 Hot on the trail of controversy, Bloodlines seized the conclusion of Cassandra and Darius' battle against the brutal Persian order of the Ancients. After forcing the players down a particular narrative pathway, check my last video featuring mega short fuse to find out all about it. Ubisoft cleans its hands of babies, Persians, and all Mandarius in one fell swoop, over 3-4 hours that I… enjoyed… no. If there's any sort of emotional investment I still hold on to, it is not because of the quality of the writing, goodness know, it must only be due to the hundred hours spent in the world, and even then, after Shadow Heritage, the whole odyssey hadn't chafed. But I'll make an attempt to look at this last episode on its… of its first major DLC on its own questionable merits. Certainly, Bloodlines had several… moments. From its dark, blood-soaked beginning that seized Darius' child, Natakis killed, and Cassandra's child, Elpidios, abducted, and that's after a particularly grueling battle with a pair of deadly ancients who nearly killed the old assassin himself. Natakis was a soulmate to my Cassandra, and her pain at his loss, magnified by Elpidios' missing, was a punch to the gut. Or would have been if Natakis had any personality, any chemistry with Cassandra, anything at all going for him. Out to that Cassandra's explosion of guilt, who despite her promise to Darius to protect their children, broke down under Natakis' pleas to go back for his father. Praise for Atreus Melisanti Mahut, who can sell anything on the script, no matter how badly written. What follows is a Cassandra lost in her grief and rage, a whirlwind of fury and vengeance, an unstoppable force like never before, or, you know, like every other time since you're the one controlling her and nothing really changes in terms of her own power and your own abilities to do whatever are with her. Amorgis, leader of the Order of the Ancients, miscalculated this one, yes, yes, yes he did. Before too long, Miss Aenea runs red with the blood of the Persians and their Spartan dogs. There's a quest to two, of five, of busy work, something about freeing up an Athenian general in order to gather the necessary forces to fight the ancient Spartan allies, that all comes to a close in tragedy for the Athenians, who end up being little more than a distraction, which allows Cassandra to sneak into Amorgis' stronghold. Before I get into Amorgis' last stand, I'm not getting into it. I'll say a few words about one of the more interesting quests about Halfway through the DLC. The last magi sees Cassandra come face to face with a Persian diplomat master orator in the second most powerful ancient still life. It's an interesting discussion, two of them have, and it shows the shadow of what I've laughed about the game, no joke. If only they stuck to this tone for the rest of the first blade, or for the first stutters of it. Anyway, once that's done away with, we face the big bad, have a boring boss battle that ends in forgiveness, tears, and my favorite, murder. What Cassandra does next is all too logical. Unless you play Odyssey as a particular brand of evil bastard, the Eagle Bearer is ultimately more or less heroic, especially towards members of her own family. For my playthrough especially, it was an understandable thing she did, sending Elpidios and Darius away for the baby's own safety. Mike Cassandra failed her mother, could not save Alexios, and as a result both of them died. After Natakis was killed, because of another one of her mistakes, what else was she to do other than the most self-distinct? Let the boy go with a man who is both like and unlike her. Darius who knows what loss is for his own mistake cost him his wife and girl, but who also managed to save his son, and kept him alive and save over decades of evading the order of the engines. It's the right thing to do. Or maybe it isn't, but Mike Cassandra, wanted by guilt, made that choice, on her own. Scratch that. Everything I said is bullshit. It was an exercise in justification, in making excuses for one of the worst DLCs I've ever played, which troubles the player with all choice, which breaks the core tenet of Odyssey which was yes, all about giving the player the choice of picking Cassandra's story. And what for? Let me tell you, because Ubisoft decided they needed, really badly, to connect this game to the rest of the franchise in the most idiotic way possible. You know, Ubisoft, write a damn book about it, that would have worked so much better for you. Overall score, 9 out of 10, not enough breastfeeding, no I'm not scoring it, I don't want to be any meaner than I already was. Then, rate, thank you for watching, if you enjoyed this video please like, share, subscribe. I'll see you next time, bye! Know this, you are my son, and I'll always fight for you. You and those that will come after.