With the newest Assassin’s Creed game out on the market with Valhalla, Ubisoft has given players free reign to explore ninth century England and Norway as Viking raider Eivor. The game builds upon most of the RPG aspects introduced in Origins and Odyssey with one of those aspects being pressed with choices in dialogue and gameplay be it good or, in this lists case, dark.
Though the game lacks a morality system seen in other games, the player can have Eivor do so rather dark things throughout the game, whether it is part of the main quest or not. Here are 10 of the darkest things players can do in the game. Spoilers ahead.
10 Punching Basim
After a negotiation with Lady Eeadwyn gone wrong after Sigurd and Basim, the hidden one a.k.a assassin, try to compromise a pact with her in Oxenfordscire, Eivor will get into an argument with Sigurd and Basim about it since doing so meant betraying their pact with Gaedric. Eivor will then have the option of punching Basim in the fight.
This angers Sigurd more than if Eivor decides to punch Sigurd since Basim is considered a good friend to Sigurd. It may not seem dark on the surface, but this choice does have repercussions down the line with Sigurd’s fate.
9 Take The Resources Meant For Stybjorn
The first major choice made in the game, Eivor will have to choose whether to leave Stybjorn’s resources behind in Norway or take it with them and Sigurd to their eventual settlement in England. Stybjorn is Sigurd’s father and though he may not see eye-to-eye with Eivor, he did take them in after the deaths of their parents.
Though the resources will help in England, the player will make an enemy out of Stybjorn which will hang over them for the rest of the game.
8 Agreeing With Ivarr
From the get-go, Ivarr The Boneless establishes himself as a ruthless warrior who acts before thinking. This causes him to kill the brother of King Rhodri, the latter of which they were trying to make peace with, causing the peace talks to turn bloody real quick.
The bloodshed was essentially all his doing and agreeing with Ivarr that there was no other way is essentially condoning his ruthless behavior.
7 Kill Leofrith
Leofrith is the loyal right-hand man to King Burgred of Mercia who is willing to fight to the death for him despite treating him pretty poorly. This eventually leads to a climatic fight with Leofrith at the end of the Ledecestrescire arc. After defeating him, the player will have the choice of killing or sparing him.
Eivor learns that he launched the assault not knowing that Burgred surrendered the crown in a cowardly way instead of fighting to the end. Killing Leofrith will deny him the truth.
6 Deny Dag Valhalla
Dag is a major part of the raven clan and was close to both Eivor and their brother Sigurd throughout the game. As it progresses though, Dag begins to question Eivor’s leadership in Sigurd’s absence. This eventually leads to Dag betraying Eivor and he challenges them to a duel for role of the leader until Sigurd’s return.
After a hard-fought boss battle, he will lie dying on the ground with his axe out of reach. Eivor can deny him his axe and thus ensure Dag will not go to Valhalla. While he did betray Eivor, he did do it because it was the right thing to do in the interest of the Raven Clan. So his motivations were at least not selfish ones.
5 Sleep With Randvi While Sigurd Is Away
Randvi is the wife of Sigurd who can normally be found at the alliance map in the Ravensthorpe longhouse. A side quest will eventually pop up letting the player get Randvi out of Ravensthorpe for awhile. At the end, Eivor will have the option of sleeping with her behind Sigurd’s back.
The player essentially chooses to encourage Randvi to cheat and betray Sigurd’s trust, of which he does eventually find out about this betrayal. Randvi can be romanced later on if not at this moment so it is pretty dark to do it right now.
4 Lying To Suttungr
In the game, Eivor will have dream sequences in which they relive Odin’s quest to prevent his death at Ragnarok as Havi in both Asgard and Jotunheim. Havi will need to acquire special mead from a vault behind Suttungr’s back in order to attain a means for them to avert this death.
It is tough since unlike other Jotun, Suttungr is kind and respectful towards the player, despite the conflict between the Jotun and Norse gods. Something he will be eager to remind Havi of when Suttungr discovers the treachery through Loki.
3 Shooting The Leaf Down
The mysteries in Valhalla serve as the game’s side quests in a way. One of these involves a little girl named Mae sitting beneath a tree with one leaf left on it. Talking to her will reveal that she is waiting for her father to return who said he would be back before the last leaf on the tree falls. That was six weeks ago.
Regardless of whether Eivor comforts the girl or hits her with the truth, the player has to shoot the leaf down in order to complete the event. Meaning the player has no choice but to break the poor little girl’s heart.
2 Kill Modron
During the Glowecestrescire arc, players will meet Modron. She is a healer who is later revealed to be the one of the mastermind beind Tewdwr’s kidnapping and attempted murder with Cynon. After a boss fight with her, players will have the option of killing or sparing her.
Regardless of the choice made her daughter will walk into the room. Meaning choosing to kill her also means she gets to see her own mother killed right in front of her. Not only this but she then sees her father, Cynon, sacrifice himself in a wicker man.
1 Being The One To Burn Cynon Alive
Cynon willingly agrees to be burned inside the wicker man for the Samhain festival, a spiritual predecessor to Halloween. Eivor is the one who does the honors should they spare Cynon in an earlier encounter when discovering the Tewdwr plot.
Though he goes out the way people want to. His end is not a painless one as he screams in agony with all of Glowecestre looking on, including his daughter, in hope for a brighter future.
