The Beginning

Lore & Background

In the world of Thief: Deadly Shadows, Garrett has long operated as an independent master thief, moving through the shadows of wealthy estates and noble halls. The Keepers, a secretive order that has long sought to maintain the balance of power in the City, has finally moved to bring Garrett under its banner. "The Beginning" is the mission in which that control first asserts itself: Garrett is given a job, told where to go, and expected to deliver results—all while believing he is still acting on his own terms. The mission takes place in a bustling city where Garrett must navigate the estates and streets of the wealthy, using his signature tools of stealth—lockpicks, throwing knives, rope and hook, and his blackjack—to complete his objective without being detected. The environment is rich with the verticality and hidden passages that define the Thief series, and the tension of being watched by guards, dogs, and the ever-present threat of discovery. What makes "The Beginning" narratively significant is the quiet way the Keepers' influence is woven into the job. Garrett is not simply stealing; he is being positioned. The mission ends with the player sensing that the strings pulling Garrett are not his own, a feeling that intensifies through the remainder of the game as the Keepers' true intentions become clear.

In Their Own Story

Rain slicks the cobblestones of the lower quarter. Garrett crouches on a rain-bleached ledge, his hood drawn low, the city's amber lantern-light catching the edge of his blade. Below, a guard shifts his weight, boots scraping stone. He waits. The Guild's instructions are precise: enter, take the object, leave. No witnesses. No questions. He slips the lockpick into the door's teeth and feels the mechanism yield with a soft click. Inside, the air is still and warm, thick with the scent of old wood and candle wax. He moves through the darkened hall, silent as a thought, and for a moment the job feels like his own. Then, from the far corridor, he hears the soft, deliberate footfall of someone who knows exactly where he is. The strings tighten. The Beginning is over. The real game has started.

Reader's Guide

"The Beginning" is the first mission of Thief III: Deadly Shadows and serves as the narrative and mechanical onboarding for the game. Garrett is tasked with a thieving job in a city, moving through the homes and streets of the wealthy to complete an objective set by the Guild of Assassins. The player navigates the environment using the core Thief toolkit: stealth movement, lockpicking, throwing knives, rope-and-hook traversal, and combat with twin swords when stealth fails. The mission introduces the city's layout, the guard and dog AI, and the environmental storytelling that defines the series. NPCs move on predictable patrols, and the player must time movements, use darkness, and exploit architecture to avoid detection. Narratively, the mission establishes Garrett's working relationship with the Guild. He is given a job and expected to complete it, but the framing makes clear that his independence is an illusion. The Guild is positioning him for a larger purpose, and the player senses the manipulation even as Garrett does not fully understand it. Completing "The Beginning" unlocks the subsequent missions of the campaign and sets the thematic stakes: a man who prides himself on freedom is being slowly caged, and the rest of the game is his struggle to break free or accept the leash.

Did You Know?

• Thief: Deadly Shadows was developed by Ion Storm, the same studio behind the critically acclaimed Deus Ex, marking a notable shift from the series' earlier developers.
• The Guild of Assassins appears only in earlier Thief games, not in Thief: Deadly Shadows.
• The Thief series is widely credited as a foundational influence on the modern stealth-action genre, with its emphasis on vertical traversal, environmental stealth, and non-lethal options.
• Garrett, the series' protagonist, has been a consistent figure across all Thief games, making him one of the longer-running stealth-game protagonists in the medium's history.