One of the PlayStation 4's leaked Trophies for Destiny 2 is kicking off a new wave of speculation about the Nine's role in the sequel. The Trophy's icon and text have led Destiny community members on a wild goose chase, tying the Trophy to a past ARG, a Ghost Fragment Grimoire entry, and even Director Luke Smith's sweatshirts. And it all points back to the mysterious Nine. Spoilers from Destiny 2 are forthcoming, so please stop reading here if you're saving yourself for September 6.
It starts with the Destiny 2 Trophy named "Lest Ye Be Judged." This Trophy is the only one of all fourteen to have an ambiguous means of acquisition, as others are for reaching max level, completing a Nightfall Strake, or finishing the raid. As such, it's garnered extra attention from a community hungry for more information. The only solid details they have had to go on is a Trophy icon showing three circles with the Roman numeral IX in the corner, and the description: "Encounter an Emissary from beyond."
The Roman numeral alone ties the Trophy to the Nine. But the study of the icon and the scope of what it implies makes it seem unlikely to just be referencing a meet-up with Xur. There's more to the Nine in Destiny 2 than is obvious.
This isn't the first time those three circles have shown up. Luke Smith, Destiny 2 Director, has worn two notable sweatshirts while presenting Destiny 2, each with an unknown emblem on it. One of those emblems is the three circles from the Trophy in question, and closer inspection of the three circles shows that they have a number of lines drawn through them. Unsurprisingly, the lines break up the three circles into nine different sections. Those lines broach into an entirely different topic, however.
During 2013, Bungie ran a Destiny ARG stemming from a forum account named Alpha Lupi. Players were able to solve the ARG, which produced an interesting image of overlapping circles. Circles that coincidentally line up with the Trophy's three circles when arranged a certain way. The ARG was ultimately tied into the announcement of Destiny itself, but no explanation for the photo and its symbols has since been mentioned.
Gathering all these threads together doesn't provide any clear answer to what the Trophy represents or the Nine's role in Destiny 2. However, it all does point to what could be a much larger role for the Nine in Destiny 2 than in the original Destiny.
But just how far down does the rabbit hole go? For example, the recent revelation of the new raid's name as Leviathan, confirmed in another trophy, has new meaning. Here's a Grimoire entry taken from the Destiny Ghost Fragment "Legends 2:"
"The Nine are ancient leviathan intelligences from the seas of Europa or the hydrocarbon pits of Titan."
It'd be incredible foreshadowing by Bungie if Destiny 2 ends up tying the Nine into a variety of content, and also keeps it secret. Keep in mind there are also rumors regarding Destiny 2's competitive PvP replacement for the Trials of Osiris to be renamed the Trials of the Nine. But we may have to wait for Destiny 2's launch for any sort of clarity or official confirmation.
Destiny 2 releases on PS4 and Xbox One on September 6, followed by a PC release on October 24.
Source: Reddit