Yes Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in fact it is based on historical events as its introductory screen says: it is based a lot vaguely. However, despite its simplification and distortion of Viking invasions in Britain, there is something that represents the game really well: the idea that the history of England is about immigration.
This has not been a great decade for the UK. Successive Conservative governments, seemingly determined to undermine their own country no matter the cost to their people, have overseen two highly divisive and unnecessary referendums, the first on Scottish independence, the second and much more disastrous on the way out. of the country of The European Union, throwing the entire British economy to the toilets in the process.
The government of Boris Johnson, in particular, has been immensely unskilled for work, he and his colleagues fail so badly in their Covid response that an island nation with one of the best public health systems in the world one of the deadliest epicenters of the pandemic has yet to be found.
And yet! This incompetent gang of rich and sweaty sticky brats with sweat has been a hit by their own metrics, as they may continue to be re-elected, in part because of the dysfunction of the British opposition Labor party, but also because they are the bearers of ‘standard whistling with dogs of a resurgence (or a calcification among the older demographics) of a given idea. Since the 1990s it has become a rejection in the British country, in the rapidly changing modern world, in favor of a Britain they remember with fog from their childhood, or tales of their parents, or old postcards or cans of cookies.
Instead of continuing to be part of the European Union and all that it represents, there is a significant part of the UK population, not everyone who voted for Brexit, but there he is, who would prefer “Britain to be for the British.” And when they say that, thanks to the obvious influence of their population on the politics of the country, they really mean “England for the English.”
This is … an absolute racist approach, reflected in the fact that fears about immigration were one of the cornerstones of the policy to “leave” voters in the Brexit referendum. Believing that England is for the English is based on having a definition of “English” in the first place. The “others” who arrived in the United Kingdom last century after successive waves of immigration, whether from the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, Africa or, more recently, continental (and particularly Eastern) Europe ‘adapt to that, welcome.
But what does it mean to be English? Who qualifies for this prestigious group? Did a village ever crawl out of the mud, walk through green hills and claim an empty land? Of course not. British history is defined by immigration, displacement and multiculturalism, sometimes peaceful sometimes violent, which for all other efforts Assassin’s Creed Valhalla get it a lot correct, and which serves as an excellent and timely reminder.
Valhalla he seldom mentions the idea of an “England” other than a geographical entity. Instead, he knows that England in the ninth century was a place of enormous social and political turmoil, with several disparate and often hostile groups, some of whom had been there much longer than others.
The game stars two kingdoms – Mercia and Wessex – who hate each other and are predominantly Saxons, a group that did not begin to reach the British coast until the 5th century. There are British, in the game with a modern Galician accent. les, who have lived in England much longer than the Saxons. There are Picts in the north, with modern Scottish accents and a strong barbaric energy, brief mentions of the Irish (who are being saved for later expansion) and finally of the younger people on the shores of England, the Vikings. (or Danes, like them). it is said more accurately, even if Eivor must continue to correct the people who are Nordic).
In this way it is rarely presented as in England of any legitimate house, especially because you spend a lot of time between Saxons and Danes. Located in the middle of the remains of the march of Rome and before the Normans arrive, it is shown in Valhalla—And with great precision, given how the story turned out — as a prize for which people fight, whether they are former inhabitants or not.
In addition to all those people who live side by side or who separate others, there is also their faith. The Danes have taken away their pagan beliefs and the Saxons are devout Christians (whose coexistence is again directly reflected in some minor missions), but the game is also full of older religions that linger on the edges of the map and even on a fire. the plot was bleeding in Christian practices. De Valhalla the architecture tells almost the same story, with crumbling Roman ruins mingling with Saxon shacks around long Viking houses, all resting with each other in the same towns and villages on the map.
While Assassin’s Creed Syndicate it took place at the height of the imperial power of Britain and, as such, is instantly recognized Valhalla it is in an almost strange England, with little present in its architecture or people that we can point out 1000 years later and say yes, that is what we would define today as ‘English’. By this path Valhalla it shows a kind of history of national origin, a vision of its genesis through a fusion of people and ideas.
As the Saxons ultimately emerged as the dominant group in this struggle, it gained maximum power in the early policies and languages of England, so we see a prey appear towards the end of the game’s history. , which places the Saxons as custodians of the land to the exclusion of all others, a philosophy that is then injected into the core values of the series’ arch-villains, the Templars.
After a battle in a church, King Aelfred’s exasperated Comrade Goodwin basically says, “England is for the English,” pointing to Eivor’s foreignness and spitting, “This island will never be your home.” fact that his own people were relatively small. recent arrivals. It’s almost word for word the same kind of thing you’d see today in a racist uncle’s Facebook comments section.
However, this view is opposed by the multicultural successes of the Viking colonies represented in the game and the work of men like Stowe (below), who as you can see below had a more brilliant approach to the Scandinavian settlement, which speaks of the fact. that while the popular (and let’s be clear, historically accurate) idea of Nordic incursions and larger invasions were destructive incursions, Viking colonization could often be a more harmonious affair, as evidenced by the continuing genetic legacy of the time, especially in the north of England and Scotland.
I’m not saying that Valhalla it was done specifically in response to Brexit-type beliefs, or even taken into account when writing the game. But the game’s thorough exploration of the demographics of the time is nonetheless incredibly useful in today’s climate as an example that history in a medium like this, no matter how freely applied in some areas, can still be a tool. incredibly valuable educational in others. .