History Headscratchers / AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag

* For that matter, the whole fall-and-redemption arc...he's shallow and selfish, all his friends are dead, he won't support the Assassins' cause. In order: 1. He became a privateer, and later a pirate, so he could become rich and build a better life for himself ''and his wife''. And then he was called upon to put up a lot of his personal money to build a base of operations (which he did), free Assassins from slavers (did), obtain medicines for the people of Nassau (did), and help his friends escape from Nassau (did). What else was he supposed to do, start an orphanage? 2. With friends like these...well, let's just go down the list: A ditzy rich boy who helped Edward get to Havana (where he was headed in the first place) and afterword did absolutely nothing of note, one of the most evil pirates in history whose crimes included statutory rape and murdering his own crewmen, a stubborn Assassin who helped Edward with a few minor tasks and otherwise treated him with contempt for nearly the entire story, a surly raging bull with no redeemable qualities who ended up trying to ''kill'' him, a snotty, snippy, good-for-nothing jerk who marooned him (leading to the aforementioned kill attempt), and a smug, self-important fop who sold out to Laureano Torres. No great loss for anybody. His ''real'' friends, Anne Bonny and Adewale, are still very much alive at the end. 3. Why should he have supported the Assassins' cause? Up until when Ah Tabai rescues him from prison, they did '''nothing''' for him. Their whole philosophy baffles him and no one makes any attempt to explain it, and he was effectively banished from Tulum ''after'' rescuing several of them from Laurens Prins. Time and again Edward asked what was in it for him, and he never got an answer.

* For that matter, the whole fall-and-redemption arc...he's shallow and selfish, all his friends are dead, he won't support the Assassins' cause. In order: 1. He specifically became a privateer, and later a pirate, so he could become rich and build a better life for himself ''and his wife''. On top of that, he was called upon to put up a lot of his personal money to build a base of operations (which he did), free Assassins from slavers (did), obtain medicines for the people of Nassau (did), and help his friends escape from Nassau (did). What else was he supposed to do, start an orphanage? 2. With friends like these...well, let's just go down the list: A ditzy rich boy who helped Edward get to Havana (where he was headed in the first place) and afterword did absolutely nothing of note, one of the most evil pirates in history whose crimes included statutory rape and murdering his own crewmen, a stubborn Assassin who helped Edward with a few minor tasks and otherwise treated him with contempt for nearly the entire story, a surly raging bull with no redeemable qualities who ended up trying to ''kill'' him, a snotty, snippy, good-for-nothing jerk who marooned him (leading to the aforementioned kill attempt), and a smug, self-important fop who sold out to Laureano Torres. No great loss for anybody. His ''real'' friends, Anne Bonny and Adewale, are still very much alive at the end. 3. Why should he have supported the Assassins' cause? Up until when Ah Tabai rescues him from prison, they did '''nothing''' for him. Their whole philosophy baffles him and no one makes any attempt to explain it, and he was effectively banished from Tulum ''after'' rescuing several of them from Laurens Prins. Time and again Edward asked what was in it for him, and he never got an answer.

* Edward's spiral of depression after escaping from prison. Okay, the Jackdaw is missing and he has no idea where Bartholomew Roberts is. He's escaped from two deserted islands (in both cases surviving an outright ''murder attempt'' from the other occupant); a bustling city should be a paradise compared to that. The smart thing to do would be to lay low, snoop for information about his ship and/or Roberts, pickpocket or loot once in a while, and otherwise just take it easy and enjoy the fresh air for a few weeks. The ''simple'' thing to do would be to steal another ship and pick up right where he left off (presumably shipping it off to the fleet once he found the Jackdaw) Sure, being betrayed by Roberts is a bummer, but of the "I'm going to kill that bastard" variety, not the "my life has no meaning anymore" variety. And on top of that, ''he just escaped from prison!'' Disappointment, frustration, sure, but what exactly is there for him to be ''depressed'' about?

*** This. Don't forget, too, that he can find and retrieve a Mayan Stele stone on the first island he ends up on, long before James Kidd explains to him how.

* Edward's spiral of depression after escaping from prison. Okay, the Jackdaw is missing and he has no idea where Bartholomew Roberts is. He's escaped from two deserted islands (in both cases surviving an outright ''murder attempt'' from the other occupant); a bustling city should be a paradise compared to that. The smart thing to do would be to lay low, snoop for information about his ship and/or Roberts, pickpocket orloot once in a while, and otherwise just take it easy and enjoy the fresh air for a few weeks. The ''simple'' thing to do would be to steal another ship and pick up right where he left off (presumably shipping it off to the fleet once he found the Jackdaw) Sure, being betrayed by Roberts is a bummer, but of the "I'm going to kill that bastard" variety, not the "my life has no meaning anymore" variety. And on top of that, ''he just escaped from prison!''! Disappointment, frustration, sure, but what exactly is there for him to be ''depressed'' about?
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* Why exactly did Edward fall into a spiral of depression after escaping from prison? Okay, his ship is missing and he has no idea where Bartholomew Roberts is. He's survived been stranded on TWO deserted islands; a bustling city should be a paradise compared to that. The smart thing to do would be to lay low, snoop for information about his ship and/or Roberts, pickpocket/loot the occasional guard, and otherwise just take it easy and enjoy the fresh air for a few weeks. The ''simple'' thing to do would be to just steal another ship (which is how he got the Jackdaw in the first place) and resume his career. Sure, being betrayed by Roberts is a bummer, but of the "I'm going to ''kill'' that bastard" variety, not the "my life has no meaning anymore" variety. And on top of that, ''he just escaped from prison!'' He should be ''more'' fired up, not less!

** It stands for "Real-Life." If you want to know who first came up with it I doubt you'd be able to find out. Someone on the internet started using it and it caught on.

** The same answer to half the headscratchers from the first game; it's the Animus. Abstergo is just too lazy to put in the effort to have things take place in the correct chronological order. The in-game database entries even state this outright; plenty of structures and landmarks are in the game despite not being built until a decade or two after the event of the game.

* How does Edward Kenway take Assassin Contracts before he actually is told about them? GameplayAndStorySeparation or is there an untold story? Perhaps the Bartender in Havana told him about them, recognizing his attire and assuming he was an Assassin? Murder for hire isn't beyond Edward's capacity.

* Where did the moniker R-L for the PlayerCharacter come from?

** Or have access to the DNA memories of the Chinese Assassin (feel free to swap that out with her actual name) who was with him for most of the events.

** Abstergo may be raiding graves and tombs across Europe for their DNA.

* During the review video for if Ezio would be a suitable property to use in video games, they show and discuss events that happened during Embers. How do they have this footage and know these events, if they occurred after Ezio had his last child and stopped passing on his DNA?

** Also in ''Forsaken'', the earliest journal entry that Haytham dates is towards a trip to White's Chocolate House which is where Edward promises to take him after quitting "this posh gig". The game ends right where ''Forsaken'' and Haytham's story begins.

** There's an answer in Fridge Brilliance, which more or less states it's because [[spoiler: Edward didn't have any of his armor or health bonuses and was protecting his wife and son--which means he was extra vulnerable]]. You could also argue that, like professional athletes, he'd done a number on his body with all the fighting and rum catching up to him.

* Edward had his daughter and Haytham, yet the Researcher can still access memories from well after Haytham was born; the Opera house epilogue. Unless it's not canon.

** Either dead or too far away to help, as what usually happens throughout the history of the games.

* Another WhatHappendToTheMouse, at the end of the game, Edward builds contacts with the Caribbean Assassins, Adewale and Ah Tabai and later works in England as an Assassin presumably with locals there. So in ''Literature/AssasssinsCreedForsaken'', where were the rest of them when [[spoiler: when Edward was attacked by Birch and Templars. Why didn't any of them rescue Haytham from Birch's evil influence or save Jenny from her fate.]] You would expect that Adewale, who admittedly has his own life and concerns far away in the Caribbean, would be interested about his old friend and his family.

** Whereas the Jackdaw was repurposed from a Spanish escort, the Aquila was built specifically for usage by the Assassins. The Aquila outclasses the Jackdaw on almost every point, having 30 guns vs 23 on the Jackdaw, in addition to 4 vs 2 swivels.

** In the novel it is stated that Edward secured himself a pardon from Robert Walpole by working for him, shortly after returning to England.

* Considering Edward used his real name among pirates which is later known to Woodes Rogers and the British Navy and kept his hood down during Boarding, and deliberately refuses Rogers' Pardon, how did he even retire in the first place without criminal charges waiting for him back home. Did the Assassins scrub his records or did he pay the biggest bribe to someone?
* Related to WhatHappenedToTheMouse, in the game you build and upgrade the Jackdaw into a CoolShip that can take out Man O Wars and Legendary Ships, so how come it seems to disappear completely by the time of AssassinsCreedIII where the Acquila is the flagship of the Assassin Fleet. Did Edward salvage the Jackdaw or did it go down in battle sometime in his retirement?