The Temple

The Temple was a virtual representation of one of Arno Dorian's genetic memories, relived by a Helix initiate through the Helix Navigator.
==Description==
Having learned that Germain was hiding at the Temple, Arno and Élise sought to end him once and for all.
==Dialogue==
Arno met with Élise near the Temple.
*Élise: We should split up.
*Arno: I'm not sure that's...
*Élise: Less chance we both get caught that way.
*Arno: I suppose that's true.
*Élise: We'll rendezvous inside. If you get a shot at Germain, you take it.
As Élise left, Arno surveyed the Temple. Guards could be seen everywhere.
*Arno: Germain's built himself quite a fortress. I can't see any weak spots.
Arno began his infiltration.
*Guard 1: I don't like it. Le Peletier is dead, Rouille, Lévesque... and now I'm hearing rumors someone killed la Touche in Versailles.
*Guard 2: You worry too much. The Grand Master has everything under control.
*Guard 1: Robespierre thought the same thing.
*Guard 3: Was there a storm last night?
*Guard 4: I don't think so.
*Guard 3: Huh. I was on patrol duty in the tower and I could have sworn I heard thunder.
*Guard 4: I never heard anything.
*Guard 5: It seem like the Grand Master spends a lot of time in the catacombs to you?
*Guard 6: You haven't heard? He thinks he's Jacques de Molay reborn or some such.
*Guard 5: You're joking.
*Guard 6: Not even a little. He's probably down there trying to commune with his past life or something equally ridiculous. Mad as a hatter.
*Guard 5: I don't think de Molay is even buried down there.
*Guard 6: Like I said. Mad as a hatter.
*Guard 7: You think something's about to happen?
*Guard 8: Why do you ask?
*Guard 7: The Grand Master seems unusually preoccupied lately.
*Guard 8: With that one, it's better not to ask questions.
Arno entered the Temple's central tower.
*Guard 9: Look what I found!
*Guard 10: What in God's name is that?
*Guard 9: A bit of the king's hair.
On reaching the top, Germain used a Sword of Eden to fire a burst of electricity at him. However, Arno was able to take cover before Germain properly pointed the sword at him.
*Arno: What the hell was that?
*Germain: So the prodigal Assassin returns. I suspected as much when la Touche stopped sending his tax revenues. You've become quite the thorn in my side. I assume Robespierre was your doing as well? No matter. His Reign of Terror served its purpose. The metal has been fired and shaped. Quenching it will only set its form. Why so persistent? Is it revenge? Did Bellec indoctrinate you so thoroughly that you do his bidding even now? Or is it love? Has de la Serre's daughter turned your head?
Arno ran towards Germain.
*Germain: The direct approach from an Assassin? How refreshing.
As Arno struck at Germain, the latter threw him away with a burst of electricity from the Sword. Germain then used it to teleport himself away, while Arno rose to his feet.
*Arno: How...? What?
Arno entered the catacombs and found the entrance to the Templar vault. Élise then appeared.
*Élise: What happened here?
*Arno: Germain's got some kind of weapon... I've never seen its like before. He got away from me.
*Élise: He didn't come past me. He must still be down there.
Arno unlocked the door to the vault. Élise then drew her sword and charged inside.
*Arno: Élise!
Arno followed her. On seeing them, Germain shot a bolt of electricity at them, forcing them into cover.
*Germain: And (Miss) de la Serre as well. This is quite the reunion.
*Arno: Stay hidden. Keep him talking.
Élise then distracted Germain while Arno stealthly sneaks around structures in the room to deliver blows with his Hidden Blade without detection.
*Élise: Did you think this day would never come? That because François de la Serre had no sons to avenge him, that your crime would go unanswered?
*Germain: Revenge, is it? Your vision is as narrow as your father's.Revenge? Bah! Your vision is as narrow as your father's.
*Élise: You're one to talk. How wide of vision was your grab for power?
*Germain: Power? Don't be absurd! Power? No no no no, you're smarter than that! This was never about power. It's always been about control. Did your father teach you nothing? The Order has grown complacent. The Order has rotted from within! We've abandoned purpose for base pleasures! For centuries we've focused our attentions on the trappings of power: the titles of nobility, the offices of Church and State. So obsessed with clinging to the trappings of power we abandoned our purpose. Caught in the very lie we crafted to shepherd the masses.
*Élise: I'll kill you.
*Germain: Have you heard nothing I've said? And you think that will accomplish anything? You're not listening. Killing me won't stop anything. My design is larger than my own life. When our brother Templars see the old institutions crumble, they will adapt. In the wake of revolution, the Order will adapt. Through this new revolution, a new order will be born, one that chains men with gold and silver. They will retreat to the shadows and we will, at last, be the Secret Masters we were meant to be. So come – kill me if you can. I've already won. Unless you can miracle up a new King and halt the Revolution in its tracks, it does not matter. So kill me, if that will slake your thirst for revenge. It changes nothing!
*Élise: I can't find an opening!
*Arno: We'll have to take him together.
*Germain: Skulk all you like. It makes no difference.I will find you.The darkness cannot protect you.Do you think yourself safe in your shadows?You cannot hide from me, boy!Do you think I won't find you?You cannot hide from me.I grow tired of waiting.Where are you hiding, Assassin?There you are!I have you now!I see you, Assassin!A waste of my time!Oh, please, you'll have to do better than that!Laughable!Jacques de Molay speaks through me. How can you to prevail?What is it you hope to accomplish here?Must we continue this pointless charade?You're trying my patience.I commend you for making it this far, but there is no victory for you here.Come, Assassin. Let's bring this to its inevitable conclusion.
Arno landed three strikes at Germain. An explosion from the Sword sent Arno away, and he was caught under a pile of rubble.
*Élise: Arno!
*Arno: I'm stuck!
As Élise pulled away the rubble, Germain got up from the blast.
*Élise: He's getting away!
*Arno: Wait - I'm almost free.
*Élise: I can take him!
*Arno: No you can't. Not alone. Wait for me!
Élise hesitantly looked at Arno one last time, then made her decision.
*Élise: I'm sorry.
Élise ran towards Germain.
*Arno: ÉLISE!
Arno screamed at the top of his lungs as he mustered all the strength he could to free himself from the piece of rubble on him. As he attempted to do so, Élise fought Germain, who blocked several of her attacks. With the last blow, however, the Sword began to crackle with energy and Elise backed away in shock. Arno managed to free himself, and ran towards them. He was too late, however, and the Sword exploded before Arno reached them. After the smoke cleared, he ran towards Élise.
*Arno: Élise! ÉLISE! Élise! No.
Seeing that Élise was dead, Arno turned to the gravely wounded Germain. He then walked over and knelt down to him, looking at him coldly. Wanting to give him a slow and painful death, Arno unsheathes his Hidden Blade and slowly pushes it into Germain's throat. Germain then activated a vision of himself. As the younger Germain was crafting a Templar pin, he saw a series of symbols. As Arno walked towards him, Germain appeared behind him.
*Germain: Bravo. You've slain the villain. That is how you've cast this little morality play in your mind, isn't it? I'm not really here. I'm not really there, either. At the moment, I'm bleeding out on the floor of the Temple. But it seems the Father of Understanding has seen fit to give us this time to talk.
The vision then changed to Germain discovering the Codex Pater Intellectus in the vault.
*Germain: Ah. A particular favorite of mine. I did not understand the visions that haunted my mind, you see. Great towers of gold, cities shining white as silver. I thought I was going mad. Then I found this place - Jacques de Molay's vault. Through his writings, I understood.
*Arno: Understood what?
*Germain: That somehow, through the centuries, I was connected to Grand Master de Molay. That I had been chosen to purge the Order of the decadence and corruption that had set in like rot. And to wash the world clean, and restore to the truth the Father of Understanding intended.
The vision changed to Germain's expulsion from the Templar Order.
*Arno: That seems to have gone over well.
*Germain: Prophets are seldom appreciated in their own time. Exile and abasement forced me to reevaluate my strategy. Find new avenues for the realization of my purpose.
The vision changed to Germain surrounded by his followers. It then showed a guillotine.
*Arno: No matter the cost?
*Germain: New order never comes without destruction of the old. And if men are made to fear untrammeled liberty, so much the better. A brief taste of chaos will remind them why they crave obedience.
The vision then changed to Élise fighting Germain.
*Germain: It appears we part ways here. Think on this: the march of progress is slow, but it is inevitable as a glacier. All you have accomplished is to delay the inevitable. One death cannot stop the tide. Perhaps it will not be my hand that shepherds mankind back to its proper place – but it will be someone's. Think on this when you remember her.
The vision ended, and Arno pulled his Hidden Blade out of Germain. He then returned to Élise, and mournfully carried her body out of the Temple. Some time later, Arno walked through Paris, and reflected on his own beliefs.
*Arno: The Creed of the Assassin Brotherhood teaches us that nothing is forbidden to us. Once, I thought that meant we were free to do as we would. To pursue our ideals, no matter the cost. I understand now. Not a grant of permission, the Creed is a warning.
Arno walked by the Sainte-Chapelle, where he had fought Bellec years earlier.
*Arno: Ideals too easily give way to dogma. Dogma becomes fanaticism. No higher power sits in judgment of us. No supreme being watches to punish us for our sins. In the end, only we ourselves can guard against our obsessions. Only we can decide whether the road we walk carries too high a toll.
Arno laid flowers on Élise's grave.
*Arno: We believe ourselves redeemers, avengers, saviors. We make war on those who oppose us, and they in turn make war on us. We dream of leaving our stamp upon the world...
Atop the Notre-Dame, Arno pulled out his watch.
*Arno: ... even as we give our lives in a conflict that will be recorded in no history book. All that we do, all that we are, begins and ends with ourselves.
Arno performed a Leap of Faith from the church.
In 1808, he entered the vault once more, accompanied by Napoleon. Arno found Germain's remains and placed them among those of thousands of others in the catacombs.
==Outcome==
Arno finally assassinated Germain, although Élise was killed in the process. Years later, he moved Germain's remains to a safer location.
==Trivia==
*This memory marks the only time where Arno is briefly playable with his hood down, specifically during the moment where the player is directed by the game to assassinate Germain after he is greviously injured from the Sword of Eden exploding. However, if the player changes their gear or weapons during this time, Arno's hood will be pulled up.
==Gallery==
ACU The Temple 7.jpg|Arno over her fallen body
ACU The Temple 9.jpg|Germain dying
ACU The Temple 11.jpg|Germain's interview
ACU The Temple 12.jpg|Germain and Arno discuss the revolution
==References==
*Assassin's Creed: Unity
Category:Memories of Arno Dorian
Category:Memories relived using the Helix Navigator
fr:Le Temple