How about a plot twist? Connor is transported to the crusades. How would that change things, if at all, and how would he and Altair get along? Any romance for Connor? If so, with whom?
If, in this scenario, Ratonhnhaké:ton is thrown into the Third Crusades during the plot of AC1 (maybe he got punted just after the failed Jerusalem mission). In this case, there would be enough information for him to know that he’s been sent to the past. Personally, I believe he would try to return to his village first, maybe try to find out why he was sent there in the first place, but, to do that, he would need a ship and a crew.
His Eagle Vision would tell him to try his luck in an unassuming building and that’s where he would first make contact with the Rafiqs.
To be more exact…
With Malik.
Unorganized Notes:
In this setup, we’re going for Ratonhnhaké:ton being in the middle of the plot of AC3, old enough to be a great Assassin but young enough to still need a bit of guidance
I threw him in Malik’s direction because Malik would be curious enough to interact with him, smart enough to realize that Ratonhnhaké:ton is an Assassin from another Brotherhood far away from them, and kind enough to act like a mentor to Ratonhnhaké:ton. Throwing him in Masyaf would be asking for trouble since Al Mualim wouldn’t risk an unknown Assassin screwing his plans now (although this would set a plot of Ratonhnhaké:ton versus Altaïr though which could be fun but would easily fall on the pitfall of Hollywood team-up plotlines). The other two Rafiqs would be a bit harder to pinpoint but they would definitely alert Al Mualim about Ratonhnhaké:ton. Malik has a slight chance of not doing the same thing because he would see that Ratonhnhaké:ton wants to remain ‘not seen’ and he’ll do it until he’s sure that Ratonhnhaké:ton is not a danger to the Brotherhood.
Ratonhnhaké:ton wouldn’t have that much information about the Levantine Brotherhood. Hell, he might not even recognize Altaïr at all since Achilles didn’t exactly give him a big rundown of the Brotherhood’s history. At best, he might think he’d heard of Altaïr before but can’t remember where.
This would make him and Altaïr have a relationship with equal footing. Ratonhnhaké:ton and Altaïr won’t exactly get along at the start. Altaïr would find him to be too secretive to be trustworthy. Ratonhnhaké:ton would be annoyed by Altaïr’s arrogance. They would have a ‘forged in fire’ kind of friendship, especially after Altaïr starts to change for the better.
Ratonhnhaké:ton’s main goal is to get a ship and a crew to sail back to his village but he will get sucked into the whole Assassin versus Templar thing because he can’t find it in himself to not care. Especially when this supposed crusade hits too close to what was happening back in his time.
Romance-wise… is it weird that I can kinda see Ratonhnhaké:ton and Maria having something? Like, even if it’s not going to lead to anything, they would definitely have a crush on one another. Also, Ratonhnhaké:ton would definitely see Maria as a formidable opponent without caring about her gender and treat her with respect befitting his kinda-sorta rival. Maria would see that and be… interested in Ratonhnhaké:ton because of it.
On the other side, Malik treating Ratonhnhaké:ton more like a younger brother? Maybe even have a scene of Ratonhnhaké:ton reminding him that he is not the brother he lost and Malik agreeing with him, there was no way he would replace Kadar. It’s just… They both lost someone dear to them and they’re not looking to replace them. They just see someone in pain like them and they tried to help. In the end, found family!
Ratonhnhaké:ton and Altaïr ending up as BFF would be fun too and acting as each other’s ‘woahwoahwoah, my friend didn’t mean it like that! Let me explain!’ whenever someone misunderstand them (mostly Christians)