alright. u know what. i shall live my truth.

ezio didn't kill the pope bc he thought he'd stoop to his level of moral depravity. he didn't bc he was fuckoff TIRED. he spent 20 odd years of his life dedicated to this vengeance quest of his that he refused to back down from but realized then and there that he was fucking sick of such a fruitless endeavor. he literally says to rodrigo that killing him won't bring his family back. there was nothing said about morals or anything of the sort. it was simply just that he was tired, and he wanted this all to just... stop.

and also, like, brotherhood exists as a means to say "hey, uh, while it's true that ezio didn't have the full picture, he should have killed rodrigo. he made a huge fucking mistake as an assassin." the narrative doesn't reward him for-- while something of an admirable decision for his development as an individual-- an incredibly shortsighted and selfish decision that endangered the italian city states at large. he was supposed to kill rodrigo! that was his JOB! and he DIDN'T DO IT! while ezio certainly didn't deserve to have his home destroyed and uncle killed, it was still something of a consequence for letting rodrigo live. cesare would've invaded monteriggioni regardless of this choice, yes, but throwing the templars off-balance in such a way then and there would've been HUGE for the assassins!!!! AND EZIO! DIDN'T DO IT!!!!

not every single revenge narrative that ends with the person not killing their biggest assailant is always from the lens of Protecting One's Morals. sometimes it's more complicated than that. sometimes it's for an entirely different reason. ezio's narrative is accutely aware of this choice that he made and followed up by having it bite him in the ass! machiavelli fucking chews him out for it!!!

he also threw cesare off the fuckin burning castle wall in spain at the end of brotherhood. i feel like ppl forget about that a lot, too.