The Knights: The Faction Ubisoft Misunderstood

We're back with another For Honor lore and history discussion video. Today we're talking about the Knights. My favorite faction, but also one that I feel gets misunderstood and labeled as the villains far too readily and inappropriately. In this video I want to talk about WHY the For Honor team likes to use the knights as villains, WHY this is a bad thing, and HOW we can fix the problem. We'll also be talking about a hypothetical year of For Honor focused on the knights and basing it on a real historical event.

[@HouseLyrander]

"Knights WERE evil in history!" And the vikings were so heroic when they bravely rushed in to those burning monasteries to rescue the gold. And we can't forget how samurai were so honorable that the Japanese language has a specific word to describe murdering an innocent passerby on the road just to see if your sword is any good.

[@HouseLyrander]

@duckynado That does not excuse what they did in the slightest. Yes, a lot of ancient cultures did shit like that. A lot of ancient cultures also practiced slavery and other abhorrent practices we know to be wrong today. The point is, trying to paint the knights as "the bad guys" and the vikings and samurai as "the good guys" on a historical basis is pretty laughable, as the video above explains quite nicely.

[@peenoice5176]

​@duckynadoI don't think there's a country in the middle age were a big part of their culture is acting like bandits even the mongols were there to conquer. Also the crusades were justified.

[@hecksnekinc.2750]

@duckynado The problem with medieval Europe was not Christianity, but the not following of it.

[@LordVader1094]

​@duckynadoDoesn't make them good though, now does it?

[@royalsoldierofdrangleic4577]

@duckynado Hope you are joking

[@mr.l5783]

I am definitely tired of knights being the primary villains in For Honor. Its a stereotype I’m bored with. There is plenty of villain potential in other factions.

[@krakenmckraken9128]

I’ve been team viking this whole time but seriously, if anyone is to be the consistently villain it’s the Vikings.

[@Imeggscelent]

​@@krakenmckraken9128or hell even the samurai can be the bad guys if they lean into their more extreme traditions and practices

[@krakenmckraken9128]

@@Imeggscelent It’d only make sense if they actually leaned into the more extreme sides for all factions imo. The whole point of the game is conflict between factions anyway.

[@VDxVicious]

@@Imeggscelentknights pillaged and ransacked villages while raping civilians . Not sure if you know but they’re just as bad lmao

[@aaronrichardsoong4110]

For example, there are many medieval and sengoku samurais that are notorious backstabbers

[@Kobaford]

> "Knights should be the villains because they're historically evil" _> Proves that knights aren't historically evil_ > "It's just a fantasy game it doesn't have to be historical"

[@wolfamongsheep3032]

Most brainless consumers don't want any other culture to be the villain because knights were mostly white. It's all about modern politics on video games to those people. Can't let their precious outlander, Wulin, or samurai people who aren't white do anything wrong. Lmao

[@Im_a_Hom0ph0be]

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux preached for the second crusade and saint Louis the 9th king of france Led the 7th crusade. The crusades was a justified response to Islam, Islam (a false religion) was terrorizing everyone in its wake, murdering anyone who wouldn't convert to Islam, they murdered Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem and other holy sites in the middle east, and enslaved people who gave in to their demands. They wanted to sack Europe and destroy Rome the home of Christianity.

[@the_emperor_of_mankind]

🤣

[@hezekiahsimon3341]

The hypocrisy of some of the people out there am I right?😂

[@darreny1375]

Era 1 knights were absolutely sellswords and brutes... Era 2 knights had 'holy duties' and a code of honor among peers ..

[@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT]

As much as i love the knights in for honor i am starting to get bored of Ubisoft demonizing them simply because they are too afraid to demonize the others. They need to focus on other factions for a long while.

[@delivererofdarknessshoguno1133]

Honestly, I am tired of this self-deprecation fetish that modern Europeans seem to have. They pretty much boiled their entire history to "evil christian barbarians (in cool armor) making life hell for everyone else in the world". And I am neither from western Europe or catholic and yet I am still tired of this.

[@robertharris6092]

I havnt played this game for years and am wonder why the vikings wouldnt be who they demonize. Theyre litersly known for raiding and pillaging and raping.

[@BucketExperience]

They hate christianity so they make it appear evil. This is why they do it. It's deliberate.

[@RocketHarry865]

Yeah they are afraid because if they start showing the ugly sides of the Vikings, Samurai and Wu Lin the social media wokist are going to cry out foul. Apparently these days racism is accepted only if it's targeted towards Western Europeans

[@ARL2D2]

I don't know what they are afraid of like maybe Japan since they are seen as victims of the west but who's gonna be butt hurt over Vikings the countries that claim that heritage are literally the most well off in the world

[@ulfberht4431]

I concur! The knights being the villains in every season is starting to get old really fast and it shows Ubisoft’s agenda and bias. Demonise the crusaders, victimise everyone else. Ignore the sins of the victim and erase the good deeds of the knights.

[@Hugealligator254]

I’m sorry did I miss a memo, I’m pretty sure the crusades weren’t good for anyone who was involved

[@ulfberht4431]

@@Hugealligator254 You’re one of those snarky misinformed asses, aren’t you?

[@edwardfontaine7108]

@@Hugealligator254 Contextualizing the Crusades requires a concise understanding of the belligerent history between the Islamic world and Christendom (The west) and it certainly is not as simple as Christians bad Islam good. Singling out a single cultural group as being evil without giving them Casus Belie is unrealistic and disrespectful to the group as a whole. Make no mistake that the Crusaders, particularly the first 3 crusades, had committed themselves to what they believed was a Justified War in order to retaliate against what has been, at this point, a zealous and determined enemy whom has made their animosity towards Christendom quite clear. Take into consideration as well that some of the worst offenders, Vlad the Impaler for example, learned much of their craft from the very same enemy that they so Vehemently opposed.

[@Hugealligator254]

@@edwardfontaine7108 no one’s even ignoring the fact that Muslim practices are pretty sexist, because in all but a few of the crusades one side instigated it and the other acted how you’d expect a religion that is willing to behead people for not believing in it to act. It’s not like they were backed into a corner by losing the holy land, if you can afford to go to war you can probably afford to lose some desert

[@VDxVicious]

“Ignore the sins of the victim” is a wild thing to stay 💀

[@STATUS_AW0L]

Can Ubisoft just hire you

[@LeosDictionaryGG]

Wish we can make a petition

[@STATUS_AW0L]

@@LeosDictionaryGG when there’s a Will there’s a way, but at the same time it’s also up to raven if he wants to be part of such a thing

[@ulfberht4431]

Because Ubisoft secretly dislike Raven Knight and others like him, which I think is a dick move on their part. Raven knight is their golden goose, yet they choose to use the sh*t machine to spew out their lazy lore!

[@LeosDictionaryGG]

@@ulfberht4431 the campaign was the one good story they made in my opinion

[@airdog20]

They can't, he make them look good and ubisoft is looking for people to make them look bad.

[@chibipotate]

Its not even just a problem of the Knights always being the bad guys in the story, That'd be fine if it was just... An interesting story, Remember when For Honors story mode revealed itself? All the politics between the Knights Warlords, their Mercenaries, Troops and People, The struggles and shifts of power and against the viking raids and settlementes that ever crawled into their territory, the push back, politics of which tribes held what, of how ancient the land was in the counter attack, the collapse and once again rise of the vikings as they lost their food and built back up, taking years to prepare for the years-long great raid that went against the samurai clans and with the black stones help, scattered their clans. Apollyons lore-tales and curiosity to that great vast world, Of the Empire of the Samurai that stretched beyond Heathmore to the east, of the knight lands to the south and west that seemed to ignore, but always paid tribute to ashfeld, held by the iron legion, the viking lands to the north where they retreated too and returned from, yet always more seemed to come from. Now? Random cult stabs one warlord and now a entire corner of the world belongs to them, one person here in one clan dies and now the 100 Other Clans that hold their territory all submit, and then a single raid here against one town leads to half the viking territory being captured... When the hell did the world become so small? when the hell did the factions go from countless, hundreds squabbling clans, tribes and warlords, to three people and a bucket? These sound less like the stories of divided nations and more like a playground scuffle, Especially with the fact that all of this stuff is occuring through the course of weeks and months, Not the Years and Decades of the original For Honor story. I dont care if every bad guy ever is a knight, Just stop making entire nations switch sides with the flip of a coin because some random cult held a festival once, Its getting so tiring seeing all this new writing , Heathmore has become less a vast mysterious world of countless people and politicla factions, and far more like a robin-hood story where Hood, the Chief and the People just swap which 3 stock locations they control every other fairy tale, Its repetitive and boring because a entire kingdom can change hands eight times in a single sentence with how they write the new story. Its just... Boring especially as there are so many more interesting concepts that could be developed from the lands outside heathmore, Yet they just... Ignore it, As if the Iron Legion to the South of Ashfeld wouldnt notice vikings and samurai acting as lords for horkos, as if the eastern-islands of the samurai wouldnt notice a band of bandits taking over their emperors home, as if the vikings to the north wouldnt give a damn that the only place they can travel too for good raiding and semi-good farmland has been taking over by farm-burning cultists... Its just so... Nonsensical and above all else, Lacking in any kind of Flavour, Detail or substance.

[@darreny1375]

Want a laugh? The bologna war of the bucket had little to do with a bucket... But a bucket WAS STOLEN nonetheless.

[@helldrake77777]

Sweet Emperor please let Ubisoft hire Raven as the chief writer of For Honor.

[@skyfallprime7977]

I have seen so many "let him cook" memes, that I thought it said "as the chef writer of For Honor" 😂

[@spadeofpain24]

I think the reason that the Samurai faction has not been see as causing cross-faction incidents of late has been the fact that Japan is traditionally isolationist and the most people remember of aggression from the Medieval Japan is the Invasion of Korea.

[@eagle162]

That makes no sense,Japan was actually not that isolated until the edo period even then it's exaggerated, nobody alive today would remember the imjin war and what happened there was not special compared to what was going on in the rest of the world or before,all sides weren't exactly free of bloodshed. But also this is a game the samurai faction has common contact with people like the Vikings both never met each other in history.

[@delivererofdarknessshoguno1133]

Tbh Japan does a great job of denying any wrongdoings on its' part. But seriously, accusing knights of having been xenophobic priviledged hypocrytical bigots when samurai exist is just stupid.

[@eagle162]

@@delivererofdarknessshoguno1133 no actually pretty much nobody cares what happened during imjin war that was over in 1590s that would be like if Japan complain about the Mongol invasions it would make no senses. That also makes less sense when you considered things like relationships after the war was pretty tame and majority of foreign born samurai were of Korean origin. When people make that accusation they're talking about imperial Japan but contrary to popular belief Japan have actually apologized on multiple occasions this is recognized even in the Chinese or Korean wiki.

[@AlyssMa7rin]

@@eagle162 Or to use the crusades to label the Knights of Christendom as evil?

[@eagle162]

@@AlyssMa7rin I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused here? I never brought up the crusades or anything like that.

[@TennoWolf]

This year plan sounds like a great story. Shame Ubisoft isnt likely to do something like it.

[@Coleum.]

I love how you added the Warden in here i feel as though he's so mysterious and he needs to be more involved in the for honor lore

[@dj11o9er]

Hell. We never know what happened with the Warden, Raider, or Orochi after the story mode. Warden? Hinted at being the Lord Warden - no mention after. Raider? Nothing. Orochi? Emperor's Champion, but what happens with him after? Cmon now ubi

[@blackg8r20]

@@dj11o9er ive always thought the orochi to be dead, he's one who killed apollyon so i can't imagine astrea not wanting to kill him as proof of horkos' power

[@ntfoperative9432]

I actually had a female warden funnily enough

[@jacobridgeway2849]

​@@ntfoperative9432 Same

[@AyEhm-ii2dp]

@@ntfoperative9432 Yeah, that is funny. Also funny you'd bother mentioning it.

[@nathanx2000.]

“I care more about integrity than comfort and complacency” And just like…subbed

[@thepbg8453]

Knights and the culture of Chivalry is one of my favourite subject in history, due to the sheer amount of written, documented and historical evidence we have for Knights and their way of life and role in society. You have hit upon a MAJOR thing that has pained me in the last decades which is the lambasting of the idea of Knights as a symbol of either evil, simple dumb guys in armour, or theocratic enforcers. I often recall the 1900s depictions of knights as chivalrous, courteous and defenders of people and the faith which was fairly common till the 1990s when we saw the introspective period due to the long term historical reanalysis which resulted from anti euro-centrism historical teachings. While I am loathed to call the Hollywood depiction of a chivalric defender of man historically accurate I am equally annoyed by the mid 2000s to late 2010 depiction of knights as dumb muscle, or corrupt hypocrites who abuse their position of power in what you accurately describe as a over simplification of history. What I feel people often forget is the culture of knights, the pomp, the pageantry, the every day life and style of a medieval household and the almost karmatic nature of local law in the early to mid medieval period very typical of the post Roman almost frontier nature that Europe had descended into following the breakdown of the Imperial Beauracracy. The importance of feasting, drinking, showing hospitality and hell even the idea of courtly romance so often mocked in modern sources when in fact it promoted some of the greatest works of art, literature and poetry of the Medieval period. I know all of this would be near impossible to show in For Honour, but its a aspect of Knights I love and adore, while also recognising that Knights have done many atrocities because well they made up the main military upper class of Europe for near 4 centuries and as such played major roles in all military operations which would indeed result in War Crimes. This is not a attempt at absolving said crimes as just 'they happened' but a acknowledgement of the living breathing nature of history and how every period had extreme give and take in terms of creativity and brutality.

[@isitnotwrittenthat1680]

Honestly this feels like a fair summary, the needle swings but doesn't find balance. Quite frankly, bar the crusades (byzantine politics bringing most of Europe into the cluster fuck that was that period is something I recognize no good in even *before* the atrocities) they're mostly just the local warrior elite with all that implies, both good and bad

[@MrNoxxta]

THANK YOU Also, as an historian it pains me how people talk out of their asses after they watched like 1 video on youtube. Never read any source, not even translated into their language but suddenly people in this very comment section become experts on Knights and feudal Japan lmao

[@TheNEOverse]

Tbf, they don't seem to do much with the other factions and their cultures either.

[@Dracosian4802]

as in outsider I do have a thought on why this is the case - ubisoft - knights (aka knights templar) They also made assassins creed which is 90% based on all of the crackpot theories about the iluminati and knights templar. I wouldn't be surprised if this inspired the angle they are covering the knights in the For honour

[@the_tactician9858]

AC has probably warped the old public idea of brave crusader knights fighting for honour so hard that now a crusader is akin to a nazi in terms of atrocities, at least in the view of the public. And guess what? Both ideas are extreme simplicities of the actual Crusades, but try telling that in a public story.

[@commiedoggo8367]

"Knights should be the villains because they're historically evil" I'd like to ask those same people what Viking raids were like.

[@kab3499]

If the Vikings had some lore based on blending with Slavic warriors and becoming Rus that would be cool. I could see warlord getting a hero skin and maybe a new Rus Viking hero with a round shield and axe or Byzantine shield and sword

[@nikosaurus4238]

Yeah a væring themed viking would be really cool.

[@awesomesauce980]

If the justification for painting the knights as evil was because "they were historically evil," we would still haver perfect justification for making evil factions of the samurai and vikings.

[@DeadKing01]

The idea that the lord warden might return as crusader has been a idea of mine for a long time and you just making it better with the lore and season ideas, just perfect

[@OldGreyGryphon]

I cannot count the number of times I've had to school people on the true history of the crusades. I love your work, thank you for saying what many of us are thinking.

[@KonrockProductions]

These are solid points, man! Exactly all other factions are just as guilty! Very informative video brother 👊🏻

[@Judgemaster1234]

Agreed

[@knightchamp8121]

As someone who adores knights, through their armor, weapons and code, I am happy to see you talk about this, and give such an amazing idea for a year theme that I seriously want to see it happen. Thank you for making the cintrnt, and I hope to see more crusade videos

[@ihatethatyoutubedisplaysyo8106]

You forgot to mention Daubeny as one of the good Knights.

[@RavenKnightYT]

Ah! True. You make a good point.

[@LeosDictionaryGG]

In the campaign he was a coward to me, but once I learn how he actully just a cautious tactical person from raven I grew to like him

[@X.XRuiX.X]

daubeny, DAUBENY SHOW UR SELF!

[@ZacharyDarkes]

Ya no cares about weak Daubeny. They should just let Horkos assassinate him and let Holden take over.

[@fallencrusader2975]

Daubeny is a neutral Knight who leads a mercenary warband. He seems to not want to get involved unless good money is involved, or if push comes to shove and the enemy is in his door. He only stood is disagreement against the Blackstone legion during the campaign and only fought the legion when they seiged his fort. Ultimately when the tide turned to the Legion's favor Daubeny backed down in cowardice (or genius if you count theories) and became isolationist.

[@BucketExperience]

They do this deliberately, it's not just laziness. It's also that they want to paint Christianity as evil. It's a subtle way to trick people into being against Christianity.

[@twinzzlers]

Schizo moment

[@RestitutorEuropa]

@@twinzzlers No no he’s right

[@skyereave9454]

You'll find that companies are much more hesitant to paint other religions in a bad light. Having read the history of many nations I can safely say that religions turn out the same way pretty much everywhere. Some people keep its tenets, others use it against people. Tale as old as time.

[@the_tactician9858]

@@skyereave9454 Perhaps not 'paint religions in a bad light', but there is definitely an overcorrection from the old image that Christianity is the Light of Civilization. Ubisoft titles usually have the Church comes across as merely a political player at best, and a villainous antagonist at worst, despite the fact the institution did not just play politics, but also provided culturally significant advances, and was the biggest source of social welfare in Europe until the early 20th century when governments decided they wanted to perform this task instead. That is not to say Christianity did not play a role in politics, it was often used as a nice vehicle to justify atrocities and expansion, and often even encouraged such behaviour, but modern society is really quick to point out the atrocities and a lot less eager to mention the boons religion has brought through its tenets. People are complicated regardless of religion, which is why the current climate of 'religion bad cus no freedom' is just as much an oversimplification as 'my religion good so other people bad'.

[@minxx8594]

No. Y’all need your heads checked

[@strikeforce1500]

I think the only time we got non knights that were evil were... The harbingers?. And that still somewhat arguable. Hitokiri went whack after a good whiff of draconite, Jorms were basically lied to, Zhanzhu literally was basically captured and forced to work for Horkos. I am also really tired of "knights being evil again". To this day, Wu Lin literally had like 1 mayor impact in their entire time. It's also kinda ironic that Wu Lin and Samurai seem to be relatively 'cool' with each other,considering how both just spend medieval time killing each other. Heck,even Outlanders are arguably "the good guys", because 3/4 of them were dragged into the fight,not because of their expansionism. So.. Uh... Knight bias?. But this is modern day lore for honor. We have a funni rock that either gives cancer or is a magical panacea, all while one mayor faction does everything and the other seems to only throw parties every day. ...Yeah,we shouldn't be surprise by their writers laziness. There is also the very big danger of adding another knight hero. We all know the lovely reaction we had when the knights receive the only 2 heroes of the entire year (Astrea/Gryphon), while everyone else,especially Wu Lin, literally got shafted.

[@mjtheplayer7474]

The gaming industry as a whole needs more people like you, not what we have now.

[@ravnmane932]

As much as we want this to happen, let’s be honest, they probably won’t 😢

[@sethleoric2598]

I unironically hate the "Knights are evil in history" or "Knights were cold blooded killers " excuse, it's so lame and lazy. They're soldiers, it's war, of course loads of people are gonna do loads of evil things. That's what happens in war, doesnt mean everyone in one faction is gonna have all the bad guys.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

You say your idea for a Crusades-themed year "is not perfect", but from where I'm standing you very clearly put your heart and soul into coming up with how that story would progress, my friend. I also LOVED your idea of a Paladin hero class.

[@thekb3035]

You know, how about they explore the idea of why the Wu lin invaded Heathmoore? There is a presumed civil war which forced them, but then why invade it with sharpened swords instead of diplomacy? There could be a whole season exploring the past of the Wu Lin and hey, they might even become the enemy for that season because someone (possibly the hero skin) uncovered secret documents about them.

[@Vannex_14]

i would love some crusades in for honor, also i noticed the pattern of evil knights and i was like "aint the vikings just as bad?" lol

[@the_tactician9858]

Yeah but Vikings got cool beards so they're cool, you see?

[@kevincass9917]

Honestly? The fact that you come up with all this stuff makes me so upset that you're not a game writer or game designer. You manage to weave this narrative so well, and have some damn good ideas on maps and gameplay!

[@mysteryneophyte]

When I think of Knights, I think of chivalry and honor and fighting for Christendom

[@dinudinu2949]

"The knights are evil because of the crusades" is like saying "The arabs are evil because of the jihads"

[@supremecaffeine2633]

Ironic, because the crusades were effectively started because of jihad.

[@Valiguss]

I do find it interesting that knights are the villains when the literal raiders, you know the ones that attack and sack and pillage random villages and kill civilians for plunder… so good obviously lol

[@silentD4d]

I don’t know if it’s because I’m Christian, the old fairy tales or if it’s just a coincidence, but I’ve always imagined knights as the good guys. I’m not saying Ubisoft is an advocate for such messages, but it’s mind boggling to me that typically the people saying “knights are bigots and terrorists and privileged”, are the same exact people who say that murder is ok, defying nature IS natural, and that if you don’t agree you’re evil incarnate. I’m not saying that Christians have always been saints and the best, people are terrible beings, period. I have no idea where you stand politically, nor religiously, but I greatly appreciate you for correcting people’s outlook on history, because whether they like it or not, no matter what side you’re on, people EVERYWHERE in ALL time periods did bad things, there’s no agreeing or disagreeing on absolute things that have already happened. I commend you.

[@marsaeternum1003]

the big reason is because it won't get ANY backlash, the media made sure to make us get used to the "evil knight". even if ubisoft comes out and say all their evil knights were christians and the good guys are pagan still no backlash because christians don't do that, they just turn the other cheek

[@Hugealligator254]

What’s wrong with the good guys being pagan

[@marsaeternum1003]

@@Hugealligator254 in irl nothing, in media it's anti Christian propaganda

[@eagle162]

Vikings as bad guys is not something new in media, samurai is also unlikely to get much backlash, the only one that could get possible backlash is the wu lin, since the Chinese government is sensitive about this kind of stuff.

[@nikosaurus4238]

​@@marsaeternum1003i woudnt say its anti christian to portray pagan people in a more positive light as long as you show respect and understanding of the christian one as well.

[@marsaeternum1003]

@@eagle162 the weebs will riot if you say something slightly bad about their beloved samurai, they still believe a katana can cut through steel like butter

[@RestitutorEuropa]

This is part of a much larger and more important problem of society trying to vilify anything related to Christianity.

[@alcerscruro6107]

I wonder how the Aztecs succeeded pass the ocean with only canoeing

[@Wolfs0n]

You'd think being a French dev they'd wanna demonize the Vikings more after the siege of Paris.

[@TheNEOverse]

The history of France is full of knights being dicks though. During the 100 Years War, their losses made them assholes towards the peasants.

[@anime_penguin]

POV: fans make better lore for free then the game company doing it for money. Love the content man always a pleasure to see your work.

[@dirtyhenry917]

ppl. lack the knowledge of history, why the crusades even began, and most importantly, why they ended. I would love to have character lore further pushed in for honor, so players can look it up and play a character that mirrors their interests. but hey thanks for uploading

[@madmunchkin7878]

There is no way that Ubisoft would ever do this because the Campaign gets so much hate for no reason, but imagine there was a sequel to the campaign made that reflected the updated combat system and included the newer factions and heroes. This would be a much better way to show off the new narrative and lore while also incorporating new map locations and character designs.

[@rexex345]

Gonna point out with the nobunaga example, later research found that in reality the monks had used the civilans as meat shields making their deaths collateral as opposed to intended, but he did do plenty of other stuff that was genuinely cruel.

[@p4ladin167]

What gets me even more riled up about this is the fact that there are evil people from the other factions that does don't do anything evil aside from being associated to horkos. you see Vela, Astrea, Ravier and other knights do some real vile actions while Sakura, Fu Huo, Gretar, and other members of Horkos from other factions just exist on the sidelines and/or do some cameos in events like the trial by metal one.

[@theArtbringer]

I'd love for For Honor's writers to grow a spine and stop trying to make us sympathetic towards Sea Raiders and literal bloodgod-worshipping human sacrificers and instead create interesting, morally grey non-knight villains on the same level as Apollyon was.

[@loyalbravo_1325]

I am in agreement! Justice for the Knights!

[@St.Raptor]

Thank you. Someone who knows that the crusades were not an unprovoked attack. I'm glad to see someone defend truth. I have no idea if you're Christian or not, but it doesn't matter. Thank you, and God bless.

[@miimiibeschde4818]

Tiandi exists That's evil enough

[@KingSpartanWarrior]

I wish that they could integrate this story into a year of content. Lord Warden coming in as a Paladin is super cool, and hyping up his hypothetical release throughout the year sounds so good. Especially when you explain it. Ubisoft should take notes, if they're not already.

[@BucketExperience]

They're definitely not

[@division3139]

Siege of mount Hiei was something a little bit diffrent, there was a monastery, yes. But there was also a fortress that has been besiged for quite some time and learning from his past mistakes, that is siege of Ishiyama Honganji fortress monastery that took more then 10 years, Nobunaga decided to do what he did.

[@RavenKnightYT]

I agree. You could also say that about the Siege of Jerusalem. The Crusaders had run out of water, food, and most of their resources, forced to lay siege to a fortress far from their home, the Crusaders decided to do what they did.

[@guiga1779]

Found your channel yesterday and it quickly became my favorite For Honor content creator. Keep it up man

[@navibruh]

i love this idea! i've lost interest in for honor in recent years as (at least, after the Frozen Shores) as my main reason for staying around was the lore of the factions and the covenants but this concept had me hooked listening to it! really hope we do get some more focus on the cultures and personalities of all the factions, especially if it means de-vilifying the knights because them being evil will never hit as hard as Apollyon did.

[@JohnLockeVerrmundo]

"It's not perfect I know." Bro what, I loved every little idea you had for this make believe story and season For Honor could do, seriously Ubisoft needs you so badly.

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

The Samurai also had their own Crusade in Korea.

[@jimmycombs8159]

Ngl when the game was coming out i thought it was just gonna be a story of constant war between the 3 factions, in the same way that planetside did it. All story beats should have just been describing why these 3 factions couldnt live together in peace, and absolutely needed to wipe eachother out now that their lands were so close together.

[@mal1362]

4:03 No, all the factions are capable of doing evil. The order of horkos has all factions, Velas conquistadors had all factions take part in it. The entire wulin faction in Heathmoor as of year 4 season 4 is part of horkos whether they wanted to or not. The only difference is that ubisoft just thinks that knights characters make the best primary leaders/main antagonist for some reason, lol.

[@RavenKnightYT]

I'm aware Horkos is an amalgamation of factions, but my point was that when Horkos wants champions or warriors to represent or lead them, it's always a knight or group of knights. Astrea, Vortiger, Vela, Ravier, the Warmongers...and during any Horkos event, the minions of Horkos are always wearing knight armor. You can't deny, Horkos may hold various factions, but knights are their poster children.

[@Haos51]

Honestly the whole "Order of Horkos has all faction." Is really only there so people can have their characters be from the order without breaking canon. We really need some villains who are not part of the knights

[@mal1362]

@RavenKnightYT absolutely I even say that they make knights the main character/antagonist for some reason. I just wanted to point out that it's just not solely knights. Cause I feel its a bit disingenuous (I may be using this word wrong. Just woke up lol) when there have been many mentions of "evil" non knight characters. They just aren't ever important to the grand story unfortunately. Great video Raven

[@RavenKnightYT]

Hey no worries. Always happy to hear your comments and points. You keep me honest. :) And you used the word correctly. XD

[@bionizard5480]

Did you sleep when the Wu Lin Invaded heathmoor in the first place for a power grab in lore??? How about Sejiro in the story mode who became a willing dictator to his own people, as well as the remaining damyio leaders effectively fighting to the death for petty power and riches In the swamps (of course this is a game by Apollyon but the remaining samurai that fight Ayu are not good people) Play the story mode and you will see how screwed up all the factions really where and how they could be evil.

[@sirfishalot6782]

Dear ubisoft: thats how it is done. You know that criticism is valid if someone can not only state what you did wrong, but has a solid idea of how to do it better.

[@maxthepaladin]

I'm like halfway through the whole season plan and I already know that you alone would have made a better story than those at Ubisoft. They've lost their way to politics like most studios in the West. DEUS VULT, LORD OF RAVENS! Edit: OK now I'm at the hero thing and... same brain. I've had the exact same idea for a knight for like 2 years now.

[@boopie6635]

I don't think it's politics, its just lazy writing.

[@maxthepaladin]

@@boopie6635 It is bad writing, but I have to admit to seeing at least something akin to anti-West politics

[@supremecaffeine2633]

​@boopie6635 Some insiders in the media industries have blown whistles about the DEI initiative. It's a safe assumption that all of Hollywood and silicone valley are infected.

[@Wanderer-nw2so]

Raven this whole story that you have written for this hypothetical year that you would write is amazing the story actually treats the knights with respect and you know every knight is going to start playing Powerwolf and Sabaton during this entire year in story and in match. and the new maps would actually give the player base and world some progress as to me at felt like a lot of the land hasn't changed at all for years at this point. And the new paladin hero would be an excellent addition and give us new armor sets that could be inspired from the Burgundians, and a lot more ornamented armor as well. And I can just imagine the mount Ignis slopes dominion map and playing with a whole knight team while blasting christ and combat as we crush the enemy team is something I honestly just wanted to see and experience. So overall Raven, I think this year would be an excellent addition to this game as I think the knights will enjoy this and also give the story some long needed nuance

[@luizfellipe3291]

We had a Wu Lin character receiving more lore after Zanhu's launch tho. The character for the main female Tiandi (don't remember her name) was the kick-start for the Truce of Wyverndale if I recall correctly

[@RavenKnightYT]

What's that Tiandi's name again?

[@luizfellipe3291]

@@RavenKnightYT Just searched, her name is Ying

[@RavenKnightYT]

@@luizfellipe3291 Ah. Cool. I couldn't remember it. But...at the same time...kind of says a lot about the impact she had. XD

[@luizfellipe3291]

@@RavenKnightYT Well at least it's not "Mei" , LOL I swear, for every 6 chinese female characters in western media, feels like 5 are named Mei

[@aidancox4665]

Bro sounds like a history teacher when everybody failed the test

[@TheDapperDragon]

Well, considering he's a failed history teacher..

[@aidancox4665]

@@TheDapperDragon I didn’t know that this was the first video I saw from him

[@RavenKnightYT]

@@TheDapperDragon Not a 'failed' history teacher. Just a history teacher for a period of my life. I have been pursuing a new teaching field.

[@wegdhass5587]

It’s perfectly fine to shittalk the crusades, and yet it’s unacceptable to shittalk the jihads 🙄

[@theImpaler710]

Thats IsLaMiPhObIa 😱

[@jasonburke1671]

"and we got vella to leader her conquisitors to meso-america and piss off the Aztecs" this isn't a villain story. the Child Sacrifices will stop

[@badgamemaster]

This was a cool story, just a shame that Ubisoft don't have the courage.

[@monstrospotatoes8484]

Whole heartedly agree, although instead of just having horkos Wu Lin or Viking horkos, I wish the factions had their own regimes of terror led by a hero skin or a new hero because having horkos or chimera lackeys undermines the individuality of the factions.

[@blairdurward4324]

Really the warden is the only heroic knight in the lore, given that cross did leave his knightly order, and that’s rather sad, I’d love to see heroic knights in the lore and villains in other factions.

[@psycosanches589]

I'm surprised he calls the Knights the low hanging fruit instead of the Vikings. The super obvious "rape and pillage" Viking raider archetype being a thing.

[@Predator20357]

There’s also a potential second idea for a hero outsider that can be pro Knight, have an Ethiopian Warrior wielding Shotels. You can have the story essentially be the same to real life when Portugal helped out Ethiopia. And to repay the favor, they show up with their warriors to fight with their fellow brothers and to save them from a genocide (or wiping out of the faction) Their designs also fits the Exoticism of the Outsiders.

[@robinthrush9672]

Weird to hear the phrase "history simp" rather than "history buff." What's wrong with trying to make things understood from a historical perspective?

[@charliehaigh8161]

I never knew knights were seen as villains :(

[@Drachnyen07]

No amount of praise can be given to this, Raven, none. The story is compelling and lengthy, giving us so much to tide our boredom and keep us interested, the Lord Wardens return, though a tough feat, will surely pay off. And the hero, if we get this hero, if only Ubi will realize there perfection, I’m betting we’ll be seeing Baratheons storming the scene Mr Ubisoft, hire this man or I staple your nuts to the desk

[@bandi642]

not an expert but vikings seems to be the most likely to be villains

[@Ninjorsta]

Ubisoft if u don't know what to do with the story, HE'S RIGHT HERE!

[@gergelylerner619]

Can you just make this a series? making a video like this for each of the factions, since all of theese could be so cool!

[@Prophetofthe8thLegion]

To quote a knight player in a subreddit. “We cannot win, so we won’t let them win either!”

[@the_cowpoke]

I'd like to point out a few things about the crusades since you have mentioned them multiple times, the first crusade specifically, that was not an evil campaign. The Byzantine emperor Alexios was losing lands and they were being pillaged by the seljuk turks, he requested aid from the pope who was planning some sort of crusade for a really long while and he just got the opportunity to do it then. The original objectives of the first crusade were to gain lands for the byzantines and secure the holy land, that just went south for Byzantium after they left the crusader army to their fate at Antioch.

[@RavenKnightYT]

Um...I never once said it was an evil campaign. In fact I have often defended the first crusade. ^^ I have never called The Crusades evil.

[@the_cowpoke]

@@RavenKnightYT i am aware of that, the media calls the crusades evil. I absolutely agree with you great video by the way, even though I'm late for this one.

[@DaddyVeo1911]

It's ubisoft's subtle way of saying the knights are the only faction advanced enough to be evil.

[@popeallahsnack-bar9804]

I mean, the Viking section of the campaign has you mercilessly slaughter thousands of people in the great raid

[@RavenKnightYT]

Yup. No question that they did a pretty bad thing there. So who's been doing the slaughtering since then? How much have the vikings even done since then?

[@centurion7398]

Knights are evil, but the fuckin Vikings were what? misunderstood little puppies? Ask Korea if the Samurai were a force for good or honorable warriors.

[@martongergely757]

bro just made one of the best knight stories

[@alexdurain3753]

With the way you’ve put it, it sounds like the knights are the faction Ubisoft are the most invested in. Like you said nobody else is being active, it’s just the knights.

[@ishitrealbad3039]

the argument "knights should be the villain because they're evil bigots in real life" is not only incredibly false, but also falls flat on it's face when basically any warrior ever has been like that to an extend. to counter argument this; Templar knights after the first crusade protected not only Christian pilgrims, but also Muslim and Jewish pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. Even created seperate praying headquarters on the mountain for these religions. Not to mention that this was the first ever war against Muslim nations 500+ years after Islamic Jihad against Christian countries. So saying that a people are evil bigot racist for fighting against a people who've been opressing them and genociding them for over 500 years, really holds no ground.

[@Falx415]

6:05 "Mainstream media misundertanding of history", one could only hope it's something as benign as a misunderstanding...

[@arandomcrusader6707]

This aged pretty well considering this year

[@RestitutorEuropa]

It’s interesting too because if I had no knowledge of For Honor and you asked me who would be the evil ones out of knights, samurais, and vikings, I would’ve definitely chosen vikings. Perhaps that’s because I also have a lot of knowledge on medieval history. Plus, even if you just take the name “For Honor” literally. The knights and the samurais are the ones who had a literal code of honor historically. The vikings did not. So wouldn’t it make sense thematically if the vikings are the bad guys since they don’t have a code of honor like the others?

[@emperorconstantine1.361]

And during the crusades, the Jewish and Muslim chroniclers begrudgingly admitted that while the Franks ruled Jerusalem, things were more safe and prosperous because of the European rule of law. They also recorded that only the Franks had to pay the church tax, not the others. Nor did the non Europeans have to pay taxes to pray or visit their own religious sites.

[@SirHugsalot13th]

As someone who has been playing since day one, as well as been a Knight since day one, this... would be MORE than welcome. Give me a reason to care again; I play the game only out of loyalty and habit, have been for years. While I do like the new heroes, and the skins can be neat, these things are fleeting in their interest, and not something that keeps me invested beyond the game itself. I got particularly excited for this season because I have an old fascination with Aztecs, and the conquistador skin tickled me pink, but I got bored of it rather quickly since the hero does not play that interestingly. And all those Aztec touches to the maps will be gone soon, anyway, so why retain any more investment? But I digress, I want love for my faction. I want more interesting stories and modes for the game. And I would like a reason to do more than get in, get my dailies done or play whatever event comes around, and then get out.

[@theitalianfukr4270]

I posted this video in the for honor subreddit, literally the first comment was “I’m not watching the video right now but in a fictitious universe Ubisoft can do whatever they want with factions” which just irritates to the core, and it sure doesn’t help the fact it is the most upvoted comment on my post

[@DocLeQuack]

“Let’s call it the Great Crusade.” I see the Emporer smiles upon you Raven.

[@nathankirkham7866]

I don’t understand why all the factions were portrayed as rather villainous. The are in a brutal an post apocalyptic world.

[@murder_maestro123]

I thought that it would not only make sense for the Vikings to raid the Aztecs (and would cause a different map to be used for the season event stuff because I fucking hate Shard) and it would be in line for their tendency to raid other cultures that is very clearly used in the For Honor story itself.

[@tau-5794]

Hell, it would also make sense because irl, vikings were the first Europeans to actually discover the americas, only to then abandon their settlement. This could easily be reworked to fit an Aztec story.

[@gallandknight1028]

FINILY! GET this man For Honor lead writer role

[@scrubaatividya]

don't forget that also technically the "Lord Warden" (The Player character from chapter 1) would also be the only other good knight since they rallied other knight factions to their cause against Apollyon which culminated in the Orochi killing Apollyon allowing for The Player Warden to, with the support of multiple factions rallied under the Iron Legion banner, take over her position as the Lord Warden and sending out an invitation to a Warlord and Kensei who were the defacto current leaders of those factions to meet with Holden Cross at The Citadel (thats the map name) to await the Lord Warden for a meeting to discuss peace treaties (part of the lore is that prior to Test Your Mettle 1 the multiplayer takes place essentially between Chapter 1-3 but later with Test Your Mettle 2 lore was expanded and now anything after TYM 1 is actually POST Chapter 3 and the peace treaties and all the bosses were actually actors and actresses and basically the enter event is a celebration of legends and a combat festival but it's not "real" atleast until the next TYM which revealed The Warmonger (Astrea) who was a cult-like leader of a small (at the time) faction called Horkos who worshipped Apollyon)

[@lestrokrembe8045]

I never truly kept up with the for honor lore since the story mode but this whole storyline seems interesting and something i would adore to watch and play through.

[@JamminGiant117]

Speaking of hero skins, I’m waiting for Centurion to get one. If they’re willing to base it off real people, then they could make his hero skin Julius Caesar, since historically he was a Centurion (or at least a Roman General) before he became Emperor. I think it would be cool to see a kind of mix of the designs. The metal helmet with the leaf crown around it. It would be an open helmet to show Caesar’s face. I would imagine the main colors would be red and gold. I just think that would be really cool for Cent.

[@valiantchris6456]

Raven, your new hero The Paladin is top notch. All that left now is to give them a sword and a lance as well as have them ride a horse. Then they could slaughter any enemy units as well as rescue teammates with their high mobility- Wait, wrong franchise.

[@Blackstonelegion]

I like the Idea of the Paladin, and I even came up with a Rough Idea of what the Paladins Feats would be. Tier 1 Holy Sacrifice:The Paladin Sacrifices a Portion of there own Health to heal Another Ally and removes all Debuffs Tier 2 Divine Fortress: When Blocking attacks in All Guard stance, a Portion of the damage taken is Converted into shields. Tier 3 Guardian Angel: when the Paladins Health is Dropped by 25% they gain a Shield for 5 seconds and Hyperarmor, It can only activate once untill killed. Tier 4 Righteous Hammer: The Paladin Throws there Hammer at an Enemy which can Ricochet off of 3 other enemies, the Hammer deals Damage and Heals the Paladin for every enemy hit.

[@Luke_Danger]

"Are the other factions incapable of doing evil?" is asked, after the Warborn spend about forty years raping their way across Ashfeld simply because they could before Apollyon and the Warden finally put them on their asses, and then with their glass jaw revealed to the world they proceeded to attack the Chosen believing it to be an easy victory... But yeah, one reason why I left For Honor just after Gryphon was because I saw that it was going to be more or less nothing but "Knights are the bad guys!" and "the only good 'Knight' heroes are those who reject being Knights!" - Black Prior was our first non-Roman expanded hero, edgy McEdgelord. Astera? Edgelady, on top of being an 'OC donut steel' of Apollyon. And from the sounds of it, Ubisoft just kept piling that on in future years. As to your crusade year idea... TBH, cathartic as it is, it's basically the original Knight campaign but against an alliance, and Paladins are basically just Wardens in ethos and Conquerors in kit type... though admittedly, if you wanted to make a joke about what happens with Lady Warden and Stone, I'd be down for that! And yeah, I fully agree that For Honor was utterly unexplored. I did a decent amount of it way back when I was still playing when I was writing "Honor's Trial" as a fanfic (TBH one day it would be nice to revisit, but at this point I'd basically be rewriting the lore because I utterly hate most of what Ubisoft did with the multiplayer... and likely some of my own cringe too), and yeah Ubisoft just sat on a huge amount of fun material to explore and instead threw it out for discount WOW and not!Tiberium/not!Warpstone. Part of why I stopped writing was just getting tired of Ubisoft squandering the setting they had (well, that and the story I had just entirely grew out of what I could handle).

[@lelouche25]

God I missed the original knight theme.

[@jamesvarela233]

It’s definitely tiring that Ubisoft keeps on pulling the easy way around card for the knights, it sucks that they’re constantly shunned as a stereotypical enemy. There are other villains in factions that has great potential. Ubisoft should hire you, but Idt they may will, not sure you’d ever want that either Raven.