For this year's The Dawning in Destiny 2, players are tasked with baking a new kind of treat. The Blueberry Crumblers for Shaw Han is one of a handful of treats that guardians can give to their respective NPCs in Destiny 2. Since the release of this year's Dawning event, there have been plenty of baked goods added, and now more NPCs than ever can get a customized treat.
With the reveal of the Blueberry Crumblers treat, it has been stated that Shaw Han loves blueberries. For many, this particular revelation seems curious, as does the vitriol some of the community harbors for him. But Bungie doesn't add details without reason. To solve this mystery, it's good to know a little more about the man and the double meaning behind "blueberries."
Who is Shaw Han?
Shaw Han first appeared in the Beyond Light expansion that was released in November of 2020. He is a hunter working for the Vanguard in the ruins of Russia's Cosmodrome. With the vaulting of content that occurred, Bungie brought back the beloved destination from Destiny and its original purpose as a training zone for new guardians. It was dubbed the "New Light" experience and served as a way to get new players acclimated to Destiny 2, since its vanilla campaign had been removed with the content vaulting.
Before his final reveal, it was speculated that the mysterious new hunter would be the resurrected Prince Uldren Sov. Prior to that point, lore surrounding the new guardian had been drip-fed through new entries and seemed to place the awoken guardian in that region. For the time, it was a theory that made sense. Alas, after many weeks of theorizing, players were introduced to Shaw Han and a name so ridiculous, it had to come from a place that was both fast and furious.
For four years, Shaw Han and his fireteam consisting of Maeve and Cas were deployed to the Cosmodrome following the SIVA crisis. During a mission, the fireteam was assaulted by the hive. The assault was lead by Navota, Eir Spawn and both Maeve and Cas lost their light to the hive wizard. Since that fateful encounter, Shaw Han has stayed on in the Comsodrome as the Vanguard's sole representative. With New Light players spawning in the Cosmodrome, as veterans did so long ago, Shaw Han is there to guide them.
Players are split on their opinion of Shaw Han, largely due to an unintended error. As stated previously, he was designed to be a guide for new players. However, when veterans would embark on his quest chain, his dialogue didn't reflect the years of experience the guardian likely had. Instead, he would talk to everyone as if they were a brand new player and this rubbed a lot of veterans the wrong way. After all, once someone has slayed literal gods, it feels a bit condescending to be treated like an absolute beginner.
This was a similar issue when players that opted to play on PC instead of console when Destiny 2 first released. If a player had progress from Destiny on their Bungie profile and were playing on the same platform, it would be reflected in the dialogue during strikes and other events. However, if players switched platform or played on PC, which the first Destiny never came to, the default dialogue would treat them as a totally new guardian. In the grand scheme of things it was something minor, but it would have made more sense for Bungie to include a toggled option between new and veteran players that would then impact the dialogue.
What is a "Blueberry?"
When playing Destiny 2, there is a minimap that shows the position of the player, other players in the fireteam, and other random players. Fireteam members are green, whereas random players in areas like the Tower or zones like the EDZ are blue. Somwhere along the line, "blueberries" became the default term for these random strangers. Over the years, it has become a bit of a deragatory term, as randoms would routinely and unknowingly ignore the prerequisites to make public events heroic, or would otherwise do things that usually result in their untimely death.
Due to their "inexperience," blueberries are often associated with new players. Since Shaw Han is the defacto coach for all new players, it would only make sense that he would in turn like blueberries. Leaning into that bit of humor, Bungie added the Blueberry Crumblers baked treat for him during this year's Dawning. This isn't even close to the first time that Bungie has made a pun-based treat. In fact, most of them are with such notable examples being Bright-Dusted Snowballs for Tess and Ascendant Apple Tart for Mara Sov.
While Shaw Han might have a love for the newer players of Destiny 2, it serves as a good reminder for the larger community to do the same. Players will start the game at different stages, and it falls on those that have spent more time playing to teach those just joining. This goes from the obvious, like how to turn public events into heroics, or how to complete the latest raid or dungeon. While the Destiny community might not be as notoriously friendly as the Bloodborne community, it has been known to band together around causes and members when it wants to.
The joke itself is a little meta and requires some insight into the workings of Destiny 2. However, as is often the case, the best jokes are inside jokes. They build a sense of comraderie amongst those in a shared hobby. It's nice when a community can band together around something like this, but it's something else when the developer decides to get in on the fun as well. It shows an insight and connection to the community that is often lacking in games like Destiny 2. So, in the spirit of the season, make sure to bake some of the delicious new confectionary for Crow, everyone's favorite Vanguard member to hate.
Destiny 2 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
