MovieChat Forums > Assassin's Creed II (2009) Discussion > The Thing About Ancestors...

The Thing About Ancestors...

posted 14 years ago by ldyrdal
12 replies | jump to latest

Why is it that ONE guy, Desmond, picks up, through his DNA, this one person in Italian history. Would it not be possible that thousands / hundreds of thousands / perhaps millions of people could have Ezio's DNA? Why would they need Desmond exactly then? And could there be multiple Ezio ancestors in multiple animus'?

I love the game, but that is the part that annoys me.

I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy.

[–] Progeny51 14 years ago

If it was someone else they would be the main character. This is about Desmond.

[–] ldyrdal 14 years ago

But the new Templar corporation has hundreds of Animus', all they'd have to do is find a few more bar tenders like Desmond. It's not like Desmond is the last remaining soul ancestor from Ezio...I'm sure they could find thousands of guys with Ezio's DNA, passsed on throughout the ages.

It's still a great game, but you need to accept that this is the biggest plot hole, ever.

I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy.

[–] Progeny51 14 years ago

That's not a plot hole. They're using Desmond. It could be some other ancertor of Altair, or Ezio (they did have another, subject 16). But it could just as easily be someone other than subject 16, or any other person that they use. And that's exactly who Desmond is.

[–] ldyrdal 14 years ago

Take off your blinders.

Hell, either you or I could be an ancestor of some assassin if you go by this logic. A large family that starts in the 1400s would have SO MANY ancestors by 2027 (or whenever this game takes place). All I'm saying is that they wouldn't need ONE EXACT bartender to access a certain DNA memory.

DNA memories aren't real.

I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy.

[–] Progeny51 14 years ago

Pay attention.I'm not saying that it needs to be Desmond. I'm saying the exact opposite. It could be anyone else that is a descendant of any assassin that they want to learn about. In fact it was someone else before subject 16 escaped. But if it was some police officer from Des Moines named Frank instead of Desmond then the games would be about Frank.

[–] ldyrdal 14 years ago

I know, they should round up 50 peole at a time. The EVIL corporation had at least 50 animus' in their lair when Desmond escapes. Throw those 50 guys into history and let them go at it, they could fight against Desmond after he joins the right cuase.

I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy.

[–] done_holding_back 14 years ago

A large family that starts in the 1400s would have SO MANY ancestors by 2027

Unless they didn't. You're assuming that every generation since the 1400s is breeding like rabbits. It's possible and reasonable to consider that the family tree is narrow due to any number of factors, such as Assassin's living dangerous lives that don't lend themselves to raising a family.

I'm not saying that I think Desmond is the only living ancestor. I'm saying it's entirely possible and you have no reason to assume that there's just a big bucket of ancestors somewhere else in the world.

Consider that, at the end of the first game, they mentioned that there aren't many present-day Assassins left, suggesting that the Templars have been killing them off. This would be the smart thing to do: kill off all ancestors except a few, who you keep under lock and key to find the pieces of Eden.

[–] Nerfstar 14 years ago

First things first, Desmond is a decendant of Ezio and Altiar not an ancestor.

Both Desmond and Subject 16 are DNA decendants of Ezio, but we don't know that Subject 16 is a DNA decendant of Altiar.

At the beginning of the game, when Kristen Bell's character has Desmond get into the Animus 1.0 she sets the search for a matching ancestor between the two. That's why you are born as Ezio.

[–] kriss3d 14 years ago

Well the part where it plays a role is where the templars use quite alot of manpower and money on tracking down Desmond. They could just go for pretty much anyone else in the family along the lines.

[–] Captain_Iron_Spider 14 years ago

You need a direct descendant of Ezio to look at his memories. I'm sure there are thousands of people with Ezio's 'DNA' but that's no good enough. Remember the bit where Desmond goes loopy and dreams about Altair shacking up with that Templar chick and then she gives birth to a child? That's the last memory of Altair's Desmond can ever see, it then moves on to Altair's son. So Ezio is Desmonds Great-Great (enter appropriate number of greats here) Grandfather.

"Well I'm hardly going to smell like cheese and biscuits, am I...?"

[–] marbanasin 14 years ago

this thread fails on the basis that there were other test subjects, 16 others. The game never claims that Desmond is the only one. He's just the one they currently have.

Can't keep me off this escalator!

[–] ttaskmaster 12 years ago

In another thread I calculated the approximate average number of descendants that Ezio would have for Abstergo to choose from. It was something like 130,000.

But the main point here is that, of however many people Abstergo have tried in the Animus, only 16 showed any progress and ONLY Desmond has really survived thus far without going mental. Hence we're looking at his story, as the others were like more short-lived and fragmented.

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