Headscratchers / Assassin's Creed: Unity

• It seems like Arno could have avoided a lot of the plot if he'd just made one simple choice early on: Tell Elise that Sivert was behind the death of Grandmaster de la Serre. He was her father and she'd love to get her hands on the man responsible. They wouldn't have gotten The Man Behind the Man, of course, but it would allow the Assassins and Templars to keep their truce in Paris while still bringing Sivert to justice.
  • Perhaps, but then, there are so many unpredictable elements that flow from that decision. Like even if they got Sivert right away, that wouldn't stop Germain from moving on with his plans. For all we know, it could've flowed pretty similar, only with the revolution happening on a quicker timetable.
• Why was de la Serre so dismissive towards the King of Beggars? Having all the beggars in Paris at your beck and call sounds like a extensive network of informers.
  • It's possible a subtle theme of the game was how both the old schools of assassins and templars had grown complacent with each other. De La Serre seemed more interested in growing influence over Versailles and ruling through them rather than tapping the underworld to do his dirty work. This is a tactic that actually hearkens back to the old Borgia family of Assassin's Creed II, using strong nobles to rule and reign rather than cloak and dagger through the "rabble".
• How have the Assassins and Templars of Paris managed to share such a close territory for so long? Presumably both groups have been there for some time and the truce is comparatively recent.
  • Well, how did the assassins and templars share Rome before Ezio and Rodrigo rose to power? Presumably for the similar reasons, both groups were more content to fight proxy wars with each other over ideas and certain bits of territory rather than crush their enemy. Or that both groups weaved their way around so they couldn't be stamped out of the same area.
  • It's not quite the same. In Rome the Assassins and Templars were confined largely to very different walks of life, nor was there any illusion of a truce between them (indeed they were engaged in what amounts to Cold War). Exactly how can the two orders maintain a truce without forgoing their usual activities entirely?
  • It's...not quite clear how long the truce between Mirabeau and De La Serre has been going on either. It's quite possible that there were still Cold War conditions just like in Rome for decades if not centuries prior to this. As for their different walks of life, well, if you look at the notable assassins on the council ASIDE from Mirabeau, it's still fairly clear that the assassins are still mostly on the outside looking into France's power structures. It's all but possible that Mirabeau's addition to becoming grandmaster of the order was a big irregularity for the assassins in general, as many of their higher members started out as soldiers, ordinary lawyers or slaves. It's possible too that part of how the truce was maintained was in "noninterference" with each other. That they tackled different areas, or worked in such small circles that they somehow managed to stay out of each other's way. Or it could be that with colonies, exploration and the sort, the templars and assassins were now directing all their efforts into assisting around the world rather than "at home".
    • But don't let my excusing get in the way of a good question. In a way, that question also calls to mind that in some ways Germain was right about how the templars had grown complicit in their ways, and thus his revolution pushed them into activity again. It's quite possible that after enjoying the fruits of nobility, the french templars grew complicit, choosing instead to lavish in the power they have rather than the power they could get. (think Rodrigo after being beaten by Ezio vs his son for a contrast of that sort)
• Why is Bellec one of the loudest dissenting voices on the Council after Arno kills Lafreniere without permission? He thinks all Templars need to die, so why would he care about it?
  • He wanted to do it himself? Putting on a good face? Chain of command and disappointment that Arno didn't internalize the assassin protocol of obedience to the higher ups in the order? Perhaps he was more disappointed in the means rather than the end.
  • Along a similar vein, why is it that Arno gets in trouble for killing Lafreniere without permission, while he slaughters whole scores of thugs and guards without consequence from them?
• How does Arno's mind reading work? Does it only work on someone who is about to die, is that why he doesn't use it all the time?
  • It seems that he can only use it in short bursts, which he evidently uses when looking for information on his targets. While it’s functions are fuzzy, it’s likely a mental connection formed, similar to the white room confessions.
    • As I understand it was Arno's equivalent of the memory corridor confessional stuff from the first 7 and later 4 games, which I interpret as some kind of psychic ability that forms the basis of Eagle Vision, and in the most recent trilogy cause the warging into birds mechanic. The prevailing theory is that these abilities come from Isu DNA in the protagonist's bloodstream and that Arno's blood has a weaker amount, resulting in his ability to use Eagle Vision exclusively in bursts, meaning he couldn't form a connection to the psyche of the dying target like the others, so instead he accessed their memories instead. Notably when he killed Germain, a Sage whose own DNA has a high Isu concentration, and presumably his own psychic abilities as a result, Germain's psyche is conjured, walking Arno through his memories.
• I have not followed the franchise in a while and the last I heard was that they can't animate women. What's the real reason? I thought they could considering the previous games so this claim kind of itches my brain a bit.
  • There's probably a million answers to this. It's possible Unity was so late in the Dev cycle they didn't have time to go through the work of doing it? The game was already glitchy as hell it wasn't a priority(the infamous faceless people)?