Destiny 2's The Witch Queen was regarded as one of the best expansions released so far in the entire franchise, and it's often compared to the heights of Forsaken and The Taken King. The Witch Queen introduced plenty of interesting themes and locations to Destiny 2, such as Savathun's ship and her Throne World, and the campaign also tackled what it means to operate in a morally gray area where it's hard to tell what's right and wrong. This is something Destiny 2 has been doing more and more lately, especially with its Year 4 Seasons and Season of the Haunted's trauma-ridden stories.
Another major element that The Witch Queen added is how several Hive specimens have been blessed with the Traveler's Light after the First Ghost, Immaru, resurrected Savathun herself. It's unknown why the Traveler acted as it did and what role the Hive Lightbearers will play in the story moving forward, which is going to be hard to determine if another arc after Season of the Haunted doesn't involve them at all. However, it's interesting that Bungie now has set a precedent of Destiny 2 players fighting other Lightbearers because of what presumably happens in the original timeline of the Exo Stranger, which is known as the Dark Future.
Destiny 2's Hive Lightbearers Hint at a Bigger Conflict
In the Dark Future, humanity gravitates toward wielding the Darkness over the Light, and many Guardians become corrupted as per the Exo Stranger's tales - aka Elsie Bray, sister of Ana bray and nephew of Clovis Bray I. Corrupted Guardians wielding the Darkness is an interesting concept because it mirrors the current events in Destiny 2, but it also strays from them given Guardians are using the Darkness for good, controlling it rather than letting it control them.
Because Lightfall and The Final Shape expansions are closing in, with Lightfall being only two Seasons away, the final confrontation between Light and Darkness is coming to a close. According to Bungie, The Final Shape will seemingly conclude the Light and Darkness saga, even though there will be content for the game moving forward. There will still be stories left untold and mysteries left unfolded, but Destiny 2 is a game of secrets and half-told stories that hang in there until it matters to bring them back.
Still, one of the upcoming Destiny 2 expansions could have players fight corrupted Guardians to prove once and for all who or what is the "final shape." The in-game mechanics could be very similar to those of the Hive Lightbearers, as players will once again have to crush their opponents' Ghosts to truly kill them, but this time it could be fellow humans, Awoken, and Exo that have been corrupted beyond repair by the Darkness. Again, the game would prove how morally gray the whole conflict is, and how there is never a wholly good side in wars.
What's interesting is that the new Duality Dungeon has dialogue from Eris Morn stating that, according to Calus' extracted memories, The Witness believes the final shape is that which remains when everything that could be removed is. An all-out war between the forces of the Light and the Darkness would make a lot of sense, and the introduction of Hive Lightbearers could have been a hint toward what is to come with the new Destiny 2 expansions.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
