- "Once, your Creed was as vital to me as air and water... but when the Turks marched into Wallachia and you Assassins did nothing to stop it, how could I continue to believe?"
- ―Vali explaining his betrayal of the Assassins.[src]
Vali cel Tradat (d. 1511) was a Wallachian noble, former Assassin and member of the Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order.
Having served the Assassin Order for around a decade, Vali left the Assassins after they made a truce with the Ottomans; the same people who had humiliated his people, conquered Wallachia, and murdered his secret idol Vlad Tepes. Feeling betrayed, he joined the Templars, striving for vengeance against the Assassins and Ottomans.
In 2012, his genetic memories were used as an Animi Avatar by the Templar company Abstergo Industries, for the second stage of training for their Animus recruits, under the title of the Sentinel.
Biography
Early life
Born as a noble in Wallachia, Vali joined the Assassins in his early twenties. He remained loyal to the Creed for almost a decade, until the Assassins called a truce with the Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II.
Believing that truce was traitorous to his people, since the Ottomans had shamed them, conquered Wallachia and even murdered his role model Vlad Tepes, Vali left the Order to join the Templars and seek revenge on not only the Ottomans, but also the Assassins. Due to his Assassin training, Vali was soon deemed to be one of their most valued and feared killers.
Feud with the Assassins
- Ezio: "Only a guilty man runs with such speed!"
- Vali: "And only a fool stops to fight!"
- —Ezio chasing after Vali.[src]
Vali calling on Byzantine soldiers
Being an experienced agent for the Templars, Vali had taken the lives of many Assassins. However, an Assassin apprentice caught on to his actions and spoke to the visiting Mentor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who had journeyed to Constantinople.
Arriving at a small courtyard and using his Eagle Sense, Ezio discovered evidence of Vali's recent murders. Suddenly, Vali appeared, running along the rooftops and assassinating an Ottoman guard. The former Assassin then fled the area, with Ezio and the apprentice quickly giving chase.
Later, as Ezio's apprentice attempted to air assassinate him and failed, Vali called out for help, spurring some Byzantine guards to aid him, which provided the distraction that allowed him to escape.
Death
- "Mentor, forget me. You have fallen for a ruse. He captured me to draw the Assassins away from our headquarters. He will be on his way there now!"
- ―An Assassin explaining Vali's plan.[src]
Vali's final moments
Vali later managed to create a diversion, by capturing two Assassins and containing them under Byzantine guard, in order to give him the time to try and infiltrate the main headquarters of the Assassins, which succeeded in distracting Ezio from his true ambition. After Ezio had freed the captives, Vali ordered Byzantine forces to attack the Galata den, with the fight ending with heavy losses on both sides.
Soon afterwards, Vali and Ezio had a brief encounter, which resulted in his attempt to escape. However, he was soon stopped in his tracks by the same Assassin apprentice as before, who emerged from the rooftops and leapt down to assassinate him, this time proving successful. Before he passed, Vali explained his actions and why he had abandoned the Order, claiming that he could not believe in a cause that had betrayed him. Once he had said his final words to the two Assassins, he gave his last breath.
Trivia
- Vali is a Romanian diminutive of names that ultimately derive from the Latin valere ("to be strong") or valens ("strong, potent, vigorous"). Cel tradat translates to "the betrayed" in Romanian.
- In the internal files of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, he is named "Vali cel Umbra", with cel Umbra translating to "the Shadow" in Romanian.
- Ironically, Vali's role model Vlad Tepes was a member of the Templar Order, and it was the Ottoman Assassin leader Ishak Pasha who led the final assault against Vlad. Despite being an Assassin himself, Vali still held the Assassins in contempt for Vlad's death.
- If Ezio managed to assassinate Vali before the Apprentice, the scene in the Memory Corridor would still show the Apprentice giving Vali his last rites.
- Vali shares characteristics with Shay Cormac, in that they were both Assassins who became disillusioned with the Brotherhood and joined the Templars, devoting themselves to hunting down their former associates.
Gallery
Reference