Assassin's Creed Shadows' final update is here, and fans have discovered that it also adds references to a couple of familiar faces from the series' past.
As highlighted by a fan on Twitter, there are a couple of particularly interesting new data files to unlock in Assassin's Creed Shadows latest patch. Under the "Animus Precedents" section, you can see a file titled Alruh.
"In the 860s, a Hidden One (FYI, a 'Hidden One' is basically a Retro Assassin) named Basim encountered a machine called the 'Alruh,' which is the Arabic word for 'the spirit.' (FYI 'Animus' is the Latin word for spirit)," it begins. "This strange machine was designed to see the past, by reading Isu devices called 'Memory Seals' which as far as I can tell were like prehistoric blu-rays that contain genetic memories.
"Basim seemed like an interesting dude, but people around here get squirrely when I ask about him. Why? What happened to him?"
Now this is interesting. They finally mentioned Basim! 👀 pic.twitter.com/X1hxfLUzk2June 17, 2026
Very interesting indeed. For fans, this is somewhat of a blessing and a curse – despite it being a cool mention, it's just made some hungrier for more. "I want a proper continuation of Basim from Valhalla's modern day, not just some random text files that don't mean anything," one writes. "About fucking time... his modern day in Valhalla was excellent... we need more of him," says another.
Basim isn't the only one mentioned in the new update. Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Kassandra also gets a shoutout in the "Aletheia's Trials" data file, discussing the Isu and their technology. "The Brotherhood still has access to a memory stream for a mercenary in Ancient Greece, named Kassandra," it says. "She encountered a digital apparition of one of these beings, named Aletheia. Aletheia used her own memories to create a series of training simulations for Kassandra to experience through a machine."
When Shadows' last update launched earlier this week, associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois teased that "there are many Easter Eggs, as well as direct and indirect references to previous games," so we knew to keep an eye out for this sort of stuff.
"The more you know about the existing lore, the more layers you'll find to enjoy and make connections with," he said at the time. "And with Domains, just wait till you see some of the higher-tier rewards we've hidden in there. You might want to take a closer look at some of them in your Hideout to read their descriptions, too."
