So much happens in the Legacy of the First Blade episodes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, yet everything in its main plot and its connected side-quests is almost completely outshined by the relatively brief but unforgettable appearance of one person: Aiantides The Proud, one of the most enigmatic yet absolutely exciting supporting characters in the whole game. Aiantides makes his mysterious appearance in all three regions that Alexios visits for each of the episodes of the Legacy story, and him showing up co-incides suspiciously with important events in our hero's adventures, where Aiantides appears in big trouble, in stressing situations that are, oddly enough, connected with each other. Alexios and Aiantides seem to connect in an underlying and rather unexpected way, and it is notable that just at the start of the first Legacy episode in Makedonia, Alexios comes across Aiantides before meeting anyone else, even before crossing paths with the main protagonists of the story.
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| There is an uncanny chemistry between Alexios and Aiantides The Proud |
After Alexios receives a message to take on a mission in Potidaia, he arrives there to find a whole village on fire. While rushing to the heart of the incident, he sees that three people are being held as prisoners, with Spartan soldiers ready to execute them, so he swiftly runs to their rescue. Among the captured villagers, is a very well-dressed man with a rather peculiar attitude, as becomes clear as soon as Alexios frees him.
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| The strange man does not seem particularly intimidated by the situation he is in |
At that point in time, we don't know who he is yet, and we have no idea that this will not be the one and only time that we see him. Alexios frees the other two people, a woman and another man, and the story takes its own course, with our hero meeting Neema and Darius and eventually learning from them about the existence of the Order of the Hunters, a separate branch of the Cult of Kosmos, that operates in certain regions of Greece. After the introductory quests are complete, Alexios locates a message left for him at the place where he set that strange man free. The message sounds a bit impolite, as the sender literally blames Alexios for having saved him from his captors, but given the conditions, this is not something to be judged too strictly at that point; plus the most interesting thing about it is that it is signed "Aiantides The Proud".
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| Aiantides's first message |
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| Aiantides's second message |
This time there's more treasures, and they are spread around on four separate islets, which makes looking for them quite an adventure. Notably, when Alexios arrives at the first location, there are bandits snooping around, which raises suspicions about them somehow having been informed about the existence of the treasures in that area. Maybe they had read the message, or maybe there is another reason why they seem to know about Aiantides being in the area? Who knows, maybe we will be able to decipher this riddle later. On the two of the remaining three locations, there are again hazards to face: wild bears in the one, enraged chicken in the other (although the latter can be avoided if Alexios sneaks carefully to take the package they are guarding without alerting them).
After the completion of the first episode in Makedonia, Darius messages Alexios to meet him in Dyme, a small village between Elis and Achaia. There seems to be more Order action in the region, and after getting in touch with Neema as well, Alexios is informed that several people have been captured by the local branch and are being held prisoners in an almost inapproachable fortress. Alexios rushes and frees the prisoners, among which is Kleta, a rather well-off woman, who, as it turns out, appears to be a local of some higher status in the area, both financially and socially, as she volunteers to offer those stranded people shelter in Boura, her village, until they manage to find a way to leave. All of them were either locals who were returning home, or travelers from other regions; their ships were sunk while sailing along the shores of Achaia, and they were all arrested and taken as prisoners by command of the Order for an unspecified, for the time being, reason. It is revealed that the one responsible for this specific action is a fierce and extremely feared admiral, who works on behalf of the Order, goes by the name of The Tempest and has everyone in the region terrified beyond belief.
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| Kleta seems to be an influential figure in the area |
While looking for the prisoners at the fortress, Alexios finds out information of great importance about The Tempest, who is revealed to not only be a high-rank member of the local Order branch, but she also happens to be their chief. Apart from her other duties, The Tempest is tasked with getting rid of Alexios, and for this purpose she has hired several high-rank mercenaries to hunt him down and kill him. During a series of follow-up quests with Darius and Neema, Alexios discovers that The Tempest's chief engineer has created a super-powerful weapon for her ships which he calls The Chimera's Breath and which looks like an early version of the Byzantine liquid fire. After a series of dramatic events, Alexios decides to steal the engineer's code books, so that Barnabas, who is an experienced captain, may be able to install the lethal weapon on their ship as well, to give them a fighting chance against The Tempest. Then Alexios goes to Boura to talk with Kleta, and in a dramatic twist, Kleta confesses to him that The Tempest is in fact her long lost daughter, Phila. A child prodigy, with high intelligence and gifted in an impressive variety of fields, Phila was estranged from her mother, left her family home and became a sea captain. After nearly drowning during a storm, she was saved by the Order and gradually became their most valuable high-rank member. Although Kleta hopes that there could be a way to bring Phila back, deep down she knows that her daughter, now The Tempest, is beyond saving, as she had been under the Order's influence for far too long.
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| In spite of her young age, The Tempest is fear incarnate in Achaia |
While at Boura, Alexios finds yet one more message (surprise, surprise) again from Aiantides The Proud. This time the note is way more toned down that the previous ones, as Aiantides expresses his distress for losing all his fortune due to him constantly wanting to reward Alexios for helping him out. Aiantides explains in his note that Alexios killing the leader of the Makedonian branch of the Order was the reason why the innocent civilians were captured in Achaia, as an act of revenge; although his connection to this development is still unknown. Regardless, he informs Alexios that he has left another package full of goods for him at the edge of an isolated row of islets, adding that he will be unable to offer anything else in the future.
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| Aiantides's third message |
Alexios goes to the specified area, which indeed is quite far away from any settlement or camp, and as he is about to take the package with the treasures, Aiantides himself appears, and he is revealed to be that strange man whom Alexios freed back in Potidaia, in the burning village.
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| Aiantides turns out to be a handsome man of good social status |
Now that we have the chance to actually see him, it becomes more clear that he must be of some higher social status, as he is well-dressed, his sandals are more stylish and elaborate than those of most citizens and the fabrics and threads from which his outfit is made of look quite expensive and of very good quality. His whole attitude is also different from most people that Alexios has met so far, as he looks quite self-confident, speaks in a rather sophisticated manner, and even after having gone through all those troubles, he still seems determined and unafraid. This time, he wished to thank Alexios because his aunt was among the prisoners that were freed at the fortress, although he claims that he has no more to offer, as these acts of gratitude left him almost completely broke. Although Alexios insists that he shoudn't have given him anything and he doesn't owe him a thing, Aiantides claims that he is too proud to not reward him for his good deeds, because he can never be indebted to anyone (which is why he is called "The Proud" after all). The questions that are raised here, however, are what was Aiantides doing in Achaia all of a sudden, and in Boura specifically, and was he too on the sunken ships and maybe managed to escape while the Order were looking for prisoners? Or he arrived at the region with other means for some reason?
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| Aiantides is suspiciously calm in spite of constantly running into trouble |
While trying to make Aiantides stop feeling like he is indebted to him, Alexios offers him the chance to do a series of activities for him, that would work as paying off the so-called debt. The dialogue that follows is quite interesting, with Aiantides reactions being rather enigmatic and perplexing. If Alexios asks him to kill the mercenaries hired by The Tempest, Aiantides replies, marginally with sadness, that he is no fighter, therefore is unable to take on this task. If Alexios asks him to steal the engineer's code books, he replies with contempt that he is not a thief. When he asks him to kill The Tempest for him, Aiantides's reaction is quite intriguing: upon hearing the fearsome admiral's name, his expression changes temporarily, as if her name means something to him. One could argue that this might be due to The Tempest's notoriety, but if you watch him closely, his expression does not indicate fear but more like a disposition to conceal something or avoid to touch the subject altogether.
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| Aiantides's attitude is continuously mysterious |
His reply is equally weird, considering that when Alexios asked him to kill the mercenaries previously, his excuse for not doing it was that he was no fighter. When the subject of killing The Tempest comes into play, he replies with absolute disgust that Alexios asking him to commit murder is unacceptable. We could say that his reply in the first case leaves some room for further discussion, but in the second he sounds completely adamant. In the end, Alexios asks him to join his ship crew as a lieutenant, but Aiantides refuses again, saying that he has a family to look after, therefore he can't leave. Which is quite strange, since he has already left one place (Makedonia) to travel to a region quite far away, and apparently he did so on his own. Meanwhile, as the second episode of the Legacy story reaches its dramatic culmination, it is revealed that The Tempest is half Isu, just like Alexios and Kassandra, and she had been recruited by the Order exactly for this, so that they could use her as a powerful human weapon. Alexios is forced to fight against The Tempest and kill her; depending on our choices up to that point, Kleta may have survived or not, but in any event, soon after the episode ends with no further sign of Aiantides in Achaia.
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| Phila snaps out of the Order's brainwashing just moments before she dies |
Some time later, after the tragic events that bring Alexios to the city of Aipeia in Messenia to look for his kidnapped son Elpidios, he teams up with Darius so as to locate Amorges, Darius's once best friend and companion and now sworn enemy, who was also revealed to be the head of the local branch of the Order, as well as the leader of the Ancients. Amorges, knowing that Elpidios, being the son of Alexios, shares his demigod qualities, has taken the baby and is keeping him hidden somewhere, intending to raise him himself and train him to be a warrior for the Order, like he did with Phila in the past. Among his other activities in the area, Amorges has several parts of the region under his control, resulting in citizens getting captured on a regular basis and being sent to work as helots in the fields of Aipeia's outskirts. After eliminating all the members of the local Order branch, including Amorges after a dramatic fight, Alexios is finally reunited with his son, but decides it is better to send him away with Darius, so as to keep him safe from the Order. When the story is complete, he finds a message which is not directed at him, but it mentions helot prisoners who may be in danger in Messene, at the outskirts of Aipeia.
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| The mysterious message mentioning the helot prisoners |
Alexios arrives at Messene only to find out that Aiantides is among the helot prisoners. There are a couple more people tied alongside him, whom Alexios frees with no issues, but as he attempts to free Aiantides, angry bandits attack, wanting to prevent him from doing so. Alexios succeeds in defeating them and runs back to free Aiantides, a repetition of their very first meeting in Potidaia.
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| Bumping into familiar faces is always pleasant |
Aiantides is very upset that it was Alexios who actually saved him. He feels once more that he owes a favor to the Eagle Bearer, one that he will not be able to fulfill, because he is completely broke now. He tells a story about how someone persuaded him to come to Messenia, tricked him into giving all money he had left, only to be sold as a helot in Messene. A rather weird story, given that Aiantides always looked quite smart; moreover his profession apparently had to do with commerce, which means he knew very well how to deal with money. To stop Aiantides from feeling indebted to him, Alexios tells him that he, being a messenger of Zeus, can forgive the debt of a mortal, which eventually puts Aiantides's mind at ease. Then Alexios asks him again to work as a lieutenant on his ship, and this time Aiantides happily accepts. Which raises the question of what happened to the so-called family that he had to take care of and could not leave behind previously.
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| Alexios seems quite amused with Aiantides |
On a first level, nothing may seem that strange, but if all facts are combined there seems to be a pattern when it comes to Aiantides's appearances. The obvious part is that he always shows up in Alexios's path as a comic relief element, but at the same time he also appears in places that are of extreme importance as far as the Order's activities are concerned. There is not much evidence in Makedonia, as we do not have the chance to meet him there, but in Achaia things become quite interesting. We know from his second message in Makedonia that he has a brother there, but then in Achaia he vaguely refers to a family which may not be what it initially sounds like, that is a family of his own. What he does mention is an aunt who was among the stranded people whom Alexios freed at the fortress. The prisoners were four: three women and a man. From the three women, the one was the mother of a little girl, and both she and the second woman were too young to be Aiantides's aunt. The third woman was Kleta.
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| Alexios and Kleta minutes after she was freed from the fortress |
We don't have any clues about Aiantides's age, but judging from his figure, the smooth skin on his face and considering his hair is not even grey yet, he must be in his early thirties or something like that. Kleta, on the other hand, is a beautiful woman who is apparently older because her hair and eyebrows are grey and she has light lines near her eyes and mouth. She must be around forty five years of age, or maybe a bit younger, since Phila looks also very young. Back in those times, people used to marry at a very young age, especially women. My theory is that Aiantides's aunt was in fact Kleta, something that the two of them concealed to keep each other safe, due to the fact they were both related to The Tempest. They also avoided getting in contact in public, so as to not attract the Order's attention. Kleta and Aiantides have quite a few things in common, with their face features being the most prominent: their eye color is exactly the same, a very sweet honey brown. They have pretty similar eyebrows and their mouths have a similar shape. Sometimes they even have the same expressions. Kleta's hair is grey now but judging by her skin tone, and the way her eyebrows have also turned lightly grey, she could very well have had ash blonde hair in her youth, the same hair color that Aiantides still has. Moreover, they both look well-off in a pretty similar way, what with their nice clothes and noble style.
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| Kleta and Aiantides share the same honey brown eyes and similar eyebrows |
Being Kleta's nephew, makes Aiantides a cousin of The Tempest, which may explain why he avoided discussing the subject of possibly killing her himself when Alexios asked him to. The family he refers to could very well be Kleta and The Tempest, assuming that his brother in Makedonia probably had a family of his own, therefore is part of a separate family circle. After Alexios eliminated the Order of the Hunters in Makedonia, the Order of the Storm in Achaia took action. Aiantides knew that this would also mean the appearance of his fearsome cousin in the region. The fact that Kleta was captured together with the other people at the fort is quite suspicious. It could be that the Order were on a spree to hunt down The Tempest's family, like the Cult had done in Kassandra's case. They could be looking for Aiantides too, which partly explains why there was only one man among the prisoners. In the old days, it was not easy to find out how someone looked like; sometimes it was impossible. Maybe the Order was on the hunt for Aiantides, but since they did not know what he looked like, he managed to escape from the ship that The Tempest sunk and get safely on solid ground in Achaia. There were bandits looking for the treasures he left for Alexios in Makedonia, and bandits again attacked Alexios when he attempted to free him in Messene. This may suggest that someone (someone with many spies, like the Order; we already know that they were recruiting citizens to do dirty work for them) was keeping track of him, and had even hired bandits to hunt him down. Maybe the bandits were not looking for the treasures but for hints to Aiantides's whereabouts. Or maybe the Order, aware of his note to Alexios, sent the bandits to look for him, allowing them to grab his treasures as a reward in case they found them.
With The Tempest out of the picture, and Kleta either safe or dead, Aiantides had no more reasons to stay in Achaia. His story about how he found himself in Messenia may be true, but he may very well have gone there after learning that Alexios had moved further south; so he traveled to Messenia and somehow managed to get himself into trouble again. There is no more mention of his family the last time that Alexios asks him to work for him as a ship lieutenant and he accepts, something that may indicate that his intention in Messenia was to leave with Alexios for good, and is also in accordance with the fact that his "family" (in this case, Kleta alone since his brother is probably safe in Makedonia) either does not exist any more, in the version where Kleta is dead, or is completely out of danger, in the version where, after Phila's and Amorges's deaths and the full elimination of the Order of the Ancients, she stays back in Boura, all alone but out of harm's way.
