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He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning recent or upcoming releases from the Assassin's Creed series. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. |
The Trident of Eden was an ancient artifact created by the Isu during human prehistory said to give the powers of a god to its wielder.
Originally belonging to Alexander the Great, he used the Trident in conjunction with a Staff of Eden to build his vast empire. While the Staff maintained his rule, Alexander wielded the Trident on the battlefield which saw his armies go undefeated.
When Alexander died, the Trident was split into three and scattered across the globe. Separated, each one of the Prongs functioned as Daggers and held their own individual abilities, allowing their wielders to manipulate the emotions of others. One caused an intense feeling of fear, in another an overwhelming sense of devotion or admiration, while the third induced blind faith.
Two of Alexander's generals, Seleucus and Ptolemy, each took a dagger, to Asia and Egypt respectively, while the final one was sent to Macedonia. Eventually, the Macedonian and Egyptian segments of the Trident ended up in the hands of the Roman Caesars with one subsequently being inherited by the Papacy.
Prongs
Faith prong
The faith prong was in possession of Pope Callixtus III during mid-15th century, before he gave it to the King of Aragon, Alfonso V, who passed it on to his descendants. Emperor Charles V eventually offered the artifact to Hernán Cortés, who used it to conquer the Aztec Empire.
In 1519, during his campaign against the Aztecs, Cortés displayed the power of the dagger: his men were reinvigorated by his mere presence on the battlefield despite facing overwhelming odds. The conquistador also used the artifact to bring hostile natives under his banner, as when he convinced Chimalpopoca to help him in an instant, despite the old Tlaxcaltec commander stating that he was ready to die before helping the Spaniards in any way.
Following the Mexican-American War, the Piece of Eden was brought to the Aztec Club in New York City until they lost possession of it during the 1863 draft riots. During his fight with Varius, Templar Cudgel Cormac inadvertently used the dagger on the Assassin while ranting about the Order's ideals, putting the Assassin in a state of confusion between his own faith in the Creed and the words of Cormac backed by the power of the prong. Varius was saved by Eliza and the pair gave the Piece of Eden to Ulysses S. Grant. Before his death, Grant hid the artifact under the floor of his home in Mount McGregor where it lay undisturbed until around 2016.[1]
Fear prong
Originally belonging to Seleucus, this prong was buried in Mongolia within the tomb of Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire who died during the 13th century while invading southern China.
When used, the dagger had the power to materialize the worst fears of its targets into vivid and terrorizing hallucinations.[2]
Devotion prong
Eventually, the Macedonian dagger found his way up north and by the 10th century, was in possession of King Harald Bluetooth, the viking ruler of Denmark.[2]
History
In the modern era, the mysterious Sebastian Monroe and a group of teenagers he recruited accidentaly discovered the existence of the artifact through the exploration of their ancestors' memories in the Animus, specifically by witnessing Hernán Cortés using one of its prongs during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
This discovery pulled them into the conflict between the Assassins and Templars, as the two factions began to look for them. The team of young Assassin and Templar descendants went in search of the Trident while reliving the memories of their ancestors during the New York City draft riots of 1863, convinced by Monroe that they should hide the artefact from both factions.
Eventually the group came apart when a Templar strike team assaulted Monroe's warehouse. Owen Meyers and a reluctant Javier Mondragón escaped and joined forces with the Assassin Griffin, while the four captured others led by Sean Molloy and Grace Collins willingly decided to help the Templars. However, the first part ended up stolen out from under Assassin and Templar forces by an unknown third party, whom everyone believed to be Monroe.[1]
During the following weeks, the two factions pursued their hunt for the second prong of the Trident each on their side thanks to the genetic memories of Natalya Aliyev and Owen. Through their ancestors, the Mongol Bayan and the Assassin Zhang Zhi, who were both involved in the death of the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire during his attempt to conquer southern China, they discovered that the dagger was entombed with him in Mongolia.
Eventually, upon seizing the fear prong in the tomb of Möngke Khan, Isaiah revealed that it was him, not Monroe, who took the first part of the Trident in Grant's house and that he intended to use the Trident to become a new Alexander. Isaiah then broke apart from the Templar Order and took Sean with him, the young man having discovered, thanks to the memories of his viking ancestor, Styrbjörn the Strong, that the last prong was somewhere in Scandinavia.[1]
References
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