As I was writing my last article, I realized something about Ms. Evie Frye: She is an awesome example of the Women's Rights Movement. She could possibly be a symbol of the movement itself. This realization came when I was researching the time period and things started to connect. Now, I don't typically write about feminism and chances are this may be the only time I do. However, I felt like this possibility needed to be brought up because it's an important idea that people seem to be overlooking in the "Assassin's Creed" timeline. As we look at the game in great detail, there is mounting evidence that Evie Frye is a great example and symbol of the early days of the Women's Rights Movement.
The first big clue comes from the time period in which the game takes place. We know that the game takes place in Victorian England (1837-1901) named after Queen Victoria, however, we need to know when the Women's Rights Movement began. Surprisingly, the movement ran from 1848-1920. The movement started in New York, but it would not be unheard of for England to hear of this movement through the news during that time and plant the seeds for their movement. This one example seems like a stretch, but when you consider Ubisoft's past of putting history into their games, both seen and unseen, it starts to make sense.
One of the next pieces of evidence for this subtle nod is her character in general. Evie is the typical assassin. She's smart, cunning, strong and confident. These are all traits of past assassins such as Ezio, Connor, Edward and Arno. All of these assassins shared one common goal: to get the Piece of Eden and stop the Templars. In this game, we're treated to two assassins instead of one. Some people would argue, "They had to create Evie this way because Jacob is the less-motivated and wise-guy assassin." As much as that could be true, what if Ubisoft had just made her an optional character? One that doesn't necessarily get a story, but you can still play as her because she is the twin sister to Jacob. Both of these ideas fit, however, to continue the narrative that Evie is a symbol of the Women's Rights Movement, the second one has to be true.
Let's next look at her missions. We see throughout the story that she takes center stage. As Jacob is busy raising his Rooks, she is busy stopping the Templars. Her missions are more traditional and more organized than Jacob's missions. Jacob's missions rely solely on his gang while Evie's missions are more predominant in the game. Jacob's missions seem more like side missions to the story, while Evie's missions seem more on track with the typical Assassin's Creed formula of gaining intel, taking out enemies, wash, rinse and repeat. You can play as Jacob in the Assassination Missions at the end of each Sequence of the game, however, you can play as Evie as well, so the idea that Jacob actually takes that spot falls apart when we look at the game mechanics of the missions in terms of who you can and cannot play.
Finally, we come to a pretty interesting part of the theory. In the story, we see a potential love story between Evie and "Mr. Green," as Evie calls him. This is an interesting point because typically, we see assassins call the opposite gender by their first name but Evie goes so far as to use his last name. Typically, when we see people use that type of language, such as Bill Clinton using the infamous phrase, "I did not have sexual relations with that girl," that is a clear sign that they are trying to distance themselves from the individual. Also, Evie is trying to give him respect as well. She almost falls for him, but when it comes to an event that happens in the game (no spoilers here), she distances herself further from him. To Evie, the mission is more important than love. In past games, we've seen the assassins fall in love with their opposite gendered counterparts and in Arno's case in "AC Unity," it got him into a bit of trouble. In this game, she stays away from a relationship until she feels that the mission is complete. Her goals and aspirations are more important than settling down and conforming to typical roles. This is one of the pieces of information that helps solidify this theory.
The character of Evie Frye in "AC Syndicate" is a powerful symbol for the early days of the Women's Rights Movement. All of these pieces of evidence put together makes it undeniable that she's more than just an assassin twin. She is confident in her abilities, and she is willing to put her desires of another man aside for the betterment of the mission. She fits not only in the timeline but the attitudes of the time of women being strong, independent women who don't need no man.
