Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

← Change where you stopped

After Sequences 1-2

You finished Edward Kenway Takes a Mantle. This picks up at Sequences 3-5 and goes to the end.

Sequences 3-5 · 1716 · playing as Edward Kenway

Nassau and the Pirate Republic

In this chapterIn Nassau Edward meets the pirates Blackbeard, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Stede Bonnet and John Rackham, who dream of founding a pirate republic.

In Nassau Edward meets the pirates who want to build a republic without kings. He takes a Spanish brig and makes it the Jackdaw, with Adéwalé as quartermaster. The pirate republic is full of charismatic leaders, but its governance problems already threaten its collapse. The Republic is a utopia of freedom, but its freedom has no structure. The game shows how quickly an ideal can fall apart.

Blackbeard is charismatic and tragic, and his relationship with Edward is one of the story's strongest. The Jackdaw is the heart of the game; naval exploration lets Edward see the Caribbean as a pirate.

What unfolds

  1. Blackbeard and Hornigold seize control of Nassau and establish the republic.
  2. Edward captures a brig from a Spanish fleet and makes it his ship, the Jackdaw.
  3. His quartermaster, Adéwalé, becomes essential to his crew; Mary Read, who uses the alias James Kidd, and Anne Bonny also join his circle.

Sequences 6-8 · 1719 · playing as Edward Kenway

The Sage and the Observatory

In this chapterBartholomew Roberts, later identified as the Sage, holds the key to locating the Observatory, a device that can monitor anyone in the world when given a blood sample.

The Observatory is a First Civilization device that can watch anyone with a blood sample. Roberts, who turns out to be the Sage, leads Edward to it, and then betrays him. Edward is arrested at Port Royal as the Republic falls apart. The Observatory introduces the franchise's surveillance theme. Whoever controls it can find anyone.

Roberts' betrayal shows that even the pirates have their own ambitions.

What unfolds

  1. Edward works with Roberts' crew but is betrayed and arrested in Port Royal.
  2. The Pirate Republic begins to collapse under disease and bad governance.

Sequence 9 · 1722 · playing as Edward Kenway

Port Royal and the Brotherhood

In this chapterAh Tabai, the Assassin Mentor, orchestrates a prison rescue, freeing Edward along with Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

Ah Tabai frees Edward from prison and Edward joins the Assassins. He eliminates the main Templars, including Woodes Rogers, Roberts and Torres, and seals the Observatory. He learns that Caroline has died and that he has a daughter, Jennifer. In London he goes to the Opera with Jennifer and his son Haytham.

Edward's change from a selfish privateer to a man who cares for his family is the game's main arc. The final scene at the Royal Opera House connects with Assassin's Creed III, where Haytham is later seen at the same theatre.

What unfolds

  1. Mary Read dies from childbirth complications.
  2. Edward joins the Brotherhood and eliminates Woodes Rogers, Roberts and Torres, and seals the Observatory.
  3. Edward learns of his wife Caroline's death and that he has a daughter, Jennifer Scott.
  4. Edward moves to London and attends The Beggar's Opera at the Royal Opera House with Jennifer and his son Haytham.

Present · 2013 · playing as Player

Abstergo Entertainment

In this chapterThe employee discovers that John Standish, the facility's IT manager, is a Sage attempting to resurrect Juno.

In the present, the player is an Abstergo Entertainment employee in Montreal who is making a game from Edward's memories. During this work, the employee finds out that the IT manager, John Standish, is a Sage trying to bring Juno back. The modern frame is a satire of corporate entertainment, and it keeps the franchise's modern conflict alive after Desmond's death.

Standish's reveal ties the Sage storyline from Edward's time to the present.

What unfolds

  1. In 2013 an unnamed employee of Abstergo Entertainment in Montreal investigates Edward's memories through genetic sequencing.

Why did you stop playing?

Coming soon · Premium

Your playthrough, not just the story

  • Connect Steam and we'll know where you stopped
  • Tell us your choices and see how your own story ends
  • "Previously on…" before every sequel, and no ads

Where this comes from

Every sentence above is built from facts confirmed by at least two independent sources. Sources used: Wikipedia, Assassin's Creed Wiki.