This recap will focus only on Layla and the recent modern storyline, so there won't be much information about Desmond or previous games in the series. Here you will discover Assassin's Creed Origins and Assassin's Creed Odyssey so that you can be ready for Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Buckle up, guys. It's going to be a long and complicated journey.
Origins of Assassin's Creed
Layla Hassan is a researcher in the Historical Research Division of Abstergo. Abstergo is a modern company that serves as a front for the Order of the Templars, the main antagonist of the series. She is on a mission with her partner Deanna Geary to find an artifact buried somewhere in Egypt. She finds a tomb containing the mummies of Bayek and Aya, the first Assassins (and the protagonists of this game). Layla had wanted to work on Abstergo's Animus project for some time, but was repeatedly denied promotion. In an attempt to prove herself, she brings a modified Animus with her on her trip to Egypt and uses it to relive the memories of the dead couple in order to live out the founding of the Brotherhood of Assassins.
After reliving some of Bayek's memories, Abstergo sends a team to verify the two researchers as they have failed to recontact with the company. Layla is able to fend off her Abstergo attackers thanks to the bleeding effect's new combat prowess (which forces an Animus user to learn abilities from the memories they've experienced), but Deanna is captured and killed. Layla is determined to see Bayek and Aya's story through, so she returns to the Animus to witness the founding of the Brotherhood of Assassins, originally called the Hidden Ones.
After leaving the Animus again, she is found by William Miles, father of Desmond Miles and current leader of the Modern Day Brotherhood of Assassins. He offers her a job with the Brotherhood, but she refuses to join. She agrees to work with the Assassins in order to ensure her safety from Abstergo and to continue her work with the Animus.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
After some time working with the Assassins, Layla and her team uncover the lost writings of Greek historian Herodotus. His work describes a Greek mercenary named Kassandra who wielded the spear of Leonidas, an Isu artifact. If you're not at all familiar with the world of Assassin's Creed, the Isu are a precursor race that predated humanity. They created powerful artifacts called Pieces of Eden which are usually the central driving force in conflicts between the Assassins and the Templars. Layla and her team have been able to find Kassandra's spear and use it to relive the memories of the misthios.
During the events of Odyssey, Kassandra discovers the lost city of Atlantis and receives a piece of Eden called the staff of Hermes Trismegistus. The staff was guarded by Pythagoras, who was in fact Kassandra's father. This makes her user immortal, so Pythagoras was able to keep it indefinitely before passing it on to Kassandra once she was ready. Nowadays, Layla uses information from Kassandra's memories to open the Gateway to Atlantis, where she finds Kassandra waiting inside with the staff, still alive after thousands of years. Kassandra tells Layla that the Templars and Assassins represent Order and Chaos respectively and that the world will end if one side wins. She also tells Layla that she is the one who prophesied to balance the world before giving her the staff and dying.
The fate of Atlantis
During Odyssey's DLC, Layla is tasked by an Isu named Alethia to undergo three trials in order to prove that she is the staff keeper. Staff tend to bribe those who use it, so lawsuits are put in place to ensure that a person is fit to accept it. These trials were experienced by Kassandra in ancient Greece long ago before she became the Keeper of the Staff, so Layla returns to the Animus to relive her memories of the trials. These trials sent Kassandra through life simulations of the Greek afterlife where she came face to face with Greek gods and mythological creatures.
As Layla relived memories of Kassandra, she grew more and more violent, which prompted her partner Victoria to pull her out of the Animus. Victoria believed that the bleeding effect had a detrimental effect on Layla, so she warns against further use of the Animus. As the two claim, an Abstergo team arrives to kill them. Layla uses the staff like a spear to defeat the strike team, killing all but one. She tells the surviving member to run and tell their boss, a high Templar official named Otso Berg, that they have lost. Once they are safe again, Layla resumes the trials in the Animus.
After completing the second try, Victoria again removes Layla from the Animus. Layla's erratic behavior only got worse in Victoria's eyes, so she tries to take the stick away from her. Due to the influence of the staff, Layla accidentally kills Victoria when she takes the staff away from her, prompting Alethia to have doubts about Layla's dignity in being the so-called "heir of memories". She is able to change Alethia's mind by passing the trials, but Otso Berg himself shows up to take care of Layla once and for all. She defeats him using the staff, crippling him and leaving him in Atlantis. Layla then reunites with her team and updates them on what happened at Atlantis.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
This is where the story of Assassin's Creed Valhalla will pick up. There will be a time jump because the modern storyline unfolds in real time with our world and it's been a year since the Odyssey's Fate of Atlantis DLC ended, but you're all caught up with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Because Valhalla is the conclusion to Layla's story, and it leans heavily on Isu and the Apocalypse, there might be some connection to Desmond's storyline, so it may be worth considering another Recap of the original Assassin's Creed trilogy if you're interested. If there are any connections, they will probably be very light and not essential, so don't feel like you haven't played any of the old games.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Releases November 10 For PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna and November 12 on PS5.
