AC Mirage: Ending Explained [Basim & Nehal’s True Identity]

The Ending of AC Mirage serves as a fulfilling conclusion to the protagonist Basim Ibn Ishaq’s journey of personal growth. Also, it strengthens the connection between his character and the events in the previous installment, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Timeline

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a standalone story within the Assassin’s Creed universe that can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the series. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set in ninth-century Baghdad and follows the story of Basim, a young street thief who becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy.

• Basim joins the Hidden Ones, which came before the Assassin’s Brotherhood.
• The Hidden Ones were created by Bayek and Aya in Egypt in 49 BCE (during Assassin’s Creed Origins).
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set nine centuries after these events, way before the original Assassin’s Creed featuring Altair.

In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the story goes back 12 years to when Basim was younger and fighting in Baghdad to protect people’s freedom from those who want to control them.

AC Mirage Ending Explained

In the opening of AC Mirage, we meet a young Basim, living as a petty street thief in ninth-century Baghdad. Troubled by visions of jinni, Basim embarks on a journey to understand himself better. His initial attempt to join the Hidden Ones, a group of covert assassins, ends in rejection.

In an effort to impress them, Basim and his childhood friend Nehal plan to steal from the Caliph’s palace. However, their plan goes wrong, and Nehal ends up killing the Caliph. Following this incident, Basim is granted entry into the Hidden Ones, starting a connection with his mentor, Roshan.

Despite this, his visions intensify, and Nehal encourages him to seek answers. Nehal proposes that Basim might find information within the Order of the Ancients, who are recurring antagonists in the Assassin’s Creed series, and eventually become the Templar Order.

Basim proceeds to track down and eliminate members of this organization, leading him to a hidden, ancient temple beneath the floors of the mountain fortress at Alamut, a location far removed from AC Mirage’s main map in Baghdad.

Truth About Basim

As Basim and Nehal explore the ancient, partly crumbled temple together, Basim expresses amazement at its architecture and questions its origins. Nehal appears to have knowledge about the temple’s age but can’t provide a clear explanation.

They reach the temple’s central chamber, a place Basim recognizes from his visions. Upon opening the door, they discover a coffin-like structure. To Basim’s surprise, when he opens the coffin, he finds a living Nehal inside. 

Nehal’s Identity

In a surprising twist, it’s revealed that Nehal is actually an aspect of Basim’s own personality, much like an imaginary friend. It means that everything Nehal did, including the act of killing the Caliph, was actually carried out by Basim himself. 

The ending of AC Mirage connects it to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In Valhalla, we learned that Basim is the reincarnation of Loki, a character from Norse mythology. Nehal, in this context, are the memories of the original Loki that are locked away inside Basim.

Here’s where it gets a little complex. In the lore of Assassin’s Creed, the ancient Isu civilization inspired human mythology. Loki was part of the Aesir branch of the Isu, and it directly influenced Norse mythology. Thousands of years ago, the Isu faced a threatening apocalypse and created a supercomputer called Yggdrasill to ensure their survival. 

The Aesir Isu uploaded their consciousness onto Yggdrasill, which would then distribute them into the human gene pool centuries later. It allowed the Aesir to essentially skip the apocalypse and be reborn in human bodies.

So, the name Nehal, derived from the Persian language and meaning “newly planted tree,” symbolizes Yggdrasill’s newly planted seed of Loki within Basim.

In simpler terms, Nehal is a part of Basim’s own mind, and Basim is actually the reincarnation of the mythical figure Loki, thanks to a complex Isu plan to preserve their existence in human bodies through a supercomputer.

Isu Chamber Holograms

Within the Isu chamber, Nehal activates a holographic projection using an ancient disc. It indicates that the disc functions in a way akin to a Memory Seal, which is an Isu device designed for preserving memories.

The hologram portrays two distinct figures: a prisoner and a jailor. Basim is depicted as the prisoner, while the role of the jailor is assumed by the jinni, a supernatural entity that has been a haunting presence throughout Basim’s journey in the AC Mirage.

Basim comes to the realization that the jinni symbolizes the suffering he endured during his past life as Loki in this very prison. This newfound understanding allows him to reconcile with these distressing memories, effectively breaking the jinni’s hold over him.

As revealed in both Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and its expansion, Dawn of Ragnarok, the Isu version of Loki, was responsible for planning Baldr’s poisoning, the son of the All-father Odin.

Consequently, it’s reasonable to conclude that the Isu chamber serves as an interpretation of the myth of Loki’s binding within the Assassin’s Creed universe, with Odin serving as the jailor. Also, Odin is none other than Eivor, the human reincarnation of the All-father and the main character in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

AC Mirage Ending Connects To AC Valhalla

After coming to terms with his painful memories of imprisonment and torture, Basim undergoes a profound transformation by merging with Nehal. It represents the fusion of Basim’s human body with Loki’s consciousness, fully restoring and reincarnating Loki.

In the final scene, Basim solemnly vows to seek vengeance against those who subjected him to torture. This foreshadows his quest to locate and confront Odin. Which ultimately leads him to cross paths with Eivor during the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

While that’s the Ending of AC Mirage, Basim’s story may continue. Crossover missions in Valhalla have Basim sharing his DNA with the modern-day Assassins, hinting at a sequel. However, there are still many unexplored years between the events of the two games, and Basim’s travels before reaching Ravensthorpe provide ample material for potential sequels or DLC for Assassin’s Creed Mirage.