Our 5 Wildest 'Assassin's Creed 3' Predictions

Assassin's Creed 3 looks to tell the grandest story to date, while also saddled with the task of tying up loose ends. Ubisoft maintains that Assassin's Creed 3 won't end with a cliffhanger, yet those promises - confirming closure for Desmond, and his quest to save Earth - do not change one important fact: this is not the end of the series.

Being the conspiracy-theorists that we are, we can't help but think Ubisoft has a sizable twist to both conclude Desmond's role as protagonist, and keep fans' jaws dropped until the next numbered release.

With that in mind, we've come up with the twists we'd most like to see. They may be outlandish, but we wouldn't put anything past the series' writers at this point

Return of the Old Gods

We know Juno, Minerva and Jupiter as the names of Roman deities. But in the Assassin's Creed fiction, these are members of Earth's First Civilization, or 'Those Who Came Before.' Essentially, metaphysical beings that guided human evolution to better enslave them for manual labor. Ultimately that formula led to a revolution, ended only when the Earth was burnt to a crisp by the first catastrophe.

So far, Desmond has operated on the assumption that these 'gods' want to save humanity from a similar fate, and have left the tools to do so. But given their initial purpose for mankind, and the name they gave to the first humans capable of murdering them -  Assassins - we're not so sure. And if they came back today...

We don't know what Desmond will find in The Great Vault buried below New York in AC3, and neither does his team. We wouldn't be surprised if Desmond's unlocking of the Vault managed to save mankind, but also brought about the return of the First Civilization. It may be a long shot, but 'Those Who Came Before' seem too powerful and condescending to be completely well-intentioned.

We're The Good Guys, Right?

Alright, we get it: Vidic and the Templars are bad, Assassins are good. We thought Lucy was bad, but she turned out to be good and helped us escape, then actually turned out to still be bad, so Juno had Desmond kill her. But all that logic is based on an assumption that the Assassins are on the 'right' side of this conflict - unequivocally. And when the intricacies of humanity are what's being discussed, things aren't so black and white.

But as the developers themselves have said (in regards to AC3) the two factions merely see the world differently, so trying to say that one is always good or bad is futile. If that's true for Revolution-era heroes who believed slavery was still tolerable (Aveline not being one of them), and Templars who foresaw the grim (but true) future of mankind, why can't the same be true of their modern counterparts?

We're not saying Desmond's father will unleash a devilish cackle at the game's climax, but an order of killers under the motto "nothing is true, everything is permitted" doesn't sound like one that should be left to their own devices for a few millenia. Could Desmond find himself on the wrong side come the game's final showdown?

Family Matters

The family aspect injected into the Assassin's Creed series has actually turned out be one of the most pleasant surprises. Little was known about Desmond Miles upon being recruited by the Templars for the memories contained in his DNA. But Revelations explained that far from being coincidence, Desmond had been born and raised by modern Assassins on 'The Farm'; a commune of Assassins living off the grid, and beyond Templar surveillance. Desmond left that life behind, with his father William, now leader of the Order, only being reunited with him during AC3's final moments.

With Desmond's family in play, the game has changed. If Desmond had a sibling, for instance, would the Templars not be after him or her just as fiercely? Desmond's brother or sister could even be revealed as an antagonist (that's long odds), and that's not even considering where Desmond's mother is at present.

Before taking control of his body, Juno informed Desmond that "It is done. The way lies all before you. Only she remains to be found." We'd guess that Juno is again cryptically referring to 'Eve,' but with so few females in the fiction, a mother or sister would explain the seeds that have been planted with one heck of a twist.

The Ascension of Desmond

Over the course of the series, Desmond Miles has gone from being an underachiever to well on his way to becoming a Master Assassin. But if Desmond pursues the path that The Ones Who Came Before have laid out for him, he could end up as far more than just the leader of the Order. It was Juno's cryptic speech to Desmond that demanded he "awaken the sixth. Go. ALONE." The "sixth" here refers to a sixth sense; knowledge free from the bonds of time.

The Ones Who Came Before had the foresight to see the catastrophe coming and attempt to stop it. They may have failed, but they also left enough information for Desmond to not only save the planet, but unleash the traces of the sixth sense contained within his bloodline.

Could Desmond's unlocking of his true potential grant him the ability to sacrifice himself to save Earth? If he possesses knowledge of space and time, destiny and free will, that doesn't sound like someone who would waste his time with paperwork and troop management. It's hard to say what potential Desmond will reach, but he won't be the man that players first met. He may not be a man at all.

The Catastrophe

Up to this point, players have been led to believe that the catastrophe facing Earth (presumably a form of sun flare) is one that can be prevented. That assumption is built off the belief that The Ones Who Came Before have worked tirelessly to save a species they haven't exactly shown reverence for. What if the Vault being sought out by Desmond's team isn't meant to save the day?

Once again, Juno's speech left a few chilling questions, repeating the prophecy that Desmond would seek out, and find, The Great Vault. At which point, "you will activate it. You will know only when it is too late.” What if the solution that the First Civilization came up with wasn't mankind's salvation at all?

If Desmond fails and Earth is scorched, and humanity is lost, where does that leave the series? Could Assassins left alive use the Animus to uncover more truths from the memories of Desmond's trials? What if the apocalypse was actually a part of Juno's plan? A bombed-out wasteland may be an overused trope, but would be completely shocking in this series. And not every story needs a happy ending.

Conclusion

Those are the twists that we'd be delighted and horrified to see (for very different reasons). They may turn out to be way off the mark, but a surprise of some sort is almost guaranteed. As charismatic and compelling a hero as Connor Kenway seems to be, Ubisoft will need to come up with some new conflict or antagonist to drive the series all the way up to Assassin's Creed 10.

These aren't the only possible conclusions that Ubisoft may have in store. Are there any characters, themes, or surprises that you think will feature heavily in Assassin's Creed 3's finale? Leave your own predictions in the comments.

Follow me on Twitter @andrew_dyce.