Game story · The Assassin's Creed timeline

Assassin's Creed II

Ezio enters the hidden war after members of his family are executed through a political conspiracy.

20091476–1499 · Renaissance ItalyCanon status: Fixed main story

What happens in the game

His revenge expands across Florence, Venice and Rome as allies teach him that the Templar plot reaches beyond one betrayal.

In the Vatican, Ezio confronts Rodrigo Borgia and reaches an Isu vault whose message is addressed through him to Desmond.

The story, step by step

  1. The Pazzi conspiracy

    The execution of Ezio's father and brothers turns a Florentine youth into a fugitive. Family allies teach him Assassin methods as he dismantles the Pazzi network and discovers that revenge is part of a wider Templar plot.

  2. Venice and the Codex

    In Venice, Ezio works with thieves, mercenaries and courtesans against Marco Barbarigo's circle. Recovering Altaïr's Codex pages transforms scattered vengeance into an inherited investigation of Pieces of Eden.

  3. The Vatican vault

    Years later, Ezio confronts Rodrigo Borgia beneath St. Peter's Basilica. He spares Rodrigo, enters the vault and hears Minerva address Desmond through his ancestor, joining Renaissance politics to the impending modern catastrophe.

What the story is really about

Revenge matures into responsibility

Ezio does not forget his family, but his purpose expands as allies and years make him accountable to a cause beyond private grief.

History as a message forward

The vault explicitly treats Ezio's life as a bridge to someone in another age, changing what an ancestral protagonist means.

How it ends

Ezio spares Rodrigo after realizing revenge cannot restore his family; Minerva's warning makes Desmond, not Ezio, the ultimate audience of the vault.

What changes afterward

  • Ezio becomes an Assassin with a purpose beyond vengeance.
  • The Isu catastrophe becomes the central modern threat.

How it connects forward

Brotherhood continues immediately as the Borgias attack Monteriggioni and Ezio rebuilds the Roman Assassins.

Places in this game

Characters in this game

Sources:

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