Like many great works of fiction, Destiny 2's lore has always been one of the most fascinating aspects the game had to offer. The original Destiny was heavily criticized for its story but only the story being shown in the campaign. Players could unlock Grimoire cards that were only accessible on Bungie's website, full of deep and rich lore and worldbuilding - something that eventually made its way into the game with Destiny 2: Forsaken's Triumphs.
To this day, one of the most famous Triumphs was introduced in a lore book called 'Truth to Power" that was unlocked alongside the release of Forsaken and the Last Wish Raid. Every three weeks, a new Truth to Power could be unlocked which correlated with the Dreaming City's three-week rotating cycle that continued the story of Prince Uldren's missing sister, Mara Sov. One of those entries hinted at a specific in-game challenge that players could complete by reaching 999 Power, sending the community on a witch hunt to discover what was believed to be Rivan's 15th wish for the Last Wish Raid.
Last Wish & Rivan's Wishes
One of the Last Wish Raid's most exciting secrets was the Wishing Room, a secret room that allowed for players to input certain codes in order to earn extra loot, skip specific boss encounters, and unlock exclusive in-game rewards like emblems. Players were able to find a total of 14 codes that could be used in-game with a 15th being hinted at through the Truth to Power lore book where a line of dialogue reads, "This one you shall cherish - Riven of a thousand voices."
The Dreaming City is currently trapped in an ongoing three-week cycle that sees the Taken corruption spread throughout the city every week, culminating in the opening of the Shattered Throne dungeon where players must defeat Dûl Incaru in order to reach Mara Sov in her throne world and unlock the next lore entry. It has been widely hypothesized that the Last Wish Raid and the Dreaming City curse were intrinsically linked and that one entry in Truth to Power might be specifically referencing the elusive final wish, seemingly to end the curse for good.
The entry reads: "Achieve Light Level 999 and defeat Du Incaru in a one-person fireteam to unlock the true ending of the Dreaming City."
The 999 Power Shattered Throne Challenge
With the release of Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, players are finally able to reach Power Level 999 by way of the new seasonal artifact. In Season of the Undying, players will receive the new Gate Lords Eye artifact that unlocks exclusive armor mods, as well as allow players to level up indefinitely within the season, giving +1 Power on top of power gained from weapons and armor, every time the artifact levels up.
Earlier this week, a Destiny 2 player by the name of Bagel4K was able to complete the challenge and solo the Shattered Throne dungeon after grinding for 260 hours to be the world's first 999 Power Level player. Bagel isn't a top-tier Twitch streamer or a World's First raider, and so well-known personality and Destiny community leaders, Gladd and Zupah, hosted Bagel's live-stream of him attempting the Shattered Throne solo at Power Level 999 and coached him through the entire challenge.
Unfortunately, nothing has come from it. Despite being one of the most iconic moments in the Destiny communities history, having amassed over 20,000 viewers on Twitch, the challenge ended without the world-changing event or cutscene that players had expected there to be. Bungie did post a statement on its website congratulating Bagel for the completion, but even that message is cryptic:
To our friend Bagel4k,
[This is another gift]
You’ve spent countless hours defeating the enemies of the Last City, steadily increasing your Power to challenge the darkness that is consuming the Dreaming City. [Your strength is my strength] We’ve been watching, alongside the community, as you’ve come to the doorstep of being the first Guardian in Destiny history to have a four-digit Power level. [Your victory is my victory] We are humbled by your dedication, and while this may not have broken the curse… we can say without question that you have become Legend. [My jaws are wide and I am waiting]
Thank you for playing, and we can’t wait to see how high you climb each season.
[The wait is long, but I am ceaseless]
Truth to Power
The theory for how the Dreaming City curse will end came directly from Truth to Power's pages, which has long been described as a "choose your own adventure" style lore book. The narrator of the book originally claims to be Eris Morn until the player's Ghost is able to debunk that lie and the being reveals themselves to be a Golden Age AI known as Medusa. Of course, no one actually knows who the storyteller really is, whether it's Eris Morn, the Shattered Throne boss Dûl Incaru, or even Savathun.
Savathun is a Hive God and the sister of Oryx, known for her trickery and speculated to be the one who made the final wish with Rivan that led to the Dreaming City's curse with his death. Throughout Bungie's congratulation to Bagel is another message that clearly indicates a second person or presence speaking to the community, and that presence is Savathun.
The full message reads: I am Savathun, ravenous! I have set the snare and baited the trap. Is victory so easy, hero? I am the finality, the reward—I am the true ending. This is another gift. Your strength is my strength. Your victory is my victory. My jaws are wide and I am waiting. The wait is long, but I am ceaseless.
Savathun's message appears to indicate another long-running Destiny 2 theory that she will make her debut as Destiny 2's final boss before players fight the Veil in Destiny 3. Savathun has had a presence in Destiny 2 since the very beginning and it appears that not only did she orchestrate the death of Dûl Incaru but that she is behind the Truth to Power lore entry that led the community there in the first place.
Events like this one don't come around very often and regardless of whether it led to a world-changing event or not, it's certainly one to be remembered. Bungie has been teasing an enemy like Savathun for a very long time, building her up as a devious enemy that's orchestrating events from the shadows and this time it really feels like something is being built up to. In the meantime, there's still one more triumph left in Festival of the Lost that's left to be discovered!
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.
MORE: Destiny 2: The Craziest Ways Raid Bosses Have Been Beaten