The story is a prequel to the video game Assassin’s Creed II. It centres around the father of the game’s main character, Giovanni Auditore de Firenze.
Giovanni is an assassin living during the Renaissance in 15th century Italy. At this dawn of a new era, a conspiracy is being plotted by one corrupt family to overthrow the powerful Medici family and destroy a unified Italy. As an assassin, Giovanni must face this threat and bring justice. The story introduces the situation before Assassin’s Creed II, and the enemies of both characters.
Episode 1
In the city of Florence in 1476, the assassin, Giovanni Auditiore, monologues on how hidden behind the enlightenment of the Renaissance, corruption, betrayal and murder are rife, but that in order to preserve justice, honour and the safety of his family, he will fight. From the shadows, he quietly watches his family enjoying themselves, before departing into the streets of Florence. Outside, he ambushes a party of mercenaries led by the corrupt nobleman, Rodrigo Borgia as they attempt to sneak out of the city under cover of darkness. Giovanni is able to kill two of the mercenaries and incapacitate the third, but Borgia escapes in the confusion.
Assassin’s Creed series fictional chronology
Giovanni brings the injured man to his master, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and warns him he has heard rumours of an approaching event that will trigger a shift in power. Lorenzo has the captive interrogated: under torture on the rack, the prisoner confesses that in the city of Milan, on the day after Christmas, the Feast of St Stephen, when the church bell strikes for the twelfth and final time, the Duke of Milan will be assassinated. Giovanni races to Milan and finds the Duke at Mass in church, but is unable to intervene before the murder is committed, and the Duke is killed. The murderers are swiftly dispatched by the Duke’s guards and Giovanni himself: however, Giovanni’s efforts to try to subdue one of the killers for interrogation fail, as the guard kills the last assassin. However, Giovanni searches the body of one of the killers, finding a purse of gold coins stamped with the coat of arms of Venice.
Returning home, Giovanni watches his sons play chess, advising his younger son, Ezio on how to become a better player. In private, he monologues that the Duke of Milan’s death has robbed Medici of a powerful ally, and that even now, his enemies will be plotting their next move. However, now he knows where to find them…
Episode 2
Giovanni arrives in Venice to investigate the possibility that whoever ordered the Duke of Milan’s assassination is hiding in the city. His investigations lead him to St Mark’s Basilica, where, after killing a guard to cover his tracks, he eavesdrops on a group of men conversing in a nearby room. He sees them dispatch a courier carrying a letter for ‘their master’ in Rome, insisting its delivery is of great importance. Giovanni tracks and intercepts the courier in Venice’s back alleys: after a lengthy battle, Giovanni overpowers the courier and tries to interrogate him: however, the courier refuses to talk, and kills himself on Giovanni’s blade. Furious, Giovanni takes the letter, which bears the seal of the Barbarigo family, and returns to Florence.
Back in Florence, Giovanni presents the letter to Lorenzo de’ Medici: however, it is encrypted, written in a strange code. Lorenzo’s aide, Uberto Alberti states it will take some time to decode, and sends Giovanni home to get some rest, promising to call him when it is done. A priest in Medici’s service translates the letter and presents it to Uberto, who tells the priest to summon Giovanni and Lorenzo, but warns him not to tell anyone of it. Back at his villa, Giovanni enjoys some time with his wife and family, before being summoned to the palace. His son, Ezio, is confused as to why his father must leave so late in the night and asks to go with him, but Giovanni refuses.
At the palace, Uberto claims they were unable to translate the letter, and therefore the only way to see who it is intended for is to take it to Rome and deliver it personally. In spite of the danger, Giovanni volunteers to take it: Lorenzo instructs him to find his enemies…and show no mercy. Back in Venice, the Barbarigos, with Rodrigo Borgia at their head, pray “May The Father of Understanding be with us!”, (confirming they are Templars), and prepare themselves for battle.
Episode 3
Giovanni arrives in Rome and delivers the letter as ordered, which is passed through the crowd until it reaches Borgia. He goes straight to the Vatican, where he delivers the letter to Pope Sixtus IV. The pair discuss the fact that Lorenzo de’ Medici is unwilling to bend to the Pope’s authority; when Borgia explains he could use force, the Pope agrees to lend his spiritual support and military aid to an endeavour to restore order in Florence.
However, when Borgia leaves, he is followed by Giovanni. But Borgia manages to give Giovanni the slip, and disappears into St Peter’s Basilica. As he investigates inside, he is confronted by Borgia, who remarks that what follows next is of his making. He appreciates that Giovanni’s skills would be of much use to the Templar cause, and that if he joins them, he will live to see ‘a new world’. When Giovanni refuses, and remarks the only way this will end is with an Assassin’s blade in Borgia’s throat, he sneers “We shall see!”, and orders his men to attack. Giovanni fights bravely and defeats his attackers, but is struck in the chest with a throwing knife by Borgia. Though he survives, Borgia uses the distraction to escape.
Badly wounded, Giovanni returns home to Florence, where his wife tends to his wounds. He confesses to his wife the fear the Duke of Milan’s assassination was merely the start of a conspiracy, and that the next blow will strike Florence, and that he fears for the safety of de’ Medici, his allies and himself. Suddenly, armed men of the city guard arrive at the house, asking for Giovanni. He has his elder son tell the guards he has already left, then escapes through a hidden passage.
Back in Rome, Borgia and his fellow Templars agree the main threat to their plans is Giovanni: however, Borgia says he has a plan to deal with the Assassin, and that with him gone, nothing will stand in their way. Back in Florence, Giovanni prowls the streets (pausing to muse when he sees Ezio flirting with his girlfriend in the street), monologuing that dark days are approaching Florence and time is running out: the final battle is about to begin. He remarks that no matter what happens, he and his sons are “the Auditore de Firenze, and we are Assassins!”
The film concludes with the message “The conclusion…is in your hands”, setting the scene for Assassin’s Creed II.
