long Auditore post
i was thinking that Claudia Auditore makes more sense as ACII's protagonist because if all the sons are dead, Claudia showing up killing Uberto and saying "The Auditore are not dead! There's me!" hits way different and Ubisoft robbed us of a very good game that might even have used Liberation's costume stealth mechanics
but then my third eye opened: if we keep Ezio as protagonist, the Uberto scene makes sense and even works to explain
1) what the fuck Lorenzo de' Medici has been doing after he came back from his weekend holiday to find his spy asset and bff has been murdered and his family impeached for treason
2) what the Auditores will be doing in Monteriggioni, which is actually Sienese territory and traditionally getting exiled to Siena is what happens to you once you make yourself an enemy of the Medici (the Strozzi have been doing it for fifty years and they're fine! They're even visiting!)
it works like this: Lorenzo is, before the Pazzi plot, not an overtly violent man. Therefore, while indeed startled and anguished by the plot that resulted in the Auditore attack, he has to fix this in a way that both doesn't impact negatively his shadow rule of Florence, and somehow buys enough time to fully dig out what's been going on.
Luckily violent murders between noble families are nothing new in Florence, and if Lorenzo organizes a public peace between the Auditore remaining son, the Pazzi family, and has Uberto offer a public apology as the city official, all will be well. Lorenzo will be seen as maintaining the peace, and can then actually work behind the scenes to counter the attack. Throw in a bonus wedding between Claudia and Vieri to show goodwill and hopefully prevent both clans from murdering each other in the future. This is how things are done in Florence usually when noble clans murder each other a little too openly.
What he needs for this to work is Ezio's agreement. And imagine the mission in game: your father and brothers have been murdered as traitors, your home is ruined, your fiancee has been taken from you, your mother and sister are sheltering in a brothel. The life you knew has been violently ripped from you, and your father's friend, the ruler of the city, the one who was supposed to protect you asks you to publicly vouch that you will not seek revenge on the Pazzi. Sure, he swears you will get your revenge, later, but you have to trust him on this, right now.
You show up to the party. Uberto is there. Lorenzo makes a speech to the assembled nobles of the city, that he has restored peace in Florence. You move to shake Uberto's hand and give him the kiss of peace. And this is when you activate your hidden blade, kill Uberto, destroy Lorenzo's plan, and make your speech on how you will avenge your family on your terms.
And this is what actually gets the Auditore all but exiled to Monteriggioni. They ruined Lorenzo's plan. Ezio pulled an Altair and chose instant satisfaction over getting a cold dish quietly served on Lorenzo's terms. Lorenzo has to exile the Auditore to save face.
This has also some other consequences. The Assassins are pissed - their assets in Florence are diminished, and their standing with the ruler is blown. Claudia is grieving and pissed - her marriage with Vieri might still have gone through contractually at least, mostly because I really want Vieri to show up to annoy Ezio in subsequent games - but at least you avenged your family. Mario understands what you did but the only thing you can do now is get into the condottiere life, which he tries to help you with, and which is not what your father would have wanted.
Ezio is banned from Florence (guards hostile, notoriety on full) until he shows up to prevent the Pazzi plot years later. The Pazzi plot is actually what brings Lorenzo over to the "revenge now, peace later" violent school of thought. Ezio and Lorenzo spend the next few game arcs enthusiastically murdering Templars together.
all is fine until the Forlì arc. When Ezio travels to Forli, he has orders to kill Riario (as the last remaining Pazzi conspirator)- He finds the Count has been murdered in another coup and the politicaly instability results in the whole town getting sieged by the Milanese army, with the risk of every woman and child in Forlì getting murdered in the rampage. Lorenzo writes back: "mission accomplished, everything else is not our problem". Ezio however has been tiring of the violence and its fallout: he recruits Caterina Sforza to the Assassin cause and in doing this also saves the town.
There's a scene in which Ezio explains to Lorenzo that senseless violence will never give him his family back and will create more violence in a circle that never ends. Lorenzo is like "I understand that and I commend the sentiment but I was once like that and it did not work. This does not work either but I cannot let it rest."
Then game proceeds as normal. We might get a Lorenzo deathbed scene in which he tells Ezio he did get the message in the end, that revenge consumed him, and warns him not to give in like he did. This works to set up Ezio sparing Rodrigo in the endgame. Also, individual revenge not being enough to actually put rights to wrong sets up the next game being Brotherhood, in which Ezio builds an organization to take on the Templars and works to improve life conditions in Rome to have a bigger impact than just shanking Cesare on sight.
