Part of my New Year’s resolution is to go back and finish all of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve started and wandered off in the middle of. I’ve loved the series since first playing Brotherhood, and between Steam and Ubisoft have most, possibly all, of the franchise. However, I’m really bad at finishing them. I get distracted, or the character annoys me (*cough* Connor *cough*). Still, I dislike having so many unfinished games, and I want to actually understand the full backstory, outside the Animus, of Abstergo and the Assassins. I finished AC 1 already, a very straight forward game. AC 2, however, is another matter. Beyond introducing Ezio Auditore, who in later games becomes ‘The Most Interesting Man in the Room,’ it turns out that Desmond’s predecessor in the Animus, known only as Subject 16, has left glyphs throughout Desmond’s memories of Ezio, leading to files which, taken together, form The Truth. Each glyph file needs to be opened, and they get increasingly… fragmented… as the game goes on. What’s interesting, and why I am writing this blog post, is because in addition to the information needed to solve the actual glyph puzzle, there are Easter Eggs hidden in the pictures and such that, while not required to beat the game or do anything, are still really neat, and I couldn’t find a source that had all of them in one place. So, creating one, with both the solution to the glyph and any hidden text I find.
NB: Once you’ve ‘beaten’ the glyph, you can still find them by going into database—locations—and picking the appropriate location. Locations with glyphs are marked with an eye. They unlock in a certain order, regardless of location you found them. Not all of them have hidden messages, unfortunately. Additionally I’ve glossed over the non-hidden puzzle bits. There is a great solution manual for the rings and such by Artoriaz on Steam
1. In the Beginning
Pick the ones with an apple/ball. Passcode 24568
2. Sixty-four Squares
Solve the rotating ring pictures. PoE 2- apple, PoE 1 - apple, PoE 3 - apple. Passcode 10352
3. Descendants
There is pigpen/Masonic cipher on the blackboard. WMC GASHPS JRHTDMW ES ABRHSS WMC SCA DCHRDC UASMEPDWHP QASSCK EW HP. Ok, Masonic cipher with a secondary encoding. The repeat of WMC makes me think that it’s THE. The number difference between W and T is different than H and M, so it’s not a straightforward RotN, unfortunately. Looks like I get to play cryptoquip - I used the Boxentriq manual solver for this, to make my life easier. The Masons brought it across the sea. George Washington passed it on. Apple is in the briefcase. This time it’s Morse to the right of Houdini. - …. . -.-- …. .. - …. .. -- .. -. - …. . … - --- -- .- -.-. …. They hit him in the stomach. The apple is by his head. More Morse in the top right. - …. . -… ..- .-.. .-.. . - …. .. - …. .. -- .. -. - …. . -.-. …. . … - The bullet hit him in the chest. The apple is on his right arm. Passcode 14523.
4. Infinite Knowledge
The first photo was chaotic, and I expected to find a hidden message, but did not. Photo is in teh mouth of the launcher. The next photo has a helpful hexagram on top of hex/ASCII code on the street area. 41 6e 74 69 6b 79 74 68 65 72 61 20 4d 65 63 68 61 6e 69 73 6d 2c 20 6d 75 63 68 20 6f 6c 64 65 72 20 74 68 61 6e 20 31 35 30 20 42 2e 43 2e 45 2e. Translated: Antikythera Mechanism, much older than 150 B.C.E. The photo you need to find is on the crouching man’s hat. The next image has code in the sky on the top left. 65 110 99 105 101 110 116 32 99 105 116 121 44 32 82 97 106 97 115 116 104 97 110 44 32 73 110 100 105 97 44 32 105 114 114 97 100105 97 116 101 100 32 98 121 32 80 111 69. Between the trees about center is A = 65, which is another clue for ASCII. Translated: Ancient city, Rajasthan, India, irradiated by PoE. Picture you need is just down right of center. On the Buddha’s face, there is b-2, and then binary 01010011 01110101 01101101 01100101 01110010 01101001 01100001 01101110 00101110 00100000 01001101 01100101 00100000 00110010 00110011 00101110. Translated: Sumerian. Me 23. Piece of Eden 4 is in the fiery hand in the top right. Passcode 72114
5. Instruments of power
Choose the pictures holding things that cut. PoE 25 - sword. Choose the pictures with people leaning on a stick - PoE 34 - staff. Passcode 81492
6. Brothers
Solve several rotating puzzles relating to Cain and Abel. Once calved, there is Morse Code at the bottom under the pictures. - . -- .--. .-.. .- .-. - . -..- - … .- -.. .- .--. - . -.. -… -.-- -- .-. .-.-.- … -- .. - …. Which translates to: Templar texts adapted by Mr. Smith. Passcode 52931.
7. Keep on Seeking, and You Shall Find
Chose the images with red featuring prominently. SPQR. Senatus Populusque Romanus, Roman soldiers. Not really a code, but hidden text - They Took It. PoE 66 - Shroud8. Martyrs
The first image doesn’t have anything hidden, just highlight the Tsar’s staff - PoE 37, however, the next, Jeanne d’Arc, has binary/ASCII hidden on the alter cloth. 00110011 00110000 00100000 01001101 01100001 01111001 00101100 00100000 00110001 00110100 00110011 00110001. This translates to 30 May, 1431, the day Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake. Choose the sword at her hip - PoE 25. Connect the fire to Joan of Arc - They Took It. Connect Rasputin to the Tsar - Rasputin took it to Tunguska. Passcode 69185.
9. Hat-Trick
Use a heartbeat to find the AoE in Houdini’s coat - about where you’d think an appendix would be. Then the heart in Gandhi’s chest. Then the file is for the Kennedy assassination. A simple 6=1 is written in between photos. Set the wheel and solve. 867 becomes 312, revealing a note about using Pieces of Eden to train assassins.
10. Apollo
Something was up there, something abandoned long ago. This one has hidden text. First, there is a pigpen cipher, aka the Masonic cipher. Hidden on the moon, close to the top, it first reads as a bit of gibberish. NHMPSHP UAS HPC HL WMCG. WMC JCCS KRHPC WHH. LHOOHU WMC GHPCV. Looks like I get to play cryptoquip, again, though thankfully they use the same cipher as the first one (see 3). Johnson was one of them. The bees drone too. Follow the money. Admittedly the middle doesn’t make much sense, but it fits the overall key. Seems to be the generally accepted result on the forums that I could find as well. Johnson is presumably Katherine Johnson, who calculated the Apollo 11 trajectory. Once you’ve solved it, use the beeping to find the Eagle lunar module from the mission in the bottom left. Then solve the wheels - I found it easiest to align the tiniest sliver as it was the most distinct. Then find the AoE in the shadow of the flag, which also has Templar markings. Passcode 10352.
11. The Inventor
Nikola Tesla and his intent to bring free energy to all. Light up the bulbs. Wardenclyffe Tower. There are Tesla quotes hidden in the sky, unencoded.
Fights between individuals, as well as governments and nations, invariably result from misunderstandings in the broadest interpretation of this term. - Misunderstandings are always caused by the inability of appreciating one another’s point of view. The best way to dispel ignorance of the doings of others is by a systematic spread of general knowledge. With this object in view, it is most important to aid exchange of thought and intercourse.
The picture to get to the next image is under the tower on the arch. The next picture, once you turn on the infrared, shows another hidden message. On the ball is A=C, then in the lightning you have JG WUGF KV VQ FGXGNQR C DQVVQONGUU UQWTEG QH GPGTIA. VGNGHWPMGP YKTGNGUU UVCVKQP. The hint gives us our key for the Caesar/RotN cipher (Rot2): He used it to develop a bottomless source of energy. Telefunken Wireless Station. The it in question presumably being the AoE, which is on his lap in the photo - he found it in Croatia, apparently. Passcode 61902
12. Titans of Industry
Another wheel puzzle. At the bottom of the left hand image, apparently stolen from Tesla, is the key 4=1. 917 becomes 240. Then knock out all the lights as Edison and Morgan slander Tesla and pull his funding. Then there’s a horrible snuff film of an elephant, Topsy, which is actual footage. It’s horrifying. I looked it up, Topsy’s death was after the war of the currents, but they really did electrocute the poor elephant. Humans are horrible. The next image, with Edison and Tesla, has a series of Morse Code at the top. - …. . -.-- ..- … . -.. .. - --- -- .- -.- . - . … .-.. .- --. --- .. -. … .- -. . - …. . --- .-. --. .- -. .. --.. .- - .. --- -. - --- --- -.- …. .. … .-. . … . .- .-. -.-. …. .- .-.. .. . -. .--. .-. --- .--. . .-. - -.-- -.-. ..- … - --- -.. .. .- -. --- ..-. ..-. .. -.-. . Or, They used it to make Tesla go insane. The Organization took his research. Alien Property Custodian Office. The orb is the one glowing in front of Edison
Then to the Ford Archive. This one took me a while to see, but there is a 2 on the race car, and a ||.. symbol on the newspaper. Align the wheels. | is worth three ., per the math, so 139 becomes ||., |||, |.. That in turn gives us a letter from Ford to Edison. Passcode 61902 - same as the last?
13. Trinity Archive
I am become death, destroyer of worlds. This one is fairly straightforward to solve - there’s a highlighted triangle in front of a bomb prototype, and a 9 in the cloud by the tower. Align the wheel so the 9 and the triangle are together, and solve the password. Each symbol is the sum of the two before it, so 529 becomes circle square square, circle, triangle. From there you get a note authorizing the Trinity nuclear tests, from the Abstergo archives. A red button and test footage. A Geiger counter gives you the password: 71645
14. Bloodlines
Pick out the images with god-human interaction. Glad you paid attention in Greek mythology class?! Passcode 80945. No hidden message :(
15. Guardians
Start with a picture wheel. The death of all tyrants will set the people free. Then it quotes several tyrants and or their supporters - Rasputin, Stalin, etc. John Wilkes Booth presumably for his Sic Semper Tyranis. Passcode 23414.
16. The Cavalry
More notes to Tesla, who may have helped destroy an Apple of Eden with his electricity, causing the Tunguska Event. Passcode 81126
17. The Bunker
There is a < = on the building in the bottom left, and a 4 that fades in and out by the soldiers. Align those, then realize that the progression is to add another sharp angle to the symbol as it goes round. 791 then is 4 angles, 6 angles, 8 angles. The next image is a bunker, and the picture helpfully starts with a zoom over the text A=H on the conical building. The message is on the small square building nearby. AOL KVBISL DHZ RPSSLK PU AOL IBURLY. Nearby, but not part of the message, apparently, is RIP on the ground. A=H tells us it’s a RotN cipher, giving us The double was killed in the bunker. Find the symbol on the top right of the tall building. Passcode 01545
18. Synapses
Ok, this puzzle hated me, and the feeling was mutual. You know you need to line up the 5 because it’s sitting there in the brain. It doesn’t make ANY sense after that until you get the hint from the team that it’s Sumerian numerals (of course, right?!) and the tree thing is 1 and the right angle is 10. Apparently they saw no need for 5s. Then you eventually get a hint from an online board because you’re going nuts and realize that the math in the left box is the pattern. So, the numbers around the outside will be 1 (+2) 3 (+6) 9 (+2) 11 (+1) 12 (+5) 17 (+3) 20 (+5) 25 (+6) 31 (+4) 35. Which means, if you set 5 to the one tree, then 603 becomes 3 17 31. Or, three trees, one angle and seven trees, three angles and one tree. Because of course… Read about neurotransmitters, turn on the neurons. Passcode 65119
19. The Fourth Day
Choose pictures of the sun. Which may have wiped out the Isu, which we don’t learn about in this game yet ;) No hidden codes, but hidden plaintext. Passcode 69185, same as 8.
Near the day of purification there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky - Hopi
They died in the fire from the heavens
Toba, 75ka, was not a volcano
A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky which could burn the lands and boil the oceans - Hopi
20. The Origin of the Species
Solve the puzzle wheel. It has been hidden, altered. No hidden messages in the picture, beyond things that may also be different PoE. Find the Vitruvian man in the open eye at the top. Any random symbols seem to activate the wheel. Run the AoE over the skeleton Passcode 00000.
I woke up thinking that the pattern of the 5 digit numbers would mean something, but not all correspond to the passcodes found, so am a bit stuck there. There’s apparently something called a VIC cipher that’s 5 digits, but it would need a key, and I’m not sure what that would be. I tried feeding it the Me 23 from the Sumerian puzzle, or the key 00000 from the passcode, but no dice. Still, lots of fun solving!
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