The Assassin Who Became The Ultimate Templar, Shay Cormac | An Assassin's Creed Character Study
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- Once an Assassin, now their pursuer. Today we're doing a deep dive into the assassin hunter Shay Patrick Cormac and his journey from the streets of New York to the Palace of Versailles.
- Chapters -
0:00 - Intro
4:25 - Character & Design
17:00 - Story & Setting
59:37 - Conclusion
Thanks for watching the video :]
#shaycormac #acrogue #acmirage #assassinscreed #assassinscreedmirage #assassinscreedvalhalla #acnexus #assassinscreeednexus #acvr 
Игры
An unfortunate thing I noticed playing this game again recently is that if you listen to the dialogue during the naval free roam, you get the character pieces quite valuable to understanding the situation in Rogue.
Firstly, Nobody in the brotherhood ever took Shay seriously. Liam was his only friend and that's only because they go way back. Achilles does not trust him at all. They see him as nothing more than a reckless waste of potential even all the way to the Lisbon mission. It is only because of Liam he even gets that mission in the first place. After leaving the homestead in the prologue, Shay mentions Achilles not even having much hope for him to Liam and how most of the other assassins are more informed of the group affairs than he is. Liam makes nothing but excuses, saying that Shay should give it time and that the mission to find the box will earn him a proper place in the brotherhood. In another Dialogue, Shay also questions why the assassins are aiding the French in the prelude to the seven years war since they are practically enslaving people and Liam just says that the assassins act regardless of politics. Shay's building doubts over the creed are apparent in game BUT only IN the NAVAL FREE ROAM. WHich sucks
Shay also says that portuguese women are the best.
Which makes him justified to seek revenge 😂
Yes! Just like having TONS of Connor’s character development in “optional” side homestead missions that are MISSABLE
@@Gu5A2
That whole thing was a problem with a lot of the colonial era games
I do agree with all your points shay is a great character in a poorly written story
yep. i hate hearing him say “i make my own fate” 50 million times when he could’ve said something more interesting
@@sylokthedefiledDo you mean luck?
@@LarryTheTugaGamer1511 no. he says i make my own fate 50 million times
@@sylokthedefiled No, he clearly says "I make my own luck". It's literally his catchphrase.
@@LarryTheTugaGamer1511 you’re right. i had to look it up since it’s been a while since i’ve played the game
Rogue was an incredible game. Shay Patrick Cormac was a diamond in the dirt type of character. Very underrated indeed. In my honest opinion, Shay is the personification of the underdog
One thing that you missed at the start... You said assassins acted like the bad guys, but this is the whole point of Rogue. It shows us that both sides have bad apples and everyone is human, thus many times they care only for themselves. The whole point of this game, is to teach us this lesson.
Yeah but it makes no effort to make either side distinguishable. The game fails to show you any real bad apple Templars despite them being pretty much mustache twirlers for most of the franchise. And for the Assassins, they just made them as unlikeable as the Templars usually are. This kind of thing only works when it makes an effort to differentiate both sides while humanizing them.
I feel like most people forget that it is a person's memories meaning the characters can be seen in different lights, meaning it can not notice negative things his allies do
Facts
Bcs there grandmaster templar haytham in the templar Colonial?idk if you noticed that😂@@yojojo6570
@@yojojo6570 Unless I misunderstood something, I think you just addressed your own concern.
“The game fails to show any bad apples in the Templars despite them basically being mustache twirlers.” I feel as though that’s what differentiates the templars in this game from the ones before, showing them to be more rational and more willing to listen to the former assassin than his “brothers”. I could say the “bad apple” for this game would probably be Haytham since we know how he will behave years later in AC3.
“They just made the Assassins as unlikeable as the Templars.” There were bad apples in the assassins in previous games, but it was always just one or two people iirc; it was never ALL of the major assassins in one game, basically the entire brotherhood. Compared to assassins in previous games, these ones are extremists who cause countless of innocent bystander deaths, who refused to learn from their mistakes until it was too late (or if at all), whose definition of “hiding in plain sight” means establishing gangs that display the assassin symbol for all to see, and doesn’t allow or waves off Shay’s concerns and doubts by essentially saying “the Templars are monsters that must be eliminated at all costs.”
I absolutely love this game. The tragic irony of this whole game is Shay was NEVER given the opportunity to become a True Assassin. He is truly the result of his environment. He was held back in the Brotherhood, but the Templars gave him the opportunity to become his potential, and boy did he. The game left me wondering, if a more mature and patient Shay could have saved the Brotherhood from what Achilles had made it.
I like to think of him as a reverse Altair. Altair was born into the Brotherhood so he was loyal to them, but initially didn’t follow the creed. Shay was brought into the Brotherhood so he always questioned them, but believed in the creed… well the not harming innocents part. The rest fell away after Lisbon.
If the Colonial Brotherhood had taken any time actually supporting each other instead of blindly following their orders, Shay might have stayed and ended up confronting Achilles much like Altair did with Al Mualim.
I like Rogue a lot, and Shay as well. The one thing I think was a missed opportunity for Rogue's story to close and led into Unity more. Was for Shay to meet Arno after killing Charle, then taking Arno in and raise him. There for it would have made Arno's personal story in Unity even more interesting other than his love for Élise. There would have been the Romeo and Julet story with Arno and Élise, then there would have been the father and son aspect with Shay and Arno. With Shay realizing not only was his actions the cause of the French Revolution but his actions in raising Arno was also the cause for it's unravel for the Templars in France. So I'm going to be doing a fanfic story that capture this aspect.
I think if Shay was the grand master Templar in France and was the main antagonist of Unity instead of, um, I forgot his name, it would have been a stronger story
That’s how I wanted the story to go
Tell me that you indeed have written that fanfic, please
Tau_Amundsson00 I would love to read that story!
They didn't reuse all the animatiuons from black flag. a friend of mine pointed out that Shay's fighting style is more military and straight forward than in black flag.
As someone who is kind of a historian of 18th. C America, it was such a disappointment to see them mess up the Seven Years War. It is such an amazing conflict to dive into. If they focused more on that aspect I think it would have been successful. Just like AC3 with the American Revolution
in spite of the flaws of rogue, and there are many, i still believe that it is a good game overall considerign the tie line of which it was taking place and that it had to be nestled in between two games already didnt give them alot to work with. as a character shay is great with what were are given but could use a bit more depth in game
Rogue will always be my favorite assassin’s creed it was also the first ever assassin’s creed I played
00:03 Assassin's Creed Rogue celebrated the franchise's past while pushing technical boundaries in 2014.
02:34 Shay Cormac, a new character with significant impact on the story of AC3 and Unity.
07:15 Shay Cormac's unique Assassin outfit and changing appearance
09:37 Shay receives an outfit with symbolic significance
14:13 Shay Cormac's outfit and the symbolism of the brooch
16:29 Shay Cormac offers a fresh perspective on the conflict by operating differently from the Assassins.
20:52 Shay Cormac's journey to becoming a Templar
22:49 Shay Cormac's training and interactions with other characters.
26:41 Shay proves his worth to the Assassins by killing Lawrence Washington.
28:59 Shay acts independently of the Assassins
33:08 Shay's discovery of the Piece of Eden triggers an earthquake, leading to a potential turning point in his allegiance.
35:34 Shay's conflict with the Assassins and Achilles
40:01 Shay learns that both sides of the conflict can have shades of good and bad.
42:20 Shay Cormac works to remove chemical factories and stop Hope's plan in New York.
46:55 Shay Cormac's transformation from Assassin to Templar
48:54 Shay Cormac manipulates Assassins and faces off against Hope.
53:16 Achilles' mistake leads to moral clarity
55:22 Debate on morality of Shay's actions
59:40 Shay Cormac's character arc from assassin to Templar is well-handled
1:01:48 Shay Cormac is a complex character with conflicting motivations.
I think Shay works very well, because his character's story shows that the faction we have been playing as since the time of Altair, can become every bit as corrupt and as evil as the Templars had been.
The Assassins knew they could only slow Shay down. I think, deep down, they all feared what he was capable of.
Need one for Aveline. May as well do the last of the Kenway work buddies
She's on my list!
Really wish Shay got a second game.
I'm really enjoying this character study run! Cant wait for Aya and Kassandra
Fantastic thank you ! This actually my favorite game thru out the series
Ubisof Sofia did a solid job, I love this game
I honestly don’t feel connected to Shay the way I do the other characters mainly Altaïr and Ezio and Connor. For me, Shay is an individual that I feel a huge disconnect and discomfort from not because he is neither good or bad as explained. He is a gray character. I believe it’s because that he wants to do the right thing and he believes in the right thing but the problem for me is he is not Altaïr or Ezio.
The reason why I say that is because he is not questioning the Templars motives, their actions or their ideology, Altaïr was the best example of that because he was questioning his actions, his motives, and everything between the assassins and the Templars. He kept asking questions until he used his mind, his eyes and his own ears to fully understand what he was doing, and to fully understand the purpose he had.
Ezio to me, was a character that used wisdom to understand both sides of the conflict. The Templars were responsible for killing his family, therefore forcing him, and making him take his place in the assassins at a time where Templars were evil force against the stability of free will, and fought against the oppression. Now in Revelations he clarified the questions and that’s all I needed. Because in his mind he had a clear picture of what he was fighting for and why.
It’s the same thing with Connor but with Shay he’s not asking any questions. he’s just taking action out of self guilt and wanting to make amends. We can see that it is difficult for him to kill the people that he cares about but yet he still does it. He can’t live with the death of innocent people on his conscience, but he can live with the deaths of those that he called friends on his conscience, even though he does feel That he never wanted to kill them. He just wanted to stop them from repeating the mistake he made.
I honestly feel like he is the only Assassin turned Templar that leaves me with a lot of questions, and it really does bother me that they don’t use his story to capitalize on a DLC or a new game to where Connor and Arno can take action against him.
How can the assassins continue to fight knowing that there is a man out there that knows their skills, and can give away their talents and their tricks.
@seth_fitzgerald As somebody who has finished the game several times and has thoroughly analysed its story, I must tell you that not all Templars are bad and not all Assassins are good. Kasegowasse attacked the city of Albany, killed innocent people and gurney houses. He’s a Master Assassin in AC Rogue. He also threatened the Oneida tribe with hep from the French. And Shay would probably kill Templars like Charles Lee and Thomas Hickey with his bare hands. Shay is not against freedom and that is clear from the story. Shay is against misuse of freedom. Shay saved numerous civilians from regular money extortion and violence from the Assassin and French allied gangs in New York. Shay is basically like George Monro, a Templar who seeks peace, happiness and prosperity more than control.
The problem is, shay is not fleshed out as much. The main issue is that we barely get to see shays life because rogue is so short. We never hear from shay after rogue.
@@picassojulien899
That’s right. Altaïr and Ezio are the best example of how fleshed out a character can and should be.
They thought it was an apple of Eden with spikes of some kind on it, you can find a picture on the wall at the manor in the room that had the manuscript
I loved this video. Rogue is a really good game and I think Shay is a great character.
A very interesting character study as always.
Very well done video, I always felt like Shay was a protagonist with a lot of potential that didn't quite get realized.
21:26. The spat between the two is to play on their opposing backgrounds. Chevalier callas Morrigan a fairy queen because she was from Arthurian Legend, which was written in France. Liam and Shay compare her to a Queen of Darkness because in Irish Folklore she is the goddess of death. I don’t think this has anything to do with the Templar/Assassin conflict. It’s probably more of a gag on the fact of the name of ship can be seen in two different ways.
Didn't notice this vídeo had only 550 likes, it's my favourite if your character analysis'. Deserves more
Personally I would have to agree on some of the memory corridors that take place after Shay abandons the Assassins and some other interactions he has with them either feeling empty or a little too “to the point” to really fit in beyond the established plot of Rogue. But I do think that in spite of this there was definitely great development in Shay’s character as a renegade Assassin with his own convictions but also a strong sense of remorse.
As for potential off-screen segments, a part of me feels like there would be room for at least Liam and/or Hope to question Shay’s actions the night he “died” given that they seem to potentially be the closest to him out of everyone in the Brotherhood, and at the time they seemed to have absolutely no interest in trading his life for the Manuscript (Unlike Chevalier who’s really the most questionable Assassin out of all of them given his recklessness and sense of superiority. I mean he literally opened fire with his ship’s cannons right next to the Homestead just to kill Shay, how was THAT of all things not a red flag to them?)
I'm pretty sure the story was supposed to be the downfall of the 1st Colonial Brotherhood, as Achilles was ambitious in his goals to eliminate the Templars and the ambition consumed him, just as it did to Edward Kenway. Shay sided with Templars out of necessity, and because he was indebted to them, and continued the Templars' work, after they helped him atone. Then after all of Shay's work in the Colonies Haythem ordered Shay to search for the precursor box, even if it took him a lifetime, as he would not be present in the Colonies for the American Revolution as he stayed in Europe to complete his objective, as knowing Haythem he would have ordered Shay to stay away from the Colonies as he sent Lee away that day at Fort George. I'm sure after these events of Shay looking for the box successfully, Achilles probably could care less what happened to the box, or much less the manuscript, since the Templars are aware of the capabilities of the precursor sites, just as much as he is, ordering what's left of his followers to discontinue the precursor site search, out of precaution, as Shay probably didn't return the box, out of fear of Haiti, Lisbon, or the Arctic circle. Haythem humbled Achilles, just like Roberts humbled Edward. Achilles' downfall could have been prevented if he wasn't blindly ambitious, and careless, humbled his brotherhood, avoided being such a poor mentor to Shay, and been more observing of the precursor sites and their, unpredictably destructive nature, especially if he went with Shay to Lisbon, and would be observant to what happened, rather than claiming coincidence. Blind ambition, greed, and pride is the downfall of mentors on both sides.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted, and May the father of understanding guide us all.
Shay is a great character in poprly writing story.
I would love to see a video where you go in depth on the different philosophies of the factions across the series
That’s a really great suggestion thank you!
Since I gravitate far more to the Templars and their ideals of order and purpose taking precedence over freedom, it was a pity that the game-structure was so shallow. Far from as expanded a storyline as Black Flag with all its contents. Regardless, the gameplay functions were awesome; such as finding relics to access 11th century armour, and conquering forts for the British Empire. Shay did the right thing in my mind and merely came into confrontation with the question of what freedom really means, especially what it entails for the people. Colonel Monro countered the Assassin dogma of a romantacized notion of ultimate freedom very well in this line: True freedom, is freedom from want. The Colonial Rite under Haytham Kenway was ideal to me as well. It was more balanced, not just filled with megalomaniacs like the Borgias, nor were they so ruthlessly cutthroat like say the British Templars in Syndicate. They worked behind the scenes to guide a new civilization to peace, caring about the people from a standpoint that without first ensuring safety and order, nothing else matters, not even freedom, as it only results in chaos. realizing that humanity is far too imperfect to handle unfettered freedom. All successful societies needs shepherds.
it is very much a conflict between Realism on the Templar side and Libertarianism on the Assassin side, who do hold that "no objective truth can exist" (which is a logical fallacy as then their own claim that "nothing is true" can't be true). So there is a fundamental problem with Assassin belief to me, and a fundamental agreement I have with Templars as a realist myself. I also far more enjoy the knightly aesthetic than the Assassin one.
And as for the Assassins: Troughout the game the Assassins ally with criminals, lowlives, prostitutes, underground black markets, all the worst trappings of failed civilization. They are a group dedicated to preserving the status quo of a corrupt and fallen world. To borrow a quote from a movie: "What man is a man, who does not try to make the world a better place!" Detractors from the brotherhood point this out. Like the Byzantine Assassin turned Templar who witnessed the nonchalance of his brotherhood at Constantinople being conquered and brutalized. "If a man's creed prevents him from protecting his home and family, what good are his beliefs!"
I love Rogue ans Shay, but by God I wish they had focused more on this game
An absolute banger once again
Thank you sir 🫡
@@willismakesmovies may the father of ad revenue guide us
Aveline is amazing as a character
as someone who play ac rouge I want more
Watching this video with captions is so funny “sheer” and “heartham” 😂
If Ezio or Edward were alive they would have given the colonial brotherhood a disciplinary ass whooping for violating the the tenants of the Assassins Creed especially with staving the blade away from the blood of the innocent (Haiti and Lisbon)
Excellent analysis as always! For me Shay is such a waste of potential, it would have been fascinating to see someone that had actually believed in the Creed turn their back on their brothers and betray them by joining the Templars. Now on the face of it that is what we get with Shay but anything more than a cursory look reveals this isn’t the case. Shay left the Assassins because he disagreed with what they were doing (and they were being reckless at best if not outright idiotic) and although he joined the Templars for me it felt incredibly shallow. He never seems to actually align with the Templar ideology over that of the Assassins. It could even have Shay as a mole in the brotherhood with them hunting him down after he injures Achilles to stop his hunt for the pieces of Eden. But exactly as you put it we got the laziest execution of what could have been an amazing story when they simply switched how Assassins and Templars acted, this was such a waste in storytelling.
That and the 7 years war as the backdrop, I understand they were probably limited with their choices but they never make me feel like we’re in the conflict compared to others that nailed this like Black Flag or 3 or even 2.
As a final disappointment we never had a proper finale to story: the crossover with Shay against Arno and Connor and maybe Aveline too. I liken this to the MCU doing a film for Ironman, Hulk, Thor and Captain America but then not making the Avengers, it feels so obvious! Arno and Connor both have a personal reason to hunt down Shay, it infuriates me we never got this story to complete the journey with each character.
Maybe as an in game explanation for the way the other assassins act, the one reliving the memories of Shay is at Abstergo and you could say those at Abstergo could be intentionally changing details to make the user more inclined to join the modern Templars. In the modern world ending, you have to either join or die.
So just found out that there was suppose to be a sequel to AC Unity but it was scraped because of the backlash of year 1 Unity.
Did Shay have to kill the Assassins? In this instance, yes I do. It sucks that this game was rushed so much and that all the post assassination corridor sequences hold little to no substance whatsoever, made it feel like AC4 DLC really, but it's not a bad game in my opinion. I just wished that the assassins and templars didnt get so flip flopped when it came to how they morally think. Templars have always been shown to be kind of heartless and to do things that if they didnt directly affect the Assassins, they affected innocent people, giving players a reason to dislike them. The assassins having these gangs, pretty much breaking the whole not revealing the creed openly to the public rule, was SUCH a cop out but I can understand gameplay wise why that was the most reasonable solution. If they were a group of mercenaries (kind of like the bounty hunters that hunt you on land for being a dick) maybe it would have been better, and them having direct ties to the Assassins behind the scenes as opposed to bright yellow banners holding the Assassins insignia on it, would have been a better choice.
These Colonial Assassins seemed more like outcasts rather than representatives of the Creed, it could have been a better story if the gang being potrayed as mercenaries, possibly going more rogue after Shay's defection, now knowing that a former Assassin is wiping them out, turning to drastic measures and having little care for the populace, giving Shay a reason to continue taking them out while gaining knowledge of Achilles next move.
And it probably would have been better if the brotherhood condemned the actions of the mercenary gang, and eventually stopped working with them, resulting in unrest between the brotherhood and the gang, having it make more sense how Shay could pretty much dismantle the colonial brotherhood, practically by himself. It also allows the deaths of the members of the brotherhood to be more of a necessity to protect the world, rather than just giving them a reason to be killed cause they are being terrible people now out of NOWHERE.
Liam and Adewale are really the only exceptions, Adewale is a good man and Shay says so himself even after turning Templar, it's by Haytham's orders that Shay is really forced to hunt down Adewale once he was cornered. And Liam still held the Manuscript, which Shay is now even outside of Templar orders, knows is one of the keys to world destruction and must be retrieved, but Liam forces Shays hand, I feel Shay really feels remorse for what he has to do, but armed with the knowledge he has of both ideologies and the precursor sites, he can only really see the Templars trying to do some good, so I dont blame him in having to kill his former allies and I feel that once reasoning is out the window, theres only one option left really. After they obtain both the manuscript and the box I do wonder if Shay would serve the order as their most dangerous soldier, or if he would move on to other things.
I do disagree with some things you said. Namely that the hope death was the only time Shay seemed to feel bad. He literally said “forgive me” when he killed Adéwalé.
I think something a lot of people miss or don’t see is that the templars could be lying or manipulating shay too. Everytime Shay questions anything gist or haytham kind of shut him up. Like Le chasseur says they’re going to use the gas on the guards which makes sense but Monroe says they’re going to use them on the people out of nowhere and no one else says anything about it. So I interpret this as Monroe trying to paint the assassins in an even worse light. When Shay doubts his new actions both Monroe and haytham try to keep him from processing and keep him on their side
It's a difficult choice between which character I dislike more… cocky angst Connor or arrogant “I make my own luck” Shay 😂
Any chance you’ll be analyzing Aveline from Assassin’s Creed Liberation?
“I usually skip this part”😂
SHAY: we cant be messing with precurssor objects, so i will kill my own friends for an organization who not only want the objects, they also want to use them for thier own power!
10 years. 10 long years ago game was released
Coud you do an character study on Achilles
I think he already did that
I think a video on Basim in the near future would be better. Basim looks like he is going to be a compelling character in AC Mirage, similar to Aladdin in a weird way
between my Shay and Connor vids, I think I’ve covered Achilles as much as I could, with Haytham at least I have the opening missions from AC3 left to dissect
@@unicorntomboy9736 Basim will be coming up once I’ve finished Valhalla and Mirage
AC Rogue's narrative as a whole is the shining example of what TV Tropes calls "the idiot plot".
Basically it's the AC equivalent of 2016's Batman V Superman.
If none of the characters in Rogue (specifically the assasins) were fools, the game's plot wouldn't be a thing. The ENTIRE plot solely relies on most of the characters being idiots as well as miscommunication/misunderstandings and both factions are forced to act completely out of character in order to make Shay's arc seem sympathetic and reasonable. It's a terribly written narrative for that reason.
Maybe if Shay's story was framed as a negative character arc, who goes from a kind and good person to a horrific person who uses crual and vile methods but with also sympathetic motivations (albeit with twisted justifications) it would have been much more interesting and compelling
Can you tell me how the assassins act out of order? I'm really curious. Also please tell me how the templars act out of order as well.
@@Rengokuo4o6 Is it not obvious? The assassin's here act like templars abs and the templars act like assassins
The assassins here are basically the villains in this story
@@unicorntomboy9736 hmmm,so because they are the villians of the story, they act like templars?
Alright I'll put it this way, did the assassins want order and control in this game while the templars were fighting for freedom?
@@Rengokuo4o6 I am going to follow the principle of occam's razer and just conclude that it's down to bad writing. Simple as that
@@unicorntomboy9736 occam's razer? What's that?
Would have loved to have seen what they could have done with 12 sequences
I think the reason why the memory corridors were crap was cause this game was rushed
Do Desmond
If Rouge was made to be was left in the oven longer and NOT made to be a prequel spinoff to unity. This game could have changed AC in a great way
I think I liked it but, as far as the plot it felt like character assassination ironically on peopled named assassins.
I feel like all this could have been avoided if they spent 5 minutes discussing what had happened. But no shay had to be a hot head... so all his motives after that point to me are weak.
Amazing character and perspective to a flushed out franchise its too bad that Ubisoft is a real thing 😂
Well i do think that a bad guy here i achilies if He would listen and wasnt blindid.
He did fucked it all UP.Worse Master of all assassins.
Dont u remeber lol... Rouge was more popular that day lol??
Unity was a broken mess and Rouge was the game everyone said u should play.
Man idc its a bad story i still love it lol
Rogue is a shitload better than Unity.