Grand Temple

"Each Vault's knowledge was transmitted to a single place."

- Jupiter speaking of the Grand Temple

The Grand Temple, otherwise known as the Central Vault, was created by the beings of the First Civilization. It was located in North America, around modern upstate New York.

Like the other temples across the planet, its purpose was to create different methods of saving and preserving the world. It was the location where Jupiter, Minerva and Juno collected and tested the discoveries of the other temples in the hope of finding the most effective methods of Earth's salvation from the solar flare.

Like the other Vaults, the Grand Temple was buried underground in order to protect its contents from the war with humanity and the solar flare, and was hidden beneath a statue dedicated to the Capitoline Triad. However, the statue was destroyed in the First Disaster, and its location remained hidden until Desmond Miles' revelation.

It was also the location that Juno had been locked within to protect the humans from her plots of destruction. It also held the key to unlock her that could also save Earth from the second flare.

History
Before and after the war with humanity, all information from the other temples regarding any way to prevent the first catastrophe was sent there for Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva to "sort and sample all that was collected." The three tested six possible solutions in succession, "each more encouraging than the last," but all six solutions ultimately failed.

The first solution was to build four towers to collect the solar flare that would strike the planet, and virtually dispel it. While they had the means and resources, the time to produce the solution would take too long to be successful. The first tower was never completed and the research was abandoned.

The second solution was to use some sort of magnetic field, that could protect the planet against the solar flare. But it was too large to build and was considered impossible. The scientists hoped to save a possible half, a sixth, an eighth, or even a tenth of the world. Even building the field for one city proved too costly, and the solution was abandoned. The third solution was discovered by using the Apples of Eden on humans. If enough humans were compelled to believe in one idea, their thoughts could become reality. The consequent solution involved launching an Apple of Eden into orbit, aiming it towards the planet, and commanding the entire human race to think one thought, "Make us safe." This thought would than become real and save the planet. The project was abandoned after twelve attempts to aim the beam had been unsuccessful.

The fourth solution was to enhance the bodies of the First Civilization externally, to transform the body, internally, into steel strong enough to withstand a hostile environment. Aita, Juno's husband, volunteered to test the method, resulting in his mind degenerating and becoming increasingly catatonic. With enough will, he wished for Juno to euthanize him, and she fulfilled it, the solution then abandoned. The fifth solution was to create entirely new vessels that could safely transfer one's consciousness in a way that the former solution had failed to do. The new vessels would be able to withstand the new environment, and they could house the transferred consciousness. While transferring one's consciousness into the new vessel was easy, later releasing oneself from the vessel was nearly impossible. As a result, this solution was ultimately abandoned.

In time, Minerva discovered that there is a pattern of numbers and equations that define existence. If one could comprehend these numbers, time itself could be tamed. The sixth solution was to attempt to go back in time to prevent the disaster before it could occur. Unfortunately the means would be too dangerous, and so this solution was also abandoned.

Minerva later founded one final solution, but it was never tested. Minerva created a pedestal, the Eye, that would allow one who has the genetic material to manipulate the numbers to protect the Earth. However, before Minerva could test it, she discovered that Juno had tampered with it. While the patterns to save the world were still there, the patterns would also allow Juno to have total control and power. Minerva forced the last solution to be abandoned.

Following this, the solar flare destroyed most of the First Civilization and left less than 10,000 humans alive. However, the two groups worked together, beginning around the remains of the Grand Temple. The members of the First Civilization attempted to pass on their gifts to humans through crossbreeding, resulting in some individuals being able to access Eagle Vision and use the Pieces of Eden. As time went on, the memories of the First Civilization, the location of the Grand Temple, and the disaster itself dissolved into other cultures and were ultimately forgotten.

However, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva created a plan for the planet's salvation for 2012, where they believed a similar disaster to that which killed their people would occur again. In 1499, Minerva spoke to the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a descendant of the First Civilization, in the Vatican Vault. Unbeknownst to Ezio, his memories would be viewed by his descendant Desmond Miles in 2012 through the Animus. Minerva spoke directly to Desmond through Ezio, telling Desmond about her people, the war with humanity, the disaster, and their efforts to rebuild the world. She also warned Desmond to act quickly and to beware of the Templars.

In 1506, Ezio Auditore and Leonardo da Vinci discovered a smaller vault in Rome. Unlike the Vatican Vault, the Pythagorean Vault contained a set of coordinates: 43 39 19 N 75 27 42 W. Leonardo was baffled by the information, but Ezio inherently understood that these numbers were intended for Desmond. William Miles, Desmond's father and the de facto Mentor of the Assassin Order, noted these memories outside the Animus, and set out to these coordinates, which he believed to be the location of another temple.

In 1511, Prince Ahmet, the Templar leader in Constantinople, desired the location of the Grand Temple in order to end the differences between men, and create a unified world. He believed that the legendary assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad discovered the temple's location, and that he had hidden that knowledge in his library beneath Masyaf. With this belief, he organized an excavation to find the library, which Ezio Auditore ultimately discovered. From 1511 to 1512, Ezio stayed in Constantinople to recover the keys to Altaïr's library, which subsequently led to him opening it. However, the library was empty, except for Altaïr's remains, a sixth key, and Altaïr's Apple of Eden.

Weary of his life as an Assassin, Ezio chose not to take the Apple from the library. However, the Apple began to glow and Ezio began to speak directly to Desmond as Minerva had. Ezio asked Desmond to make sense of the questions that had plagued him, and to make the suffering he had endured worth something. Desmond's image then appeared through the Apple.

In 2012, Desmond relived Ezio's memories, and upon the moment Ezio discovered the Apple in the library of Altaïr, it triggered Desmond to be thrown into the Nexus. There, Jupiter spoke to Desmond where he further explained and elaborated on what had happened to him and the rest of the First Civilization, as well as charging Desmond with the task of going to the Grand Temple, as that would help him find a means to save the world from the next solar flare.

With the message complete, Desmond awoke from his coma, surrounded by Shaun Hastings, Rebecca Crane, and his father, William, inside a van. Desmond told the others that he knew what needed to be done, and William then opened the van doors to reveal they were in a field where the Grand Temple once stood.

Desmond opened the Temple's gates with the Apple, activating a large portion of the Temple's equipment in the process. As the Assassins investigated the Temple, they found a large gate made of light that protected the Eye. Shaun theorized that the Eye could only be accessed by three power sources and a key that would fully reactivate the Temple and dispel the door. The team took refuge within the Temple, while Desmond entered the Animus to investigate the memories of two of his ancestors: Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton, who both held the key at different points of their lives. Desmond recovered the power sources to activate the whole mechanism of the Temple during his time there. With each source plugged in, Desmond had visions from Juno explaining the solutions created by The First Civilization to prevent the solar flare and save the planet.

Through the memories of his ancestors, Desmond obtained the key and recovered the power sources, accessing the Eye. Juno appeared to the Assassins once more, urging Desmond to activate the Eye. In that moment, however, Minerva appeared as well, telling Desmond not to activate the Eye. If Desmond did as Juno told him to, the world would be saved but he would die and Juno would be released from her imprisonment. Minerva revealed that Juno was imprisoned long ago for trying to use the First Civilization's technology to take over the world while her brethren tried to save it. Minerva also showed Desmond that if he refrained from activating the Eye, the Sun would once again destroy the world, but he and many other humans would survive. Desmond would eventually become a religious figure that would rebuild the world. However, upon his death, his ideals would be mistranslated, causing the fall of civilization.

Believing that humanity had a chance at defeating Juno, Desmond activated the Eye, telling William, Shaun and Rebecca to leave and prepare for the new struggle. The world was indeed saved, but Desmond had died and Juno was released.

Several hours later, Abstergo found the Grand Temple location and sent a team. There, they found and retrieved Desmond's body, stripping him of his backpack and his Hidden Blade, which was broken into different pieces.

Trivia

 * The entrance to the Grand Temple is located in the north of the Frontier within the Black Creek region.
 * It is also possible to visit the entrance while reliving Connor and Haytham's memories.
 * The shape of the temple from the hologram in Assassin's Creed: Revelations changed to become much larger and separated in Assassin's Creed III.