I’ve been interested in Maya Sundaresh since the days of grimoire cards in Destiny. It wasn’t until Destiny 2: Lightfall that Bungie told what happened to her beyond the Ishtar Collective. Post-campaign, new weekly Veil Containment lore reveals so much more, and one of those big revelations is about Lakshmi-2.
Chioma Esi’s voice quivers as she describes how Maya used the Veil’s interface to create a copy of herself with dead Exos. Here, Maya-as-Lakshmi-2 was born. Maya “used a chorus of braindead Exos to funnel data down to the conductor seat, projecting a mental imprint. Hers.”
Lakshmi-2 being a copy of Maya Sundaresh was a long-standing theory of mine. Both Vex experts have links to the Ishtar Collective and the Future War Cult, and have subcontinental names; it was all too coincidental! However, I wasn’t completely on the mark.
Chioma’s dialogue implies that before the resurrection with Maya’s memories and voice, Lakshmi-2 was one of the Exos that died from an earlier Veil experiment. Additionally, Chioma says that this imprint Lakshmi-2 looked at her like she knew something. So, this raises a question: What happened to these memories held by Maya-as-Lakshmi-2?
Maya using the Veil to create a conscious Exo body is similar to Clovis Bray’s use of Alkahest, made up of Vex radiolaria and Clarity. Although we spent the entire Destiny 2: Beyond Light expansion learning about the relationship between Vex and Exos, Legacy Oath Grips lore hinted at Lakshmi-2’s past. In the armor lore, she finds names of Exos throughout history who took on a new identity and number.
We knew Lakshmi-2 as the leader of the Future War Cult, but she also played a sinister role in Season of the Splicer. That season, Lakshmi-2 relied on Vex-derived technology called “The Device.” In short, The Device lets people see visions of the future; but her paranoia about the Last City falling led to prejudice against the Fallen, Mithrax, and the Vanguard. With the help of Savathun-as-Osiris, Lakshmi-2 opened a Vex portal to rid the Eliksni, consequently dying in the attack. This Veil Containment lore might have us reevaluate Savathun-as-Osiris’s goal for manipulating Lakshmi-2 and the Last City Vex invasion.
Also, we have Ghost Fragment: Vex 5 (from Maya pre-Collapse) and Ghost Fragment: Future War Cult (post-Collapse) grimoire cards showing CHASM records of The Device experiments, but it’s still shrouded in mystery. If this faction wasn’t enigmatic enough, players took Praedyth’s Ghost to Lakshmi-2 for its connection with the Future War Cult in Destiny: The Taken King, too. If it seems like I’m making a lot of different points, I am, but at the crux of all of this is the Vex, and perhaps it will bring this Maya and Lakshmi-2 story together.
Interestingly, in Season of the Splicer, Lakshmi-2 says, “Guardian — you’re realizing a dream that stretches back to Dr. Maya Sundaresh, founder of the Future War Cult. A truly amazing accomplishment,” in the Override Vex Network. This line clarifies Maya’s involvement in FWC, but there could be more to this than meets the eye. Listening to it now, I wonder if she was hinting at the CloudArk VexNet.
Veil Containment weekly lore isn’t ending anytime soon, and something may come along to tie these dangling lore threads.
