Altaïr, who revolutionized the Assassins with his progressive vision, was deeply empathetic for the plight of persecuted women, minorities, and the enslaved. All this cannot be clearer from his Codex. But we did wish to clarify a few lore matters with this tweet. #AssassinsCreed https://twitter.com/farlander1991/status/1312414261155594240

For one thing, as much as we appreciate its sentiment, we fear that tracing women's status among the Assassins only to Altaïr would obscure the critical and foundational role women have played in the organization since the very beginning.

We must not forget that it was ultimately Amunet who brought the Hidden Ones to life, who pushed that project forward and expanded it beyond the confines of Egypt. Nor must we forget the names of Tahira, of Kawit, of Shaqilat. Women were always fundamental to the Assassins.

Even if the Assassins' official birth can be grounded to Amunet's work, we should not ignore that their roots extend even further. To the exploits of Iltani of the Babylonians and all the way to the human war of liberation led by Eve against the Isu.

Perhaps the Assassins from the time of Hassan-i Sabbah to Al Mualim excluded women, but to be honest, we do not have firm evidence of that. We know from The Secret Crusade & Altaïr's Codex that Altaïr was born to a mother who was a member of the Assassins. https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Maud?mobile-app=false

This does not resolve the ambiguity. Since the Assassins at this time were a state unto itself, it is possible that many ordinary men and women who had been born into their families were called Assassins or treated as their members regardless if they were trained as field agents.

We cannot be sure if such a distinction was made, but we believe that erring on the side of caution would mean to take it at face value: Altaïr's mother was an Assassin, trained as an operative or not, and it is unlikely she would have been the only female Assassin.

As far as we can tell, there is not a single Assassin in AC1 or Altaïr's Chronicles who is female, yet the absence of female Assassin AI models cannot conclusively prove that lore-wise, they were wholly non-existent prior to Altaïr's leadership.

Aside from Altaïr's Codex page 14 where Altaïr emphatically vents his grief for abused women, pages 18 and 27 make clear reference to "sisters" and "women" as among those who join the Assassins.

We understand that at best this only proves that women were welcomed into the organization in the time of Altaïr's mentorship and only piques the question of whether any of these "sisters" were members before.

However, page 24 expressly refers to a custom that Assassins have children to pass on their heritage, such that we know that Altaïr having an Assassin mother was probably not exceptional unless they regularly excluded their wives and daughters from the order.

But there is simply no evidence to substantiate the idea that the Assassins excluded women from the time of Hassan-i Sabbah to Al Mualim, and they certainly did not at its founding, and we believe this is important to clarify for the Assassin's Creed community.

This does not diminish the significance of Altaïr's fervent conviction in the empowerment of women against abuse. It is clear that even if he did not invent the progressive ideals he speaks of, he did much in reorienting the Assassins back towards them.

As our very original Assassin, Altaïr's values represent the heart of what it means to be an Assassin: justice for all regardless of sex, gender, race, status, etc. Lorewise, he was one of the great codifiers of their philosophy.

So our correction aside, we reaffirm that it is a fact of lore that if Altaïr and the Assassins were to exist IRL, they would stand with, not dismiss, causes which fight for the respect for women and immunity from abuse they fundamentally deserve as human beings. #ACSisterhood