5 Things You Might Not Know About Destiny Lore If You Just Play The Game

Destiny Lore: Saint-14

The Destiny universe is filled with so much incredibly deep lore that is really only hinted at in-game. In the first Destiny game, players weren’t even given access to any of the hundreds of lore entries available to find and collect across the game, instead Bungie opted to link all of these lore entries to the Destiny website where you had to go if you wanted to really delve deep into the history of the game. This was a huge turn-off for players and was ultimately changed in Destiny 2. Since no one wanted to go to a completely separate website to read all of the lore, Bungie finally implemented a Lore tab on the director where you could go and read all of the lore entries you collect and unlock in-game. This is a much better system as it actually incentivizes players to seek out Destiny lore entries and expand their knowledge on the game. If you’re not currently invested into Destiny lore, I highly suggest reading up on it as the lore is quite essential in order to piece together many references and Easter eggs hidden throughout the actual game. So what are some of the things you’re missing out on if you don’t read the lore and only play the game?

5. Thorn

The Thorn Exotic Hand Cannon is one of the most famous weapons in all of Destiny, but do you know the origin of the gun? Well, Thorn was once known as Rose (a legendary hand cannon added to the game as part of the Lumina quest). Rose belonged to the first Titan, Rezyl Azzir, a heroic Guardian who was the first to encounter Omnigul on his search to find more ways to defeat the Darkness. Unfortunately, Azzir fell victim to Omnigul’s witchcraft and became consumed with Darkness, thus becoming Dredgen Yor. Azzir and Rose went on a murderous rampage killing innocent civilians and taking their Light. Ever since then, Thorn has hungered for the Light of other Guardians. Thorn then became bound to a Hive wizard known as Xyor, the Unwed. Killing her in The Summoning Pits Strike in Destiny removed the link between her and the weapon enabling Guardians to use Thorn safely without any risk of corruption.

4. The Last Word

Arguably just as famous as Thorn, The Last Word is yet another Exotic Hand Cannon in the Destiny universe with some very interesting lore. The Last Word is one of the best Crucible weapons in the game with its hip-fire accuracy and 225 RPM rate of fire, the gun is a beast once you master it. Outside of how The Last Word feels in-game, it has some pretty heavy origins in Destiny lore. Jaren Ward, a Hunter, was the first owner of The Last Word and was the epitome of a Destiny cowboy. The gun takes its name from an exchange between Ward and a tyrant known as Loken. After Ward was killed in a duel with the infamous Dredgen Yor, the weapon was passed down to Ward’s adoptive son, Shin Malphur, who has also been mentioned quite a few times in relation with Cayde-6 as well as the Drifter. Shin used the weapon to put an end to the murderous rampage of Dredgen Yor in a showdown at Dwindler’s Ridge, known by every Gunslinger Hunter.

3. Twilight Gap

The Battle of the Twilight Gap. One of the most important events in Destiny history hasn’t actually been discussed very much in-game. Sure, it was mentioned a couple of times here-and-there, but not in the way it deserves to be highlighted. The Battle of the Twilight Gap began after the Kell of the Fallen House of Kings manipulated the other Fallen Houses into teaming up and attacking the City. The House of Devils lead the attack on the City and would have been joined by the House of Wolves, but they were caught off guard by the Reef. The end goal of the Fallen was to capture the Traveler. The City’s response was to gather a force of Guardians under the lead of Lord Saladin, leader of the Iron Lords. During this battle, the City’s guns were met with Fallen Walker tanks and the Exotic Machine Gun, Thunderlord, was put to tremendous use leaving “an ocean of dead Fallen in its wake.” This was also the end of the friendship between Shaxx, Saladin, and Zavala due to Shaxx disobeying direct orders from Saladin himself. Shaxx led a fireteam comprised of Ana Bray, Liu Feng, Nkechi-32, Idil Abdi, and Truce. All fireteams were instructed to fall back to the Ridgeback District, but they secured a gap in the Wall that allowed the Vanguard to hold back the Fallen away from the City’s wall. Many Guardians were killed in the Battle of the Twilight Gap and Ana Bray was also presumed dead, though this was due to her faking her own death to seek out her past life on Mars.

2. Books of Sorrow

Perhaps the biggest and most important chunk of Destiny lore, the Books of Sorrow detail the origins of the Hive gods Oryx, Xivu Arath, and Savathun. There are five total Books of Sorrow written by Oryx, the Taken King. There’s so much that even an entire article written about the Books of Sorrow wouldn’t even be the tip of the iceberg, but if there is a single detail that you can take away from the Books of Sorrow it would be the Sword Logic. The Sword Logic is the philosophical law that all of the Hive live by and it is quite the opposite to the law of the Light, the Bomb Logic. The Sword Logic goes by the philosophy that “existence is the struggle to exist.” Basically any entity – life-form or a fundamental aspect of nature – that is unable to protect itself from being defeated is unfit to exist and should be destroyed by a more powerful entity. While the Hive exist by The Sword Logic, Lightbearers survive using the antithesis – The Bomb Logic – cooperation and sacrifice for the sake of others. We are still feeling the effects of both the Sword Logic and the Bomb Logic today as Savathun is set to make her first in-game appearance in the 2021 expansion, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen. This is definitely a must-read if you want to truly understand the Hive.

1. Osiris and Saint-14

Formerly exiled Warlock, Osiris, and formerly dead Titan, Saint-14. Two of the biggest entities in Destiny lore have both now made their in-game appearances in Destiny 2. Osiris came in Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris and more recently, Saint-14 was added in Season of the Dawn. Both characters have been major influence on the events of Destiny behind-the-scenes, but have now pushed through more than metaphorical barriers to return to us and each other. Literally, Saint-14 punched his way through a Vex barrier on Mercury to return from the dead and corridors of time. There have previously been hints at a romantic interest between the two Guardians, but Bungie has now confirmed in a lore entry from Season of the Hunt that Osiris and Saint-14 are a gay couple. This is great news for the LGBTQ+ community, but unfortunately we haven’t actually seen this in-game quite yet. I’m hoping that we’ll get confirmation in-game here pretty soon since this seems like a pretty big inclusive moment in Destiny 2 and would be a perfect opportunity to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community.

So if you haven’t read up on your Destiny lore yet, I hope I’ve encouraged you to go out and do some exploring into the incredibly vast world and rich history of Destiny! While you go do that, I’ll be waiting for my Destiny: Grimoire Anthology Volume 3 to arrive at my house any second and I’ll have even more to share with you!

Image Credits: Steam Community

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