It was easy to forget that Ubisoft’s latest cinematic trailer was actually for anAssassin’s Creedgame. The stylish CG trailer forAssassin’s Creed: Valhallashowed off the new protagonist Eivor and his Viking warriors as they left Norway and headed for the rolling hills of Medieval England. Players saw Longboats, axes, and amassive battle between the Kingdom of Wessexand Eivor’s Vikings. It was brutal, bloody, and likely exactly how people imagined the 9th century to be with those two factions.
So far, the protagonist hadn’t been see wearing a hood, stalking a target through the shadows, or diving off of a tall building. The actual link to the long running franchise came towards the end when it seemed likeEivor was about to be executedby the English heavy. In a last ditch move, Eivor surprisingly finished off his captor with the hidden blade right through the helmet’s small opening, but unlike most assassin’s before him, Eivor wore the hidden blade in a very strange way.
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Thankfully, Ubisoft didn’t wait long to reveal the real reason why the hero ofAssassin’s Creed Valhallawears his blade on top of his wrist, rather than hidden under it.
In a recent developer commentary video from Ubisoft, Creative director Ashraf Ismail addressed the moment and provided a few clues without spoiling too much of the story. As it turns out, Eivor seems to be in a similar spot to Edward Kenway in the fact that neither starts out as a true assassin. Ismail does confirm thatEivor does meet with the Assassins factionearly in the game, and while Eivor and the Vikings don’t really understand what that means, the two groups do find common ground and decide to work together to help each other reach their goals.
As part of that, Eivor is given a hidden blade and is likely shown how to properly wear it. However, the Viking warrior decides that the weapon is just too awesome to hide and instead mounts it on top of his wrist. To ensure the Viking and Assassin narratives didn’t feel forced, Darby McDevitt, who serves as narrative director, mentioned that the team worked hard to make sure the plots gelled together and felt connected.
Eivor’s unique hidden blade isn’t the first time the series has broken away from tradition. Shao Jun employed a hidden footblade, Arbaaz Mir had a trident blade, and even Connor Kenway fromAssassin’s Creed 3had a special weapon called the Pivot Blade which could extend like a normal blade but also be rotated 90 degrees to turn into a dagger or knife. In fact,Kassandra and Alexiosavoided using a hidden blade entirely and simply used the broken spear of Leonidas as their assassin blade instead.
However, the closest hidden blade variant to what fans saw with Eivor came in the last majorAssassin’s Creedgame. Inside of theLegacy of the First Blade expansionforAssassin’s Creed Odyssey, players meet the Persian freedom fighter Darius and witness his execution of Xerxes I. At the time, Darius was also the only character in the franchise to wear his hidden blade on the outside of his arm, just like Eivor did in the trailer. Regardless of where the blade is located, the wearer certainly knows how to effectively use them.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallareleases Holiday 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
