We’ve been led to believe thus far that the Shadowkeep expansion for Destiny 2 would focus on the Hive. But in a new trailer for the Season of the Undying shown at Gamescom today, Bungie indicated that the mechanical Vex will play a major part in the near future as well.
The trailer doesn’t give us much to go on. It shows the construction of Vex Goblins, with a closeup on the Vex radiolarian “milk” that made me kind of thirsty. As the Goblins are constructed, Ikora narrates about them and the Black Garden. She tells us that the Vex didn’t originate from the Black Garden, but that it is the reason for their existence. The Goblins march out of a portal into the Garden itself and line up behind seemingly-ancient Vex overgrown with vegetation.
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We already knew that the Black Garden was going to feature in Shadowkeep. The location, which was the site of a mission in the campaign of Destiny, contains a Black Heart of Darkness which the Vex worship. Guardians defeated the Heart back in the first game, but we’re heading back to the Garden for some reason in Destiny 2‘s next expansion.
How does all this fit into the expansion’s focus on the Hive and the moon? Well, it’s likely we’ll be dealing with Savathun’s Hive in our lunar adventures. Oryx’s sister has been mentioned throughout Destiny 2, and even communicates directly with Guardians in some Season of Opulence lore, but she’s never appeared in-game.
If you’ve read the Books of Sorrow, you’ll remember that the Vex once tried to defeat former Taken King Oryx by sending a Mind to deduce Sword Logic and ultimately simulate the First Navigator himself. The Mind, Quria, Blade Transform, failed and was Taken by Oryx, then gifted to Savathun. Given that Quria was able to simulate Oryx’s past self, it seems likely that the Nightmares of past enemies we’ll face on the moon will have something to do with Quria’s powers, and that the Mind itself will be the boss of the Black Garden Raid.
As an aside, Ikora’s narration of the trailer gives me hope that she’ll be central to the expansion. Give me that good Ikora vs. Savathun content I crave.
Of course, this is all just speculation for the time being. We’ll have more information and analysis as Bungie reveals more about the Season of the Undying and Shadowkeep in the run-up to their release on October 1.
