Background The Final Shape centers on the Witness, the main overarching antagonist of the Light and Darkness saga (which began with the original
Destiny). The Witness is an extremely powerful, primordial being of Darkness that commands the Black Fleet, and is the product of an entire species having merged into one entity and a single gestalt consciousness. It has spent eons chasing the Traveler as part of its eternal pursuit to impose "salvation" upon all reality through the titular Final Shape—the calcification and destruction of all life in the universe. The Witness was ultimately responsible for humanity's Collapse, as well as for the destruction of countless civilizations across the universe throughout millennia, by its hand or through the actions of its Disciples and other servants. A year prior to
The Final Shape, the Witness attacked the Traveler in Earth's orbit, where it was granted a vision of the Veil, the counterpart of the Traveler, on Neptune; the player's Guardian was sent to the city of Neomuna on Neptune to defend the Veil from Emperor Calus—now a Disciple of the Witness—and his Shadow Legion Cabal. However, after Calus's defeat, the Witness used the Guardian's Ghost to perform an uplink with the Veil, allowing it to use the Veil's power to open a portal on the Traveler's surface and enter its Pale Heart to begin enacting the Final Shape. During
Season of the Deep, the proto-Worm God Ahsa revealed to the Guardian the origins of the Witness, and that Savathûn, the Witch Queen, was the key to getting into the Pale Heart. During
Season of the Witch, the Guardian forces Immaru, Savathûn's Ghost, to revive the Witch Queen, who reveals a 15th wish (for the Wish Wall in the "Last Wish" raid) upon her resurrection that could be granted by the spirit of the deceased Ahamkara Riven of a Thousand Voices. During
Season of the Wish, the Guardian makes a deal with Riven to grant the wish, allowing singular passage into the Pale Heart; Crow volunteers to go through the portal due to his connection with his sister, Queen Mara Sov. Crow successfully passes through the portal and arrives in the Pale Heart, where he is greeted by the spirit of
Cayde-6, who initially attacks Crow but relents as he discovers Crow is a Guardian.
Main story The Final Shape begins shortly after the events of
Season of the Wish. The Guardian, Commander Zavala, and Ikora Rey travel through the portal on the Traveler. Guided by Mara, the Guardian makes their way through the threshold while getting attacked by the Taken and the Dread, the Witness's personal soldiers of Darkness. After managing to pass through the threshold, the Traveler gives the Guardian a vision of the Witness infecting it with Darkness, and the Guardian arrives at its Pale Heart, an otherworldly dimension inside the Traveler. The Guardian explores the Pale Heart, which has taken the form of the Last City and the old Tower, and follows a Vanguard signal. The Guardian discovers a well of both Light and Darkness powers combined, which grants the Guardian the power of Prismatic, allowing them to use both their Light and Darkness powers in tandem. The Guardian soon discovers the spirit of Cayde-6, who explains to the Guardian that Crow had gone deeper into the Pale Heart to scout the area but has not returned. Heading deeper into the Pale Heart, the Guardian and Cayde discover that Crow ended up getting separated from his Ghost, Glint. The Guardian enters a cave to search for Crow, where the Witness attempts to sway the Guardian to its side; the Guardian finds Crow in front of a veiled Darkness statue. Crow explains to Cayde and the Guardian that the Witness was tempting him to join its side, and that its spreading corruption throughout the Traveler is affecting Ghost as well. The trio resolves to find Ikora where she had crash landed, at a manifestation of the Cradle from Io. After fighting through Hive enemies, they have an emotional reunion with Ikora, where she tells the Guardian that the Traveler is screaming out in pain due to the Witness's corruption. They then set out to find Zavala—they find him in a manifestation of his family home on Earth, where his Ghost, Targe, explains that Zavala is also being tempted by the Witness, claiming it can bring his wife Safiyah and his son Hakim back from the dead. After fighting off the Fallen of House Salvation, a mysterious, dark voice reaches out to Zavala through an effigy of Safiyah, until Ikora snaps him out of it. With the Vanguard finally back together, the Guardian, Cayde, and Crow then go through a snowy manifestation of the Cosmodrome, and Crow reveals to Cayde that he wished to Riven to bring Cayde back to life. The Guardian discovers that the Witness's corruption is much more apparent with its monolith much closer in proximity. In a fissure of Light located where the Guardian was originally resurrected by Ghost, the Guardian is blessed with a new Light super by the Traveler. Cayde and Crow soon decide to find a way to commune with the Traveler after this revelation; the Guardian finds a similar Light fissure in one of the Lost Sectors hidden in the Pale Heart and Cayde communes with the Traveler through the Light fissure, where he is granted a vision of his Ghost, Sundance, who recites the Guardian creed. The Guardian presses forward towards the Witness's monolith, going through a manifestation of a city belonging to the Witness's origin species, the Precursors. Zavala then begins acting strangely, declaring that he would give himself to the Darkness in order to defeat the Witness; he goes off alone without Targe as Ikora, Cayde, and Crow try to stop him. The Guardian decides to go after Zavala with Targe, who decide to commune with the veiled statues to find out how to defeat the Witness and what they had communed to Zavala. As they fight through Scorn forces, the Guardian and Targe discover that the veiled statues are actually dissenting Precursors that are currently bound to the Witness but also imprisoned in statue form as they did not agree with the Witness's cause; these statues commune to Targe and the Guardian, demanding that they must "give [themselves] to Darkness" and that they must free them. The Guardian, Cayde, Crow, and Ikora soon catch up with Zavala, who enters a realm of Darkness to confront the Witness directly. The Witness explains to Zavala its origins, while the dissenters whisper to Zavala that "what was made can be unmade" and to meet them at the site of where the Witness was created. The Witness then destroys Targe as it tries to convince Zavala to join its cause, only to be pulled out of the realm by Ikora, Cayde, Crow, and the Guardian. Despite Zavala being left Lightless due to Targe's destruction, the Vanguard, Crow, and the Guardian press forward towards the manifestation of the ritual site where the Witness was created. They fight through Dread and Taken forces while the Witness tries to convince the Guardian to abandon the Light and join its cause as a Disciple, and Mara flies the H.E.L.M. into the Pale Heart. Upon arriving, the Witness confronts the Guardian directly. The Traveler then grants the Guardian a sword of pure Light called Ergo Sum; the Guardian is then teleported into the Darkness, where the dissenters beg the Guardian to destroy them with the sword to damage the Witness. Heavily wounded, the Guardian flees and transmats onto the H.E.L.M. to escape, followed by the Vanguard and Crow as the Witness transforms into a towering, grotesque being. Mara then declares to the Guardian that while the Witness may have won for now, she had brought the Imperial Cabal under Empress Caiatl, the Eliksni of House Light under Mithrax, Kell of Light, the Awoken of the Reef, and a Hunter named Micah-10 into the Pale Heart to join and prepare for the final battle against the Witness. She advises the Guardian to continue cleansing the Witness's corruption within the Pale Heart and weaken its hold on the Traveler. Shortly after escaping the Witness, the Guardian works with the members of the allied forces in preparation for their raid on the Witness's monolith. With final preparations complete, a Guardian raid fireteam storms the Witness's monolith to face the Witness directly and defeat it before it completes the Final Shape ("Salvation's Edge" raid). The Guardians enter the monolith by channeling and pulsing Darkness resonance while facing Sol Divisive Vex, Taken, and defeat the Herald of the Witness. They continue fighting their way up, channeling and pulsing resonance, confronting dark statues of themselves, and defeating forces of the Witness along the way. The Guardians eventually reach the monolith's apex, where they finally confront the Witness, which has transformed into a gigantic, god-like form and revealed to be part of the monolith itself. The Guardians manage to weaken it, shattering its hold on the Traveler and prompting it to escape. Shortly after, Zavala leads the combined allied forces and Guardians into the Pale Heart in one last charge ("Excision" activity). The Guardian, alongside the raid fireteam and countless other Guardians, again enters the Darkness to destroy the Witness's dissenting voices, crippling the Witness even further. Ghost then sacrifices himself to channel the Traveler's power through him in a great burst of Light, destroying and unmaking the Witness once and for all and preventing the Final Shape. The Guardian pleads with the Traveler to bring Ghost back, but Cayde appears and makes the choice to sacrifice his Light and consciousness to resurrect Ghost. The people of the Last City reflect on and celebrate their victory, but Crow, who has now succeeded Cayde as Hunter Vanguard, knows that even with the Witness dead, there are still its remaining forces at work. In addition, a strange aurora of Prismatic energy called the Valence has begun emanating from the Traveler, and discharged three objects—Echoes of the Witness—towards Nessus, the Reef in the
asteroid belt, and the dormant
Dreadnaught in the rings of
Saturn.
Episode: Echoes Act 1 Shortly after humanity's victory against the Witness, Ikora Rey sends the Guardian, Saint-14, and Osiris to Nessus, where one of the Echoes of the Witness that was discharged from the Traveler, known as the Echo of Command, had made impact, and they are contacted by the
Exodus Black A.I. Failsafe, who advises the Guardian that the Vex are starting to change due to the influence of the Echo. The Guardian meets up with Failsafe and then heads to the impact site of the Echo, where paracausal Prismatic energy is radiating from the crater. After activating a nearby data array and defeating incoming Vex, the planetoid begins to "heal" itself with Vex architecture and seal off the impact crater. Saint then advises Failsafe that she would be uploaded to the H.E.L.M. thanks to Osiris's efforts. The Guardian meets up with Saint, Osiris, and Failsafe in the H.E.L.M., where Failsafe reveals that from her scans, the Vex had responded to the Echo's impact, but a new yet distinct signal emerged from the impact site which the Vex also began to respond to. The Guardian brings samples and specimens from Nessus back to Failsafe in the H.E.L.M. for further examination; Failsafe then tells the Guardian that based on the data collected, Nessus has been undergoing strange changes in its environment with the Vex acting strangely due an unknown force emanating from the Echo of Command. After collecting more samples from Nessus, Osiris advises them that Saint has gone missing. The Guardian returns to Nessus, where they fight through an army of Vex. Failsafe then manages to isolate Saint's comms, where Saint starts murmuring that he does not belong in this timeline and a "new Golden Age is coming, free from falsities like [him]". The Guardian takes down the Vex, and Ikora snaps Saint out of his trance-like state after mentioning Osiris. Saint reveals that a mysterious being that was controlling the Vex on Nessus known as "the Conductor" began brainwashing him into thinking he is a lie and that the real Saint-14 was not meant to live. Ikora and Osiris reassure him that he is real and they know him well, but Saint requests to be alone due to the Conductor's voice still attempting to manipulate him.
Act 2 A few weeks later, the Guardian speaks with Ikora in the Tower, who reveals to them that the Echoes of the Witness that were discharged from the Traveler's Pale Heart are in fact memories of the civilizations that were annihilated by the Witness and the Black Fleet. As one of these objects of immense power landed on Nessus, the Conductor was granted the ability to take full control of the Vex there to carry out its will. Ikora sends the Guardian back to Nessus to enter its depths to follow the draining radiolaria deep below the planetoid's crust. They eventually find Kalliks, Baron of House Dusk, and kill him to release a Vex Hydra, Hypolydron, Captive Mind, and destroy it for Failsafe to extract and decipher data from its tail in order to find a way deeper into Nessus and learn of the Conductor's motives and to recover the Echo of Command. The Guardian then returns to the Nessian caverns and delves deeper into the planetoid. The Guardian arrives in a giant radiolaria aqueduct complex, but is unable to follow the radiolaria further into the planetoid. Failsafe then advises the Guardian to release nanobots in the planetoid's radiolaria so she could track its movement; through the nanobots, she discovers that the radiolaria is actually being redirected to the planetary core of Nessus. Returning to the aqueduct complex, the Guardian fights through Vex as well as Taken forces as they make their way towards Nessus's core. The Guardian is then summoned by Ikora, who advises them that Failsafe has devised a plan to open a portal directly to the Conductor itself, but will require centuries worth of Vex data that can be retrieved from the mind of Saint-14's corpse in the Infinite Forest on Mercury. The Guardian, Saint, and Osiris then return to the Nessian depths. Osiris reveals that Saint's tomb in the Infinite Forest on Mercury could be accessed through Nessus. The Guardian unlocks the way into the archived version of the Infinite Forest and into the tomb of Saint-14. Saint interacts with his corpse, merging his current memories with those of his past self and giving him renewed conviction, while Failsafe uses the data to locate the Conductor. The Guardian, Osiris, and Saint confront the Conductor, revealed to be Maya Sundaresh of the Ishtar Collective. Saint orders Maya to stand down, but Maya declares that she will use Nessus's radiolaria through the Echo of the Witness to bring about a Golden Age where everything is turned to Vex under her control. The Guardian, Osiris, and Saint then flee as Maya commands her Vex to attack them. At the Tower, Saint advises the Guardian that Failsafe is working to reestablish access to Maya's stronghold at the core of Nessus.
Act 3 Several weeks later, Failsafe intercepts a transmission from Maya, who explains her history with her wife, Chioma Esi, and how she destroyed their relationship by becoming obsessed with the Veil and finding the perfect timeline in the Vex Network in which she and Chioma could live peacefully in a Golden Age. The Guardian returns to the Nessian core ("Encore" Exotic mission), delving deeper and finding themself in an Ishtar Collective research facility containing dozens of Exo frames of Chioma from different Vex simulations that Maya was experimenting on; they then find a recording of Maya killing Chioma after she fails her fidelity test. The Guardian then enters the heart of Nessus's core, where they take down Parodos, Choral Mind. Ikora advises the Guardian to continue working with Failsafe put an end to Maya's search for her Golden Age; they then receive a message from Maya, who attempts to sway the Guardian to her side. Saint later contacts the Guardian, ordering them to return to Maya's laboratory, where they find another recording of Maya testing and discarding another copy of Chioma. Osiris to concludes that Maya was searching for a perfect version of Chioma and that they must find the real Chioma to convince Maya the error of her ways. Ikora sends the Guardian to Neomuna where Failsafe obtains Chioma's signature from her logs in the vault containing the Veil. The Guardian returns to Maya's lab in Nessus's core a final time and locates the real Chioma's Exo frame, where Chioma speaks to Maya directly, vehemently condemning her actions before Maya degausses her again. The Guardian then confronts Maya directly with Saint and Ikora. Maya uses the Echo of Command to force Ikora, Saint and the Guardian into submission, but they break free of her grasp and retaliate, forcing Maya to retreat into the Vex Network with the Echo. The Guardian returns to the H.E.L.M., convening with Saint and Failsafe; Saint hopes that Maya, now in the Vex Network, will abandon her search for her ideal Chioma but fears that she may already be beyond reason. Failsafe then advises the Guardian that she had detected a temporal anomaly in the Bray Exoscience facility on Europa; the Guardian heads there and finds the anomaly, revealed to be a Vex simulation. Maya speaks through the anomaly, where she condemns Chioma. The Guardian then locates several other anomalies in Nessus's core, where they get a glimpse of the lives of the other copies of Maya and Chioma scattered within the Vex Network.
Episode: Revenant Act 1 Following the events of
Episode: Echoes, Crow contacts the Guardian about a distress call on Europa, where the Fallen of House Salvation had come under attack from Scorn led by Fikrul, the Fanatic, who had re-emerged after disappearing since the events of
Forsaken, and that Mithrax, the Kell of House Light, had fallen gravely ill due to the curse of Nezarec, Final God of Pain The Guardian lands on Europa under orders to detain Eramis, Kell of Darkness, who had returned to Europa to fight off the Scorn. The Guardian fights through Scorn forces to reach Eramis. Fikrul then appears, wielding a second Echo of the Witness; Crow discovers that the Echo granted Fikrul the power to turn living Eliksni into his new breed of Scorn by mutating their Ether. Eramis tries to flee from the Guardian, but is cornered by the Guardian and Crow, who negotiates her arrest. Eramis is then detained by Crow, who promises he would grant the innocent House Salvation civilians refuge in the Last City. At the H.E.L.M., Eramis sends forth her Ketch in an attempt to escape, but is once again cornered. Fikrul suddenly appears, addressing Crow as Uldren and proclaiming himself as Kell of Kells. He then uses the Echo to convert the Fallen on Eramis's Ketch into Scorn and rams the Ketch into the H.E.L.M., causing major damage and forcing Failsafe to crash land the H.E.L.M. on Europa. The Guardian then arrives in the Last City's market district, where Eido welcomes them into her tonic shop. The Guardian speaks with an ailing Mithrax, as well as Variks, the Loyal, who states that Eramis—now incarcerated—may be also be able to assist in searching for a cure. Mithrax then tells the Guardian about the Slayer Barons, powerful Eliksni warriors; he begs the Guardian to stop Fikrul and rescue Eliksni captives before he turns them into Scorn, and proclaims the Guardian as his Slayer Baron for House Light. Eido then reveals that Eramis knew of Eliksni apothecaries who could assist with her tonic research. She then sends the Guardian and Crow to a House Salvation enclave in the Tangled Shore. They find the enclave already overrun by Fikrul's Revenant Scorn. Fikrul then speaks with Crow, declaring that he and Crow can rule together thanks to his efforts with the Echo. Crow then tries to convince Fikrul to let the Eliksni captives go, but Fikrul realizes Crow is no longer Uldren and commands his Revenant Scorn to attack him and the Guardian. They defeat the Revenant Scorn and then rescue the remaining House Salvation captives and take them to the Last City. Mithrax then reaffirms his and Eido's faith in the Guardian, until Nezarec's curse briefly takes him over and sinisterly warns the Guardian that "the time is at hand". During these events, a fireteam of Guardians are contacted by the Spider, who informs the Guardians that one of his agents was sent to investigate a derelict Clovis Bray orbital station in Europa's orbit but had lost contact, and the Guardian fireteam heads there to investigate ("Vesper's Host" dungeon). The Guardians make their way through the derelict orbital station, discovering a mysterious anomaly in the form of a Vex portal. After restoring power to the station and defeating the Prime Servitor Raneiks Unified, the Guardians discover that one of Eramis's former lieutenants, Atraks-1, is alive but changed by the anomaly, turning her into a grotesque being called the Corrupted Puppeteer. The Guardian fireteam defeats Atraks-1 once and for all and shuts down the anomaly.
Act 2 Several weeks later, Mithrax advises the Guardian them that Fikrul and his Revenant Scorn have been spotted in the now derelict Prison of Elders in the Reef, and sends them to investigate. There, they are greeted by the Warden Servitor which releases prisoners from cryostasis to attack the Guardian, while Variks tries to shut down the Servitor to no avail, forcing the Guardian to partake in its Contest of Elders competition. After defeating a revived Sylok, the Defiled and satisfying the Warden, Variks apologizes to the Guardian as he did not expect the Warden to interfere, but insists that they must go deeper into the prison to find out why Fikrul is there. The Guardian returns to Eido in her tonic lab, who states that she had asked Crow to release Eramis from her prison cell so that she could assist her in finding a cure for her father's illness. Despite pleas from Eramis, Crow refuses to oblige. Eido then confides in the Guardian that her father's condition is deteriorating. Mithrax then contacts the Guardian, who feels that Fikrul is searching for a dangerous weapon "revived in Darkness", and advises them to search the prison once again. After the Guardian manages to bypass the prison's security measures, they head deeper into the prison, where they begin to hear a mysterious song. The music starts to grow louder, and they eventually reach Fikrul, who is using the Echo of the Witness to resurrect Skolas, Kell of Kells, as a Revenant Scorn. Fikrul and Skolas escape after being attacked by the Guardian, which angers Mithrax. Variks then advises the Guardian to return to Eido to consider the next steps. Eido then speaks to the Guardian, who realizes that the Echo was reaching out to the Guardian through the song of Riis, and that Eramis might recognize the song as well; she insists that Eramis be released from her prison once again. She then hatches a plan to bribe Spider so that he could provide her a jailbreaking device. The Guardian then heads to Eramis's prison cell and uses the device to unlock her cell and handcuffs, but Crow shows up afterwards, realizing that Eido had talked the Guardian into freeing the Kell of Darkness. Crow makes a deal with Eramis that he will not tell the Vanguard that the Guardian had set her free should she not cause any further issues, as Eido believes that she is capable of doing the right thing by helping out Eido in curing Mithrax and stopping Fikrul. Eramis reluctantly leaves her prison cell as she tells the Guardian she would contact them once she reaches Eido's coordinates.
Act 3 Several weeks later, Eramis tells of an old Eliksni fable of alchemy that could change the polarity of Ether between Light and Darkness, and that such a tonic could be created in order to defeat Fikrul. Spider then informes the Guardian that Fikrul and his Revenant Scorn have set up their main base of operations in the Awoken watchtower in the Tangled Shore. The Guardian heads to the Watchtower ("Kell's Fall" Exotic mission), where they are attacked by a resurrected Araskes, the Trickster, who escapes after the Guardian severely weakens her. The Guardian enters the fortress and explores its halls. The Guardian makes their way through the fortress, defeating the resurrected Kaniks, the Mad Bomber; Hiraks, the Mindbender; and Araskes along the way. They eventually reach the fortress's throne room, where they find Fikrul, who escapes and summons a resurrected Reksis Vahn, the Hangman, to attack the Guardian. The Guardian returns to the Last City's market district, where they learn that Eido is close to completing the tonic, but is missing ingredients that only one living Eliksni apothecary, Ixis, knows where they are located; the Guardian is tasked with rescuing Ixis from Fikrul's Revenant fortress. The Guardian returns to the Revenant fortress and locates Ixis's prison cell, but she does not trust the Guardian or humanity; Eramis advises the Guardian that she and Eido will convince her to assist in completing the tonic. Eido advises them that the tonic is almost complete thanks to the apothecary's assistance, but Mithrax, possessed by Nezarec's curse, interrupts their conversation, forcing Eido to sedate him. Soon, Eido gives the Guardian the completed Tonic, which will alter the Ether in Fikrul's body and allowing the Guardian enough time to finish him off. Returning to the Revenant fortress, the Guardian fights their way through once more to the throne room to confront Fikrul. Mithrax, unable to keep Nezarec's curse at bay, tells the Guardian that his leadership must be passed should he not survive; Eido and Crow reassure him that Fikrul will be defeated and that the Vanguard will protect House Light, even from him if necessary. The Guardian arrives in the throne room and they manage to weaken Fikrul, allowing them to quickly administer the tonic and kill him once and for all. The Echo of Riis soon rises from the ground, with Eramis being chosen by it as its new wielder. Upon receiving a vision of Old Riis by the Echo, Eramis reluctantly accepts it as its wielder, which she uses to cleanse Mithrax of Nezarec's curse. A now cured Mithrax then declares that he is now the Kell of Kells. After Spider and Crow congratulate the Guardian for their efforts they then receive a message from Eramis, who tells them she has left the Solar System to build a new life for herself with the Echo in hand.
Episode: Heresy Act 1 Following Fikrul and his Revenant Scorn's defeat and Mithrax's ascension as Kell of Kells, the Guardian is contacted by Eris Morn and the Drifter, who asks them to investigate a powerful Taken presence in the European Dead Zone, believed to be originating from the derelict
Dreadnaught, the flagship of Oryx, the Taken King (who was slain by a Guardian raid fireteam at the end of
The Taken King and his corpse later discovered on Titan's ocean floor during
Season of the Deep), currently drifting in silence within the rings of Saturn. While Eris and the Drifter investigate the
Dreadnaught, the Guardian fights through newly empowered Taken forces, called the Dire Taken, all wielding extraordinary new paracausal powers, and eventually reaches a communications tower in Hangman's Pass. There, they discover an eversion anchor from the
Dreadnaught filled with Taken energy that is attempting to expand the Ascendant Realm into the material plane, guarded by an army of Dire Taken led by Gorkall, the Gatekeeper. The Guardian defeats Gorkall and enters the Ascendant Realm through the anchor, which leads them to the
Dreadnaught itself within Saturn's rings; they explore the
Dreadnaught, slowly being decayed by Dire Taken energy, while Eris and Drifter advise them that they have located a piece of the Tablets of Ruin, which Oryx himself used to create the Taken through his communion with the Winnower, the true primordial being of Darkness. Eris and Drifter are soon attacked by a swarm of Dire Taken and Dread, led by an Omen Subjugator named the Resonant Knife Keit'Ehr, First of the Reshaped. Keit'Ehr stabs Eris with its glaive, and drags her down into the
Dreadnaughts Mausoleum, with Drifter going after it. The Guardian, grabbing the Tablet of Ruin along the way, also gives chase to Keit'Ehr and drives it and its Dire Taken and Dread army away, and finds Eris's lifeless body alongside Drifter's. Drifter gets resurrected by his Ghost, and goes to Eris's side, eventually realizing she had been killed by the Subjugator and mourns her death. Eris is then shown alive in a mysterious Hive realm, and laughs as she removes the bandage covering her eyes. The Guardian, upon Drifter's advice, goes to Eris's apartment in the Last City, where they grieve her loss and receive a posthumous message from her while they sort through her belongings. The Guardian then notices a Taken object called the Shaping Slab, where Deputy Commander Sloane contacts them, advising that she would take over the mission that Eris and Drifter had started. Empathizing with the Guardian and Drifter's sorrow over Eris's passing, Sloane advises that the Vanguard has given full authorization to storm the
Dreadnaught and destroy the Dire Taken and the Dread on board to seek vengeance for Eris's death. After exploring the
Dreadnaught and defeating most of the Dire Taken and Dread there, Sloane advises the Guardian to go to the Dreaming City so that she could teach them to wield the power of the Taken for themselves; the Guardian finds another eversion anchor in the Spine of Keres, which they use to absorb the Taken energy from it with Sloane's guidance. Returning to the Shaping Slab in Eris's apartment, the Guardian uses their newfound Taken powers to draw forth a relic called the Tome of Want, allowing them to further hone and empower themselves through a path of resolve. The Guardian is then notified by the Vanguard that another eversion anchor from the
Dreadnaught is set to make impact in Savathûn's Throne World, and is sent to investigate with Fynch and Luzaku's assistance. Savathûn herself then confronts the Guardian inside the Temple of the Cunning, who sarcastically mourns Eris's passing while warning the Guardian to stay away from the
Dreadnaught and her sister Xivu Arath. Nevertheless, the Guardian proceeds to return to the
Dreadnaught, locating logs from the now defunct Cabal Skyburners, revealing that the eversion anchors are linked to the starship's superweapon and must be destroyed. The Guardian soon discovers mysterious osseous fragments within the
Dreadnaught, Earth's Moon, and the Cosmodrome; Sloane inspects these fragments and advises the Guardian to break certain Taken curses on the Moon and in the European Dead Zone to obtain more of them. After doing so, the fragments emit a signal that leads to a powerful Taken energy source in the
Dreadnaught; the Guardian returns there ("Derealize" Exotic mission) to find Dread led by Vhriisk, Seeker of Power, who are also after this energy source. The Guardian eventually reaches the source of the Taken energy, a powerful Taken Hive Knight named Xir-Kuur; they also recover an exotic submachine gun from his possession, the Barrow-Dyad, and use it to fight Xir-Kuur and ultimately lock him away in the
Dreadnaught. Sloane contacts the Guardian and, following Drifter's advice, sends them to the Moon to take down three Hive Wizards who were formerly of Oryx's brood and obtain their limbs so that they could shut down the
Dreadnaught's superweapon with their "bio-codes". The Guardian does so and kills Iyx ur-Anûkru, Yor ur-Halaku, and Saruk ur-Omni, obtaining their left and right hands and head, respectively. The Guardian then meets up with Sloane on the
Dreadnaught, who instructs them to place the limbs in the superweapon's systems in the Hall of Souls; however, they begin to hear a familiar, regal voice as they do so. The Guardian is then drawn to the Court of Oryx, where the third and final Echo of the Witness, the Echo of Navigation, appears before them, and emits the memory of Oryx, who does not remember being killed by the Guardian and the raid fireteam at the end of
The Taken King or having his son Crota. Xivu Arath and Savathûn also appear before the Echo, reminding Oryx of such. Oryx, through the Echo, then summons Keit'Ehr and an army of Dire Taken before the Guardian, prompting them to escape the
Dreadnaught. Returning to Eris's apartment in the Last City, the Guardian receives a message from Drifter, who tells the Guardian he's leaving and to not look for him. Sloane contacts the Guardian, who realizes that Oryx, through the Echo of Navigation, was the one who launched the eversion anchors and brought both the Taken and the Dread, led by Keit'Ehr, under his control, and is wanting to test the Guardian to see if they are a worthy successor. With Savathûn and Xivu Arath mobilizing their forces and the
Dreadnaught now becoming a war zone, Sloane orders the Guardian to return to the
Dreadnaught and find a way to destroy the Echo of Navigation and Oryx's memory, confident that the Guardian will kill the Taken King once again. During these events, Ikora Rey contacts a fireteam of Guardians to investigate the sunken Pyramid ship of Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness (who was slain by a Guardian raid fireteam at the end of
The Witch Queen), where an army of Dread are collaborating with Hive within for unknown reasons ("Sundered Doctrine" dungeon). The fireteam travels to a Hidden base within the sunken Pyramid in Savathûn's Throne World, where Savathûn herself contacts the Guardians, demanding them to exterminate the Dread there. The Guardians fight their way through the Pyramid, facing heavy resistance against the Dread, utilizing lenses to bend Darkness resonance energy to reveal mysterious truths and lies. After defeating a group of Hive Shriekers reshaped into Dread called the Zoetic Lockset and unlocking the way forward, the Guardians end up in the deepest recesses of the Pyramid, containing Rhulk's laboratories and storehouses, containing thousands of husks and corpses of Worms that were the subjects of Rhulk's experiments. The Guardian fireteam then face the leader of the Dread army, Kerrev, the Erased, who is attempting to unlock a vault so that the Dread and Hive could tap into the Pyramid's power and ascend into a greater form. The fireteam neutralize Kerrev once and for all, securing the sunken Pyramid from further threats from the Dread and Hive. The Guardians eventually gain access to the vault, which contains the chisel that Oryx used to carve the Tablets of Ruin. Savathûn contacts them again and says she will eventually get into the Pyramid and claim the chisel for herself.
Act 2 Several weeks later, the Guardian is drawn to the
Dreadnaughts Court of Oryx, where Oryx, through the Echo of Navigation, pits them against Dire Taken challengers in a test of the Sword Logic seeking to claim the throne as the master of the Taken and Dread. Sloane strongly advises the Guardian to resist Oryx's words and to control their Taken power as a weapon. After defeating the challengers to Oryx's throne, a mysterious rift appears in the Court of Oryx, with a mysterious voice calling out to the Guardian. The Guardian then explores the
Dreadnaught further and finds similar rifts calling out to the Guardian, with the voice coming from Eris Morn, thought to have been dead after being killed by Keth'Eir. After investigating more rifts, the Guardian finally manages to get in contact with Eris, revealed to have been resurrected in a Throne World of her own making, ever since she killed Savathûn as the Hive God of Vengeance at the end of
Season of the Witch. Eris tells the Guardian that she is currently at a weakened state and unable to return to the material plane; in order for the Guardian to reach her, they must reassemble Oryx's sword, the Willbreaker (which was destroyed after the Guardian defeated Oryx in
The Taken King and Eris and Lord Shaxx using its core to craft three exotic swords), and use it to slice open a rift into the Ascendant Realm to reach Eris in her Throne World. The Guardian gathers pieces of the Willbreaker from Dire Taken on the
Dreadnaught, the realm of the Nine in unknown space, and the Cosmodrome, and brings them to the Shaping Slab in Eris's apartment to materialize the pieces. During this time, the Drifter returns from his self-imposed exile, hearing that the Guardian had gotten in touch with Eris. Drifter accompanies the Guardian to the
Dreadnaught to locate Eris, and they reform the Willbreaker, albeit a weakened version, using the hilt from Crota's sword in the Founts area. The Guardian then uses the newly reformed Willbreaker to destroy Dire Taken under the Sword Logic and to slice open a path into Eris's Throne World in the Ascendant Realm. Eris welcomes the Guardian into her Throne World and has a tender reunion with Drifter. She then declares that she will use her Throne World, called the High Heresy, to oppose the Hive and imprison the Echo of Navigation and the memory of Oryx. Shortly after Eris's resurrection in her own Throne World, the Guardian is guided by Eris on the
Dreadnaught to further hone their Taken powers, this time through a path of ambition by allowing their Taken powers to control them. They are then sent to the Shrine of Oryx deep within Earth's Moon to continue their training, only to discover that the Hive there have now possessed the power to Take neither through Oryx nor the Witness, but through an unknown being second only to the Winnower from within the Ascendant Realm. The Guardian pushes through into the Shrine of Oryx and eradicate the Dire Taken and Hive there, though Eris questions why Oryx has not taken any notice. They soon witness a conversation between Savathûn and Oryx from within the Ascendant Realm, where Savathûn advises Oryx that the Witness had lied to them into communing with the Worm Gods of Fundament to become the first Hive (as depicted during
The Witch Queen), and that they were meant for the Light, only for Oryx to angrily admonish her for her heresy. The Guardian then returns to the
Dreadnaught to obtain pieces of the starship's flesh for Eris's ritual to imprison Oryx and the Echo of Navigation in her Throne World. After bringing the pieces to Eris, Sloane then appears, expressing doubt that Eris's methods for the Guardian to control their Taken powers will work; Eris avoids arguing with Sloane and advises the Guardian to continue honing their Taken powers of resolve and ambition in order for the ritual to be successful. Soon after, the Guardian meets up with Eris in the Court of Oryx to perform the ritual to imprison the Echo of Navigation and Oryx's memory in her Throne World. The Echo and Keit'Ehr both appear as the ritual begins, and they summon Dire Taken to stop the Guardian from completing the ritual. Using their Taken powers of resolve and ambition, the Guardian eradicates the Dire Taken and inscribes Hive sigils to bind the Echo, while Eris opens a portal to her Throne World; upon binding the Echo, Eris pulls the Echo through the portal into her Throne World while Keit'Ehr escapes. The Guardian meets up with Sloane in Eris's Throne World, who congratulates the Guardian on their efforts on capturing the Echo of Navigation and the memory of the Taken King. Eris and Sloane then speak with the Guardian at the Shaping Slab, advising them that the Echo cannot be contained for too long and that Savathûn and Xivu Arath will attempt to retrieve the Echo from Eris's Throne World; Sloane orders the Guardian to return to the
Dreadnaught and prevent Savathûn and Xivu Arath's forces from gaining access to the Echo while Eris attempts to commune with the Echo itself and learn from it. Drifter also contacts the Guardian and advises them that Ikora's Hidden have been monitoring Savathûn and anticipating her next move.
Act 3 While on a routine patrol on the
Dreadnaught, the Guardian is confronted by Xivu Arath, who reveals herself to them for the first time. Mocking Eris and her Throne World, she attacks the Guardian, prompting them to escape and return to Eris's apartment in the Last City. Entering Eris's Throne World from the apartment, the Guardian witnesses a conversation between Eris and Oryx via the imprisoned Echo of Navigation. Oryx claims that Eris cannot hold him in her Throne World for long, while Eris states that both Savathûn and Xivu Arath are coming to claim him. Eris, noticing the Guardian, advises them to head to the prison cells deep in the
Dreadnaught, now occupied by the Dire Taken and Dread, and stop Xivu Arath and her forces from claiming a powerful prisoner from within its walls. The Guardian fights through Xivu Arath's Hive, Dire Taken, and Dread as they make their way through the
Dreadnaughts prison cellblocks, cutting the God of War's battles short. They then arrive in the deepest part of the prison (Sunless Cell strike) within the Hanging Crypts, where they face off against a Hive Darkblade, Obak-Hul, embedded with the actual hilt of the Willbreaker, which Xivu Arath plans to use to sunder Eris's Throne World from the
Dreadnaught. Obak-Hul soon transforms into a Dire Taken, and the Guardian dispatches it immediately, taking the Willbreaker's hilt from its corpse. Returning to the Shaping Slab, Eris and Sloane then order the Guardian to distract both Savathûn and Xivu Arath's forces as well as the Dire Taken and keep them away from Eris and the Echo while they turn their forces against each other. After doing so, the Guardian speaks with Oryx through the Echo in Eris's Throne World, who scoffs at his sisters' failings in attempting to retrieve him, and challenges the Guardian to defeat both Savathûn and Xivu Arath once and for all through the Sword Logic. Oryx soon advises the Guardian that Savathûn is trying to transfer him and the Echo of Navigation from Eris's Throne World and into hers, and demands the Guardian to stop her ritual from binding him there. The Guardian travels to the Temple of the Navigator in Savathûn's Throne World, facing heavy resistance against the Lucent Hive, and several Taken disciples of Malok, Pride of Oryx (whom the Guardian eliminated following Oryx's defeat in
The Taken King), revealed to be Savathûn's son. They find Malok's head and attempt to obtain it for use in a ritual to fully restore the Willbreaker, but Savathûn notices this and sends an entire army of Lucent Hive after them, angry over their continued interference in the Hive pantheon's affairs and for stealing her son's head. After eliminating the Lucent Hive using the Willbreaker, the Guardian returns to the
Dreadnaught to perform the restoration ritual with Sloane. Using the actual hilt of the Willbreaker and the Taken powers emanating from Malok's head, Sloane and the Guardian fully restore the Willbreaker in its original, most powerful state, now controlled by the Guardian and their Taken powers of resolve and ambition. The Guardian then speaks with Sloane and Eris, with Sloane wanting to fully destroy the Echo of Navigation now that the Willbreaker has finally been restored, but Eris insists on keeping the Echo intact for a while longer so that she could continue to learn from it. Eris then speaks with the Guardian within her Throne World, who states that the Dread and Dire Taken are attempting to take over the
Dreadnaught, while Oryx via the Echo is now trying to break free from Eris's grasp; she plans to use the powers of the Dread to sever Oryx from the Echo and kill him. During the ritual the Echo breaks free then flees to the
Dreadnaught in an attempt to flee back to Fundament; Eris sends the Guardian back to the
Dreadnaught alongside Drifter and Sloane, facing heavy resistance from Keit'Ehr, the Dread, the Dire Taken, Savathûn's Lucent Hive, and Xivu Arath's Hive. Upon locating the Echo of Navigation in the Trenchway, attempting to flee, the Guardian faces off against projections of Savathûn, an avatar of Xivu Arath, and Keit'Ehr. Using the Willbreaker, the Guardian kills Keit'Ehr once and for all and drives away Savathûn and Xivu Arath, and ultimately destroys the Echo of Navigation and Oryx himself upon Sloane's advice after Eris realizes her plan has failed. The Guardian then returns to Eris's apartment, their mission complete, but notices a Hive worm radiating with Light in a glass enclosure near the portal to Eris's Throne World. Savathûn angrily speaks to the Guardian through the worm, vowing to seek vengeance against them over Oryx's death. At the conclusion of the episode, the Guardian discovers mysterious chess pieces scattered throughout the Solar System and within the
Dreadnaught. They then stumble upon a gigantic chess board deep within Eris's Throne World, where they use the gathered pieces to play several games of chess. After achieving multiple checkmates against their unseen opponent, the Guardian then places their own pieces in a specific pattern upon the empty chess board, which reveals a mysterious water bowl that they look into. The Guardian is then seen on Drifter's ship, the
Derelict, and approaches Drifter with half of a pawn piece, with Drifter revealing the other half. Drifter then explains that during his self-imposed exile, he ventured far beyond the reaches of the Solar System, where he was hit with mysterious time dilation waves from a far-off planet that made him age and prevent him from going closer. He warns the Guardian that something is out there. The events of
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate follow. ==Release==