The Assassin’s Creed series details the struggles between the Templar Order and the Creed of the Assassins, both of which fight for humanity’s existence. The Templars are more in-line with the First Civilization, who sought to control humanity using the Pieces of Eden.
The most famous of these artifacts are the Apples of Eden, which are used to control the minds of humans. Later entries have brought forward further Pieces of Eden, with their functions differentiating from medicinal purposes to all-out calamity. For you to know better, here are 10 facts about the Pieces of Eden.
10 A Protective Layer Covers Each Apple
There was speculation over the size of the Apple of Eden recovered by Arno Dorian, which was clearly smaller than the other ones we’d seen over the course of the series; your questions were answered in the Assassin’s Creed film.
Here, it was shown that the Apples aren’t really as big as they appear, because they have a protective layer covering the part that projects its power. The film had the Apple be extracted from its outer layer, establishing that it doesn’t make any difference if it was peeled away and that its functionality remained intact.
9 It Was Used By Moses To Part The Sea
When Al-Mualim got his hands on the Apple in Assassin’s Creed’s climax, he went onto ramble a bunch of things we’re sure most of the players didn’t catch or just don’t remember twelve years later.
As it happened, Al-Mualim saw images of what the Apple had gone through in the past, one of which included being used by Moses. Evidently, Moses inserted the Apple of Eden onto his staff and made his opponents believe he was parting the sea - it looks as if the Red Sea hadn't actually been manipulated at all, and it was all just an illusion.
8 The Apple Started The Human-Isu War
For those who don’t know, the Isu were the first civilization that inhabited the planet before our version of history came about. They would subjugate the humans of that time using the Pieces of Eden, which included the Apples at the forefront.
There was a conflict of epic proportions between these two races, starting from the theft of an Apple of Eden. This would spark the war that went on until the first solar flare ripped the Earth apart. It was because of this war that civilizations couldn’t make preparations to defend themselves from the flare - all stemming from the theft of the Apple by Eve.
7 They Are The Most Durable Weapons
The Human-Isu war began in 75,010 BCE, and yet the Pieces of Eden still survive all the way into 2019 CE. While the pieces can be destroyed and have been shown to be finished off, they are still the most durable things you could find.
This was evidenced when the Pieces of Eden survived the catastrophic solar flare. Almost all of the Isu were wiped off by this cataclysmic event, while only a few thousand humans remained to become the first ancestors to the current descendants; the Pieces of Eden managed to stay secure through all these events.
6 Hybrids Were Immune To Their Power
Hybrids were those members of the race that were both Isu and human. This species had the most vital ability in that they could not be controlled by the Pieces of Eden. Eve, being the daughter of an Isu man and a human woman, stole an Apple of Eden and proceeded to take another Hybrid, Adam, in tow.
The descendants of these hybrids carried on this gene, becoming known as the Tainted Ones. The protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was a direct descendant of the hybrids, but there are only 0.0002% of humans with the ability to defy the manipulation from a Piece of Eden.
5 Bayek, Altair, And Ezio Encountered The Same Apple
You might remember Bayek confronting an Apple-wielding Flavius in Assassin’s Creed Origins, with the Medjay defeating the latter and taking the Apple away. Well, this was the same Apple that would be passed down a thousand years before coming into the hands of Al-Mualim.
That man was defeated in turn by Altair, who kept the Apple with him for several decades, where he studied the mechanism of the First Civilization. Altair sealed himself with the Apple in a vault, where he was found almost three centuries later by Ezio. This makes this Piece of Eden to be the one interacted by the most Assassin’s Creed protagonists.
4 An Apple Was Retrieved On The Moon
A failed attempt made by the First Civilization to avert the solar flare was by placing this Apple on the moon - their reasoning was that enthralled humans could imagine a scenario into reality through the Apple, and hoped people gazing at the moon could wish the disaster away. It didn’t work out.
However, this same Apple of Eden was found over 75,000 years in the future by the Templar-controlled NASA, where the true mission of the Apollo Project was to retrieve this Piece of Eden. As of now, the Apple is still in the hands of the Templars.
3 The Ankh Can Resurrect The Deceased
This Piece of Eden might be the most powerful one there is, although it has only been seen in the comics rather than the game series. The Ankh has the power to heal the living, and revive the dead with it.
It was first used by the Isu Isis to resurrect her husband Osiris; after the end of the first civilization, the Ankh found its way into 3rd century Rome. Here, a bloody conquest for the Piece of Eden by both the Assassins and the Templars led to many deaths, before it was hidden away permanently by Valeria, the wife of the Assassin Aquilius, who had died to protect the Ankh.
2 The Sword Of Eden Appeared In Film
The ending of Assassin’s Creed Unity saw Elise and Thomas-Germain both lose their lives due to the Sword of Eden malfunctioning; this was not the last time the sword was seen. If you’ve watched the 2016 Assassin’s Creed film, then you had the chance to spot the very same artifact.
It was this sword that stood in the Templar Alan Rikkin’s office, now de-powered as a result of the events of Assassin’s Creed Unity. Its larger history is told in the novel Assassin’s Creed: Heresy, where attempts at bringing the sword back to power were detailed.
1 The Pieces Are Sentient
The reason why the minds of men fall prey to these Pieces of Eden is because they are sentient in nature. Since their technology is so advanced, these artifacts have developed a sort of life of their own, where they can “speak” to their users.
While they aren’t sentient to the point where they can talk openly or do anything tangible, the Pieces of Eden do create a connection with the person wielding them. It is this control that enables them to manipulate the human mind.