Destiny 2's Season of Plunder saw its storyline come to an end this week, and while this narrative arc was not one that tied many loose ends, it did set things up for Nezarec's return or at least another story that has to do with this former disciple of The Witness. And yet, three Seasons into Destiny 2's Year 5, fans have yet to discover what kind of events will link the current storyline to the Lightfall expansion. Much like with Season of the Lost and the looming release of The Witch Queen expansion last year, fans are in a peculiar predicament where they know what the setting and the incipit for Lightfall are going to be, but not how Bungie is going to connect the dots.
However, it's extremely likely that Season 19 will revolve around one key character that has taken the backseat for a long time, and that is Rasputin, the Warmind. Rasputin was pivotal in a few Seasons of Destiny 2's past, but he was quickly shut down by the Black Fleet at the very beginning of Season of Arrivals, never to be heard from again apart from a very few lore tabs involving Ana Bray. And yet, Rasputin is quite possibly the only link to Lightfall's Neomuna apart from the Exo Stranger's fish-like companion, and his return in Season 19 would explain a lot.
Why Rasputin's Return Would Make Sense in Destiny 2's Season 19
Because Rasputin is an AI, when the Black Fleet shut it down Ana Bray was able to salvage fragments of the Warmind's consciousness and knowledge and put them into an Engram. From Destiny 2's lore, it's later made clear that Ana Bray's intent is that of installing Rasputin's mind into an Exo frame to revive him to a degree, and doing so in Season 19 could be the spark that ignites the players' knowledge about a place called Nefele Stronghold.
Nefele Stronghold was first mentioned in The Witch Queen, specifically in one of the Evidence Board quests, where one of Ikora Rey's hidden agents reported that Rasputin removed protective measures for human settlements, including this particular one. In Greek mythology, Nephele is a cloud nymph, and this is probably the reason why Rasputin used the codename Nefele Stronghold to address the city of Neomuna, where Destiny 2's Cloud Strider society thrived after the Collapse. This means that, in order to piece information together ahead of Lightfall, players will likely have to talk to Rasputin once more and possibly restore his memories in Season 19.
Many Destiny 2 fans picked up on the fact that this so-called Nefele Stronghold was indeed a place they would end up visiting at some point, and it's clear now that Lightfall's setting had been hinted at already. Yet, in the same lore tab that accompanied the first mention of Nefele Stronghold - and thus Neomuna - in the game, Ikora's hidden agent also stated that not even Ana Bray knew of this settlement's existence, making Rasputin's return the most likely plot for Season 19.
In The Witch Queen campaign, Savathun's truths and lies game also mentioned that the Last City was not actually the last city, meaning that another human settlement was out there somewhere, leaving players in the dark about the veracity of this statement at the time. If Savathun knew about Neomuna already, she is still unlikely to return in Season 19, leaving Rasputin's storyline the best option for Bungie to create a connection with Lightfall. This is something that's been heavily speculated about for a while now, seeing how Season of Arrivals was the last before Beyond Light, and it only makes sense for Destiny 2's Season 19 to address as much and establish a strong link with Lightfall ahead of its release.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.