Memory Block Seven

After killing Robert, you'll be ejected back into the real world again. Talk to Lucy after Vidic leaves the room, then sleep and get back on the table. If Vidic is so open about his plans to kill you, it seems like you might want to grab a chair and beat his brains out, but unfortunately that's not an option.

Masyaf: Al Mualim

Get up to the top of this building and push your foes to their death.

The time has come to finish your journey. When you arrive in Masyaf, you'll find that Al Mualim has used the treasure on its populace, rendering them thralls in his service. There'll be a large number of soldiers up the hill that will force you to attack them. Do so and kill them all. The second group that attacks you will be larger in number, but you'll have more room to maneuver. Get on top of the large building nearby and knock them off the ladder until your Bureau friend from Jerusalem shows up.

Use gentle pushes to make your way through the crowd in front of Mualim's fortress, then fight your way to the rear courtyard.

Boss Fight

Although they're illusions, these guys will still be problematic for you.

Video Walk-through

The doppelgangers here will put up a fight. Counter their blows to finish them off.

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The first major fight you have here pits you against the nine bosses that you've assassinated thus far. Everyone from Tamil to Robert de Sable takes part in this little gang fight. This can be a tough challenge, since each of the bosses will hit for two bars of health per strike. Luckily, each of them will normally be killed by a single counterattack, so that's your best bet to survive: just hang back, keep your guard up, and counter when possible. Eventually the ranks will be thinned out and you can finish up the remaining forces.

If you're having a tough time here, try to run away a bit and use your throwing blades on the foes. They'll die, but it's important to keep most of your throwing blades for the next phase of the fight.

Multiple Mualims

After Mualim splits himself into multiple versions of himself, things get tougher. As before, you'll lose two bars of health to a successful hit, but these guys can't be killed with a single counter; they'll take a fair amount of damage.

Use eagle vision to spot the real Mualim; getting to him will still be difficult, though.

Video Walk-through

You'll rarely get as lucky as this, but if you do, this section of the fight will be short.

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The real Mualim hides among his clones, and the fight only ends when you kill him. The only way of telling him from the crowd, however, is to use Eagle Vision. He will show up as a yellow assassination target while his clones appear in red. Your best bet here is to first do your best to take down some of the enemies in combat using counters. When you start to run low on health, run away by jumping over a balcony or two, turn around, and use your throwing knives to cut down some of the pursuers. You may get lucky and hit the real Mualim with a blade, as we did, which will end this phase quickly; otherwise you will thin the crowd and make it easier to complete the combat with counters.

If you have to fight with the sword here, try fighting near the uppermost level of the terrace, near where the fountain flows off the edge. You can throw your opponents off the edge to thin their ranks a bit, even if they do come right back up. If worst comes to worst, you can jump down to the pool, wait for your foes to follow, then climb back up over the stone fence. They'll follow you up the stairs, but will climb onto the fence and can be knocked off with your sword. Another good place to fight is at the top of one of the staircases, if you can get all the enemies at the bottom. That'll protect your back and prevent all the enemies from swinging on you at once.

Mualim Mambo

In the end, Mualim will fight you mano-a-mano, but with a twist; he'll disappear every time you hit him. At the outset, just get a counter on him to make him disappear, then start looking around for him; he can warp around the terrace at will. You'll eventually spot him elsewhere on the terrace; the glow of the yellow orb will make him visible from a ways away.

We will fight on the railings…we will fight on the bannisters….

Video Walk-through

If you have any remaining throwing knives, now is the time to use them.

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Before you engage him, though, note that your health bar has vanished. If you get close to Mualim and he hits you before you hit him, he'll instantly kill you. To prevent this from happening, be sure you get the first hit in; the easiest way to do this is to throw a knife at him from a distance. That'll force him to come after you, where you can counter him again to cause him to disappear.

Eventually Mualim will stop disappearing, and the graphical glitches in the area will stop occurring. This signals the final phase of the fight: you and Mualim, one on one! He's a predictably tough fighter, fond of defense breaks and dodging, but you can even the odds a bit by running away from him, forcing him to follow you in a straight line, then turning around and throwing your remaining throwing knives at him. In combat, counter him whenever possible and attempt to get him on the ground for an assassination.

Final Interlude

At the very end of the game, you won't be able to talk to anyone. You will, however, be able to use Eagle Vision now. Use it on the floor to check out the runes, then walk into your bedroom and use it there, as well.

After the credits roll, you can return to the Animus and check out the Memory Block Seven for a brief epilogue to the game, detailing Altair's adventures after defeating Mualim. Besides that, though, there's little to do…except wait for Assassin's Creed 2: Assassinate Harder, sure to be coming to a console near you in 2008.