Second Disaster

The Second Disaster, so named because it was a recurrence of the Great Catastrophe that nearly destroyed the Isu civilization, was a would-be cataclysmic event on 21 December 2012 triggered by a great enough to devastate the entire Earth. Predicted but ignored for much of recorded human history, it promised to see the near complete destruction of mankind.
Ultimately, the calamity was prevented through the efforts of the Assassins, who, guided by messages left by the Capitoline Triad, journeyed to the Grand Temple that housed a device called the global aurora borealis device capable of generating a planetary shield. On the day of the disaster, the Assassin Desmond Miles used the device to protect Earth at the cost of his own life and the release of a vengeful Juno from the Grand Temple.
==History==
===Predictions===
Following the Great Catastrophe that occurred c. 75,000 BCE,Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Timeline which saw the near complete extinction of both the Isu and their human enemies, the Capitoline Triad consisting of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva sought to help protect the world from a predicted second event. To this end, the three developed the Vault program and built the Grand Temple to store their research.Assassin's Creed IIIAssassin's Creed: Revelations
After much experimentation, the three settled on one idea, but before they could bring their plan into action, Minerva and Jupiter learned of Juno's treachery and sealed her within the Grand Temple. Following the Isu's eventual extinction, humanity passed on the warning through word-of-mouth, though soon it became mired in myth and legend—ignored by many as superstition.
In 1499, Minerva appeared to the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore in the Vatican Vault, warning him of the coming disaster and how to prevent it. Aware that Ezio's descendant Desmond Miles would watch this meeting via the Animus, she addressed the message directly to him.Assassin's Creed II However, instead of finding the temples, Ezio and Niccolò Machiavelli concentrated on unseating the Borgia's control over the Papacy and left his Apple of Eden for Desmond in the Colosseum Vault.Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood In 1512, Ezio viewed another message for Desmond from Jupiter left in Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Apple.Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
Even by late 2012, neither the Assassins or the Templars truly knew what was about to occur, although the Templars had their suspicions,Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files having read Minerva's message in the Prophet's CodexAssassin's Creed: The Chain and sought someone with Ezio's genetic memory to locate his Apple.
===Juno's machinations===
Before her consciousness was imprisoned within the Grand Temple, Juno disposed of the discs that were left behind by Jupiter and Minerva to guide Desmond, so that he had only her words to follow upon his eventual arrival.Assassin's Creed III – Desmond Miles' email
Following this, in 1769, Juno used one of the Crystal Balls to converse with the future Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton; she urged him to join the Assassin Brotherhood in order to obtain the Grand Temple Key and hide it, so that his descendant, Desmond Miles, might one day find it.
Then, in February 2011, the Assassin Clay Kaczmarek was captured by the Templar front company Abstergo Industries for use in their Animus Project. Forced into the Animus, the Bleeding Effect soon overcame Clay and he found himself unwillingly exploring the memories of his ancestors without the use of the Animus, driving him insane. It was in this induced state that Clay happened upon Juno.Assassin's Creed: Revelations – The Lost Archive
Juno used Clay to pass on the word of the true nature of the coming apocalypse to another Assassin, Desmond Miles, in the hopes that he might be able to reach the Grand Temple and activate the device. In order to facilitate this meeting, Juno later manipulated Desmond, who had reached the Colosseum Vault on 11 October 2012, into assassinating his close friend and Assassin colleague Lucy Stillman, and drew him into an induced coma.
Once freed from his coma, and furnished with the knowledge of what he needed to do, Desmond Miles and his companions entered the Grand Temple. After a month, wherein they found themselves forced to locate several batteries for the Temple, as well as the Key itself, the Assassins finally managed to enter the Temple's inner chamber, and on 21 December 2012, approached the device.
===Release of Juno===
It was here that the Assassins finally learned the truth about Juno, and what exactly saving the Earth would mean for humanity.
If the device was used, the Earth would be saved, but the binds restraining Juno in her prison would be severed, and she would be free to take her perceived vengeance upon humanity. If Desmond let the world burn, however, the cycle would begin anew, where Desmond would act as a leader whose message would become misinterpreted after his death, leading to humanity repeating its history of war and conflict; but Juno would remain imprisoned.
Ultimately, Desmond decided that the cost of keeping Juno imprisoned – the near complete extinction of the human race, followed by his legacy being turned to justify mass genocide – was too great, and that at least humanity stood a chance against Juno, following which he activated the device.
The device then activated what was described as a "global aurora borealis", which shielded the Earth from the worst part of the coronal mass ejection, and ensured the continued survival of modern human life. In doing so however, Desmond sacrificed his own life and subsequently released Juno from her confinement.
==Trivia==
*The Second Disaster is based upon the real world , in which many believed the world would end on 21 December 2012, at the end of the 5,126-year-long cycle in the . Incidentally, a took place on 23 July 2012, missing the Earth as well.
==Gallery==
AC3_Vision_Second_Disaster.png|Juno's vision of a human city during the Second Disaster
AC3_Vision_Assassins_Emerging.png|Juno's vision of the Assassins emerging from the Grand Temple after the Second Disaster
AC3_Vision_Desmond_Prophet.png|Juno's vision of Desmond becoming the guide to surviving humans
AC3_Vision_Desmond_Funeral.png|Juno's vision of Desmond's funeral
AC3_Vision_Desmond_Cult.png|Juno's vision of a human cult following the Second Disaster
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed II 
*Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood 
*Assassin's Creed: Revelations 
*Assassin's Creed III 
*Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag 
*Assassin's Creed: Origins 
*Assassin's Creed: Valhalla 
==References==
Category:Timeline
Category:Legends