in this house we love and support desmond miles

I don't want to be afraid, The deeper that I go Then will you remember me in the same way as I remember you?

What a life, when the dead remember you more fondly than the living.

Desmond is confused since he went from frying to not frying, but there is a kid who is hiding from an adult. This is not looking good so he steps up and demands to know what the stranger wants with his kid, scares them off, and then turns to the kid. He crouches down and asks him if he's ok, did that adult ever hurt him, has anyone ever hurt you, and pretty much proved himself as a good parent figure without Billy having said a word.

Billy is also like wow are all gods this nice?

Desmond remembering the Isu: not in my experience.

claudia has spent so much time managing monteriggioni, managing the reconstruction, year after year in that lonely villa, abandoned by her brother, and left there to take care of their mother.

she probably didnt even have enough mental space to grieve her family properly. her father, her brothers, they were killed in such an awful way, and yet ezio told her what happened way later. how she must have been so worried, during hours, and watching over maria after she got assaulted. that's so tough.

and /then/ she learns about what happened to giovanni, federico and petruccio and- she's left all alone in a small town she doesnt know, along her uncle she barely (if at all) knows, and she lost her home, her stuff, her habits, her social circle, everything. all that's left of her family is her shocked mother (and that could get a full post in itself), and an absent brother who's acting all big-brothery towards her.

and so she manages this town. for so long. she learns how to deal with money, with investments, with the townspeople. their questions, their expectations, their judgement, their not-so-warm welcome towards that lady who thinks she can handle /their/ town.

and in one night- it all goes away in such a brutal way. she loses even more family. her uncle is dead. once again, she's left with so much to bear, without a minute to process it. ezio tells her and maria that mario is dead and they don't even have time to digest it. what's left of her precious work? of the town she thought of as a home, eventually?

to me claudia put so much work in monteriggioni bc, ofc she had to, but also as a way to cope with grief. with how everything she used to know got destroyed so she finds a way to /build/ something.

imagine the damage, when the precious result of that specific coping strategy gets shattered, too. UGH

Subject 17

IF his half sister can agree with him, he will ensure she sits on the throne. Calanthe is suspicious, but she is aware of how much his existence is a threat. She thinks he is weak with his self loving ways but agrees to protect them and make an example of those who would willingly attack them.

Desmond holds up his side making sure Calanthe sits with him in his king training classes. The mage is pissed but can't do anything since Desmond refuses to cooperate if Calanthe is involved. Even worse, he flirts with the stable boys and knights so the mage is annoyed that people are already comparing Calanthe and Desmond when there should never have been a comparison since there is only 1 heir.

When Calanthes betrothal is announced Desmond tells the mage he sister will not be going to Ebbing. Should they push the matter, they will find Cintra without any heirs as one has been shipped out and the other will never be seen again. The glow of his eyes makes the mage not call his bluff and the king from Ebbing is brought to Cintra instead.

The mage tries to push for Desmond's spouse considering the rumors about and Desmond waves them off. He wants to ensure his sister is living well before he decide anything. Should they insist then the line will end with him if Calanthe doesn't have any kids. The mage did such a great job picking her spouse and all despite Desmond disagreeing with everything about him.

The king has been bedridden this whole time, and it seems like the worst is about to happen. The mage prepares for a coronation suspiciously quickly. The invite they grab is vague of course and that works for everyone.

The night before Desmond sneaks into the mage's room and uses his apple powers to lock their chaos. He detours to the room holding the ceremonial armor commissioned for him and bam, it's Calanthe sized now. The massively sized portrait at the entrance is also changed from Desmond to Calanthe with a snap of his fingers.

They next day the castle is too busy with the coronation preparations to focus on Desmond. The mage doesn't notice anything since they ask about the preparations 'the are going well' if Calanthe had anything to say 'no she is being dressed as you requested' so when the Coronation is in full swing, they falter when the person in the well fitted armor is Calanthe.

They can't back out. It's too late to do anything so they continue the coronation while plotting to kill Calanthe later. An accident or 3 just to be sure. Instead, the mage gets beheaded after the crimes are listed out. Most shocking of all to the people is the fact that the mage doesn't user their magic. They see this as a sign of Calanthe's right to rule.

Her knights, because Desmond trained them to be loyal to her, chant Long Live the Lioness of Cintra and they do the sword arch Desmond had them practice in secret. Mentally she is embarrassed by her dramatic brother but pleased with his gift.

she nopes out with desmond as soon as possible to start planning how to save her son in 26 years and in the meantime keep bill Far Away from her baby boy

...while baby desmond, who cannot even hold his own head up, is EXTREMELY confused because this never happened? right?? he needs to get his mouth to make coherent noises STAT because what the fuck is going on

smh no stranger danger here, but also she glows blue so that's why he goes lol. Eventually it gets reported to Batman that a man has been spotted with Selena in and out of the suit. He knows he has no reason to worry, but he ends up chasing her next time she is out and he meets they 'stray' that's been hanging around her.

Desmond: first of all rude and second of all, she's helping me find the stuff I need to get back home, and third of all she is out of your league so if you keep that up she might realize it and look for someone better 😒

Altaïr has beautiful accent

Altaïr kisses both Malik and Maria

Arabic dubbing

Deus ex machina killing abbas before he does anything