The Witness has attacked
It’s a new season in Destiny 2 and the first one of Lightfall. Season 20 sees Guardians team up with Mara Sov, Crow, Devrim Kay, and Mithrax to fight a war on earth. To start the Awaken, Queensguard mission which leads into the We Stand Unbroken quest, firstly visit the holoprojector near Nimbus in Neomuna to receive a message from Mara Sov. She tells us that following The Witness’ attack, the Vanguard asked for help. “We now face a war on two fronts: one on the far reaches of the system, and the other at your home, Earth,” she says, before promising her help.
After hearing this message, we are directed to the Farm in the EDZ to speak with Mara directly. Devrim welcomes us and introduces himself to Mithrax. Devrim explains that following the attack on the Traveler, the Shadow Legion has begun taking prisoners to the pyramids. Mithrax explains that they have been unable to reach Amanda Holliday, and Devrim explains that he will scan the communications channels to attempt to find her.
Mara tells us she will help with her Awoken powers to go against The Witness. The next step in the quest is to visit the holoprojector at the Farm to hear a briefing from Devrim. He summarizes that when we tried to intervene in The Witness’ attack on the Traveler some of our ships went down, including Amanda Holliday. The Shadow Legion is now picking through the wreckage to capture prisoners. Crow is scouting the defenses but says that the pyramids are impenetrable. Mara is going to imbue us with Awoken power to attempt to access them.
We then need to launch the Defiant Battlegrounds directly from its marker on the EDZ. It’s important not to confuse this with the playlist version at this point.
Defiant Battlegrounds: EDZ
We land on the EDZ and fight our way to a portal that Mara has created, which allows us to pass through to the Ascendant Plane in order to access the pyramids. There is a relatively straightforward battle here, where Guardians must destroy the Taken Blights to remove the miniboss’ shield. We then remove Taken energy which is blocking the pyramid entrance and enter to face a boss. Kill the marked enemies to retrieve energy which can be consecrated to create a weapon to throw at the boss to remove his shield. From here it’s just a case of doing damage until he is defeated. You’ll then receive a prompt to free the prisoners.
Inside this pyramid is Amanda Holliday, who tells us that her ship is nearby but is damaged and she requires help to get it out of there. Visit the War Table in the Helm now to trigger a cutscene between Amanda and Crow, where she mistakenly shoots him thinking he’s an enemy. Thanks to the Light he’s okay but when we say we mistook him for Shadow Legion he says, “Easy mistake, I’m just so beefy.” Okay Crow, sure thing.
In the Helm, completing the quest will reward the Caretaker seasonal sword and begin the We Stand Unbroken seasonal quest.
Righteous Defiance seasonal challenge
To progress the quest further, claim the week one seasonal challenge “Righteous Defiance” to earn a War Table upgrade. The Righteous Defiance challenge should be available to redeem if you’ve followed the steps above as it simply requires completing the EDZ’s Defiant Battleground. We then need to interact with the War Table once more to speak with Mara. Mara explains that we are now in the Queensguard.
The next step requires an upgrade. Access the War Table and click “Upgrades” before selecting one of the Favor Attunement upgrades. The Exemplar of Justice gives ability final blows a chance to create a Favor for you and your allies which improves melee recharge time. The Exemplar of Grace gives special ammo final blows a chance to create a Favor that improves mobility for a period of time, and the Exemplar of Zeal gives heavy ammo final blows a chance to create a Favor that improves grenade recharge time. Choose your favorite to begin with.
The next step is to enter the Defiant Battlegrounds playlist and collect Awoken Favors. From the Helm, select the playlist for Defiant Battlegrounds and complete the same mission as above, again. This time, use your special or heavy ammo or abilities depending on which Favor Attunement you chose, to collect three Awoken Favors in one Defiant Battleground to save on time.
How to complete the Awaken, Queensguard seasonal challenge
After completing the activity, head back to the Farm to debrief with Mara Sov. She then rewards us with a Royal Executioner fusion rifle as she explains that she is not here to blindly defend the Light, nor does she listen to the Voice in the Darkness. Instead, she chooses that which holds Light and Darkness together. “I choose you,” she says. “Detach. Fall forward. Number among the first. Awaken.” With these words, we are officially knighted into Mara Sov’s Queensguard.
After completing this step, the quest will read that the Vanguard and its allies are working to rescue more prisoners from the Shadow Legion. “The Queensguard will be called when their assistance is needed,” it continues. For week one, that’s the seasonal storyline complete, and the Awaken, Queensguard seasonal challenge can be claimed. We’ll be covering this storyline weekly, so check back next week for the next guide.
