The announcement of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla’s crossover stories certainly rippled throughout the community. Interestingly enough, a good chunk of it had leaked online beforehand, but the exact presentation of it is something unique. To get the full story, players had to play through a series of missions in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey that thematically follow through and deliver in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Overall, there’s little doubt that fans of Kassandra and Eivor probably enjoy this free shadow drop of content—it’s a fun crossover between two living AC playable protagonists, something that has never been done in the flesh before—but there is one thing that just stands out as falling short. Fans have debated what would become of Kassandra in her time between Odyssey and her death in the modern-day story, and there was one hope that Crossover Stories content gave and almost immediately dashed. PLEASE NOTE: There are SPOILERS ahead for the crossover stories content in each game.
Assassin’s Creed Timeline: Filling in Gaps for Kassandra
In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Kassandra obtains immortal life in the 400 years or so before the common era. This is because it is her duty to keep the Staff of Hermes and pass it on to Layla millennia later, and so this poses a big question of what Kassandra does for 2400+ years. The first DLC, the crossover content for AC Odyssey, answers this question. Essentially, as she waits to pass on the Staff, it is Kassandra’s job to keep and watch out for threats from Isu artifacts throughout the ages.
It’s a pretty basic set-up tying Kassandra more deeply to Assassin’s Creed lore, and while that leads to questions like where Kassandra was during Ezio’s time, during Arno’s time, or at any point an Isu artifact came into play, it’s easy to explain that A.) she’s one person and B.) not all of these events were world-shattering level. Nonetheless, one small detail about the promo market set up a big promise for Kassandra: a Hidden Blade.
As seen in the promo material and in the game itself, Kassandra wields a hidden blade. This would lead many to ask if Kassandra was a Hidden One herself, including Eivor, but the answer isn’t what fans really hoped for.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Kassandra and Eivor, a Moment in Time
In battle, Kassandra and Eivor realize that each of them have a Hidden Blade, to which Eivor asks if Kassandra is a member of the Hidden Ones. This was an epic question that may have built immediate anticipation for fans of the franchise that was quickly turned into a bad throwaway answer. Apparently, Kassandra has “friends” who are Hidden Ones but also hasn’t traveled with anyone for centuries. She is not a Hidden One, but sometimes her goals align with the Hidden Ones—who, again, fall into the category of Kassandra being alone for hundreds of years at this point. And it ends up meaning nothing, doesn’t explain her Hidden Blade, or tie Kassandra into the Assassins in any real way.
“Not exactly, but I admire their work…I’m not a Hidden One, but I have friends that are. And often, my goals align with theirs.”
The problem here is that it’s clearly a throwaway line; it does not really come up again. For Eivor, it makes enough sense; meta-speaking, it moves on to prove there is still no Assassin protagonist out of the two recent games. Kassandra, in Odyssey, existed before the Hidden Ones, and Eivor’s Viking heritage sees her turn down operating in the shadows. But, Kassandra—in Eivor’s time—is literally operating from the shadows. She is hunting Isu artifacts and it’s clear Aletheia still speaks to her, she wields a Hidden Blade and uses it quite well, and her centuries-old combat expertise lends itself well to stealthy assaults. Time turns Kassandra into an Assassin, but the game does not.
The bigger problem here is that it’s a throwaway line that could have still been thrown away and yet made fans better. Eivor could have asked if she was a Hidden One, and Kassandra could have given an ambiguous yes in ways that don’t reject her current destiny in the Assassin's Creed lore: “Ah, that’s complicated. I’ve worked with them often over the years but don’t tend to hang around long. They are good people and they taught me well in their ways, but I much rather do these things alone.”
What fans hoped to see was outright confirmation that Kassandra, eventually, became an Assassin. What fans got was an outright rejection with Kassandra declaring that she’s “not a Hidden One.” If she had delivered a line like the one crafted above or just straight up skipped over the direct phrase “I’m not a Hidden One,” fans could have had ambiguity to work with, so as to not define their Kassandra but also give fans who want her to be an Assassin a bone. But no, any technical issue aside for Kassandra and her age, it’s clear that Kassandra eventually comes to know the Hidden Ones and yet not become one herself.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Valhalla’s Crossover Stories are available now.