Isu incarnation

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.

"A human host? Do you mean... rebirth? As one of them?"

―Loki to Aletheia.

An Isu can be incarnated in a human individual. While initially believed that this process only happened with Juno's late husband Aita, incarnations of whom are referred to as Sages, it has since been discovered that incarnations of nine Asgardian Isu surfaced around the 9th century, predominantly within Scandinavia.

Where the Sages of Aita and Vejovis, another Isu, manifest in different individuals throughout human history, instances of the Asgardians' rebirth are only known to have occurred in one person each. Among that group were Eivor Varinsdottir, the incarnation of Odin; her adoptive brother Sigurd Styrbjornsson, Týr's incarnation; and Svala, the rebirth of Freyja.

Sages

Main article: Sage

A Maya statue of a Sage's head

The most prevalent Isu incarnations are those of the Isu Aita, known as Sages. These Sages reappeared many times throughout history, bore a physical resemblance to Aita, and were recognizable by their anisocoria and heterochromia.

Incarnated Asgardian Isu

Phenomenon

"All that power! All that potential, locked away. A god trapped in a prison of bones! The pain was necessary to free him!"

―The Maegester Fulke on Sigurd's nature as a reborn Isu, 875 CE.

Shortly before the Great Catastrophe that wiped out the Isu, Odin, seven of his most trusted Isu followers, and Loki, had their DNA, memories, and consciousnesses integrated into the human gene pool by using the Yggdrasil supercomputer, paired with a catalyst stolen from the Capitoline Triad, in hope of escaping the doom of their civilization and be reborn in human bodies millennia later. More specially, they injected their blood into human fetuses, prompting their DNA to remain dormant in future human bloodlines as a recessive trait. Eventually, a trigger would take place under specific circumstances that would give the Isu's DNA a dominant trait, manipulating their physical characteristics to match the ones from the respective Isu and slowly forcing the resurgence of their past memories and consciousnesses. Most notably, unlike Aita's many forms, the reborn Isu were planned to only happen once. Another factor which complicated this plan was that, as with Sages, there was a risk the human could choose to not act on their Isu memories.

Characteristics

Predecessor's impulses

"Will you keep me in the darkness until your end, resisting forever this side of yourself? Or could you learn from me?"

―Odin, to Eivor

In stark contrast to Sages who were often plagued by memories of their previous incarnation Aita, the reborn Asgardians had aspects of their lives often partially or fully repeat themselves in the lives of their human incarnations. Like Odin, Eivor had a strong aversion to wolves, ^{[citation needed]} had the raven Sýnin as her familiar echoing Huginn and Muninn, and when connected to Yggdrasil, regularly lost an eye fighting alongside the einherjar in a simulation of Valhalla. In similar fashion, Sigurd mediated disputes and delivered judgements as jarl and had his right arm severed at the elbow, echoing the tales in Norse mythology about how the god of justice Týr lost his right arm to the wolf Fenrir.

Halfdan Ragnarsson, the incarnation of Thor, had a strong affinity for using his hammer Orthstirr in battle, regularly threw it, and was extremely paranoid about being poisoned, unknowingly copying Thor's use of Mjölnir and foreshadowing the thunder god's demise in Ragnarök from Jörmungandr's venom. Even Rig Reidarasson was haunted with strong impulses to kill the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, though he did not know his target's name and described him as a "man with the mark in the House of Shadows", unknowingly following Heimdall's initially fated role to kill Loki even as he was slain in turn.

Convenience of the incarnations

In the particular case of the reborn Asgardians, the specific time period and the bloodline where they would be born were specially planned to happen at the same year span and region of the globe. As such, with the exception of Loki, all the reborn Isu grew up between the end of the 8th century and beginning of the 9th century in bloodlines native to Northern Europe.

For unclear reasons, however, Heimdall's incarnation Rig was born near Scandinavia but approximately twenty years before the other reborn Isu, even though Heimdall had done his blood transfusion at the same time as his counterparts. When Rig tried to kill Loki's incarnation Basim Ibn Ishaq in Constantinople, he returned to his crew stating that "[He] had become before [his] time", adding that he "was born too early and [was] alone, without [his] father [or] friends" after concluding that Basim had not been born yet.

In addition to this, the fact that Loki injected himself with the serum after the other Æsir had left the chamber made his incarnation be born in the Abbasid Caliphate's capital city of Samarra, far away from the birth places of the other reborn Isu.

Physical features and similarities

"Show me your neck!"

―Basim Ibn Ishaq to Eivor Varinsdottir, 877 CE.

These incarnations could be identified by a mass of dark veins on their necks. Additionally, at least two Isu incarnations, Eivor Varinsdottir and Basim Ibn Ishaq, possessed the rare ability of Eagle Vision, indicating a high concentration of Isu DNA.

History

Isu Era

Aletheia: "Have you heard? The High Council has stripped the Mother of her title. For gifting our tormentor her seventh method of salvation."

Loki: "The seventh method? Is it viable? Why were we not told?"

Aletheia: "I've heard whispers and rumors. It seems the seventh requires a human host."

—Aletheia and Loki.

Desperate to save the life of her husband Aita, who had been left in a catatonic state after being used as subject test to the fifth method of salvation, Juno embarked on a quest to acquire the "Mead", a serum designed by the Capitoline Triad and kept under the guard of Jupiter and Minerva that would activate the latest solution to limit the Great Catastrophe's effects on the Isu. This particular innovation, if used correctly, could reincarnate some members of the Isu as humans in the distant future, but Jupiter and Minerva deemed it dangerous to use, believing it would damage the human genome in the process and eventually influence human history in an uncontrollable way.

Desperate for the Mead, Juno investigated their research sites and found the Mímisbrunnr, which was meant to receive the Mead when ready. ^{[citation needed]} Soon after, she began to inquire and plot out multiple ways to take it in order to save her beloved, actions that eventually exiled her from the city guarding the Temple. When Odin visited Jötunheimr to meet Aletheia, she discovered that he also sought the seventh method and so decided to wait until she and her lover Loki dealt with him before deciding to collaborate with Odin to steal the serum.

Odin managed to successfully steal the Mead from the city of Útgarðar, but not without deceiving Minerva and battling with Jupiter himself. Juno told him to come to the experimental well in order to make the serum work. After Odin sacrificed his left eye in payment in order to use it as catalyst, the machine ^{[citation needed]} Mímir accepted this sacrifice and the serum was finally synthesized, much to Juno's delight. With both the Isu taking samples of the fluid, she cautioned him to use the serum moments before his death in order for it to work, as only the memories happening prior to the consumption of the concussion would be preserved within the new body. With the Mead now in hand, she was able to successfully insert her late husband's essence into a human bloodline, tweaking the functions of the solution to reincarnate his beloved indefinitely for the following millennia.

The Æsir using the "Mead" through the Yggdrasil device

Odin eventually finished the construction of the abandoned ^{[citation needed]} project in Scandinavia, near their territory, naming it Yggdrasil. During the midst of the Great Catastrophe, a group of Asgardian Isu comprising of Odin, Freyja, Týr, Thor, Sif, Heimdall, Iðunn, and Freyr managed to successfully upload their essences into the supercomputer before heading off to face their end in battle, gambling that Yggdrasil would successfully save them through a incarnation in human bodies in the upcoming ages.

Unbeknownst to them, Loki also snuck into the room and uploaded his essence as part of his two-step plan to first take revenge on Odin in the future for imprisoning his son Fenrir, and also to reunite with his lover Aletheia, who had her consciousness preserved in the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus.

Viking Age

"I have come before my time. I was born too early and I am alone, without my father, without my friends."

―Rig Reidarasson, c. 850s CE.

During the Viking Age, the incarnations of the Æsir finally appeared. The first was Rig Reidarasson, a Viking born in the late 8th century who was the incarnation of Heimdall. During his life, Rig was plagued by the memories of Heimdall, believing them to be visions of the gods. His life, adventures and struggles to seize the hallucinations were immortalized in the Rigsogur, a saga written by the monk Brissy the Elder.

In the 9th century, Thor and Sif were reincarnated respectively in the Vikings Halfdan Ragnarsson and his friend Faravid, though they were unaware of this link. In 865 CE, when King Ælla of Northumbria executed Halfdan's father Ragnar Lothbrok by throwing him into a pit of snakes, Halfdan and Faravid conquered his kingdom and executed Ælla in return in 867 CE.

Abbasid Caliphate

"I have faced my past. My pain. Embraced it. I shed my skin once, in another time, another place. But I am whole again. I remember."

―Basim Ibn Ishaq, upon regaining his memories as Loki, 860s CE.

Basim experiencing one of his recurring visions of the djinn

Around 844 CE, Basim Ibn Ishaq, the incarnation of Loki, was born in the Middle East, specifically in the Abbasid Caliphate's capital city of Samarra. For most of his early life, Basim was unaware of his true nature, though he still experienced Loki's memories in the form of haunting visions of a djinn, which represented the torture Loki had been made to endure during his imprisonment in the Alamut Temple. Meanwhile, Loki's consciousness took the form of Nehal, Basim's alleged childhood best friend, who accompanied him at every step and encouraged him to pursue his own self-interests while trying to remind Basim of "who he truly was."

Originally a simple street thief, Basim eventually joined the Hidden Ones in 861, after being rescued by the Master Assassin Roshan following his accidental murder of the caliph Al-Mutawakkil. While helping the Hidden Ones hunt down their enemies, the Order of the Ancients, in Baghdad, Basim learned about the latter's research of Isu artifacts and was encouraged by Nehal to seek the Order's knowledge to better understand his own nature.

After the Order's leader Qabiha informed him of the Alamut Temple prior to being slain by Roshan, Basim decided to investigate the site. Although Roshan, who had deduced her apprentice's true nature by herself, tried to stop him, fearing what the temple might awaken inside Basim, she was ultimately defeated by him. Inside the temple, Basim discovered several Memory Seals, one of which contained the recorded memories of Loki from the time he had been imprisoned there millennia prior.

Basim understanding his and Nehal's true nature

Upon realizing what both Nehal and the djinn that had been tormenting him represented, Basim decided to embrace his nature as Loki's incarnation and regained all the memories of his past life. He then began seeking out the other reborn Isu, to exact retribution for the suffering inflicted upon his past self, all the while continuing to further the Hidden Ones' cause.

Viking expansion

Odin: "Leave me now and you are nothing! With me you have wisdom! Glory! Power! What more do you need!"

Eivor: "Everything else."

—Eivor Varinsdottir rejecting her Isu self, Odin, 877 CE.

In the mid-9th century in Rygjafylke, Norway, the Raven Clan who resided in the small settlement of Fornburg counted three Æsir incarnations among their members: the volva Svala for Freyja, the prince Sigurd Styrbojnsson for Týr, and his foster sister Eivor Varinsdottir for Odin.

In 870 CE, during a raid on one of Kjotve the Cruel's territories, Eivor captured his slave Gull, the incarnation of Iðunn. Together, they eventually went up the Feiknstafir mountains to the Temple of Heimdall, where they found an Apple of Eden that had been locked away. When Gull touched the artifact, she recovered Iðunn's memories, and armed with the knowledge necessary to control it, used the artifact to restrain Eivor. As the Temple began to collapse from the damage sustained in Eivor's fight with Kjotve's men who also sought the treasure, Gull was left to her destiny on a precarious ledge with the Apple while Eivor decided to help her clan who was being attacked by Kjotve's Wolf Clan.

That same year in Constantinople, Sigurd met Basim, who served as leader of the local Hidden Ones bureau, and his acolyte Hytham. Recognizing the mark on Sigurd's neck, Basim pondered the possibility of him being Odin reborn and, as such, followed the Viking on a trip to his hometown to investigate further.

Sigurd introducing Eivor to Basim

In 872, Basim became acquainted with Eivor on his arrival, granting her a Hidden Blade that had belonged to the late Hidden One Ammon. Together, the three Æsir incarnations fought Kjotve the Cruel, assaulting his fortress and killing him. This act permitted Harald Fairhair, Freyr's reborn self, to unite Norway under his crown. As Harald became the lord of Fornburg, Sigurd, Eivor, and Basim went to England in order to establish a new colony, while Svala returned to the Yggdrasil Chamber, guided by Freyja's memories, to enter a simulation of Valhalla.

Establishing the colony of Ravensthorpe in Mercia in 873, Sigurd became the jarl of the village, working with Eivor to form an alliance with the Sons of Ragnar. After that, Sigurd attributed to his sister the task of continuing to gain friends throughout England in order to expand the settlement while he and Basim adventured through the new lands.

During this time, Basim tried to reveal to Sigurd his true nature, but when this failed, he decided to prompt the man to search for the Saga Stone, a door fragment from Yggdrasil's chamber with engraved Isu script that he hoped would spark Sigurd's memory. Some time after, Eivor assisted her brother with his search in Oxenefordscire, with the three Æsir incarnations allying themselves with Fulke, an Order of the Ancients member who possessed the artifact and studied both it and the reborn Isu. Together, they fought Lady Eadwyn, who had previously imprisoned the scholar, reclaiming the Stone from her. After they recovered the relic, Basim let Fulke betray the group and take Sigurd as a hostage, suspecting that her research with a live subject would awaken his true nature.

Eivor and Basim rescuing Sigurd

In 874, Eivor and Basim traveled to Cent, the place where Fulke had been reportedly seen last. They ended up being tricked by the Ancient, who fled with Sigurd. The Hidden One and the Viking then found her sanctuary in Canterbury, discovering that Fulke had cut off Sigurd's arm and that she had taken him to the fortress of Portcestre, in Suthsexe. The next year, the two incarnations and their allies besieged the castle, with Eivor saving her brother and finally killing Fulke. Nevertheless, the torture that Sigurd had endured greatly altered his personality after being exposed to Týr's memories, and he now saw himself as a god.

During one of her adventures in early 876, Eivor allied with Halfdan and Faravid to fight the rebelling King Ricsige and his Pict allies. After Halfdan became the new king of Northumbria, an argument arose between Faravid and the new king, the latter accusing his friend of poisoning him. This greatly affected Halfdan, who rapidly became depressed, though Eivor helped him to recover his morals.

During her journey in England, Eivor experienced several hallucinations of Odin, manifestations of his memories trying to emerge in her mind that sometimes spoke directly to her, constantly trying to direct her to the location of Yggdrasil's chamber. After Svala accepted Freyja's past as her own, her daughter, the seer Valka, moved to Ravensthorpe. There, she helped Eivor understand the meaning of the visions by creating potions that permitted her to witness altered memories of Odin's time in Asgard, Jötunheimr, Svartálfaheimr, and Niflheimr.

Eivor renouncing Odin

In 877, Sigurd and Eivor returned to Norway, entering the Yggdrasil vault by pronouncing the words carved on the Saga Stone. Inside, they encountered the supercomputer and used it to enter the simulation of Valhalla, encountering Svala as Freyja, who had been there for the past four years. Despite initially enjoying the simulation, Eivor realized that everything was fake and managed to convince her brother to leave, while Svala stayed. However, Odin's consciousness tried to force Eivor to stay in the simulation, with her fighting it in her mind and ejecting herself from the machine, repressing her Isu side.

Basim, who had tailed them to the site, understood that Eivor was indeed the host of Odin's mind instead of Sigurd. He then took Sigurd hostage but quickly released him as Eivor went to attack him. During the fight, Basim blamed the imprisonment of his son Fenrir on a clueless Eivor, who in turn believed he had lost his mind.

Basim pinning Eivor down during their fight

As the Hidden One was overpowered by Eivor, he decided to kill Sigurd instead, but Eivor arrived in time to save her brother. The Viking then proceeded to distract him in a last confrontation while Sigurd powered up Yggdrasil to trap Basim's consciousness inside the Grey. After this, Sigurd conceded his role of Ravensthorpe's jarl to his sister.

The following year, Eivor led the assault that resulted in the Battle of Cippenham. Although the Vikings won the fight, conquering England in its totality, the confrontation resulted on several casualties on their side, including Soma, Hjorr Halfsson, and Hunwald. After giving the warriors their last rites, Eivor had a discussion about possible afterlives with Guthrum, venting to him that she would now seize her time among her friends and family rather than wish and strive for Valhalla after having witnessed its emptiness while in Yggdrasil's chamber.

True to her word, Eivor spent the following decade trying to help the Raven Clan as its jarlskona to the best of her abilities, even traveling to Ireland and Francia to establish new alliances and stop possible threats. Eventually, around 889, an older and more mature Eivor realized that she could not suppress her Isu self, Odin, forever and rather than reject his influence entirely, she decided to learn from his memories. However, believing her clan would not be able to understand, she chose to do so away from them.

Prior to her departure, Eivor went to bid farewell to all of her friends and allies in England and Norway, including Sigurd, who had since settled in Alrekstad, and Harald Fairhair, who by this point had become aware of his own nature as Freyr's incarnation. Staying in Alrekstad for three weeks, Eivor, Sigurd and Harald reminisced about their past lives together before Eivor eventually left for Vinland in North America. There, she would spend her final years conversing with Odin, who helped her understand the Isu's history. After her death, Eivor was buried near modern-day Concord.

Modern times

"You bested me. I don't know how, but you did. Yet I'm the one left standing. And now I can take from you anything I want... your memories, your skills, your secrets. They're all mine. And when I have them, I will put them to good use. To find my children. And bring my family back together."

―Basim addressing Eivor's remains, 2020.

Basim meeting Layla inside the Grey

In 2020, the Assassin Layla Hassan, who had discovered Eivor's grave and relived the Viking's memories in the Animus, found and accessed the Yggdrasil chamber and connected herself to the supercomputer, hoping to find a solution to a series of anomalies affecting the Earth, caused by the activation of the global aurora borealis device in 2012. Inside the Grey, she met the consciousness of Basim, who revealed that he had sent Layla the message leading her to Eivor's remains and told her how to save the planet.

However, after Layla followed Basim's instructions, she inadvertently freed the Hidden One from his imprisonment inside the Grey. Thanks to the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, which Layla had dropped, Basim rejuvenated his physical body and was reunited with the consciousness of Loki's lover Aletheia. He then met with Layla's fellow Assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, who were angry to learn that Basim had abandoned Layla inside the Grey, but nonetheless agreed to grant him an audience with their Mentor, William Miles.

Basim visiting Eivor's grave

While Shaun and Rebecca were away, Basim used the Animus to relive Eivor's memories in the hopes of finding any clues to lead him to his children: Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr. While he did not find any, witnessing Eivor reject Odin's influence made him realize that the Viking's relationship with her Isu self was different from his own relationship with Loki, and that he had been wrong to try and exact revenge on Eivor for Odin's actions. When he later began to experience the Bleeding Effect, Basim saw a vision of Eivor smiling and nodding at him; a gesture he returned, symbolizing their friendship and mutual respect.

Eventually, Basim was met in the Animus by a hologram of William, who questioned his motives. After the former Hidden One claimed that he still cherished the Creed and wished to help the Assassins in their fight against the Templars, William agreed to work with him, but first requested a sample of his blood, to allow the Assassins to relive his genetic memories.

Known reborn Isu

Rig Reidarasson
incarnation of Heimdall
(c. 770s – c. 860s CE)

Svala
incarnation of Freyja
(died 873 CE)

Halfdan Ragnarsson
incarnation of Thor
(c. 790 – 877 CE)

Faravid
incarnation of Sif

Basim Ibn Ishaq
incarnation of Loki
(born c. 844 CE)

Sigurd Styrbjornsson
incarnation of Týr
(born 842 CE)

Eivor Varinsdottir
incarnation of Odin
(born 847 CE)

Gull
incarnation of Idun

Harald Fairhair
incarnation of Freyr
(c. 850 – c. 930 CE)

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Song of Glory (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Legend of Beowulf
  • The Way of the Berserker
  • River Raids
  • Mastery Challenge
  • Wrath of the Druids
  • The Siege of Paris
  • Dawn of Ragnarök
  • The Forgotten Saga
  • Shared History
  • The Last Chapter
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion – The Ravens' Wound
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla webcomic
• Assassin's Creed: Where's the Assassin? (non-canon)
• Little Miss Eivor (non-canon)
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age
• Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage
  • The Forty Thieves
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game