted that he may have been his mother's illegitimate son, if you take notice of certain things that he yells out during Leon's final battle with him, and the fact that there are a few portraits in the castle that may be confusing as to who exactly all these ancestors were and what their relationship to Ramón might have been. Setting aside the tragic aspect of this, as a fact it also relates to stories of the Victorian era, about illegitimate children and lost families.

Equally his revamped castle in the remake features extravagant objects and overwhelming decoration, always inspired by a past where Gothic and Victorian elements were prominent. Notably all the portraits that can be seen on the walls are of people that belonged to past eras; and all the paintings depict dark and gloomy landscapes, and even disturbing, morbid scenes with a strong gothic element as well.

Alfred Ashford of Resident Evil: Code Veronica has some things in common with Ramón Salazar, albeit he is much more dangerous because, thanks to his rank as an army officer, he can additionally handle weapons excellently. Alfred appears dressed in an old-fashioned army uniform with a red jacket adorned with medals and white pants; we can't know for sure if the medals are his or belonged to his ancestors, but it is obvious that he too, just like Ramón, is a delusional, paranoid man who refuses to connect to reality as it is, something that has an explanation, since he may have always been marginally insane, but he completely lost his mind after the "death" of his beloved twin sister, Alexia.

Alfred lives in a lush vintage mansion which, in spite of its undeniable charm, is quite cold and eery, due to the gothic-like decoration which sometimes reaches the limits of grotesque and kitsch. There is too much gold all around, as well as huge, intimidating statues that mostly have negative or unpleasant connotations. Like Ramón's castle, the Ashford Mansion as well is a maze of twisting staircases, hidden passages, secret doors, lethal traps, complete with a well-concealed path to a secluded private manor, the Ashford palace, which used to be the residence of Alfred's family. Both villas share the same eery atmosphere, which makes wandering in their grounds a living nightmare.

When Alexia eventually wakes from her slumber and makes her appearance, we see her dressed in a luxurious but very vintage fashion, with a long purple dress, white silk gloves that go over her elbows and exquisite, precious jewellery, evoking the image of ladies in century-old portraits as well as heroines of Victorian novels and Romantic poetry.

Notably, as can be seen in the screenshot above, the family portrait behind her depicts the patriarch of the family, Alexander Ashford, Alexia herself and Alfred. All three are again dressed in a vintage fashion, and the overall style of the portrait is following guidelines of family portraits of the past.

James Marcus, the twisted scientist from Resident Evil Zero who experimented on his students in the most appalling ways, appears as a young man with long hair who is wearing a long, white gown, pretty similar to those worn by men in the distant past. Albeit operating in the mid-60ties mostly, Marcus has a fascination with the old times, something that is also evident from several objects found in his lab. It is notable that details on his outfit, specifically the shape of the collar, resembles leeches, which were part of his experiments before he became the terrifying Queen Leech himself.

Much less creepy in appearance, but quite unsettling as a personality, Donna Beneviento from Resident Evil: Village walks around dressed exactly like a mourning Victorian lady, a look that is preserved also in the huge portrait that decorates one of the walls of her old-fashioned residence. The house itself has several vintage objects, and even mechanisms that are not particularly modern (like the elevator leading to the basement the technology of which is rather old), but you could say that is more or less a typical village house which has not modernized itself enough yet. Donna herself, however, as a presence and appearance, is the exact incarnation of the gothic and Victorian affinities of horror games, maybe more than any other villain similar to her.

In the same spirit, the coach that the Duke can be seen driving near the end of the game, transporting Ethan to the altar to fight against Miranda and save Rose, looks eerily like a Victorian hearse, complete with its black horse and the lanterns to light the way in the darkness.

Taking place almost entirely inside an insane man's mind, The Evil Within is comprised of images that are mixtures of past and present, of memories and a distorted reality, and as such its environments defy any normal perception of how they truly are, if they even exist for real. Once trapped in Ruvik's twisted game, Sebastian constantly finds himself, scene after scene, in places that do not make sense, as they seem to be lost in time and space. Starting with the village where all the houses are old, derelict and deserted, including the narrow spaces with the vintage mirrors that work as passages back to the safe haven, nearly all the areas that Sebastian has to cross are a tangle of elements that could never co-exist in real time.

As the story approaches its tragic revelation, the environments become more and more unsettling and confusing, as Ruvik's memories get mixed with the memories of his victims, creating a nightmarish and nauseatic space where everything is messed up and which offers no obvious way out. Old buildings, vintage installations, objects from the past, all thrown together in places that seem to carry a significance for the people involved, yet all this is too blurred to even make sense. 

In the heart of all this, Ruvik's family mansion finally comes to the foreground, appearing as a compelling villa with both gothic and Victorian elements which of course come together with the unavoidable atmosphere of fear and disturbing mystery. Drowned in fog, in the center of a rotting garden, Ruvik's home turns out to be the beginning and the end of his life's tragedy.

But most of all, The Evil Within's Gothic and Victorian affinity is shown in the characters themselves: after Sebastian solves one of the phrenology puzzles in the secret room behind the fireplace in the bedroom of Ruvik's parents and gets back out in the room itself, he has a vision of Ruvik standing over the dead bodies of his mother and his father, whom he had just killed with his own hands. Both his parents are dressed in a fashion going centuries back.

And like in Donna Beneviento's case, the Victoriano family showcases all its Gothic and Victorian gloominess in the portrait that depicts its four members, dressed like they come straight out of a novel by Wilkie Collins or Charles Dickens.

This peculiar mix of past and present is one of the most charming elements of horror games, as its roots go back to classic thrillers, both of literature and cinematography. For the environments specifically, think about novels like Rebecca or Bleak House, where the mansions as ambiences play a major role in both the development of the stories and the overall feeling of uncertainty and fear. Such emblematic fictional settings are a constant point of reference in contemporary horror fiction, video games included; and so are their lead characters, equally protagonists and antagonists. As to why in video games it is always the villains who choose to present themselves as figures of the past, maybe it is because for most of them it is by default impossible to exist among people, as they all carry huge traumas that they cannot or are not willing to even try to heal, and their attachment to the old times keeps them secluded in a world of their own, while at the same time distinguishes them from the masses that they usually despise as well.

 

A Real Odyssey Within Assassin's Creed Odyssey

A most beautiful adventure takes place within the main story of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is also a direct tribute to the game's title, as its quests are referencing several stages of Homer's Odyssey. The story is titled A Friend Worth Dying For, its protagonist, apart from our lead hero, is the Adrestia's captain Barnabas, and it is one of the Lost Tales of Greece.  

The adventure begins unexpectedly on a lone shore of Skyros island with the quest Odyssey Into The Past, where Alexios notices a group of heavily drunk bandits in a camp, whose attitude is rather strange. They have several civilians locked in cages but they do not seem to care much about their captives, dancing and fooling around without even taking notice of what is happening around them. Meanwhile, Barnabas follows Alexios at the shore and drinks some of the wine that got the bandits drunk, while the bandits, who are gradually recovering, start attacking everyone at the camp. After the fight is over, Alexios notices that Barnabas is exhibiting a weird behaviour, obviously having hallucinations involving a cyclops, a pig and a woman named Leda. As it turns out, what he and the bandits drank was wine made from lotus flowers. 

The lotus wine made Barnabas sick

This is the first reference to Homer's epic poem, specifically it nods to Rhapsody I', in which Odysseus arrives at the land of the Lotus Eaters, an island where the inhabitants are eating the fruit growing from a lotus tree, a plant with narcotic effects, resulting in them being constantly in a stage of apathy. Whoever eats that fruit, becomes idle, at the same time forgetting about their past, their homelands, their families. In the epic poem, Odysseus did not eat the fruit, and had a hard time dragging his companions, who had done so, back to the ship, just like Alexios in the game's story did not drink the lotus wine, but his friend and companion Barnabas did.

Engraving by Theodoor van Thulden depicting Odysseus dragging his men back to the ship

Back on the Adrestia, Barnabas is recovering from the wine's effects and confesses to Alexios that back in his youth he was married to a beautiful woman with green eyes, named Leda. He and Leda shared a love for adventure so they roamed the seas together for years, until one day their ship sank and they lost each other at sea. Barnabas never heard of Leda again, but now, under the effects of the lotus wine, he had three visions of her. In the first vision, she was in a cave, singing with Sirens; in the second she was feeding a young Cyclops and in the third she was drinking wine with a witch. 

Barnabas narrates his visions to Alexios

Although there does not seem to be much logic in Barnabas's words, Alexios decides to play his game and visit the locations where the three visions took place. In spite of being a man of a rather mature age, and with a lot of life experiences on his back (being a sea captain was guaranteed to offer him plenty of adventures, and surely there were bad times among them), Barnabas has a child-like enthusiasm and is always looking at the bright side of things. This is something that Alexios appreciates a lot, and the least he can do for his good friend is to play along. The locations of all visions are insular, so there is a lot of traveling by sea involved, something that our lead hero loves anyway. So together with their loyal crew and their select ship lieutenants, they start their journey following the trail of Barnabas's first vision which leads them to the island of Kos, in the quest Beware The Siren Call. It is where Barnabas saw Leda singing with the sirens behind a painted wall. Before the exploration begins, Barnabas gives Alexios two lumps of beeswax so as to cover his ears in case the sirens are still active in there. After a brief investigation on the island, Alexios locates the Tomb of Polybotes which is a cave hidden behind a wall decorated with a mural. Alexios breaks the rather thin wall and when he proceeds deeper into the cave, he hears weird sounds, like ritualistic singing. It looks like Barnabas's visions were not so random after all. 

There are strange things happening in the dark "Siren" cave

Deep inside the cave, it looks like there are suspicious rituals taking place. There are people lying around, either dead or in a bad state, and some weird women, whose appearance and outfits resemble a lot those of the savage Followers of Ares, sing or, better, scream some distorted melodies of sorts that are more like wild calls. They are also armed, and appear to be extremely dangerous. Those are in fact the "Sirens" from Barnabas's vision, who in reality apparently belong to a cult similar to the Followers of Ares and are ruthless, violent and blood-thirsty. After killing them, Alexios retrieves an old aulos from their chief and frees a man who was bound in the main room, guarded by her.

Alexios is about to attack the chief "Siren"

As it turns out, the man, whose name is Eurylochos, arrived on the island of Kos after hearing tales about the Sirens living there, singing their beautiful songs. He enjoyed being alone, and he loved poetry and music, which is why he was drawn to the cave of the "Sirens", driven by those tales. Soon he discovered that all this was a trap, however. The women would lure innocent people to their lair in the cave so as to carry out their cannibalistic rituals; they would regularly drain the man's blood, then boil and drink it. Then they would scream into the night, in a manic state. When Alexios asks him about the old aulos, the man mentions a woman who was there before, but managed to escape. The aulos belonged to her, and the Sirens stole it; and obviously she left it behind when she ran away. Alexios then decides to take the man away from that place and sends him on his ship.

Eurylochos is in a really bad state

This story references Rhapsody Μ' from Homer's Odyssey, which narrates Odysseus's encounter with the Sirens. The epic hero, having been informed about the dangerous creatures and their seductive singing, had his companions cover their ears with beeswax and ordered them to tie him on his ship's mast, so that he could be able to hear the song without putting himself into danger. This way, he and his crew made it safe and continued their journey. There is one more reference to Homer's epic in this story, however. Eurylochos was the name of one of Odysseus's companions, who was also his brother in law, as he was married to Ktimene, the hero's sister. After their ship arrived on the island of Circe, Eurylochos was the leader of the group of men who went to explore the place. When Circe found them, she turned them into pigs, but Eurylochos, who had left the others moments before, was able to return to the ship and inform Odysseus about what just happened, therefore saving them. Later on, however, while on the island of Thrinacia, he persuaded his companions to slaughter Helios's sacred oxen, an action that cost him his life as he was punished with execution.

Odysseus and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse

When Alexios returns on the Adrestia and informs Barnabas about what he discovered, his good friend gets very excited, certain that the owner of the old aulos was indeed his dear Leda, who learnt to play it while staying with the Sirens before leaving their lair for good. 

Following the clues from Barnabas's next vision about Leda feeding a cyclops in the quest To Be Nobody, Alexios arrives at Anaphi, a volcanic island where only a few people reside, as it is mainly occupied by soldiers, bandits and wild animals. Alexios locates an isolated cave, which turns out to be the hiding place of a strange man. He has an innocent-looking face and his reactions and way of talking are like those of a child, but his towering stature is quite intimidating and rather unfamiliar as a sight. Moreover, one of his eyes is covered with an eye patch. The man's name is Polyphemos, just like the legendary cyclops from Homer's Odyssey, but he is nothing like him.

The Polyphemus that Alexios meets has the heart and mind of an innocent child

The story's Polyphemos turns out to be a man with a heart of gold, who would keep himself hidden in his isolated cave because he was too scared to face all the hazards on the island. Alexios agrees to help him clear the shores nearby so that he will be able to go fishing in peace, as was his dream. After killing some lethal lynxes and getting rid of a group of bandits, a whole beach becomes available for Polyphemos to pass his time as he pleases. The man, feeling grateful, offers Alexios a bowl of spices that, as he says, was given to him as a gift from a beautiful woman with green eyes who once passed from the island - a description that seems to fit Leda perfectly. But Polyphemos is not fully happy yet; as much as he loves his beach, he would love to share it with a friend. This gives Alexios an idea, so he calls Eurylochos from the Adrestia and introduces him to Polyphemos. When the two guys meet, it looks like it's love at first sight, as Alexios returns to his ship and leaves them chatting and playing happily at the shore. Apparently the two men were outsiders in the places were they originally lived, each one for different reasons. They both left their homes because nobody understood them (in Eurylochos's case) or because they were viewed as monsters (in Polyphemos's case), looking for shelter far away from everyone.

Alexios watches Polyphemos and Eurylochos having a good time on the beach

This quest's story references again Rhapsody I', but this time it nods to the segment about Odysseus encountering the Cyclops Polyphemus. During their journey, the hero and his men arrived on the Cyclops's island and, having no idea about who lived there, explored the place and located a cave full of goods. When Polyphemus arrived, he got very angry, trapped the men inside the cave with him and ate two of them. The next day, he ate two more men and left to tend to his sheep. In the afternoon, after eating two more men, he was tricked by Odysseus to drink some very strong wine that he had with him for a previous location. While in a drunk state, and unable to control himself, Polyphemus asked Odysseus to tell him his name, with Odysseus answering that he was called "Nobody". Soon after, the Cyclops fell asleep and Odysseus managed to blind his one eye by plunging a hot stake in its socket. As Polyphemus was shouting that Nobody was killing him, the other Cyclopses thought he was having hallucinations from the wine and did not bother to run to his rescue. The other day Polyphemus, now blind, let his sheep out while feeling their backs to make sure that Odysseus and his men were not escaping on them. The hero however had ordered his surviving companions to tie themselves under the sheep, so the animals carried them safely outside without the Cyclops taking notice. The title of the game's quest, To Be Nobody, references the name that Odysseus gave himself in the epic tale, while at the same time describing the state in which the good-hearted Polyphemos was, being an outsider, a nobody, in the eyes of society.

The Blinding of Polyphemus by Pellegrino Tibaldi

When Alexios informs Barnabas about the spices and what he learnt from Polyphemos on the island, Barnabas gets excited again. He is more than certain that the woman from Polyphemos's story was Leda, who found the cyclops and made an elixir from the spices to help him grow a second eye.

Barnabas's last vision about Leda drinking wine with a witch brings Alexios and his crew to the island of Paros in the quest Wine For The Swine, where, on a small atoll off its port, is a ruined temple occupied by lions, pigs and wild boars who, curiously enough, do not seem hostile. Among them there is a woman who is exquisitely dressed but her mouth is covered with blood. As Alexios approaches her, he realizes that she is eating off the corpse of a dead pig. The woman introduces herself as Circe and invites Alexios to drink wine with her. Curious about where this is going, Alexios goes to fetch the wine from a spot nearby, where he notices a patch of blood, a toy with teeth marks and a tablet with a note, apparently written by the woman, saying that her subjects are hungry. Growing suspicious, Alexios picks and eats moly leaves, which are a natural antidote to poison. When he drinks the wine and nothing happens to him, Circe is disappointed and surprised, but soon after she explains to Alexios that she had to leave her homeland because her wild instincts would always get her into trouble. Her father had killed her mother because she was like Circe, so the woman ran away after possibly killing him herself. To be able to survive on the island without being devoured by the wild animals, she would make travelers and passers by drink from her wine, which she had imbued with a drug; then she would kill them and feed them to the animals which would be affected by the drug and thus become unable to turn hostile. When Alexios asks her about Leda, Circe shows him a bracelet which she took from a woman who passed from her island; it could or it could not have been Barnabas's lost wife. Just like Eurylochos and Polyphemos, Circe was an outsider in her homeland, albeit for different reasons, and she too found shelter in an isolated place, far away from anyone that could cause her harm.

Circe has her own sad story to tell

This story references Rhapsody K' from Homer's Odyssey, in which Odysseus arrives on Circe's island. The witch lived in a palace in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by wild animals which however were under her control and would not attack anyone around her. The hero sent a group of his men to investigate, and Circe offered to treat them with wine and food, both of which were jinxed. While they were under the spell's influence, she turned them into pigs. Meanwhile, Eurylochos had ran back to the ship, informing him of what happened at Circe's palace, so Odysseus went to meet the witch himself and save his companions. On the way, the god Hermes appeared and advised him to eat moly leaves, so as to protect himself from Circe's spells. After meeting Circe, the witch tried to put her spells on him but she failed, and was so impressed by this unexpected development that she fell in love with the hero and eventually turned his companions back to humans. After staying on her island for one year, Odysseus and his crew went on their journey, but not before Circe had given Odysseus valuable guidance about how to proceed.

19th century engraving depicting Circe turning Odysseus's men to pigs

When Alexios returns to his ship and shows Barnabas the bracelet that Circe gave him, his friend is over the moon, absolutely sure that the jewel belonged to Leda. He believes that when Leda arrived at the atoll, Circe turned her into a pig. Then she was transformed into a woman again, and before leaving gave Circe her bracelet to remember her by. As it turns out, all the three items that Alexios found on the visions' locations - the aulos, the spices and the bracelet - were made in or connected with Attika, as their origin is from areas around a cave there, called The Entrance to the Underworld. Alexios suggests they travel to Attika right away, something that makes Barnabas very happy, calling Alexios his best friend.

Barnabas is happy that Alexios believes his story

Their final destination in the quest Daddy's Home is the aforementioned cave, which is around the area of  Eleusis. In its depths, they find several corpses and a young girl who, as soon as she sees them, she gets ready to attack them in an obvious attempt to defend herself. It is revealed that she is Leda, Barnabas's daughter, named after her mother and sharing the same green eyes as her. Apparently Leda the wife was pregnant when Barnabas lost her at sea; somehow she managed to survive and ended up in Attika. There she gave birth to Leda the daughter, got married to a good man and lived happily until the time came for her to die. Having lost her step-father too, young Leda was left alone, in charge of a rich piece of land, something that would regularly attract the attention of aspiring suitors who had their eyes on her fortune. Young Leda however did not want to get married; and most importantly she was not disposed to marry someone who clearly wanted to benefit from her wealth. After she denied their proposals several times, they changed their tactics and started threatening her, even attempting to kill her. Alexios and Barnabas help her get rid of the suitors once and for all, and then Barnabas asks her to leave the farmer's life behind her and follow him on the Adrestia. Leda however refuses, because she feels that it is her duty towards her mother and the goddess Demeter to look after her family's land.

 

Young Leda has her mother's eyes and her father's nose

 

This story references two Rhapsodies from Homer's Odyssey. The first part, where Alexios goes to the Entrance to the Underworld, nods to Rhapsody Λ', also known as "Nekyia" ("νέκυια" in ancient greek,  meaning a magic ceremony to summon a spirit from the underworld), in which Odysseus, following Circe's instructions, descends to the Realm of Hades in order to consult the seer Tiresias on how to find his way back to Ithaca. While in the Underworld, he meets several dead people including a lost companion, heroes of the Trojan War, heroines who had suffered in their lives and his mother.

 

Odysseus In Hades by Wojciech Weiss

 

The second part, in which Alexios and Barnabas help Leda kill her suitors, references Rhapsody Χ', in which Odysseus, having finally arrived on the island of Ithaca, infiltrates his palace and, with the help of his son Telemachus, murders the 108 suitors who had taken over it while waiting for the presumed dead Odysseus's  wife, Queen Penelope, who was already considered a widow, to chose one of them as her new husband. This stage of Homer's epic is one of the most impressive parts with its vivid, detailed descriptions and gory details.

 

Odysseus and Telemachus slay the suitors, by Thomas Degeorge

 

In the end, Alexios and Barnabas say goodbye to Leda but Alexios, seeing how much his friend wanted his daughter to join them, puts a bold plan to practice in the secret quest Demeter's Fire. He sets Leda's farm on fire and when she rushes in despair to find out what happened, he tells her that Demeter herself caused this so as to make her leave and follow her father. Leda takes this development as a sign that she should really put her past behind her, and start a new life by her father's side, this time at sea, just like her mother did before.

 

Alexios hires Leda as a ship lieutenant

Taking the stories from Homer's epic as a base, the questline switches playfully between myth and reality, as we can never know for certain if the three adventures that we go through in the locations indicated by Barnabas's visions really correspond to reality, if they are just co-incidental or if there is a hint of mythology behind them. All three people, Eurylochos, Polyphemos and Circe, mentioned a woman who passed from the places where they were, with their descriptions matching Leda almost perfectly. Leda could very well have arrived as a castaway on those islands, staying in all three places for some time, either voluntarily or by force, before leaving again. The fact that she found herself on the land of Attika, gave birth and created a new family there, clearly proves that she, at least, survived the stormy sea when Barnabas lost her. On the other hand, it could be three different women who passed from those islands, each on a different time. Parallel to all this, the unbreakable bond of friendship and comradeship that Alexios and Barnabas share is highlighted in this adventure, and its title, A Friend Worth Dying For, could apply to both of them, as they would both do anything to make each other happy.

 

Barnabas and Alexios are best buddies

The three people involved in the three stories / visions all have something in common: they were living in the margins of society, being forced to become outcasts and look for a better life elsewhere, in isolated places, without any other people around them. In the case of Polyphemos and Eurylochos, they found sympathy and understanding in each other, and it is clearly a blooming bromance that Alexios made happen there. Cicre's case was a bit different in this matter; what she describes as a wild nature could very well be an allegory for maybe a licentious way of life that she liked to live that was not socially accepted. In any event, the three stories worked as guidance for leading Barnabas to his daughter, although again we can't tell for sure if those were truly signs, or Barnabas interpreted them this way, following his instinct. In the background of these stories, there is always the fancy, the mythology, and Homer's epic poem which, like all heritage, work as backdrop loomed centuries ago, which is always alive, offering the wisdom of the past as a compass for every era's present.

Maxwell Roth As The Epitomy Of The Victorian Extravaganza

Although not a prominent antagonist in the game's story as a whole, Maxwell Roth is a very important supporting character in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, as he plays a major and determinant role in the evolution of its main protagonist, Jacob Frye. Roth is officially introduced in the penultimate sequence of the game, after having made his presence well-known much earlier via a dinner invitation that he sent to Jacob and after having been mentioned a few times during the story, due to him being the leader of the Blighters, the gang that controls the boroughs of London, operating under the orders of Crawford Starrick, the Grand Master of the local Templar Order.

Maxwell Roth in his first appearance

Roth makes quite an entrance in the story, inviting Jacob to meet him at the Alhambra Music Hall, his luxurious and extravagant-looking theater on Leicester Square. In spite of assuring Evie that he will not be accepting Roth's invitation, Jacob of course goes to the Alhambra, in the memory Strange Bedfellows. The title of the mission is more than indicative of Roth's intentions, as well as a foreshadow of what could possibly follow. As the main entrance is locked, Jacob enters through the backdoor (and I guess the connotations are intentional here), but not before talking to Lewis, Roths's right hand, who is standing stoically at the entrance with all the bitterness of the world on his face. Inside, the theater is majestic and lavish; the red color dominates - a symbolism that alludes to the trademark color of the Blighters, but also is associated with blood and passion. Roth appears as a tall man with the slim figure of a dancer and piercing light blue eyes, who obviously had been quite charming in his youth, but now the right half of his face is disfigured due to a big and very deep scar that runs from the side of his eye to the edge of his chin. However this does not make him look less attractive, on the contrary, as it probably had been acquired during criminal activities, it is there as a permanent mark of heroism, something that highlights his very obvious desire to always be in the spotlight. Roth seems to be in his element in the Alhambra. Serving as a cover for his illegal and criminal operations, the theater is still used by him to present popular performances, like musicals, magic acts by illusionists, theatrical plays and acrobatic acts. Theatricality, as himself says, is his specialty anyway; he admits to Jacob during one of their encounters later that he loves producing good plays and always enjoys the applaud and the praising reviews that follow. 

 

Roth and Jacob starting their brief alliance

 

Roth describes the story of his life in a colorful way, claiming that his real name was Oberon and that his parents were part of a traveling theater group. Growing in such an environment, young "Oberon" learned to sing, dance and act, soon revealing his talent in arts as well as in enchanting the crowds. Life's struggles, however, forced the family to turn to crime, gradually giving fewer and fewer performances until they eventually stopped completely. After his parents moved to London with him, they had no other choice than to live on the streets. "Oberon" put up with this kind of living for a while because there was nothing else he could do, but at some point, having had enough, he named himself Maxwell Roth and joined a circus. There, after a brief time of apprenticeship, he proved to be a gifted acrobat and a skilled boxer. When this endeavor failed as well, he entered London's criminal circles. Gradually he built his reputation as an extremely strong boxer, but because he also happened to be highly intelligent, he managed to expand his activities and soon became a most influential figure in the city's underworld. After having established himself as the leader of the notorious Blighters, he caught the attention of Crawford Starrick, who hired him to train his gang leaders. Many times, Starrick and his Templars would also make use of the Blighters' services to carry out their illegal operations. Thanks to these developments, Roth gained a lot of money, and his wealth allowed him to buy an abandoned theater in The Strand which became The Alhambra Music Hall, his pride and joy. A rather fiction-like life story, which could very well have been conceived by Charles Dickens for one of his epic novels; but it still fits Maxwell Roth's theatrical persona like a glove. Even his "real" name, Oberon, has Shakespearean connotations, something that could hint that part of the tale he likes to narrate about his life is just a fantasy; or at least a fantasized and much more fascinating version of real events from his past. The Alhambra, with all its luxury and lavish decorations, is the absolute manifestation of his larger-than-life personality, which in turn reflects the most extravagant Victorian lifestyle.

 

Roth's Alhambra, complete with its dome and obelisks

 

The theater itself has its own historical references, that fully represent the excessive style of that era: it was a real-life theater that did exist during the Victorian times opposite Leicester Square. Built originally in 1854 as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, it was originally made for the purpose of showcasing fine arts and demonstrations of scientific nature. After operating as such for two years, it was closed down and reopened again in 1858 as the Alhambra Theater of Variety, now with the addition of a circus ring. It was an impressively tall building in the style of Moorish palaces, with excessive decoration and rich architectural details, with its overall lavish appearance coming to complete contrast with all constructions around it. An interesting trivium is that the name of the architect who completed the building was T. Hayter Lewis, to whom Roth's Lewis, revealed to be his ex-lover and now devoted aid, seems to allude.

The real-life Alhambra theater at Leicester Square

The Alhambra Theater of Variety operated as a music hall, showcasing entertaining performances of a grand variety: acrobatics, ballet acts, Can-Can shows, patriotic and comical sketches, operettas and later early films were among its popular presentations. It was demolished in 1936, with more modern buildings taking its place, but had definitely left a mark in the entertainment world of the late Victorian era.

Characteristic programs of the Alhambra's shows

In the late 19th's century society of London, full of contradictions and opposite extremes, the conjunctures that bring Roth and Jacob together paint a vivid picture of that era's conflicting elements: the fascinating culture, the flourishing of the arts, the inconceivable poverty of the lower classes, the eccentricity and hypocrisy of the aristocrats, the developments that followed the industrial revolution, the wealth of the privileged suburbs and the gloominess of the slums. Within this context, Roth's flamboyant and over-the-top persona alludes to a cultural aspect of the Victorian society which, albeit existing underground, still was an integral part of it. Quite unexpectedly for that era which was so conservative and strict, an exuberant gay subculture thrived in the margins of society in spite of all the prohibitions imposed by the state. Molly houses were quite popular, and it was not easy to shut them down because, as is always the case, several esteemed civilians and politicians would secretly frequent them. Theatrical performances would often include acts or sketches that had such nuances, and there are numerous candid photographs of the later Victorian years clearly showing that people would risk to express themselves in ways that would even result in severe punishment if they became known.

A still from the Gilbert & Sullivan play "Patience" (left) and a shot of two men wearing extravagant hats

Maxwell Roth himself looks like a (very) toned down version of Henry Paget, an eccentric British aristocrat known as  "The Dancing Marquess" who was well-known during the last half of the 19th century for his extravagant theatrical performances and his extremely flamboyant way of life. Having inherited both title and fortune from his wealthy family, and wanting to be completely free of all restrictions and obligations, he lived a life of excess, buying expensive jewellery and outrageous outfits and throwing lavish parties where he was the main attraction, dancing and performing in his impressive costumes. He converted the chapel of his family's estate into a theater, where he invited important residents to watch him carry out a variety performances, most of which were quite radical for that time. He even formed a theatrical company and toured around Britain and Europe with it.

Henry Paget in his eccentric theatrical constumes

Visually, Roth may look rather mainstream compared to the people referenced above, but his overall attitude and personality is along the same lines. Roth is not interested in appearing extravagant; he is extravagant in his essence, in his habits, in his lifestyle. Besides being a man of the theater, he is also a gangster - and a very tough and fearsome one; and he is extravagant even in the way he rules his men and in how he deals with problems in his gang business. His extreme views are also part of this: being an amoral and an anarchist, he does not hesitate to sacrifice human lives in order to do what he wants. Although he followed Starrick's orders, he eventually reached a point where he could not stand him anymore. His authoritative attitude made Roth feel like he was a prisoner, because it did not allow him to be as free as wanted, so he formulated a plan in order to weaken Starrick and eventually defeat him. Jacob's bravery in dealing with Starrick's army of Templars and gangsters impressed him; quite possibly he saw something from his own young self in Jacob. Having developed a serious obsession with him overtime, he found the perfect chance to make his acquaintance and form an alliance with him. From his part, Jacob accepted because he found Roth's fascinating life and his freedom of mind not only attractive, but also in accordance to his own indomitable spirit.

 

Roth knows how to keep Jacob on edge

 

In the first mission, Strange Bedfellows, Roth sends Jacob to rid off stacks of explosives that Starrick keeps stored at St Pancras station. But he does not want Jacob to simply steal the explosives; he wants them destroyed in the most loud and impressive way. In the second mission, Triple Theft, he accompanies Jacob at three landmarks of major importance, the sewers under the National Gallery, St James Park and the Scotland Yard, in which places he sends Jacob to kidnap three people who do dirty work for Starrick. Having already declared previously that he values freedom the most, he claims that his motive for making these three people disappear is to liberate them from Starrick's grasp. He is not entirely wrong on this, as it turns out; one of them, an illegal art dealer, fully expresses her disappointment against Starrick's stressing directives. In the third mission, Fun and Games, Roth sends Jacob to blow up one of Starrick's workshops. What all three missions have in common is Roth's pompous and unconventional plans about them, another element that highlights his fiery personality. Roth wants to leave a mark wherever he goes.

Maxwell Roth has his way with words

The most accurate depiction of Roth's extravagant persona as a mirror image of the Victorian era's excessiveness is his show during Jacob's last mission with him, Final Act. This is also the point where his obsession with Jacob has reached its peak, in spite of the abrupt and violent termination of their alliance at the end of Fun and Games. Everything in the theater references Jacob one way or the other; the main act is performed by an illusionist called Corvus the Trickster whose name and appearance on the posters alludes to him as a the leader of the Rooks: "Corvus" means crow, and the poster shows a man with the head of a raven. 

 

The Alhambra on the night of Roth's last performance

 

Roth himself shows up for a moment outside the theater, talking to the usher before putting on a most dramatic accessory: a smiling golden mask, with its top shaped like flames, which in fact hints at the man's twisted plan for his final performance. He will wait for Jacob to arrive and go to him, and then he will set the Alhambra on fire, to make sure he dies in a most unconventional way, taking Jacob with him in the burning theater. In the end he dies by Jacob's hand, something that seems to make him equally happy - if not more. That said, the whole setup of the "final act" and the way the masked Roth secretly watches Jacob as he tries to reach him, alludes to the Phantom of the Opera, taking also the setting into consideration: Roth's Alhambra Music Hall versus the Phantom's Opera House.

 

Roth's mask foreshadows how the night will end

But the most impressive presentation and at the same time the most shocking is the theater's scene where the act is taking place: drowned in a blinding red light, it depicts what looks like a dead forest with skeleton trees and twelve ravens hanging from the rafters above. The ravens, which are most likely dead and stuffed, are there as a macabre tribute to Jacob's "Rook" identity, but they also reference a grim nursery rhyme which carries a chilling symbolism in connection to Roth and Jacob's story.

The compelling setting on the fatal night's stage

 

The nursery rhyme is titled Counting Crows and goes like this: 

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it's the devil himself.

Most of the rhyme's lines correspond to stages of Roth's relationship with Jacob: "sorrow" and "joy" are the feelings that connect them, the "boy" is Jacob, the "gold" alludes to Roth's riches and his lavish environment, the "secret never to be told" is his growing obsession with Jacob, the "wish" is his desire to seduce him, the "kiss" is pretty self-explanatory and the "surprise you should be careful not to miss" is of course Roth's special performance, all set for Jacob's eyes only. The rhyme counts twelve crows that match the number on the theater's stage, while the extra thirteenth crow, the devil himself, has a dual interpretation: it could mean Roth who appears after the twelve crows are set on fire, as the rhyme's "Devil", in the flaming red scenery which is like a depiction of Hell; but it could also mean Jacob, the leader of the Rooks / the crows, who was destined to end Roth's life.

Roth takes what he wants until his dying breath

A most dramatic setting, for such an eccentric and extravagant personality, that makes way for Roth's ideal finale. As he exclaims moments before he dies, that night was "the stuff of legends". Definitely one to remember in the afterlife. That, and the kiss he stole from Jacob.

 

Related articles: The Last Rose of England

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paget,_5th_Marquess_of_Anglesey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra_Theatre_of_Variety