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Headscratchers / Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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    Assassin Contracts 

  • How does Edward Kenway take Assassin Contracts before he actually is told about them? Gameplay and Story Separation or is there an untold story?
    • Perhaps the Bartender in Havana told him about them, recognizing his attire and assuming he was an Assassin? Murder for hire isn't beyond Edward's capacity.
    • The same answer to half the headscratchers from the first game; it's the Animus. Abstergo is just too lazy to put in the effort to have things take place in the correct chronological order. The in-game database entries even state this outright; plenty of structures and landmarks are in the game despite not being built until a decade or two after the event of the game. Its also fitting in their character as Templars, less devoted to the truth than the Assassins whose animus tends to have "fewer" anachronisms, guided mostly by Shawn's pedantry.
    • This. Don't forget, too, that he can find and retrieve a Mayan Stele stone on the first island he ends up on, long before James Kidd ever explains to him how.

    Assassin skills 

  • Speaking of which, how DOES Edward possess so many Assassin skills before he becomes, well, an Assassin.
    • What Assassin skills? There is nothing the Assassins do that is unique to their profession, and a lot of their skills would be shared with successful pirates or aren't things that you really need to be trained by someone else to do (such as the leap of faith or parkour). You might as well be asking why Hathman has all the assassin skills despite his training being solely under the Templars.
    • Well there's all the various assassin tricks that he knows. Things like the way he uses the hidden blade like he's been trained in it for double kills, running kills and the other various special kills. Things like a regular stealth kill or kill from hiding make perfect sense, just imagine using a dagger. But these skills do not come off as the sort of thing just anyone would know how to do but Edward just does. Just because. As for Haytham this makes more sense than you're giving it credit for - there's no reason the two groups shouldn't fight in almost the exact same way - they're basically two sides of the coin. They want the same things essentially, they just want it to happen in entirely different ways.
    • Haytham was being trained in swordsmanship by his father Edward in the explicit hopes of raising him as an Assassin and he also inspired him to awaken his "eagle sense". Of course he died at the age of 10 but undoubtedly part of that training led Haytham in the same direction.
    • The best answer is perhaps blood, first-civilization genes which Edward and many Assassins possess. In the second game, the Video "The truth" with Adam and Eve showed them having Parkour and freerunning skills implying that this is the source for the Assassin's gifts. There's also the fact that Edward is a very quick learner, capable of assimilating information fast and good improviser. All it took was Woodes Rogers and Julien du Casse telling him the different assassination techniques and we play him go through that in an obstacle course. He also has skills as a sailor of climbing up masts and topsails, "every finger a fishhook".
    • "Things like the way he uses the hidden blade like he's been trained in it for double kills, running kills and the other various special kills." Really? I don't see what's so terribly complex about "stab two people at once" and "stab someone while running" that Edward couldn't figure out. Air kills in particular are something Edward would probably be quite skilled with already, being a sailor with a great talent for climbing. No doubt he's killed many men that way while boarding enemy ships, only now he's using an Assassin's hidden blade instead of his usual twin swords.
  • No, I question this too. Freerunning and use of the blades is easily explained away as Edward being a sailor and a pirate, but how in the blue blazes does he know how to activate Eagle Vision? I was always under the impression that Altair, at least, had to spend years training up his perceptions, but Edward just kills a guy and takes his pants and suddenly he can see people's auras? Come to think of it, how did Ezio do it?
    • Every human alive in the AC universe is capable of Eagle Vision, some are just inclined to pick it up easy (usually from being descendants from the precursor race.) Edward himself mentions that he has had the ability since he was young.
    • Exactly. In-game, you can activate Eagle Vision immediately - you don't need to wait for Edward to steal Duncan's robes. It'll be something he's been able to access for years - probably just thought he was especially perceptive, rather than tapping into humanity's supernatural ancestry. Ezio was the same - his father mentions using his 'gift' to find the secret room in their house.
    • In game he mentions to Kidd (during the stelae tutorial on Great Inagua) that he’s had that ability his whole life. Some people just have it inherently and don’t need training.

    Templars publishing the data 

  • Why are the Templars interested in making public not only the Animus data but the Assassin vs. Templar conflict? Edward isn't a great role model for Assassin behavior but he's still not exactly friendly to their cause.
    • In-game its stated that they plan to alter the content and market it differently from how it was. The player character is Research Analyst who merely collects data as to how it happened in the past. The final game trailers are Stylistic Suck Pirates of the Caribbean knock-offs whereas Black Flag is a Shown Their Work Warts and All look at The Golden Age of Piracy.
    • This was actually addressed back in Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. All mention of Templars has been conveniently excised from what really happened in Aveline's life, and it's up to Erudito to hack the game and show the player that Aveline truly was unfailingly loyal to the Assassins and directly opposed the Templars. Presumably, Abstergo Entertainment intends to do the same with their depiction of Edward Kenway's life as well.

    Pirates and Ubisoft 

  • A meta headscratcher, but why would Ubisoft, of all companies, want to make a game with the main character being a pirate? The irony of the situation must be completely lost on them, what with their stance on modern Internet piracy.
    • The number of people who'd pay for a pirate game is just too high to ignore.
    • Because it's just a video game. I can't imagine they're any more favorable towards actually assassinating people.

    Jackdaw crew 

  • Why does the crew of the Jackdaw not object to Calico Jack's actions against Edward Kenway and Adewale?. It's understandable they stand aside for Charles Vane but you'd think they'd have a problem with marooning their Captain and Quartermaster before a total stranger takes over their ship. Charles Vane blames it on Edward's obsession with the Observatory but this seems to be Never My Fault more than anything.
    • One thing is timing, Jack pulls it off so suddenly that there's not much time to react, second the crew regards Edward, Adewale and Charles Vane as very tough fighters, which they are, so they would likely feel that they don't have the same luck and skill level and then there's self-preservation. Deal with Rackham for the time being instead of going Zerg Rush on him and his boys which would cause a massacre on ship and would likely endanger their captain and quartermaster. The other reason is that The Mutiny seems to be a common, and certainly not unknown occurrence so the crew might feel that if Rackham pulled it off than he's earned it. By and large the Jackdaw prefer Edward when he's successful, lucky and not working with Obviously Evil pirates like Bartholomew Roberts but beyond that they have no special feeling for Edward, they're Only in It for the Money, just like Edward, and want to save their own lives as well.
    • Also bear in mind that Edward rescued Vane and Rackham from their own sinking ship and along with them a bunch of their crew tumbled aboard the Jackdaw. So it wasn't just the Jackdaw's own crew but Vane and Rackham's boys to contend with.
    • The above is actually the best answer. If you look at the people rescued and the ones standing with Calico Jack they're the same. Those who are turning against you are Jacks own crew mates that he's already convinced to turn against Vanes. The bigger cause for confusion is why Vanes, Edward and Ade just stand there - those three could take Jack and the whole damn crew if they had to seeing as how you can basically do just that to any regular Man-o-War. Gameplay and Story Segregation at its finest.
    • Because, as many liberties with history as the Assassin games do take, they try to adhere to Earth's true canonical historical timeline. Charles Vane really was set up by Rackham and left marooned on an island. It's probably the most competent thing Calico Jack ever managed to pull off on his own. Later Vane was rescued only to be turned over and hanged. But the only thing this version changes from Earth's true timeline is that Edward happened to be there. Ubisoft really does do their homework for these games, and the main characters are all witnesses to these great moments in history. I like to think the meta-reason you've never heard of Ezio or Edward is, well, they're a secret order of assassins and wouldn't be very effective without the "secret" part, and that Abstergo decided to write them out of history. Hey, the Chinese do that with their own history, why can't the Illuminati?

    Edward's death 

  • The biggest headscratcher to fans who have played Assassin's Creed III and/or read Assassin's Creed: Forsaken and then played this game's version of Edward Kenway is how does The Captain of the Jackdaw, the scourge of Empires, the man who outlasted Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Charles Vane and Bartholomew Roberts, end up dying in his house, at the age of 42, killed by random mooks when in the past he sacked Spanish and British Man O'Wars, defeated five immensely lethal and durable ships, and hunted several sharks and whales moreover.
    • In the novel it is stated that Edward secured himself a pardon from Sir Robert Walpole by working for him, shortly after returning to England. This happens to be a curious fact in itself, given that he is the brother of Duncan Walpole, whose death at the hands of Edward signified Edwards foray into being an Assassin.
    • Robert didn't like his brother much.
    • There's an answer in Fridge Brilliance, which more or less states it's because Edward didn't have any of his armor or health bonuses and was protecting his wife and son—which means he was extra vulnerable. You could also argue that, like professional athletes, he'd done a number on his body with all the fighting and rum catching up to him.
    • That would be true if this wasn't already a running gag of the Assassin's Creed games. All that work Altaïr put into making things right in the first game? Irrelevant. Everything falls apart in front of him, he does nothing to stop it and his kid and best friend gets killed for it. Desmond busts his hump to save the world only to find out that every step of the way he's been manipulated and then he dies. So having Edward die, his son taken in by the Templars and his daughter sold into sex slavery makes perfect sense for an epilogue. In the future we'll find out that Connor was killed by slipping and falling down the stairs to his home, accidentally crushing his infant child in the process.

    Jackdaw in III 

  • Related to What Happened to the Mouse?, in the game you build and upgrade the Jackdaw into a Cool Ship that can take out Man O Wars and Legendary Ships, so how come it seems to disappear completely by the time of Assassin's Creed III where the Aquila is the flagship of the Assassin Fleet. Did Edward salvage the Jackdaw or did it go down in battle sometime in his retirement?
    • Whereas the Jackdaw was repurposed from a Spanish escort, the Aquila was built specifically for usage by the Assassins. The Aquila outclasses the Jackdaw on almost every point, having 30 guns vs 23 on the Jackdaw, in addition to 4 vs 2 swivels.
    • It is possible to explore the fate of the Jackdaw in Freedom Cry.
      • It explains the what and where but not the who, when, why or how.
      • We don't know how old the Jackdaw was when Edward grabbed it from the Spanish and there's about a 13 year gap between when it's last seen at the end of of Black Flag and it's reappearance as a sunken wreck in Freedom Cry. It might have been getting old, been poorly maintained in that time or just ran into a string of bad luck. It's also possible it that when it was sank it was under the command of someone less skilled then edward, which led to it's sinking.

    Caribbean assassins 

  • Another What Happened to the Mouse?, at the end of the game, Edward builds contacts with the Caribbean Assassins, Adewale and Ah Tabai and later works in England as an Assassin presumably with locals there. So in Assasssins Creed Forsaken, where were the rest of them when when Edward was attacked by Birch and Templars. Why didn't any of them rescue Haytham from Birch's evil influence or save Jenny from her fate. You would expect that Adewale, who admittedly has his own life and concerns far away in the Caribbean, would be interested about his old friend and his family.
    • Either dead or too far away to help, as what usually happens throughout the history of the games.

    Memories after children 

  • Edward had his daughter and Haytham, yet the Researcher can still access memories from well after Haytham was born; the Opera house epilogue. Unless it's not canon.
    • The same way we can see Ezio's dying moments in Embers more or less from his POV. It is canon but is essentially outside the Animus interface. A bigger question is how the footage from Embers is available in-game for Abstergo's perusal.
    • That's easy. They found Shao Jun's descendants and put them in the Animus. Hell, they might even be working for Abstergo Entertainment.
    • A more prosaic answer is that the memory at the end of game is Haytham's. He's very small and so is initially obscured until he tugs at his father's sleeve but is still close enough to see and hear everything even if he is too small to understand it. Likely the researcher sequenced the Haytham memories of his childhood as well and used that to draw on Edward's post-game life.
    • Also in Forsaken, the earliest journal entry that Haytham dates is towards a trip to White's Chocolate House which is where Edward promises to take him after quitting "this posh gig". The game ends right where Forsaken and Haytham's story begins.
    • What about the fact that we're playing as Edward throughout the whole game even though Jenny would have been conceived sometime before the game's events? Heck, during the credits we see Edward and Jenny together, yet we're still controlling him. By all accounts, this scene must be in the Animus' data banks.
      • It's outright stated they have Edward's genetic memories because of "Sample 17" (Desmond), who is Haytham's descendant, not Jenny's.

    Review video and Ezio 

  • During the review video for if Ezio would be a suitable property to use in video games, they show and discuss events that happened during Embers. How do they have this footage and know these events, if they occurred after Ezio had his last child and stopped passing on his DNA?
    • Abstergo may be raiding graves and tombs across Europe for their DNA.
    • Or have access to the DNA memories of Shao Jun who was with him for most of the events.

    R-L 

  • Where did the moniker R-L for the Player Character come from?
    • It stands for "Real-Life." If you want to know who first came up with it I doubt you'd be able to find out. Someone on the internet started using it and it caught on.
    • If you read the database, you'll see your co-workers' initials as well as your own, so it's a ID abbreviation. They'll likely reveal the character's full name and face next game.

    Crystal Skull 

  • What did Bartholomew Roberts intend to use the crystal skull for? He still had it when Edward confronted him, so obviously he wasn't going to sell it. It almost certainly wouldn't help with his piratical exploits. And while he hated the Templars, he didn't seem to have much interest in doing anything to stop them.
    • He's following the compulsions written into his DNA by Juno. He probably doesn't consciously know why he wants it, he just feels like it belongs to him the more the Aita personality starts kicking in.
    • He probably does have some plan for it. He said that he wanted to release Juno but he was born too early. Bear in mind that the Observatory contains Crystal Vials of First Civilization beings which go missing at the end, presumably Roberts hid it somewhere. It's likely, that he was searching for Juno's blood vial to find where her tomb is...but was limited by his very human body to do much and he somehow seems to have caught on that Edward(through his descendants) will do what he wanted to do anyway. He's pretty much a "Shaggy Dog" Story and he admits as much in his last words

    Milo Van Der Graaff 

  • Who is "Milo Van Der Graaff", anyway? Okay, it's pretty obvious he's a shady character (if not an outright pirate), he's a lousy liar, and he's pretty loaded. All reasons he wouldn't want you to see his face or dig into his past. But there's literally nothing at all on him. He's not in the database, no one ever says a word about him, and you don't even learn the name until you capture a fort and inquire about a "Naval Mission". Heck, you getting paid is pretty much the only evidence that he exists at all!
    • He probably doesn't exist. That is, "Milo Van Der Graaf" is likely an alias. A lot of pirates did that back then so as not to tarnish the family name. Blackbeard has around 7-8 known alternate spellings of his last name, some or all of which may have been invented by him personally. To this day, despite literally centuries of research and investigation, no one really knows for sure what his real name was, where he came from, or even how old he was when he died. So, who is Milo Van Der Graaf really? We may never know...

    Depression 

  • Edward's spiral of depression after escaping from prison. Okay, the Jackdaw is missing and he has no idea where Bartholomew Roberts is. He's escaped from two deserted islands (in both cases surviving an outright murder attempt from the other occupant); a bustling city should be a paradise compared to that. The smart thing to do would be to lay low, snoop for information about his ship and/or Roberts, pickpocket or loot once in a while, and otherwise just take it easy and enjoy the fresh air for a few weeks. The simple thing to do would be to steal another ship and pick up right where he left off (presumably shipping it off to the fleet once he found the Jackdaw) Sure, being betrayed by Roberts is a bummer, but of the "I'm going to kill that bastard" variety, not the "my life has no meaning anymore" variety. And on top of that, he just escaped from prison! Disappointment, frustration, sure, but what exactly is there for him to be depressed about?
    • Pretty sure it was less that Roberts betrayed him and more because Mary Read just died in his arms and everything had been going to shit. While his friends were of dubious quality, as mentioned below, he had been fighting and sailing by their sides long before the game began, so it's not surprising he felt bad after losing everyone even remotely friendly to him.

    Redemption 

  • For that matter, the whole fall-and-redemption arc...he's shallow and selfish, all his friends are dead, he won't support the Assassins' cause. In order: 1. He became a privateer, and later a pirate, so he could become rich and build a better life for himself and his wife. And then he was called upon to put up a lot of his personal money to build a base of operations (which he did), free Assassins from slavers (did), obtain medicines for the people of Nassau (did), and help his friends escape from Nassau (did). What else was he supposed to do, start an orphanage? 2. With friends like these...well, let's just go down the list: A dimwitted rich boy who helped Edward get to Havana (where he was headed in the first place) and afterword did absolutely nothing of note, one of the most evil pirates in history whose crimes included statutory rape and murdering his own crewmen, a stubborn Assassin who helped Edward with a few minor tasks and otherwise treated him with contempt for nearly the entire story, a surly raging bull with no redeemable qualities who ended up trying to kill him, a snotty, snippy, good-for-nothing jerk who marooned him (leading to the aforementioned kill attempt), and a smug, self-important fop who sold out to the Templars. Anne Bonny, Adewale, and Anto are very much alive at the end, each of whom has more virtue than all of Edward's dead "friends" put together. 3. Why should he have supported the Assassins' cause? Up until when Ah Tabai rescues him from prison, they did nothing for him. Their whole philosophy baffled him and no one ever made any attempt to explain it, and he was effectively banished from Tulum after rescuing several of them from Laurens Prins. Time and again Edward asked what was in it for him, and he never got an answer.
    • All of those things you mentioned were still in keeping with his selfishness. 1:in order to get rich,he left his family. 2: having a base of operations was a huge benefit to him, and his reputation. 3: even though he was under no obligation to free the assassins, ultimately he only got involved because of his obligation to his crew. 4: getting medicine for Nassau was not a selfish act, but it wasn't done out of altruism, he wanted to protect Nassau, a place where he occupied a position of power.
    • Also, What is your point about the other pirates exactly? Sure most of them had serious issues but the point was that they were his friends. How else could you explain me almost crying when "one of the most evil pirates in history" is killed? They were his good friends and they all died. One of them happened to be the most constant woman in his life(though that doesn't mean much) since his wife, and she died literally IN HIS ARMS, after making him promise to better himself. In the end, the Fall part of the arc was little more than his realization that all of this money and fame that he had worked so hard for, and suffered so much for, would not bring him the happiness he always believed it would. At this point he realizes the true value of his friends and family, and subsequently becomes depressed because most of them are now dead or estranged. As for why he joined the assassins? I believe they literally picked him up on the rebound. Edward is emotionally vulnerable after his previous revelation, and now is beginning to see the possibilities in working towards a cause greater than himself. He already knows he is not joining the Templars, given his feelings towards Hornigold, and his knowledge of what they want to use the observatory for. Add in the sparks caused by 1: his closest remaining friend (Ade) leaving him to join the assassins and Mary Read's dying wish that he make something of himself, and he decides that the assassins are his best option.
    • As for the Assassin's negative attitude to him; he has no control a big part of what makes an assassin, he seeks not to better himself but his station, as such ideals are mere sophistry to him a way to keep him from money, oh; and he had just personally given the Templars information on all their activities in the Caribbean blowing the cover multiple agents and several deaths.
    • Following the above, just look at the consequences of his choices at the end of his life. He ends up bettering his station but never really himself. He refuses to train his daughter so she can live the life of a "proper woman", idolizes his son and deals with men necessary to maintain his station. The result is these men (who end up being Templars) kill him, his daughter spends her entire youth as a sex slave and later a bitter recluse while his son becomes the very antipathy of everything he believed in as an assassin.
    • I believe the point was that Edward was no more selfish or immoral than you standard pirate, and many of his friends were worse than him; yet he gets chastised for his actions and goals like he's a special case all the time, even by fellow pirates like Ade and Mary Read.

    Leather sails 

  • Were leather sails really a thing during the Age of Sail? Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think that leather would be too heavy and too expensive to make decent sails.
    • This is Edward Kenway we're talking about, the pirate who bought SOLID GOLD Cannons for his ship...I don't see any reason why he couldn't buy leather. As for the weight....Lightweight leather?
    • Apparently yes, leather sails were a thing. The stronger construction meant they could withstand worse weather.

    Edward's sleeping arrangements 

  • Where on the Jackdaw does Edward actually sleep? His cabin is full of stuff a pirate captain would need, and lots of stuff that really ought to be stored in the hold, but there isn't a bed anywhere. Even by the standards of the 18th century, his own comforts must be absolutely spartan.
    • Maybe he's got a hammock squirreled away in his cabin somewhere.

    John at the end 

  • What the hell did John inject R-L with at the end of the game?
    • My guess is that it was something meant to prepare R-L for hosting Juno. Melanie mentions it was far below a lethal dose and he empties the syringe, so he couldn't have been trying to kill R-L. R-L was meant to be Juno's host, and she would use his body to take over Abstergo, but something went wrong on her end and R-L 's body wouldn't be able to handle the presence of a member of the First Civ. What I am interested in is why Juno chose a male host?
    • Nowhere was R-L's gender alluded to in any way. Especially considering John's comments about his/her body, it's not unreasonable to think R-L is actually a woman.

    Tulum and non-lethality 

  • The Tulum mission. Why did Edward elect to just knock the assassins out when he never canonically bothered with going non-lethal before? How did the templars overrun and capture the assassins if they both knew they were coming and had had them on the run before? Why was the only points that any assassins actually help you out was if there happen to be guards near where you free them and those two kills under the synch point?
    • He knew or suspected they were with Kidd and figured that killing his friend's allies might not be such a wise idea. The Templars simply came back in greater numbers and stacked the deck in their favour before hand. The assassins are busy helping out all over the island rather than shadowing Edward who can take care of himself.

    Nothing is True 

  • In a later mission called "Nothing is True", why do the Assassin's bother with the espionage? They know who Kenway is, they know what he did to their operations in the Caribbean, and they are very well aware that he is in the area, so why not call him out on what he did? Give him a Reason You Suck Speech? This Just Bugs Me.

    Abstergo and new employees 

  • Why did Abstergo Entertainment allow a completely new employee to view secret and classified information, such as the mere existence of the Templars and Assassins in the first place, let alone artifacts of power like the Observatory and vials? They try to handwave it by having some other characters laugh it off like it's fantasy, but wouldn't it be easier to have this job done by people who are already in the "need to know" list rather than a freaking new hire?
    • A few reasons present themselves. First, the Abstergo higher-ups are clearly pressuring the crew for time, so it's possible anyone higher up has significant responsibilities already. Replaying Edward's life, while it does reveal important facts, is still effectively busywork since they can just record what they need. Second, it's possible that R-L was either intended to be inducted into the Order when they found what they were looking for, or alternatively was going to be killed. They had zero qualms about locking the new hire in a basement dungeon when they thought they were a traitor, and without the assistance of the Assassins they would not have escaped it.

    Reginald Birch 

  • How the hell did Edward not realize he was working/befriending with a templar? As far as I know, Edward kept active as an assassin in London. Is there an explanation for this?
    • He's an easy mark? Might feel like I'm reading too much into it but the number of people who pull the wool over his eyes in Black Flag coupled with him being shocked the Big Bad double crossed him (I will never understand how he didn't see that coming), make me think Edward isn't very hard to fool. His strengths were in fighting, sailing, and exploring. Everything else was strongly lacking.

    Hiding Caroline's pregnancy from Edward 
  • Why did Caroline hide the fact she was pregnant from Edward? She wanted him to stop risking his life chasing a "fool's errand" and stay with her, so revealing to him that she was pregnant with his child had a big chance of convincing him to stay by her side. And while we're at it, why did Jenny hold the fact that his father didn't raise her during her first 7 years against him to the point she became estranged from him, refused to use his surname and resented her half-brother? It was her mother who hid Jenny's existence from Edward, so he had no way of knowing that he had a daughter.
    • Caroline may not have known/been certain she was pregnant at the time Edward left. As for Jenny, she doesn't have to be rational about it. And even so, Edward never bothered to come home in all those years, and was a legitimately awful person shortly before his big Heel–Face Turn, when he finally started to improve. Their bonding may not have been without ups and downs.

    Looking for Sage DNA when they already have some 
  • So I may be missing something obvious but from Black Flag up through Syndicate there's a big plot point about the Templars looking for Sage DNA for the Phoenix Project(ISU cloning), except it kinda seems to forget they already have John's body who was a sage. So why are they still looking in the past for Sage remains when they have a fresh Sage Corpse already in their possession?
    • Around the (modern) time of Rogue, the facility holding John's body was destroyed, so they needed a new Sage.

     What exactly is the point of the observatory and how the heck does it work? 
  • Obviously it's meant to allow covert surveillance on people when you plug their blood into it, but you need a sample of their blood in the first place which seems like it would be harder then just tracking them any number of other ways. The fact only one person can be watched at a given time and it's rather remote location all seem to make it rather less useful then it really could be. Besides, it seems like the ISU could come up with more efficient ways to keep an eye on people given their tech level, which is what one presumes it was meant for?
    • Don't forget the Observatory would have originally been built way back in the ancient civilization's prime. It was likely a way to monitor their hordes of lab grown humans which they could easily have gotten DNA from birth.
  • On a similar note, how plugging someone's blood into the thing allow watching them in real time work anyway? The genetic memory thing kinda makes sense(for very loose definitions of the term) because the animus is presumably reading something that's written and encoded already, but "Have Blood=See Blood Donor at this moment" comes across basically sympathetic magic.
    • You are asking for technical information in a soft science fiction setting. There's probably some timey wimey quantum thingy explanation at best.
    • First Civilization tech has been shown remotely interacting with human brains as far back as the first game, with the Apples of Eden being used to alter the perceptions of their victims. The Observatory presumably works using similar principles, just over much larger distances and for the purpose of receiving rather than transmitting information.

    ISU Blood Cubes at the Observatory 
  • The first time Edward and Roberts enter the observatory, they pass rows of cubes on the walls implied, if not stated, to contain 75,000 year old ISU blood samples. The next time Edward enters the observatory at the end of the game all the cubes are gone. What happened to them? It seems unlikely the Templars would have taken them since they were more interesting in going deeper into the Temple when they arrived and Roberts didn't seem to care much for Blood Samples for people who were dead, outright calling them useless(so it's unlikely he would bother to go through the trouble of disposing of them).
    • Roberts says they're useless in the current age but also implies they could be valuable in the future, which the present-day segments can attest. He more than anybody knows the power and dangers of genetics.

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