Destiny 2is one of the longest-standing looter-shooter games on the market, and while it has a compelling gameplay loop across many activities, it is also a title that intertwines its worldbuilding with deep lore. Storytelling has not always been one ofDestiny 2’s stronger suits from release toThe Witch Queen expansion, which is currently considered one of the best releases the franchise has seen alongside Forsaken andDestiny’s The Taken King. Yet, every expansion and Season inDestiny 2has a lot of interesting stories to build upon from the vast lore library formed over the years.
For example, The Witch Queen expansion has similar themes as The Taken King, both stemming from the lore surrounding the birth of the Hive as a race inDestiny 2’s universe. The Hive were, in the beginning, a race called the Krill that lived on a gas giant planet called Fundament, which also hosted many other powerful races. The Krill had a naturally short lifespan, but sisters Aurash, Sathona, and Xi Ro wanted to live meaningful lives, so they turned to the Deep and the Worm Gods to make a pact that would make them virtually immortal.
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The Hive Gods and The War Against the Ecumene
The three sisters were given Worm larvae that they had to feed by following their nature. Aurash became Auryx by taking the King Morph, and his pact with the Worm Gods forced him to obey his nature as the navigator; the one who would chart maps of the universe and always seek knowledge above all else.Sathona became Savathunthrough the Mother Morph, and she was to always use cunning schemes if she wanted to feed her Worm. Xi Ro became Xivu Arath thanks to the Knight Morph, and she had to always wage war, demonstrating her combat prowess to stay alive.
The pacts made by the proto-Hive made them more powerful and capable of living forever, as well as coming back to life if they were slain.The new Hive Gods followed the sword logic, which means only the strongest of species would prevail and survive, leading to the annihilation of entire civilizations that they didn’t “deserve” to live. The sword logic also provided the Hive with more power as they obeyed their nature and slew other races in an ever-increasing crusade that would eventually lead to the end of all life in the universe.
However, the Hive Gods did meet a civilization that managed to oppose them and even beat them on multiple occasions, the Amiable Ecumene: a government composed of several races, all technologically-advanced. The Ecumene were losing many worlds at the beginning of the war with the Hive, but they eventually learned who the Hive Gods were, which made the government decide to try and defeat them for good before they coulddevour more planets and races. With the Ecumene’s best weapons, the Hive came to a point where they were not making progress with their crusade, and the three siblings started doubting their immortality.
Auryx, Savathun, and Xivu Arathdiscovered they were, indeed, immortal if not slain in their Throne World, but they could still succumb to their Worm. Their Worms had been given to them, not taken by force, which is not the way of the Deep where the Worm Gods resided. The Hive Gods would grow ever-mightier, but their worms grew hungrier for more, and there would be a point where the three siblings would perish because of it. So, they came up with a plan.
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How Oryx Became the Taken King, bringing Savathun and Xivu Arath Back to Life
One day, the siblings were discussing the matters of mortality and the war with the Ecumene in Auryx’sThrone World. Even though the three Hive Gods had slain one another for millennia to become more powerful through the sword logic, they always came back thanks to their Throne Worlds. This time, they knew that to defeat the Ecumene and survive, one of them had to kill the others in a true death - one that meant they had to be killed while following their nature.
Xivu Arath was beheaded in combat by Auryx, and Savathun was slain while she tried to betray her brother Auryx, with the Hive King growing in power. Then, Auryx had to go to the Worm God of secrets and take its power of communing with the Deep. The Worm God Akka gave away nothing, but the Hive King knew that even though he worshipped Akka, he had to slay it to get more power. Imbued with the strength of killing his sisters, he then becameOryx, the Taken King.
Oryx brought his new power to take on the battlefield against the Ecumeneempire, and started pushing back the Ecumene army, devouring planets once more. Oryx’s act of war against the Ecumene Council brought Xivu Arath back from the enemies' ashes, and the siblings once more fought side-by-side. Then, Oryx convinced the Dakaua Nest that he was jealous of Xivu Arath and wanted their help to destroy her, but he set a trap for their forces and slew them. From their ashes, Savathun rose again in an act of cunning committed by her brother.
What this means is that although Savathun andXivu Arathdied a true death, it was not their final death because it was in their brother’s Throne World, not their own. Still, a true death meant they need an extensive amount of time to come back to life and regain strength, which Oryx bypassed by committing acts that were true to his sisters' natures.
Destiny 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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