Destiny 2's Lightfall story has received backlash for not only failing to provide long-awaited answers regarding the Witness, the Traveler, and the Veil but for neglecting to deliver a darker war story that appeared to be marketed for the penultimate chapter in the Light and Darkness saga. At the same time, the vibe of the Lightfall campaign and Neomuna contains aspects of a 1980s action movie; its light-hearted elements take away from the impending doom that the story opens with. However, Destiny 2's Season of Defiance, launching simultaneously with Lightfall, seems to deliver on those darker features that the campaign couldn't.
When Osiris and players rush to Neomuna for the primary Lightfall campaign, it often feels as if the climatic battle between The Witness and the Vanguard on Earth is on hold. Bungie has promised in its TWAB that its seasonal content will reveal more story beats and revelations. Destiny 2's Season of Defiance is living up to that description, as the home war is underway. With more still to come, there's hope the Season can land an impactful punch on the severity facing Earth's fate.
Season of Defiance Successfully Takes Players Away from Lightfall’s Neomuna
Picking up where the battle over Earth left off, Season of Defiance immediately sees players dealing with the aftermath of the Vanguard's defeat by the Witness. Amanda Holliday is captured, with Devrim Kay, Mithrax of House Light, and Awoken Queen Mara Sov meeting at the returned destination of the Farm to begin to plan the rescue. This involves battling the Shadow Legion forces that are also present on Earth in the EDZ, as well as traversing the Ascendant Realm with powers bestowed upon players by Destiny 2's Mara Sov.
This sets up the Season's Defiant Battlegrounds activity, which provides a decent challenge to players as much as it showcases the horrors happening on the ground. With Holliday and other human captives being taken aboard the Pyramid ships, access through the Ascendant Realm is the only way to gain entry. This makes excellent use of the Awoken Queen, who reminds Mithrax the Kell of House Light and players that her powers are not necessarily those of the Light, but she uses them to help.
It's important more than ever that Mara Sov reminds the Guardians about her powers, especially as they embrace the forces of Darkness through Strand. It also resonates with the contemporary themes of Destiny 2 that not everything is black or white when it comes to the Light and the Darkness, as Osiris has learned and mentions. The Light may not be the full embodiment of good that was once thought, and Destiny 2's Darkness may not be as evil as initially believed. With paracausal powers, so much is uncertain.
How Destiny 2’s Season of Defiance Focuses on Post-Campaign Stories
It's this uncertainty that also resonates throughout the story, being unveiled through Season of Defiance. The NPCs alert Guardians that it isn't just Vanguard operatives being kidnapped but citizens too. While the end of a Defiant Battleground does involve freeing prisoners who seem scared but otherwise intact, the true nature of their abductions has yet to be revealed, though undoubtedly, the rest of Destiny 2's Season of Defiance will shed light on this.
While there is not much to go on, it does give players pause as to what might be happening. Since the Witness can easily split apart a Ghost and its Guardian with the mere flick of its finger, wiping swaths of humans off the board should feasibly be easy. The fact that captives are being taken opens the door to wider mysteries that may reveal horrors to come, much in the vein of Mass Effect 2, where it's learned the Collectors had abducted humans in an attempt to create a Reaper-Hybrid. At this point, anything is possible, making it all the more terrifying and an engaging story.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.