Now I wonder if Rasputin could be resurrected as a guardian? I hope not since his sacrifice would become less impactful… but I also would just be happy to see rasputin again
@@Lynndissimo i dont think it would be less impactful, as he would never remember his past life, as he said, his entire memory/protocols, ect would need to be deleted to stop Eramis. we would all know, but i dont think he would ever know unless we or ana told him
The shot of the Traveler over the earth harkening back to the promotional art introducing Destiny for the first time genuinely made me smile. Well played, Bungie.
Right? I was honestly confused that this season was called season of the Seraph, since we kind of already had that in Worthy, but it makes sense now. We’re Rasputin’s Seraph, and he felt so willing to share his past actions, like Abhorrent Imperative, and to sacrifice himself, because he knew we were there.
Me too man me too... especially because I have been rocking solar warmind cell mods since they were released... I'm all about the Warmind and him being gone AND calling me his Seraph... man, this game fuckjng tugged HARD at my heart strings... its a good thing they gave us a Therapy Dog on the sly and we didn't realize the Doggos true purpose until now...
Because zavala has been dreading and accepting the possibility of this moment for 2 years now. He has been slowly taking his faith in the Traveler and placing it with his allies. The Traveler may be "benevolent" to some degree but it is clearly a selfish god when looking back at the last 8 years of the narrative. It may work for the side of LIFE and prosperity but it does so at the risk of the life forms it uplifts. It KNOWS the darkness will follow it. It KNOWS that it can seemingly only ever fail in it's selfish journey through the cosmos, yet hops from species to species, TIMELINE TO TIMELINE hoping it will endure or overcome but it cannot. And Zavala has had to face these hard facts since we allied with the Cabal and it has only been ramping up with events that have shaken his faith in what humanity thought was it's savior for centuries, culminating in the realization that it has no specific love for humanity since it was more than willing to bequeath it's power onto a villain like Savathun who spent so much time actively working against the Traveler and wholesale slaughtering entire worlds for literal millions of years chasing after it. So Zavala was prepared for this, as much as he didn't want to be.
I think season of the haunted made Zavala this way. We saw how he grappled with his faith in the Witch Queen campaign, asking how the Traveller could give its powers to the hive, and in season of the haunted we saw how tormented he was for sending people to die for a false god, but once we defeated his nightmare he said that he no longer places his faith in the traveller, but instead places it in his peers
In most movies and cartoons, good triumphs over evil. Most people enjoy such movies and cartoons. It is because people love good. Study, work, exercise, illness, etc. cause stress. Stress creates an evil mind and leads to evil actions. Most people are good, but stress breeds bad thoughts and bad behavior. Give peace to all people by freeing them from study, work, exercise and disease.
@@noahkline4263 You are literally taking TOO MUCH SHADE on the Traveler. SHUT UP. Look at the Traveller at the very beginning of the ViDoc. It can just move away anytime in a wild goose chase. Zavala even ordered to protect the traveler anyway at any costs because he knows he knows that of the witness got the traveler, the universe is doomed. If I were the traveller, I will just ran away anyway. But in the ViDoc, it just stays where it currently is, WITH THE PYRAMID FLEET LITERALLY RIGHT FUCING IN FRONT OF IT WHILE CABAL AND FOTC SHIPS BUZZZING AROUND IN A DOGFIGHT.
In case it hasn't been pointed out yet, this is a classic example of something called a Xanatos Gambit, a plan in which every conceivable outcome benefits the planner. 1) If Xivu Arath takes the Warsats the witness wins. 2) If we take them and use them Xivu uses them to open a portal and the Witness wins. 3) If Eramiskell succeeded the traveler is at worst weakened at most destroyed and the Witness wins 4) the only way we could stop her involved destroying the Warsats, loosing perhaps our most powerful weapon. Every single event, bar a few stalemates, works in the Witness' favor. Who knows, maybe there were other outcomes that we just never considered.
Y'know, there's an old Matthew Broderick movie called Wargames from ye olden days. A rogue supercomputer AI was believed to be starting a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The entire movie is trying to outsmart this computer, and failing. At the end, the computer has one answer for the problem of nuclear war: don't play the game. And that, I believe, is what we have here. If we, as Guardians, want to win, we only have two options: overturn the table, or change the rules.
I'd say it's the second best. I really loved S11 (Arrivals) when we actually we able to explore the inner city while the traveler was reforming. A bit of world building whilst we waited
Honestly thisngs like this need to be included in actual DLC’s I feel bad for anyone who will play destiny in the future who’ll miss this because it is very important
It is truly a tragedy to lose one of the few ballet fans left. Goodbye Rasputin. You were truly a Guardian. Glad to be your Seraph since 2014, protecting you from unwanted visitors(damn you Omingul)
When I thought about it I realized the gravity of what was happening for Misraaks. The traveler leaving DESTROYED his mother mentally, and made his people suffer, turned him into a blood soaked monster, and more. Misraaks connection to the idea of the traveler leaving is second only to Eramis' and yet he STILL begged for its safety. IF Misraaks isn't the Kell of light after this some how I don't know who is. He was prepared to watch the traveler float away just as his mother did sooner than let it get destroyed.
Rest in peace, Rasputin. The strategist, the tyrant and the savior. You chose your purpose and that purpose was true sacrifice. Guardians never die, but we never forget those who do. Farewell, son of humanity.
I had such a sinking feeling in my heart at the beginning when the Traveller parted the clouds to leave. One of the best moments in Destiny ever for me.
I now understand why Bungie writes the story and we don’t. The most our peanut brains can come up with “Can Rasputin be revived by a Ghost, what if Mara got a Ghost, give sweeper bot a ghost.” This was a seriously great season finale, and some people (mostly on Reddit) want it undermined by reviving Rasputin
It was a crazy moment. But it wasn’t even beginning to leave. That was certainly a red herring by bungie they fully intended for us to have that impression in the beginning.
I really hope they don’t redeem Eramis after this. It’s clear to see she cares more for her revenge on The Traveler than her people. Like that’s it. She’s sold her soul to The Witness…
I think if Eramis were getting "redemption" it would be her turning against the Witness, not necessarily joining our side. I think she would turn against the Darkness, and get killed for doing so. But I honestly hope it doesn't happen. It really does seem like she's too far gone at this point. Edit: I should have stopped to complete the thought. I honestly hope that she doesn't get redemption and Misraaks is the one to finally kill her. Disregarding whatever lore excuse Bungie uses for the final mission being so damn difficult, we already handed Eramis her ass once before when we used her own power against her back in Beyond Light. I want to see a true fight between Misraaks and Eramis, no holds barred, Light to Darkness. Not the pirate swordfight we saw 10 seconds of before Eramis ran away.
@@Matisyahuwu season of the lost while very long was honestly a favorite of mine from year 4. Shattered realm is still without peers as far as seasonal activities go. Season of the Haunted and the return of the Leviathan felt like they were trying to do something similar but it didn’t even come close
When The Traveler initially moved... I had not felt chills like that from Destiny in a long while. Not since the loss of Cayde. Reminded me how emotionally invested so many of us have been since D1 Day 1. To see it move... man.
What an absolutely incredible and emotional finale. I'm upset they killed Rasputin after waiting since the litetal beginning of Destiny to finally get him into the story, but his send off was done so well that it helps soften the blow
I really don't see what was well done about it though. The whole thing he sacrificed himself for was completely contrived in the moment, with nothing I'm aware of to actually establish that Rasputin has to die for the Warsats to be destroyed. Also completely undermines the concept of growing to be more than a weapon. Very solidly says he *could not* stop being a weapon, and the way to actually stop *existing* as a weapon is to stop existing.
Same, I was sad he was gone quickly but ultimately I don't think there was really any place for Rasputin, a literal walking nuke, in the story without it becoming a storytelling crutch (oh we have a problem, Red, nuke it!) so it makes sense he was killed off and they did it really well.
@@thelordofcringe Personally, I was hoping he'd remove the Warsat code from his personality and destroy the Warsats that way. Mass Disarmament of WMDs, and a strategic 5head move by Rasputin to "attack" a War god with gestures of Peace.
Important context! The Traveler seems like it's leaving, but it actually appears it's moving away from the City to draw the Warsat targeting away. - The Traveler only moves when the Warsats are powering up, not a moment before despite all the risk leading up to that moment. - After the Warsats are destroyed, it does just stay in its higher orbit and does not go anywhere else. - Eramis and the Witness straight up just acknowledge it isn't running away. - Zavala, after you talk with him, mentions that he *feared* the Traveler really was leaving, but that it didn't end up happening. - Rasputin mentions that if the satellites do fire, the collateral damage would probably be enough to wipe humanity/ the City off the map. Makes sense, considering that the Warsats have extinction level payloads loaded.
I agree to a certain extent. I believe that the Traveller would have fled if the Witness wasn't right and the Traveller has no where else to go. It would have left, but it couldn't, might as well keep my minions alive
Yup exactly the traveler went into space because of the warsats sure and to takes its stance against the darkness away from the city. That’s what I think anyway.
I don't think that's true. The warsats weren't even open, much less charging up their weapons, when the Traveler started its ascent. I still have faith in the traveler but its being a little bit weird... I wish it'd just give us a speaker or something fhfhfh
The cutscene is incredible. The visible pain on Ana's face and in her voice, the moment where Elsie approaches to console her, the brief hesitation from Eramis after hearing from Mithrax, everyone in the city coming together. Just an absolute masterpiece, it's such a good emotional payoff to all of the world building that's happened in the past few years. I'm so excited for Lightfall, I really can't wait if we're getting more things of this quality. The aftermath was great for building up the tension leading into the expansion too, talking to Zavala and Ikora, and then Ana's message, beautiful storytelling.
I cried a little bit during this cutscene. The combination of everything going down, after all these years. And my favorite character being gone just evoked so many feels…
@@badjuju2721 I think Rasputin didnt die....or more accurate kinda revived by traveler...elsie told Ana to look at something at that scene which is most probrably a ghost....juz guessing xD
Same, it made me cry. I don't usually cry like that but it happened twice, once during the cutscene and again when I loaded into the Tower and saw the expanse of sky.
I sympathized with Ana a lot during the cutscene, and it honestly left me with depression-lite. Destiny just DOES NOT (with exception to Cayde) give major allied characters on-screen deaths like this, and it hurts to feel selfish when Rasputin CHOSE to sacrifice himself to keep Humanity safe one last time. You don't want to see him go, but you know he still made the right decision going out on his own terms. Seeing his lifeless Exo frame in HELM feels like a family member's dead body at home before paramedics take it away; just too sad to look at.
It feels strange seeing this franchise evolved into one of the best stories i've ever experienced in an entertainment medium, mainly because it's not from a movie or books, but from a video game. A medium where many years ago, i wouldn't have thought could ever deliver something so impactful it breaks me. I'm really sad and happy at the same time, i'm happy because i was there from the start of this franchise almost 10 years ago. We are witnessing a monumental moment i'd say. Be brave, Guardians. We are almost there!
I’d like to point how Ana said she could feel something like a heartbeat before the Traveller left the City and Osiris didn’t. It’s almost certainly because he doesn’t have the Light anymore, but I thought it was a neat little detail.
The fact that the visual language of the last shot of the traveler in this cutscene is similar to some of the most iconic art of the traveler from D1. Plus the music starts to sound oddly like some of the mysterious and ethereal D1 music. By far some of the best storytelling in Destiny yet.
You're right, but watching this video makes me recall the words of the supreme being of Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion: "For he that attempeth evil shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
The sky in the Tower without the Traveller looks so eerie and... empty. Really hammers home the fact that this could be the end for us. That one, omnipresent force in our story is gone.
Zavala's dialogue was pretty par for the course, while still solid. But Ikora being scared and telling us to spend time with our loved ones for the last time, that got me excited.
I think that rasputin was not the only one sacrificing in that moment: every character believed that the traveler was leaving and yet everyone was still trying to protect him from Eramis basically "accepting their fate" for the travelers "greater good" even without knowing it. I think that is the "sacrifice" it was waiting for and maybe even the reason why it left the eliskni in the whirlwind because they instantly started hating it and fighting "selfishly" for it's protection
Something else to note about Eramis, and how she might turn on the Witness, is that she's still begging us to stop fighting to prevent more bloodshed. On the moon heist mission post-season finale, she requests us, the Guardians, to give one of her old friends a good death to free her from the service to the Witness, and then shares her grief freely with Osiris when he offers the chance to mourn together. When the Traveler started to leave, she seemed to think that she was genuinely going to stop another Whirlwind by shooting it down (even if technically, she was what was triggering it). Her dialogue indicates that she's in hell, and that she still hates what's going on with a burning passion- it's just that she still thinks that the Traveler is the cause of it, so eliminating it will be the only way to achieve peace. So if that is the case, and that is something she truly believes and is the root cause of her talking to us and trying to encourage us to come to a cease-fire, then it means the Witness has kept her completely in the dark as to what its true intentions are. Because if we just surrender, there will BE no peace. The final shape would not allow it. But if Eramis just sees it as a very powerful entity that would do anything to destroy the Traveler, one that she now cannot escape from, then it would make sense for her to continue to remain passive, because there's no way in hell she'd let the Eliksni be slaughtered when the whole reason she wants to blow up the Traveler is to stop another Whirlwind. Now that the Traveler has made a stand, and will not flee as she thought...she might make the connection soon enough. To put it into a metaphor: Eramis is essentially a starving dog that has been chasing a scrap of raw steak for years now. Everytime she gets close to reaching it, its yanked away. Others offer kibble on the sidelines, but she's so focused on reaching her goal that she's become blinded to everything else, and can see no other options. She's tired, frustrated, and angry, and she's just had that steak yanked away from her again. I can't help but wonder if she'll end up chasing it to her bitter end, or if she'll finally snap and bite the hand that denies her
Nah she has to die by our hand now. It's because of her that the Warmind is dead. No shot at redemption anymore because what she just did basically guarantees the Last City is going to burn to the ground in Lightfall.
Yanking the dog's chain, so to speak. Tragic. But given her stubbornness, I suspect she'll fall into the sunk cost fallacy... Or turn back to the proper side too late. And that's what truly makes a tragedy: character-driven flaws that lead to a bitter end.
I think she's fully aware of what's happening and what she's doing, and is already neck deep in Sunk Cost. It feels like the Witness has been goading her, prodding her along for some time, and we finally get confirmation here. Eramis failed IT, but it doesn't seem like she was discarded so readily as we thought. Those shots and dialogue imply The Witness has a personal interest in her to me. I wonder that, for Eramis, Revenge is her true big drive now. Revenge for her people, and for herself. Possibly justifying it as vengeance for the Eliksni as a whole. And she's aware of this. But her own anger and pain blinds her or pushes this down even though her quest for vengeance is going to destroy her people rather than save them. I think she knows it all, but is locked in through The Witness prodding, and her own misery.
“ A Shield, a Protector, *a Guardian* “ - let this quote be remembered, I have a hunch it’ll hold much weight in future. Also the OG art depicting the exact moment of this almost 10 years later AND the mention of the Veil which people speculated for years is AMAZING foreshadowing!!!!!
the fact that this whole time we kinda thought eramis was against the witness because it started to kill her house off to create more scorn, just for her to completely go on its side. its terrifying
If anything, the fact that the witness converted her house and old friends into scorn, and the threat of continue doing it is what coerced her to stay on his side. In the cutscene, whenever Mithraxx pleads her not to do it, she looks at the doors to exit the facility in a moment of hesitation, but then she sees the image of the witness and remembers what would happen to her house if she stopped and fled. Eramis right know is in a point where she is far too deep to go back, even if deep down she wants to.
@@voltus20 all those comments I'm reading that feels like another Cayde/Uldren moment, not properly thinking about lore information that's been mentioned.
That scene with Ana and Red broke me. When Elsie showed up right after, to comfort Ana, that ruined me. Thought I’d run the mission again, thinking that I was now prepared. Nope. I was still not prepared. Broke me again. Red has been with us veterans for almost a decade. Machine or not, it still hurt. Thanks for the memories, Red 😢
That D1 poster moment at 9:24 is genius, hits home what is happening more emotionally. And the score feels so similar to D1 too, christ, best cutscene in a loooooong time.
i love that the 3 guardians behind zavalla in the cutscene are the same guardians from the cover art i love this whole cutscene truly the best year final we have had
They really nailed this mission. The difficulty was perfect, and I literally did not know what was going to happen until the very end of the cutscene. There was a degree of suspense that is rarely seen in this game. I was legitimately afraid the Traveler was either going to be destroyed or leave. But the final cutscene where The Witness says "it has nowhere left to run" still makes it feel like even though we technically won for now, it still feels like bad things are coming. Maybe this is the first time in Destiny where we ACTUALLY lose.
Yeah, we made the best move we could in the situation but maybe we are just delaying the Witness checkmate. Sure we prevented Rasputin from being used against us and Xivu from blitzing us by warping in directly above earth but the very reason Xivu needed to sneak into the system through the ascendant plane was to avoid a drawn out battle against the warsat network through the entire solar system. Xivu succesfully dealt with the asset of ours that would be a problem for her army and now she can just regroup and trickle out her army further away from earth before launching an all out assault in real space if she wants to. We really need whatever the veil is to give us some advantage because now we are getting slowly dismantled army by army while the black fleet and the hive advances.
The last mission felt like an actual space battle in a cosmic war. So much fun and I really hope we get more. ALSO I AM SO EXCITED FOR WHATEVER THE VEIL IS WTF.
The fact that we were able to defeat the "scourge of earth" wizard and stop Xivu's plan really reminds us of how much more of a challenge we are to the Hive. In the end, most of the species the Hive fought and made destroyed were no match for their power, but their old tactics don't work on us. I see this as a great example of our guardian's power
We bested Three Hive Gods and one worm God. We are no slouches to combat at all by this point. The Witness and Xivu Arath, see us as a powerful challenge, and the Winnower sees us as a potential ally.
It's a funny feeling to join the Destiny community at the season of plunder. When I Joined then, I thought this was silly. Then I found your channel. I got invested in the story, the characters, the backstory- the future. Yesterday, when I logged in, I got weirded out when I was transported to seraph station right away. All else that followed brought me to tears. I have had an admiration for Rasputin. I wanted him to be our wise war god. I wanted him to stay. And now I grieve. If anything, I wanna say thank you, My Name Is Byf - thank you for lighting the fire that inspired me. And I cannot wait for me and the rest of the million to *drown in the deep.*
I started before the whole sunsetting, season 11ish, i got to enjoy Mars, and even though there was no narrative benefit, i completed mars. I had so much fun. I loved exploring the frozen wasteland, being in awe at Rasputins raw power. 500 yers prior, Rasputin froze himself on mars, along with most of the surface, to stop the Hive Worm God that arrived. Thats why ana says that one line "He sacrificed himself already, and now he has to do it again..." this whole season hit hard and i lost my favorite character. I loved rasputin, his whole concept of a growing AI. This seasons story was absolutely fantastic.
Yea sorry to say you joined destiny 2 on one of its worst seasons. Season of the plunder didn't even feel like destiny and it was boring and to grindy alot of people hated it
@@xiphosmaniac This is why this game tears me apart. Mars was by far my favourite location, collecting the nodes and shooting the drones this season almost got me nostalgic for it. The story of Rasputin is incredible, and the build up from Warmind to Worthy to Seraph had me tearing up at the end. Shit like this is what makes Destiny great, but at the same time, for new players it’s a lot of work to get invested, and these built up moments get built up and sunset. People starting in LF or TFS can’t have that context. I hope whatever comes after the final shape, that the main storylines don’t get sunset, because it’s what keeps me coming back more than anything.
My mouth hung wide open when he said it. Our theories weren’t entirely wrong after all, and we’re FINALLY gonna find out what the deal is with those veiled statues!
seeing the empty sky over the city really brings a feeling of unease and dread...it's going to be quite a ride. Also Rasputin's showing of his humanity coupled with his sacrifice really brought back some "Does this unit have a soul?" memories.
It almost feels like eramis is in an abusive relationship with the witness, like it's holding the promise of revenge just in front of her as it treats her like a tool, a means to an end, and nothing more. She doesn't feel like she can leave, because she doesn't feel like she has a choice. It's truly saddening. Edit: y'all need to stop saying we should kill her lmao
The Witness is only interested in proving Sword Logic to be the true nature of the universe. Anything and anyone who sides with it is simply the means to an end. If the Witness were to succeed in a second collapse, they’d eventually be killed off to contribute towards reaching a Final Shape.
@@ryanspencer9602 What if, instead, Mithrax goes on a rampage to avenge Scorn Eramis (Scornimus?!?) and dies. But then finally gets risen as a Guardian?!? (Mithraxian?!?)
Congratulations on hitting 1 million!🎉 It’s much more than deserved. You’ve been my saviour since Destiny 1. You make the wonderful lore of this game easily accessible, understandable, and enjoyable to listen to. Thank you for creating one of the best channels on youtube. And thank you for using your voice to apprise the wonderful story of this game we all love so much. Congrats again! It’s more than deserved. And I cannot wait to see what you come up with next. Keep up the good work guardian! 🎉❤
9:08 I like the difference between Zavala's and Ikora's reactions. Zavala looked relieved that the Traveler did not abandoned everyone. But Ikora seem to question why it did not leave. It makes me wonder if Parth of the reason why the Witness took this long to personally attack is due to it attacking every civilization close to Sol first.
It also reflects how their interactions after the cutscene are. Zavala is relieved, partially that it didn’t leave, but also even if it did he would rather take heart in the friends and allies we’ve made. Ikora, meanwhile, is afraid, and tells us to essentially take time to spend with people that we love and prepare for the worst.
My guess is that Ikora is aware of the dark future, but now that we are at the point where everything that happened in that future has not happened, she probably fears what comes next will be far worse and they won’t be prepared for it
we dont know how much time has passed in game ( i assume a couple of years) since the traveler pulsed and reawoken the pyramids. The pyramids arrived during the golden age. The traveler "sacrificed" itself and gave us the Ghosts. The Travelers sacrifice caused the darkness to essentially freeze at the edge of the solar system, until it pulsed back to life. We can see the witness has no trouble doing things, considering they "vaulted" Mercury and Venus, 2 planets closer to sol than earth, even though the pyramids are now by Jupiter, the last we seen them. Leads me to believe the witness cant attack earth yet, because of the Traveler being stubborn and staying.
my thought was that it is both the traveler is absent from the city when having been a fixture for so long and the fact that the traveler moved means the time has come for it to respond, which means big things are going to happen
There was a time when it seemed you were having issues, and questions, that put you in a dark place. I am glad you overcame that, and continued this amazing journey you take the community on. You deserve a million, you are the "Lore Daddy" and are greatly appreciated, thank you!
I think Rasputin's sacrifice, as a sort of 'test' for Humanity, was partially responsible for the Traveller staying. However I also think the reason it began moving when it did in the first place is that it detected that the Warsats were going to fire upon it, and it wanted to move away from the City to prevent collatoral damage. Once the threat was neutralized, it stopped moving away.
I am struck by the fact that I...and I suppose many others out there playing this through the first time, was, if just for a moment, we were all as speechless, holding our breaths, minds filled with doubt, uncertainty, fear...as those characters...those companions, comrades, those friends on the screen were. For just that moment we mirrored them as they watched the Traveler rise up into the sky.
I jumped in to this world a little over a year ago and it has not disappointed, from a lore perspective. Byf and others have been a blessing to understanding a universe that I couldn't enjoy from the beginning. Congratz on a million subs Byf!
I think Anna's face when she disconnects Raspoutine is a moment athat truly broke my heart. Red was a big part of our story for a few years now and seing him go like that really made me feel bad. It always was that all-powered entity that was unkillable, but this end really was not what i was waiting for
Seeing the empty sky above the Last City shook me to my core. It was THIS POINT when everything went numb for me. "Everything changes", is what I thought. When I saw the OG Destiny art in the cutscene, everything was COLD. War is truly upon us Guardians, Dredgens, and all those in between. Rally up.
This entire season, I had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen to the Traveler. And as much as I adore when Bungie puts computer messages in the HUD (like from the Splicer missions), my heart *sank* when I saw "imminent [O] departure". I'm glad to see that not all was as bad as I feared in the end. Also, one million subscribers! Congrats!
I couldn't help but smile and feel content when he called me his Seraph. I will wear that title proudly in honor of Rasputin. Goodbye Big Red we'll miss you.
Ever since I heard the Witness’s name, I thought that they weren’t the Winnower, but rather as their name implies, the spectator of the flower game, and that when the Gardener broke the rules and the Winnower called them out, the Witness sided with the Winnower. Kind of like the Witness was the referee for the flower game and is trying to enforce the rules on the Gardener.
17:30 There has been the theory, and one that sounds pretty compelling now, that the Witness really isn't the Winnower but instead the "First Knife" referenced in Unveiling.
I think also that there are several interpretations to this. For example with The Whirwind, most Eliksni interpreted it as the Traveler leaving them to fend for themselves, but another interpretation is that the Traveler knew why the Darkness arrived so it fled to spare the Eliksni so they could have a chance of survival. An interpretation of what was going on here is that the Traveler went to orbit to sacrifice itself for the Earth, like putting itself on the way of the Warsats to "take it for the team", after all, thats why Eramis, Xivu Arath and the Witness came to our home, because of the Traveler. It's not the first time the Witness does some "chess" analogies and if the Traveler considers itself to be the King, why would it move itself into a position where it creates a "winning condition" for the Witness, as in taking the King and winning the duel? I think that if the Traveler's intention was to run away, first it would've done it a while ago, and second, the Traveler goes into orbit and then it stops, like "here I am". It's not using the planet as a shield, it is using itself as a shield for the Earth, a desperate move. I don't play chess but if there was some strategic analogy to this, it's like the Traveler, all this time, has also been playing it's own game, positioning it's pieces exactly where they have to be and baiting the Witness to put it's pieces exactly where the Traveler needs them to be, so now what if the Traveler, what if us, are finally in a position to go into the offensive? Because it seems that the Witness is ready to go in for the kill, it's going all in, everything it has, to take the Traveler out of the picture, so now we know what we're against, we know what pieces it has but... is it true that the Traveler doesn't have more pieces to move? The Witness claims that so, but is that actually true? Or has the Traveler, all this time, just been preparating the battlefield, the chessboard, in a way were it's opponent its most vulnerable so we now actually have a chance to fight and defeat it?
This talk of the Witness play chess has me thinking back on the Unveiling lore book and how the Gardener grew bored of the Flower Game and its repetitive result leading it to change the rules. If the Witness is playing Chess, playing by those same old rules, perhaps the Traveler has been playing... Backgammon or some other boardgame. An entirely different ruleset and playstate that the Witness may very well be blind to.
If the witness and the traveler have been doing this game for millennia it’s likely they are good at sizing up each others moves. And if this is the travelers way of going on the offensive, I have to imagine it A. Knows the witness will throw everything it has and B. Has a trick or two left to play. After all, sword logic is about brute strength and bomb logic is much more complex, yet if done right, much more deadly.
Eramis in the cutscene is kinda weird It seems like she trying to destroy traveler yet she question herself in the end why the traveler didn't flee from earth. I think she trying to make the traveler flee from the darkness and in the same times to make us feel the same way as eliksni during the whirlwind.
the whole time I was playing through this mission, all I could think was, "I cannot WAIT for Byf's video on this!" Thank you, as always, for your incredible insight and analysis.
The Greek word for unveiling is Apocalypse. I think the veil will be next season's artifact. I also think the entity inside the Traveler will be unveiled.
This mission felt like a REAL fire fight. when those frames joined in i was geeked outta my mind! I JUST so happened to have Eyes of Tomorrow equipped so it was EXTREMELY fitting given the setting and absolutely insanely fun.
I’ve got no idea how we’re gonna survive the witness without rasputin and his Warsats. I had really hoped we’d see more of rasputin now we’d put him back together.
@Amor Fati unironcally it's kind of sad he's supposed to be this all powerful robot that can do anything in reality he's done nothing actually powerful in game
The detail that you’d miss of you blink: the image of the Witness on, or in front of Eramis’ screen, her looking back at the door behind her. It’s probably the writers hinting that the Witness was watching her, with a Hive outside the door, ready to execute or turn Eramis into a Scorn if she didn’t comply.
I think this was hinted in a lore book where he gifted her one of her allies as scorn. I really believe this theory that she had no choice and is being manipulated by the witness.
He killed millions, slaughtered guardians and unleashed Siva on us while using the dead iron lords corpses as puppets to try and kill us. My bad if I don't exactly miss the robot with feelings.
@@rabittwilightsparklefan3093 He had control over Siva, he shut the doors to the bunker before they could leave and he activated their desecrated corpses once we entered the bunker. Oh, I forgot how he was trying to bombard us right before that.
Regarding the Veil, the Traveler, and the Witness, I can’t help but remember the Game Awards trailer for Lightfall. Particularly that bit where we watch the Witness and some plant life emerging. And it actually gets surprised. *In my mind,* that’s definitely has something to do with the Veil.
What amazed me about this finale was after I was done I thought, “oh god, light fall is here”. I know I’ve been hyped for it for a while but it didn’t really hit me until now.
You have no idea how many times I've watched this, over and over. And I've come to tears every single time. Such an emotional and captivating cutscene. The cinematography, the music, the characters, their facial expressions and actions. Crow, Saint putting a hand on Osiris' back, Eido rushing out reaching for the sky mirroring Eramiskell in an older cutscene, Ana's pained voice and expressions, Saladin's face oh my god I have never really seen him look like that. And Ikora at the end, looking so confused, scared. Everything everything about this was beautiful and moving. Absolute chef's kiss. I cannot wait for Lightfall. Although I am bitter about Rasputing dying, I cannot help but feel hopeful that your theory about the traveler staying because of his sacrifice, could be true.
One small moment I love in the cutscene is how Eramis turns to look at the door when Mithrax speaks to her, as if she kinda hoped The Guardian would come and stop her, because if that happened, not only would Mithrax and all of House Light live, but also her house wouldn't be tortured like they were at the beginning of the season, because she wouldn't be alive to be punished by The Witness. Then they reel her back in by stoking her vengeance. So good.
I thought that too, but she looks back as soon as she sees the Witness on the monitor like a reflection, as a way to see if the witness has come in person
One tiny thing I've been pointing out in multiple places, but I'll expand upon here. Make sure you interact with Astro immediately after you interact w/Rasputin the last time for the mission. SPOILERS . . . . . . When you pet Astro this time, he whines sadly. Broke my heart again.
Rasputin has given us so much this season with lore and information for Neomuna- it just sucks that after all this time of helping Red, it ends like this.
This is an expansion-level finale. This was incredible, loved it all. It completely flipped my expectations, especially since in the final mission of witch queen we get the traveler back instantly. “They would never actually remove the traveler from the city skybox” became my thought process and was utterly shocked that the traveler didn’t just go back after the cutscene. Super exciting stuff, can’t wait for the future seasons and Lightfall. Plus the writing was on level with lore books this time around, which is dope.
I have a feeling that the veil is the “key” that the witness talked about at the end of lightfall, his mechanism to “drink the light” or whatever that means.
"Your pale heart holds the key" has been floating around in my head since last February, and now it's finally starting to make sense if the veil is connected to the traveler
Congrats on 1 MIL, one of the best channels on TH-cam, I could sit and watch your videos for hours, the effort and production is astounding. Keep it up Byf!
Definitely feels like we're a couple weeks away from a truly cataclysmic battle between the Traveler and the Witness. But I can't help but feel the Traveler still has doubts. It fully intended to leave but got swayed by Reds sacrifice. But what's to stop it going back on that decision too? I guess we'll see soon. Pretty exciting!
I’m glad Good Boy Protocol gets an actual home though. Apparently it also recites poetry… Also, the position of the traveller above earth in the destinations tab we’ve had for a year also shows the traveller in this position. Same trail under it too.
Ana and Camrin are taking care of it, Rasputin imparted it with poetry as a final message and memento. They said they'll name it, the Bungie store is currently calling it the Archangel Dog (Archie for short)
I love how the music at during the Traveler's departure start off very hopeful, like everyone expects it to intervene on the City's behalf, but then, along with the residents of the City, it realizes that the Traveler is actually abandoning them, and becomes but more dreadful and somber. Masterful composing as always.
I think it's crazy that Bungie may have been hinting at this finale from witch queen's release. With the way they positioned the traveler over earth in the director and where it is as of now. Crazy if that's the case.
If you look at the cover of destiny 1 it's the same exact picture of it floating above earth at that point so this has been planned since the beginning
@@Drunk_reaper-oh7ry I wouldn't say planned since the beginning, bungie changed a lot like when they severed their connection with Activision. its more of a nice reference they included when they worked on this season
I'm still really conflicted with how I fell about the traveler rn, on the one hand, I want to have faith in it, that it wasn't just running. But at the same time, everything we've seen from the traveler all year has been desperation, Giving the hive the light hoping that savathun could protect it, and it trying to run one more time makes sense with everything it has done.
There are so many great things about this mission. The cutscene was outstanding but one of the more under appreciated bits for me was that Eramis finally felt like a tough scary villain. Through combat and through plot. Her randomly having breached the Warsats, admittedly is quite rushed and it leaves you wondering "What have we been doing for all these weeks? How could this not have been avoided.." (Part of this is due to the seasonal structure.) BUT, I'm glad she got her spotlight after being robbed in BL and all of the various messages throughout the ending lore are so powerful. My hopes are high for LF.
My 2 cents for that second bit. We have never been able to wrestle control of the WARSAT station from Salvation and Xivu's brood, only keep them from using the weaponry. So Eramis could've been hanging out over Earth all this time.
I'm so excited for where this leaves us! I am thinking The Veil may be what allows Elsie to travel back in time or a gate to "pale heart" of the Traveller. Or both. I'm thinking it gets corrupted by The Witness and this is what brings something from the past to now for the raid
Thank you. Scripted or not, your content is always great. I don't think words can express the gratitude the community feels toward yours and your teams contributions. So once again, thank you.
I cried watching the traveler leave. Its such a powerful and significant moment for us. We are really moving forward into the unknown and its not going to be pretty. I just hope we make it out alive and save everyone we can.
@@xparabellumxlifex521 its something people are used to seeing in game for nearly a decade. So yes, people are going to feel an emotional connection to this game.
@@xparabellumxlifex521I mean people cry to movies, books, shows, songs, etc. Just because it’s a game that doesn’t mean it can’t make people feel emotions. If a piece of entertainment media wasn’t made to make people feel some kind of emotion then what’s the point? Everything would be bland and meaningless if the developers didn’t want us to feel a certain way about certain events.
Thinking on Eramis, and all she's done to have vengeance for Riis, reminds me of a quote, that came up for me many times this year:"Vengeance isn't a destination, friend. It's a commodity. Make sure you're willing to pay the price before you enter the deal." I have a strong guess that though the fire of vengeance in Eramis still burns, it is really only a few flickers of flame now, even moreso after she (I guess) realized what price the Witness demanded of her for it. On another note, it was interesting, and in a weird sense, heartwarming to see, that while Clovis stayed similar to how he was in life, and later became more of a mad AI, Ras, who *was* an AI became more human than the person who initially created him. Ras genuinely tried to right his past wrongs, while Clovis masked every wrong as a "necessary act to ensure humanity's survival". One (maybe) final note, the "opposites" on Ras' story is also well done, he initially started out as someone who we had to save at all costs. Here, at the end of his story, he was the one who saved everyone. We'll keep his foghorn intro theme in our hearts.
When I saw bungie post the cinematic on YT, I immediately turned on my computer and played the finale quest. Even tho I had 2 hrs before work. The destiny story is getting awesome and now I’m even more excited for lightfall
I went to the tower to talk to Zavala and there were soooo many guardians standing there just looking at where the traveler once was and I stood there with them for almost an hour. I mean. This is it. Everything we’ve been fighting for. It all comes down to this moment. Right here and now.
I have watched it quite a few times myself! I even caught a co-worker watching it too! And then we noticed about 2/3 of the office was watching it... we are IT nerds and we just laughed at the whole thing.
THIS is what I've been wanting from D2 for so long! That true feeling of "we don't know what will happen next..." like we got with Taken king and Forsaken. The traveler is finally doing something since blowing away Dominus Ghaul. I hope LF and it's seasons are awesome, and the cutscene set it up so well.
Byf! You did it! The big 1 million! Congratulations! Your presence in the destiny community, sense of storytelling, and passion for lore are powerful and I personally am so excited to traverse Lightfall with you and all other Guardians! Take time to celebrate this achievement, I'm sure all of us will be very busy in weeks time.
I feel like we just finally got out of an 8 year beta. Rip to the best mechanic: d1 faction loot progression. I loved to be able to play any activity for faction loot. That's the last thing this game is missing
I'm as heartbroken as Ana that we lost him so quickly. We just had Rasputin back, and watched him effectively become his best self. Then we lose him when he lives up to that. I don't know if Saladin and Osiris will forgive Rasputin, but I think they can at least make peace with his (metaphorical) ghost. I can imagine Felwinter going "Now you understand" to his father. Moving on from that, this talk of the veil and so on I feel further cements my own hypothesis. The Traveler and The Witness are Not The Gardener and The Winnower. I feel that the Gardener and the Winnower are opposed and sources of the Light and the Darkness respectively and direct that conflict in their own "Flower Game," though that game is in ... level? I guess? Above us and so on. They are the wills of the Light and Dark respectively. The Traveler and The Witness are subordinates of them and and counterparts of each other. The Light and the Dark have their will, of course, but aren't necessarily usable but life forms in their raw form. Through the Traveler and the Witness they take form and can be used. Hence why the Witness can be both "birth" the Darkness, and be a servant of it.(GOtta love that a lie can be a "lie of Omission." Everything Savathun tells us in the memory missions is true from a certain point of view and context.) But also consider that if the Traveler and Witness are the subordinates of greater forces, they are likely, or were once, pawns in that Flower Game. Spinfoil hat time. The Gardener could be far more cold and unfeeling than we might expect. 'GO, create new life. Raise new life and civilizations. Oh, that one's dying? Well dig up the roots, leave the land fallow for a bit, then start over.' Life is good and important. Individual lives are insignificant. I wonder if the Traveler disobeyed orders by staying the first time(and again Now). If it's an agent of the Gardener, the Gardener could have ordered it to move on and it Refused. Torn between it's duty to it's master and it's duty to Us. Effectively it's gone rogue. This could tie into Savvy's words on The Witness. If it being Mortal once, and it's people being blessed by light, dark, or both. The Witness' home could have been an earlier battlefield of Winnower and Gardener's pieces. And it witnessed this. Adjusting my spinfoil hat we go into the fact that, at least to me, the Witness seems to have a personal grudge against the Traveler. While it commands the Black Fleet, and had contacted us before decided to kill us, I'm still reasonably sure that the Darkness itself(and thus, the Winnower) has still contacted us directly itself, or through a different and more Loyal representative. The Darkness was always about survival of the Fittest, death is the End, and so on. and we see this for awhile. Necromancy is heresy to the Hive... at first. The forces of Darkness arrayed against us started off using the old tactics while we used ours and so on. But after countless years of fighting this started to change. Hell I'd argue that even the Taken are a form of necromancy. Stolen souls, kept from death and enslaved in ghostly abominable forms. The Necromancy of Nokris and Riven started showing up and ended up being directly used by the Witnesses disciples as well. The Scorn are straight up reanimated courses. That doesn't sound like "The weak should die and stay dead" to me. The Witness is moving more and more off message as things fail and IT gets closer to it's quarry. It's abandoning the parts of the old philosophy that's holding it back from it's revenge. We're not just in the middle of the conflict of Light and Dark, we're in the middle of a part of that game table that has gone off the rails because the two main pieces of that part decided to do their own thing. The involvement of other counterparts of the Traveler and Witness could be as imminent as our own demise.
It was stated by Elsie that Saladin comforted Ana after Rasputin's departure and that Osiris was grateful that Rasputin left us all a parting gift in Neomuna's location.
@@aztumtheknightofwumbo7060 OH! I missed that. I've been having to try to play short my index finger due to a terrible injury so my hand tires out quicker.
I'm pretty sure that the Traveler never meant to 'abandon' the Eliksni when it left Riis. I think it's plan was to bring them along as it found other worthy races to stand up against the Witness. The Leviathan (entity) was supposed to give the light to the Proto-hive in the same way, and bring them along as well. But that plan was thwarted. And I think the Traveler has deemed the Cabal as worthy, just not under Gaul's leadership. It would be interesting to see a ghost make it's way into the helm, finish building the Exo body, and bring back Rasputin as an Exo Guardian. And he will be a hunter, and the new Vanguard.
Honestly speaking: I think the reason for the traveler not uplifting the Cabal has nothing to do with them being worthy or not, but with them being able to create an advanced civilisation without it. As far as we know the traveler helps compareatively primitive civilisations (at least when it arrives) to become technoligically advanced. I would guess in regards to the cabal the traveler is just like "You guys really don't need my help. Humanity are monkeys compared to you.". Like: even with the help of the traveler Humanity didn't even manage to leave their own solar system, while the cabal built an interstellar empire consisting of several species, that is capable of building spacecraft that are a) vastly bigger than some dwarf-planets and b) capable of deleting entire star-systems off of the galactic map (honestly, we had no right to win the red-war if the Cabal actually wanted to win...)
@@peerschulz2029 I don't think the traveler looks at technological development. I think it's looking at races deserving to wield the light. Savathun's brood was a lot more developed than humanity was before getting the light.
I am so excited for The Veil. Since Shadowkeep I have been speculating about the veiled figures on the pyramids. Obviously they have significance, and hopefully some deep questions will be answered with Lightfall.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 86 | คู่เอก "คมเพชร vs ชาติพยัคฆ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m3q_dRYDuU8/mqdefault.jpg)
"Devotion inspires bravery. Bravery inspires sacrifice. Sacrifice leads to death."
Rasputin truly lived up to the Guardian motto.
Now I wonder if Rasputin could be resurrected as a guardian? I hope not since his sacrifice would become less impactful… but I also would just be happy to see rasputin again
@@Lynndissimo i dont think it would be less impactful, as he would never remember his past life, as he said, his entire memory/protocols, ect would need to be deleted to stop Eramis. we would all know, but i dont think he would ever know unless we or ana told him
In the cutscene, you can see a small blue light and a faint chirp when Elsie hugs Ana and says "Ana, look..."
Savathun said that too
@@Lynndissimo nah, such things ought to be rewarded. And even then, it won't exactly be Rasputin. It'll be someone new.
The shot of the Traveler over the earth harkening back to the promotional art introducing Destiny for the first time genuinely made me smile. Well played, Bungie.
Same I was freaking out
yeah DEFINITELY jaw dropping.
super classy by bungo
I thought it was pretty heart warming how Rasputin affectionately calls the Guardian his Seraph.
Same!
I'm earning that title if it kills me.
Having the Seraph title unlocked made that dialouge hit different ngl
@@axelkusanagi4139 Same, I have a good bit of catching up to do and I am going to hate it but fuck I am getting that title now.
Right? I was honestly confused that this season was called season of the Seraph, since we kind of already had that in Worthy, but it makes sense now. We’re Rasputin’s Seraph, and he felt so willing to share his past actions, like Abhorrent Imperative, and to sacrifice himself, because he knew we were there.
Man, Red really just never gets a break, does he?
But being called “my Seraph” by Rasputin made me tear up for some reason.
Same...
same my friend same
Me too man me too... especially because I have been rocking solar warmind cell mods since they were released... I'm all about the Warmind and him being gone AND calling me his Seraph... man, this game fuckjng tugged HARD at my heart strings... its a good thing they gave us a Therapy Dog on the sly and we didn't realize the Doggos true purpose until now...
Fact
This mission and cutscenes only second to Cayde-6 last moments in Forsaken…
I love zavalas reaction to this. He wasnt terrified or anything, he wasnt looking up, he was instead looking at his allies at his side.
Same, I hope we get more "Caiatl, prepare your champion!" Zavala and less depressed Zavala.
Because zavala has been dreading and accepting the possibility of this moment for 2 years now. He has been slowly taking his faith in the Traveler and placing it with his allies. The Traveler may be "benevolent" to some degree but it is clearly a selfish god when looking back at the last 8 years of the narrative. It may work for the side of LIFE and prosperity but it does so at the risk of the life forms it uplifts. It KNOWS the darkness will follow it. It KNOWS that it can seemingly only ever fail in it's selfish journey through the cosmos, yet hops from species to species, TIMELINE TO TIMELINE hoping it will endure or overcome but it cannot. And Zavala has had to face these hard facts since we allied with the Cabal and it has only been ramping up with events that have shaken his faith in what humanity thought was it's savior for centuries, culminating in the realization that it has no specific love for humanity since it was more than willing to bequeath it's power onto a villain like Savathun who spent so much time actively working against the Traveler and wholesale slaughtering entire worlds for literal millions of years chasing after it. So Zavala was prepared for this, as much as he didn't want to be.
I think season of the haunted made Zavala this way. We saw how he grappled with his faith in the Witch Queen campaign, asking how the Traveller could give its powers to the hive, and in season of the haunted we saw how tormented he was for sending people to die for a false god, but once we defeated his nightmare he said that he no longer places his faith in the traveller, but instead places it in his peers
In most movies and cartoons, good triumphs over evil.
Most people enjoy such movies and cartoons.
It is because people love good.
Study, work, exercise, illness, etc. cause stress.
Stress creates an evil mind and leads to evil actions.
Most people are good, but stress breeds bad thoughts and bad behavior.
Give peace to all people by freeing them from study, work, exercise and disease.
@@noahkline4263 You are literally taking TOO MUCH SHADE on the Traveler. SHUT UP. Look at the Traveller at the very beginning of the ViDoc. It can just move away anytime in a wild goose chase.
Zavala even ordered to protect the traveler anyway at any costs because he knows he knows that of the witness got the traveler, the universe is doomed.
If I were the traveller, I will just ran away anyway. But in the ViDoc, it just stays where it currently is, WITH THE PYRAMID FLEET LITERALLY RIGHT FUCING IN FRONT OF IT WHILE CABAL AND FOTC SHIPS BUZZZING AROUND IN A DOGFIGHT.
In case it hasn't been pointed out yet, this is a classic example of something called a Xanatos Gambit, a plan in which every conceivable outcome benefits the planner.
1) If Xivu Arath takes the Warsats the witness wins.
2) If we take them and use them Xivu uses them to open a portal and the Witness wins.
3) If Eramiskell succeeded the traveler is at worst weakened at most destroyed and the Witness wins
4) the only way we could stop her involved destroying the Warsats, loosing perhaps our most powerful weapon.
Every single event, bar a few stalemates, works in the Witness' favor. Who knows, maybe there were other outcomes that we just never considered.
*Xivu Arath, Eramiskell, and losing, but yes, there was no hope of us not in some way benefiting the Hive God’s plans.
Y'know, there's an old Matthew Broderick movie called Wargames from ye olden days. A rogue supercomputer AI was believed to be starting a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The entire movie is trying to outsmart this computer, and failing. At the end, the computer has one answer for the problem of nuclear war: don't play the game.
And that, I believe, is what we have here. If we, as Guardians, want to win, we only have two options: overturn the table, or change the rules.
Why didn't we just... destroy the warsats?
@@Zetasphere Oddly enough the same options the Gardener was left with against the Winnower in the Flower game.
Just take Warsats and don’t shoot.
Best season finale in Destiny history so far, truly a once in a lifetime moment to be a part of
Facts!!!
Maybe she gets a moment of clarity sacrifice and dies thats the only way i see it
I'd say it's the second best. I really loved S11 (Arrivals) when we actually we able to explore the inner city while the traveler was reforming. A bit of world building whilst we waited
Honestly thisngs like this need to be included in actual DLC’s I feel bad for anyone who will play destiny in the future who’ll miss this because it is very important
@@Blub_blubby If only it wasn't overshadowed by implication of darkness stealing our content...
It is truly a tragedy to lose one of the few ballet fans left. Goodbye Rasputin. You were truly a Guardian. Glad to be your Seraph since 2014, protecting you from unwanted visitors(damn you Omingul)
Misraaks begging Eramis not to do it hit me in my feels bruh, he sounded so genuinely defeated just begging her not to do it
When I thought about it I realized the gravity of what was happening for Misraaks. The traveler leaving DESTROYED his mother mentally, and made his people suffer, turned him into a blood soaked monster, and more. Misraaks connection to the idea of the traveler leaving is second only to Eramis' and yet he STILL begged for its safety. IF Misraaks isn't the Kell of light after this some how I don't know who is. He was prepared to watch the traveler float away just as his mother did sooner than let it get destroyed.
Rest in peace, Rasputin.
The strategist, the tyrant and the savior.
You chose your purpose and that purpose was true sacrifice.
Guardians never die, but we never forget those who do.
Farewell, son of humanity.
There are strong implications that Rasputin will be resurrected as a guardian.
@@morkestesort How can a machine be Revived as a guardian?
@@robando2922 ask Felwinter, he was never even put into an exo body and was resurrected as a guardian.
@@morkestesort
^^ he makes a good point
There is something so ominous and oddly haunting about not seeing the Traveler at the Tower. It feels like things just got really heavy.
Right? Like I know it’s still there, still blessing us, but the city feels naked without it in the sky
@@crocadillius6418 RIGHT?! I never realized how much I took it for granted. Now, that they're not there anymore...the threat feels...real.
It feels so wrong not seeing the traveler at the tower. It feels like even though we stoped Eramis we still failed... we lost
Our ghost also lately has been less chatty.
And its so quiet. Like, theres no smalltalk, none or very little music..
I had such a sinking feeling in my heart at the beginning when the Traveller parted the clouds to leave. One of the best moments in Destiny ever for me.
I literally said aloud, "Don't you fucking dare."
He did a little rising to the occasion
Maybe he set himself up to fight and this could impact its immediate surroundings. I dont know
I now understand why Bungie writes the story and we don’t. The most our peanut brains can come up with “Can Rasputin be revived by a Ghost, what if Mara got a Ghost, give sweeper bot a ghost.” This was a seriously great season finale, and some people (mostly on Reddit) want it undermined by reviving Rasputin
It was a crazy moment. But it wasn’t even beginning to leave. That was certainly a red herring by bungie they fully intended for us to have that impression in the beginning.
@Geist8745 No, they don’t. Stop spreading lies.
I really hope they don’t redeem Eramis after this. It’s clear to see she cares more for her revenge on The Traveler than her people. Like that’s it. She’s sold her soul to The Witness…
I have feeling they do just a part of me sees it
I hope we turn her into a gun. It’s tradition.
I think if Eramis were getting "redemption" it would be her turning against the Witness, not necessarily joining our side.
I think she would turn against the Darkness, and get killed for doing so.
But I honestly hope it doesn't happen. It really does seem like she's too far gone at this point.
Edit: I should have stopped to complete the thought. I honestly hope that she doesn't get redemption and Misraaks is the one to finally kill her. Disregarding whatever lore excuse Bungie uses for the final mission being so damn difficult, we already handed Eramis her ass once before when we used her own power against her back in Beyond Light.
I want to see a true fight between Misraaks and Eramis, no holds barred, Light to Darkness. Not the pirate swordfight we saw 10 seconds of before Eramis ran away.
Eramis does hesitate for a second. After Misraak's quote for here to stop she looks back the door/exit to the facility
I think this is the end of her possible redemption story, and shows that some people just can't change, they are in too deep
It really feels like this season is the culmination of years of storytelling. It’s beautiful
Seasons at the end of the year never fail to miss honestly.
@@Matisyahuwu season of the lost while very long was honestly a favorite of mine from year 4. Shattered realm is still without peers as far as seasonal activities go. Season of the Haunted and the return of the Leviathan felt like they were trying to do something similar but it didn’t even come close
When The Traveler initially moved... I had not felt chills like that from Destiny in a long while. Not since the loss of Cayde. Reminded me how emotionally invested so many of us have been since D1 Day 1. To see it move... man.
Totally! RIP self res warlocks!
It has no where else to run.......
What an absolutely incredible and emotional finale. I'm upset they killed Rasputin after waiting since the litetal beginning of Destiny to finally get him into the story, but his send off was done so well that it helps soften the blow
I really don't see what was well done about it though. The whole thing he sacrificed himself for was completely contrived in the moment, with nothing I'm aware of to actually establish that Rasputin has to die for the Warsats to be destroyed. Also completely undermines the concept of growing to be more than a weapon. Very solidly says he *could not* stop being a weapon, and the way to actually stop *existing* as a weapon is to stop existing.
Same, I was sad he was gone quickly but ultimately I don't think there was really any place for Rasputin, a literal walking nuke, in the story without it becoming a storytelling crutch (oh we have a problem, Red, nuke it!) so it makes sense he was killed off and they did it really well.
It's so dumb. Why couldn't they keep him, intelligence vastly reduced, as an exo?
@@thelordofcringe Hes probably going to be revived by the Traveller as an Exo without memories.
@@thelordofcringe Personally, I was hoping he'd remove the Warsat code from his personality and destroy the Warsats that way. Mass Disarmament of WMDs, and a strategic 5head move by Rasputin to "attack" a War god with gestures of Peace.
Important context!
The Traveler seems like it's leaving, but it actually appears it's moving away from the City to draw the Warsat targeting away.
- The Traveler only moves when the Warsats are powering up, not a moment before despite all the risk leading up to that moment.
- After the Warsats are destroyed, it does just stay in its higher orbit and does not go anywhere else.
- Eramis and the Witness straight up just acknowledge it isn't running away.
- Zavala, after you talk with him, mentions that he *feared* the Traveler really was leaving, but that it didn't end up happening.
- Rasputin mentions that if the satellites do fire, the collateral damage would probably be enough to wipe humanity/ the City off the map. Makes sense, considering that the Warsats have extinction level payloads loaded.
Glad to see I'm not the only one that has faith in the Traveller.
I agree to a certain extent. I believe that the Traveller would have fled if the Witness wasn't right and the Traveller has no where else to go. It would have left, but it couldn't, might as well keep my minions alive
Yup exactly the traveler went into space because of the warsats sure and to takes its stance against the darkness away from the city. That’s what I think anyway.
I don't think that's true. The warsats weren't even open, much less charging up their weapons, when the Traveler started its ascent. I still have faith in the traveler but its being a little bit weird... I wish it'd just give us a speaker or something fhfhfh
don't buy that at all. it was trying to run like it always does and got trapped
The cutscene is incredible. The visible pain on Ana's face and in her voice, the moment where Elsie approaches to console her, the brief hesitation from Eramis after hearing from Mithrax, everyone in the city coming together. Just an absolute masterpiece, it's such a good emotional payoff to all of the world building that's happened in the past few years. I'm so excited for Lightfall, I really can't wait if we're getting more things of this quality. The aftermath was great for building up the tension leading into the expansion too, talking to Zavala and Ikora, and then Ana's message, beautiful storytelling.
The entire scene with ana brought tears to my eyes. Like holy fuck.
Bro he is at 999k subs I can't believe it.
Oh yeah and the traveler tried to leave.
They failed to make me care about Ana. She's so fuckin Borderlands..I also haven't forgotten all the puss Guardians who avoided the Red War.
@@Vynirian tears? lmaooo its not that deep
@@Vynirian Me too.
I cried a little bit during this cutscene. The combination of everything going down, after all these years. And my favorite character being gone just evoked so many feels…
Same feeling here, except I cried a LOT
I'm gonna miss Rasputin a lot...
@@badjuju2721 I think Rasputin didnt die....or more accurate kinda revived by traveler...elsie told Ana to look at something at that scene which is most probrably a ghost....juz guessing xD
Same, it made me cry. I don't usually cry like that but it happened twice, once during the cutscene and again when I loaded into the Tower and saw the expanse of sky.
I sympathized with Ana a lot during the cutscene, and it honestly left me with depression-lite. Destiny just DOES NOT (with exception to Cayde) give major allied characters on-screen deaths like this, and it hurts to feel selfish when Rasputin CHOSE to sacrifice himself to keep Humanity safe one last time. You don't want to see him go, but you know he still made the right decision going out on his own terms. Seeing his lifeless Exo frame in HELM feels like a family member's dead body at home before paramedics take it away; just too sad to look at.
It feels strange seeing this franchise evolved into one of the best stories i've ever experienced in an entertainment medium, mainly because it's not from a movie or books, but from a video game. A medium where many years ago, i wouldn't have thought could ever deliver something so impactful it breaks me. I'm really sad and happy at the same time, i'm happy because i was there from the start of this franchise almost 10 years ago. We are witnessing a monumental moment i'd say. Be brave, Guardians. We are almost there!
Best stories, yet bungie just takes that content away. I will not support such scummy business.
I’d like to point how Ana said she could feel something like a heartbeat before the Traveller left the City and Osiris didn’t. It’s almost certainly because he doesn’t have the Light anymore, but I thought it was a neat little detail.
ohhhh i was wondering about that- thanks for the clarification.
doesn’t make it not funny the way osiris said “i feel……………nothing”💀💀
@@asaabed4200 Guess he shouldn't have taken some of that aztec gold
@@thomasw7908 based reference
Yeah, I felt so sad at that moment tbh.
Would also explain why crow was already watching the traveler on the rooftop before it started moving
The fact that the visual language of the last shot of the traveler in this cutscene is similar to some of the most iconic art of the traveler from D1. Plus the music starts to sound oddly like some of the mysterious and ethereal D1 music. By far some of the best storytelling in Destiny yet.
Foreshadowing at its finest. It was there in our face the whole time. And we knew nothing. Well done bungie.
Well...they just finally told the D1 Story we were betrayed of 8-9 years ago.
8-9 years of Activi$ion capitalism.
Thought that too; its cool that it came full circle like that
You're right, but watching this video makes me recall the words of the supreme being of Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion:
"For he that attempeth evil shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
The sky in the Tower without the Traveller looks so eerie and... empty. Really hammers home the fact that this could be the end for us. That one, omnipresent force in our story is gone.
@Geist8745 what no they aren't lmao
@Geist8745 bro stop spamming misinformation just because you don't like bungie
@Geist8745 you’re a clown
Idk if I was crazy, but when idle in the tower, I heard the leitmotif of the Witness playing in my tower.
it's literally right about earth, it's not gone, it's just getting ready to throw hands with the witness
Zavala's dialogue was pretty par for the course, while still solid. But Ikora being scared and telling us to spend time with our loved ones for the last time, that got me excited.
I think that rasputin was not the only one sacrificing in that moment: every character believed that the traveler was leaving and yet everyone was still trying to protect him from Eramis basically "accepting their fate" for the travelers "greater good" even without knowing it. I think that is the "sacrifice" it was waiting for and maybe even the reason why it left the eliskni in the whirlwind because they instantly started hating it and fighting "selfishly" for it's protection
Something else to note about Eramis, and how she might turn on the Witness, is that she's still begging us to stop fighting to prevent more bloodshed. On the moon heist mission post-season finale, she requests us, the Guardians, to give one of her old friends a good death to free her from the service to the Witness, and then shares her grief freely with Osiris when he offers the chance to mourn together. When the Traveler started to leave, she seemed to think that she was genuinely going to stop another Whirlwind by shooting it down (even if technically, she was what was triggering it). Her dialogue indicates that she's in hell, and that she still hates what's going on with a burning passion- it's just that she still thinks that the Traveler is the cause of it, so eliminating it will be the only way to achieve peace. So if that is the case, and that is something she truly believes and is the root cause of her talking to us and trying to encourage us to come to a cease-fire, then it means the Witness has kept her completely in the dark as to what its true intentions are. Because if we just surrender, there will BE no peace. The final shape would not allow it. But if Eramis just sees it as a very powerful entity that would do anything to destroy the Traveler, one that she now cannot escape from, then it would make sense for her to continue to remain passive, because there's no way in hell she'd let the Eliksni be slaughtered when the whole reason she wants to blow up the Traveler is to stop another Whirlwind. Now that the Traveler has made a stand, and will not flee as she thought...she might make the connection soon enough.
To put it into a metaphor:
Eramis is essentially a starving dog that has been chasing a scrap of raw steak for years now. Everytime she gets close to reaching it, its yanked away. Others offer kibble on the sidelines, but she's so focused on reaching her goal that she's become blinded to everything else, and can see no other options. She's tired, frustrated, and angry, and she's just had that steak yanked away from her again. I can't help but wonder if she'll end up chasing it to her bitter end, or if she'll finally snap and bite the hand that denies her
Nah she has to die by our hand now. It's because of her that the Warmind is dead. No shot at redemption anymore because what she just did basically guarantees the Last City is going to burn to the ground in Lightfall.
Very good breakdown of the situation
Yanking the dog's chain, so to speak. Tragic. But given her stubbornness, I suspect she'll fall into the sunk cost fallacy... Or turn back to the proper side too late. And that's what truly makes a tragedy: character-driven flaws that lead to a bitter end.
she was brainwashed or fooled like sathona maybe
I think she's fully aware of what's happening and what she's doing, and is already neck deep in Sunk Cost. It feels like the Witness has been goading her, prodding her along for some time, and we finally get confirmation here. Eramis failed IT, but it doesn't seem like she was discarded so readily as we thought. Those shots and dialogue imply The Witness has a personal interest in her to me. I wonder that, for Eramis, Revenge is her true big drive now. Revenge for her people, and for herself. Possibly justifying it as vengeance for the Eliksni as a whole. And she's aware of this. But her own anger and pain blinds her or pushes this down even though her quest for vengeance is going to destroy her people rather than save them. I think she knows it all, but is locked in through The Witness prodding, and her own misery.
“ A Shield, a Protector, *a Guardian* “ - let this quote be remembered, I have a hunch it’ll hold much weight in future.
Also the OG art depicting the exact moment of this almost 10 years later AND the mention of the Veil which people speculated for years is AMAZING foreshadowing!!!!!
Also the OG guardians can be seen in the crowd behind Zavala.
the fact that this whole time we kinda thought eramis was against the witness because it started to kill her house off to create more scorn, just for her to completely go on its side. its terrifying
Bitch went full evil. Although we had a glimpse in the post battleground talk she had with Elsie
If anything, the fact that the witness converted her house and old friends into scorn, and the threat of continue doing it is what coerced her to stay on his side.
In the cutscene, whenever Mithraxx pleads her not to do it, she looks at the doors to exit the facility in a moment of hesitation, but then she sees the image of the witness and remembers what would happen to her house if she stopped and fled.
Eramis right know is in a point where she is far too deep to go back, even if deep down she wants to.
@@voltus20 all those comments I'm reading that feels like another Cayde/Uldren moment, not properly thinking about lore information that's been mentioned.
@Geist8745 stop trying to spread misinformation
@@voltus20she saw The Witness’ reflection in the console and turned round to see if it was actually behind her
That scene with Ana and Red broke me. When Elsie showed up right after, to comfort Ana, that ruined me. Thought I’d run the mission again, thinking that I was now prepared. Nope. I was still not prepared. Broke me again. Red has been with us veterans for almost a decade. Machine or not, it still hurt. Thanks for the memories, Red 😢
That D1 poster moment at 9:24 is genius, hits home what is happening more emotionally. And the score feels so similar to D1 too, christ, best cutscene in a loooooong time.
i love that the 3 guardians behind zavalla in the cutscene are the same guardians from the cover art
i love this whole cutscene truly the best year final we have had
I didn't notice this at all damn. Although it seems that the titans gauntlets aren't quite right but the hunter and warlock is almost spot on
They survived!
They really nailed this mission. The difficulty was perfect, and I literally did not know what was going to happen until the very end of the cutscene. There was a degree of suspense that is rarely seen in this game. I was legitimately afraid the Traveler was either going to be destroyed or leave. But the final cutscene where The Witness says "it has nowhere left to run" still makes it feel like even though we technically won for now, it still feels like bad things are coming. Maybe this is the first time in Destiny where we ACTUALLY lose.
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
@Geist8745 Stop spreading lies.
Yes this is what Destiny has needed for such a long time. A sense of dread and mystery.
It makes you truly invested in the world and it’s awesome 😯
We won the battle, but not the war as they say
Yeah, we made the best move we could in the situation but maybe we are just delaying the Witness checkmate. Sure we prevented Rasputin from being used against us and Xivu from blitzing us by warping in directly above earth but the very reason Xivu needed to sneak into the system through the ascendant plane was to avoid a drawn out battle against the warsat network through the entire solar system. Xivu succesfully dealt with the asset of ours that would be a problem for her army and now she can just regroup and trickle out her army further away from earth before launching an all out assault in real space if she wants to.
We really need whatever the veil is to give us some advantage because now we are getting slowly dismantled army by army while the black fleet and the hive advances.
The last mission felt like an actual space battle in a cosmic war. So much fun and I really hope we get more. ALSO I AM SO EXCITED FOR WHATEVER THE VEIL IS WTF.
The fact that we were able to defeat the "scourge of earth" wizard and stop Xivu's plan really reminds us of how much more of a challenge we are to the Hive. In the end, most of the species the Hive fought and made destroyed were no match for their power, but their old tactics don't work on us. I see this as a great example of our guardian's power
We bested Three Hive Gods and one worm God. We are no slouches to combat at all by this point. The Witness and Xivu Arath, see us as a powerful challenge, and the Winnower sees us as a potential ally.
I saw the title and thought, "Oh really? That's how we're playing this? That's a bit presumptuous."
It's a funny feeling to join the Destiny community at the season of plunder. When I Joined then, I thought this was silly. Then I found your channel. I got invested in the story, the characters, the backstory- the future.
Yesterday, when I logged in, I got weirded out when I was transported to seraph station right away. All else that followed brought me to tears. I have had an admiration for Rasputin. I wanted him to be our wise war god. I wanted him to stay. And now I grieve.
If anything, I wanna say thank you, My Name Is Byf - thank you for lighting the fire that inspired me. And I cannot wait for me and the rest of the million to *drown in the deep.*
I started before the whole sunsetting, season 11ish, i got to enjoy Mars, and even though there was no narrative benefit, i completed mars. I had so much fun. I loved exploring the frozen wasteland, being in awe at Rasputins raw power. 500 yers prior, Rasputin froze himself on mars, along with most of the surface, to stop the Hive Worm God that arrived. Thats why ana says that one line "He sacrificed himself already, and now he has to do it again..." this whole season hit hard and i lost my favorite character. I loved rasputin, his whole concept of a growing AI. This seasons story was absolutely fantastic.
Yea sorry to say you joined destiny 2 on one of its worst seasons. Season of the plunder didn't even feel like destiny and it was boring and to grindy alot of people hated it
You felt the same emotions us that played from day one did. I salute you guardian. Lightfall gonna be sick!
Man you remind me the emotion I had in beginning of forsaken knowing damn well Cayde-6 wasn’t coming back…
@@xiphosmaniac This is why this game tears me apart. Mars was by far my favourite location, collecting the nodes and shooting the drones this season almost got me nostalgic for it. The story of Rasputin is incredible, and the build up from Warmind to Worthy to Seraph had me tearing up at the end. Shit like this is what makes Destiny great, but at the same time, for new players it’s a lot of work to get invested, and these built up moments get built up and sunset. People starting in LF or TFS can’t have that context. I hope whatever comes after the final shape, that the main storylines don’t get sunset, because it’s what keeps me coming back more than anything.
I was jumping in my seat when Rasputin mentioned "The Veil"
My mouth hung wide open when he said it. Our theories weren’t entirely wrong after all, and we’re FINALLY gonna find out what the deal is with those veiled statues!
@@twelved4983 also how he directly said its linked to the Traveller and not the Witness. My guess is thats why the Witness is targeting Neptune.
The veil isn’t the veil we all thought it was like the darkness enemy race unfortunately. It’s something we can use to stop the witness.
@@fishnutz5196 yup
@@aimlessjames8939 shit that would be amazing
seeing the empty sky over the city really brings a feeling of unease and dread...it's going to be quite a ride.
Also Rasputin's showing of his humanity coupled with his sacrifice really brought back some "Does this unit have a soul?" memories.
Don't worry, they forgot to remove from all the other skyboxes, it's basically only missing from the tower
@@joelgray4403 oh lol. That's pretty funny actually.
It almost feels like eramis is in an abusive relationship with the witness, like it's holding the promise of revenge just in front of her as it treats her like a tool, a means to an end, and nothing more. She doesn't feel like she can leave, because she doesn't feel like she has a choice. It's truly saddening.
Edit: y'all need to stop saying we should kill her lmao
The Witness is only interested in proving Sword Logic to be the true nature of the universe. Anything and anyone who sides with it is simply the means to an end. If the Witness were to succeed in a second collapse, they’d eventually be killed off to contribute towards reaching a Final Shape.
@@Swampert384 exactly. I feel like eramis might still have a redemption arc to go through.
Wouldn't be surprised if next time we see Eramis, she'll be Scorn.
@@freakctc that would be sad, but I feel like they're setting up a redemption arc. Well just have to wait and see.
@@ryanspencer9602 What if, instead, Mithrax goes on a rampage to avenge Scorn Eramis (Scornimus?!?) and dies. But then finally gets risen as a Guardian?!? (Mithraxian?!?)
I like how Elsie says “I don’t like this, it’s too familiar” and Rasputin responds with “it does”
Congratulations on hitting 1 million!🎉
It’s much more than deserved. You’ve been my saviour since Destiny 1. You make the wonderful lore of this game easily accessible, understandable, and enjoyable to listen to. Thank you for creating one of the best channels on youtube. And thank you for using your voice to apprise the wonderful story of this game we all love so much. Congrats again! It’s more than deserved. And I cannot wait to see what you come up with next. Keep up the good work guardian! 🎉❤
9:08 I like the difference between Zavala's and Ikora's reactions.
Zavala looked relieved that the Traveler did not abandoned everyone. But Ikora seem to question why it did not leave. It makes me wonder if Parth of the reason why the Witness took this long to personally attack is due to it attacking every civilization close to Sol first.
It also reflects how their interactions after the cutscene are. Zavala is relieved, partially that it didn’t leave, but also even if it did he would rather take heart in the friends and allies we’ve made. Ikora, meanwhile, is afraid, and tells us to essentially take time to spend with people that we love and prepare for the worst.
My guess is that Ikora is aware of the dark future, but now that we are at the point where everything that happened in that future has not happened, she probably fears what comes next will be far worse and they won’t be prepared for it
we dont know how much time has passed in game ( i assume a couple of years) since the traveler pulsed and reawoken the pyramids. The pyramids arrived during the golden age. The traveler "sacrificed" itself and gave us the Ghosts. The Travelers sacrifice caused the darkness to essentially freeze at the edge of the solar system, until it pulsed back to life. We can see the witness has no trouble doing things, considering they "vaulted" Mercury and Venus, 2 planets closer to sol than earth, even though the pyramids are now by Jupiter, the last we seen them. Leads me to believe the witness cant attack earth yet, because of the Traveler being stubborn and staying.
my thought was that it is both the traveler is absent from the city when having been a fixture for so long and the fact that the traveler moved means the time has come for it to respond, which means big things are going to happen
It always hits ikora the hardest when stuff like this happens
There was a time when it seemed you were having issues, and questions, that put you in a dark place. I am glad you overcame that, and continued this amazing journey you take the community on. You deserve a million, you are the "Lore Daddy" and are greatly appreciated, thank you!
I think Rasputin's sacrifice, as a sort of 'test' for Humanity, was partially responsible for the Traveller staying. However I also think the reason it began moving when it did in the first place is that it detected that the Warsats were going to fire upon it, and it wanted to move away from the City to prevent collatoral damage. Once the threat was neutralized, it stopped moving away.
I thought this too, I mean it just makes the most sense to me.
that does make sense, so does that mean the traveler has an ability to detect incoming threats, or seeing the future something like that?
I am struck by the fact that I...and I suppose many others out there playing this through the first time, was, if just for a moment, we were all as speechless, holding our breaths, minds filled with doubt, uncertainty, fear...as those characters...those companions, comrades, those friends on the screen were. For just that moment we mirrored them as they watched the Traveler rise up into the sky.
I jumped in to this world a little over a year ago and it has not disappointed, from a lore perspective. Byf and others have been a blessing to understanding a universe that I couldn't enjoy from the beginning. Congratz on a million subs Byf!
I think Anna's face when she disconnects Raspoutine is a moment athat truly broke my heart.
Red was a big part of our story for a few years now and seing him go like that really made me feel bad.
It always was that all-powered entity that was unkillable, but this end really was not what i was waiting for
Seeing the empty sky above the Last City shook me to my core. It was THIS POINT when everything went numb for me. "Everything changes", is what I thought. When I saw the OG Destiny art in the cutscene, everything was COLD. War is truly upon us Guardians, Dredgens, and all those in between. Rally up.
That horizontal shot of the Traveler rising out of the big cloud ring was *sweet*
This entire season, I had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen to the Traveler. And as much as I adore when Bungie puts computer messages in the HUD (like from the Splicer missions), my heart *sank* when I saw "imminent [O] departure". I'm glad to see that not all was as bad as I feared in the end.
Also, one million subscribers! Congrats!
I couldn't help but smile and feel content when he called me his Seraph. I will wear that title proudly in honor of Rasputin. Goodbye Big Red we'll miss you.
Ever since I heard the Witness’s name, I thought that they weren’t the Winnower, but rather as their name implies, the spectator of the flower game, and that when the Gardener broke the rules and the Winnower called them out, the Witness sided with the Winnower. Kind of like the Witness was the referee for the flower game and is trying to enforce the rules on the Gardener.
Yeah, I'm convinced that the witness is a separate entity, and the winnower is the veiled female figure that the statues in the pyramids depict
Good idea
Makes a lot of sense. Feel like the witness was sent on the winnowers behalf to make the game fair.
That makes a lot of sense tbh
That makes a lot of sense tbh
17:30 There has been the theory, and one that sounds pretty compelling now, that the Witness really isn't the Winnower but instead the "First Knife" referenced in Unveiling.
I think also that there are several interpretations to this. For example with The Whirwind, most Eliksni interpreted it as the Traveler leaving them to fend for themselves, but another interpretation is that the Traveler knew why the Darkness arrived so it fled to spare the Eliksni so they could have a chance of survival.
An interpretation of what was going on here is that the Traveler went to orbit to sacrifice itself for the Earth, like putting itself on the way of the Warsats to "take it for the team", after all, thats why Eramis, Xivu Arath and the Witness came to our home, because of the Traveler.
It's not the first time the Witness does some "chess" analogies and if the Traveler considers itself to be the King, why would it move itself into a position where it creates a "winning condition" for the Witness, as in taking the King and winning the duel? I think that if the Traveler's intention was to run away, first it would've done it a while ago, and second, the Traveler goes into orbit and then it stops, like "here I am". It's not using the planet as a shield, it is using itself as a shield for the Earth, a desperate move.
I don't play chess but if there was some strategic analogy to this, it's like the Traveler, all this time, has also been playing it's own game, positioning it's pieces exactly where they have to be and baiting the Witness to put it's pieces exactly where the Traveler needs them to be, so now what if the Traveler, what if us, are finally in a position to go into the offensive?
Because it seems that the Witness is ready to go in for the kill, it's going all in, everything it has, to take the Traveler out of the picture, so now we know what we're against, we know what pieces it has but... is it true that the Traveler doesn't have more pieces to move? The Witness claims that so, but is that actually true? Or has the Traveler, all this time, just been preparating the battlefield, the chessboard, in a way were it's opponent its most vulnerable so we now actually have a chance to fight and defeat it?
This talk of the Witness play chess has me thinking back on the Unveiling lore book and how the Gardener grew bored of the Flower Game and its repetitive result leading it to change the rules. If the Witness is playing Chess, playing by those same old rules, perhaps the Traveler has been playing... Backgammon or some other boardgame. An entirely different ruleset and playstate that the Witness may very well be blind to.
If the witness and the traveler have been doing this game for millennia it’s likely they are good at sizing up each others moves. And if this is the travelers way of going on the offensive, I have to imagine it A. Knows the witness will throw everything it has and B. Has a trick or two left to play. After all, sword logic is about brute strength and bomb logic is much more complex, yet if done right, much more deadly.
Eramis in the cutscene is kinda weird
It seems like she trying to destroy traveler yet she question herself in the end why the traveler didn't flee from earth. I think she trying to make the traveler flee from the darkness and in the same times to make us feel the same way as eliksni during the whirlwind.
@@Mochichino15 she is a servant of two masters: the witness and her own revenge. And at some point or another, she will need to choose one.
The Traveler has pocket aces in the big blind and the witness, xivu arath and Eremis all raised him before the flop.
the whole time I was playing through this mission, all I could think was, "I cannot WAIT for Byf's video on this!" Thank you, as always, for your incredible insight and analysis.
The Greek word for unveiling is Apocalypse. I think the veil will be next season's artifact. I also think the entity inside the Traveler will be unveiled.
“Because, it has no where to run” is such a good line idk why.
@@user-xj8kx8dr8d bruh ain’t no way 💀. People just be believing everything they hear smh
@@user-xj8kx8dr8d 🤓
@@christiand5954 it's a bot seeing as I found the exact same comment earlier from a different username in the exact same format
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
I’m so happy that I got to be apart of this. Almost a decade of Destiny and it’s still getting better and better. Never been prouder to be a Guaridan
the cinematic shot of the traveler in orbit mirroring the destiny 1 trailer shots sent shivers up my spine, bungie fucking killed it with this finale
This mission felt like a REAL fire fight. when those frames joined in i was geeked outta my mind!
I JUST so happened to have Eyes of Tomorrow equipped so it was EXTREMELY fitting given the setting and absolutely insanely fun.
Bro the cut scene actually brought a tear to my Eye. Rasputin, the traveler taking off, it was like losing an old friend.
I’ve got no idea how we’re gonna survive the witness without rasputin and his Warsats. I had really hoped we’d see more of rasputin now we’d put him back together.
The Warsats did nothing the first time against the Black Fleet. So I had doubts they would work a second time around.
Rasputin is the biggest punching bag in the Destiny universe…
Basically a meme
@Amor Fati unironcally it's kind of sad he's supposed to be this all powerful robot that can do anything in reality he's done nothing actually powerful in game
@@acgearsandarms1343 I mean against cabal and hive ships also ketches which will probably lead the charge
I'd like to say the traveler will revive him but considering he isn't technically alive its different than the exos
The detail that you’d miss of you blink: the image of the Witness on, or in front of Eramis’ screen, her looking back at the door behind her. It’s probably the writers hinting that the Witness was watching her, with a Hive outside the door, ready to execute or turn Eramis into a Scorn if she didn’t comply.
She's shackled now.
I think this was hinted in a lore book where he gifted her one of her allies as scorn. I really believe this theory that she had no choice and is being manipulated by the witness.
@@VesterNCrowley Yeah, it's the Scorn boss on Moon Heist.
I think it also can be interpreted as Eramis hesitating. She does stop and look away at Misraak’s words, it’s like she’s trying to find a way out.
@@VesterNCrowley She still gets no sympathy from me. This is what she not asked for, but worked for.
I hit me, deeply, when Rasputin called me his Seraph. I don’t think my guardian will ever remove this title.
What a touching moment
I couldn't help but smile a bit when he called us that. It's a title I will wear proudly in honor of Big Red.
He killed millions, slaughtered guardians and unleashed Siva on us while using the dead iron lords corpses as puppets to try and kill us.
My bad if I don't exactly miss the robot with feelings.
you lame
@@rabittwilightsparklefan3093 He had control over Siva, he shut the doors to the bunker before they could leave and he activated their desecrated corpses once we entered the bunker.
Oh, I forgot how he was trying to bombard us right before that.
Regarding the Veil, the Traveler, and the Witness, I can’t help but remember the Game Awards trailer for Lightfall. Particularly that bit where we watch the Witness and some plant life emerging. And it actually gets surprised. *In my mind,* that’s definitely has something to do with the Veil.
What amazed me about this finale was after I was done I thought, “oh god, light fall is here”. I know I’ve been hyped for it for a while but it didn’t really hit me until now.
You have no idea how many times I've watched this, over and over. And I've come to tears every single time. Such an emotional and captivating cutscene. The cinematography, the music, the characters, their facial expressions and actions. Crow, Saint putting a hand on Osiris' back, Eido rushing out reaching for the sky mirroring Eramiskell in an older cutscene, Ana's pained voice and expressions, Saladin's face oh my god I have never really seen him look like that. And Ikora at the end, looking so confused, scared. Everything everything about this was beautiful and moving. Absolute chef's kiss. I cannot wait for Lightfall. Although I am bitter about Rasputing dying, I cannot help but feel hopeful that your theory about the traveler staying because of his sacrifice, could be true.
Glad I wasn’t the only one 😢 That was such an awe-inspiring cutscene. This level of deep emotion is what we have needed from Destiny for so long !
Rip big red
Bro what lmao it's. Not that deep that it deserves tears 😂😂
simp lmaoooo
"Humanity no longer needs a Warmind, because you now have each other." That got to me
One small moment I love in the cutscene is how Eramis turns to look at the door when Mithrax speaks to her, as if she kinda hoped The Guardian would come and stop her, because if that happened, not only would Mithrax and all of House Light live, but also her house wouldn't be tortured like they were at the beginning of the season, because she wouldn't be alive to be punished by The Witness. Then they reel her back in by stoking her vengeance. So good.
She looks back because she sees the Witnesses reflection in the monitor.
I thought that too, but she looks back as soon as she sees the Witness on the monitor like a reflection, as a way to see if the witness has come in person
One tiny thing I've been pointing out in multiple places, but I'll expand upon here. Make sure you interact with Astro immediately after you interact w/Rasputin the last time for the mission.
SPOILERS
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When you pet Astro this time, he whines sadly. Broke my heart again.
grats on the 1m Byf, been here for a long time. always loved the content and ill always come back here for destiny lore. thank you and keep it up.
Rasputin has given us so much this season with lore and information for Neomuna- it just sucks that after all this time of helping Red, it ends like this.
This is an expansion-level finale. This was incredible, loved it all. It completely flipped my expectations, especially since in the final mission of witch queen we get the traveler back instantly. “They would never actually remove the traveler from the city skybox” became my thought process and was utterly shocked that the traveler didn’t just go back after the cutscene. Super exciting stuff, can’t wait for the future seasons and Lightfall.
Plus the writing was on level with lore books this time around, which is dope.
Waiting for this one. Best cinematic I've seen in years from destiny.
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
I have a feeling that the veil is the “key” that the witness talked about at the end of lightfall, his mechanism to “drink the light” or whatever that means.
I'm 99% certain that prophecy will happen in the season finale before The Final Shape
"Your pale heart holds the key" has been floating around in my head since last February, and now it's finally starting to make sense if the veil is connected to the traveler
Congrats on 1 MIL, one of the best channels on TH-cam, I could sit and watch your videos for hours, the effort and production is astounding.
Keep it up Byf!
Definitely feels like we're a couple weeks away from a truly cataclysmic battle between the Traveler and the Witness. But I can't help but feel the Traveler still has doubts. It fully intended to leave but got swayed by Reds sacrifice. But what's to stop it going back on that decision too?
I guess we'll see soon. Pretty exciting!
I’m glad Good Boy Protocol gets an actual home though. Apparently it also recites poetry…
Also, the position of the traveller above earth in the destinations tab we’ve had for a year also shows the traveller in this position. Same trail under it too.
Ana and Camrin are taking care of it, Rasputin imparted it with poetry as a final message and memento. They said they'll name it, the Bungie store is currently calling it the Archangel Dog (Archie for short)
@Zechariah David
Should of called it Aurora
I love how the music at during the Traveler's departure start off very hopeful, like everyone expects it to intervene on the City's behalf, but then, along with the residents of the City, it realizes that the Traveler is actually abandoning them, and becomes but more dreadful and somber. Masterful composing as always.
I think it's crazy that Bungie may have been hinting at this finale from witch queen's release. With the way they positioned the traveler over earth in the director and where it is as of now. Crazy if that's the case.
If you look at the cover of destiny 1 it's the same exact picture of it floating above earth at that point so this has been planned since the beginning
OK bro ignore my comment. The original key art for destiny. Jesus Christ Bungieeeee stop with this 😂😂😂
@@ParanormalAcids72 no worries friend
@@Drunk_reaper-oh7ry I wouldn't say planned since the beginning, bungie changed a lot like when they severed their connection with Activision. its more of a nice reference they included when they worked on this season
Rewatching this now to just remember when we were all hyped and excited about the game. I miss this, I want this…
I'm not half as hyped as I was back in the day waiting for the Lightfall to launch.
CONGRATS ON 1 MIL BYF!!! You and your team deserve every one of them.
I'm still really conflicted with how I fell about the traveler rn, on the one hand, I want to have faith in it, that it wasn't just running. But at the same time, everything we've seen from the traveler all year has been desperation, Giving the hive the light hoping that savathun could protect it, and it trying to run one more time makes sense with everything it has done.
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
There are so many great things about this mission. The cutscene was outstanding but one of the more under appreciated bits for me was that Eramis finally felt like a tough scary villain. Through combat and through plot.
Her randomly having breached the Warsats, admittedly is quite rushed and it leaves you wondering "What have we been doing for all these weeks? How could this not have been avoided.." (Part of this is due to the seasonal structure.) BUT, I'm glad she got her spotlight after being robbed in BL and all of the various messages throughout the ending lore are so powerful. My hopes are high for LF.
My 2 cents for that second bit. We have never been able to wrestle control of the WARSAT station from Salvation and Xivu's brood, only keep them from using the weaponry. So Eramis could've been hanging out over Earth all this time.
@@thecrimsoncommando3875 Xivu's brood are definitely unpredictable.. Tell me more about Eramis' involvement.
I'm so excited for where this leaves us! I am thinking The Veil may be what allows Elsie to travel back in time or a gate to "pale heart" of the Traveller. Or both. I'm thinking it gets corrupted by The Witness and this is what brings something from the past to now for the raid
As far as I know, Taniks will be that something from the past.
The veil is not what allows Elsie to travel back in time. It's vex shenanigans from the war on Europa. It's in the mysterious logbook I think.
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
Thank you. Scripted or not, your content is always great. I don't think words can express the gratitude the community feels toward yours and your teams contributions. So once again, thank you.
After this ending. My love for destiny is revitalized. I'm so excited for lightfall and Destiny's future
Ah yes, the video every Destiny player has been waiting for since the finale.
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
@@user-xj8kx8dr8d
I have some fertile farm land in Northern Alaska to sell. Sadly your most likely a bot account.
I cried watching the traveler leave. Its such a powerful and significant moment for us. We are really moving forward into the unknown and its not going to be pretty. I just hope we make it out alive and save everyone we can.
Bro it’s a game y’all making seem so really and attached to something that’s fake wtf
@@xparabellumxlifex521 its something people are used to seeing in game for nearly a decade. So yes, people are going to feel an emotional connection to this game.
@@xparabellumxlifex521I mean people cry to movies, books, shows, songs, etc. Just because it’s a game that doesn’t mean it can’t make people feel emotions. If a piece of entertainment media wasn’t made to make people feel some kind of emotion then what’s the point? Everything would be bland and meaningless if the developers didn’t want us to feel a certain way about certain events.
@@xparabellumxlifex521 I shed a tear too blood, been part of this game for almost 10 years
@@xparabellumxlifex521 you must be fun at parties
This is terrifying in a way I can't explain as a guardian, but has me more hyped than ever for Lightfall
Thinking on Eramis, and all she's done to have vengeance for Riis, reminds me of a quote, that came up for me many times this year:"Vengeance isn't a destination, friend. It's a commodity. Make sure you're willing to pay the price before you enter the deal."
I have a strong guess that though the fire of vengeance in Eramis still burns, it is really only a few flickers of flame now, even moreso after she (I guess) realized what price the Witness demanded of her for it.
On another note, it was interesting, and in a weird sense, heartwarming to see, that while Clovis stayed similar to how he was in life, and later became more of a mad AI, Ras, who *was* an AI became more human than the person who initially created him. Ras genuinely tried to right his past wrongs, while Clovis masked every wrong as a "necessary act to ensure humanity's survival".
One (maybe) final note, the "opposites" on Ras' story is also well done, he initially started out as someone who we had to save at all costs.
Here, at the end of his story, he was the one who saved everyone.
We'll keep his foghorn intro theme in our hearts.
You have one of the best narrator voices in the history of people being recorded. ITS GREAT, just a bonus it's a topic I love.
When I saw bungie post the cinematic on YT, I immediately turned on my computer and played the finale quest. Even tho I had 2 hrs before work.
The destiny story is getting awesome and now I’m even more excited for lightfall
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
Same. I had like an hour for work and was groggy af. But actually “being” there was something else
I went to the tower to talk to Zavala and there were soooo many guardians standing there just looking at where the traveler once was and I stood there with them for almost an hour. I mean. This is it. Everything we’ve been fighting for. It all comes down to this moment. Right here and now.
I’ve watched the cutscene at least 10 times now. It’s one of, if not the greatest cutscene that Bungie has ever put out.
I have watched it quite a few times myself! I even caught a co-worker watching it too! And then we noticed about 2/3 of the office was watching it... we are IT nerds and we just laughed at the whole thing.
THIS is what I've been wanting from D2 for so long! That true feeling of "we don't know what will happen next..." like we got with Taken king and Forsaken. The traveler is finally doing something since blowing away Dominus Ghaul. I hope LF and it's seasons are awesome, and the cutscene set it up so well.
Byf! You did it! The big 1 million! Congratulations! Your presence in the destiny community, sense of storytelling, and passion for lore are powerful and I personally am so excited to traverse Lightfall with you and all other Guardians! Take time to celebrate this achievement, I'm sure all of us will be very busy in weeks time.
The Graphics and Animations in this Cutscene were so good
I feel like we just finally got out of an 8 year beta. Rip to the best mechanic: d1 faction loot progression. I loved to be able to play any activity for faction loot. That's the last thing this game is missing
@Geist8745 job
@Geist8745 misinformation bot
I'm as heartbroken as Ana that we lost him so quickly. We just had Rasputin back, and watched him effectively become his best self. Then we lose him when he lives up to that.
I don't know if Saladin and Osiris will forgive Rasputin, but I think they can at least make peace with his (metaphorical) ghost. I can imagine Felwinter going "Now you understand" to his father.
Moving on from that, this talk of the veil and so on I feel further cements my own hypothesis. The Traveler and The Witness are Not The Gardener and The Winnower. I feel that the Gardener and the Winnower are opposed and sources of the Light and the Darkness respectively and direct that conflict in their own "Flower Game," though that game is in ... level? I guess? Above us and so on. They are the wills of the Light and Dark respectively. The Traveler and The Witness are subordinates of them and and counterparts of each other. The Light and the Dark have their will, of course, but aren't necessarily usable but life forms in their raw form. Through the Traveler and the Witness they take form and can be used. Hence why the Witness can be both "birth" the Darkness, and be a servant of it.(GOtta love that a lie can be a "lie of Omission." Everything Savathun tells us in the memory missions is true from a certain point of view and context.)
But also consider that if the Traveler and Witness are the subordinates of greater forces, they are likely, or were once, pawns in that Flower Game.
Spinfoil hat time. The Gardener could be far more cold and unfeeling than we might expect. 'GO, create new life. Raise new life and civilizations. Oh, that one's dying? Well dig up the roots, leave the land fallow for a bit, then start over.' Life is good and important. Individual lives are insignificant. I wonder if the Traveler disobeyed orders by staying the first time(and again Now). If it's an agent of the Gardener, the Gardener could have ordered it to move on and it Refused. Torn between it's duty to it's master and it's duty to Us. Effectively it's gone rogue. This could tie into Savvy's words on The Witness. If it being Mortal once, and it's people being blessed by light, dark, or both. The Witness' home could have been an earlier battlefield of Winnower and Gardener's pieces. And it witnessed this. Adjusting my spinfoil hat we go into the fact that, at least to me, the Witness seems to have a personal grudge against the Traveler. While it commands the Black Fleet, and had contacted us before decided to kill us, I'm still reasonably sure that the Darkness itself(and thus, the Winnower) has still contacted us directly itself, or through a different and more Loyal representative. The Darkness was always about survival of the Fittest, death is the End, and so on. and we see this for awhile. Necromancy is heresy to the Hive... at first. The forces of Darkness arrayed against us started off using the old tactics while we used ours and so on. But after countless years of fighting this started to change. Hell I'd argue that even the Taken are a form of necromancy. Stolen souls, kept from death and enslaved in ghostly abominable forms. The Necromancy of Nokris and Riven started showing up and ended up being directly used by the Witnesses disciples as well. The Scorn are straight up reanimated courses. That doesn't sound like "The weak should die and stay dead" to me. The Witness is moving more and more off message as things fail and IT gets closer to it's quarry. It's abandoning the parts of the old philosophy that's holding it back from it's revenge. We're not just in the middle of the conflict of Light and Dark, we're in the middle of a part of that game table that has gone off the rails because the two main pieces of that part decided to do their own thing. The involvement of other counterparts of the Traveler and Witness could be as imminent as our own demise.
It was stated by Elsie that Saladin comforted Ana after Rasputin's departure and that Osiris was grateful that Rasputin left us all a parting gift in Neomuna's location.
@@aztumtheknightofwumbo7060 OH! I missed that. I've been having to try to play short my index finger due to a terrible injury so my hand tires out quicker.
I'm pretty sure that the Traveler never meant to 'abandon' the Eliksni when it left Riis. I think it's plan was to bring them along as it found other worthy races to stand up against the Witness. The Leviathan (entity) was supposed to give the light to the Proto-hive in the same way, and bring them along as well. But that plan was thwarted. And I think the Traveler has deemed the Cabal as worthy, just not under Gaul's leadership.
It would be interesting to see a ghost make it's way into the helm, finish building the Exo body, and bring back Rasputin as an Exo Guardian. And he will be a hunter, and the new Vanguard.
Maybe. That would be dope.
hell nah, rasputin is a proud nerdy calculating warlock!
@@mikael100100 You're both wrong he's a bastion against the darkness, a wall.
He's a Titan 😉
Honestly speaking: I think the reason for the traveler not uplifting the Cabal has nothing to do with them being worthy or not, but with them being able to create an advanced civilisation without it. As far as we know the traveler helps compareatively primitive civilisations (at least when it arrives) to become technoligically advanced. I would guess in regards to the cabal the traveler is just like "You guys really don't need my help. Humanity are monkeys compared to you.". Like: even with the help of the traveler Humanity didn't even manage to leave their own solar system, while the cabal built an interstellar empire consisting of several species, that is capable of building spacecraft that are a) vastly bigger than some dwarf-planets and b) capable of deleting entire star-systems off of the galactic map (honestly, we had no right to win the red-war if the Cabal actually wanted to win...)
@@peerschulz2029 I don't think the traveler looks at technological development. I think it's looking at races deserving to wield the light. Savathun's brood was a lot more developed than humanity was before getting the light.
I am so excited for The Veil. Since Shadowkeep I have been speculating about the veiled figures on the pyramids. Obviously they have significance, and hopefully some deep questions will be answered with Lightfall.