Just wanted to point out - while spelt 2 letters differently, a "Puca" is the Irish for "Ghost". That conforms my theory, the Witness is a leprechaun and the Irish are the disciples
I feel like the final bit about Elsie relinquishing control is also echoed in the Seraph seasonal finale - everyone talks about how Rasputin sacrificed himself, but I think Ana and Elsie’s actions are telling too; Ana letting go of the link to her past & the Bray legacy (as she mentions in her holoprojector message afterwards), and Elsie pops up to comfort Ana, which tells me Elsie could have stepped in earlier and pulled Rasputin’s plug herself, but she decided to trust Ana (relinquishing control). I think the theme of letting go rather than holding on, trusting rather than controlling, faith in each other rather than doubt, may not “defeat the Darkness” by itself; but it’ll be what keeps these characters from being corrupted by the Darkness (as they were in Elsie’s other timelines)
@@Theblinded21 Not that those three things are required to become a guardian (and not every guardian has shown those three things), but I just realized that Rasputin actually showcased all three. I doubt he will, but it does leave the door open for him coming back as a guardian. I know that ghosts were created at the time of the collapse, but for all we know, that ghost was floating around essentially waiting for him to die lol.
@@jjferguson6235 Felwinter was techincally apart from him, more akin to (and actively being described as) his son. For example, Rasputin set the trap for the Iron Lords, Felwinter was hesitant to lead them into the trap. It would be weird to have hesitancy if they were the same person. I know it's a bit pedantic, but I think it's an important distinction.
In the lore for the "Any Other Sky" sparrow (preorder bonus for Beyond Light), Elsie laments on how hard it is to remember details across timelines, and how she wishes there was a way to make it easier. Glad to see she found her method... Also: interesting side note on the concept of memory. In humans (and assumedly neo-humans in Destiny), smell is the sense most commonly associated with memory. Other sensory data (sights, sounds, etc.) need to get routed through the thalamus to get to the hippocampus (where memories are encoded in the brain). However, due to the locations of the hippocampus and our nose, smell-based sensory information goes directly there, not being routed through the thalamus. This is why smells can bring back memories so strongly, and it's an interesting implication with Darkness that I hadn't thought of prior. Many of our first anecdotal encounters with true Darkness describe its smell--again, 'wet earth' or 'petrichor'--which I believe the Darkness exploits to further pronounce its effects on memory.
Elsie's journey is a bit strange though because they alternately refer to it as timelines and a time _loop._ Like she's reliving the same time frame over and over and it's the same outcome every time that she's trying to prevent, but I guess the details are different each time? We still don't know the catalyst event that causes the dark future, so maybe we'll find out soon.
@@mxx720 i assume we’re gonna find out during Final shape, no? Or maybe even the events in light fall, like the link between the veil and the witness are the catalyst for the dark future?
This is so interesting, again we have an example of Darkness not only being used for good but completely separate from any offensive application. And it seems like it also explains that the corruptive aspect of Darkness can be effectively nullified through controlled and guided exposure "therapy" for a lack of a better word. It explains why Guardians in the other timelines that just picked up Stasis and ran with it with no guidance largely fell to corruption, but those in this timeline that had Elsie guide them were able to handle it to a much better degree. Also, the "small minds" line that Clovis says is very reminiscent of Toland the Shattered, since he used the same phrase when giving the 3 Queens analogy and explaining the gentle kingdom. Very interesting.
I love that the Pouka are PTSD fish. I say this as a person with PTSD because flashbacks are often triggered by little scraps of memories or feelings that draw out full entrenching memories that are so intense with all of their original emotions that it becomes difficult to impossible to correctly determine which experience is the current reality. These Pouka seem do be doing the same, taking a scrap of emotion or experience and hauling from the depths memories with similar context or components.
@@DronesOverTheMoon yeah, pouka sushi is probably easier to chew than octopus sushi is. Concerned that it could give me giga-mercury-poisoning though...
I don't know why but I find it funny that at 9:30 while talking about Elsie's mother rejecting her, you save yourself with thundercrash and almost make it to the top of the door lol
Something that I thought was cool that Byf didn't go into much, Elsie states The Witness (more specifically the Europa Pyramid) knew that Elsie was earlier compared to her other time loops, therefore making it more difficult for her to learn Stasis each loop
That MIGHT have been because The Witness still had access, through Savathun, to Quira, Blade transform. Who has access to the time stream the Vex use, and able to analyze Elsies situation.
it would be interesting to find out the Pouka's can reveal a Guardians life before their initial death. Wouldn't it be interesting, and a plot twist, to find out Osiris is a resurrected Clovis? From the body he left behind when he became two Exo's? That would be VERY interesting. and hopefully a plot point for down the road, and not this year.
Your videos are so insanely helpful. Finding all the little odds and ends and contextualizing them is the only reason I understand anything going on in the game.
Appreciate the schedule update as well as the lore videos being uploaded before launch and, those to come. However, I do so hope you are being gentle with yourself and truly letting yourself recover without undo stress or push. Continue to take care of yourself, Lore Master ✊🏾
I always love hearing your perspective on the collector's editions as I have also received them throughout the years. Thank you as always for being super enlightening about the lore. Hope you feel better soon, I'm also hoping I'm feeling better by Lightfall
I appreciate the format of this video, going over a few core passages verbatim before going into a neatly organized and abridged summary of the following entries and events, in order to present a storyline that is much easier to grasp. It gives me the cliffnotes that I need as vital anchor points for my own understanding as I slowly take in more lore on my own. Excellent stuff!
My guess is the Pouka are creations of the Veil, they combine both the empathy of the light and the memories of the darkness. They’ll be really important heading forward. The veil is likely a neutral being, my guess is either that there was other veils that interacted with other traveler like beings, and the one on neptune is the one that’s connected to the Traveler but gives it great power if used, hence the Witnesses’ diligence in chasing after it.
9:07 About the background video I had a great laugh as you can see the absolute panic when he smacks the explody hive and try’s jumping away as fast as possible. It’s nice to see others do that and not just me.
So if I’m understanding this correctly, the Poukas show memories relating to the emotion that they pick up on, whether it be them figuring it out or the person giving a keyword. I wonder what would happen if we managed to have a Pouka examine a Vex?
Counter-question: as the Vex are a species without individuals as we know them, do they even experience emotions in a way we (or a pouka) could even quantify?
@@ShaoShaoMienshao I think if you disconnect them somehow from the Vex-network they could. If I understood it correctly, they only don`t feel emotion because they are forced to follow their path. If they lose the connection to the network they are forced to think for themselves and follow their wants. They would at least develope a sense of lonelyness and being lost by losing their driving voice.
It'd require a Pouka to figure out how Vex abstract concepts like emotion via simulated persons, and if the Vex believe Pouka are valuable enough to raid Neomuna for some to make a farm of so they can 'theraputically' purge the religious fanaticism over Darkness/Witness out of Sol Divisive or at least better comprehend Paracausality, they will do everything to get their multitude of limbs on it.
I don’t think the vex can even feel emotion, they are basically bacteria who’s only goal is to replicate and spread throughout the universe to turn it all into a machine.
I’m wondering if somehow Pouka are the result of purifying Darkness like how we turned the tables on Nightmares and turned them into healed trauma Memories. It would be the ultimate argument against the Witness if it’s own champion power could be used just like the Light. I’m thinking Neomuna had no ghosts, but made their power out of purifying the enemy’s. Combine that with tech and you get Pouka- soldier’s pets who can heal trauma.
Maybe I misread it so correct me if I'm wrong but apparently the Europa Pyramid/other pyramids reacted strangely to Elsie cause she arrived at the site earlier than expected compared to other timelines. Would that mean they can sorta remember what happens across timeloops?
If the witness is the winnower, then it comes from the Garden (which may or may not be the black garden), which according to unveiling exists outside and separate from time, space, and existence overall. It's watching several, probably infinite, iterations of the flower game play out at once, and in our particular iteration, Elsie made this particular move earlier than in the other iterations
Thank you for releasing in-depth lore videos in the days leading up to lightfall. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm sick of low effort vault cleaning videos
So Elsie's act of teaching stasis is motivated by light-based expression. Reminds me of Toland's insistence that we need to seize and use darkness/sword logic "in the service of light and life", or something close to that quote from memory. Very interesting; makes me wonder about the relationship of darkness to light and also calls to mind Savathun's suggestion that, if we want to understand what's actually going on in the world, we should stand on the line between light and dark and "look up".
Spitball theory here but what if Elsie discovering the Pouka and what it can do was also from a previous timeline, so when she enters our current timeline she knows to go straight for it. Also back in D1 when we first meet her she leaves abruptly while receiving a communication, could she be talking to the ghost Tokki?
I love the idea that as a character we can loose the light, die and be reborn into a throne world, so without the light we can die, be reborn and find a ghost replacement if the traveller dies and the ghost do to. (Puca Darkness Ghost)😃😁
If you stop and think about it it’s quite terrifying how strong Elsie just may be, strong enough to kill (assuming final kill) all these big famous characters.. like saint and so many others And also I think these pula are going to play a massive part in this dlc or soon, they seem Almost* ahamkara like in the use of memories and stuff
I really do think Poukas and Ghosts are the only creatures directly tied to Light and Darkness, but both are just wild creatures from it. Especially after Bungie confirmed that Darkness powers come from the idea of Psychic while the light is Creation
Since we're all gonna go to the Puca pond during lightfall I wonder if a Puca could potentially show us a memory from our past like before we became a Guardian type of memory Afterall I'm pretty sure Savathun is proof that those brought back by the light can potentially remember their past I think it'd be pretty neet for this to happen though it probably won't
The point of the memories about stasis was that they were from other timeloops. The one with Eris is no different. In our loop, she didn’t have stasis, so remembering Eris teaching her was a different timeline. Just a small correction.
Of note! "The feeling passes, I pick up the tool and return to business as usual in the lonely Europan lab. I am in control, even though I know that changes nothing." I think this line is bungie letting us know that Elsie letting go of control over stasis and letting guardians wield it IS the difference. In Beyond Light, Elsie almost constantly refers to stasis as a tool. In previous timelines, she takes stasis and returns to being in control, and nothing changes. In this timeline, she shares the tool with us as well, and now it changes.
Poukas purr, how adorable. Also I find it interesting is that savors was corrupted by Oryx, which is interesting considering Osiris was in the infinite forest dealing with Panoptese at the time.
Also - You mentioned Pouka is thought by Elsie to be some sort of therapy tool. So she asks why whoever owned Pouka and owned a huge scary gun also have an empath fish as a pet? We are already thinking that Pouka are tools possibly used by Cloudstriders. They act as companions, their memory recall tools most likely have a functional role but also, as Elsie thought - a therapeutic one. So it begs the question. Why would cloudstriders need therapy? Also - knowing that exo frames can emulate crying without actually crying is both incredible engineering and immensely tragic.
14:46 "This is how Eramis was able to farm the splinters in... Beyond Light" - My name is Byf, 2023 Destiny 2: where even NPCs have to farm the game...
I wonder if the pouka can also be used to access the memories of other people and that the Cloudstriders use them to help train new Cloudstriders since they have shorter life spans and stuff. Also I wonder if a guardian gets a pouka can it dig up memories of their pre-guardian life.
I had aways thought of Elsies movement through the different times lines like she was a traveler and there was some sort of tech she used moving from one to the other but this makes it sound more like a form of reincarnation from alternate times lines where she remembers but not like a 3rd parting looking in but as if she was part of each time line as as if it were her own. Which makes it sound alot like ground hog day
Next is the Cabal notes where the cabal have they're own version of the Undertaker vs Mankind match, complete with commentary. And Caiatl uses non-T-Rated verbiage.
Now that Lightfall is out. I gotta say, you were pretty close in mentioning that Elsie thought the Pouka could have uses in therapy. I think it was Osiris but someone says in the Hall of Heroes that Pouka’s were used for emotional support due to their intense gravitation towards emotion. I love the idea of cloudstriders having emotional support Poukas the same way we have dogs for emotional support IRL
This is heavily supporting a feeling I've had since we found out about the Veil: not only is it a piece of Darkness, but the Cloudstriders and Neptunian tech are rooted (knowingly or not) in Darkness. I'm predicting a big conflict between the Cloudstriders and Zavala, as it's been foreshadowed that the Cloudstriders will be demonstrating/teaching us "what it means to be a Guardian," which would further cement the ongoing narrative theme of moral action being more than just Light and Dark. Maybe we'll even see Ikora using Darkness power by the end? Edit: the bit about Elsie realizing she needs to relinquish control over Ana really hit me. Any older sibling who's been in a mentor position for their siblings knows that feeling, of wanting to protect them from things you don't even know, even if it ends up separating you. The acceptance to let them be their own person is hard to learn.
Perhaps the Pouka connects to the Exo Stranger because she was reborn with Darkness (as we know from Exo creation lore)… it’s also odd that the Pouka possesses the ability to resurrect, like our ghosts but was not born of the Traveller’s Light… so is the Pouka born of Darkness or another high power that we are yet unaware of in Destiny lore.
So i actually want to latch onto the term "Alkaloid", because while you're right in that it does refer to plants that are usually rich in nitrogen, i think it's more specifically that they are plants rich in *Alkali metals* . This means something like Lithium. Now how many times have you heard of someone taking Lithium in order to "remember" themselves or "balance" themselves or even to gain a form of "control". In essence a psychotropic substance. Which tends to fit the bill with how Darkness tends to be seen or "shown" when in the hands of the player. That it allows the player to "see" things that "should" be there but are in fact hidden, to glimpse beyond a veil of sorts. (waitaminute, havn't we heard that word somewhere before?) But i also think it goes a little further than that. Osmium seems to have some sort of connection with Darkness in some way. Not only is it incredibly dense (one of the densest materials in the known universe), but it has a soft silver sheen to it. That and it's found everywhere on the Throne World of Savathun in the form of "Fundamental Osmium". I don't think that's an accident. That is on purpose. And i think the idea of an Alkaloid actually ties into this really well. Because i just figured out that there is something that uses both Lithium and Osmium. It's called Lithium Osmium Oxide. It was discovered recently as an idea for use in Quantum computing because it creates a new state of matter known as Quantum Spin Liquid. I could go into a tiny bit of detail about it but i'm not too 100% familiar on how it works so needless to say it sounds oddly similar to the "Quicksilver" that seems to be shown when it comes to Neomuna. But also oddly enough seems to sound a bit like Vex Fluid in a sense. But i'm just throwing thoughts out there. However i could be onto something with this. There is probably more to be gleamed but i leave that for others to sift through.
every other lore buff: needs to figure out every tiny detail in destiny's story to complete their destiny byf: GUY THE FISH PURRS Not an insult, love your videos Byf
aside from the lore, what is that double hitting gl name? I thought the only one is from spire dungeon, but it should have been in energy slot not kinetic..
Byf, I have a crazy short theory. What if Garden Of Salvation was a huge war machine/planet that the Witness had and the Traveller shot it with its beem to disable it. And we saw what the beem did to the Doritos. Thats will explain Garden's environment. Hives do have war moons, so it is possible that the Witness had a planet as a war machine.
Hey Byf I was just rewatching the Darkness audio lore video you made about two years ago and was curious could the sounds that were depicted from entries 70,71,72 of the Black armory lore book be that of the Tormentors?
I feel like this should’ve been included in BL’s collectors edition alongside Clovis’ journal, it would’ve made so much sense and we wouldn’t have had to wait so long for a simple explanation on the fish.
I’m not sure if I was the only one who noticed this but the lore behind the warlock stasis subclass sorta hinted at darkness being tied or related to memory before we got deepsight in witch queen.
Yo byf, how about for 1mil celebration ya do a lore video on "my name is byf" ( the channel ) or just on Byf himself! Givin us all this lore all these years but we wanna hear YOUR lore bro! Congratz again!
I don't have a Twitter or I'd let you know there, but Duality has a big hint to Lightfall. Check the box with the sheet over it and see if it looks familiar. I just realized it and haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere.
After hearing that we can pet the Pouka and it purrs, and the introduction of an Exo-Canine, I'm thinking we're going to have alternates to Ghosts from this point forward. Maybe you need a Pouka to used darkness classes? Maybe the Exo pup helps with remnant Warmind tech? Maybe it's more of an added 'equipment' slot on our guardians? Kind of like the Iron Lord coins in D1?? Perhaps there will be other 'items/pets' that will help? An actual Iron Lord Wolf, for crucible? A repair drone for Public events? That could be an interesting new game mechanic to work with. Just my thoughts.
Hey Byf, not sure if anyone has pointed this out or not and I'm not sure if this will get to you but the Pooka/Puca (many different variations on the spelling) is actually a creature (fairy) in Irish/Celtic Mythology. It has the ability to change it's shape or form and from what I've been told (this being second-hand knowledge from an old girlfriend that had Irish roots), it's known to be mischievous (her dog was named Pooka). I wouldn't be surprised if this serves as a parallel to the Pooka in Destiny.
I don't have faith in Bungie to do this since they want our Guardian to be a blank slate, but I really want interacting with the Poukas in Neomuna to conjure flashbacks of our Guardian's 1st life, the forgotten life. Huge missed opportunity if they don't.
Minor correction: It's probably more correct to say that Neptune's _orbit_ is smack bang in the middle of Uranus' and Pluto's _orbits_ , and even that is not completely accurate. Where Neptune is in relation to Uranus or Pluto is highly dependent on their current position in their orbits. Depending on the moment in time, Uranus could be relatively close to Pluto, while Neptune is on the other side of the solar system. Besides that, Pluto and Neptune's (eliptical) orbits actually intersect, which means that Pluto is periodically closer to the sun than Neptune. Fortunately they'll never collide because Pluto and Neptune have resonant orbits. This means that for exactly every 2 orbits Pluto completes, Neptune makes three. This also means that they'll never get closer than about 16 AU (Astronomical Units, about 150M km). For comparison: Uranus' and Neptune's orbits are about 10 AU apart. Considering Pluto's orbit takes about 248 years, it's also not like you could just "wait out" for the planet to come close to another planet, you'd probably be dead by then. At these timescales you can understand that most of the time the only "vicinity" between these planets is in their orbits, but they might just as well be on separate ends of the solar system. Of course, it might be true that these three planets happen to be relatively close to each other spatially, but that's not implied anywhere afaik.
I swear, Bungie can make the dumbest most confusing lore ever imagined that makes Fromsoft writers get concerned, and most of us will be enthralled by it just because a lore fanatic with a deep voice reads it like a badass narrator! P.S. Sniper Jackals. Good luck with that.
Just wanted to point out - while spelt 2 letters differently, a "Puca" is the Irish for "Ghost". That conforms my theory, the Witness is a leprechaun and the Irish are the disciples
As an Italian American, I'd say we're the light. If your theory holds true.
witness is definitely a leprechaun
So this is how ye all find out about us? Damn we had a good run
@@roryobrien6794 We did - but don't worry, we'll take out Micheals dog, Bród, no one will shoot a dog bigger than the president
Does this make the drifter the turkey from thankskilling? Lol
Never did I ever think we would hear Byf say “you can give it scritches and it will purr”. God bless all 1 million of us.
I swear, if we don't get to pet a Pouka in Lightfall, I'm going to riot.
I know right?! I love it so much
I feel like the final bit about Elsie relinquishing control is also echoed in the Seraph seasonal finale - everyone talks about how Rasputin sacrificed himself, but I think Ana and Elsie’s actions are telling too; Ana letting go of the link to her past & the Bray legacy (as she mentions in her holoprojector message afterwards), and Elsie pops up to comfort Ana, which tells me Elsie could have stepped in earlier and pulled Rasputin’s plug herself, but she decided to trust Ana (relinquishing control).
I think the theme of letting go rather than holding on, trusting rather than controlling, faith in each other rather than doubt, may not “defeat the Darkness” by itself; but it’ll be what keeps these characters from being corrupted by the Darkness (as they were in Elsie’s other timelines)
i.e. Devotion, Bravery, and Sacrifice for each other; rather than for the Traveller
@@Theblinded21 Not that those three things are required to become a guardian (and not every guardian has shown those three things), but I just realized that Rasputin actually showcased all three. I doubt he will, but it does leave the door open for him coming back as a guardian. I know that ghosts were created at the time of the collapse, but for all we know, that ghost was floating around essentially waiting for him to die lol.
@@trickytreyperfected1482 I mean technically he’s already been a guardian,(Fellwinter) but that was only a piece of him so who knows
The witness wants her lucky charms
@@jjferguson6235 Felwinter was techincally apart from him, more akin to (and actively being described as) his son. For example, Rasputin set the trap for the Iron Lords, Felwinter was hesitant to lead them into the trap. It would be weird to have hesitancy if they were the same person. I know it's a bit pedantic, but I think it's an important distinction.
Never clicked a notification faster. Saw the fish in title and clicked
You're a simple man
@@FlashMidnight a devoted man
In the lore for the "Any Other Sky" sparrow (preorder bonus for Beyond Light), Elsie laments on how hard it is to remember details across timelines, and how she wishes there was a way to make it easier. Glad to see she found her method...
Also: interesting side note on the concept of memory. In humans (and assumedly neo-humans in Destiny), smell is the sense most commonly associated with memory. Other sensory data (sights, sounds, etc.) need to get routed through the thalamus to get to the hippocampus (where memories are encoded in the brain). However, due to the locations of the hippocampus and our nose, smell-based sensory information goes directly there, not being routed through the thalamus. This is why smells can bring back memories so strongly, and it's an interesting implication with Darkness that I hadn't thought of prior. Many of our first anecdotal encounters with true Darkness describe its smell--again, 'wet earth' or 'petrichor'--which I believe the Darkness exploits to further pronounce its effects on memory.
Elsie's journey is a bit strange though because they alternately refer to it as timelines and a time _loop._ Like she's reliving the same time frame over and over and it's the same outcome every time that she's trying to prevent, but I guess the details are different each time? We still don't know the catalyst event that causes the dark future, so maybe we'll find out soon.
@@mxx720 i assume we’re gonna find out during Final shape, no? Or maybe even the events in light fall, like the link between the veil and the witness are the catalyst for the dark future?
“You can give it scritches and it purrs” IMPORTANT 👏 LORE 👏
It’s a catfish
@@adamherrick6077 take my like and leave
Best. Lore.
This is so interesting, again we have an example of Darkness not only being used for good but completely separate from any offensive application.
And it seems like it also explains that the corruptive aspect of Darkness can be effectively nullified through controlled and guided exposure "therapy" for a lack of a better word. It explains why Guardians in the other timelines that just picked up Stasis and ran with it with no guidance largely fell to corruption, but those in this timeline that had Elsie guide them were able to handle it to a much better degree.
Also, the "small minds" line that Clovis says is very reminiscent of Toland the Shattered, since he used the same phrase when giving the 3 Queens analogy and explaining the gentle kingdom. Very interesting.
We need Fish Therapy IRL
Knowing the pouka can purr if you give it scritches made my night. Thank you.
I love that the Pouka are PTSD fish. I say this as a person with PTSD because flashbacks are often triggered by little scraps of memories or feelings that draw out full entrenching memories that are so intense with all of their original emotions that it becomes difficult to impossible to correctly determine which experience is the current reality. These Pouka seem do be doing the same, taking a scrap of emotion or experience and hauling from the depths memories with similar context or components.
I hope nothing happens to the pouka. They seem so wholesome and just want their pretty silver.
I hope we get one as our own, since theres plenty of fish in the sea.
I want one! AGHHHHHHH!
Il take your entire stock!
I heard they suck on your spinal fluid while you sleep... Nasty little buggers
Food is food
@@DronesOverTheMoon yeah, pouka sushi is probably easier to chew than octopus sushi is. Concerned that it could give me giga-mercury-poisoning though...
I don't know why but I find it funny that at 9:30 while talking about Elsie's mother rejecting her, you save yourself with thundercrash and almost make it to the top of the door lol
It purrs for scritches is indeed VITALLY important, there better be an emote featuring that
Kind of like the one we have for the Exo-Canine???
It's been 2 years and we finally got *fish* lore, I was waiting for this more than the expansion itself.
Something that I thought was cool that Byf didn't go into much, Elsie states The Witness (more specifically the Europa Pyramid) knew that Elsie was earlier compared to her other time loops, therefore making it more difficult for her to learn Stasis each loop
That MIGHT have been because The Witness still had access, through Savathun, to Quira, Blade transform. Who has access to the time stream the Vex use, and able to analyze Elsies situation.
Okay so I haven’t finished the video but I immediately am curious about the Pooka helping Osiris remember more about Savathun’s memories and feelings.
YES
I’m the trailer there is a brief snippet with rohan in the foreground and Osiris in the back with a pooka over his shoulder (Osiris’s)
it would be interesting to find out the Pouka's can reveal a Guardians life before their initial death. Wouldn't it be interesting, and a plot twist, to find out Osiris is a resurrected Clovis? From the body he left behind when he became two Exo's? That would be VERY interesting. and hopefully a plot point for down the road, and not this year.
Your videos are so insanely helpful. Finding all the little odds and ends and contextualizing them is the only reason I understand anything going on in the game.
Appreciate the schedule update as well as the lore videos being uploaded before launch and, those to come. However, I do so hope you are being gentle with yourself and truly letting yourself recover without undo stress or push. Continue to take care of yourself, Lore Master ✊🏾
It purrs, excellent, that's all I needed to know
I always love hearing your perspective on the collector's editions as I have also received them throughout the years. Thank you as always for being super enlightening about the lore. Hope you feel better soon, I'm also hoping I'm feeling better by Lightfall
13:24 Nice thundercrash!
(as a warlock main I can relate)
I appreciate the format of this video, going over a few core passages verbatim before going into a neatly organized and abridged summary of the following entries and events, in order to present a storyline that is much easier to grasp. It gives me the cliffnotes that I need as vital anchor points for my own understanding as I slowly take in more lore on my own. Excellent stuff!
My guess is the Pouka are creations of the Veil, they combine both the empathy of the light and the memories of the darkness. They’ll be really important heading forward. The veil is likely a neutral being, my guess is either that there was other veils that interacted with other traveler like beings, and the one on neptune is the one that’s connected to the Traveler but gives it great power if used, hence the Witnesses’ diligence in chasing after it.
9:07 About the background video I had a great laugh as you can see the absolute panic when he smacks the explody hive and try’s jumping away as fast as possible. It’s nice to see others do that and not just me.
So if I’m understanding this correctly, the Poukas show memories relating to the emotion that they pick up on, whether it be them figuring it out or the person giving a keyword.
I wonder what would happen if we managed to have a Pouka examine a Vex?
Counter-question: as the Vex are a species without individuals as we know them, do they even experience emotions in a way we (or a pouka) could even quantify?
Bad ideia the vex are infectious as information as matter.
@@ShaoShaoMienshao I think if you disconnect them somehow from the Vex-network they could. If I understood it correctly, they only don`t feel emotion because they are forced to follow their path. If they lose the connection to the network they are forced to think for themselves and follow their wants. They would at least develope a sense of lonelyness and being lost by losing their driving voice.
It'd require a Pouka to figure out how Vex abstract concepts like emotion via simulated persons, and if the Vex believe Pouka are valuable enough to raid Neomuna for some to make a farm of so they can 'theraputically' purge the religious fanaticism over Darkness/Witness out of Sol Divisive or at least better comprehend Paracausality, they will do everything to get their multitude of limbs on it.
I don’t think the vex can even feel emotion, they are basically bacteria who’s only goal is to replicate and spread throughout the universe to turn it all into a machine.
its so nice to know that even in alternate timelines osiris and saint still love each other T_T
I’m wondering if somehow Pouka are the result of purifying Darkness like how we turned the tables on Nightmares and turned them into healed trauma Memories. It would be the ultimate argument against the Witness if it’s own champion power could be used just like the Light. I’m thinking Neomuna had no ghosts, but made their power out of purifying the enemy’s. Combine that with tech and you get Pouka- soldier’s pets who can heal trauma.
Maybe I misread it so correct me if I'm wrong but apparently the Europa Pyramid/other pyramids reacted strangely to Elsie cause she arrived at the site earlier than expected compared to other timelines. Would that mean they can sorta remember what happens across timeloops?
If the witness is the winnower, then it comes from the Garden (which may or may not be the black garden), which according to unveiling exists outside and separate from time, space, and existence overall. It's watching several, probably infinite, iterations of the flower game play out at once, and in our particular iteration, Elsie made this particular move earlier than in the other iterations
Thank you for releasing in-depth lore videos in the days leading up to lightfall. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm sick of low effort vault cleaning videos
Can’t wait for those recap videos, I love that style.
So Elsie's act of teaching stasis is motivated by light-based expression. Reminds me of Toland's insistence that we need to seize and use darkness/sword logic "in the service of light and life", or something close to that quote from memory. Very interesting; makes me wonder about the relationship of darkness to light and also calls to mind Savathun's suggestion that, if we want to understand what's actually going on in the world, we should stand on the line between light and dark and "look up".
Spitball theory here but what if Elsie discovering the Pouka and what it can do was also from a previous timeline, so when she enters our current timeline she knows to go straight for it.
Also back in D1 when we first meet her she leaves abruptly while receiving a communication, could she be talking to the ghost Tokki?
Us: FIsh friend :3
Drifter: *DINNER*
I love the idea that as a character we can loose the light, die and be reborn into a throne world, so without the light we can die, be reborn and find a ghost replacement if the traveller dies and the ghost do to. (Puca Darkness Ghost)😃😁
So what has Elsie been doing between disappearing at the end of D1 original campaign and beyond light?
Oh my god, the Pouka pond is one big therapy session
If you stop and think about it it’s quite terrifying how strong Elsie just may be, strong enough to kill (assuming final kill) all these big famous characters.. like saint and so many others
And also I think these pula are going to play a massive part in this dlc or soon, they seem Almost* ahamkara like in the use of memories and stuff
I really do think Poukas and Ghosts are the only creatures directly tied to Light and Darkness, but both are just wild creatures from it.
Especially after Bungie confirmed that Darkness powers come from the idea of Psychic while the light is Creation
Ghosts revive the dead, but they have no memory or conscious at the start.
I wonder if Guardians had Poukas and Ghosts
Since we're all gonna go to the Puca pond during lightfall
I wonder if a Puca could potentially show us a memory from our past like before we became a Guardian type of memory
Afterall I'm pretty sure Savathun is proof that those brought back by the light can potentially remember their past
I think it'd be pretty neet for this to happen though it probably won't
The point of the memories about stasis was that they were from other timeloops. The one with Eris is no different. In our loop, she didn’t have stasis, so remembering Eris teaching her was a different timeline. Just a small correction.
Truly giving the people the important details. Thank you, kinda sad I didn't get special edition pouka sound adorable
FINALLY! Lore I can truly appreciate. Lmao, great job as always Byf!
1:54 My man Byf over here punching a Homing Shank like it’s nothing, what a badass.
Of note!
"The feeling passes, I pick up the tool and return to business as usual in the lonely Europan lab. I am in control, even though I know that changes nothing."
I think this line is bungie letting us know that Elsie letting go of control over stasis and letting guardians wield it IS the difference. In Beyond Light, Elsie almost constantly refers to stasis as a tool.
In previous timelines, she takes stasis and returns to being in control, and nothing changes.
In this timeline, she shares the tool with us as well, and now it changes.
I can just imagine Byf losing his mind at finally getting Fish lore. He's wanted this for *years* now.
Poukas purr, how adorable. Also I find it interesting is that savors was corrupted by Oryx, which is interesting considering Osiris was in the infinite forest dealing with Panoptese at the time.
Puca means Ghost in Irish
Me, seeing the title of the video: "Who cares about the witness, I wanna know about these space fish!"
Byf mentioned a recap project for next year and I quite literally pogged for a moment
Also - You mentioned Pouka is thought by Elsie to be some sort of therapy tool. So she asks why whoever owned Pouka and owned a huge scary gun also have an empath fish as a pet? We are already thinking that Pouka are tools possibly used by Cloudstriders. They act as companions, their memory recall tools most likely have a functional role but also, as Elsie thought - a therapeutic one. So it begs the question. Why would cloudstriders need therapy?
Also - knowing that exo frames can emulate crying without actually crying is both incredible engineering and immensely tragic.
“Let’s talk about sceshual stuff” lol love the lore again man and the way you say schedule
13:23 On an unrelated topic - I can feel for that whiffed super...
"you can give it scritches and it will purr." Love you Byf! xD
14:46 "This is how Eramis was able to farm the splinters in... Beyond Light" - My name is Byf, 2023
Destiny 2: where even NPCs have to farm the game...
I really hope if we get a neomunan ghost shell from lightfall campign. Get it the same way we got for the fundament ghost shell in witch queen
I wonder if the pouka can also be used to access the memories of other people and that the Cloudstriders use them to help train new Cloudstriders since they have shorter life spans and stuff.
Also I wonder if a guardian gets a pouka can it dig up memories of their pre-guardian life.
I had aways thought of Elsies movement through the different times lines like she was a traveler and there was some sort of tech she used moving from one to the other but this makes it sound more like a form of reincarnation from alternate times lines where she remembers but not like a 3rd parting looking in but as if she was part of each time line as as if it were her own. Which makes it sound alot like ground hog day
Byf: I need recover so Destiny content might be slow.
Me: DUDE! You have over 500 vids on Destiny! I CAN WAIT😂
You hit a million! Congratulations!
"You can give it scritches and it purrs." Lovely lol
"Purrtinent"
You had to go there
And we love you for it
appreciate all the work you've been doing!
I always look forward to Byf lores!!!
My favourite Byf phrase. "You can give it scritches and it will purrr"
That's it.
No need to carry on :D
Never realized people saw those things as fish, they always gave me an owl vibe on account of their faces
Great video Byf, hope you feel better soon!
Byf describing light as freedom and darkness as control makes it sound like Destiny is a sci-fi Assassin's Creed
Next is the Cabal notes where the cabal have they're own version of the Undertaker vs Mankind match, complete with commentary. And Caiatl uses non-T-Rated verbiage.
Now that Lightfall is out. I gotta say, you were pretty close in mentioning that Elsie thought the Pouka could have uses in therapy. I think it was Osiris but someone says in the Hall of Heroes that Pouka’s were used for emotional support due to their intense gravitation towards emotion. I love the idea of cloudstriders having emotional support Poukas the same way we have dogs for emotional support IRL
This is heavily supporting a feeling I've had since we found out about the Veil: not only is it a piece of Darkness, but the Cloudstriders and Neptunian tech are rooted (knowingly or not) in Darkness. I'm predicting a big conflict between the Cloudstriders and Zavala, as it's been foreshadowed that the Cloudstriders will be demonstrating/teaching us "what it means to be a Guardian," which would further cement the ongoing narrative theme of moral action being more than just Light and Dark. Maybe we'll even see Ikora using Darkness power by the end?
Edit: the bit about Elsie realizing she needs to relinquish control over Ana really hit me. Any older sibling who's been in a mentor position for their siblings knows that feeling, of wanting to protect them from things you don't even know, even if it ends up separating you. The acceptance to let them be their own person is hard to learn.
Perhaps the Pouka connects to the Exo Stranger because she was reborn with Darkness (as we know from Exo creation lore)… it’s also odd that the Pouka possesses the ability to resurrect, like our ghosts but was not born of the Traveller’s Light… so is the Pouka born of Darkness or another high power that we are yet unaware of in Destiny lore.
Poukas can resurrect?
So i actually want to latch onto the term "Alkaloid", because while you're right in that it does refer to plants that are usually rich in nitrogen, i think it's more specifically that they are plants rich in *Alkali metals* . This means something like Lithium. Now how many times have you heard of someone taking Lithium in order to "remember" themselves or "balance" themselves or even to gain a form of "control". In essence a psychotropic substance. Which tends to fit the bill with how Darkness tends to be seen or "shown" when in the hands of the player. That it allows the player to "see" things that "should" be there but are in fact hidden, to glimpse beyond a veil of sorts.
(waitaminute, havn't we heard that word somewhere before?)
But i also think it goes a little further than that. Osmium seems to have some sort of connection with Darkness in some way. Not only is it incredibly dense (one of the densest materials in the known universe), but it has a soft silver sheen to it. That and it's found everywhere on the Throne World of Savathun in the form of "Fundamental Osmium". I don't think that's an accident. That is on purpose. And i think the idea of an Alkaloid actually ties into this really well. Because i just figured out that there is something that uses both Lithium and Osmium.
It's called Lithium Osmium Oxide. It was discovered recently as an idea for use in Quantum computing because it creates a new state of matter known as Quantum Spin Liquid. I could go into a tiny bit of detail about it but i'm not too 100% familiar on how it works so needless to say it sounds oddly similar to the "Quicksilver" that seems to be shown when it comes to Neomuna. But also oddly enough seems to sound a bit like Vex Fluid in a sense. But i'm just throwing thoughts out there. However i could be onto something with this.
There is probably more to be gleamed but i leave that for others to sift through.
every other lore buff: needs to figure out every tiny detail in destiny's story to complete their destiny
byf: GUY THE FISH PURRS
Not an insult, love your videos Byf
aside from the lore, what is that double hitting gl name? I thought the only one is from spire dungeon, but it should have been in energy slot not kinetic..
I'll have you know that the "Purrtinent" pun gave me physical pain. Fie upon it.
Byf, I have a crazy short theory.
What if Garden Of Salvation was a huge war machine/planet that the Witness had and the Traveller shot it with its beem to disable it.
And we saw what the beem did to the Doritos.
Thats will explain Garden's environment.
Hives do have war moons, so it is possible that the Witness had a planet as a war machine.
Hey Byf I was just rewatching the Darkness audio lore video you made about two years ago and was curious could the sounds that were depicted from entries 70,71,72 of the Black armory lore book be that of the Tormentors?
I feel like this should’ve been included in BL’s collectors edition alongside Clovis’ journal, it would’ve made so much sense and we wouldn’t have had to wait so long for a simple explanation on the fish.
I’m not sure if I was the only one who noticed this but the lore behind the warlock stasis subclass sorta hinted at darkness being tied or related to memory before we got deepsight in witch queen.
Another entire lore of destiny video let's gooooooo
Lore a little bit aside, no matter how old you are, you can't hear "Uranus" without letting out a quick but discreet laugh.
I really hope we get a pouka skin for Our ghost
I really hope we can get a pouka alongside our ghost
Yo byf, how about for 1mil celebration ya do a lore video on "my name is byf" ( the channel ) or just on Byf himself! Givin us all this lore all these years but we wanna hear YOUR lore bro! Congratz again!
Watching this, post-Lightfall release.
This talk of dredging up memories, makes a certain cutscene of Osiris and a Pouka, that much more painful.
The fish speaks in Elcor... lovely.
This is the one I've been waiting for
You’re like a walking encyclopedia, and I love it.
Secondary note, “pooka” is a Pac-Man and Dig Dug character. Not to be confused!
I don't have a Twitter or I'd let you know there, but Duality has a big hint to Lightfall. Check the box with the sheet over it and see if it looks familiar. I just realized it and haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere.
What is it ?
Finally, I have everything I've needed from Destiny
Finally some good fucking fish
I wonder if the cruxes are the darkness analogs of the traveler. Or at least related in some way.
byf uploaded, I can finally sleep
After hearing that we can pet the Pouka and it purrs, and the introduction of an Exo-Canine, I'm thinking we're going to have alternates to Ghosts from this point forward. Maybe you need a Pouka to used darkness classes? Maybe the Exo pup helps with remnant Warmind tech?
Maybe it's more of an added 'equipment' slot on our guardians? Kind of like the Iron Lord coins in D1?? Perhaps there will be other 'items/pets' that will help? An actual Iron Lord Wolf, for crucible? A repair drone for Public events? That could be an interesting new game mechanic to work with.
Just my thoughts.
Hey Byf, not sure if anyone has pointed this out or not and I'm not sure if this will get to you but the Pooka/Puca (many different variations on the spelling) is actually a creature (fairy) in Irish/Celtic Mythology. It has the ability to change it's shape or form and from what I've been told (this being second-hand knowledge from an old girlfriend that had Irish roots), it's known to be mischievous (her dog was named Pooka). I wouldn't be surprised if this serves as a parallel to the Pooka in Destiny.
Great lore. So ... how many folks had a laugh when Byf Supered a poor, defenseless pillar in the Heist gameplay. Oh, I know that feeling ...
5:00 *YEAHHHHHHHHHHH! LET'S GO!!!!*
I don't have faith in Bungie to do this since they want our Guardian to be a blank slate, but I really want interacting with the Poukas in Neomuna to conjure flashbacks of our Guardian's 1st life, the forgotten life. Huge missed opportunity if they don't.
at 1:55 bro really melees an explosive shank
So basically, the Poukas are just cool little guys. Very nice.
Minor correction: It's probably more correct to say that Neptune's _orbit_ is smack bang in the middle of Uranus' and Pluto's _orbits_ , and even that is not completely accurate.
Where Neptune is in relation to Uranus or Pluto is highly dependent on their current position in their orbits. Depending on the moment in time, Uranus could be relatively close to Pluto, while Neptune is on the other side of the solar system.
Besides that, Pluto and Neptune's (eliptical) orbits actually intersect, which means that Pluto is periodically closer to the sun than Neptune.
Fortunately they'll never collide because Pluto and Neptune have resonant orbits. This means that for exactly every 2 orbits Pluto completes, Neptune makes three. This also means that they'll never get closer than about 16 AU (Astronomical Units, about 150M km). For comparison: Uranus' and Neptune's orbits are about 10 AU apart.
Considering Pluto's orbit takes about 248 years, it's also not like you could just "wait out" for the planet to come close to another planet, you'd probably be dead by then. At these timescales you can understand that most of the time the only "vicinity" between these planets is in their orbits, but they might just as well be on separate ends of the solar system.
Of course, it might be true that these three planets happen to be relatively close to each other spatially, but that's not implied anywhere afaik.
I swear, Bungie can make the dumbest most confusing lore ever imagined that makes Fromsoft writers get concerned, and most of us will be enthralled by it just because a lore fanatic with a deep voice reads it like a badass narrator!
P.S. Sniper Jackals. Good luck with that.
Excellent, I'm starving for darkness imbued space fish...lore.