Confrontation in the Vatican

The Confrontation in the Vatican was an event during the Italian Renaissance in which Assassin Ezio Auditore and the other Assassins prepared themselves to assassinate Rodrigo Borgia directly at the Vatican itself and learn where the fabled Vault lies.

Journey along the Passeto di Borgo
"I thought... I thought I was beyond this. But I'm not. I've waited too long... lost too much... Requiescat in pace, you bastard!"

- Ezio's first assassination attempt on Rodrigo Borgia.

After collecting all of the Codex, the Order met in Mario Auditore's study room in the Villa Auditore at the Assassin's stronghold, Monteriggioni. There, Ezio inspected the Codex pages that were placed on the wall, to discover what was hidden beneath them. He assembled the pages as the members of the Order looked on, and successfully revealed a map of the world, which showed the locations of other Pieces of Eden (41 in total). Ezio marveled that the landmasses depicted on the map did not exist, but Niccolò Machiavelli corrected him that they probably did, but were simply yet to be discovered or rediscovered.

To Ezio's shock, he then saw that the much-talked-about Vault was located roughly right where the city of Rome stood. It was then that he theorized that Rodrigo Borgia had become Pope in order to gain possession of the Papal Staff, as well as gain access to the Vault. When Teodora questioned Ezio's meaning, Mario explained the prophecy from the Codex, stating that two Pieces of Eden in conjunction were necessary to open the Vault, one of the Apples, and the Staff. The other Assassins began to speculate about what the Vault would contain, and expressed their fears of what Borgia would do once he had attained it.

Ezio decided that he would confront Borgia and try to open the Vault himself. The other Assassins agreed, offering to "cause trouble in the city" to keep the Borgia guards from stopping Ezio. With his mission planned, and his final vengeance in sight, Ezio departed for Rome that December.

Ezio arrived in Rome outside the Castel Sant'Angelo, and began to scale the building until he had climbed onto the Passeto di Borgo. Stealthily killing off the patrolling guards and mounting a horse, he was quickly able to traverse the wall and kill all of the troops on it, finally reaching an entry point into the Capella Sistina. Ezio blended with the monks and Cardinals, in order to keep the guards from detecting his presence. Traversing beams, ropes, and other constructions high above the ground, Ezio made his way within striking range of the Pope, and then leapt at him from above, hitting Borgia with some force, and seemingly knocking him unconscious.

Holding Borgia at his mercy, Ezio allowed his anger and hatred for Borgia to overwhelm him, remembering all too well Borgia's part in his family's destruction. But, as he prepared to deal the final blow, Borgia reawakened and with a snarl, smashed Ezio aside with the Staff. Before anyone in the Chapel could react, Borgia used the Staff's powers to drain the life energy from the assembled priests and guards to heal and energize himself; only Ezio, protected by the Apple's power, was immune to the effect. Borgia demanded that Ezio hand the Apple over to him, but the Assassin only bluntly told the Pope to take it from him. He then used the Apple's power to produce four spectral doppelgangers of himself. Ezio and Borgia then engaged in a brief duel, until Ezio finally managed to apprehend Rodrigo, forcing the Pope to collapse from exhaustion.

Ezio demanded that Rodrigo stand down and accept his offer of a quick death, but Rodrigo, asking if Ezio would give up so easily if their positions were reversed, again made use of the Staff's power, blasting Ezio off his feet and turning himself invisible. As Ezio struggled to recover, Borgia seized the Apple from him, and combined it with the Staff, magnifying its powers greatly. With that, Rodrigo used the Staff to lift Ezio up and suspend him in midair. As the Assassin dangled helplessly, Rodrigo stabbed him in the abdomen with a knife, then ended the Staff's hold, dropping the injured Ezio to the floor. Just before he passed out from blood loss, Ezio saw Borgia descend down a hidden staircase in the Capella's floor.

The Vault
"It's over, Rodrigo. No more tricks. No more ancient artifacts. No more weapons. Let us see what you are made of, old man."

- Ezio challenges Rodrigo Borgia to a final fight.

Some time later, Ezio regained consciousness. His wounds were not fatal, thus he got back to his feet and investigated the altar that he had seen Rodrigo disappear into. Finding the hidden doorway, Ezio followed the Pope down the staircase into a strange underground corridor, until he came to a large, open chamber below him; the atrium of the Vault. There, he could see Rodrigo desperately trying to open the door. Ezio dropped down and, casting aside his sword, short blade and pistol, challenged Borgia to one last fight, free of trickery, ancient artifacts or weapons. Borgia reluctantly accepted, and the pair brawled with nothing but their fists.

As they fought, Ezio demanded to know what lay in the Vault that the Templars wanted so badly. Rodrigo showed surprise that the Assassins were unaware of the truth, and claimed that God was what lay within. Ezio was somewhat skeptical, and asked what Rodrigo intended to do with this knowledge, to which Borgia replied that he intended to release God and seize his power, a feat made possible through the Staff and Apple. Ezio remarked that he doubted that a couple of ancient relics could harm a god, but Rodrigo sneered that he knew nothing, that his images and views on God were taken from a book written by men. When Ezio challenged Borgia for dismissing Christianity's central text, Rodrigo laughed, saying he had only become Pope to gain access to the Vault and the power such a position granted. He claimed not to believe a single word of the Bible, deriding it and every other religious text as superstitious lies.

After a lengthy fight, Ezio gained the upper hand. Seizing Borgia by the throat, he throttled his old enemy into submission, and finally held him at blade point. Astounded, Borgia yelled that Ezio could not open the Vault, as it was his destiny as the Prophet to open it. But Ezio set Borgia straight; stating that he was not the Prophet, nor had he ever been.

Broken and humiliated by this revelation, Borgia told Ezio to kill him and be done with it, but Ezio refused to kill for the sake of vengeance, and relinquished his long-felt hate and desire for Rodrigo's death, stating simply that "Killing you won't bring my family back." Leaving his defeated nemesis on the floor, Ezio remarked to Borgia on how he had been beaten – because "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" – and paid him no more heed.

Turning to the Vault, Ezio used the combined power of the Staff and Apple to open the chamber directly in front of him, and then entered to find out its secrets.

The Warning
"Enough! I do not wish to speak with you, but through you. You are the Prophet. You've played your part."

- Minerva asks Ezio not to interrupt her warning to Desmond.

Entering the Vault, Ezio was confronted by a speaking image of a female figure. After confirming that he was the Prophet by showing the figure the Apple, the woman remarked that they must speak, though she seemed not be speaking to him. Ezio asked who she was; the woman replied that she had died with the name Minerva, but had been known by many others, as had the others buried with her, such as Juno and Jupiter. Astounded, Ezio theorized that they were gods. Minerva laughed at this, saying that she and her kind were not gods, but had simply came before. She remarked that humanity had not understood them when they existed, but while they could not comprehend her, they would comprehend her warning.

Ezio remarked that her words made no sense to him, but Minerva replied they were not meant for him, confusing Ezio further, since no one else was there. Minerva snapped that she wasn't communicating with Ezio, but through him; thus his part in all this was finished. She explained that Ezio was an anchor for the one she wished to communicate with, and politely asked him to be silent to assist this. Ezio listened as she delivered a confusing warning of an impending celestial disaster to an individual called "Desmond," before fading away. As she departed, Ezio begged her to wait, since he still had so much to ask, but she vanished without another word, leaving Ezio's questions unanswered.

Escaping Rome
"Did Rodrigo manage to hurt you?" "Barely, my armor blunted his attack."

- Mario and Ezio talking while escaping Rome.

Once Ezio made the discovery of the Vault, he emerged from the main chamber, only to find Rodrigo gone. He then inspected the Staff and attempted to pull it out the ground; though this proved futile as the Staff descended into the ground, and was sealed beneath the Vatican. After its descent, the ground Ezio stood on also descended lower. Mario then appeared above Ezio, reassuring him the Staff was "better in the hands of the earth than the hands of man", before instructing him to climb up so they could leave. After rejoining his uncle, Ezio told Mario of what he had seen and the questions that needed answering, but Mario told him to speak of it later.

As the two made their escape they were attacked by guards. Ezio and Mario easily overpowered them, and swiftly escaped into the Vaticano district. Running over the rooftops until they reached Tiber River, they finally came to a stop, and Mario encouraged Ezio to drop the Apple into the waters below so it would be lost forever. Ezio, however, could not bring himself to get rid of an artifact of such power, thus Mario assured him that he would take care of the Apple until Ezio made his decision. Afterwards, they both returned to Monteriggioni.

Aftermath
Having succeeded in their mission to reach the Vault, and prevented the Templars from obtaining its contents, the Assassins withdraw from Rome, and Ezio retired to Monteriggioni, hoping to recover from his trials. However, unknown to all, Cesare Borgia was plotting a way to bring the Auditore, Ezio in particular, to their knees once and for all, and to take back The Apple of Eden.