María (Assassin)

"Our own lives mean nothing. What matters is what we leave behind."

- Maria to Aguilar, 1492.

Maria (unknown – 1492) was a member of the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins during the 15th century, as well as a close ally of Master Assassin Aguilar de Nerha.

In 1492, she and her fellow Assassins sought to prevent Prince Ahmed of Granada from being captured by the Templars, fearing that his father, Sultan Muhammad XII of Granada, would relinquish the Apple of Eden in his possession in exchange for his son's safety.

Early life
Little is known of Maria's early years beyond the fact that she was born to Assassins, who gave her a pendant in the shape of an eight-pointed star, with the Assassin insignia etched into it. Much like her parents, she ended up joining the Brotherhood and became fiercely devoted to its ideals.

At some point, Aguilar de Nerha, having lost his parents to Tomás de Torquemada's Spanish Inquisition, came to the Brotherhood and asked for training. Although many doubted his motives, Maria and her Mentor Benedicto believed he could become a true Assassin. They reached out to Aguilar and helped him work through his grief and anger.

Afterwards, Maria and Aguilar began training together and gradually grew closer, eventually entering into a relationship. In 1492, Maria attended Aguilar's official induction into the Brotherhood, during which his ring finger was ritually amputated. She then presented him with his Hidden Blades, while reciting the Creed.

Rescuing the Prince
"Our mission is the boy [...] The Templars may not find his hiding place, but if they do, they'll trade his life for the Apple. Sultan Muhammad will have no choice."

- Benedicto informing the Assassins of their mission, 1492.

A few months later, Maria joined her Mentor, Aguilar and several other experienced Assassins on a mission to prevent the capture of Prince Ahmed of Granada. However, the Templars managed to find the prince, who had been hidden in a remote village, and had him put in a cage. As General Ramires, the leader of the company, held a grand speech in front of the town's inhabitants, Maria and her compatriots blended into the crowd.

Ramires was subsequently struck down by Aguilar, following which the Assassins commenced their attack; Maria, keeping the mission's objective foremost in her mind, headed straight for the cart that held the prince. After dispatching a guard, she jumped onto the wagon and rode off, but was quickly pursued by Ojeda and his men. Switching between steering the cart and protecting it from attackers, Maria was able to keep the Templars at bay for some time, even as Ojeda continued to come closer.

Eventually, a persistent soldier managed to unbalance Maria from her seat, causing her to fall between the horses, though she managed to hold onto their harness. Aguilar came to her rescue, taking out the Templar, and then began picking the lock of the prince's cage, as the wagon, having had no one to steer it, headed straight for a cliff. Although Maria disconnected the harness from the cart, causing the horses to veer away from the chasm, the wagon nevertheless went over the edge, with her lover and the prince still inside it. Aguilar managed to save their lives through the use of the grappling hook built into his gauntlet, but he and Ahmed were still apprehended by Ojeda, and Maria too ended up being captured.

Escape through Seville
Thrown into jail, Maria told her lover that their lives were not important, only the Creed was. The Assassins were eventually dragged out of their cell to be publicly executed as heretics by the Spanish Inquisition and its leader, the Templar Tomás de Torquemada. Benedicto was then burning at the stake in front of his disciples, but before the Templars could do the same to them, Aguilar freed himself. Fending off the guards, Aguilar freed Maria and they both fled the scene after setting off the stocks of oil, which exploded. Chased by the Templars and soldiers on the city's roofs, the two Assassins used their skills to escape the fearsome Ojeda and his men until they reached the top of the cathedral, where cornered they performed Leaps of faith to escape.

Eventually the pair reached the Sultan's palace in Grenada, where they witnessed the exchange between the monarch and Torquemada, his son for the Apple. Jumping from the roof, Maria and Aguilar fought the Templars present in the room, locking the rest of them outside. They killed all of them except for their leader and Ojeda and Aguilar recovered the Apple from Torquemada. However, as Aguilar had his blade on Torquemada's throat he discovered that Ojeda had a dagger on Maria's and a standoff issued.

Despite his lover telling him to kill Torquemada and flee with the artifact, Aguilar hesitated and eventually lowered his blade, prompting Maria to plunge Ojeda's blade into her own neck to remove herself from the equation. Enraged Aguilar attacked Ojeda and as he was losing he used the blade thrower on the wrist of a dying Maria to critically injure the brute before finishing him. Despite Maria's death, Aguilar escaped Torquemada and his men with the Apple.

Personality and characteristics
While she was a more measured individual than her partner-in-arms, Maria shared Aguilar's dedication to the Brotherhood and sought to prevent the damage Templar influence was doing to her country.

Equipment and skills
Light on her feet and exceedingly quick, Maria was both a highly-skilled freerunner and combatant in her own right. She wielded two Hidden Blades, one of which was comprised of two thin blades next to one another.

Maria wore robes bearing Moorish influence.

Trivia

 * Alicia Vikander was originally considered for the role of Maria, but scheduling conflicts with Jason Bourne eventually caused the actress to drop out, with Ariane Labed being cast instead.