User blog comment:Animusradiation/Ubisoft E3 Conference Liveblog!/@comment-69.107.105.41-20110608033124/@comment-1625914-20110608040151

Ah, but you see: Altair spent 4 centuries hibernating on the moon, and he KNEW that with the cold war going, they could end up nuking the planet before Desmond was born and then his ancestor wouldn't be able to steal his life force, therefore stopping his plan to raise an army of dragons with which conquer the sun, fueling Altaïr's powers and allowing him to reach Andromeda, the galaxy where reputedely Those Who Came Before's ancestor originally came from and seizing power of the Phanastacoria Orb, allowing him to control time and become a Time Lord of Fate and Destiny of the Mytical Legendary Dragons.

So, it all fits, as you can see.