Destiny 2 has finally wrapped up its 10-year saga of the Light and Dark. The Witness is dead, children of various species play with War Beast pups in the streets of the Last City, and Bungie is unshackled from a larger narrative. Today, the developer celebrated the occasion with a teaser of what’s to come.
The Witness may be dead, but Destiny 2 lives on
Episode I: Echoes is the first stop in a post-Witness Destiny 2. Episodes are designed to be self-contained storylines and are told in three parts. Echoes deals with these new paracausal combinations of Light and Dark that have spread across the Sol system, specifically the one that’s landed on Nessus.
The Nessus Echo has embedded itself deep within the planet and is drastically changing both the land and its inhabitants. For an early preview, players can head to Nessus now to experience the earthquakes. Otherwise, once the Episode starts on June 11, players will be able to work with Failsafe and fight back the Vex in the new Breach Executable activity. This three-person activity is an “arena-offensive” where Guardians must cap off radiolaria geysers while the Vex advance.
As players progress further into the core of Nessus, they’ll encounter a new enemy who is pulling the strings. Beyond this tease and what can be gleaned from items in the game, not much is known. Being a Vex-centric Episode, I’d expect plenty of input from Osiris and Saint-XIV.
Episode II: Revenant focuses on the Eliksni and Fallen. It’s promised to have more dark fantasy themes and if the in-development footage is to be believed, the design team has killed it. Guardians will become “Slayer Barons,” an elite rank of monster hunters in Eliksni culture. The footage shows Eliksni fighting Hive Worms, so perhaps we’ll see another fight in the vein of Xol, Will of the Thousands.
In the interview snippets, the term “vampire hunter” is thrown around several times with concept art for weapons and armor sets channeling that energy. Before you get too lost in fashion-crafting, Eido is donning a new hat as Potions Master. Players will be able to craft potions that boost the Seasonal Artifact directly or help target loot for farming.
We might finally see a conclusion to the story of the Scorn as Fikrul is back and has obtained an Echo. The Scorn leader has set up shop in an Awoken keep called Fikrul’s Vampire Keep. It might be worth dusting off your Dungeons & Dragons armor for the Destiny 2 version of Ravenloft.
Episode III: Heresy brings our focus back to the Hive, specifically its pantheon of Savathun, Xivu Arath, and Oryx. New Eldritch forces are at play, which ultimately pulls us back to the Dreadnaught from The Taken King. In case you’re not as excited as I am, read that last sentence again.
The word “Eldritch” immediately conjures images of cosmic horror, and the Dreadnaught’s return is the perfect setting. The ship and weapons are literally being peeled away to reveal skeletal forms underneath. To mirror this concept of two appearances, Bungie will be rolling out two armor sets: Eris Morn’s contingent and the Hive Ship navigator. Both sets look absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to live out my Hive fantasy with them.
Year 11, Codename: Frontiers is what comes after the Episodes in 2025. Aside from the name, nothing was given. I’m hoping we get something along the lines of retaking Torobatl or finally finding out who or what the Nine are. Hell, I’d even take an Oregon Trail story where we help our allied forces branch out, now that the threat of the Darkness is gone.
Destiny has been a roller coaster of a ride, but The Final Shape gave me the closure I needed. Now I’m ready to move on and discover new stories that aren’t tied to the fate of the universe, especially if they’re the right amounts of spooky.
