In the beginning, there was the Traveler. Arriving in our solar system sometime in the past, it set the tone for Destiny 2 by being a mysterious, magical, spacefaring orb. The Traveler kickstarted a Golden Age for humanity, which produced all kinds of advances in medicine and technology, including the invention of the Exo, a human consciousness transferred into a robotic body. Things were pretty good for the most part.
But then, the Traveler’s old enemy caught up with it. The Darkness — an equally mysterious force which favors triangular shapes instead of orbs — ravaged humanity and cast it back into the Dark Ages. This was bad and could have been avoided had the Traveler fled, but a super-AI called Rasputin basically put a gun to its head and said “try it.” The Traveler stuck around, but humankind still got busted up pretty badly. Some humans tried to escape by claiming neutrality and got thrown into an alternate dimension for their trouble — they eventually returned to normal space as the Awoken.
The Darkness left, or something, and then the Traveler did something new — it started producing Ghosts, mysterious little floating orbs who could resurrect the dead, transforming them into bearers of its power, known as the Light. Those brought back by a Ghost were stronger, faster, and more resilient than they were in their previous lives, and could recover from any injury — even death — through their Ghost’s light. However, they awoke with no memory of who they were before they died the first time.
These Lightbearers, or Risen, used their abilities for both selfless and selfish purposes, with some setting themselves up as warlords and others seeking to protect the fractured remnants of humanity. Over time, a group of Lightbearers banded together into the Iron Lords and founded the Last City on Earth in the shadow of the Traveler. Eventually, these warriors came to be known as Guardians, sworn protectors of the Earth against all manner of alien threats.
The “Bad Guys”
Guardians ventured out from the Last City to explore and reclaim humanity’s lost legacy on celestial bodies like the Moon, Mars, and Venus. In doing so, they encountered a number of alien factions.
The first were the Eliksni, called Fallen by humans because of their status as the previous favorites of the Traveler. The Fallen were four-armed insect-like people with a rich culture that was mostly destroyed by the Whirlwind, their name for the departure of the Traveler from their world. Many became scavengers, mercenaries, and the like, and as they arrived on Earth in the wake of the Traveler, they were some of the earliest extraterrestrial threats encountered by humanity. The Fallen are just guys — they aren’t fundamentally evil or corrupt, and the Last City has formed alliances with some of them.
Next were the Cabal, a society built on conquering and expansion — at least, after they kicked out their old Emperor Calus, who was all about having a good time. The Cabal are kind of space rhinos with to-the-point, efficient gear. They prize strength and loyalty, and, again, aren’t really evil — they have their own internal politics and leadership struggles. Guardians have recently formed an alliance with the Cabal remnant in our solar system led by Calus’s daughter Caiatl after their home world was destroyed. As for Calus, he saw some shit out in the darkness of space and became obsessed with the end of the universe. He may or may not currently exist as a shriveled up little space man.
The third were the Hive, a seemingly-singleminded culture dedicated to destruction. The Hive serve the Darkness much as Guardians serve the Light, and subscribe to a philosophy called Sword Logic which holds that existence is the struggle to exist. They aren’t mindless drones, for the most part, but rather religious zealots who want to purify the universe by killing everything else in it using their brute strength and space magic. They were led to Earth by their rulers, three siblings who began their crusade out of tragic conditions — Oryx, Savathun, and Xivu Arath.
Fourth were the Vex, machines from another dimension that appear to have no motivation beyond converting the entire universe into a living computer. They can take all kinds of forms — bipedal combat machines, floating scouts, immobile turrets — but the true Vex are actually the radiolarian fluids contained within these bodies, also known as “Vex milk” (do not drink).
Lastly were the Taken, beings of every species possessed by the Darkness, produced by the Taken King Oryx or another powerful entity and devoid of will. Guardians can resist being taken, but pretty much everyone else can potentially get got. Oryx was killed by Guardians, but there are still Taken kicking around and new sources of them continue to crop up.
Oh, and there are also the Scorn, who are undead Fallen. They’re pretty gross.
The “Good Guys”
Guardians are nominally beholden to the Vanguard, a group which coordinates Guardian activities and ensures that they fulfill their role as protectors of humanity. The Vanguard is made up of one of each “class” of Guardian — a Hunter, Titan, and Warlock. Currently, it’s just Titan Zavala and Warlock Ikora Rey, as the Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 was killed a while back and hasn’t been replaced.
In practice, Guardians tend to do pretty much whatever they want, chasing after any potential source of new or exciting loot and power. As a result, they’ve been at the beck and call of a number of different people, depending on who’s offering them a new gun this week. Some Guardians even bail on Earth and choose to do their own thing, but most tend to work for the survival of humankind and allied aliens against the various threats of The Darkness. If Guardians cross the moral event horizon, an organization called the Praxic Order hunts them down and delivers their “final deaths” by killing their Ghost, thus rendering them vulnerable to regular old death.
The Vanguard sometimes works with a number of other factions and individuals, including the Awoken of the Dreaming City, the Eliksni House of Light, the errant researcher of the Darkness Eris Morn, the shifty rapscallion known only as “The Drifter,” and the heir to the Black Armory, Ada-1.
The Recent Past (Events of Destiny 2)
Here’s a quick recap of everything important that’s happened thus far in Destiny 2, as well as the expansions or seasons in which the events occurred.
- A Cabal guy named Ghaul leads his Red Legion to Earth and tried to steal the Traveler’s Light. He kind of succeeds for a bit and causes a lot of problems but Guardians eventually reclaim their power and slam dunk him into the sun (Destiny 2)
- Some stuff happens on Mercury and Mars but all you really need to know is that the super-AI Rasputin from the Dark Ages stuck around and a Guardian named Ana Bray makes friends with him (Curse of Osiris and Warmind)
- The Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 is killed by Uldren Sov, Prince of the Awoken. Guardians track him down and get revenge and also learn he was being manipulated by Riven, an ancient magic dragon. They kill it too, but that’s what it wanted, maybe? (Forsaken)
- Guardians discover strange pyramids on the moon and with the help of ex-Guardian Eris Morn, begin communicating with The Darkness (Shadowkeep)
- The legendary Titan Saint-14 returns from his apparent death thanks to time travel shenanigans (Season of the Dawn)
- Guardians continue to commune with The Darkness, while their efforts are repelled by Savathun, Witch Queen of the Hive. The Darkness’s pyramid ships appear in our solar system and gobble up a bunch of planets (Season of Arrivals)
- On Jupiter’s moon Europa, Guardians learn to wield the icy power of Stasis with the support of the Exo Stranger, and use it to defeat a new Fallen leader preparing for war. Some Guardians become corrupted by Darkness as a result but most seem just fine? (Beyond Light)
- Uldren Sov, now known as Crow, is brought back by a Ghost named Glint and enslaved by The Spider, an Eliksni crime boss. Guardians help win Crow’s freedom, though he is forced to keep a low profile due to his past self’s reputation as the killer of the beloved Cayde-6 (Season of the Hunt)
- After a series of tense encounters and ritual battles, the Last City forms an alliance with the remnants of the Cabal, led by Emperor Calus’s daughter Caiatl (Season of the Chosen)
- The Last City welcomes Eliksni refugees from House Light led by Mithrax in order to combat a Vex threat. Some asshole tries to sabotage this but only gets herself killed by space robots for her trouble. The Eliksni begin to integrate into human society (Season of the Splicer)
- Osiris reveals himself to have been Savathun for at least the last year. The real Osiris is captive somewhere and Savathun promises to return him once the Guardians and the Awoken Queen Mara Sov free her from her Worm, the parasite that is the source of her powers but may also eventually kill her. Crow learns of his past as Uldren Sov from Savathun and takes off for a while. With the help of Guardians, Mara Sov frees Savathun from her Worm. However, the Witch Queen escapes, leaving behind the real Osiris in a coma (Season of the Lost)
Some Important People You Should Know in 10 Words or Less
- Zavala: Stern and brave combat papa, leader of the Vanguard
- Ikora: Wise and powerful, the adult in the room
- Cayde-6: Deceased former Hunter Vanguard, never coming back
- Banshee-44: Anterograde amnesia, makes guns
- Shaxx: Runs Guardian training exercises, can recite The Tempest from memory
- Lord Saladin: Warmongering old head who’s been around since the Dark Ages
- Drifter: Smelly rat man, lives in the basement, eats everything
- Eris Morn: Only survivor of tragic moon mission, spooky, haunted
- Mithrax: Eliksni leader of House Light
- Empress Caiatl: Leader of the Cabal remnant, grudgingly respectful of Guardians
- Savathun: Master of the Xanatos Gambit, all goes according to keikaku
- Mara Sov: Ex-pop star, present Queen of the Awoken, loves plans
- Crow: Was Mara’s brother Uldren, now a Guardian and Best Boy
- Saint-14: Russian Exo, champion of humanity turned ambassador to Eliksni
- Osiris: Exiled Warlock, currently captive of Savathun
- The Exo Stranger: User of Darkness powers, from the future
- Xûr: Tentacle-faced messenger of the Nine
- The Nine: Dusty-ass guys, don’t worry about it
There’s much more to know about Destiny 2‘s complex world and lore, but that should get you started. If you want to know more about the lore of Destiny 2, a great place to start is at the Ishtar Collective, where you can search for lore entries about specific characters or events. And if you’re ever confused about anything, just remember: orb good, triangle bad.
