The Destiny 2 community has quickly shifted focus to the upcoming tenth season thanks in large part to a brand new cutscene that Bungie quietly added to this past week's game world reset. The cinematic shows an agitated Osiris confronting the Warmind Rasputin inside of its core on Mars, and the dialogue manages to remain ambiguous, though it does shed some light on Rasputin's checkered history as Osiris demands to know what side of the fight the Warmind is actually on.
Typically seen as more of a background player, Rasputin has been involved in the series to some capacity since the original Destiny campaign. It wouldn't be until 2018's Warmind expansion for Destiny 2 that Rasputin would be given a bigger role as players allied with Ana Bray to defeat the Hive and their Wormgod Xol on Mars to stave off their attack on the AI's Core. Following the surprising return of the Rasputin into the spotlight, the big question on most player's minds has been what the AI Warmind has been up to these past two years.
The End of Warmind
The easy answer to this question is absolutely nothing. The game has basically sidelined Rasputin after 2018's Warmind expansion where players worked with Legendary Gunslinger Ana Bray in saving the AI from the Hive. At the end of that campaign, Rasputin permitted Ana and the player into its core where a lurking Commander Zavala also appeared to express his disapproval and skepticism of the whole thing.
It's clear that Destiny 2's Zavala has his doubts and trust issues with regards to the formerly dormant Warmind, and the audience with Rasputin also may have also justified his beliefs. Ultimately, Rasputin declared that it was done being a servant to others and would protect the Sol System on his own terms. A new network of Warsats was also deployed to give him greater vision and reach across the system and likely beyond.
While it's likely that Rasputin has been increasing his defenses and reach over the past two years, the game itself doesn't tell us much about what it's been up to or what it is preparing to do. As such, fans need to look to the lore and a few subtle mentions for potential answers.
The Dreaming City Curse
Following the Warmind content, Bungie followed that up with the well received Forsaken expansion. While that expansion primarily focused on the Scorn and Awoken, it also featured a trio of weekly rotating quests which make mention of the aforementioned Warmind. As the Dreaming City curse continues onward, the Acting Regent-Commander Petra Venj has sought ways to break the seemingly never ending cycle.
Upon finishing The Dark Monastery mission, Petra requests that the player sends the mission data to Rasputin who is helping perform a deep dive analysis. Even Ghost gets in on it by requesting that Rasputin performs a cross reference on resurrection rituals from the Dreadnaught or Luna. Unfortunately, nothing else really comes from this, though it's understood that this request likely falls under the AI's core function of protecting humanity and the system from alien threats.
Planning for the Worst
The cinematic has caused many players to dig deep through the archives and through many in-game items where some of the best story content continues to reside, such as the current whereabouts of the recently revived Uldren Sov.
One player managed to find some fairly interesting text associated with the unsecured/OUTCRY ship. The lore text seems to indicate a contingency plan that Rasputin has been developing should the worst come to pass. While it's heavily written in Rasputin's computer like language, some fans have attempted to translate it into something more reasonable. Unfortunately, some of the characters are still up for interpretation, but the text essentially reveals its plan of action using many of its protocols.
If the system suddenly faces an emergency condition from an external and hostile threat, communication with humanity has been cut off and the odds of survival are at less than 0.5%, then the following will happen:
- Execute DECISION POINT - Start the plan.
- Activate LOKI CROWN - Fire all available weapons at the Traveler either to keep it from leaving or coerce it to help fight.
- Cancel counterforce objectives - This line is up for debate but some believe this means to stop fighting the Darkness.
- Activate NAGLFAR STEP - Another unknown protocol, though the belief is that this is a plan to transport something either humanity away from Earth or perhaps to help Guardians get somewhere. The reasoning is that the name Naglfar is from Norse mythology for a boat that transports the dead horde.
- Activate KALKI GOLEM - This last step is also puzzling with some believing it means Rasputin shifts to a more mobile form or as a way to bring the world back out of the Darkness and into a new Golden Age. Some argue that this could be an actual avatar acting on behalf of Rasputin to end the age of Darkness.
- Execute ALL ASSETS IMPERATIVE ACHAEA KNOX (unsecured/OUTCRY) at SM CALADBOLG - The most ambiguous portion of this lore is here. Many link it to escaping to a fortified defensive position due to the word Knox which is linked to a Gaelic term for "a round hill." Still, this phrase is up for debate.
The ship where this lore current resides was added to the game inside of Black Armory, content that was added through the Annual Pass that came after Warmind. Therefore, it could be theorized that since its awakening in Warmind, Rasputin has been largely planning for the eventual return of the Darkness and what it needs to do to save humanity at any cost.
Can it be Trusted?
For many inside of the Destiny universe, Rasputin has a sketchy history. Originally created by Clovis Bray during the Golden Age, this Warmind was in charge of foreseeing potential threats to human civilization and to utilize military assets to protect them as needed. As such, it was Rasputin who discovered The Darkness, though it wasn't able to devise a plan to overcome the threat and satisfy its core programming. At this time, it also created the ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE protocol, which is a last ditch effort to immobilize the Traveler through force if humanity was threatened and the big orb attempted to flee. At this point, Rasputin reconfigured his programming and basically went dark to ensure its long-term survival.
Unfortunately, a fragment of the Warmind managed to break off and land back on Earth and was reactivated by the Iron Lords during the Dark Ages. Turns out, they were in search of SIVA, a substance that Destiny players know all too well as something not to be trifled with, but it was looked at back then as powerful nanotechnology that could help rebuild the human civilization. When Rasputin found out, it attempted to force them out of Site 6 by force, classifying them as a threat to humanity for attempting to release SIVA. Unfortunately, the Iron Lords were virtually wiped out in the battle with only Efrideet and Lord Saladin surviving.
While unconfirmed, it's likely that the SIVA incident is being referenced by Osiris during his confrontation with Rasputin. There's likely a lot more that fans don't know yet, though with only a few more weeks before Season 10 officially kicks off, players won't have to wait much longer.
Destiny 2 is available on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Stadia.