WARNING: This article contains MASSIVE Destiny 2 Lightfall spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.
Destiny 2's Season of the Plunder was noted for its repetitive nature regarding activities and weekly missions. However, its main story returned the name of Nezarec into the Destiny 2 story as Guardians raced to stop Eramis, Kell of Darkness, from gathering the relics of Nezarec from the old pirate crews at the behest of The Witness. Following the Season's conclusion using the relics to brew tea to wake Osiris from his coma, not much else was mentioned regarding this ancient figure. Yet, Lightfall's story and post-game content reveal that Season of Plunder was not a red herring.
Throughout Destiny 2 lore, it's been revealed that Nezarec was a Disciple of The Witness, perhaps made so by another Disciple, Vow of the Disciple's Rhulk. What little is known through the lore is that Nezarec led the Black Fleet during the Collapse, with Season of Plunder revealing his corpse was discovered long ago by the Eliksni aboard the Lunar Pyramid before being divided and scattered through the Solar System. While not much more has been told regarding the Curse of Nezarec, Lightfall has established the possibility of this figure's return.
Nezarec's Presence in Destiny 2 Lightfall's Hypernet Current Strike
The new Strike featured in Destiny 2's Lightfall campaign, called Hypernet Current, concludes with confirmation that Nezarec is alive in some fashion, as his voice is heard claiming, "I am pain. I am terror. I am Nezarec." The top right corner of the screen, which features the name of characters when speaking to the player, also goes so far as to name the entity Nezarec. Destiny 2's Vex's presence on Neomuna is abundant, and the fact his voice is present within the Vex network is no coincidence.
The post-game content for Lightfall reveals more information about the Vex and the Black Garden, with reports detailing that the Garden was an attempted replication of the Veil by the Vex. While the location of Nezarec is not disclosed yet, it may be possible that he is trapped in some form in the Vex network and perhaps using them in his plans. This is further amplified by the fact that more Whispers of Nezarec indicate that it plans to claim the Vex or some aspect of their reality, perhaps the Black Garden. This interaction began to lead players to believe that Nezarec may be the upcoming Raid boss.
Why Destiny 2's Lightfall Raid Might Feature Nezarec as Its Boss
It appears that after playing through the Hypernet Current Strike, unintelligible whispers are heard throughout Neomuna, especially within Maya's Retreat and Thrilladome Lost Sector. This led certain players to equip the glaive, Nezarec's Whisper, from Season of Nightmares, which confirmed the whispers were indeed Nezarec. The whispers, now discernable, reference not only Nezarec himself as a shadow but also mention the Witch, presumably Savathun.
Furthermore, throughout the post-game content, as players wander around Neomuna and perform patrols and other activities, Neomuna Civil News anchor, Jisu Calerondo, begins to provide reports of happenings among the city and its residents who have been uploaded into a virtual cloud network. In these reports, Jisu reports that the Neomuni are having an abundance of nightmares, with one name standing out: Nezarec.
Other reports indicate that violence is occurring among the citizens as well, detailing how a notable resident has murdered his wife, which is the first virtual murder the city has experienced. These elements all converge. Nezarec's corpse was in the Lunar Pyramid at one point, which is connected to the release of Nightmares in Shadowkeep. Compounded by the Neomuni's nightmares, along with Nezarec's Whisper from the Season of Nightmares, and the new Raid being called the Root of Nightmares, all seem to provide further evidence that the Raid boss will indeed be Nezarec. Thus, his role in Season of Plunder was very much not a ploy.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
