It's easy to get caught up in the role of hero while playing video games, especially with titles like Destiny 2 where players have access to awesome power in the face of endless enemies. While it can be fun to play this role and throw grenades from the safety of a Warlock’s Well of Radiance, it’s also important that Destiny 2 players examine their place in the game’s narrative. While Guardians are the heroes put forth in both Destiny and Destiny 2, that doesn’t mean this role can’t change over time.
The mountain of content being vaulted when The Witch Queen releases has a great example of the way Guardians sometimes step out of their role as a hero. The story in Forsaken took Cayde-6 away from players, and subsequently may have been more about revenge than justice. These two can be easy to conflate, but they aren’t always the same. Looking at how the Guardian’s role can change like this is important because players who are invested in the story should prepare for a worst-case scenario.
Destiny 2's Coming Lightfall Expansion
The path of Guardians falling away from the Light while in-fighting has been hypothesized already, but it might not necessarily be true. While the title of the Lightfall expansion can invoke this imagery, something significantly more alarming is the possibility that Guardians can lose their Light. This doesn’t have to mean through the death of their Ghosts - like many of the deaths Spoiler Alert returning might refer to, but rather that the Traveler could abandon humanity and deem others a more viable use of its time. While the act might be inconceivable to some, it’s one that has been hinted at before.
The Warmind Rasputin believed this could be the case when the Darkness first arrived in the solar system and put an end to the Golden Age. While the exact circumstances of what happened aren’t clear, in the aftermath humanity was left in the dark and only had Ghosts to rely on. These Ghosts may have been critical to the species survival, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t serving the Traveler’s best interests. At their core, they are still pieces of the Traveler - part of an entity that has been at war with the Darkness for eons, no stranger to abandoning civilizations like the Eliksni to survive.
Saying that humanity's fate is different from the Eliksni is easy, but evidence to the contrary continues to pile up. The Traveler was subdued during the Red War, and the power that Guardians wield has begun to waver to include Stasis. If the Traveler were to look around and see the world around it as no longer serviceable to its survival, especially now that the Darkness and its pyramids have arrived, it might be inclined to flee the solar system and save itself. However, given how rooted the Darkness is in the system, it could also choose more viable champions.
While the Traveler might not be strong enough to strip every Guardian of their Ghost, that doesn’t mean it isn’t interested in finding new defenders. The House of Light led by Mithrax could be a viable option, but a new champion may arise as well. Savathun has been searching for a way to access the Light and free herself of the Worm Gods. This would distance her from the Darkness, and might be enough to land her ilk in the Traveler’s good graces. It sounds farfetched, yet in a new trailer for The Witch Queen the Guardian’s Ghosts says the Hive shouldn’t be able to wield the Light at all.
Savathun and the Light
The possibility remains that this Ghost is right and Savathun has discovered a way to harvest the Light without being chosen. Even after Uldren Sov killed Cayde-6 and helped create the Scorn, Crow being resurrected as a Guardian means there may be a way for Savathun to also be gifted. As one of the Hive Gods, she’s a major power in the solar system, and as far as players know she’s actively working against her sister Xivu Arath, the Worm Gods, and the Darkness.
It’s also something she’s been doing for a while. Savathun has a history of trying to deceive the Worm Gods and the Darkness, and even worked against Emperor Calus. This could label Savathun the Witch Queen as a possible ally to the Traveler, one who wields immense strength and the numbers necessary to back herself up. Gifting her with Light would only be a bonus, one that might secure the Traveler's survival so it can escape from the solar system.
Savathun not being able to have the Light feels like a fact in the context of what fans know about Destiny 2 up until now, but next month she will. It’s an event with serious consequences. If she’s been deemed worthy, the ripple effect could directly lead into the next expansion, Lightfall. If Savathun has found another way though, then the Light isn’t something as sacred as Guardians may have thought, and the realm of Savathun's throne world might only be a glimpse of what's to come.
Either way, when looking at the events of Destiny 2 through the lens of the Traveler trying to survive, it seems significant crossroads are on the horizon. This is something The Witch Queen expansion is likely to reinforce as Savathun preaches her truth to the Guardian. This, combined with things like the Witch Queen's new Lucent Brood, suggests players' understanding of Destiny 2’s story is soon going to change forever.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Witch Queen launches on February 22.
