User blog:Guardian Assassin/Theories, Fanon, and Other Absent-minded Ramblings: Part 2

Hello, good evening and welcome, to the second post of Theories, Fanon, and Other Absent-minded Ramblings. I know it's a bit early for another post this soon, but I felt like getting this one out of the way. This time, I just want to discuss some minor theories/fanon of mine. Not anything that really necessarily pertains to the main story or characters; just other, more minor stuff from around the Assassin's Creed universe (the Assassin-verse, as I like to call it); you know, the little things. Probably not as interesting to most fans, but I still like to examine the little details of the mythos.

Moses and the Apple
This is a theory of mine regarding Moses' connection to the Pieces of Eden. In the first Assassin's Creed, Al Mualim claims that Moses, among others, was a previous wielder of the Apple. Of course, given what we've learned since then, it seems reasonable to think he may have been wrong; after all, we now know that Moses carried the Staff, just as we know that Jesus (also said by Al Mualim to have used the Apple) owned the Shroud. However, I have certain reason to believe that Moses did carry the Apple in addition to the Staff.

It's actually very simple: the Apple was found on the Ark of the Covenant; the vessel it was stored in was apparently a part of the Ark. And the Ark, of course, was built by Moses and his people. Pretty straightforward. But here's the interesting part: at one point I decided to do a little research on the Ark, and I found this on Wikipedia: "God was said to have communicated with Moses 'from between the two cherubim' on the Ark's cover." You may be think that the cherubim figures were omitted from the AC version of the Ark, but look again: is it me, or do those look a bit like wings on the Apple's vessel? Imagine for a moment that the cherubim are part of the vessel, one on each side; what does that put between the them? I think it's not unlikely that Moses believed that God spoke to him through the Apple (and likely the Staff as well). In any case, this theory does seem to make it unlikely that Jesus later acquired it.

By the way, if anyone could somehow get a nice, detailed picture of the vessel, I might be able to confirm that part of the theory. I'd much appreciate it.

Al Mualim: Name or Title?
This is a short one: I've been thinking recently about Al Mualim's name. As you probably know, "Al Mualim" actually translates to "the Teacher" or "the Master". Thus, it seems realistically unlikely that it was his real name. (On that note, some fans have likened him to the real-life leader of the Assassins at the time, Rashid ad-Din Sinan.) Regardless, a possible reason for the name recently occurred to me. Rather than being a simple pseudonym, is it possible that "Al Mualim" is the twelfth-centuy/Syrian equivalent to "the Mentor"? What do you think?

Concerning the "Gods"
These are just a few thoughts regarding Those Who Came Before; specifically, their history. First off, the Vault. We already know that its purpose was to deliver a message to Desmond (via Ezio and the Animus). However, there's something else that I read on some website (I can't actually remember exactly where). Inside the Vault is a series of small obelisks, in four rows of three. When Minerva mentions Juno and Jupiter, she gestures to a pair of obelisks on her left (your right as you enter the Vault). Following Minerva's disappearance, six of them sink into the floor for some reason, while the six lining the walls, oddly enough, don't. The theory is that the Vault also serves as a tomb, and that these pillars are actually sarcophagi. Twelve obelisks for twelve Olympians? It would explain Minerva's gesture towards them; before seeing this, I had never really thought about where they would have been buried, if anywhere.

That brings me to my second point: when did they die? Personally, I think they probably died some time in the early Roman period. Evidence: They're referred to by their Roman names in the games; Minerva says that that was her name "when she died". Furthermore, we know that they were in Rome at some point, because they built the Vaults beneath it. Thoughts?

Please comment. Check back next time. Peace out.