Why Do We Remember Ezio Auditore Da Firenze? | An Assassin's Creed Character Study

[Music] assassin's creed is my favorite gaming franchise of all time my first entry was assassin's creed brotherhood when i was 10 and ever since cse3 i have bought all the games on release date sinking thousands of hours into ubisoft's reenactments of historical landscapes from the third crusade to ancient greece and while the franchise had many ups and downs there's one thing that nearly every player i've met can agree on odyssey is the worst but aside from that it's that out of all the protagonists we've followed in over 12 years of gaming italian nobleman ezio auditorium de ferenzia will always be the best with the games he features in being the peak of the franchise and whilst we aren't getting any new games anytime soon the most recent update for odyssey did feature ezio's outfit for players which shows interest in the character is still prevalent nine years after ezio was seen on screen [Music] and so today i'm going to be doing a very different format from my typical movie essays and suggesting my arguments for this very simple question why do we remember ezio before we begin there will be full spoilers for assassin's creed ii brotherhood revelations and the short films lineage and embers will also be touched upon also please keep in mind that whilst ezio is not my personal favorite protagonist as stated in the beginning i am still a massive fan of this franchise so my opinion will factor into some of my points however i'm not here to talk about the games themselves just the writing and presentation of the character which by the looks of this runtime is going to be quite in-depth i've spent three weeks writing this script so please excuse any inconsistencies in the writing but since i'll be tackling everything chronologically chapter times will be available in the comments section if you want to skip to a particular part of the video as it can be quite a handful all in one go now without further ado let's begin [Music] let's start by looking at ezio's character design when we first meet him as a florentine noble from this initial character design the first things i notice are his popped color and loose sleeves that primarily focus you on his upper body the popped collar gives him the typical appeal of a 90s cool kid with the loose sleeve showing a more laid-back personality already telling us a lot about his character as a rich 17 year old ezio mustn't have much to worry about his father being a banker means he doesn't particularly have any money problems or needing to work since life expectancy wasn't particularly high in the 1500s averaging around 30 to 40 so it wouldn't be long before ezio inherited his father's job instead of having to go look for one this already makes the player think of this character as one who isn't sure with who he wants to be due to the lack of sincerity in his initial design he wears his hair in a ponytail with curtains on each side which emphasizes his youth and also resembles depictions of romeo from shakespeare's romeo and juliet that appears a direct inspiration for the character's design the curtains could also be taken directly from dicaprio's version playing into the italian stereotype of being a romantic with the ponytail to further shore the player his lack of aspirations or ambition to the point where he doesn't get his haircut but simply ties it back a clever detail to have since the player will 99 of the time be looking at ezio's back his lower half is naturally a lot darker in contrast with his pure and innocent whites and greens of his upper half this could be intentional since these trousers and boots carry over into the assassin robes and so some subtle foreshadowing is in place overall there's little to fault the character design perfectly encapsulates a florentine nobleman with materials that feel authentic and there are so many subtle foreshadows of what his costume would soon become but as a first impression of ezio it does a lot of the groundwork in establishing his character before we even meet him it's important to note that this isn't how we first meet ezio however we actually see his very birth while the mother maria comes across as a simple loving mother to contrast her leader oath of silence it is giovanni auditorium that steals the show character-wise by already implying his assassin roots by being lit to the birth and making a quick excuse which always gave me the impression he was a father too wrapped up in the assassin lifestyle that his family were merely a cover story such a lifestyle is explored in the short film lineage which acts to set the pieces in motion and provide a bit of insight into giovanni and his duality [Music] yes [Music] and the reason i'm mentioning this in a video about ezio is that ezio himself does get a few small scenes where he is shown to have a good relationship with his family but also that his father always wanted him to do great things which builds on their relationship more than in the actual game so it's some nice context if a bit heavy-handed why not i need you to assist your brother take care of the family while i'm away i want to help you father you're helping more than you know it's you more than you know the attention to detail given to the parents in this opening has external contrasts as well and so i have to make a small detour to talk briefly about the first assassin's creed one of the major complaints with ac-1 was that its protagonist was a plank of wood wearing the same costume as everyone else giving him no real uniqueness except for an extremely out of place american accent altair ibn lahat was raised under the assassins from birth as a mindless killing machine which played into the game's themes of free will however it didn't much help in creating a likable protagonist and so it's clear that in the sequel ubisoft went all out of creating a character that would really stand out and so from the very beginning ezio's name is literally bellowed into our ears to rest our minds at ease that this will be a name to remember [Music] this confidence carries over into ezio himself whilst internally he seems very conflicted on who he wants to become other than his given job at the bank clear character traits are established early on we see he is violent and quick tempered although willing to defend his family's honor and also has a lot of people that support him already showing leadership qualities that will emerge further as his journey continues the events that follow showcase how ezio feels towards his family and also towards people that oppose his family in a wider skill than the opening we get a more fleshed out impression of the character from these interactions etsy was willing to help his younger brother catch feathers if not to establish a later collectible but to attach a gentle feather with the younger brother as a reflection of the innocence ezio still has within him the interaction with do chill showcases ezio's hypocritical views towards women he calls a woman a [ __ ] before beating on the rich noblemen that used his sister claudia in a similar manner this is something further exemplified with maria stating ezio only has interests in women sexually and so his violent reaction towards dutia may actually be because the two are quite alike and ezio is unable to see this instead lashing out which is something that contrasts with our initial impression from his design it starts to unravel that ezio is dangerously loyal to his family and they may be bringing out the wrong side of his personality but is still argumentative with them which gives him some semblance of guilt when they're taken from him and that he didn't appreciate them more the opening hours of the game are meant to strengthen the player's attachment to ezio and his family which further impacts his statement at the beginning that it is a good life that he leads best never change and may it never change us the line may it never change us is a huge bit of foreshadowing but it gives us an insight into the mindset of the character [Music] when things are going well we have a tendency to want to pause that moment and stay in it forever and so especially for returning players it becomes painful that we the player push ezio into this spiral of events and fundamentally change him the player is as much a part of the character as ezio himself and ubisoft want our actions to impact ezios so that we feel partially responsible and therefore will seek revenge on the order as much as ezio does the last note i have on these opening hours is the inclusion of leonardo da vinci to act as a through line for ezio before and after his family are killed we get to learn more about ezio and how he has changed through how he acts towards leonardo before and after before he is respectful and polite but after is more demanding and seeks help from him however not as aggressively as they begin to build their friendship as a key player both here and in brotherhood leonardo is portrayed as an innocent and kind soul that only wishes to help he is a genius and looks positively in more situations in a way he's one of the anchors keeping ezio on the light side and provides some relief from the dark storyline these small quests lead to the event in which ezio's brother and father are taken to prison and this is where the game's defining chapter begins the following events set the remainder of the game in motion and the repercussions it has on ezio's character are felt right through to revelations ezio is told to find his father's hidden room that contains his broken blade and assassin robes ezio attempts to clear his family's name until this happens you and your collaborators are hereby sentenced today you are a traitor roberto and one of them you may take our lives this day but we will have yours in it and i swear we will cover hey grab the boy he's one of them i'll kill you for what you've done the theme of revenge is one that is incredibly simple yet effective to fit a character like ezio he is purposefully built with this theme in mind and it's one that follows him into brotherhood and is for many people a weak aspect to ezio's character and yeah it is overdone to death but for this character it's clear that it needed to happen to get his noblemen lifestyle out the way in order to develop and humble the character before he came across as unlikable the piercing of it feels natural because we know it needs to climax with something life-shattering to propel the prologue into the actual game it's just a matter of time but the seeds are in place with ezio's violence and relationship to established characters that we already get the impression who he is so that now the ark can begin now what makes video games have some of the best characters ever oh my boys what makes video games have some of the best characters ever well one the personal connection we feel controlling the character and two the amount of time we control them for when watching tv or movies there isn't the choice to keep going video games can have us be the character for as long as we want and it'll never get old people love characters like master chief not because he's complex but because he is us everything he's done that is so impressive we can say we've done and feel proud but also there's time to become more invested in the characters that we see for longer imagine having a craft an 11 hour story along with consistent side content all the way along that makes the piercing redundant and the flow of your story different for every player that is why it is so crucial to have a slow build up so the principles of the character are clear and in the back of our heads for the entire game ezio has the vivid image of his family being murdered to sit in our minds there are visual motifs in place throughout to remind us of ezio's motivation the feathers remind us of innocent protrusion and how maria is in shock from his death the suit you wear is not yours it's giovanni's and so we have this visual reminder that you are finishing something you didn't start and let's talk about that costume this is ezio's first proper suit and he wears it for almost the entire game so you become incredibly familiar with the design assassin's creed one featured bright white suit that fit practically to reflect the burning sun in the middle eastern heat but realistically did not serve a master of stealth all too well when you're the first thing people see here however the design makes thematic sense the white represents nobility and flamboyancy the theatrical is definitely taken into account with the design as if ubisoft knew they would be stuck with white and thought to build a character that would wear it and why the cape the loose sleeves the smirk on his face tells you everything [Music] you need to know that this game will have more fun and that ezio is a character will have more fun once his assassin ropes are donned however the revenge aspect of the story means he is a bit stubborn and serious but eventually the promise of the game's box art chose itself as late 2000's age the costume uses red like a flirtatious throwing down of the gauntlet almost asking people to oppose him to challenge him his passion and violence are expressed through the one colour now a primary colour aside from altayaz mia belt i should still point out i do love altair's outfit but it's going for something very different than that seals and doesn't present as much character which in altair's case is the point but anyway the most important part of this design is that it doesn't take anything away from the nobleman costume it simply adds on top of it the popped color the pointed boots they're all still there but now the costume is jagged and triangular to show ezio as a true threat in preparation for this video i bought the assassin's creed visual history which is a guide showing the artwork from all the games from assassin's creed one to syndicate and it's helped massively in defining uh characteristics for ezio and specifically the costumes now when looking at the assassin's creed 2 segment i do want to read out a little quote to give you an idea uh what the devs were thinking at the time it goes the earliest conceptions for the italian assassin were exciting and dramatic but felt too far away from that invisible sense of what fit within the franchise additional explorations abandoned the clean bright white of an eagle and instead used the craw as a much bleaker animal totem [Music] one of the first mistakes i made in the beginning was going for something very dark we talked about changing the symbol of an eagle as something different like a crawl but we found that it went too far in the other direction with the crew representing death and poison so we threw away that idea the art team even actively tried to move away from the hood an idea that would gain ground in later installments but in the early life of the franchise it was clear the hood still needed to become part of the assassin's identity now i'll be referring to the visual history a few more times in this video but for now you can get an impression just how much work they had to go through in order for the devs to really uh you know build the character of ezio at the time they had to make the design there was no gameplay none of the side missions were actually planned out they didn't even know what the story would be they just had the concept of an italian assassin and this is where their minds naturally went and that helps massively because it's where the player's mind will also go so that kind of instinctive response is why i think the assassin's creed ii robes are so iconic is because they are exactly what you think about when you say italian assassin now i know i'm bouncing back and forth but i really want to mention the music in this game and how it complements ezio as a character now i'm no musician but i can try to see the intention behind some of these tracks the most important being ezio's family the one everyone in their grandma has heard of since it's been reused so much now that it's become the main theme for assassin's creed but what does it mean for the character it was meant for [Music] ezio's family whilst not actually being the main theme of the game does describe ezio's journey throughout the track feels powerful and works in two different ways before and after the hanging beforehand you can hear innocence and calm a happy peaceful time which slowly twists in a conspiracy and a hidden underlying mystery the singing contorts into something more haunting found more intensely in other tracks but here just enough to imply the danger the song is not only ezio's family before a happy and content group but after broken and betrayed seeking vengeance the truck escalates to show us the pain of losing his family and how it twists etsu into seeking justice and losing his innocence uncovering the larger mystery at hand that was hidden from him and rising above that he didn't want to be an assassin none of the protagonists in these games want the path they're given it's tragedy and betrayal that lead them to going on this crusade and that theme found throughout the games is why this track has appeared so many times because of its appropriation when the song is at its peak it quickly fades his anger has simmered down and ezio regains composure he has brought them to justice but to what end after all that's happened do you think he would have shown either of us such kindness you are not fiery do not become him que with ezio's family being hung in front of him his ark can finally begin to find the people responsible amongst a growing conspiracy and clear his family's name his uncle mario provides ezio with a father figure despite not being in the game too much which thankfully let's etsy or become a more active protagonist these are the first steps in ezio uncovering the conspiracy not out of revenge but to fulfill the prophecy i'm gonna ignore that prophecy for now and come back to it later because unfortunately it is quite destructive towards ezio's character an interesting note i picked up on during my most recent play-through was the theme used for christina the girl ezio hooks up with in the opening that will absolutely be discussed more when we get to brotherhood but her theme i equate it to simply a lovey-dovey theme however it makes a strange reoccurrence immediately after ezio returns to the brothel after killing alberto and it's not the brothel's theme by the way it is a completely different track the theme is brought up several times more in brotherhood and on the jesper kid best of soundtrack it's credited as ezio and katarina who is the love interest in brotherhood however i think this theme whilst romantic-ish is honestly very painful to listen to [Music] [Applause] it screams tragedy and i feel like that's what this theme really represents the things ezio cannot have it needs a bit of work but what i mean by that is ezio doesn't realize yet that he can no longer have love after he kills alberto he realizes he has not gotten justice or content here is where he realizes what he's gotten himself in for ezio rushes into this cause so quickly and kills alberto so soon that he can no longer escape and so it all becomes clear why giovanni never told ezio about his heritage it was to save him so he could live a normal life for as long as possible until the day came he must take over from his father it's a tragedy that ezio's life was so content but it was never going to stay the same whether his family were killed or not [Music] i genuinely don't know how people can talk for this long oh my god right with each of ezio's targets eliminated he begins to mature we see him develop his people's skills beyond that of stubbornness and naivety he slows down and appreciates other people's opinions and learns to build up an assassin brotherhood this arc improves over altayas massively since the lessons he learned seemed to be just simple justification for why the assassins do what they do with philosophical dialogue thrown in to cover up the fact the main character does not have a narrative reason to change other than the plot needs him to over time through the repetition of tasks wow that really sounded like a head i'll tell ya i don't i don't hear ulta yeah but you know what you know what it's fine i don't hate him i don't hit him i love the suit i love the suit i mean i mean sometimes it can be a little bit irritated i have no interest in the treasure that's a good problem you know what let's just carry on let's just i just carry on ezio on the other hand has different gameplay mechanics show his development he metaphorically can't reach a new ledge so he receives guidance on how to physically reach it he viewed women as objects of pleasure so they teach him how to take advantage of that to blend into your surroundings his character has a natural progression as he rallies everyone to his side and there really isn't much more subtlety than that it's just a well-crafted way of creating an arc that's simple but effective due to the execution over the course of the game which spans years of ezio's life during this time we hear him mature his voice deepens his words slow and more thought is taken he even grows a beard until the same nobleman we saw at the beginning is nearly unrecognizable if not for the armor his father left for him throughout the course of the game there are these massive dungeons in the form of the assassin's seal missions that unlock altair's armor i like to view this as you proving yourself to the game so that ezio can grow out of his father's robes and earn his own when the armor of all tyre is obtained it sums up ezio's entire arc through visuals alone it is black with more longer drapes over the front making it look slower to move in he's no longer the youthful and pure character but a matured silent one he listens to people respects different cultures and upbringings and yet the little white that is left sure ezio still has a sense of humor and will not forget where he came from but has now reached his full potential or has he the reveal of the reason ezio's family was killed is where the worst plot device in history is implemented according to an undisclosed prophecy devised only to move the plot along decree that ezio will deliver a message to the modern day protagonist and then there's weird future aliens the only importance it brings to ezio's character is the implementation that he was destined to go on this arc and that he did not do it out of his own free will but that ezio was being guided to the right place at the right time so that he could infiltrate the vatican and punch the poor [Music] a clever trick but useless this does numb ezio's character development somewhat however what's important is that it did happen despite the prophecy and really for the game to pull a destiny gimmick out at the last act is pretty poor and doesn't seem to fit with the ark they were building however this does go somewhere interesting in the future installment but that's where assassin's creed ii leaves us with a team of assassins and a completed journey so where could ezio go next well if assassin's creed 2 was batman begins then brotherhood was the dark knight [Music] now what do i mean by that well it's kind of like how the dark knight isn't about batman that much sure he has an arc he's the protagonist but it's kind of like watching a batman in his prime take on a colossal threat without worrying about getting him from one place to another but instead just letting batman's arc respond at joker's actions until it reaches its conclusion well there you have ezio and brotherhood ezio is a prophet that has fulfilled his duty and now the game asks what happens next well it's simple the fallout of his previous mistakes comes back to blow up his house but i'm getting ahead of myself there's a fantastic first few hours to the game that puts etsy in a state of calm after decades of hunting the templar order his mission is complete destiny fulfilled he begins to settle down and look towards the things he is now free to do he turns to a relationship with katarina and helps the people of monterrey with simple errands the dialogue here i mean it isn't exactly subtle but it's nice to see ezio in a normal environment and how friendly and respectful he is he wants to be a good leader and enjoy the rest of his life he's looking forward to an easy life now that his father and brothers have been avenged etsu p is more likable than ever through his kind actions and flirtatious attitude that reflect his younger self and yet the looming threat of something going wrong is felt throughout and we know this piece is all too good to be true i have to find mario and rally the troops my men are in the courtyard i aim to lead them around back and flank our attackers stay out of sight when vengeance consumed at seal he lashed out [Music] you are right to fear me but eventually he spared the man that was responsible and now that man is consumed by vengeance brotherhood asks the question was ezetio's arkhan 2 with the right thing or should he have finished the templars when he had the chance cesarea symbolizes the manitzio was the man that would have killed the pope and jesus he even does jesus is etio's joker the one who lashes out and kills mario as an act of war destroys the armor of altair the symbol of a matuadezio and destroys the brotherhood so that he must build it back up for himself brotherhood is a blockbuster that tells the story of a defeated man proving himself as a leader to build an army against his own mistakes whilst mean turning his inner circle of friends that acted as his voice of reason with the rules now reversed ezio's armor this time is that of a roman master assassin a very rectangular design compared to the previous but he wears the same armor as everyone else he puts himself alongside the other assassins and sees that he is willing to regain the image of his younger self in order to build himself back up because he's already the confident man he needs to be to do it whereas cesarea acts out of paranoia and madness ezio is calm and collected square level headed like his outfit he wears white because he wants cesare to see him coming this time ezio takes on more of a optimus prime kind of rule here being a stoic leader but with the same humor and charm that makes him work he still feels like the same character from two much like ezio himself the game refined a lot of mechanics from two including a chin kill which means that you the player feel like ezio is improved now with the ability to disperse fours quicker he feels more like a one-man army but as you build up your team of assassins and siets etc start to become more of a mentor then it becomes more clear ezio's arc in this game if assassin's creed ii displayed ezio learning from his friends and building them into a brotherhood then his arcane brotherhood is learning to work with them and become the leader they believed he was destined to be his involvement with the prophecy is quickly swept under the rug and the characters just shrug it off and focus on what would happen next ezio however has already gone on this life-changing journey in the last game so his character doesn't develop too much further apart from him becoming a leader there's an argument to be made whether ezio needed another game or whether his arc was completed in two i think many of the ac characters didn't get games that deserved it a lot more than ezio they certainly could have left ezio there characters like arno or bayek feel like they had a lot more to offer but got cut off too early brotherhood does make etsyo feel like a badass but because the player has been with him the whole time it does feel like a natural next step it doesn't develop to the extent of two but it does enough to not feel like a rehash brotherhood reinforces ezio's relationship to his family lost towards the end of two with the inclusion of claudia as the leader of the brothel which puts her right in the middle of this war an action ezio naturally disagrees with as he wants to keep his sister safe after what the family have gone through she however has already progressed to no longer depend on ezio and be a strong female protagonist she doesn't need ezio to take care of her problems defending her nuke home against the bulger and make them suffer for what they've done joining the brotherhood and allowing etsyor to become less protective of his family and recover from their trauma maria also acts as the voice of reason setting ezio on the right path when he disagrees with his sister's actions after ezio collected all the feathers for her she broke her silence and has begun to recover playing an important part in bringing this broken family back together as the game progresses ezio must question the loyalty of his fellow assassins with internal conflict between la volpir and machiavelli i also know he abandoned you right before the villa attack machiavelli may not please all tastes but he is an assassin not a traitor i am not convinced meaning that ezio must pull through as the leader taking his time to uncover the true identity of the traitor in their guild rather than lean into vengeance that once clouded him which would have resulted in the death of an innocent machiavelli but instead of lashing out he listens compromises and eventually gains the trust of his allies which is contrasted with cesare's crumbling support after he poisons his father and betrays his sister as ezio leaves him vulnerable severing his support from the french why do you cry they're going to take my mom on a boat ride they say i will go on the next one the man from the castle came with guards and arrested us he scared me they are scary but you look very brave the finale of the game puts ezio head to head with cesare fixing his mistake of leaving rodrigo alive and fully finishing the order by leaving cesare's fiat in the hands of gravity because ezio still can't bring himself to let vengeance consume him and so in a blaze of glory he concludes his story however that's nowhere near the end of ezio's progression in this game the biggest addition etc's character are by far the christina missions that are littered throughout ezio's time in assassin's creed 2 and fill in many of the details that the previous game passed over i will go over these mission by mission introduce what they do for ezio's character mission 1 is called a second chance and is set before the events of two and further builds upon ezio's relationship with his brother and christina who was very briefly seen in two but now gets more of a setup leading into two frederico is shown to be more playful with his little brother and his knowledge of women sure where his attention is focused and explains how ezio gains such similar traits however we see here a less confident side ezio being shy and nervous around christina and this gives us further insight in ezio at his least confident contrasted by being in a game or is arguably at his most these missions serve better with prior knowledge than if they were included into ear c too we see ezio is a bit of a stalker which is a trade associated with introverts and as the mission goes on he comes out of his shell more when he defends christina against another guy when ezio wins christina's affection he gives a rather goofy but charming smile that makes you feel quite happy for him despite knowing what happens to ezio next it's just another thing that builds etsy as a more likeable character but adds further context to ac too ezio wasn't always a ladies man as much as his mother may have suggested he worked hard to win the only girl that would ever sleep with him up until that point his lack of confidence being a major factor in this mission two last rights shows ezio and christina taking the bodies of frederick or giovanni and petruchio and burying them at sea something only hinted at in ac2 and something incredibly important to ezio's character we see the last interaction he has with them his fond farewell a calm in between his rage the very moment he snaps and christina is alongside him this mission tells us more than anything that ezio had someone by his side to ease his pain which could be why he doesn't snap entirely due to christina anchoring him it's a great moment that could have been included in ac 2 but the knowledge that this is the turning point for ezio losing his innocence hits harder knowing her support cannot be there for much longer as i spoke about earlier the romeo and juliet references come front and center since these two are now being forced apart by destiny mission 3 best man has etsu returned to florence two years after he was forced to leave to protect his mother and sister we now see him visit christina immediately showing that even with that much time passing etsy was still clinging to his childhood sweetheart it adds more layers to ezio many times in assassin's creed love is completely missing from certain characters and it takes away a lot of their humanity it's a large part of what makes us human is our attraction and relationship to others and it's why characters like conor are not as well liked however with ezio it's given more depth by there being two sides to his love what everyone else sees and what he sees everyone at your meets calls him a ladies man but now we get to see the truth in secret ezio had found the one the one he was fighting to hold on to even when he had to leave this mission shows brilliantly as etsy has already run out of time she's already been married off and ezio has to save the man that he must instinctively hate only to find that he's almost a better man than he and an ideal husband which is so heart-wrenching because we want ezio to be the hero and get the girl but ezio's tragic tale cannot allow it his character is too far gone and the writers openly admit that a murderer cannot have a normal life and so he is forced to let her be mission four persona non that one takes place during one of the major set pieces in ec2 being the carnival neatly tying in an interaction between etsy and christina which only really serves the purpose of putting etsyon kastrina on bad terms for what happens next whilst tetsuyo never lost his feelings for her christina certainly did she moved on from ezio and lived a normal life which brings up the idea of obsession and naivety as parallels can be made to ezio's role as an assassin and the amount of commitment it must take to go further and further into this cult-like creed this mission answers that small hall by acknowledging ezio is an obsessive character which leads perfectly into the consequences of mission five the title of this concluding chapter loves labor's lost is named after the early comedy written by shakespeare revolving around young men that vow not to engage with women that find themselves surrounded by them and inevitably falling for them it's a comedy about young love so why is this mission named after it well i believe it's irony purposefully contrasting the events of the mission ezio does not get his love it instead gets pulled away from him i cannot emphasize enough that these christina missions take place over decades and ezio's mindset never changes so this final mission forces him to make that change by killing off that part of his life it's your stumbles upon christina's husband being killed and rushes to find and save christina but it's too late i'll get you to a doctor you're going to be all right no it's i don't think i am no don't go stay with me christina it's you don't you know i've always been with you i wish we could have had a second chance [Music] this sums up the themes of this story perfectly in a horribly tragic moment that brings the connection of romeo and juliet back to the forefront however ezio has to live with this the last spark of ezio's youth extinguished his commitment to christina was useless all of these missions show us ezio's pursuits for a normal life despite his illegal actions it gives us the sad impression that if etsy or stayed away from his destiny maybe he could have lived happily forever if only he got that second chance and so we leave brotherhood ezio having defeated the ghosts of his younger self's mistakes bringing together a brotherhood to stand for the creed he now believes in and leaving behind any semblance of a normal life it's here we skip ahead to the furthest yet to a very different [Music] the weary traveler begins his final journey in search of wisdom after leaving rome 12 months ago ezio leaves his brotherhood behind in search of altair's great library at massiaf the legend of his codex pages are now a distant memory and etsyor seeks to learn all that altair did in his lifetime fully embracing of his creed and too late to get his happy ending the crossroads of the world await in the concluding chapter of ezio's saga [Music] by the end of brotherhood ezio was certainly getting up there in age but unlike ac2 his character model remained the same so it was difficult to see the time span the game took place over however it was eight years and in his final appearance placing the apple in the coliseum ezio was 48 but didn't look any different from the end of ac2 where brotherhood had shied away from addressing ezio's age revelations takes full advantage of it it may be a common trend now to age up characters with their audience in order to feel a sense of nostalgia there was a time when characters would remain timeless there are of course many advantages to keeping your character looking the same for example brand recognition if you can recognize a character purely based on their silhouette then chances are you've got a good character design assassin's creed doesn't have this issue since every character has the same iconographies so they are easily recognized let's use the example of mario no not that one the nintendo character mario mario one of the most recognizable fictional characters of all time he's most recognizable by his overalls and bushy mustache not to mention his large red hat with a signature m if they were to do a mario origin game ensures a teenage mario what would they need to change for starters take away the mustache could probably keep the hat but mario's design is so simple that taking away a key component like that could throw the audience completely i think you get what i'm trying to say certain characters are designed so well that changing anything about them would just ruin their appeal mario has looked the same in every game besides obvious new power-ups and gimmicks now here's how assassin's creed works so well for this concept etsy was a character people recognized from his iconic stance with the two blades out showing a cocky attitude and charm his beaked hood and red belt with the large assassin buckle is also iconic and his italian robes fit the time period and tells players where they will be travelling to whereas nowadays the box art will feature the whole country squashed into one image despite this and assassin's creed franchise has always been identified through its character design unless the world since it's constantly changing so the through line has to be the beeped hood and hidden blade otherwise it loses its identity revelations however gives a good demonstration of how the character design can complement the story since a lot of ezio's new design barely resembles his previous looks and he could easily be mistaken for a new character this must be intentional to further emphasize how far etsios came the new outfit does a lot of the talking for him now i'm going to be biased and say that this is my favorite look for ezio but it wasn't always and allow me to explain i played the games in this order ac brotherhood then two and revelations i bought together much later down the line in order to catch up even then i played ac one that came free with revelations more and enjoyed it more for a 13 year old riding the hype for unity hello guys it's pixelnight here and as you can see by the title today we are doing five things that unity did right revelations was the least interesting for me solely down at etsu's design and how it contrasted with the gameplay trailers showed ezio was a now wise old man a very far cry from how everybody remembered the character however the gameplay hadn't changed he still ran just as fast just as high despite how the dialogue in the game will try to tell you otherwise i felt like i was playing as the same character that hadn't changed at all and that didn't make sense an aged up assassin just didn't appeal to me because i would rather play as a character that fit their animations so what changed my mind well in preparation for this video i bought the ezio collection and i've been writing each segment of this study as i play it at this moment i'm halfway through revelations and can't see progression in terms of ezio's character he's being treated like a rookie by yusuf getting several tutorials and hand holding around the city all very negative i'm sure but then i noticed something in the dialogue ezio doesn't seem to enjoy these tutorials in one particular cutscene he seems to want to snap back at yusuf but decides to stay quiet and allow him to continue ezio wants to steer young yeah i bet you could have seen that a mile off but and so did i but it's when i saw actual evidence of it i screamed hallelujah i have something to talk about ezio is still ezio this statement is huge ezio is past his prime but he is a cocky big-headed italian nobleman that has learned how to be humble and has gained stubbornness from his year alone travelling and refuses to let up he's too old to settle down too weary to continue but the player keeps pushing him forward we've watched him grow so much he still needs to parkour fight kill his identity is all lost his robes are dark and have completely lost their youthful energy he's truly cloaked in darkness like a mystery we wish to uncover but we the player are in on it we know every story this man would have to tell we share his wisdom so both the character and the player go seeking more we don't climb rooftops for feathers we gain books the major theme of this game is respecting the past more than any ac game has ever been it's a thank you for sticking the journey out here's a fun farewell to this era of the franchise we'll have the epic chases the assassinations the combat but you know eventually it'll lead to that library a ticking timer before ezio's life gets snuffed and this sense of finality the game excels at because it trusts that you've been there for the ride and you get to see it end i didn't like revelations because i didn't look at the weight it carried ac games these days focus on spectacle big open worlds lots of quests and immersion that it sometimes forgets that character can be more massive than any open world ever could be the game still has a quick piece to it but ezio contrasts this by speaking slower and more tired there's an underlying bitterness that he can't have what others do yusuf represents the man ezio used to be sophia the woman he wants to wear no sofia is young but intellectual she has used her rich upbringing for the good of others which is everything ezio should have done but didn't he can't go back and change that it's done you can't go back and replay ac2 with the knowledge it's too late ezio made his decision years ago when he chose to seek revenge and now he has came to fully regret that decision but isn't fully willing to let his age stop him from enjoying the path he was sent on that's what i feel revelations is ultimately about moving on and letting go ezio stayed in rome for three years after brotherhood seemingly with no opposition and in his boredom left to explore the world well maybe boredom isn't the right word more like an unwillingness to let go of the brotherhood he built up ezio lost so much in his life that he has attachment issues but he did leave the whole cast of the previous games left behind this is more character piece than ezior about ezio than his wider story much like logan does by excluding the x-men the game spans three years which i believe is the shortest in the franchise and it heavily contrasts with the decade spanning esc ii but it complements the mindset of our protagonist ezio's spur for vengeance took him down a spiral he couldn't see a way out of by the time you the player finished the game and stopped to regain your thoughts on what to do next you realize that you've just taken a huge chunk out of this man's lifespan to achieve ultimately nothing and then a further eight years must be wasted to stop the border and here we are ezio finally having the time to do what he wants and so he clings on at least small three years to do as much as possible judging by his robes we can already see what he got done in 12 months this is intelligent blending between the story and the character it's only when you look at the timeline of these games and see how we get less and less each time with ezio that we realize how strong the bond to him has been his story is nearly over we were surprised to see him again and again everyone asking when erc3 will come out that when it finally did come out and we moved on people didn't want to people still yearn for ezio to come back to this deer because we barely see much of a time frame in revelations that it feels unfinished ezio is now a mentor he's older than his father could have ever been but surely that should invite a globetrotting epic the last odyssey of etsu auditorium fighting the templars till his dying breath well sorry to disappoint but this is where you as the player leave him you collect the keys and find the library only to find it completely empty i mentioned altair briefly back at the beginning but the expert intertwining of the two warrants a brief catch up altair was not given a choice for his upbringing he followed a cycle his father was an assassin so was he when given the apple of eden a metaphorical symbol of free will he chooses to burn his mentor's vision of the creed and run away yes he was exiled but the apple gave him enlightenment and made him see there was more to life than the assassins he had a son a wife that was tragically struck down he lived in mourning for years before accepting his role in the brotherhood once more returning the assassins to glory spreading them out amongst the globe and dying alone in the ruins of his castle so that his son could go home and live his life the life that he never could the life that ezio never could ezio takes off his braces his weapons unsheathed he understands altair's true wisdom there's not some technology or weapon the apple taught him to live his life simple as that the words nothing is true everything is permitted have had many different interpretations across the series but here they represent the cause being a lie the assassins and templars the ones who came before these gods none of them are true none of them are important you decide what's permitted everything is open to you live your life how you want because the conflict will never end at your generation live your life as you see fit yes there will be consequences but it's your free will to choose remember when i said that ezio having a destiny in creed 2 ruined his character well look at revelations sweep all that under the rug and give it a perfect counter argument a young altair foresaw a prophet a young ezio became it both men now old and having wasted a lifetime devoted to a cause they didn't achieve an inch of progress in leave with the same message to future generations it's not worth it every game that came out since those were the words echoing in my head for each of the characters please turn around walk away because it won't end with you it's not worth it and the longer the franchise keeps going the longer that nail will be hammered in what a beautiful ending to a game and to a character at its heart there's something so sophisticated with revelations in its approach to storytelling within the largest possible constraints that i can only give it prayers for how well realized the closing moments of the game are it's exactly what fans wanted to see in the opposite way of how we want to see it ezio and altair meet with their actual thematic reasoning ezio retires to go get his happy ending it's about time and the best part it's still not over see you thought i was going to move on embers but i am actually going to talk about the soundtrack revelations was composed by both lorne balth and jesper kate which means it's a great transition from the renaissance games into the american revolution with the brass horns and epic sweets being subtly introduced but lending themselves fantastically to ezio's final chapter making it feel more epic whilst leading us into desmond's even bigger finale in the next game let's be honest here revelations is made by the music in every aspect hard-hitting moments bring you to tears with the right music and this is so rapidly different from any soundtrack before it i would describe it as mature like wit past the cartoonish brawls with the pope the soundtrack reflects the harsh emotion of an older man who was seen so much it's like a reflection of his memories and they aren't good the road is long and cruel and a tragedy always underlying in previous games but revelations will make you feel sorry for ezio his time is up the angelic voice accompanying the opening cinematic is absolutely magnificent [Music] hey [Music] escalating further and further until taking a sharp jolt back to remind you that this isn't over what a tremendous score from the exotic tracks for constantly noble to the creepy and machine-like sounds for altair this may not be the most iconic soundtrack but it sure is more suitable for the game it's in now you would expect revelations to be the perfect end for ezio but ubisoft went a whole step further with a gorgeously animated short film that depicts ezio at his very end when chinese assassin xiaozhun appears seeking guidance from ezio he is simply too old and weak to help her maybe in the past he would have shot off to china and killed everyone in his path but here he can simply offer her the same advice he seeks from altair it's a bit a sweet moment to see ezio this frail but especially in animation when you weren't able to skip it like a cutscene if you were watching this short it's because you cared enough to see it to the end and it allows the short to spend time having ezio do mundane tasks and simply relax and enjoy the little life he has left he has had a decade since revelations and so did in somewhere get the normal life he seeked with christina but was far too late to fully enjoy it when xiaozun brings conflict to the home ezio sends his family away and helps fend off the manner but it's too much for him he survives but has exhausted himself to the point of it being fatal etsy was writing a note throughout this short which ends up being his will to sophia a beautiful speech about how he wishes he could have had more time and the things he missed out on in his life are a sad note to end on for a character that brought such an energy but xiao zhan that has helped him to this conclusion and thus has guaranteed him a legacy to be passed down in many different parts of the globe and throughout time he dies where he was born in front of the place where this journey began this is where we performed the first sleep of faith and frederico's words echo it is a good life we lead brother the best they'd never change and may it never change us now his actual death is that of speculation since a dude who screams templar does give him some shifty looks and presses him on the shoulder but i don't think that's important the point is he's a mirror image of ezio he dreams of rome somewhere and ezio ended up going so we can be reminded of the first two games if you ever questioned why ezio wrought his will as a message for his successors well here's your reason because [ __ ] like this will always exist i like to believe that the attack on the villa was too much for ezio and caused him to suffer a heart attack which ultimately caused his demise but the point being that a man who killed so many could only die naturally like cesare that believed no man could murder him ezio has been left in the hands of fate maybe decades ago he could push his body further but no longer time has caught up and our hero passes before i give my conclusion it's only appropriate to play the final words delivered by ezio himself [Music] when i was a young man i had liberty but i did not see it i had time but i did not know it and i had love but i did not feel it [Music] many decades would pass before i understood the meaning of all three and now in the twilight of my life this understanding has passed into contentment love liberty and time once so disposable are the fuels that drive me forward and love most especially miocaro for you our children our brothers and sisters and for the vast and wonderful world that gave us life and keeps us guessing endless affection mr sofia forever yours it's you auditory [Music] nearly 10 000 words and very broken vocal chords later here we are my ultimate conclusion on why we remember ezio as one of the greatest characters of all time assassin's creed is renowned for its attention to story and character from the comedic and energetic friar twins to the thrill-seeking edward kenweire everything that made assassin's creed what it is boils down to ezio ubisoft put in the time and effort to develop a single character from birth till death showing everything in between with the maturity to show him as a three-dimensional character the fantastic character design and world built around him excelled in defining who ezio is and roger craig flip and smith i don't know how but he did it he managed to voice a 17 year old and a 65 year old and make it feel natural the best way to truly show why etsy was remembered is to show his legacy there hasn't been a single assassin since him to appear in more than one game the most we've ever been given is arnold and evie that got a dlc sequel in the form of jack the ripper and dead kings although i'd argue the latter is marathon's better at development there was for a time rumors of bayek getting a trilogy that would take him from egypt to greece to rome showing the origins of the brotherhood and setting this grand stage however those seem to have been left to the weir side since whatever the [ __ ] odyssey was meant to be came out what i'm trying to say is it's about time and dedication ubisoft work very differently now to how they used to whereas now games need to be huge kinda kinda not rpgs with micro transactions littered throughout plenty of copy pasted mechanics and a thousand different collectibles they used to be very experimental assassin's creed one was a proof of concept that a spin-off from prince of persia could be more than that and hauled up on its own as its own franchise when assassin's creed ii blew expectations out the water ubisoft panicked and changed direction completely on esc3 and in the meantime clinging to ezio like their baby until it was time to let him go these writers worked so hard to keep this character engaging and piggybacking off the previous with more and more dated graphics and movement systems that players began to grow bored of but the stories delivered so much to keep their investment high that now ubisoft produced some of the best aaa games on the market i know i just trash talked them but i know i've just trash talked them but god knows i love ac origins with watchdogs and rainbow six being strong in their own rights but none could possibly be unless assassin's creed gained the success it did and it's all due to one italian nobleman that redefined gaming as we know it so thank you ubisoft for giving the world ezio auditorium [Music] and thank you all for watching holy mother this was a big one but i couldn't have done it without the incredible support from my last video essay on daredevil i mean jesus it reached 3.5 key views like look at my other videos the highest i had until then was like 300 so getting 3k was absolutely incredible it was featured in uh websites it was blowing up on reddit absolutely incredible so in order to keep the standards up i really wanted to create a big chunk of a video to give you something to really dig into and i hope i did all right this is the first gaming analysis i've ever really done so i know it's it's going to be different compared to my film related media but if you want to see more like that if you want me to cover more games then hit that like button and that'll inform me of such let's continue this discussion in the comments i'm very excited to hear your personal favorite memories of etsy or tell me what your favorite moments are with the character what made you truly fall in love with him don't use this video as a set standard you know if you have something that was my you know words out the water go ahead put it in the comments let's let's try and spread some positivity during such a horrible time thank you very much for watching everyone and i'll see you in the next video [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause]

Channel: willismakesmovies

Views: 43,997

Keywords: #filmreview, #videoessay, #industry, #movies, #analysis, #shortfilm, #directing, #producer, #camara, #photography, #cinematic, #filmmaking, #videogames, #breakdown, #podcast, #ProtoXype, #willismakesmovies, #Maddogstudios, #guilt, #thecolony, #behindthescenes, #news, #update, #shorts, #moviemaker, #assassinscreed, #assassinscreedvalhalla, assassins creed ezio, #ezio, #eziocharacterstudy, ezioauditore, #assassinscreedezio

Id: 1lqp7x9m-gE

Length: 69min 36sec (4176 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 19 2020