Showing posts with label character analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character analysis. Show all posts

Lush, Insanity and Grotesquerie in Resident Evil 4 Remake

Friday, 25 April 2025

Ramón Salazar's arc in the remake of Resident Evil 4 is an intense and stressing game of cat and mouse, which takes place in one of the most impressive and memorable environments of the story, with its evil antagonist rising as a major villainous force, serving also as a determinant character with a crucial role in the development of the plot. Locked in his luxurious castle, contemplating glories of the past among rare treasures and brainwashed minions, Ramón Salazar goes through a complex development himself; a development that gradually unfolds his already evil persona, making him much more powerful as an enemy than his original version.

Osmund Saddler's ominous presence may be looming over the Village in the first part of the story, but it is not until the last sequences of the Island section that he appears physically on screen. Salazar shows up almost as soon as the Castle arc begins, making himself more than obvious and reassuring the intruders about his evil intentions. While Saddler hides in the shadows for most of the story, Salazar makes sure that Leon understands very well who is the boss in the Castle, never missing a chance to pester him by calling him through the technically modern but visually retro monitoring system of his residence.

Salazar first shows up in the Audience Chamber as a grotesque diminutive aristocrat, dressed in an extremely retro style and a white wig, and accompanied by his two faithful guards who are already mutated and covered with robes. Both of them are compelling and intimidating; it is clear that Salazar relies almost entirely on their terrifying presence so as to be able to bully his potential victims without hesitation. The fact that Leon talks back to him, most probably being the sole person in a long time to dare to do so, is one first strike against his pride, which is already fragile enough even though he prefers to not acknowledge it. He becomes furious, although at this point he is still able to control his rage and simply orders his zealot minions to attack Leon and kill him. He does so calmly, marginally succeeding in keeping himself collected; but it is an attitude that will not last for very long.

To better understand Salazar's emotional state and attempt to comprehend his mentality, it is essential that we explore his extravagant residence, which is the exact equivalent of him in terms of architecture and decoration. Although the magnificent Salazar castle had been built many centuries before Ramón's time, it seems to reflect his personality and twisted mind as if it was made by the villain himself. Imposing, eery and marginally intimidating from the outside, it is revealed to be a complex of lush living quarters, deadly battlements, gory dungeons and unworldly halls on the inside.

The interior of the castle unfolds little by little as Leon, either alone or with company, moves deeper and deeper towards its "heart" which is in fact the place where he finally confronts Salazar. Before this happens, however, the various rooms, halls and gardens of the castle are gradually unlocked to him, revealing interesting facts about Ramón in the process, either via scattered journal pages and files or via details in the decoration and structure of the environments. The exterior of the main castle grounds is a multi-leveled area complete with catapults, an old but fully functioning cannon and several towers overlooking its yards. It also features a chapel, guarded by a monk who undergoes one of the creepiest mutations in the game, and a horde of zealot warriors who are determined to not allow anyone go beyond the gates. It is interesting, however, that the castle's drawbridge gate is fully open when Leon arrives with Ashley, implying that the path to Salazar's residence, being the only way out of the village after the ambush at the Villa, was cleverly turned into a trap so as to drag him inside. The drawbridge is closed shut after Leon and Ashley enter the yard of the castle, specifically to lock them in without any obvious escape route ahead of them. Considering that Salazar had become Lord Saddler's puppet, he had apparently received detailed instructions from him after Leon defeated Bitores Mendez in the Slaughterhouse, in order to lure Leon and Ashley in the castle and subsequently attempt to kidnap Ashley and lead her to him. The fact that so many people were enlisted against Leon so that Ashley could be eventually brought to Saddler, says a lot of things about how Leon's skills and intelligence would always obstruct the Lord's evil plans.

 

After Leon breaks open the main gate with the cannon, the story's action is transferred in a series of interior environments which comprise the actual residence of Ramón Salazar. The first room that we see is the Audience Chamber, a vast two-leveled hall with sparse but luxurious decoration, on top of which Ramón makes the aforementioned first appearance. The chamber is partly drowned in fog, something that further highlights the eery, chilling atmosphere of the setting. Heavy chandeliers are hanging from its tall ceiling, and several candelabras holding lit candles are scattered all around, giving off the spooky vibe of a sacrilegious church of sorts. There is also one very unsettling decorative detail in the lower part of this room - big statues hanging upside down from the ceiling, which may be slightly swinging due to subtle gusts of air. It is either a twisted concept adding to the overall extravagant style of the castle, or an equally disturbing warning hinting at what will happen to all unwanted or disobedient intruders.

 
The next area we get to explore is the dungeons, as Leon falls down a suspicious part of the floor in the prison cells. Unlike the gold and luxury of the previous room, this new environment reeks of blood and rot and hosts the Garrador, one of the most terrifying enemies in the Castle section. In his past life, he worked for the masters of the castle as a torturer; apparently he was later infected with the Plagas and became that lethal monster. The dungeons are dirty, forsaken grounds, a private hell obviously reserved for all the unlucky souls who dare to doubt Ramón's authority. Next up is the Water Hall, a vast room with many levels that are connected together with hidden stairs and are riddled with over-the-top unlocking mechanisms. In gameplay, it is one of the most challenging and hostile areas of the whole castle, featuring a large number of enemies that attack in groups and including the infamous double crank sequence during which Leon has to protect Ashley from the zealots as she is struggling to raise two platforms in one of the pools so as to make way for the exit.
 

The next part of the castle consists of a series of rooms that would once cover the side-activities of the residents: a garden with fountains, a wine cellar, a Bindery Room and a small study are all grouped together in a rather limited, mostly narrow wing which, in its turn, leads to the Battlements, a heavily guarded section with a mazey structure and gates that open and close by operating levers marked with sun and moon symbols. There are several towers and narrow corridors, with a horrific armored and extremely hostile Gigante on one of its terraces. Next up is the Courtyard, hosting the infamous Salazar maze with the Plaga dogs, leading to the lavish living quarters of the castle.

The living quarters consist of the Grand Hall, a dining room and a Gallery, featuring also an elaborate wagon - lift which connects this part of the castle with the Audience Chamber via a private train track. This area of the castle features brightly lit rooms with luxurious furniture and precious antiques for decoration, impressive chandeliers and numerous paintings and portraits on their walls. After Leon solves the Chimera statue puzzle, a locked door frees the way to the basement where there is the Library and the Mausoleum, which is the area that we first explore with Ashley and later Leon can visit so as to collect treasures and complete requests given by the Merchant.

 
This same door also leads to one of the most chilling and at the same time charming environments of the castle, which is the Ballroom; a hall that is particularly interesting both as a presentation and as a carrier of semantic significance in relation to the story. Unlike all the rooms and quarters in the castle before it which are in perfect or at least decent condition - the Grand Hall and its side-rooms even look like they are regularly inhabited by human beings - the Ballroom is partly ruined; its ceiling is collapsed, as are several of its columns. Fallen chandeliers, ripped curtains and broken windows, in an eery, round hall with large sections of its floor missing, gigantic mushroom colonies hemmed in its walls and a seemingly endless army of Novistadores, Saddler's horrifying giant insects, floating around its thick, foggy air. 
 

Of all the areas in the castle, the Ballroom is where you can literally see the source of the infection, with the fungus having crept over the hall, the corridor leading to it and - as we are able to see later - its exterior walls as well; which is exactly why this very room is of crucial semantic importance for the story and its development. The infectious fungus has violently invaded the specific hall of the castle that would normally be filled with people and associated with happy times. Now it is has become a nest of deadly giant insects and its obvious decadence is a direct reflection of Salazar's mental and emotional wretchedness. Of a similar semantic importance is also the Clock Tower, the section of the castle where Leon confronts Salazar in a most dramatic finale. Known also as the Tower of Death, this narrow construction hosts a giant stone statue depicting Ramón, which in fact is a death trap, breathing fire out of its mouth (in the original game, the statue would come to "life" thanks to a hidden mechanism and chase Leon in a most memorable quick-time event).

In the original game, Salazar's castle was equally luxurious and impressive, but his persona, albeit undoubtedly evil and cunning, was relatively toned down, also because he was rather clear as a villainous character, the obsession with his glorious family line and his inferiority complex making him a dangerous but nevertheless ridiculous enemy. In his revamped version, he is a threatening being with a very complex psyche, who carries an unfathomable amount of rage towards every breathing soul around him, who hated his father with a venom and teamed up with Lord Saddler agreeing to serve his evil machinations. The new persona, when placed in his lush castle's environment, gains an extra level of grotesquerie; the castle complements Salazar's overweening attitude, and there are signs of Salazar's insanity in every nook and cranny of his extravagant residence.

This new complexity of Salazar's character transforms him from the supporting caricature villain that he was in the original game, to a super powerful entity that may have a human appearance but even before his mutation he is almost as terrifying as his monster form. After defeating him, you leave the Castle grounds with an overwhelming haunting feeling that cannot go away even when you reach the extremely dangerous and hostile island where Saddler's sanctuary lies. Saddler himself is not half as intimidating; before his mutation, all you see is an obsessed lunatic who is convinced that he serves a divine cause. And after he mutates, he becomes a disgusting, marginally ridiculous spider-like monster which goes on babbling the exact same way as before, without the slightest sign of inner struggle. As for Krauser, he maintains his human traits even after his mutation, but although there are stings of bitterness in his words and a good deal of personal grudge against Leon, he remains in a brainwashed state until his very last moments, when he finally snaps out of his delusion and asks Leon to kill him in an unexpected twist of dignity and humility. 


Contrary to all boss villains before and after him, the terrifying thing about Salazar is that, while in his monster form, his delirium is one-hundred-per-cent human as he floats around, including vulgar swearing, disturbing death threats and blood-chilling curses that, obviously, were being directed at him in the past. Because when he calls Leon "tiny, ugly, sickly half-wit", it is more than clear that he spits onto Leon the insults that he was once receiving, as Leon is the exact opposite of all these attributes: he is a tall, devastatingly handsome young man with a brilliant mind and full of health. And when he goes on: "You should never have been born, you demon child! I will send you back to the hell you came from!" it is obvious that these had been words that were once being directed at him, when he was too weak and powerless and unable to defend himself. Salazar is a delusional, brainwashed puppet while in human state, trying - and, to a degree, succeeding - to keep himself together, albeit in his own distorted way, but he abruptly reverts to his deranged, uninhibited and hysterical human self as soon as he mutates into a monster. At some point, he starts listing the parts of Leon's body that he will rip out or maybe even eat, notably screaming that he will leave his eyes for last. This creepily cannibalistic threat concerning one of Leon's most graceful features, his lovely blue eyes, is most indicative of Salazar's venomous hate towards anything that is beautiful.

Salazar's evolution in the remake of Resident Evil 4 results in him playing a far more important part now, similar to that of Stefano Valentini in The Evil Within 2. The analogy is not random, as the two characters have common traits and their roles in the stories they are involved in have more or less the same dynamic. They were both used by a lunatic to achieve a so-called higher goal, but somewhere in the way they got to claim something bigger for themselves. But each one's development is unique: unlike Stefano, who almost completely diverted from his original role after a pivotal moment, Salazar remained faithful to the orders he had received, but for him the big twist was the realization of his personal tragedy which was triggered when he met Leon for the first time. It is safe to say that he had been evil all along, but from that moment and on his limited self-control completely vanished and he became a monster long before his actual transformation. 

Escaping the castle now becomes a far more stressing and difficult task; in the original, Salazar was just one minor unit, placing obstacles here and there that might have been challenging but were somehow functioning as stand-alone threats, mostly and mainly controlled by Saddler. Now, however, every danger and obstruction that Leon comes across in the castle grounds seems to carry Salazar's stamp of sadism and cruelty, and the castle, albeit under Saddler's influence still, is Ramón's absolute reign of terror where noone else is allowed to roam. It is notable that, while in the original the infamous throne room was on the Island and the actual throne where Leon could teasingly sit and pose charmingly was Saddler's, is in the castle in the remake, and it is the same throne that now belongs to Salazar. This change may not look significant, but in fact it is extremely important and emphatic in relation to how the interactions between Leon and Salazar develop until the climactic finale with the boss fight.

Albeit optional, visiting Salazar's throne room is a crucial side-path in the story. The first time that the throne room is seen in the game is near the end of Chapter 10, right after the Ballroom, during the scene in which Leon witnesses Ashley's forced initiation and Salazar's subsequent attempt to kill him by having one of his guards push him in the abysmal pit that is one of the many man-made death traps in the castle. Although all this is a cutscene and we can do nothing at that point, it marks a pivotal moment in which Salazar's attitude completely changes: he abandons the disturbingly playful manner that he had from Leon's first meeting with him until that very moment and gets serious, instantly becoming a no-nonsense, ruthless threat. 


Leon may be able to make it safe from the fall due to his survival instinct and his skills, but there was no way he could have landed alive at the bottom of that pit otherwise. The rotting corpses down there in the sewers say it all. So when Leon returns to the throne room in Chapter 12, at which point we are free to explore that previously unreachable wing of the castle, there is some kind of payback that he can give in return: fulfilling one of the Merchant's requests, he can pick up a freshly laid egg from one of the hens that wander around the room and throw it on Salazar's portrait, defacing it in the most humiliating way.

In addition, he can sit on Salazar's throne with all the grace that his gorgeous figure generously allows him to have, further humiliating Ramón and ridiculing the obsession that he has with his bloodline which at the same time he also despises because he never truly felt any real connection with his family. Quite possibly these two actions are the most powerful strikes against Salazar, hurting him way more than the bullets and knife stabs that he will later receive during the boss fight.

Leon's sitting pose mocks the one that Salazar has in the aforementioned cutscene (also pictured in the first image of this article), but it is even more hurtful for Ramón that the sight of Leon on the throne, although mockery, is still eye-candy. Leon could very well be the "king" of that castle, because he is a gifted and good-hearted young man and he is essentially noble without being an aristocrat by title, unlike Salazar who drags around his miserable existence, gaining satisfaction by making his poor victims suffer. In reality however, Salazar is a pitiable human being, emotionally traumatized beyond repair and thus incapable of ever coming to his senses. 

The huge contrast between Leon and Salazar is one parameter of great significance for all the Castle chapters. Salazar calls Leon the noble knight who has arrived to rescue the fair princess, very obviously with much sarcasm and a good dose of bitterness. Although he is very past the point where he would literally be interested in offering his aid to a damsel in distress, as he is too absorbed in his own ego in the irreversibly distorted world that is partly a result of his developing mutation, in theory he would have liked to be acting like a knight himself. As long as he is surrounded by brainwashed zealots and mutated guards, he feels that he is at an advantage; but the moment that Leon arrives and he sees him for the first time, all his illusions disappear in the blink of an eye. Because just then he comes face to face with the realization that the world is not like he wants to fantasize in his golden quarantine, being now forced to deal with someone who has all the attributes that would form a knight as he perceives him. Leon is brave, beautiful, strong, kind and intelligent; and although the new Ashley is not as helpless as the original one, therefore not anymore the typical damsel in distress, she still relies on him for her survival, which is far more essential than her actual rescue. 

From a technical point of view, the boss fight with Salazar is the most well-structured and balanced of the game. Salazar is an extremely tough and violent boss, making the battle against him a demanding challenge; but every single element comprising it makes total sense, something that allows room for building a strategy, while at the same time offering Salazar enough space to shine as a terrifying and unforgettable high-rank enemy. While in the original game's final confrontation with him Salazar's lines are limited to only two phrases that are clearly connected to the story alone, in the remake his mutation and the battle that follows it shoot up his paranoia, revealing a venomous and lethal hate towards Leon personally. This variation is indicative of his overall evolution as a demonic, devilish force that consciously causes harm and brings death and gloom everywhere around him. 


At some point during the fight, he mentions that Leon reminds him of his father, and that the likeness, being so uncanny, makes him want to strangle the life out of Leon. He literally spits out these words with hysterical fury, and it is notable that, although his delirium progressively grows out of control with the battle lasting longer anyway, this declaration further reinforces his descend into an uncontrollable berserk mode. In the throne room, there is a portrait of a man and a woman left and right of the throne; on that of the man, there is a Boot Knife that Leon can take, but notably the weapon sits right on the man's heart. The person that the portrait depicts could be Ramón's father, because as we read in one of the files, the latter was murdered "by the devil" (either Saddler himself, or Ramón under Saddler's influence); so the knife that is stuck on the portrait could mean just that.


However, there are two other portraits, one in the small sitting room overlooking the Courtyard and one in the Grand Hall, which depict two different men that both share a striking resemblance with Leon. Since Ramón uses this exact word, "resemblance", therefore physical likeness, we could guess that the man in the throne room with the knife on his portrait is probably one of Ramón's older ancestors (a grandfather, maybe), and the knife is placed there as a red herring; because if the battle with Ramón ends quickly, he will not have the time to say the comment about Leon looking like his father, and the player (and Leon) could easily miss it. If that is indeed the case, Ramón's father is either the man in the sitting room portrait or the one in the Grand Hall portrait.

The man in the sitting room portrait, shown in the screenshot above, looks way too much like Leon to be a coincidence. Ramón's hysteria when he mentions that the resemblance between Leon and his father is striking truly says something. The other man, the one in the Grand Hall portrait, shown in the screenshot below, also looks a lot like Leon but this is not very apparent when our hero has his regular look; it becomes more evident when he has the Hero outfit on, in which his hair is styled differently, pretty much like the man's in the Grand Hall portrait whose outfit, incidentally, also resembles Leon's Hero one.

Whichever the case might be, Ramón's daddy issues are revealed to be an important driving force for his character development and subsequently his attitude after he goes through his mutation and becomes completely unhinged and uninhibited. In his human days, after he took over the castle following the demise of his family, he would choose to live in a fantasy world, as is hinted by his words before the final confrontation begins: he would see everything as a theatrical play, where both him and people around him had a specific role. 

This view of life and the world would ease his insecurities and make him see himself as someone who mattered. Born with a degenerative illness that also affected his physical growth and would sooner or later lead to his death, Ramón would find moral satisfaction in making people suffer. As we read in the files found in the castle, once he threw vitriol on the face of a servant who teasingly called him "Pulgarcito" (which is "Tom Thumb" in Spanish, the little hero of the well-known folk tale that narrates the story of a diminutive boy). This explains why during the boss fight he "casts" Leon in the role of Pulgarcito for his imaginary play: he is making a projection, in a desperate and vain attempt to rid off his own physical disadvantage.

In fact Ramón's transformation did not happen just at the time of his final mutation. Long before this, he made a pact with Saddler so as to unleash the Plagas that had been sleeping for centuries in the dark depths of the castle's underground after one of his ancestors discovered them and sealed them. According to the castle's files, his mother agreed to have Saddler infect Ramón with the Plagas, because she knew that his illness would lead him to an untimely death and wished to save his life. Of course this could only go wrong. After his mother's death and his father's murder, Ramón remained the sole heir of the castle being also the end of his illustrious family line. He unsealed the underground of the castle, making way for the excavation of the Plagas in the mines that were set up specifically for this purpose - during the final mine cart ride in Chapter 11, Luis shows Leon the source of the Plagas down there in the depths. Several people from the nearby village were employed to work at the excavation site, but all of them were gradually infected, turning into Lord Saddler's puppets.

Given his traumatic childhood and the unavoidable physical, mental and emotional corruption that came with his infection, Salazar eventually became the disgrace of his noble family. The fact that he can be killed with two golden eggs as an alternative to the regular long and tough boss battle, may hint that the people of the region, knowing him as the degenerate and corrupt aristocrat that he was, would occasionally throw eggs at him whenever he would walk out of the castle, so as to ridicule him (it is believed by part of the gaming community that his sensitivity to eggs is due to an allergy that he is supposed to have, but there is no report or evidence anywhere to support this claim). There are only two golden eggs in the whole game, and are always found in two specific places: the first is at the shores of the lake in the village, found as early as in Chapter 4, and the second is in the throne room, locked in a safe which can be opened only with an elaborate unlocking mechanism involving a cube key that is found somewhere else in the castle.

Just like he is mostly humiliated and defeated when Leon defaces his portrait and then sits on his throne, getting hit with something as mundane as an egg, albeit golden, hurts him way more than the weapons hurt his body, because it is a strike against his dignity and his pride. The egg being golden signifies his own high-society status which, however, means nothing in his case as he is unable to do justice to it. From a literary point of view, we could say that when Leon kills him with regular weapons, he kills his physical side, and when he defeats him with the two golden eggs, he causes his symbolic death, depriving him of his pride by humiliating him so easily.

After he dies, Salazar leaves behind his Lip Rouge, a bright pink cosmetic powder that he apparently used on a regular basis so as to cover up the ghostly paleness and the notable signs of the infection on his face. This partly tragic and partly humorous detail is yet one more remain of his aristocratic background, as it nods to the rouge pomade that members of high-society in the Baroque era used to apply on their faces. Salazar had all the material elements that would make him a member of nobility: the title, the castle, the luxury, even the lip rouge; but in his real essence he was rotten to the core. In a not so unexpected twist, given the events leading up to Salazar's ending, as the Castle section reaches its finale with the boss fight at the Clock Tower chamber, Leon turns out to have been Ramón's rival awe all along and therefore the most appropriate to seal his fate.

 

» Salazar's Castle: A Comprehensive Gallery

» Salazar Boss Fight Dialogue Lines in Resident Evil 4 Remake 

» Salazar Boss Fight Full Dialogue Version Gameplay

 

 





The Curious Case of Aiantides The Proud

Monday, 10 March 2025

So much happens in the Legacy of the First Blade episodes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, yet everything in its main plot and its connected side-quests is almost completely outshined by the relatively brief but unforgettable appearance of one person: Aiantides The Proud, one of the most enigmatic yet absolutely exciting supporting characters in the whole game. Aiantides makes his mysterious appearance in all three regions that Alexios visits for each of the episodes of the Legacy story, and him showing up co-incides suspiciously with important events in our hero's adventures, where Aiantides appears in big trouble, in stressing situations that are, oddly enough, connected with each other. Alexios and Aiantides seem to connect in an underlying and rather unexpected way, and it is notable that just at the start of the first Legacy episode in Makedonia, Alexios comes across Aiantides before meeting anyone else, even before crossing paths with the main protagonists of the story. 

Let's meet Aiantides The Proud

After Alexios receives a message to take on a mission in Potidaia, he arrives there to find a whole village on fire. While rushing to the heart of the incident, he sees that three people are being held as prisoners, with Spartan soldiers ready to execute them, so he swiftly runs to their rescue. Among the captured villagers, is a very well-dressed man with a rather peculiar attitude, as becomes clear as soon as Alexios frees him.

The strange man does not seem particularly intimidated by the situation he is in

At that point in time, we don't know who he is yet, and we have no idea that this will not be the one and only time that we see him. Alexios frees the other two people, a woman and another man, and the story takes its own course, with our hero meeting Neema and Darius and eventually learning from them about the existence of the Order of the Hunters, a separate branch of the Cult of Kosmos, that operates in certain regions of Greece. After the introductory quests are complete, Alexios locates a message left for him at the place where he set that strange man free. The message sounds a bit impolite, as the sender literally blames Alexios for having saved him from his captors, but given the conditions, this is not something to be judged too strictly at that point; plus the most interesting thing about it is that it is signed "Aiantides The Proud".

Aiantides's first message

In spite of his fury for being saved, the man informs Alexios that he has hidden a package with goods in a forested area nearby, reserved specially for him, as a reward for giving the man back his freedom. Alexios finds the "treasure" hidden near a tree, in a rather dangerous area where several wild bears are roaming. A bit later, and while investigating the whereabouts of an Order member named Bubares with Darius in an area which was under the Order's control, Alexios discovers a farm nearby that has been overtaken by the Order, so that Bubares could assemble and enlist there volunteers from the area, whom then he planned to send off in search of the Eagle Bearer. After Alexios kills Bubares, freeing all the farms in the area from the Order's hold, he locates another message at a neighbouring farm. Again, the message is from Aiantides The Proud, again it is written in a similar manner, and again Aiantides informs Alexios that he wishes to thank him by offering him goods, because one of the freed farms belonged to his brother.

Aiantides's second message

This time there's more treasures, and they are spread around on four separate islets, which makes looking for them quite an adventure. Notably, when Alexios arrives at the first location, there are bandits snooping around, which raises suspicions about them somehow having been informed about the existence of the treasures in that area. Maybe they had read the message, or maybe there is another reason why they seem to know about Aiantides being in the area? Who knows, maybe we will be able to decipher this riddle later. On the two of the remaining three locations, there are again hazards to face: wild bears in the one, enraged chicken in the other (although the latter can be avoided if Alexios sneaks carefully to take the package they are guarding without alerting them).

After the completion of the first episode in Makedonia, Darius messages Alexios to meet him in Dyme, a small village between Elis and Achaia. There seems to be more Order action in the region, and after getting in touch with Neema as well, Alexios is informed that several people have been captured by the local branch and are being held prisoners in an almost inapproachable fortress. Alexios rushes and frees the prisoners, among which is Kleta, a rather well-off woman, who, as it turns out, appears to be a local of some higher status in the area, both financially and socially, as she volunteers to offer those stranded people shelter in Boura, her village, until they manage to find a way to leave. All of them were either locals who were returning home, or travelers from other regions; their ships were sunk while sailing along the shores of Achaia, and they were all arrested and taken as prisoners by command of the Order for an unspecified, for the time being, reason. It is revealed that the one responsible for this specific action is a fierce and extremely feared admiral, who works on behalf of the Order, goes by the name of The Tempest and has everyone in the region terrified beyond belief.

Kleta seems to be an influential figure in the area

While looking for the prisoners at the fortress, Alexios finds out information of great importance about The Tempest, who is revealed to not only be a high-rank member of the local Order branch, but she also happens to be their chief. Apart from her other duties, The Tempest is tasked with getting rid of Alexios, and for this purpose she has hired several high-rank mercenaries to hunt him down and kill him. During a series of follow-up quests with Darius and Neema, Alexios discovers that The Tempest's chief engineer has created a super-powerful weapon for her ships which he calls The Chimera's Breath and which looks like an early version of the Byzantine liquid fire. After a series of dramatic events, Alexios decides to steal the engineer's code books, so that Barnabas, who is an experienced captain, may be able to install the lethal weapon on their ship as well, to give them a fighting chance against The Tempest. Then Alexios goes to Boura to talk with Kleta, and in a dramatic twist, Kleta confesses to him that The Tempest is in fact her long lost daughter, Phila. A child prodigy, with high intelligence and gifted in an impressive variety of fields, Phila was estranged from her mother, left her family home and became a sea captain. After nearly drowning during a storm, she was saved by the Order and gradually became their most valuable high-rank member. Although Kleta hopes that there could be a way to bring Phila back, deep down she knows that her daughter, now The Tempest, is beyond saving, as she had been under the Order's influence for far too long.

In spite of her young age, The Tempest is fear incarnate in Achaia

While at Boura, Alexios finds yet one more message (surprise, surprise) again from Aiantides The Proud. This time the note is way more toned down that the previous ones, as Aiantides expresses his distress for losing all his fortune due to him constantly wanting to reward Alexios for helping him out. Aiantides explains in his note that Alexios killing the leader of the Makedonian branch of the Order was the reason why the innocent civilians were captured in Achaia, as an act of revenge; although his connection to this development is still unknown. Regardless, he informs Alexios that he has left another package full of goods for him at the edge of an isolated row of islets, adding that he will be unable to offer anything else in the future.

Aiantides's third message

Alexios goes to the specified area, which indeed is quite far away from any settlement or camp, and as he is about to take the package with the treasures, Aiantides himself appears, and he is revealed to be that strange man whom Alexios freed back in Potidaia, in the burning village.

Aiantides turns out to be a handsome man of good social status

Now that we have the chance to actually see him, it becomes more clear that he must be of some higher social status, as he is well-dressed, his sandals are more stylish and elaborate than those of most citizens and the fabrics and threads from which his outfit is made of look quite expensive and of very good quality. His whole attitude is also different from most people that Alexios has met so far, as he looks quite self-confident, speaks in a rather sophisticated manner, and even after having gone through all those troubles, he still seems determined and unafraid. This time, he wished to thank Alexios because his aunt was among the prisoners that were freed at the fortress, although he claims that he has no more to offer, as these acts of gratitude left him almost completely broke. Although Alexios insists that he shoudn't have given him anything and he doesn't owe him a thing, Aiantides claims that he is too proud to not reward him for his good deeds, because he can never be indebted to anyone (which is why he is called "The Proud" after all). The questions that are raised here, however, are what was Aiantides doing in Achaia all of a sudden, and in Boura specifically, and was he too on the sunken ships and maybe managed to escape while the Order were looking for prisoners? Or he arrived at the region with other means for some reason? 

Aiantides is suspiciously calm in spite of constantly running into trouble

While trying to make Aiantides stop feeling like he is indebted to him, Alexios offers him the chance to do a series of activities for him, that would work as paying off the so-called debt. The dialogue that follows is quite interesting, with Aiantides's reactions being rather enigmatic and perplexing. If Alexios asks him to kill the mercenaries hired by The Tempest, Aiantides replies, marginally with sadness, that he is no fighter, therefore is unable to take on this task. If Alexios asks him to steal the engineer's code books, he replies with contempt that he is not a thief. When he asks him to kill The Tempest for him, Aiantides's reaction is quite intriguing: upon hearing the fearsome admiral's name, his expression changes temporarily, as if her name means something to him. One could argue that this might be due to The Tempest's notoriety, but if you watch him closely, his expression does not indicate fear but more like a disposition to conceal something or avoid to touch the subject altogether.

Aiantides's attitude is continuously mysterious

His reply is equally weird, considering that when Alexios asked him to kill the mercenaries previously, his excuse for not doing it was that he was no fighter. When the subject of killing The Tempest comes into play, he replies with absolute disgust that Alexios asking him to commit murder is unacceptable. We could say that his reply in the first case leaves some room for further discussion, but in the second he sounds completely adamant. In the end, Alexios asks him to join his ship crew as a lieutenant, but Aiantides refuses again, saying that he has a family to look after, therefore he can't leave. Which is quite strange, since he has already left one place (Makedonia) to travel to a region quite far away, and apparently he did so on his own. Meanwhile, as the second episode of the Legacy story reaches its dramatic culmination, it is revealed that The Tempest is half Isu, just like Alexios and Kassandra, and she had been recruited by the Order exactly for this, so that they could use her as a powerful human weapon. Alexios is forced to fight against The Tempest and kill her; depending on our choices up to that point, Kleta may have survived or not, but in any event, soon after the episode ends with no further sign of Aiantides in Achaia.

Phila snaps out of the Order's brainwashing just moments before she dies

Some time later, after the tragic events that bring Alexios to the city of Aipeia in Messenia to look for his kidnapped son Elpidios, he teams up with Darius so as to locate Amorges, Darius's once best friend and companion and now sworn enemy, who was also revealed to be the head of the local branch of the Order, as well as the leader of the Ancients. Amorges, knowing that Elpidios, being the son of Alexios, shares his demigod qualities, has taken the baby and is keeping him hidden somewhere, intending to raise him himself and train him to be a warrior for the Order, like he did with Phila in the past. Among his other activities in the area, Amorges has several parts of the region under his control, resulting in citizens getting captured on a regular basis and being sent to work as helots in the fields of Aipeia's outskirts. After eliminating all the members of the local Order branch, including Amorges after a dramatic fight, Alexios is finally reunited with his son, but decides it is better to send him away with Darius, so as to keep him safe from the Order. When the story is complete, he finds a message which is not directed at him, but it mentions helot prisoners who may be in danger in Messene, at the outskirts of Aipeia.

The mysterious message mentioning the helot prisoners

Alexios arrives at Messene only to find out that Aiantides is among the helot prisoners. There are a couple more people tied alongside him, whom Alexios frees with no issues, but as he attempts to free Aiantides, angry bandits attack, wanting to prevent him from doing so. Alexios succeeds in defeating them and runs back to free Aiantides, a repetition of their very first meeting in Potidaia.

Bumping into familiar faces is always pleasant

Aiantides is very upset that it was Alexios who actually saved him. He feels once more that he owes a favor to the Eagle Bearer, one that he will not be able to fulfill, because he is completely broke now. He tells a story about how someone persuaded him to come to Messenia, tricked him into giving all money he had left, only to be sold as a helot in Messene. A rather weird story, given that Aiantides always looked quite smart; moreover his profession apparently had to do with commerce, which means he knew very well how to deal with money. To stop Aiantides from feeling indebted to him, Alexios tells him that he, being a messenger of Zeus, can forgive the debt of a mortal, which eventually puts Aiantides's mind at ease. Then Alexios asks him again to work as a lieutenant on his ship, and this time Aiantides happily accepts. Which raises the question of what happened to the so-called family that he had to take care of and could not leave behind previously.

Alexios seems quite amused with Aiantides

On a first level, nothing may seem that strange, but if all facts are combined there seems to be a pattern when it comes to Aiantides's appearances. The obvious part is that he always shows up in Alexios's path as a comic relief element, but at the same time he also appears in places that are of extreme importance as far as the Order's activities are concerned. There is not much evidence in Makedonia, as we do not have the chance to meet him there, but in Achaia things become quite interesting. We know from his second message in Makedonia that he has a brother there, but then in Achaia he vaguely refers to a family which may not be what it initially sounds like, that is a family of his own. What he does mention is an aunt who was among the stranded people whom Alexios freed at the fortress. The prisoners were four: three women and a man. From the three women, the one was the mother of a little girl, and both she and the second woman were too young to be  Aiantides's aunt. The third woman was Kleta.

Alexios and Kleta minutes after she was freed from the fortress

We don't have any clues about Aiantides's age, but judging from his figure, the smooth skin on his face and considering his hair is not even grey yet, he must be in his early thirties or something like that. Kleta, on the other hand, is a beautiful woman who is apparently older because her hair and eyebrows are grey and she has light lines near her eyes and mouth. She must be around forty five years of age, or maybe a bit younger, since Phila looks also very young. Back in those times, people used to marry at a very young age, especially women. My theory is that Aiantides's aunt was in fact Kleta, something that the two of them concealed to keep each other safe, due to the fact they were both related to The Tempest. They also avoided getting in contact in public, so as to not attract the Order's attention. Kleta and Aiantides have quite a few things in common, with their face features being the most prominent: their eye color is exactly the same, a very sweet honey brown. They have pretty similar eyebrows and their mouths have a similar shape. Sometimes they even have the same expressions. Kleta's hair is grey now but judging by her skin tone, and the way her eyebrows have also turned lightly grey, she could very well have had ash blonde hair in her youth, the same hair color that Aiantides still has. Moreover, they both look well-off in a pretty similar way, what with their nice clothes and noble style.

Kleta and Aiantides share the same honey brown eyes and similar eyebrows

Being Kleta's nephew, makes Aiantides a cousin of The Tempest, which may explain why he avoided discussing the subject of possibly killing her himself when Alexios asked him to. The family he refers to could very well be Kleta and The Tempest, assuming that his brother in Makedonia probably had a family of his own, therefore is part of a separate family circle. After Alexios eliminated the Order of the Hunters in Makedonia, the Order of the Storm in Achaia took action. Aiantides knew that this would also mean the appearance of his fearsome cousin in the region. The fact that Kleta was captured together with the other people at the fort is quite suspicious. It could be that the Order were on a spree to hunt down The Tempest's family, like the Cult had done in Kassandra's case. They could be looking for Aiantides too, which partly explains why there was only one man among the prisoners. In the old days, it was not easy to find out how someone looked like; sometimes it was impossible. Maybe the Order was on the hunt for Aiantides, but since they did not know what he looked like, he managed to escape from the ship that The Tempest sunk and get safely on solid ground in Achaia. There were bandits looking for the treasures he left for Alexios in Makedonia, and bandits again attacked Alexios when he attempted to free him in Messene. This may suggest that someone (someone with many spies, like the Order; we already know that they were recruiting citizens to do dirty work for them) was keeping track of him, and had even hired bandits to hunt him down. Maybe the bandits were not looking for the treasures but for hints to Aiantides's whereabouts. Or maybe the Order, aware of his note to Alexios, sent the bandits to look for him, allowing them to grab his treasures as a reward in case they found them. 

With The Tempest out of the picture, and Kleta either safe or dead, Aiantides had no more reasons to stay in Achaia. His story about how he found himself in Messenia may be true, but he may very well have gone there after learning that Alexios had moved further south; so he traveled to Messenia and somehow managed to get himself into trouble again. There is no more mention of his family the last time that Alexios asks him to work for him as a ship lieutenant and he accepts, something that may indicate that his intention in Messenia was to leave with Alexios for good, and is also in accordance with the fact that his "family" (in this case, Kleta alone since his brother is probably safe in Makedonia) either does not exist any more, in the version where Kleta is dead, or is completely out of danger, in the version where, after Phila's and Amorges's deaths and the full elimination of the Order of the Ancients, she stays back in Boura, all alone but out of harm's way.

Maxwell Roth As The Epitomy Of The Victorian Extravaganza

Friday, 14 February 2025

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