The Ending of Destiny 2's Lightfall Expansion, Explained

Lightfall, the newest expansion for Destiny 2, is here. The campaign is a little uneven, and if you haven’t been playing for a while you might not really know what’s going on. Even if you are a veteran player, so much isn’t explained in the story that it’s hard to tell just what actually happened in the ending. Here’s an explanation of what went down in the Lightfall ending.

Needless to say, Lightfall spoilers ahead.

Destiny 2 Lightfall Ending

What Happened in the Lightfall Ending?

Lightfall sees the Guardians racing Calus, a Disciple of the Witness, to the Veil in the city of Neomuna on Neptune. With the help of Osiris and two Cloudstriders, the defenders of the city, Guardians obtain the power of Strand. This ability allows the Lightbearers to tap into the psychic strings underlying the universe and tie their enemies in knots — literally.

Throughout the Lightfall campaign, Calus is being pressed by the Witness to reach the Veil. It’s never really explained what exactly the Veil is, other than some object of great power. By connecting the “Radial Mast” to the Veil, the Witness will be able to achieve its goals. At the climax of the campaign, the Guardians make it to the Veil, but find Calus waiting for them. Dispatching Calus after a difficult fight, it seems that the Witness has been defeated.

However, the Witness has a unique ability to commandeer Ghosts. We’ve seen this previously, as when the Witness (not yet named as such) spoke to us in the Shadowkeep expansion through our Ghosts. Here, the Witness doesn’t just use Ghost as a walke-talkie — it somehow uses it to connect to the Veil. The Guardian briefly considers shooting their own Ghost to prevent this from happening, but it’s too late.

Tapping into the Veil with the Radial Mast grants the Witness the power it needs to accomplish its goal. That mission isn’t to destroy the Traveler, but to use it to create some kind of portal. We see this in the final Lightfall cutscene, in which the Witness carves a triangular shape into the surface of the Traveler and disappears within it.

Where did the Witness go? Just what is the Veil and the Radial Mast? We still don’t know. The ending of Lightfall leaves a lot of questions up in the air. Presumably, some of those questions will be answered by the Season of Defiance and the Lightfall Raid. Still, as Nimbus would say, it’s a bit of a bummer to have so many loose ends left hanging. Then again, maybe that’s appropriate for the expansion that introduced Strand. Get it? Because Strand is strings? Yeah, we’ll see ourselves out.

About the Author

merritt k

merritt k is Content Manager at Fanbyte, covering Destiny 2 and other live games.