Destiny 2's Vex are enemies that have made trouble for Guardians since the first Destiny. Within Destiny 2, their presence has been felt on Nessus and Europa, with significant lore attached to both locations. While they appear throughout the story, as of late, they've become filler enemies while other foes like the Hive, Cabal, and Fallen have taken center stage. With the intricate lore tied to the Vex, they should be more integral to the overall story.
The Vex race are organic-cybernetic beings that are more ancient than the Hive and are among the strongest enemies in Destiny 2, with ties to the flower game between the Gardener and the Winnower. With a cold, calculating nature, the Vex have served as enemies to Guardians but are hostile toward every group in the Destiny universe. Their technology is the most advanced in the game, known for converting planets into machines, and they are capable of space-time engineering and time travel.
How Destiny 2 Explains The Vex's Origin and The Flower Game
Before time, a garden was considered a field of possibility that prefigured existence. Within this garden were the Gardener and the Winnower - advanced ontological dynamics of mathematical structures representing the Light and the Darkness, respectively. In the morning, the Gardener planted seeds, while in the evening, the Winnower culled the ones that didn't thrive. During the day, they played a game known in Destiny 2 as the flower game.
In the game, the Gardener and the Winnower were rules, with the Gardener representing the complexity of patterns and the Winnower favoring simplistic, self-sustaining designs. As it would have it, such a final, independent shape would eventually always dominate the game, consuming all other patterns and shapes, which the Gardener found boring. To prevent this, the Gardener made itself into a new rule, which forced the Winnower to do the same, and the old rules were set aside.
With no moves left, the Winnower attacked the Gardener. As they fought, the garden was decimated, which broke the simulated realities into Big Bangs, causality, and physics, spilling the simulations into real universes which the Gardener and the Winnower entered, as did the original rules. Those initial rules became the Vex. While Darkness tells this creation myth, it supports the game's thematic elements. Furthermore, the Vex, capable of affecting reality and time travel, reinforce their original role as the first rules in the flower game. It's possible that Destiny 2's Gardener and Winnower creation myth will become more important in future expansions, though.
The Vex Have Been Relegated to Side Villains
Throughout Destiny 2, the Vex have been mainly relegated to side villains, occurring during a Raid, or used by other enemies to distract Guardians, such as Eramis, Kell of Darkness, during Beyond Light. While they posed existential threats during the Curse of Osiris expansion, their threat was overcome, and it's been stated in the universe that due to so many defeats, they've been reduced and forced to consolidate. This is seen even in the most recent dungeon, Spire of the Watcher, released during the final season of Year 5, where they feel repeated as side villains.
This consolidation may explain why only specific subtypes of Vex are seen as bosses in Destiny 2, such as Hydras, Wyverns, Minotaurs, or Harpies. Due to the fact the Vex are the original rules and final shape of the flower game, they should serve as more significant antagonists in the future. Since the Darkness favored them during the game, it stands to reason that it would use the Vex more to give them the upper hand it feels they deserve.
While the Darkness did influence Clovis Bray into bringing the Vex to Europa, the fact that the last expansion in the saga between Destiny 2's Light and Darkness is called The Final Shape, which should hopefully get the Vex back to the forefront and make them a force in line with the Darkness to be reckoned with. If this happens, their advanced technology and abilities in engineering and time travel could be instrumental in the Darkness possibly succeeding. Only time will tell what role they'll play in the future, but they shouldn't be treated as filler enemies anymore.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
