The full story

In this chapterMasked men abduct Bayek, a Medjay of Siwa, and his son Khemu and take them to a vault in the Temple of Amun, demanding that Bayek open it with an Apple of Eden.

Bayek is the last Medjay of Siwa, a protector of the oasis. Masked men take him and his son Khemu to a vault under the Temple of Amun and demand that Bayek use an Apple of Eden to open it. In the chaos of the escape, Bayek accidentally kills his own son. The tragedy defines everything that follows: Bayek and Aya vow to find the masked men.

The opening is far more painful than a simple revenge setup. Bayek's grief is made worse by the fact that his own hand struck the blow, and the game returns to this guilt throughout. The Apple of Eden and the vault introduce the franchise's central artefacts in a very human story. Bayek's role as Medjay, a protector, gives the story its moral frame: he failed to protect what mattered most.

In this chapterOne year later, Bayek, having exiled himself, hunts five masked men; he kills two before reuniting with Aya in Alexandria.

A year after Khemu's death, Bayek is hunting the masked men across Egypt. He kills two of them and meets Aya in Alexandria, where she has killed two others. They find the last, Eudoros, a royal scribe, and Bayek kills him. Before he dies, Eudoros makes it clear that they were not the whole story. The masked men worked for something larger.

The five targets are a structure typical of Assassin's Creed, but here it ends early, and that surprise is the point: revenge is not enough to satisfy Bayek. Bayek and Aya's partnership is the heart of the story. They are equals with different skills, and they grieve in different ways. Alexandria introduces the political world the rest of the game takes place in.

In this chapterThrough Apollodorus, Bayek and Aya learn that the masked men belonged to the Order of the Ancients, which orchestrated Cleopatra's overthrow and controls the pharaoh Ptolemy XIII.

Apollodorus tells Bayek and Aya about the Order of the Ancients, which has Ptolemy XIII as a puppet. Cleopatra, exiled, asks for their help and gives Bayek a list of Order targets. Aya works with Pompey, who is murdered by Lucius Septimius. Cleopatra turns to Caesar, and Bayek and Aya help her by infiltrating Alexander the Great's tomb. Pothinus is killed, Ptolemy drowns and Cleopatra takes the throne.

The political story gives the game its epic scale. Bayek and Aya are not at the centre of history, but they influence it from behind the scenes. The Order's targets are a series of mini-stories, each exposing a different kind of corruption. Cleopatra's victory is also the point where she becomes a political player in her own right, which will have consequences for Bayek and Aya.

In this chapterCleopatra allies with both Caesar and the Order, betraying Bayek and Aya.

Cleopatra sides with Caesar and the Order, abandoning those who helped her. Apollodorus, dying, reveals that Flavius Metellus, Caesar's lieutenant, is the leader of the Order. Flavius and Septimius use the Apple and Staff to open the vault and find a map. In Cyrene, the artifact is used to control the population. Bayek kills Flavius and avenges Khemu.

Aya goes to Rome to take part in Caesar's assassination. Before parting, Bayek and Aya found the Hidden Ones, swearing to protect the world from the shadows. The ending of the main story is both revenge and creation. Bayek's grief produces the Brotherhood, and the order he opposed pushes him to build one of his own.

Aya's departure is a hard moment. Her path takes her to Rome, away from Bayek, and the two will never again fight side by side. The founding of the Hidden Ones explains the origin of the Assassins and the connection to the Templar and Order rivalry.

In this chapterBayek and Amunet establish the Hidden Ones' first tenet: do not harm innocents.

In Sinai, Bayek and Aya help a rebellion against Rome and kill General Rufio, an Order member. Bayek executes the rebel leader Gamilat for sacrificing civilians, which leads Bayek and Amunet to set the Hidden Ones' first rule against harming innocents.

In Thebes, Bayek investigates a curse that brought dead pharaohs back, defeats them and confronts Isidora, who used a Piece of Eden to avenge her mother. He entrusts the Piece to Sutekh. The expansions give the Hidden Ones their moral code. The first tenet comes not from theory but from a hard choice.

Rufio's words are a warning: the Order's ideology survives its members, which is why the series continues for centuries. The Curse of the Pharaohs shows how a Piece of Eden can turn grief into destruction, mirroring Bayek's own loss.

In this chapterAbstergo researcher Layla Hassan finds Bayek's mummy in Egypt and secretly extracts his DNA to use in an Animus.

Layla, who works for Abstergo, finds Bayek's remains and uses an Animus to relive his life, later adding Aya's. Her work reveals First Civilization structures and a role she may have in preventing an apocalypse. William Miles invites her to join the Assassins. She refuses to join but agrees to travel to Alexandria with him.

Layla acts as a new protagonist for the modern story after Desmond, a researcher who wants answers more than a side. The modern-day frame turns Bayek's story into history that matters to the present.