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- "You're the greatest trainer of Assassins in the entire Empire, if not the world. There are wars going on throughout the continent and the Brotherhood needs you to aid them, not track down petty criminals!"
- ―William Lowndes to Omar, 1696.[src]
Omar Khaled (died 1703) was a blind Moorish-British Assassin who lived during the late 17th century. He was the ancestor of Aliyah Khan.
Biography[]
Training as an Assassin[]
Omar was born as the blind son of a butler in the household of Nigel Galloway in London. As a young boy, Omar met and befriended Nigel's daughter Rose and the two remained close. At the age of 12, Omar left the household after being recruited by the Assassin Brotherhood. By adulthood, he proved himself as a capable Assassin despite his handicap, training his other senses and putting his Eagle Vision to use, and eventually became a leader of a group of Assassins. After his father died, Omar did not return for the funeral, though the Galloways ensured he was given a proper burial. At one point, Omar led his group of Assassins to a village, but failed to save its residents. This incident led Omar to return to London in an attempt to cope with the trauma he received. [citation needed]
Apprenticeship under Isaac Newton[]
By 1696, Omar returned to London and entered the services of the scientist Isaac Newton, who served as the warden of the Royal Mint. With the increasing cases of counterfeiters in light of the Great Recoinage, Omar was contacted by his former fellow Assassin William Lowndes, who was the Secretary to the Treasury of Great Britain. William tasked Omar to contact Isaac, requesting his aid to investigate.[1]
Omar arrived at Isaac Newton's residence in Jermyn Street, London, but was held up at the door by Newton's overtly racist butler Finnegan, who initially refused him entry for being a Moor. A frustrated Omar explained he had been sent by King William III via the Royal Mint and was then reluctantly given entrance to Newton's study. Isaac, busy with experiments, initially refused to even acknowledge his visitor, stating that he did not need an assistant. When Omar warned that a mixture was about to overflow, Isaac was astounded to realize that Omar was, in fact, blind. Omar explained he was familiar with alchemy and the pursuit of the rumored philosopher's stone. Fascinated, Isaac insisted he therefore stay to assist and had a guest room prepared. A guard interrupted the proceedings and stated that they had found the operating factory of a counterfeiter named Oliver Augustus. Isaac and Omar rode a horse-drawn carriage there, and on the journey across, Isaac explained that he intended to save the British Empire by stopping all counterfeiters like Augustus.[2]
At the factory itself, Newton's guards raided the entrance. The factory appeared deserted, but Omar's Eagle Vision allowed him to detect Augustus tip-toeing around near a stable. When Augustus was tackled to the ground and interrogated by Newton, he revealed that he worked for a man called William Chaloner. An explosion suddenly rang out, knocking everyone flat, and fake coins rained down.[2]
The stable filled with smoke, but Omar and Isaac escaped to safety outside. They returned to Newton's residence and discussed the situation in the kitchen over tea. At that moment, William Lowndes arrived, having been sent to check on the two of them after hearing of the explosion. Lowndes revealed that he knew William Chaloner was a counterfeiter, but in exchange for information on the counterfeiting network, paperwork relating to him was destroyed and he eventually began legal operations. He also was due to attend a party that evening by Lord Benedict Crystal. Omar and Isaac insisted that they must also attend the party and try to locate Chaloner. Omar walked Lowndes outside and Lowndes privately insisted that Omar kept Newton safe, and that he should consider returning to training other Assassins once he was done with saving the Royal Mint.[2]
Later that evening, Omar and Isaac attended the party and met both Lord Crystal and Sir Artemis Murray. Keen to discuss intellectual theory, Isaac stayed with the nobles away while Omar decided to visit the servants' quarters. On the way there, he bumped into Rose Galloway, his childhood friend from when his father was a servant in the very same house. They talked about the situation in London and were interrupted by a waiter who knocked Rose over and ran away. They quickly noticed that Rose's necklace was stolen, and she and Omar gave chase to the waiter thief. Running down the streets, the waiter took to the rooftops with Omar following, jumping from one roof to the next. They ducked into a warehouse, with the waiter running downstairs leaving Omar at the top floor. Rose appeared below and attacked the waiter with a crowbar, but was quickly overpowered.[2]
Omar then performed a Leap of Faith from above and tackled the waiter as he fell, smashing the thief's head against the stone floor. Rose discovered a note in the waiter's pocket signed only with ⟨C⟩ and describing her necklace. While in a carriage back to the party, Rose questioned how Omar could evidently see his way around. He revealed that he could detect his surroundings with his other senses, terming it Eagle Vision. Surprised, Rose revealed that she had a similar ability. Back to the Crystal estate, a commotion ended the party when Lord Crystal was arrested after Newton discovered counterfeit money machines hidden amongst his house . Lowndes spoke privately to Omar, who revealed that he believed Rose was a perfect candidate for Assassin training.[2]
Training Rose[]
Some days later after the party, Omar met Rose on the catacombs beneath a church, where they discussed the fates of the waiter that stole her necklace and that of Lord Crystal. Omar suggested that she had potential to become far more than she was and do more good in the world if she trained to be an Assassin like him. At that moment, she pushed him aside when the church bell fell the ceiling. Surviving unscathed, Omar suggested that with Rose's senses attuned as they were, she could have easily saved others—had the church not already been empty. She therefore agreed to train immediately under Omar, and she was soon sworn to the three tenets of the Creed.[2]
Rose and Omar continued to spar and train but were interrupted by Father Jones, who said Newton's butler had requested he pass a message to Omar to go to Newgate Jail immediately. Upon arriving there, Omar was lead through the prison to a cell by a jailer, only to discover Newton on the ground being strangled by Jack Oliver, the waiter thief himself. The jailer knocked Olivier off and escorted Newton to a physician. Afterwards, Omar interrogated Oliver, threatening him with his Hidden Blade and demanding to know who sent him for the necklace. Oliver revealed that a man had kidnapped his daughter and demanded that he steal the necklace. Omar obtained the address of this extorter and left the jail. Outside, he found Newton and Lowndes, who again begged Omar to watch over Newton before Omar took Isaac home in a horse carriage. Once underway, Omar revealed the address he learned and instructed the driver to head there instead.[2]
Upon arriving at the house, it appeared abandoned, boarded up and dark. Isaac tried to use the door, but it was locked, prompting Omar to kick it open. They searched the house but found nothing until they reached the cellar, where they stumbled across a dead body covered with encoded, handwritten papers. Isaac recognized the code as map coordinates to somewhere in Surrey and the two rushed to the location, a water mill. Arriving early in the morning, they saw no one around and began sneaking around inside, but were suddenly attacked by a worker with a staff. Isaac was knocked to the ground while Omar and the worker dueled. As they were fighting, the floor collapsed below them and they fell into the river below the mill. After attempting to drowning each other, Omar overpowered the assailant before Isaac called to Omar to spare the worker's life for questioning.[2]
They learned the worker's name was James Blanchard, another known counterfeiter. He was placed under arrest and the fake money within the mill was taken to the Tower of London. When the guards requested that Isaac return with them, he argued in protest before suddenly collapsing. Omar quickly returned to Newton's residence, where a doctor advised that the scientist needed decent rest due to exhaustion. Privately, Finnegan admitted to Omar that he had been warned that Newton suffered with bouts of melancholy which he believed to be from his frequent dabbles in alchemy. Omar thanked him for the insight and left for the church once more. Back at the church, he met Father Jones, who worried that Omar was troubled, and Rose. Omar suggested that he should no longer train her, fearing he was still troubled by his past failures, but Rose refused the notion and their training continued.[2]
Rescuing Nicolas[]
In late 1696, Omar arrived at the estate of Lord Dash, to find Isaac attending the next location on his coordinates list. Another counterfeiting operation had been seized, this time that of Melissa Howard. Omar insisted to Isaac that he should be in bed, but Isaac promised to do so once they have visited the final location on his map in Bristol. On the journey, Omar questioned Isaac about his reputed dark period away from the University of Cambridge during the Great Plague of London, and his experiments in alchemy. Newton revealed that he ultimately only took the Warden of the Mint position to occupy himself and keep the darkness at bay.[2]
When they arrived at Bristol, the coordinates lead to a house. Inside, they found it mostly empty, but on the upper floor they discovered a naked man cowering from them. Omar offered him a blanket, and Isaac recognized him as Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, his former Swiss assistant at Cambridge. Isaac had once worked with him in order to try and find the philosopher's stone, and though he cared a lot for Nicolas, they eventually had to part ways due to undisclosed "disagreements". They collectively returned to Newton's residence, where Isaac showed Nicholas his study and experiments before Finnegan took the ailed Swissman to a guest bedroom to rest and recuperate. Omar and Isaac discussed Chaloner, with the latter vowing to kill him for what he did to Nicolas. Omar suggested that Isaac also get some rest and returned to the church to continue Rose's training.[2]
Relationship with Rose[]
Amidst the crypts, Rose revealed that her father wanted to move the entire family to Paris and that she did not want to go. Suddenly, they heard footsteps above them. Suspecting the intruders were most likely Templars, Omar set fire to nearby kindling to start a blaze and remarked that there was a secret exit hallway that they could use. An explosion ahead of them caved in the hallway, and though the pair survived, Omar injured his leg. Amidst the rubble, Rose managed to climb to an opening only to be grabbed by two Templars, who demanded Omar's surrender. The Templars were shocked to discover he was blind, surprised that this was the supposed Assassin they were looking for. Rose surprised the guards, knocking them both to the ground unconscious. Omar had to prevent her from killing them, at which point they embraced and shared a kiss.[2]
Rose and Omar walked home, with her suggesting that he came and visit her father Nigel. At that moment, the Royal Guard arrived to arrest her father on the grounds of counterfeiting, by the order of the Warden of the Mint. Shocked at the order, Omar rushed to find Isaac still busy with experiments at home and discovers it was not actually his command. Fearing someone was trying to usurp Isaac's power, the two rushed to the Tower of London. Rose awaited outside, and the three demanded the release of her father. Once released, Nigel Galloway confirmed that it was William Lowndes who ordered his arrest. Lowndes then entered the room, and Isaac demanded answers from him. Lowndes responded that Newton was replaced as Warden by William Chaloner and promptly accused the scientist of of being the counterfeiting mastermind.[2]
Newton's arrest and escape[]
Omar, Rose, Lowndes, and Chaloner arrived at Newton's house and rang the bell. Finnegan opened the door and Omar demanded answers, but Lowndes promised them once they got to the study. He demanded Finnegan opened a safe located in the room, within which was an entire stash of counterfeited coins. Lowndes explained that it was Newton's scheme all along, using alchemy to create his own perfect false coin, and in turn disposing of his own operations around the country by using Chaloner as the scapegoat to cover his own tracks. A shaken Omar left in disbelief.[2]
Later that day, a dispirited Omar visited the Galloway residence which was undergoing under renovations. Rose excitedly confirmed that her father had new found business in London, and she will thus be staying in town. Omar, still angry at being fooled by Newton, insists he will be unable to train her any further. The conversation turns darker, culminating in Rose demanding he leave and slamming the door. Omar elects to visit Newgate Jail and confront Newton.[2]
Upon arriving, he discovered that Nicolas was also there waiting to see Isaac. They discussed if they truly believed that Newton did what he was accused of. At that moment, they were interrupted by yelling when the prisoners started rioting. Three of them burst into the room and immediately attacked. Omar was forced to kill all three, and then suggested he and Nicolas go rescue Isaac together. Omar was forced to defend them several times, killing many prisoners in the process. The prison guards eventually arrived and forcefully restored order in the jail. In the aftermath, Omar learned that twelve of the men killed were directly tied to the counterfeiting ring, and Newton had also escaped, leading most people to believe Newton himself was behind the murders. The only remaining counterfeiter from the ring was Lord Crystal, who was still held at the Tower of London. Omar and Nicolas rushed there to prevent the thirteenth murder.[2]
Omar and Nicolas meet the Tower of London's warden and are granted access to meet Lord Crystal. He explained to them that his former butler Finnegan had gone on to work for Newton and had recently visited him in the Tower, and reaches the conclusion that Isaac is out to eliminate him. Omar suggested that they visit the Crystal Estate to see what evidence remained. Before he went inside, he advised Nicolas to wait thirty minutes, and if he did not emerge, to go and report directly to Lowndes. As Omar entered the empty building, he heard a pained scream. Making his way to the cellar, another scream rang out and he recognized it as Finnegan's voice. In the cellar, he saw Isaac holding a hot poker and torturing Finnegan, demanding answers on the location of the counterfeiting equipment. Omar tackled Isaac and the two began to fight. Isaac protested his innocence, explaining that he had been set up on the belief that Finnegan was a double agent the whole time. Nicolas ran down into the cellar, demanding the two to stop fighting, but retreated when Isaac tried to declare his innocence. A fire suddenly erupts, and the three men escape through a window upstairs. Outside, Finnegan is made to confess that Chaloner had paid him to set up Newton. At that moment a throwing knife embeds in his neck, killing him. Startled, Omar looked up and recognized the assailant running across the rooftops as Rose Galloway based on her stride.[2]
Final confrontation[]
With Finnegan dead, Omar and Isaac decided their next course of action. Omar reasoned that chasing Rose would be a mistake, as rushing from one location to the next ultimately led nowhere and Rose would be expecting them to follow. He also realized that her father's mystery investor must be Chaloner and concluded that the Galloway household's renovations must be to fit the counterfeiting machinery, all secrets that Rose would kill to keep hidden. He called for a carriage and the two raced to Rose's house.[2]
Once there, they met Nigel and demanded that he personally guide them around. Finding nothing on the premises, Omar demanded to see the slave quarters. At this suggestion, Nigel pulled a pistol from a drawer, though Isaac leaped at him knocking him to the ground. Nigel broke down and admitted that Rose had been working for Chaloner in the hopes of restoring their family finances. He also revealed that Chaloner intended to destroy the remaining counterfeiting machinery that was kept at the Tower of London that evening, likely killing hundreds in the process. Omar and Isaac made haste to the Tower.[2]
At the Tower of London, Omar adopted a disguise and pretended to be making a medical supply run. Once inside the grounds, the Tower warden and Lowndes stopped them, but Isaac called out that there were likely explosives throughout the Tower, which Omar supporting him. Disbelieving the claim, Lowndes provided guards to search the Tower, but warned Omar that he would hang with Newton if his claim was proven false. The guards searched the premises but found nothing. Omar asked if there are catacombs, and Lowndes confessed that there were some below grounds. A boat in a nearby harbor on the River Thames appeared to be making signals with its horn, prompting Omar to inspect the catacombs.[2]
Deep in the wet tunnels, he came across a crate of explosives. Rose stepped out of the shadows and confronted him, explaining that the country's wealth was unfairly distributed and that Chaloner had a plan to fix everything. Omar vowed to defuse every explosive, but Rose promised to stop him. She threw a staff to the ground for him and raised her own, issuing a challenge to a duel, which Omar accepted.[2]
As they fought, Rose continued lighting the fuses around them. Knowing that she would be killed, too, she remarked that at least she would have saved herself from a boring life attending parties and wearing dresses. Omar sprinted past her and Rose mocked him for running away, only for her to realize he ran to the flood gate and was opening it by rapidly turning the handle, hoping to douse the lit fuses. In desperation, Rose attacked him, forcing his hands away from the wheel until he extended his Hidden Blade and punctured the door, which burst open from the water pressure as the Thames flooded the room. Omar dived under water, but lost sight of Rose. When the water settled some, he found her body and dragged her to the surface, but when his attempts at cardiopulmonary resuscitation failed, he knew she had drowned and broke down in tears.[2]
After Chaloner was imprisoned in the Tower of London, Lowndes, Omar, and Isaac met in the courtyard. Lowndes thanked them for all of their help and urged Isaac once more to get some rest before retiring to bed himself. Isaac informed Omar that he had a new way of creating paper money that he wished to show him, though Omar rebuffed it, saying it was time for him to move on. Isaac mentioned that he had known about the Brotherhood for many years and that the world would always need men like Omar. As a token and reminder of their time together, he retained two counterfeit coins. Handing one to Omar, he read aloud the French inscription, "Je maintiendrai" (English: "I will maintain").[2]
Later life and death[]
Omar eventually married a woman from London and had a son. After his son was born, Omar realized he wanted to help end slavery and supervised attacks on multiple slave owners. In 1703, Omar died during a raid on a slave ship bound for the British colonies, but his actions, all 1,000 slaves aboard the ship survived.[3]
Legacy[]
Through his son, Omar became the ancestor of Aliyah Khan, a 21st-century English card shark who became embroiled in the Assassin-Templar conflict.
Behind the scenes[]
Omar Khaled is a character introduced in the 2020 audiobook Assassin's Creed: Gold, where he is voiced by actor Riz Ahmed.
Etymology[]
The name Omar (عمر) is a name of Arabic origin, meaning "flourishing or long lived".[4] Khaled is a variation of the Arabic name Khalid (خالد), meaning "eternal, endless, or immortal".[5]
Appearances[]
References[]
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