Assassin’s Creed: Desmond’s Son Story Explained

The Assassin’s Creed series has been well received by both gamers and critics for its vast open worlds, free running gameplay, historical settings, and deep lore. Much like Metal Gear Solid’s complicated story, understanding the events of the Assassin’s Creed narrative can be pretty intimidating for newcomers.

However, one aspect of Assassin’s Creed lore you may want to familiarize yourself with is the fact that, in 2015’s Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, it was revealed that present day timeline protagonist Desmond Miles had a son. For those out of the loop, Desmond Miles is a present day protagonist who has been featured in almost all of the Assassin’s Creed games as the person Abstergo used to journey back through specific points of history to find the powerful Pieces of Eden which grant great powers to those who wield them. He was even playable in certain segments throughout the series until his death at the end of Assassin’s Creed III and Abstergo was forced to find other, less historically important, people to continue their work. However, it seems Desmond has a son.

Even fans of the Assassin’s Creed games would be forgiven for not realizing Desmond has a son as he hasn’t actually appeared in any of the games yet. He is first revealed in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate via an unlockable intel file that reveals the child. It was then revealed that the boy would be featured in the comic book Assassin’s Creed: Uprising. It is stated that the boy is a Sage (a human reincarnation of the First Civilization) and is in a group controlled by Juno, a member of the first civilization.

The child revealed himself to Abstergo when his mother took him to be examined in an Abstergo clinic in New York. This revealed him to be a Sage and the fact his genetic memory was identical to Desmond’s indicated he was his father’s son. A researcher at Abstergo named Álvaro Gramática wanted to kidnap the boy and experiment on him but Isabelle Ardant, Abstergo’s operations executive, insisted on waiting until the boy was older and then putting him in an animus for decades so they could study his lineage. She was killed in the events of Syndicate, before her plan could be acted upon.

In Uprising, we see Desmond’s son as part of a group dedicated to Juno called The Instruments of the First Will fend off an Assassin’s attack led by Barindra Mitra in Hong Kong. Desmond’s son watched the battle take place sat upon a desk eating an apple. He then traveled to Spain to attend a meeting of Juno’s instruments that revealed a Piece of Eden had been recovered there. Though he appears to be a loyal member of the Instruments of the First Will, there is some suspicion surrounding him as his father ultimately betrayed Juno. Juno’s lieutenant, Violet da Costa, says as much to Juno but Juno doesn’t heed her warning.

As it stands, we don’t know a great deal about the young boy. Given that he shares Desmond’s ancestry, it seems he’s a very important figure in the series. It’s entirely possible that his character may remain in the expanded universe only but, given how important he is, we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears peeled to see if he makes an appearance in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins is set to be released on October 27 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.