Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Kill or Save the Plague-Infected Family Choice
We show you which choice to make in The Blood Fever quest and what the consequences would be either way.
Early on in your exploration of Kephallonia in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, you'll likely discover a quest entitled The Blood Fever in which you'll have to make a difficult choice regarding a plague-infected family. We'll explain the consequences of the blood fever plague family choice, and what you should choose as a result.
Warning: this guide contains early spoilers for the plot of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
On this page:
- Kill or Save the Plague-Infected Family Choice in Assassin's Creed Odyssey
- Where to Start The Blood Fever Quest
- Save the Family
- Kill the Family
- Best Choice
Kill or Save the Plague-Infected Family Choice in Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Whether you should choose to kill or save the plague-infected family in Assassin's Creed Odyssey depends on what you consider the lesser of two evils, whether some lines should not be crossed, or whether you think the ends can justify the means. Strictly speaking there is no good ending here, only different kinds of suffering. Fun! We'll explain both below, but first we'll explain where to start The Blood Fever quest.
Where to Start The Blood Fever Quest
After a few missions into Odyssey you'll unlock a new mission from Phoibe at Markos' Vineyard on Kephallonia. It'll be marked on the map and you can go speak to her to begin The Blood Fever, where she tells you about a nearby village named Kausos that's been afflicted with some sort of curse. Head South-West from Mount Ainos to find it, a burnt husk of a town with several people clustered around in the middle.
The choice is made clear here: Kausos is plague-ridden and the priest is desperately trying to burn all those here so that it can't spread to the rest of the island. The last surviving family wants to live, understandably, and claim only to have a bit of a cough. That can't be anything ominous, right?
If you're cutting through Assassin's Creed Odyssey, we've got everything you'd ever need at our Walkthrough here. Whether it's combat, stealth or finding the best items, we can provide.
Save the Family
If you tell the priest to let these people go, this'll start combat where you have to fight him and his soldiers. It's not too difficult if you're getting to grips with combat basics, and afterwards the family will offer you money as a thank you. Accepting it or rejecting it determines whether they stay in Kausos or move on, but unfortunately it makes no difference to what happens next: return to Kephallonia after a certain period of time and you'll find it decimated by plague, with occasional acknowledgements to this fact by characters like Phoibe and Barnabus later in the story. As far as we know, the family cannot be found afterwards, leaving it unclear if they survive, and there is no way to cure the plague. Kephallonia will be affected permanently by this, and will appear as a blighted hellscape for the rest of the game.
Kill the Family
If you pick the option "I have no say in this," Kassandra/Alexios will stand by while the priest has his men kill the family. This will also prompt some dialogue with Phoibe afterwards where you explain or justify your actions to her. Despite being miserable, she seems to understand. Later on the island will remain as its always been.
Best Choice
If you don't want Kephallonia to change, you'll want to let the priest do his work, as horrible as it is. He's correct that they have the plague and will spread it, as allowing them to live reduces the island to something near-apocalyptic. However, we also understand if you don't have the stomach to let a family be butchered. As we said, there is no good option here, just deciding the lesser of two evils.
That being said, there is a slightly sneaky third option - don't take The Blood Fever quest at all. After a certain point in the game it'll disappear, but the island will remain uninfected. Presumably this is because the priest still kills the family somewhere off-screen, but if you were going to let them die anyway, this might be a more palatable way of allowing life to continue.
Before you leap into the carnage, why not see what other AC: Odyssey content we've got at USG? Mike's review of the game can be found here, or check out what we have to say on the game in this episode of Axe of the Blood God.