The full story

In this chapterEdward kills a rogue Assassin, Duncan Walpole, and takes his identity at a Templar meeting in Havana.

Edward Kenway is a privateer who wants gold and fame. When he finds the Assassin Duncan Walpole, he kills him and takes his place at a Templar meeting in Havana. There he meets Woodes Rogers and Laureano Torres, who are searching for the Sage, a figure who can find the Observatory.

Edward's motives are selfish: he wants money for his wife, Caroline. The game's premise, that an unprincipled man becomes an Assassin, comes from that decision. Taking Walpole's identity puts Edward in a world he does not understand, and he is soon drawn into a conflict much larger than a pirate's treasure.

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.

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.

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.

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.