The UK (London), Colombia (Cartagena), France, Syria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia
Drake claimed that it required months to sail through the East Indies during his famous circumnavigation, when it should have needed no more than a few weeks. Records of his voyage were declared classified by Elizabeth on his return to England. Official documents were falsified, and the surviving sailors compelled on pain of death to stay their tongues, to prevent sensitive informtion from falling into the hands of the rival Spanish.
Some believe that the discrepancy occurred because Drake actually attempted to find and navigate the Northwest Passage, the Arctic Ocean sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific. Drake's Deception, however, implies that Sir Francis Drake was charged by Elizabeth and her advisors to make a stop in Arabia to find Iram of the Pillars, a lost city. They hoped that he might at least return with plunder and, if legends were true, a source of great power. On reaching a temple in Yemen, though, the explorer was deeply alarmed by the warnings he found there; abandoning his search, he lied to Elizabeth on his return to England. This event is the origin of Uncharted 3's subtitle.
Some believe that the discrepancy occurred because Drake actually attempted to find and navigate the Northwest Passage, the Arctic Ocean sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific. Drake's Deception, however, implies that Sir Francis Drake was charged by Elizabeth and her advisors to make a stop in Arabia to find Iram of the Pillars, a lost city. They hoped that he might at least return with plunder and, if legends were true, a source of great power. On reaching a temple in Yemen, though, the explorer was deeply alarmed by the warnings he found there; abandoning his search, he lied to Elizabeth on his return to England. This event is the origin of Uncharted 3's subtitle.
Marlowe is the head of a secret society that dates back to Elizabethan England. Sir Francis Walsingham, Principle Secretary to Queen Elizabeth, was a pioneer of modern espionage techniques; it was he who created the spy network of remarkable reach and sophistication. Among his many innovations, he is believed to have recruited agents to operate in numerous foreign courts to gather intelligence and distribute misinformation. There is a famous portrait that shows the monarch wearing a dress where, if you look closely, you can see that it is covered with symbols of eyes and ears; a far from subtle warning to those who might conspire against the Crown's interest.
This spy network is the basis of Marlowe's order, with Walsingham, John Dee and even Elizabeth herself among its founding members. It has operated in secret throughout history, manipulating individuals and world events through the use of deception, drugs and "magic". In its post-Elizabethan form, it should not be regarded as an explicitly political organisation; think of it more as a secret cult with clandestine motivations, in the style of the Illuminati. Marlowe harboured an ambition to restore the organisation's power and, in a dream passed down through 400 years, sought to exploit the secret of the Atlantis of the Sands...an aspiration long frustrated by Nate's theft of Sir Francis Drake's ring in Cartagena
This spy network is the basis of Marlowe's order, with Walsingham, John Dee and even Elizabeth herself among its founding members. It has operated in secret throughout history, manipulating individuals and world events through the use of deception, drugs and "magic". In its post-Elizabethan form, it should not be regarded as an explicitly political organisation; think of it more as a secret cult with clandestine motivations, in the style of the Illuminati. Marlowe harboured an ambition to restore the organisation's power and, in a dream passed down through 400 years, sought to exploit the secret of the Atlantis of the Sands...an aspiration long frustrated by Nate's theft of Sir Francis Drake's ring in Cartagena
Whether affection or biological fact, there is no doubt that Nate is insistent on the authenticity of his lineage...no matter how cynical others may be. We see the truth behind his explanation of how he came to possess his ring in Drake's Fortune - "I kind of inherited it," he told Elena, obliquely admitting to the theft - in the Cartagena flashback early in Drake's Deception.
No matter his precise heritage, there is at very least a thematic relationship between Nate and Sir Francis. They can each be said to have lived in accordance with Drake's motto of sic parvis magna, "greatness from small beginnings". Both are remarkable men of action who are as moths to the flames of noteworthy experiences and wondrous sights, despite their humble origins: Nate as an orphan, Sir Francis Drake as a commoner eventually knighted by his Queen. In Uncharted 4: A Thieve's End, it is revealed that Nathan and his brother Sam changed their identities and adopted the last name of Drake. Because their mother was a brilliant historian who researched Sir Francis.
No matter his precise heritage, there is at very least a thematic relationship between Nate and Sir Francis. They can each be said to have lived in accordance with Drake's motto of sic parvis magna, "greatness from small beginnings". Both are remarkable men of action who are as moths to the flames of noteworthy experiences and wondrous sights, despite their humble origins: Nate as an orphan, Sir Francis Drake as a commoner eventually knighted by his Queen. In Uncharted 4: A Thieve's End, it is revealed that Nathan and his brother Sam changed their identities and adopted the last name of Drake. Because their mother was a brilliant historian who researched Sir Francis.
Known under many names throughout history - Ubar, the City of Brass, Iram of the Pillars - the "Atlantis of the Sands" is a mythical lost city located in the Rub' al Khali desert. It was constructed over an underground spring that made it a miraculous, verdant settlement in the middle of a desiccated wasteland. Salim tells Nate that the city became a "place of evil" when Solomon imprisoned malevolent Djinn ("genies" of supernatural origin and made of pure fire) inside a brass vessel and cast it into the aquifer that fed the oasis.
We clearly see Marlowe's cultists attempting to retrieve a vessel from beneath the waters of Iram. Whether this vessel actually contains legendary Djinn or a natural psychotropic substance is left to the player's interpretation.
We clearly see Marlowe's cultists attempting to retrieve a vessel from beneath the waters of Iram. Whether this vessel actually contains legendary Djinn or a natural psychotropic substance is left to the player's interpretation.
Thirsty and exhaused on arrival at the Atlantis of the Sands, Nate drinks the city's water and is - to paraphrase Chloe's appraisal of Cutter's state earlier in the adventure - "tripping balls" when he fights the fiery creatures. This was almost certainly inspired by his earlier conversation with Salim. In his highly suggestible state, Nate interprets his opponents as being Djinn, or at least an approximation conjured up by his addled mind.
As an orphan, abandoned at the tender age of five, Nate's foremost fear is to be left alone...which, almost paradoxically, has made it almost impossible for him to form lasting relationships. Being his mentor, closest friend and essentially a surrogate father, Sully's death is the most traumatic event Nate can imagine. Though Marlowe argues earlier in the story that Sully perceived the young Nate as an opportunity, a "long con" of greater value than the commission she offered, Nate's most cruel hallucination shows that he sees no abiding truth in her unsentimental appraisal.
As an orphan, abandoned at the tender age of five, Nate's foremost fear is to be left alone...which, almost paradoxically, has made it almost impossible for him to form lasting relationships. Being his mentor, closest friend and essentially a surrogate father, Sully's death is the most traumatic event Nate can imagine. Though Marlowe argues earlier in the story that Sully perceived the young Nate as an opportunity, a "long con" of greater value than the commission she offered, Nate's most cruel hallucination shows that he sees no abiding truth in her unsentimental appraisal.
They actually got married after the events of Among Thieves. The revelation is perhaps a little subtle, but it's there: when Nate says "You're still wearing it," (referring to her ring), Elena's blunt response to Nate's observation ("It helps in this part of the world. Seriously, don't flatter yourself.") makes it clear that it is a wedding band, which she uses to deter aspirant suitors.
Though wealth eludes him at the conclusion of Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves, Nate on both occasions gains a treasure of great value in Elena...and, on both occasions, he blows it, walking out when his phobia of commitment drives the couple apart. Elena perhaps best understands Nate's existential fear: he's afraid of admitting who he really is, and almost obsessively takes refuge in an identity that doesn't truly belong to him.
The motto on Drake's ring has defined Nate's entire life; there's a sense that he has always walked backwards into his future, defined by his troubled childhood. In the closing cinematics, however, his reaction to his wedding band when Sully produces it - so much like the one belonging to Sir Francis, but lacking the motto; a blank slate - perhaps suggests that it might finally be "Nate", not "Drake", who accompanies his closest friend and wife to the plane before the closing credits roll.
Though wealth eludes him at the conclusion of Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves, Nate on both occasions gains a treasure of great value in Elena...and, on both occasions, he blows it, walking out when his phobia of commitment drives the couple apart. Elena perhaps best understands Nate's existential fear: he's afraid of admitting who he really is, and almost obsessively takes refuge in an identity that doesn't truly belong to him.
The motto on Drake's ring has defined Nate's entire life; there's a sense that he has always walked backwards into his future, defined by his troubled childhood. In the closing cinematics, however, his reaction to his wedding band when Sully produces it - so much like the one belonging to Sir Francis, but lacking the motto; a blank slate - perhaps suggests that it might finally be "Nate", not "Drake", who accompanies his closest friend and wife to the plane before the closing credits roll.
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