Nowhere Left to Hide

Quick note: this article contains some sort of spoiler for Destiny 2 and its next major update. Read on if you are not afraid of spoilers.

Destiny 2’s lore is often drawn out and somewhat hard to find. However, as the conclusion to the Witch Queen and season 19, things are a little too easy to find. Every major update gets an end of season cinematic, but Witch Queen is ending in a different way. A massive way. Something so powerful that even I, a complete noob and ultra casual player, had to watch it multiple times.

After so long hanging around Earth, the Traveler finds itself moving away, hovering over Earth in orbit rather than above the Last City. All the people of Earth can do is look on as the Traveler leaves its years-old resting place. Not just humans (in all three flavors), but the Eliksni as well. Heck, the Eliksni already had the Traveler leave them once, now those on Earth get to see it all happening again.

But before the Traveler leaves completely, it comes to a halt. The Warmind satellites that we’ve been dealing with throughout Season of the Seraph all power up, only for them to be destroyed, alongside Rasputin itself. Of course Ana is heartbroken, but her sister is there to pick her up. At the same time, Eramis (the person we failed to kill in Beyond Light) asks out loud why the Traveler hasn’t run away yet. The answer to that question is answered by the Witness itself: the Traveler no longer has anywhere to hide. The Darkness is coming, with an armada of dark pyramids, and has just passed Jupiter. Things look pretty grim now.

The question is, what can anyone even do? The Darkness is coming via a fleet of evil pyramids and there’s very little we can even do about it. After all, the Traveler is an entity unknown to pretty much all of us. Despite having been floating over the Last City for goodness knows how long, we still know basically nothing about the massive, white, moon-like object. It clearly has some sort of conscience or brain in there somewhere, but it leaving Earth’s surface is perplexing. As for the people of Earth, they’re now left even more defenseless, as Rasputin has been shut down and there’s bound to be scared chaos in the streets. The Traveler seems to be abandoning us, only to realize that it can’t really go anywhere. So it hovers nervously in low orbit, leaving the Guardians speechless, confused and scared.

However, there is one thing that I find curious. The last time the Traveler moved actually wasn’t that long ago. In the end of the Witch Queen campaign, we actually see the Traveler, hovering precariously within Savathün’s throne world. And I’ve always wondered whether the Traveler went to Savathun’s throne world willingly or not. While Savathün wanted to keep the Traveler bound and tied up to her throne world, did the Traveler choose to go to the throne world on its own, only to require saving by us when Savathün starts weaving it into place? Who knows.

Now, has the Traveler realized it is trapped? Did it wish to hide in the throne world? Why did it leave Earth’s surface if it isn’t running away? So many questions, none of which will be answered until Lightfall, the next part of the Destiny 2 saga, comes out. In the mean time, the skies are now rather empty, the Warmind is gone and no one knows what to do…

I am genuinely really interested in what happens next. Because the Traveler leaving is massive news. Where will we go from there? I can’t wait to find out.