WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Sic Parvis Magna is the motto of Sir Francis Drake and it appears at the center of the Uncharted series. The actual translation in English would be “Greatness from small beginnings”, and it appears on the ring of Sir Francis Drake, nowadays worn by Nathan Drake in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
By Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Nathan doesn’t have the ring anymore because he loses it at the end of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Still, the motto, “Sic Parvis Magna” continues to represent Nathan Drake and his brother, Samuel Drake, because of their poor start in life.
Nathan Drake’s Backstory
Nathan and Samuel’s mother, Cassandra Morgan (yes, their real name is Morgan), was a great archeologist and historian described by her boss, Evelyn as “the most brilliant historian she had ever met”. She has died when the brothers were pretty young. Prior to her death, she was actively researching Sir Francis Drake and Henry Avery’s supposed pirate heaven called Libertalia.
Nobody knew where this supposed Libertalia is, but Cassandra was making major progress.
Shortly after Cassandra’s death, her husband surrendered Nathan and Sam to the state and sold all her possessions. Nate and Sam ended up in an orphanage called Saint Francis’ Boy’s Home where both of them had serious trouble obeying the nuns and picked fights with the other boys.
After Samuel was kicked from the orphanage, Nate was alone. Life was bad, he would get in trouble a lot, and it’s implied in Uncharted 4 that the other boys were saying his mother killed herself and is now in hell for that, thus making the young Nate pick even more fights, and get even more in trouble.
Sic Parvis Magna
Following an escape from the orphanage and a heist for their mother’s possessions with Sam, Nathan has grown into a fine man, quite smart, quite resourceful. During the adventures in the 4 establishments of the Uncharted game, Nathan’s character progresses and develops.
Sometime after his escape from the orphanage he meets a younger Sully (Victor Sulivan) in Colombia while attempting to steal Sir Francis Drake’s ring and deciphering tool. He is almost killed by Marlowe’s henchmen but is rescued by Sully who takes the boy under his wing. They will form maybe the greatest bond in gaming history.
He gets to find lost cities nobody knew even existed for real and gets financial stability in the process. Following the events of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, he marries Elena Fisher, and by the epilogue of Uncharted 4 they have a daughter called Cassie.
So, in a way, Nathan has gone from very small beginnings being stuck in an orphanage and getting bullied daily, to being one of the world’s best archeologists with so many important findings under his belt it would take too much to count them, hence why that motto means so much to him.
Want more Uncharted game guides?
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- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Full Review – Is It Worth it in 2022?
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – How Many Chapters Are (Game Guide)
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – #NoFilter Trophy WalkThrough (Way to Platinum)
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Sic Parvis Magna Cover image via wallpapercave.com