Ahead of the game’s release next month, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla just received an unexpected but welcome promotion in the form of a one-shot manga. This short story is a crossover between the upcoming Ubisoft title and the popular manga Vinland Saga.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla brings the history-spanning franchise into the era of the Vikings, specifically the 9th century. The story will follow Eivor, who leads a clan of Vikings to settle lands in England and other parts of Europe, where they come into conflict with the Anglo-Saxons. With a plot centered around Viking invaders, a crossover between Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Vinland Saga is only natural. Written by Makoto Yukimura, Vinland Saga focusses on Thorfinn, the son of a retired Viking commander who gets caught up in a seafaring adventure after his father’s death. The series began in 2005 and has 23 volumes so far, as well as an anime adaptation.
Ubisoft Japan announced the crossover project last week with a short animated trailer on their official twitter. The full one-shot, written by Yukimura himself, is now available on Ubisoft Japan’s website. Told in only six pages, the story features a brief confrontation between the two series’ protagonists. After seeing his ships have been set on fire, Thorfinn chases Eivor, who is presumably responsible, through the woods. The Vinland Saga hero is met with a punch in the face and left on the ground with a bloody nose as the Assassin makes his escape. The one-shot is currently only available in Japanese, but English and other translations are reportedly on the way.
As cool as this crossover is, it’s highly unlikely the story will be canon to either franchise given the difference in their respective time periods. While Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla takes place in the 9th century during the Vikings’ early expansion into England, Vinland Saga takes place in the 11th century. Unless Eivor can time-travel or simply doesn’t age, it would be virtually impossible for him and Thorfinn to actually cross paths. There’s also the fact that the official prequel graphic novels for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will feature the female version of Eivor, while the character in the one-shot is clearly male. However, narrative director Darby McDevitt confirmed that the story will be canon regardless of whether players choose to make Eivor a man or woman in-game, so this may be less of a complication than it seems. Regardless, the difference in time period alone is enough to rule out an official shared universe between the two properties, though it still makes for an awesome promotion.
In addition to its online release, the one-shot crossover will also be made available in print come December in Monthly Afternoon, the magazine where Vinland Saga is published. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for any Vinland Saga easter eggs in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Assassin's Creed: Valhalla drops on November 10 (November 12 for PlayStation 5)