“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
—John the Baptist, Matthew 3:8
Warning! As this article will cover the entirety of the Assassin’s Creed 4 plot, major spoilers are in order.
“Change your destiny” is a recurring theme in media surrounding heroes. It is not much of a surprise, then, that Ubisoft’s latest game in the Assassin’s Creed line—AC4: Black Flag—centers heavily on that theme. Shortly after completing the game, I read Matthew 3:3, and these words from John the Baptist’s ministry stuck in my mind as I contemplated the course of Edward Kenway’s adventure in Black Flag.
Edward Kenway is the player-controlled character of Black Flag. My first instinct is to label him the player-controlled hero, but that moniker is not entirely accurate. Kenway is sucked into the ages-long conflict between the Assassins and the Templars (the two opposing orders in the Assassin’s Creed universe) while living the life of a privateer (read: pirate) right smack in the beginning 18th century. Pirating isn’t exactly Kenway’s career of choice, but the lull of riches and the promise of an easy retirement that comes with it pulls him away from his sweet Caroline, who emphatically begs him not to leave. Kenway promises her two years away at the most, which, after nearly drowning in a ship battle, killing an assassin and taking his disguise, pirating a ship and becoming its captain, and getting involved in a world-scale conflict, quickly turns into ten.
Oops.
Throughout his ten-year career as a pirate, Kenway is faced several times with a decision: should he keep pursuing the mystical Observatory and the riches that supposedly come with it, or should he abandon this crazy dream and repair his relationship with Caroline? It wouldn’t make for a very fun adventure if Kenway hangs up his captain hat and goes home, so time and time again he chooses to continue chasing after the Observatory. Each decision usually comes after a tragedy, however, as the body count piles up as Kenway approaches his goal. Friends lose lives and dreams are crushed as he blunders down the destructive path of his dream, just like his companions constantly warn him. As it turns out, being an assassin can get pretty dangerous.
Despite being told many times to change the course of his life, Kenway finally listens when one of his closest friends tells him just before her death that he can still change. The ghosts of his mates who were slain because of his determination constantly haunt him, and Kenway finally reaches the tipping point with this friend (I’m keeping it a bit vague here for the sake of spoilers). He vows to undo the damage he has caused the best he can just before embarking for the final confrontation.
Though Kenway’s change of heart seems a bit late, the final clip scenes show a man who is willing to give up his own will in order to bring peace to others. He leaves the wealth he established on a secret island to his former friends and leaves for London with his daughter, whom he had never met. A new leaf can’t fix everything, as the Kenway learns of Caroline’s death, but the sequences during the credits show Kenway adjusting to fatherhood and working to mend broken relationships. Overall, the ending is positive, showing us how a disastrous path can be left even when it seems too late.
Prior to Jesus’ ministry, Matthew records a brief moment of John the Baptist’s ministry. John, who is Jesus’ older cousin, dedicates his purpose for preparing the people’s hearts for Jesus. A bit eccentric, John’s highly effective ministry drew many people despite his outward appearance (Camel’s hair clothes and bugs for food? Really?). Or maybe because of his appearance—I’m not sure which it is. What we do know is that John baptized many whose hearts were changed, saying that “after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11).
At one epic moment, though, a bunch of religious leaders (Pharisees and Sadducees) showed up, and John blasted them with these words: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:7-8). His harsh words for the religious leaders echo Jesus’ later when He speaks similarly, calling the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs” because they only worry about appearing holy (Matt. 23:27). The reason for the tension is that the religious leaders of the time were the keepers of the Law of Moses and often took advantage of the people on account of the extensive knowledge they possessed.
So, here in Matthew 3, we have two groups of people coming to listen to John: people who knew of their sin and openly repented in order to receive forgiveness, and religious leaders who thought that they didn’t need to repent because of their adherence to the Law of their fathers. Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfills the Law and creates a new covenant (i.e., the New Testament) that is based on love and mercy, not strict rules. John saw this coming and fired the first shot at the religious leaders, basically declaring that their time for controlling forgiveness through sacrificial rites would soon be over. To emphasize the point, he says that we should “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8). What does this mean?
To “produce fruit” is a symbolic way of saying “use actions.” Jesus spoke often of fruit, especially how the goodness of a tree is shown by the fruit it makes (Matt. 7:17). In other words, a person’s character can be determined by the deeds that he or she performs. So, John says to “use actions” that are “keeping with repentance,” or “behave like a person who turns away from evil.” A person who repents—turns from evil—doesn’t just change on the inside, but shows the change through his or her actions.
Thus, Edward Kenway shows his inward change by actively trying to repair what he left broken. After all, that’s what sin does: it breaks relationships, lives, and people. It leaves a destructive path. As Kenway began to realize that what he was doing was wrong, he decided to change; with his decision to change came actions that tried to fix what was broken. He couldn’t fix everything: lives were lost and promises were broken, but the changes he made brought peace in the end.
Is there something in your life that leads you down a path of destruction? Is there anger or lust that fractures relationships? Is there greed that sours intentions? Lies that create mistrust? Listen to the words of John, and make a change like Edward Kenway: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
