The Assassin's Creed franchise has always told its story from the perspective of the Assassin Order. With the Templar Order championing peace through the removal of free will, it has always been clear who is in the right. However, there is one title that showcased the perspective of the Templar Order -- and how one turncoat nearly destroyed the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins.
Assassin's Creed Rogue introduced a young assassin named Shay Patrick Cormac, who was a member of the American Brotherhood just before the Seven Years War. He and his friend Liam O'Brien were tasked hunting down artifacts that the Order believed were tied to Pieces of Eden. These existed long before the birth of the Creed and held such great power that, should the Templars gain control of even one of them, they could enslave all of humanity.
The pair were able to locate one artifact in an ancient temple beneath Lisbon. However, Shay taking it triggered an earthquake that killed and stranded thousands. This experience led him to believe that the Assassins don't care about innocents, now viewing them as the opposite of the heroes he thought they were. Shay turned his back on the Order, putting his life at risk as associates hunted him. He eventually found his way to the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order, and from there, he sided with the Assassin's sworn enemy and vowed to keep his old associates from ever finding another temple.
During the Seven Years War, Shay hunted down his old assassin partners with the Templar Grandmaster, Haytham Kenway. Haytham was the son of the pirate assassin Edward Kenway, but he was raised to follow the Templars. Over the years, Haytham and Shay gained a strong footing in the Colonies and won the Seven Years War for the Templars. He also eliminated some of the most powerful members of the Colonial Brotherhood.
The climax of Assassin's Creed Rogue saw Shay killing his old friend Liam and Haytham, crippling their leader, Achilles Davenport. For seven years, the Assassins were disorganized and without leadership as Shay and the Templars controlled the colonies from the shadows. It wouldn't be for another seven years until Haytham's son Connor would arrive and continue where Achilles left off by eliminating the Templar threat in America and aiding in the country's victory against the British crown during one of history's most important conflicts, the American Revolution.
Cormac continued working with the Templar Order, hunting down ancient artifacts that would help them gain an edge against the Assassins. As Connor went on to liberate the Colonies, Shay was in Paris, tasked with killing an Assassin who held a sacred box that could unlock ancient secrets and existed as far back as the Chinese assassin Shao Jun. The Assassin he killed was the father of Arno Dorian, an assassin who would help liberate Paris in Assassin's Creed Unity. Even though Shay Cormac didn't destroy the American Brotherhood of Assassins entirely, he displayed how swiftly they could break down when one of them switches sides.
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