Recently, a quest in Destiny 2 has become available, leading to the 14th Saint and his shotgun Perfect Paradox. However, the background of the supposedly dead Guardian has not been clarified. An interesting theory suggests that the 14th Saint is still alive. Sounds paradoxical? It is!
After an obviously dead Guardian was found in the adventure “On and On” on Mercury, the excitement was great. Who is he and what role does he play? Datamining in the game files suggested that it must be the 14th Saint.
Eventually, a legendary shotgun was also found in the files, which could undoubtedly be attributed to the 14th Saint.
Recently, a quest can be played that leads to the 14th Saint and the shotgun Perfect Paradox – unfortunately, it left many Guardians with a puzzled look. Because the exact circumstances and background of Saint-14 remain unclear.
The Redditor ComradePoolio now describes in a theory, that the 14th Saint is not dead at all, and that he must cross our paths at least once in the future.
The chicken-and-egg discussion about the perfect paradox
Hints to this theory can be found in the lore of the Perfect Paradox – the legendary shotgun that we can forge in the Forge on Mercury. The required parts for it are found at the corpse of the 14th Saint.
The lore text states the following:
I never found Osiris, but I destroyed enough Vex to end a war. And in return, they delivered a deadly blow: They created a Ghost whose sole purpose was to siphon the light out of me. And that worked well.
Don’t worry (you don’t worry too much anyway). The crafting of the Ghost took centuries, thanks to the unique frequency of my light. And now I sit on its ruined shell. I regret that I never achieved your successes.
To me, you represent everything a Guardian can ever be. Your city thrives. Quite unlike mine. I spent my whole fourteenth life trying to make my city yours. I never achieved that goal. All I have left is this weapon.
The Cryptarchs say that you made it yourself. That you forged it in the Infinite Forge out of scrap and light and pure willpower. I will ensure it returns to you. When you gave it to me, I vowed that I would follow your example. And I still strive for that. – The 14th Saint
It is known that the 14th Saint followed Osiris after his banishment to Mercury to find him and bring him back. In this attempt, the 14th Saint ultimately perished. Through a Ghost made by the Vex that siphoned the light from the 14th Saint.
The theory now assumes that the 14th Saint is addressing us, the Guardians, in the embedded lore text above. As “evidence,” the statement is cited that ultimately we crafted the shotgun: “The Cryptarchs say that you made it yourself. That you forged it in the Infinite Forge out of scrap and light and pure willpower.” Because that is precisely what we do with the quest surrounding the Perfect Paradox.
How could we have crafted a shotgun whose remains we only found with the 14th Saint?
This can only work if we hand this shotgun over to the 14th Saint. This has not happened yet, thus we are talking about an event in the future. Although this event lies in the future for us – the Guardians – it must be in the past for the 14th Saint, who lies dead before us in the quest.
At this point, we hand him the shotgun, which he will carry for the rest of his life. The 14th Saint promised that this will find its way back to us. Therefore, he is right.
The whole process represents a perfect paradox. We are recreating the weapon based on the remains found at the corpse. However, we only find these remains because we have handed the weapon to the 14th Saint at some point.
Another paradox surrounds the 14th Saint
The 14th Saint once saved the Last City. He is regarded as a legend and inspiration for many people, even for us as Guardians. With the Curse of Osiris, the helmet of the 14th Saint was also introduced into the game. The lore text of the helmet states the following (excerpt):
Cayde-6 (C6): When talking about the Speaker as if he were related, I would call that eccentric. To claim he has seen the future and fought at the Six Fronts and firmly believes that a Guardian savior will come? That’s crazy.
Speaker (SX): Faith can move mountains.
C6: Yeah, right. A Guardian will set everything right. Will shove Crota off the Moon. And leave us looking really good in front of the Vanguard. Hey, where are you going?
SX: To one of the new recruits from old Russia, who has caught my interest – is in the Crucible for the first time.
C6: Hey, maybe that’s your savior. Can we then call it “Crota’s End”?
The 14th Saint was at one point in his life able to see into the future. And he saw a “Guardian Savior,” someone who would defeat Crota. That was us, the Guardians. We were once the inspiration for the 14th Saint, his drive.
Just because he could see the future, he fought for it – both for the protection of the Last City and his participation in the battle of the Six Fronts. This had less to do with the faith that the Speaker attributes in the lore text – the 14th Saint simply knew what he was doing, as he had seen the future.
If the 14th Saint had not known the future, he would not have been inspired by us, and the battle would likely have been lost – leading to the fall of the Last City and the Traveler. Ultimately, we would have never awakened – and thus never inspired the 14th Saint.
This is an endless loop. Only the 14th Saint’s actions allowed us to become Guardians, who then in turn inspired the 14th Saint in his actions. Crazy! Either way – we will encounter the 14th Saint in our future to hand him the shotgun, should the theory be true.
What do you think of this theory? Do you agree – or is it nonsense?
Note: The title image is from the artist Brian Moncus:
