If Assassin’s Creed Valhalla's conclusion is to be believed, the series is going to go in some absolutely wild directions. Here’s how Valhalla's story sets up the next Assassin’s Creed game.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the third main entry in the series to follow Layla Hassan. As such, it serves as a capstone to her trilogy. Both the past and present timelines culminate in this conclusion, with Valhalla dropping major reveals in each. Finally, the origins of the Templars are fully spelled out, and the impending doom of the next cataclysm is clarified. Explaining all of this means the series will have to move onto new lore questions in the next entry.

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There are even more fascinating additions to Assassin’s Creed lore. Notably, the civilization of the Isu is explored in greater detail. The Isu are an ancient people who once ruled the world and created humanity to be their slaves. Humanity’s rebellion and a mysterious cataclysm ended their reign, as shown in the very first Assassin’s Creed. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Eivor is able to step into the Isu’s age and experience it firsthand. Because everything Eivor sees is filtered through their 9th century Norse mind, it is unclear whether Norse mythology reflects the Isu or the Isu as Eivor sees them map onto Valhalla's version of Norse mythology. Either way, this exposition allows the next Assassin’s Creed title to explore the Isu world in even greater depth.

Valhalla's Layla May Be Dead, But She’ll Be Around For New Assassin’s Creeds

Assassins Creed Valhalla Layla Reader

Oh, yes, and one more small thing - Layla dies. Probably. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla's ending, Layla is implied to nobly sacrifice her body to live on as a digital consciousness trapped in an Isu relic. There, along with an enigmatic being called The Reader (who may or may not be none other than Desmond Miles, the last Assassin’s Creed protagonist to heroically give up their life), Layla will spend untold years searching for a means of saving humanity from the next cataclysm. The next game will probably be about their effort to avert this doomsday, but it is also likely a new, living player character will be introduced.

More than that, the person who killed Layla (more or less) is alive - and he’s a modern-day Assassin. Basim the Hidden One is the reincarnation of Loki, an Isu who betrayed Odin (who himself reincarnated as Eivor). This kind of reincarnation is also something of a reveal. In earlier titles, reincarnation was restricted to sages of Aita, the husband of series antagonist Juno. But with Juno (permanently?) dead, it’s natural that this concept is being applied to other Isu. And with Basim still in play - and allegedly working with Layla’s friends to fight against Assassin's Creed's Templars - the next game has plenty of incredible premises to work with.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla not only sets up the next entry in the series but sets up its next era. The table is cleared for a new protagonist and a new direction.

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