Destiny 2 has been weaving an intricate tale in the deep lore of the Destiny universe. The current season in Destiny 2, Season of the Splicer, is no exception, bringing a narrative where the Vex have plunged The Last City into an Endless Night.
Guardians of Destiny 2 have faced the Vex and their simulations before, so on the surface, another Vex simulation shouldn’t be that bad, right? Well, this Vex simulation may not be like the others and may just pose a much larger threat than Guardians are expecting. This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS for Destiny 2, Season of the Splicer, and the Seasonal Narrative around the Endless Night.
Destiny 2 May Be Setting the Stage for Savathun
The Vex have created a simulation that has thrown The Last City into an endless night. Guardians have enlisted the help of Mithrax, Kell of House Light, a Sacred Splicer, to help splice into the Vex Network. The first time Guardians successfully splice into the Vex Network in Destiny 2, they catch a glimpse of a massive Vex Hydra that appears to be Taken.
This alone is cause for concern, as a Taken in the Vex Network is a big deal. This could mean that the Vex have been taken over by the Taken, yet the Taken do not act of their own free will. They are instead more like puppets on a string, controlled by their master. The problem here is The Taken King, Oryx, was defeated at the hands of Guardians. There is, however, one Taken that was only partially Taken by Oryx: Quria, Blade Transformed, a once Vex Access Mind that battled and lost to Oryx. Quria was then Taken by Oryx but left with some of its own free will before being gifted to Oryx’s sister, Savathun, The Witch Queen.
Quria, Blade Transformed
Quria is an Access Mind, created by the Vex to study and learn more about the Hive Sword Logic. Eventually, Quria battled Oryx and during battle, Quria tried to simulate Oryx but could not calculate Oryx’s power and current form. Instead, Quria simulated Aurash, Oryx’s original form. Enlightened by this, Oryx spoke with his simulated form. The conversation was then copied and transmitted to the Vex Network by Quria, moments before Oryx defeated Quria. Fascinated by Quria’s simulation, Oryx left some of the Access Mind’s free will and then gifted Quria to his sister, Savathun. Oryx mentions to Savathûn that Quria contains a Vex attempt to simulate him and it may be able to simulate others, including Savathun.
Savathun’s Access Mind?
Savathun eventually taught Quria to use Hive magic as a computational oracle to solve unsolvable problems, which, at the time, was the problem of how to navigate and engineer a singularity. The goal was to use the singularity to build upon Oryx’s tribute system that helped feed his Worm. This would allow Savathun to feed her Worm more efficiently, growing even more powerful from the lies and deception about her. This leads to the events of the Dreaming City, stuck in a time loop, shrouded in mystery, closely resembling the plans of Savathun’s improved tribute system.
During the events of the Dreaming City, Quria reaches out to Guardians in the lore book, Truth to Power. Quria originally attempts to disguise itself as Eris Morn before taking on the role of an ancient Golden Age tech named Medusa, similar to Rasputin. Quria reached out to Guardians to seemingly help in defeating Savathun’s daughter, Dul Incaru, and free itself from its Taken prison.
Guardians have also learned that Quria possesses the ability to Take, a power once only held by Oryx, the power that enslaved Quria. From here, Guardians may speculate that the free will left in Quria has adapted to the point of wanting release from Savathun’s control. At this point, it is an easy assumption that the Taken Vex in the Vex Network is Quria. However, it remains to be seen exactly who is in control, Quria, or its puppeteer, Savathun. MAJOR SPOILERS ahead.
What's Hiding in Destiny 2's Last City
In the Destiny 2 seasonal lore book, Beneath The Endless Night, Guardians learn more about the events around the tower. More importantly, though, there is one specific lore page that follows the brief perspective of something walking through the “City," most likely the Last City, beneath the Traveler. The page further informs the reader that this something “chose this form well." The something appears to be feeding on the openness and innocence of the people in the city, feasting on their naivete. This chosen form spoke with the people, sought their company and companionship. Suddenly, the scene shifts and the chosen form drops to its knees, vomiting a thin black fluid that turns to vapors and disappears.
The form clenches the black mass that threatens to unspool from within its shell of flesh, but their new arms are too thin, too weak. A moment of blackness and a man places his hands on the form, asking if it is ill. Revealing flat eyes and black teeth, the form lies to the man, preventing him from screaming. This lie empowers the form, giving it the strength to stand, cover its face, and continue walking. However, their form is splitting, with its Worm deep inside growling for more. Looking up and seeing what lies beyond the net of darkness, the Worm roars.
For many, it is clear that this is Savathun, The Witch Queen, taking on the form of what appears to be a human. As for the location, there are few cities left in Destiny, let alone cities with crowds of people under a net of darkness. This leads to the conclusion that Savathun is in the Last City, right under the watchful eye of Commander Zavala and the Guardians.
Season of the Splicer's Threat: Savathun or Quria?
With so many Destiny story threads leading up to the Endless Night and further leading to The Witch Queen expansion coming soon, it is no surprise that the story around Savathun is picking up and is also creating as many questions as it answers.
Through datamined information of the Destiny 2 story quests for Season of the Splicer, Guardians will eventually fight Quria in Season of the Splicer. When that happens, Guardians may likely learn more behind Quria’s actual involvement in the Endless Night and if it was working of its own free will, or if it is still carrying out the orders of Savathun, The Witch Queen.
As always with Savathun, all of this is likely just one large scheme meant to allow her to gain even more power from even more confusion around her. One thing is for certain, Savathun is coming, and the Guardians will need all their allies to defeat her.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.