With evidence mounting that Eivor should have canonically been a woman, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s narrative director says that’s not entirely the case, but it is at least partly.
Remember how Assassin's Creed Odyssey was meant to star Kassandra, but Ubisoft forced a male protagonist to be shoe-horned in at the last second? Well, that might have also happened with Assassin's Creed Valhalla. At least a bit.
The news comes from Assassin's Creed fan Seiiki Dell'Aria who revealed some private conversations on Twitter. Those conversations were between disgraced former Valhalla Creative Director Ashraf Ismail and one of his female victims. Ismail stepped down from his role after allegations surfaced that he was having affairs with multiple women while also hiding the fact that he was married.
"I was approached by one of Ash’s victims who showed me bits of conversations and confirmed something that isn’t quite out, but that won’t surprise anyone," wrote Dell'Aria. "Just like for Syndicate, Origins, and Odyssey, it was the devs wish that Valhalla featured a female protagonist. Exclusively."
Dell'Aria explains that Ubisoft forced Valhalla to also include a male version of Eivor "because a woman alone wouldn't have sold." As further proof, Dell'Aria posted screenshots of the private conversation he had revealing that Eivor is actually a strictly feminine name and that the female Eivor is the true canon of the game's original designer.
Tellingly, Ubisoft HQ told Ismail to change the game to include an "alpha male" protagonist option.
Contesting Dell'Aria's claim is Valhalla Narrative Director Derby McDevitt who responded on the Assassin's Creed subreddit to offer some clarification.
"I will say this once: this is not wholly accurate," wrote McDevitt. "And I will repeat what I have always said. ACVs story was conceived from the beginning with both female and male in mind. When you play the game you will understand that there is no way the male could have been added at the last minute, or whatever version of this story you have heard."
We'd like to emphasize "not wholly accurate" is not the same as "entirely untrue." Parts of Dell'Aria's story are true, we just don't know which ones.
In case you still hadn't heard, you can swap seamlessly between male and female Eivor throughout Assassin's Creed Valhalla by just going to a menu option. It's a neat trick, and one that is probably helpful to Ubisoft during its ongoing toxic workplace and sexual harassment scandal.
Source: Twitter, Reddit, Eurogamer