Ever since the release of the Assassin's Creed Valhalla reveal trailer, gamers have been wondering why Eivor has an un-hidden blade. We have seen the un-hidden blade before in Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Legacy of the First Blade DLC, where Darius sported the blade on top of his wrist. At that moment, many of us believed that it was purely for aesthetic purposes. However, the hidden blade on top of the wrist in Assassin's Creed Valhalla has left fans surprised. Many fans have already been questioning this decision.
It so happens that Assassin's Creed Valhalla's narrative director, Darby McDevitt, has revealed that this was a deliberate decision.
"It's something that Eivor feels very strongly about. When he or she gets a hold of this hidden blade, it occurs to Eivor that it would be much more interesting to let people see this weapon, to be conspicuous about it," Darby stated in a video on Twitter. "Vikings were known as having a sense of honor and it was very important that when you killed somebody, that you let people know that you killed them."
He further went on to reveal how this decision ties up with Viking lore. "Oftentimes, people would not be punished for murder if they had a small justification, like say somebody insulted you. They would not be punished for the murder as long as they admitted to it, as long as they stated openly that 'Yes, I killed that person because we got into combat,'" Darby added. "And so having the hidden blade visible is actually kind of an extension of that honor. We want this conspicuous aspect of the blade to be reflected in the way that Eivor presents him or herself to the world."
If you've played the previous installments in the Assassin's Creed franchise, you must have noticed that the hidden blade always stayed hidden under the forearm and the blade extends along the palm. However, the first we saw the hidden blade being conspicuous was in Assassin's Creed Odyssey's DLC Legacy of the First Blade, which implies that earlier hidden blades were not hidden at all.
