Hunt for the Snake

I wanted to ask you something. Which is… what's your name? The title of this article is conjecture. Although the subject of this article is canon, no official name for it has been given.

"Sleep? I never sleep. I just wait. In the shadows. And I will kill you all. Everyone who sniffed the air that day in Siwa."

―Bayek to Rudjek before killing him, 48 BCE

Hunt for the Snake
Conflict	Alexandrine Civil War
Date	49–47 BCE
Place	Egypt. Ptolemaic Kingdom Rome
Outcome	Bayek and Aya eliminated the Egyptian Order of the Ancients, avenging their son Khemu's murder Creation of the Hidden Ones
Participants	Bayek Aya Marcus Junius Brutus Gaius Cassius Longinus Targets Rudjek Medunamun Actaeon Ktesos Eudoros Taharqa Khaliset Hetepi Berenike Pothinus Rufio Flavius Metellus Lucius Septimius

The Hunt for the Snake was a years-long personal vendetta carried out by the Medjay Bayek and his wife Aya to avenge the murder of their son Khemu at the hands of the Order of the Ancients, known collectively as "the Snake".

Prelude

In 49 BCE, the Order of the Ancients discovered a vault located beneath the Temple of Amun in Siwa. Believing that the vault was connected to an orb-shaped relic in their possession and hoping to learn secrets the Isu had locked away, several members of the Order travelled to Siwa in attempt to access the temple's power. Through contact with their agent Bion, the Order learned that the bloodline of Siwa's current Medjay Bayek was special. ^{[citation needed]} With this knowledge, the Order arranged to capture Bayek and force him to reveal the way to open the vault, though they also kidnapped his son Khemu during the Medjay's abduction.

As they forcefully interrogated a restrained Bayek for information he did not know about a place that he was unaware had existed, the ensemble were interrupted by news of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII's sudden arrival. In their panic, they scattered throughout the vault, giving Khemu the opportunity to quietly steal a knife from an Order member and give it to his father to free himself. When the Order returned, they threatened to murder Khemu if Bayek did not answer to their liking before Ptolemy entered. Bayek, enraged, broke free of his bonds and attempted to kill one of the members with the knife, only for them to catch his blow before it landed and redirect his attack into Khemu, killing him. Horrified at having inadvertently slain his son, Bayek could only mourn for a moment before he was knocked unconscious and abandoned.

The Hunt

The Heron

"I am Medjay to no pharaoh."

―Bayek to Rudjek, 48 BCE

Bayek declaring his intent to hunt every Order member.

After a year of searching, Bayek learned that Saqqara Nome's nomarch Rudjek was one of the masked man known as "The Heron". Bayek tracked him down to Sneferu's Bent Pyramid, where he fought and defeated Rudjek's bodyguard Hypatos before continuing on to corner his target. When Rudjek asked why a Medjay hunted him when they were supposed to protect the pharaohs, Bayek denied serving the Ptolemaic dynasty and instead showed his arm covered in tattooed cryptonyms.

The nomarch panicked at seeing his name crossed off, swearing that his brethren would find and stop Bayek, and attempted to avert his fate by throwing to the Medjay the same knife that killed Khemu. However, Bayek blocked it with Rudjek's mask he had recovered earlier and vowed in turn that he would wait in the shadows to eliminate everyone in the Order who was at Siwa. He then thrust the knife and mask into Rudjek's face, killing him.

The Ibis

"You could not even save your own son, You are no one. Bayek of nothing, Father to nobody."

―Medunamun to Bayek, 48 BCE

Bayek fighting Hypatos

A few months later, Hypatos confronted Bayek at some ruins on the outskirts of Siwa, determined to avenge his master's death and his wounded pride at being defeated but left alive. In the midst of the fight, he slammed his mace into the ground and broke it, sending both into a lower chamber, where they continued their duel. Although Bayek offered a truce, Hypatos stubbornly refused in the name of honor. Eventually, Bayek proved the better warrior and killed Hypatos.

Bayek navigated his way out of the ruins and saw his friend Hepzefa fighting a group of soldiers from the Ptolemaic army. He immediately rushed to protect his friend and killed the attackers. Hepzefa, surprised to see Bayek after a year of absence, welcomed him warmly and the two men rode back to Siwa. Along the way, Hepzefa told Bayek of the brutality and unfair treatment the villagers suffered at the hands of the Oracle of Amun Medunamun, otherwise known as "The Ibis", thus giving Bayek his next target.

Rabiah treating Bayek's wounds

Arriving at Hepzefa's house, Hepzefa told Bayek to rest after his long journey, but Bayek declined, saying he needed to prepare and kill Medunamun. At that moment, the village's healer Rabiah entered and requested Hepzefa's aid to deal with disruptive soldiers, only to immediately notice Bayek and tend to his wounds after persuading him to take a rest. His respite was cut short, however, when a villager warned everyone of incoming soldiers sent by Medunamun. Bayek and Hepzefa hid in the yard and learned through eavesdropping that the soldiers were ordered to kill them both in retaliation for Rudjek's murder. Nevertheless, the soldiers proved no match for the two Medjay and were quickly dispatched.

Bayek reunited with Senu

After the soldiers were killed, Hepzefa took Bayek to reunite with Senu, his female Bonelli's eagle whom Rabiah had nursed back to health in Bayek's absence. Before Bayek set off to kill Medunamun, Hepzefa urged him to improve his equipment and to help solve various problems caused by Medunamun's soldiers. To that end, he suggested Bayek do both by aiding the blacksmith Benipe, whose tools were confiscated after he was accused of being a member of the local rebels. Once Bayek recovered Benipe's tools from Camp Shetjeh and returned them, the smith rewarded Bayek with weapons he had hidden from the soldiers during the confiscation.

Bayek bludgeoning Medunamun to death

Once he armed himself with a new weapon, Bayek infiltrated the Temple of Amun and freed several priests from Medunamun's abusive treatment. Bayek soon found and assassinated Medunamun, but even in the Oracle's last moments, he showed no remorse for his murders and sneeringly taunted Bayek for being unable to save his son. This comment infuriated Bayek, who promptly bludgeoned the unrepentant Oracle to death in a frenzy. With Medunamun's demise, Siwa was liberated and Bayek returned to Hepfeza to drink in celebration, but his vengeance was still far from over, as his friend told him that Aya was tracking more masked members in Alexandria. After bidding Hepzefa farewell and entrusting him to take his place as Medjay of Siwa, Bayek left for the great city.

The Vulture and The Ram

Bayek finding Ktesos' corpse

During Bayek's hunt, Aya was also pursuing her own targets in Alexandria, where she suspected Actaeon was part of the Order. Her suspicions were proven when she found an Order mask in Actaeon's room, after which, she forced him to don it before thrusting a knife through the eye slits, killing him. When Aya returned to her house, the Order member Ktesos attacked her in an attempt to avenge Actaeon, though his efforts failed and she also killed him. Both Actaeon and Ktesos' deaths in such quick succession caught the attention of Alexandria's Phylakitai Gennadios, forcing Aya into hiding upon being declared a wanted criminal.

The Hippo

"The Snake?... The Snake will never die."

―Eudoros to Bayek, 48 BCE

Bayek and Aya reunited

Bayek arrived at Alexandria, where he was supposed to find Aya at the city's famed library. There, he met Aya's cousin Phanos, who explained to Bayek that Aya was currently in hiding due to her being wanted, before taking the man to the hideout in question. After a year of separation, Bayek was finally reunited with his wife. Aya showed Bayek a royal papyrus she took from Actaeon, proof that the Order had strong ties to the royal Ptolemy family, then gave Bayek a Hidden Blade she recovered that was once owned and used by the Protector of Persia Darius to kill the Persian King Xerxes I in 465 BCE. After testing the Blade, Bayek strapped it to his posterior forearm, unaware that Darius had actually used it on the anterior side, and set off to reveal the identity of "the Snake" and eliminate Gennadios.

Bayek soon found and assassinated Gennadios inside Akra Garrison. In his last moments, Gennadios told Bayek that he was only doing his duty as a phylakitai and questioned whether Bayek's vengeance was above all laws. With Gennadios dead, Bayek infiltrated the Ptolemaic Royal Palace and entered the Royal Scribe's office, where he found a letter that seemingly revealed the royal scribe Eudoros himself as "The Snake". Bayek then headed to a bathhouse to exact his revenge.

Bayek activating the Hidden Blade

Upon entering the bathhouse, Bayek climbed into the ceiling rafters and attacked Eudoros from above by attempting to drown him. However, Eudoros overpowered Bayek and in the resulting scuffle for control, Bayek made a fist and accidentally activated his Hidden Blade, severing his left ring finger but giving him the means to fatally stab Eudoros. As he died, Eudoros cryptically stated he had nothing to do with the incident in Siwa before declaring "the Snake" immortal, affirming it was not his cryptonym. Bayek escaped the bathhouse and returned to Aya on top of the tower, believing that their hunt was finally over, The two embraces each other.

Bayek meets Apollodorus

The next day, Bayek was uncertain about Eudoros and doubted that he was the last target in his hunt. On hearing this, Aya suggested that they ask her informant Apollodorus and told her husband to find Apollodorus' contact at the Hippodrome. Bayek found the contact Machus and was guided to meet with Apollodorus at the lighthouse in Kanapos after dusk. Later that night, Bayek arrived at the rendezvous and found Apollodorus on a boat with a wounded man. Apollodorus explained that his other informant Damastes and the important scroll he carried had been captured, then promptly struck a deal with the Medjay to rescue his informant, much to his annoyance. Once Bayek rescued Damestes and retrieved the scroll from the sunken ship, he returned both information sources to Apollodorus and was rewarded by being taken to meet Cleopatra at Apollodorus' estate.

Apollodorus introducing Bayek to Cleopatra

There, Apollodorus introduced Bayek to Cleopatra along with her subordinate, High Priest Pasherenptah of Memphis. Cleopatra explained that Eudoros was a member of the Order of the Ancients, a secretive cabal responsible for her exile. Apollodorus then revealed that his intelligence network had learned the cryptonyms of four Order members, namely, "The Scarab", "The Hyena", "The Lizard", and "The Crocodile". Cleopatra then offered a golden Medjay badge to Bayek, which the latter accepted, signifying his allegiance to the new pharaoh.

The Scarab

Kawab giving his toy horse to Bayek.

Having gained the names of more targets, Bayek traveled to Sais village in Sapi-Res Nome in search of The Scarab. At the village, he met Apollodorus' informant Harkhuf and learned the village was under the unjust rule of The Scarab's subordinate Sefetu, and that the latest victim was the old man Ghupa, who was brutally beaten and had his tongue cut out after his failed attempt to reveal The Scarab's identity. Harkhuf took Bayek to meet Ghupa's grandson Kawab, who directed the Medjay to where Ghupa was imprisoned in Camp Pyrrhos. Bayek rescued Ghupa and returned him to his family, and in gratitude, Ghupa gave Bayek a letter containing information about The Scarab rallying troops in Letopolis. Before he left for the city, Bayek promised Kawab he would give his toy horse to his father Taharqa, Letopolis' city planner.

Bayek gave Kawab's toy to Taharqa

Bayek arrived at Letopolis and met Taharqa. After handing over Kawab's toy, Bayek began asking him for information on the Scarab, only to be interrupted by news of bandits attacking the city. The two men immediately rushed to fend off the attackers. Once the bandits were slain, Taharqa rallied his warriors and requested Bayek's aid in assaulting the bandit camp. Bayek agreed and together they successfully destroyed the base. Taharqa invited Bayek to his house for a celebratory meal, promising to tell him everything about the Scarab. However, during dinner, Bayek was drugged with a sedative and began to lose consciousness. When Taharqa came to his side on the pretense of helping him, Bayek noticed Taharqa's ring engraved with the Order's insignia and belatedly realized that he was "The Scarab" all along.

Taharqa's family discovering his death

Bayek awoke to find himself buried up to his neck in the middle of the desert and rid of all of his equipment, though he managed to escape with the help of his mount and Senu. Bayek recovered his equipment from Camp Achlys before heading back to Letopolis to eliminate Taharqa, whom he assassinated while the man prayed in the Temple of Horus. In his final moments, Taharqa regretted how he was unable to fulfill his dream of rebuilding Letopolis before proudly declaring that his name and achievements would be remembered for ages, though Bayek countered this by insisting that Taharqa's name and achievements would instead eventually be forgotten. Kawab, having witnessed his father's death, rushed at Bayek and attempted to attack him until he was restrained by his grandfather, but even still swore to kill Bayek and avenge his father.

The Hyena

Bayek continued his hunt in Giza and met Apollodorus' informant Mered, who revealed that the "The Hyena" was the Nubian hunter Khaliset, though he refused to say more until Bayek recovered his stolen horse from bandits. Once an irritable Bayek returned the mount, Mered told him that Khaliset hid in a cave behind the Pyramid of Menkaure, but neglected to mention the locals knew it as the Hyena Lair. Bayek travelled there and was immediately set upon by a pack of hyenas that protected the place. After killing the animals, Bayek found a parchment with a drawing of the Great Pyramid of Giza and followed Khaliset's path to the pyramid.

Khaliset confronting Bayek

There, he navigated his way beneath the tomb and entered the Isu vault Khesesh Em Sesh Em Eeneb, where he discovered that Khaliset was performing a ritual with blood and silica in a misguided attempt to revive her deceased daughter Eshe. Despite Khaliset's use of smoke bombs and an obscuring sand storm to gain an advantage, Bayek chased her down outside of the Pyramid and defeated her in a duel. In her last moments, Khaliset expressed regret for failing to revive her daughter. Having lost his own son, Bayek sympathized with Khaliset's plight and wished that she would find her daughter in the afterlife.

The Lizard

Bayek and Pasherenptah observing the Apis Bull

Having eliminated two of his targets, Bayek left for the plague-ridden city of Memphis and made his way to the Temple of Ptah. There, he reunited with High Priest Pasherenptah, who fearfully observed the sacred Apis bull's mysterious and worsening condition. Bayek consoled the man, promising to lift the city's "curse" and eliminate The Lizard. As Bayek left, Pasherenptah told him that his wife's Seer might help in Bayek's hunt.

When Bayek arrived at Pasherenptah's house, he assisted the Seer in performing a ritual to try and cleanse Pasherenptah's wife Taimhotep from the curse that had seemingly manifested as multiple miscarriages. During the ceremony, the Seer gave Bayek and Taimhotep each a hallucinogenic brew which for Bayek made him pass out and gave him a vision of defeating a manifestation of Apep, a monstrous snake in Egyptian mythology who devoured the souls of the dead. When Bayek awoke, the Seer told him the divinations revealed that someone at the Temple of Ptah had poisoned Taimhotep's food to induce miscarriages. Having gained a new lead, Bayek left the house.

Bayek and Aya questioning the twin priestesses

Outside, he was warmly greeted by Aya, who also pursued The Lizard. As the two travelled to the temple, Bayek asked Aya to stay with him once their hunt ended, though Aya stated that she was bound to Cleopatra's service, prompting Bayek to questioning her continued ties to the queen. The two investigated the temple and learned the culprits behind the Apis bull's illness were the twin priestesses Taous and Tawe, both of whom confessed under interrogation that their brother Panchrates had been kidnapped and they were blackmailed to poison the bull to ensure their brother's safety. Once Bayek rescued Panchrates, he revealed that the mastermind behind both poisonings was one of the city's priests of Anubis who wore with a blue scarf and had a persistent cough.

The Festival of Apis

With crucial information on the Lizard's identity, Bayek and Aya returned to Cleopatra to report their findings. When Bayek told what was known about the Lizard, Pasherenptah realized to his horror that the man the Medjay described was his trusted advisor Hetepi and informed Bayek of the Anubis priests' imminent sacred rites scheduled in the Great Temple. Undeterred by the prospect of having to locate Hetepi amongst other robed clerics, Bayek departed to infiltrate the temple, where he identified and slew Hetepi. Before dying, Hetepi justified his atrocious actions, believing that the common population were merely "cattle of the gods, driven by the herdsman's whip".

Bayek returned to Cleopatra with Hetepi's mask, proof of the man's death. Pasherenptah, relived that Memphis was freed from the "curse" with the bull healed and the culprit eliminated, announced that the Festival of Apis would resume once more. During the celebrations, Aya told Bayek that she would soon leave him again to perform Cleopatra's requests in the Mediterranean Sea. The two embraced before parting ways to pursue their own targets.

The Crocodile

Bayek traveled to the region of Faiyum to meet the informant Hotephres, only to discover that the man's house was deserted. Bayek searched the property and found a hidden letter by Hotephres saying that The Crocodile knew he was an informant and had arrested his servant for interrogation. Bayek rescued the servant, who told him that Hotephres had escaped by ship to Lake Moeris.

Bayek showing his Medjay's badge to Hotephres

Bayek tracked down Hotephres' ship and met the informant, who immediately suspected Bayek of being one of The Crocodile's men until Bayek showed his Medjay's badge. Hotephres then told the Medjay that he had stolen a ledger, the contents of which could reveal The Crocodile's identity, and had given it to his wife Khenut for safekeeping.

Bayek later met with Khenut, who told him that she had hidden the ledger in their villa, before instructing her daughter Shadya to lead the Medjay to their villa. As Bayek looked for the ledger, he found a page from Shadya's diary revealing she had taken it with her in hopes of helping her father. Bayek immediately rushed back to Khenut but came too late and watched from afar as soldiers took Khenut and Shadya to the nearby Euhemeria Lighthouse Camp.

Khenut hugging Shadya's body

Bayek reached the lighthouse dock, where Khenut knelt crying and staring despondently toward the lake, then dove into the water and recovered Shadya's lifeless body. When Hotephres later arrived at the scene, Bayek promised the mourning father that he would kill The Crocodile and avenge Shadya. Hotephres then told Bayek that the Crocodile's soldiers were likely gladiators from the arena in Krokodilopolis.

With a new lead, Bayek travelled to the Krokodilopolis Arena and learned about Diovicos and Viridovix, two brothers who fought as a team under the name "The Gallic Brothers" and who matched the description of The Crocodile's soldiers. He then spoke to the arena's owner Felix Martialis, who refused to give Bayek an entry and instead told the Medjay to prove his worth by defeating another Siwan fighter who had come before him.

Bayek Interrogating the Gallic Brothers

Bayek met the Siwan fighter and was surprised to see it was actually his childhood friend Kensa. After a quick warm greeting, Bayek explained how he needed Kensa's help in persuading Felix to accept him into the arena, to which she agreed. The two became partners in the arena and fought together as the "Guardians of Siwa" until they were eventually matched against the Gallic Brothers. Once the Siwans defeated their opponents, Bayek threatened the brothers at scythepoint and accused them of Shadya's murder, though they both protested their innocence before revealing The Crocodile to be the region's nomarch Berenike and pointing to where she watched the fight in the stands. With Shadya's murderer and The Crocodile unveiled as the same person, Bayek promptly left the arena.

Bayek reunited with Hotephres, who told him that Berenike would likely reside in her Kerkesoucha Granary estate at night. Bayek infiltrated the grounds and learned to his shock that Kensa had been working with Berenike all along. Bayek assassinated Berenike and in her last moments, he furiously vowed to destroy everything that she and her allies stood for.

The Jackal and the Scorpion

Bayek interrogating Livius

Bayek returned to Cleopatra's palace in Herakleion to report on his success before the queen and Apollodorus. There, Cleopatra gave him the cryptonyms of "The Jackal" and "The Scorpion" for his list based on information from her spy network. Both figures were thought to be part of Ptolemy's court. With Aya suspecting the Gabiniani Lucius Septimius of having ties to the Order, Apollodorus brought in Septimius' agent Livius. After Bayek assaulted him, Livius confirmed Septimius was indeed in the Order and had killed Khemu, and told the group that Septimius' proxy Venator had paid for the services of a local brothel's fraternal "legendary twins".

Bayek traveled to the brothel and from questioning the twins learned where Venator lived. Certain that Venator would have evidence in his house, Bayek searched the property and discovered that Venator and three other Gabiniani planned to assassinate Cleopatra while she was distracted by a ruse. With time short, Bayek quickly eliminated the mercenaries before they could strike.

Ptolemy threatening Caesar

With the three would-be assassins dead, Bayek returned to Cleopatra and Aya, only for their reunion to be cut short by Venator's sudden attack with more soldiers. After the brief skirmish, Bayek slew Venator. Cleopatra then ordered both Medjay to deliver a message to the Roman general Pompey requesting an alliance.

However, Bayek and Aya arrived too late to talk with Pompey, as Septimius had ambushed and decapitated the general. With no other options, Cleopatra resorted to an alliance with Julius Caesar, who was then in Alexandria. Aya contacted the Greek captain Phoxidas, a loyalist of Cleopatra's after having served her father Ptolemy XII Auletes, and arranged for him to sail the queen, Apollodorus, and the Medjay into the city. Although Ptolemy sent a fleet of triremes to kill his sister, many of them sank in the resulting battle; the retinue escaped in the midst of combat and sailed to the Ptolemaic Royal Palace using reed boats. After sneaking Cleopatra in a carpet past Roman guards by pretending to by envoys with gifts, the group disrupted Ptolemy's meeting with Caesar and his righthand Flavius Metellus. The Roman general, immediately charmed by Cleopatra's beauty as well as political wiles, retracted his alliance offer from a petulant Ptolemy, dismissed the pharaoh's sworn vengeance against Roman soldiery in town as empty threats, and began a romantic and diplomatic relationship with Cleopatra.

The next day, to impress Caesar and strengthen their alliance, Cleopatra ordered her Medjay to unlock the tomb of Alexander the Great. Although Bayek and Aya found another way in for the couple to see Alexander the Great's sarcophagus, the reverent moment ended when news came that Ptolemy's soldiers had kidnapped Caesar's emissaries in revenge for the broken alliance. Bayek and Aya rescued the agents and learned that Septimius, the eunuch Pothinus, and their men planned to besiege Alexandria's harbor and retake the palace. Thinking quickly, Caesar devised a plan to set the whole harbor aflame, escape the city, and meet their enemies in a battlefield of their choosing.

Bayek beating Flavius

Three days later, Caesar and Ptolemy's forces met on the shores of the Nile. While the two armies engaged in battle, Bayek confronted Pothinus atop his war elephant Yugr Tn. By wounding the animal in increments and avoiding being trampled, Bayek toppled Yugr Tn, who fell and fatally wounded Pothinius. In his last moments, Pothinus claimed that all of his actions were to bring peace for Egypt, though Bayek remained critical of his sincerity.

Bayek then confronted Septimius in a nearby village, bested him in combat, and proceeded to furiously beat him in retribution for killing Khemu, only for Caesar, Flavius, and a handful of Roman soldiers to break up the assault. Caesar told Bayek that Septimius would be punished according to Roman law, but when Bayek ignored him and refused to relent, the soldiers knocked him unconscious. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, Aya found Ptolemy attempting to flee the field by boat and merely stood by when he was attacked and killed by a float of crocodiles, leaving his army without a commander and unceremoniously ending his short rule.

Cleopatra's betrayal

"Sorry? We gave her everything. We gave her the damned crown."

―Bayek to Apollodorus, 48 BCE

Cleopatra speaking to her people

After their victory against Ptolemy, Cleopatra stood at the Serapeum of Alexandria two weeks later holding the Scepter of Alexander the Great and made a speech to the city's populace declaring that she would bring Egypt into a new era. The crowd cheered for their new queen while Septimius stood beside her, having gone unpunished for his crimes.

Bayek and Aya confronted Apollodorus about this, and the bodyguard uncomfortably told the angry couple that their services were no longer needed now that Cleopatra had the throne and had cut ties with them, though he hinted that not everything was as it seemed in court. Later that night, Bayek and Aya gathered their remaining allies—Phoxidas, Phanos the Younger, Pasherenptah, and Tahira—to discuss the current situation, though they quickly fell to arguing. Bayek, realizing that fighting for vengeance was no way forward, rallied them as the first in what he hoped would be a series of brotherhoods that would fight for the purpose of defeating the Order and protecting the common people's autonomy from the upper classes.

After the meeting, Aya suggested to Bayek that they should reinvestigate Alexander's tomb because Septimius had recently taken the Alexander's scepter from it. The two arrived at the tomb and found Apollodorus heavily wounded by Roman soldiers, Bayek and Aya defeated the soldiers but were unable to save Apollodorus in time. With his dying words, Apollodorus informed Bayek and Aya that Flavius Metellus was the true mastermind behind Khemu's death and that Flavius was heading to Siwa with an orb-shaped relic.

Return to Siwa

Bayek mourning Hepzefa

Bayek and Aya rushed to Siwa in pursuit of Flavius and Septimius. The two arrived at the opened Siwa vault, where they found Hepzefa's lifeless body on the temple floor. They took it outside, where the village healer Rabiah came to them and explained how the Romans used the Staff and Apple of Eden in conjunction to open the vault, and of Hepzefa's valiant attempt to stop them from entering the site. While the Romans beheld a map of other Isu sites, Siwa's population was struck with madness, allowing Flavius and Septimus to leave their separate ways unhindered. After Hepzefa's burial, Bayek and Aya decided to split up and pursue each target individually, with Aya hunting Septimius to Alexandria and Bayek tracking Flavius to the Libyan city of Cyrene.

The Lion

"Our Creed is finished"

―Bayek to Aya, 48 BCE

Using the power of Alexander's staff and the Apple, Flavius corrupted the minds of everyone who stood in his path, enslaving them to his own desire and leaving a long trail of chaos for Bayek to follow. Once in Cyrene, Bayek assisted local resistance efforts by Cyrene's Triumvirate comprised of the Roman architect Vitruvius, Cyrene's magistrate Diocles, and the Cyrenaican healer Praxilla, then infiltrated the Roman Akropolis to confront Flavius inside the citadel's palace.

Bayek embracing Khemu in his vision

Using the Apple's power, Flavius conjured up specters of the Order's slain members to attack the Medjay, though Bayek easily dispersed the illusions and eventually defeated Flavius, who remained defiant to the end and claimed that Khemu's death had granted him powers and respect from even Caesar himself. Despite mortally wounding Flavius, Bayek was unable to kill him, fearing that doing so would also sever his last connection to his son. At this point, he had a vision of Khemu assuring him that his soul was at rest and would wait for his parents in the afterlife.

Bayek reclaimed the Apple from Flavius's corpse and returned to Aya and his allies in Alexandria. Upon hearing of Flavius' demise, Bayek and Aya embraced, relived that their son could finally rest in peace. Aya then stated that she would head to Rome to eliminate Septimius and assassinate Caesar alongside her Roman allies Brutus and Cassius. Before Aya left, Bayek stored the Apple inside the hideout's chest after deeming it too dangerous to be used by anyone.

Bayek and Aya deciding to separate

On the nearby beach, Bayek and Aya resolved to sacrifice their marriage for the greater good and separate, leaving each other to rally the common people to fight against their oppressors. Bayek discarded Khemu's eagle skull on the ground, stating that a new creed had been created; the shape of the skull's imprint in the sand later inspired the Assassin insignia.

The Jackal

After their separation, Aya boarded Phoxidas' ship and sailed across the Tyrrhenian Sea towards Rome. Along the way, a large Roman fleet that was expecting them intercepted the ship and attacked it, though Aya and the crew were saved by the timely arrival of Brutus and Cassius in their own ships. With their opposition's vessels splintered and sinking, the three Hidden Ones docked at Antium and rode a half-day's trip into Rome.

Two years later, Aya, Brutus, and Cassius met in the Theatre of Pompey, where she told them to convene with the rest of the Roman Senators and await her signal. Aya confronted Septimius in the Theatre's arena and faced him in a duel, during which he proclaimed as the Order's "Father of Understanding". Despite Septimius dual-wielding a pair of Isu-inspired flails, he proved no match for Aya and was bested in combat. Before he died, Aya interrogated him for the location of Alexander's staff, though Septimius spoke cryptically saying it was kept within the Order before gloating in the belief that he would be rewarded in the afterlife for his actions. Aya cursed his soul to eternal oblivion then slit his throat.

Caesar being stabbed by the senators

With Septimius dead, only Caesar remained. Aya sneaked her way though the Threatre's garden and reached its curia entrance on the other end. Donning a spare Senator's robe, she fashioned it into a hooded shawl and blended in the crowd of politicians listening to Caesar pitch his self-appointment as dictator perpetuo in contravention of the restrictions on the elected office of Roman dictator. When there was a break in his speech, Aya took the chance and stabbed Caesar from behind. This signaled the other Senators to viscously attack Caesar, with Brutus delivering the last blow.

Two days after Caesar's death, Aya confronted Cleopatra and her son Caesarion in a villa outside Rome. She angrily berated her former queen for both lying and allying with the Order in her ambition for Egypt's throne, before threatening to personally kill Cleopatra if she did not reform to be a better ruler who wished to avoid the same fate as Caesar.

Aftermath

Despite Aya's efforts, Caesar's death did not prevent Rome from becoming an empire and falling into the Order's hands. With Caesar's adopted son Augustus becoming the first Emperor of Rome and the Order's next leader, his first act was to hunt down Brutus and Cassius for their part in Caesar's murder. He hounded them until 42 BCE, when Cassius died in the Battle of Philippi in Makedonia and Brutus committed suicide shortly after.

In Rome, Aya renounced her past self and led the Roman Hidden Ones under her new name Amunet, which later Assassins would remember through to at least the Renaissance, centuries after her death. Back in Egypt, Bayek founded the Egyptian Hidden Ones' first bureau in Memphis, where he inducted Tahira and other recruited civilians into the brotherhood.

By 38 BCE, the Hidden Ones expanded their organization as far as the Sinai, where they supported the local Nabataeans' rebel leader Gamilat and his revolt against the Roman occupiers.

An eagle skull's imprint resembling the Assassins' insignia.

Bayek's actions of eliminating the Egyptian Order of the Ancients and founding the Hidden Ones marked the formal start of the millennia-long war between the two factions. By the 10th century CE, both groups were on the verge of reforming themselves though their respective goals remained the same, with the Order later changing from a polytheistic collective to the monotheistic Knights Templar while the Hidden Ones under Hassan-i Sabbāh evolved into the Assassins.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Origins (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins (comic) (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (indirect mention only)