The way Numbskull feels like shay in regards of going "okay shit, the fraction I'm with ain't great and this conflicts with my moral code" in most headcannons has got to be my favorite thing, cause while yes Numbskull does agree to be a templar in cannon it feels like they do so very reluctantly in a act of self preservation.
Wanna make this all the more crazy? What if somehow Numbskull is a very distant relative or their friends with a direct descendant of the cormac bloodline who isn't involved with Abstergo
I mean… I can’t blame Numbskull for becoming a Templar considering Berg did this:
There was never really a choice for Numbskull and that’s the kind of bullshit that stays with a person. Numbskull never had a choice and it all started with Shay Cormac’s memories so I like to portray them as having complicated feelings for Shay. Their time in his memories made them ‘care’ for Shay but, at the same time, they also can’t help but blame Shay as the reason they’re stuck with the Templars right now.
So, given a chance, they’d definitely go ‘rogue’ because, hey, that’s what Shay did, right? And Shay should agree with their actions since they were fighting against an organization that would not listen to them, that would only use them to further their own agenda without any remorse on the collateral damage their actions would make.
If we really want to dig into Shay how joining the Templars would pan out centuries from his time, just make Numbskull say:
“I’m just following your footsteps, Mister Cormac.”
Also…
There is a way for Numbskull to be friends with a direct descendant of the Cormac Bloodline and we have two options.
Option 1: Javier Mondragón of the Assassin Brotherhood
He’s one of the main characters of Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants but he’s a teenager by the time of Rogue so he and Numbskull (who is most definitely around their 20s or more) wouldn’t necessarily be friends. What would be interesting is if Numbskull was one of the Abstergo employees who were ordered to retrieve the prongs of the Trident of Eden and their paths (and blades) crossed with Javier bleeding as Shay’s grandson, Cudgel. We can even have a reluctant bitter grandfather and a rebelling grandson thing going on with them.
Option 2: Alannah Ryan of the Assassin Brotherhood
It was implied in Odyssey that Alannah, one of Layla’s teammates, was Shay’s descendant:
So, in this scenario, Numbskull would be older than Alannah but their relationship would be more on an equal footing type of scenario. Numbskull might even feel protective of her as Shay’s bleed might be reminded of someone Shay cared about. If you want it to be romantic, it could be Shay’s wife. If you want it to be more like a case of found family, Alannah might remind them of Shay’s child (the eldest daughter perhaps?).
Either option could also work to give Numbskull the chance (and the courage) to finally defect as well if you want to go down that route.
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Sidenote to the OC-centric AC idea I had:
Atoli was meant to serve as a red herring for Numbskull’s identity and the plot twist was that Numbskull left Abstergo but didn’t exactly join the Assassins. However, it was Atoli who helped them leave. In exchange, Numbskull helps Atoli in secret, taking the codename ‘Johnny’ and they know that they’re receiving each other’s call/message when they hear the sea shanty ‘Leave her, Johnny’.
