After watching the trailer for the Season of the Splicer, it appears Mithrax will play a major role in helping players repel the Vex. While new Destiny 2 players might not have heard of him before, veterans and lore keepers know that this isn't Mithrax's first appearance.
Seeing as he'll probably be in the limelight for at least a few months, it's worth taking a look at his past. Players should see who this Fallen Captain is and understand why he's important. Thankfully, the lore, the new trailer, and past interactions with him give gamers more than enough information to learn about this character's new role.
9 His Alliance With The Awoken
Chronologically, the earliest lore of Mithrax describes his capture by the Awoken Queen's Wrath, Sjur Eido. The Misraaks lore tab from The Forsaken DLC begins with Mithrax, only a Vandel at the time, bound with his arms behind his back.
Ashamed of his capture, he hurls himself off a cliff. Thankfully, he is saved by his captor, who then performs an ireliis bow, an Eliksni salute of respect. After this display of peace and mercy from Sjur, Mithrax allied himself with the Awoken, fighting alongside them during the Reef Wars.
8 His Fearful Relationship With His Mother
This story of Mithrax's capture carries clues as to his relationship with his mother. Before he attempts to escape, he imagines how his mother, who is also his captain, will punish him for being captured: "She will twist and tear his arms from his body like she is shucking a fine, fat crab for dinner, and he will be glad of the slow, sick cracks and crunches of his bones. He will be glad of the shame. Let him go limbless for the rest of his wasted life."
Before Sjur saves him, he still prays that his mother forgets him, ashamed of his weakness. It's safe to say that his fear of this abusive retaliation was a primary motivator for Mithrax in his years as a Vandel.
7 Players Met & Spared Him On Titan
In Destiny 2's base campaign, a quest called The Enemy Of My Enemy was available on the now-disappeared Titan. This entailed six missions that involved clearing the Fallen out of an important control center. Meanwhile Mithrax, after leaving the Awoken, joined the House of Dusk, a disorganized Fallen House comprising the broken fragments of remaining Houses. There, he ascended to the rank of Captain. In an effort to produce more ether, which the Fallen need to survive, he stormed Titan for a methane reactor.
Throughout the questline, players see Mithrax and his purple-clad crew from afar, but the Fallen always seem to be one step ahead until the end of the quest. There, Guardians see Mithrax and a Hive Knight in a one-on-one duel. If the Guardian kills both, the mission ends. However, if only the Knight is killed, Mithrax leaves in peace. Since the Guardians see him again, it is implied that the peaceful ending is canonical.
6 His Guardian Fireteam
The Traveler – or, as they call it, the Great Machine – imbued the Fallen with the powers of the light before humanity. After an explosion of scientific and social advancement, the Traveler abandoned the Fallen, who were ravaged by a subsequent apocalypse named "The Whirlwind." Many Fallen chased the Traveler into the Sol System, leading to many battles and war with humanity, who The Fallen saw as unworthy of the Great Machine's power.
After a Guardian spared him, though, Mithrax concluded that Guardians are worthy of the Traveler. Seeing the brighter side of humanity after the events on Titan, Mithrax left the House of Dusk and formed a fireteam with a Hunter and a Warlock. The three embarked on adventures, learning more about each other's culture and history.
5 Mithrax, Kell of Light
Fireteam in tow, Mithrax visited the tomb of his former friend Sjur. The lore for the Queenbreakers' Bow illustrates the Captain, a Hunter and a Warlock paying respects to Mithrax's dead friend, Sjur. Remembering his late ally's mercy, he makes a promise to work towards peace and unification. "I will Kell the mind-open Eliksni. No spider-tricks. No loyal-lies. Variisis truths. We fight for Great Machine together." A Kell refers to the leader of a Fallen House.
From here, Mithrax begins to assemble the House of Light, pledging to fight alongside the Guardians against The Darkness. As of the upcoming season, he has already begun to recruit open-minded Fallen and conduct allied operations with Guardians.
4 His Real Name Is Misraaks
Reminiscent of real-world linguistic colonialism, Mithrax's name is actually a bastardization of his true name, Misraaks. Sjur is the first to mispronounce the name. After a member of his fireteam asks why the House of Wolves use a wolf in their name when they likely have never seen one, Misraaks rhetorically discusses the domination of his language by humanity from his name to the name of his species.
"Why Eliksni accept name 'Fallen'?" he asks. "Why Wolves accept name 'Wolves'? Why Misraaks is now…" He grimaces as he mimes their accents, showing his serrated teeth. "Miff-racks? . . . Why speak Guardian way instead Eliksni? Docked things do not word themselves."
3 Zero Hour
In The Season of The Drifter, Mithrax calls players to The Farm, the hub world used while The Tower was under siege during the Red War. After meeting him, players accompany him to the Old Tower. There they find hostile Eliksni attempting to steal SIVA technology.
This Zero Hour mission has Guardians and Mithrax face off against Siriks, Loyal to Eramis. At the time, Eramis was attempting to reunite the House of Devils. After failing to grab the SIVA tech, Eramis decided that it was pointless and decided to instead forge a new path, the House of Salvation. After lending his four helping hands, Mithrax disappears.
2 Eliksni Refugees
Beyond Light had Guardians dismantle Eramis's regime of darkness. A foil of Mithrax, Eramis set out to unite the Eliksni through Darkness instead of through allegiance to the Light.
During the campaign and a subsequent Empire Hunt, players are tasked with defending a fleeing group of Eliksni on Europa. Variks tells Guardians that the fleeing Eliksni will be led to Mithrax, and that the Kell of Light will hopefully take them in. In the trailer for Season of the Splicer, it's possible that the Eliksni babies shown are some of these refugees.
1 Season of The Splicer
Season 14's trailer revealed that the Tower will look to Mithrax for help in repelling the new Vex threat. Mithrax is shown to be a sacred splicer, an Eliksni with the power to command advanced technology that not even the champions of the Traveler understand.
Players hear his voice for the first time as well. It appears Mithrax will guide Guardians into the Vex network, in an attempt to stop their simulation from becoming a permanent reality. Not much is known about the exact role he'll play, but considering he seems to be the season's namesake, it will be a significant one.
The Season of The Splicer launches May 11 and lasts until August 24.