In the run-up to Lightfall, Fanbyte recently had the opportunity to speak with Liz Baker and Nikko Stevens, two members of the Destiny narrative team, about the Destiny 2 Season of the Seraph storyline. The conversation covered the team’s approach to seasonal storytelling, the changing roles of various characters and factions, and the ongoing themes of Destiny as a franchise. Here are some of the highlights from that conversation.
On Clovis Bray and Compelling Villains
It was important to the narrative team to present Clovis Bray as a compelling character, Baker and Stevens said. The team achieved this by having his involvement in the story be presented as “helping” the Guardians to restore Rasputin. This has been a major narrative theme throughout the last few years of Destiny 2, Baker noted, with the Vanguard and Guardians having to decide who they can trust and accept help from. Stevens added that Clovis Bray was specifically designed as an abusive character rather than a cartoonishly villainous one — he can seem charming, eloquent, and reasonable, much like individuals in the real world who abuse family members or intimate partners.
The Vex in Conflict
Season of the Seraph made explicit that the Vex are not a unified consciousness — they have internal divisions and disagreements like any other faction. The Sol Divisive, in particular, represent an off-shoot of the Vex that have turned to worshipping the Darkness. Baker and Stevens commented on this and the appearance of the Vex in some trailer footage for Lightfall, suggesting that these divisions will be explored further soon. Will we ally with non-Sol Divisive Vex against the Witness and their forces? It’s possible, though Baker and Stevens couldn’t directly confirm this.
What About SIVA?
When beginning plans for Season of the Seraph, the Destiny 2 narrative team considered returning to the story about SIVA as told in the Rise of Iron expansion for the original Destiny. However, they decided that that thread had already reached a natural conclusion, and pointed out that it had paid off in various ways throughout Destiny 2 already, such as when Eramis attempted to steal SIVA tech from the Tower’s vaults in the Zero Hour mission.
The Final Shape
Baker and Stevens couldn’t give precise details, but when asked about the plans of the Witness — the new big bad first depicted in Witch Queen — they did have some thoughts. When and if the Witness reveals their ultimate plan to us, they said, players will hopefully see it in the same light as the revelations in Witch Queen. In that expansion, Destiny players learned that the Hive had been tricked into their original covenant with the Worm Gods and the Darkness. Bungie has a “clear and detailed idea” of what success means to the Witness, which presumably ties into The Final Shape.
Hope, Kinship, and Overcoming Challenges
Over the past couple of years, Destiny 2 has sought to humanize characters and factions which were once seen as villains. Players have found allies in the Eliksni and Cabal, and have build relationships with characters such as Crow, Mithrax, and Empress Caiatl. A recurring theme here, Stevens said, is “people being pulled back from the edge.” But that doesn’t happen without help: “characters are not saved solely by their own actions, but by their social connections.”
What distinguishes a villainous character from a misguided or potentially redeemed one in the world of Destiny? According to Stevens and baker, it’s hope. Characters like Eramis and Calus, who persist in their ways despite being reached out to by those around them, are driven only by ambition and lack hope for a different or better world.
“Destiny is about hope, kinship, being able to lean on your social connections,” Stevens concluded, “coming together and overcoming challenges.”
We’ll have more on Lightfall as the release date of February 28 approaches.
