Buried beneath other pieces of information Destiny 2 has released regarding the upcoming Witch Queen expansion is its new raid. So far what’s known about the raid featured in The Witch Queen is limited, but much like Deep Stone Crypt released with Beyond Light it should fill in some significant pieces of lore for Destiny 2. This is a trait that’s fairly common with endgame activities, as each of the raids in the Destiny franchise has contributed to the player’s understanding of its universe.
The Last Wish raid from the soon-to-be-vaulted Forsaken expansion made some of the most progress when it comes to pushing the narrative of Destiny 2 forward, and forced Guardians to face one of the strongest entities yet. The raid for The Witch Queen expansion has the potential to do the same, with some of its key enemies possibly shrouded by a thin veil of obscurity. Right now, the most concrete information fans have been given is that players will need to venture into the heart of a sunken pyramid ship in Savathun’s throne world to confront an ancient danger that has been imprisoned.
The Witch Queen Raid
There are a couple of entities within the lore of Destiny 2 which could fit this description, each of them proving to be a difficult enemy in their own right. However, the setting of TheWitch Queen’s raid might be the most important aspect in identifying what threat awaits fireteams. The pyramids in Destiny 2 are heralds of the Darkness. Their direct connection to the Darkness would suggest that whatever Savathun has imprisoned in the pyramid wasting away within her throne world also shares a strong connection with the Darkness.
This could be a number of enemies related to those players have encountered before. Based on the series of Hive images found in the hidden frames from the new Witch Queen trailer, there could be several new enemies with connections to Darkness. Some may be enemies of Savathun that she imprisoned following her estrangement from the rest of the Hive, such as loyalists to Xivu Arath or those that turned against her when she brought the Light into her domain.
However, while players have encountered countless Hive leaders that serve the Darkness, and used the exotic rocket launcher Gjallarhorn to slay powerful enemies such as Oryx, their connection to the Darkness doesn’t seem quite as strong as what’s suggested by the text teasing TheWitch Queen’s raid. As strong as members of the Hive are, few of them are as ancient as the race’s near-immortal gods, and fewer wield power that would need to be contained within a pyramid. But there is a strong contender that Guardians haven’t encountered yet: the Aphelion.
The Aphelion in Destiny Lore
The Aphelion are creatures that players might not be familiar with, but are known to both the Cabal and the Awoken. They are said to be stealthy and lethal to almost everyone that encounters them, and while information about them is limited to the Cabal’s Athenaeum World X, they have been encountered by Awoken such as Namqi Sen - who was able to send a transmission to the Emissary of the Nine, Orin, before perishing.
This isn’t the only interaction the Aphelion have had with the Awoken. While Sjur Eido is the only recorded person to survive such an encounter, the murder of three different Techeuns may be a canary in the coal mine when identifying why the Aphelion could appear. As a focus of Season of the Lost, Techeuns have become increasingly important, and their connections to the Aphelion, the Witch Queen, and Mara Sov could point to the ancient danger been imprisoned. While this could also be a coincidence, the strength of the Aphelion and the possibility that at least one Guardian may have encountered them before could also point to one or more being imprisoned by Savathun.
This is supported by Emperor Calus and his court, whose tendency to lie paints reality in favor of the exiled Cabal leader. The icy planet of Athenaeum World X is mentioned in the Chronicon and plays host to several creatures of the Darkness, as well as information on how to defeat the Aphelion. While players have yet to make it to this location, it’s believed that Gambit game mode director the Drifter has been to the planet.
During his time outside the solar system, the Drifter landed on a planet that matched the description of Athenaeum World X and encountered several lifeforms that are also said to live on the planet. Though some of the creatures escaped, they were imprisoned on the icy planet that the Drifter found. Calus’ idea of holding information about the Aphelion could very well be imprisoning them for later use or experimentation. The shadowy entities the Drifter found aren’t given names, but given the tendency that Emperor Calus has to skew the truth they could be the Aphelion.
If the Cabal did indeed have access to a world with several Aphelion imprisoned, the possibility that they came to be in the hands of the Hive is strong. As the empire struggles to exist, the Hive God of War Xivu Arath has waged a bloody campaign against loyalists, seeking to exterminate those she says owe her tribute. She’s likely to have searched through their athenaeum worlds for anything she can use, and the Aphelion would be an incredibly useful tool for the Hive God of War.
With their ability to choke out the Light, the Aphelion would be extremely dangerous to Guardians and the Lucent Brood alike. Their name also suggests that they’ve fallen from the Light, with Aphelion referencing celestial bodies farthest from the star that they orbit. This could mean that when The Witch Queen releases, players will face an ancient threat that may have once been loyal to the Light but is now so corrupted by Darkness it chokes out the very power Guardians rely on.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
