Assassin’s Creed Mirage timeline explained: Where does the prequel fit in?

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the latest mainline entry in the long-running series, but where does Basim’s quest through Baghdad fit into the Assassin’s Creed timeline?

Assassin’s Creed Mirage marks an important turning point in the Assassin’s Creed timeline, not just because it takes the series back to its roots, but because it begins to marry the classic Assassin’s Creed games with the more recent post-Origins Assassin’s Creed titles. The latter is considered another era of the franchise, although they’re still connected to the earlier games.

The game appears to be setting up the conclusion to the Hidden Ones vs. The Order story that started in Assassin’s Creed Origins (although canonically, it started in Odyssey), and bringing the series up to date and back to where it started. To long-time fans, this will be the Alamut, the Assassin’s fortress that Altaïr called home in the original game. With that in mind, let’s examine where Mirage sits on the Assassin’s Creed timeline.

While we have no idea what’s going to happen in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, there will be spoilers for earlier games throughout.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Sequel or prequel?

Like other games in Assassin’s Creed’s convoluted and static timeline, Mirage is both a prequel and a sequel. The game serves as a prequel to both Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, explaining the origin story of key series character Basim, and the original Assassin’s Creed game, moving the action to the Assassin’s mountain fortress just a few centuries before the events of that adventure.

Mirage may even see the Hidden Ones shed their old identity and finally become the Assassin clan they’re destined to be. Therefore in the main Assassin’s Creed timeline, Mirage is set several years before Valhalla and roughly 300 years before Assassin’s Creed 1.

Who is Basim in AC Mirage?

The game is also a sequel to the overall Assassin’s Creed timeline, especially when it comes to the modern time’s sections. In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Basim was a friend and ally of the main character Eivor and it was eventually revealed that Basim is the reincarnation of the Isu and Norse God Loki. Basim is eventually trapped in an Isu computer system and later freed by Layla in 2020.

Basim then re-joins the Assassins, this time in modern-day, and then uses the Animus to conclude Eivor’s journey with them. William Miles then tells Basim they’ll need access to his memories if they are to continue to work together. This may end up making Basim the first character in the Assassin’s Creed universe to relive his own ancient memories whilst in the Animus during the present day.

For more Assassin’s Creed Mirage content check out some of our below guides:

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