| Arnold Pierce | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
1966 |
| Died |
14 April 2022 (aged 55-56) |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations | |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in |
Assassin's Creed: Heritage (mentioned) |
Arnold Pierce (1966 - 2022) was a Master Assassin and a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. In his youth, Arnold was a field agent for the Brotherhood but when he grew too old to carry out field missions, Arnold acted as a contact, trainer and tactical support member. He is the father of Horatio Pierce.
In late 2016, through the memories of his ancestors, Arnold discovered the existence of the Sources of Eden and as a result went missing because of it.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Arnold was a descendant of the notorious Assassins, compromising of Kurosawa no Rōnin, Kenneth Ravensdale, his son Osyka and the 19th century Assassin Ugochukwu. Arnold was born into the Brotherhood and decided to devote his life to the Creed.
In 1997, Arnold became the mentor of Hayley Yasutake and trained her in everything she knew. In that same year, Arnold had a son, Horatio, with a Canadian woman named Jennifer Westwood. Arnold was unsure if he should indoctrinate Horatio into the Brotherhood until the year 2000, the year of the Great Purge. Arnold was a target for Daniel Cross and Abstergo and thus had to leave his family.
Source of Eden[]
At an unknown point and for unknown reasons, Arnold relived the genetic memories of his ancestors and discovered the existence of the Sources of Eden. After this, Arnold left to find these Sources but also left clues behind for his Assassin brethren.
Arnold anticipated that Abstergo would discover the clues first and so, he made one of the clues lead to a dead end regarding finding a Source of Eden which gave the Assassins enough time to discover the other Sources.
Reunion[]
In late 2017, Arnold discovered a precursor Temple in Mexico through the genetic memories of his ancestor, Osyka. Although due to his low count of Isu genes he could not open the Temple and therefore waited for the Assassins to find him.
Eventually, his protege Hayley, his son Horatio and the two Assassins Jason Hart and Erica Boyd found Arnold.
The reunion with his son was hostile born of Horatio's resentment for his perceived abandonment of his family seventeen years prior. However, the reunion was short lived when they were attacked by Abstergo agents led by the Templar Kyle North. Arnold engaged the agents alongside Hayley and his son where they managed to repel the agents but not without Horatio sustaining an injury.
Finding the Source[]
The Assassins fled inside the Temple and lock it behind them. Now inside the Temple, the Assassins try to gather their bearings while Horatio is treated and the others look for the Source of Eden, which they believe to be inside the Temple. However, they learn that the Source that his ancestor, Osyka, had left behind was missing. The team then begin to search for new leads which eventually lead them to another ancestor, a Nigerian Assassin who operated during the Civil War era.
Horatio would then begin to relive the memory of their ancestor Ugochukwu in order to locate the Source of Eden. Some days would pass and Horatio was progressing adequately through their ancestor's genetic memory, however, they would need to temporarily halt the search as Arnold and the others would learn that members of the Assassins were captured and held hostage by Abstergo during the attack orchestrated to break Horatio and Hayley out of Abstergo's Ontario facility.
Refusing to leave them there, the team agree to head to Ontario where Horatio and Hayley would free them. During the pair's assault, Arnold, Jason and Erica would aid them remotely. In the aftermath, Horatio would critically injure Kyle North, kill the high ranking Templar Alexandre Bacque, and erase his and Arnold's genetic memory data from Abstergo's cloud - stopping them from finding the Source.
Upon his return, he congratulated his son with Horatio thanking him response and referring to him as "dad", beginning their first steps to reconciliation. Some more time would pass and Horatio would eventually synchronize with Ugochukwu's memories, learning the location of the Source of Eden. With the Source of Eden located in the Factory in Nigeria, the team agree to leave it there while they search for other Sources in order to keep them out of Templar and Assassin hands.
A New Mission[]
Five years later, Arnold and Horatio's relationship had significantly improved. In March 2022, the team were contacted by Gavin Banks and informed of Kyle North's resurface despite believing him to have died in 2017. Hayley agrees to begin looking for him in order to find out what Abstergo have planned. Eventually, through Horatio stealthily infiltrating Abstergo's Ontario facility and downloading some files the team would learn that North had in fact gone rogue. In addition to this, Arnold and the others also learned that his former lover and Horatio's mother Jennifer Westwood had become a person of interest.
Immediately making their way to Vancouver, they learn of Jennifer's current residence and go to her home. Horatio and Hayley learn that she had been kidnapped by North through security footage and are also attacked by Juhani Otso Berg and Sigma Team. Narrowly escaping the couple return to Arnold and the others, informing them of what they discovered as well as a man named 'Ari' in the recordings.
Erica learns that the man mentioned by North was Ari Einarrson, a Viking Hidden One who operated in the eleventh century and Jennifer's ancestor. Horatio begins searching through Ari's genetic memories in order to find out his connection to the situation, and hopefully find his mother. A day later, under duress over his mother's predicament, Horatio snaps at Hayley who refuses to allow him to re-enter the Animus after having previously already spent 38 hours in there. Horatio would then storm out out of frustration, Arnold follows him in attempts to get his son to calm down. After finding him, the two have a heart to heart emotional conversation with Arnold reassuring his son that everything would be okay.
Some weeks later, Horatio would synchronize with Ari's genetic memories and learn of why his mother was kidnapped, as well as where she would be. Arnold, along with the others would learn that Horatio and his mother are descendants of the Isu Magni and that he must prevent North from accessing the Isu temple, the Conservatory.
Death[]
Arnold and the others travel to Newfoundland and locate the Key that grants access to the Conservatory. Heading over to the Conservatory, Horatio accesses the Isu temple and they make their way to a sealed area that only Horatio is able to access. Arnold and the others witness his son unlocking the seal which reveal a chamber of stasis pods housing members of the Isu, perfectly preserved.
North then arrives with Jennifer hostage, where he reveals he is a Sage and what he and his beloved had been planning for several millennia. How a select few Isu would undergo stasis while he reincarnated into humanity to release them from their sleep, then they could assume their rightful place as humanity's rulers. Magni, however, had interfered as they all knew and North had to 'waste' several lifetimes looking for Magni's descendants.
North then motioned to kill Jennifer but was quickly stopped by Hayley with use of a throwing knife, North then proceeds to throw Jennifer toward the ledge of the platform they were on. Horatio and Hayley rush to save her before she falls while North moves to activate the stasis pods, knocking Jason and Erica out along the way. Arnold engages North, trying to delay him as long as possible but is fatally wounded by the Sage.
Overcome by grief, Horatio cried out in terror and quickly held his father before he could hit the ground, begging him to not "do this to me", repeating to him that he's going to be alright. Distracted by his dying father, North activates Shakuru's stasis pod before moving on to the others. A tearful Horatio cradles his dying father as North and the other Isu pass the both of them, exiting the temple, not even believing Horatio was worthy to die at their hands. As they left, Horatio continues to tearfully beg his father not to die but Arnold jokingly confesses that if he were younger, he would have kicked North's ass. Coughing up blood, Arnold reminds him to stay focused and now that the Isu have been revived, all of humanity was at risk and that he needed to stop him. Arnold tells Horatio that he knows he can do it and that he treasured the brief time they had together.
Personality and characteristics[]
Arnold was a serious man but at rare times he could also develop a witty sense of humor. Arnold is completely devoted to the Assassin Brotherhood and their Creed. Due to being a man of serious nature, he also liked to remain focused on important tasks.
Despite being devoted to the Creed, it is implied Arnold deeply cared for his son as he debated on whether to indoctrinate his son into the Brotherhood when he was still an infant. When he was made a target by Abstergo in 2000, he left his family in order to keep them safe further showing his connection to the people he loves.
Trivia[]
- The name Arnold is an English name. In English the meaning of the name Arnold is: Derived from an old German name meaning eagle power.
- Arnold stands at 6'1" and weighs 163lbs.