The final quest
Be warned, there are spoilers ahead for details and discussion of the final Season of the Seraph mission and accompanying cut-scene.
Abhorrent Imperative is the final quest for Season of the Seraph and wraps up the season’s narrative before the launch of Destiny 2: Lightfall on February 28. The quest is now live in-game to deliver some vital information for Guardians and contains a last mission aboard the Seraph Station as well as a cutscene that defines the narrative steps for Lightfall to take.
For those that have completed the story quest so far, the game will launch into an interaction between Ana Bray and Rasputin upon launch. Rasputing explains that Eramis, one of the game’s many antagonists, has accessed the Abhorrent Imperative protocol belonging to Rasputin which culminates in shooting down the Traveler – the spherical entity which gives Guardians their powers.
Rasputin explains that the only way to interrupt this is to infiltrate the Seraph Station so that he can sacrifice himself in order to destroy the network. He reasons that he was created with such dangerous intentions and his existence is a threat to humanity. His mentor and now friend Ana protests, but eventually the mission must go ahead. Following the completion of the dialogue between Ana and Rasputin, a beacon will flash and beep nearby titled Final Dawn.
Boarding the Seraph Station
You’re immediately placed teetering on the edge of a platform in orbit and must follow a precarious path to gain access to the Seraph Station. Bungie has spoken recently about how it plans to make the base game harder for Lightfall and Final Dawn is a great example of that. Guardians’ power level is capped to much below the recommended level of the mission, making enemies difficult to topple.
Eramis herself appears at the entrance, but you won’t be expected to deplete her health bar entirely. After all, defeating her here leaves no space for the narrative to continue. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting and fun fight with Eramis herself fleeing and leaving her minions to attempt to deal with you. At certain points throughout your traversal of the Seraph Station, you can summon giant Exo Frames to assist in battle.
After inserting Rasputin into the system, a boss will spawn in the end room which is reasonably easy to defeat, with Knights spawning twice to reinforce her shields that must be destroyed in order to progress the fight. It’s important here to control the hordes of enemies or risk becoming overwhelmed, as the dangerous Void burning attacks from the boss also threaten to stun you in place. Death means starting this fight from the beginning, so efficiency is key.
It’s doing what?!
Completing this boss fight then triggers a cut scene, embedded above. Do not watch this cut scene if you’ve not completed the mission yet. Trust us, you don’t want the spoilers. Long story short, the Traveler leaves Earth’s atmosphere and heads for space seemingly abandoning humanity. At the last second, right before Eramis opens fire on the Traveler, Rasputin self-destructs, wiping out the satellites and freeing the Traveler, but it doesn’t proceed. Remaining in high orbit, its intentions are unclear. The series’ most dangerous antagonist right now, The Witness, tells Eramis it has “nowhere else to run”.
Reflect on the revelations
After the cut-scene ends, Guardians are transported to the Tower to complete the final steps of the quest. Firstly, speak with Zavala to reflect on recent events. Secondly, head over to the Bazaar to speak with Ikora Rey who will also have plenty to say. You’ll then need to travel back to the Helm to speak to Ana Bray at the Holoprojector. She will mourn the loss of Rasputin, as she recognizes that she no longer needs to live in her father’s shadow but can redefine what it means to be a Bray.
Rasputin’s final message
It’s now time to head to the Exo Frame and listen to a pre-recorded message where Rasputin reveals that the Neptunian city seen in Osiris’ visions is real. He says that this city holds information on the Veil, which can be discovered in Neomuna in Lightfall. We assume this is related to the new Darkness subclass, Strand.
Rasputin then informs you that he’s destroyed the information and entrusts it to you as a Guardian. The rewards for completing the quest then drop, including an Ascendant Shard and the Spirit of the Warmind ship.
Bungie announced that this finale would run for two weeks leading up to the release of Lightfall, so it’s unclear as yet whether more content is to follow at the weekly reset on Tuesday 21 February, but watch this space…
