Perhaps more so than the animus, the hidden blade, the history-spanning narrative, or the Assassin vs. Templar conflict, the Leap of Faith is an icon among the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Characters, time and again, do this both figuratively and literally; for example, Desmond’s decision at the end of Assassin’s Creed 3 is a leap of faith that the Brotherhood could carry on without him and stop the Isu Juno. Interestingly enough, it is his son that eventually does so in the comic spin-off, Assassin’s Creed Uprising.
But as characters keep taking leaps of faith, effectively gambling their life to protect their ideology, it eventually comes to an end. And based on the narrative thus far, general consensus, and much more, there’s a high chance that Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok is Layla Hassan’s last Leap of Faith. After all, she’s not the same character she was, almost literally, when players first met her in Assassin’s Creed Origins, and it constantly seems like she’s surrounded by enemies like Sigma Team.
Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok: The Modern Day Storyline
For now, not much is known about Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok, save that it’s exploration of history will take it to the Viking Era. Pretty much anything beyond that just serves as rumor, so it’s hard to postulate what could happen then. However, the Modern-Day Storyline of Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok isn’t.
Players first meet Layla Hassan as an Abstergo employee in Assassin’s Creed Origins, where she uses a portable Animus to relive Bayek and Aya’s memories, but refusing to check in with Abstergo puts her on its bad side. It dispatches Sigma Team to find her, with Layla dispatching them thanks to the Bleeding Effect. She is found by Mentor William Miles, Desmond’s father, who offers her a position with the Assassins. Although she doesn’t immediately agree, instead leaving with him out of concern for her own safety, Layla eventually joins.
In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Layla explores the memory of either Alexios or Kassandra (though Kassandra is canon) and eventually discovers Atlantis. Kassandra’s memoies eventually show Layla how to open Atlantis, where a new millennia-old Kassandra meets her and gives her the Staff of Hermes, revealing to Layla that she is the prophesied chosen one to bring balance. Much like the strange prophecy related to Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars, not much else is known about this “chosen one” or “balance,” with Layla instead picking up a new title: Heir of Memories.
Completing the Trials of Atlantis at the behest of the Isu Aletheia, it quickly becomes clear that Layla isn’t completely able to resist the Staff’s influence and corruption unlike Kassandra. She becomes more and more erratic, killing her friend Victoria and brutally stabbing Otso Berg in the back with the staff, despite him being clearly defeated. She then requests to be picked up by the Altair II.
All of this is to say that players will indubitably encounter Layla on another mission, but Layla won’t be the naive girl trying to prove her worth in Assassin’s Creed Origins. She won’t be the character attempting to learn her role in the world in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and come Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok, she won’t suddenly have mastered this staff. It seems clear that Layla’s road is a dark one, with much of this story once again reflecting a “dark” Chosen One path, and there’s plenty of elements to do so.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: The Staff of Hermes Trismegistus
Namely, there’s a good chance that players will encounter a modern-day storyline where Layla is attempting to do the right thing but is continuously tempted by the Staff of Hermes. It would be a major skip if she had suddenly just mastered it, after all, and she’ll likely learn of her true destiny while under this corruption: this would, without a doubt, put her in a narrative crux. Does she fall to this corruption, creating a fate much worse than before, or does she rise above? Either way, the decision could be her last leap of faith and something that costs her her life, a Desmond Miles moment for lack of a better term.
Her story may not be near as long as Desmond Miles, but neither does it have to be. There’s no living up to the legacy he left behind that or even that of Ezio Auditore, which is a likely reason that the Helix Player saga sort of bridges the two stories.
Putting the Ragnarok in Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok
Given that the Assassin’s Creed franchise is composed of its own trilogies and series, it would make sense that Origins, Odyssey, and Ragnarok are effectively the Layla Hassan trilogy. When Desmond’s story came to an end, it was of an apocalyptic magnitude; it is only fitting that Layla’s story does the same. This is mere speculation, but it’s also high time that the true power of the Pieces of Eden was displayed. This could easily connect to Layla’s prophecy, and hints, teases, and more suggest that there could be more Pieces of Eden in Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok than any other game.
There’s obviously the Staff, the initial tease in Division 2 was that of an Apple, and Ubisoft has teased that it’s not done with the Koh-i-Noor, a powerful artifact in the hands of Desmond Mile’s son that can track and connect the “fate” of the Pieces of Eden. All of this is to say that the future of the brotherhood, the war with the Templars, Abstergo, and perhaps even the planet again rest in Layla’s hands, as even focusing on the less speculative parts, it’s clear that something big is coming. It wouldn’t be “Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok” without it, even if that’s not the true name and more of a working fan title.
Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok is rumored to be in development.
