Why The Next Assassin's Creed Trilogy May Be Its Last
After the events of Valhalla and the confirmation of a Basim spinoff and Infinity, Assassin's Creed may finally be ending after one last trilogy.
After twelve games, seventeen spinoffs, and many short films and novels, the award-winning Assassin's Creed franchise may be finally coming to a close, leaving the next trilogy as potentially its last. Evidence for this can be seen in future Ubisoft projects as well as the ending of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The series has seen many changes over its run. From a fairly linear story to a complex narrative, Assassin's Creed's modern-day plot could be finally be winding its way toward closure.
[Warning: Heavy spoilers for the ending of Assassin's Creed Valhalla below]
Assassin's Creed Valhalla built up the present-day story of the games fairly well, with it introducing Basim as the new protagonist. Basim was one of the main characters in the past events in Valhalla, working as an assassin with Eivor until he went mad due to the effects of becoming a Sage for the Isu, Loki. After Loki's consciousness took over his mind, Basim fought Eivor at an Isu temple, where he ultimately lost and became trapped in the Isu supercomputer within. Centuries later, Basim was able to free himself from the machine, trapping Layla in his stead. He is now the current wielder of the Staff of Hermes, introduced in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and is on a quest to somehow revive Loki's children.
Assassin's Creed reportedly has a spinoff game about Basim in the works, as well as a future live-service game codenamed Infinity. With the live-service game coming, it seems like Ubisoft will be putting an end to continuing the story game after game, and rather keep it going with Infinity. That being said, Valhalla ended with the supposed return of Desmond Miles, who works as a character known as The Reader. Since the next game in the series will likely be the spinoff about Basim, the series may be preparing for the end of its overarching modern-day story.
Basim has loads of potential as a villain in the future of Assassin's Creed. With a new Assassin's Creed spinoff releasing soon that will develop his character more, it looks like Ubisoft is gearing up to make him a big player in the narrative of the next few games. Being a Sage of Loki, who is the same god of mischief from Norse mythology, Basim can act as a main antagonist the modern-day story of the games needs. His struggle to bring his family back to life can act as a good reason for players to sympathize with him, but they might also find him repugnant at the same time.
In the story of Valhalla, Loki is also trying to exact revenge on Odin and any of his descendants by killing them. Odin was the leading cause of his family's death, so he wishes to kill any Sage of Odin he may find. He initially found the Sage of Odin in Eivor, who eventually passed away after defeating Basim. Now Basim/Loki must hunt down the next Sage in this era, which could possibly be one of two people: Desmond or William Miles. Basim asks Rebecca and Shawn at the end of Valhalla where he can find William Miles. While the Sage might be William, it may also be Desmond from the original Assassin's Creed games. Sages gain the attributes of their Isu too and Desmond showed a lot of Odin's perseverance and wisdom in his story. This could also lead to Desmond returning to the next trilogy and putting an end to the overall story of Assassin's Creed.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla ended off with Layla meeting a man named the Reader, who was suspiciously voiced by Nolan North, the voice actor of Desmond Miles. The Reader also had the same facial structure and body type as Desmond, although his true face is never shown as he is simply a silhouette. The two are staring at a tree that depicts multiple scenarios that all lead up to a single extinction event. Trapped in the Isu supercomputer, Layla and Desmond must figure out a way to stop the extinction event from happening, analyzing certain times and events, such as Desmond's "death" in Assassin's Creed 3, in order to stop the extinction event from occurring.
This plot point could lead to an Endgame-like event, where multiple assassins from different timelines are called by Layla and Desmond to help them defeat the main antagonist like Basim. While something like this may seem far-fetched, it could be possible considering how Assassin's Creed Infinity will involve multiple assassins from different timelines. Infinity could be the series' Endgame, where each of the assassins must work together to figure out a way to save humanity and stop the extinction event. This would make for a great, explosive ending to the fifteen-year-long series and tie every single story that has been told altogether.
Going back to the ending of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Layla and Desmond are working together to analyze a tree of timelines that stem from Desmond's sacrifice. That being said, Assassin's Creed may be heading down a multiple timeline route, where any game after Assassin's Creed 3 is a part of another timeline and the new trilogy will be a timeline in which Desmond somehow survives. This new timeline would be a way for Ubisoft to end off the overarching story of the franchise while continuing from the recent trilogy's timeline with its live-service game Infinity.
Assassin's Creed Infinity could also be Ubisoft's way of connecting the two different timelines. To tie into the lore of Assassin's Creed, Infinity could possibly be Layla and Desmond's brainstorming to find the timeline that will stop the world-ending event Desmond mentions from happening. A final trilogy adding more onto their journey while building up the story in Infinity would be a good way for Ubisoft to tie in all of the new games together while releasing new stories about recurring and newer assassins.
A lot of big things are gearing up to happen in the next installment of Assassin's Creed. With an Isu on the loose and two of the series main protagonist trapped in a supercomputer, there's no telling where the story will go. However, it's good to see Assassin's Creed's modern-day story actually going somewhere again. Although a spinoff game about Basim and a live-service game codenamed Infinity are to be released in the coming years, it does seem like Assassin's Creed is finally heading towards its story's conclusion.