In Destiny 2, a lore entry mentions how the curse of the Dreaming City can be broken. This is supposedly possible in Shadowkeep.
This curse is about: The Dreaming City is a mysterious endgame zone introduced with Forsaken. When Riven, the final boss in the “Last Wish” raid, was first defeated, a curse spread over the Dreaming City that persists to this day.
The curse causes the city to be in a 3-week cycle. Each week, the intensity of the Taken infestation changes, different missions are active, and the entire atmosphere in the city changes to start over again after the third curse week.
Guardians have long wondered if this curse cycle will last forever or if the Dreaming City can eventually be freed from it.
How can the curse be broken?
This is what the theory states: In the lore entries regarding Darkness, there is the book “From Truth to Power,” which contains a clear hint on how the curse can be ended.
In the entry “act/choose/react”, it states: “Reach Light Level 999 and defeat Dul Incaru in a solo fireteam to unlock the true end of the Dreaming City.”
This means:
- You need to reach Power Level 999 – currently, the maximum is 750.
- You then need to defeat Dul Incaru – who is the final boss in the dungeon “The Broken Throne”, which is only active in the third curse week. By the way, Dul Incaru is a Hive Witch and a daughter of Savathûn, who is responsible for the curse.
- You must complete The Broken Throne solo.
999 Power Level seems possible in Shadowkeep
This is why it will be possible with Shadowkeep: The Shadowkeep expansion will raise the maximum Power Level this Fall. You can then receive loot drops up to a maximum of 960 Power – but that’s not the end.
With the help of a seasonal artifact, the Power can be increased infinitely, which will require a lot of time and energy though. Therefore, theoretically, 999 Power can be reached with the artifact.
Does the curse really break? The end of the curse would allow the game and the story to progress – which fits with the plans that Game Director Luke Smith recently laid out.
Destiny is to become a game where “things happen” – not just regarding new items and activities, but also in terms of story. In recent years, it seemed instead that Destiny was stagnating in terms of story and not really progressing.
According to Smith, they want to create a new situation with each season in year 3 of Destiny 2, which will be resolved over the course of the season and culminate in an event, for example. After the season, this content will be consumed and replaced by new content. More about this can be read here:
That the 3-week cycle of the Dreaming City remains active indefinitely seems to contradict the concept. An end in Shadowkeep sounds logical.
It will be exciting to see who will be the first to reach 999 Power and meet the upper requirements to break the curse. What exactly happens then – and whether this theory will actually come true – remains to be seen.
The well-known lore YouTuber My name is Byf indeed supports the theory that this is a trap and that Guardians will invoke another evil – possibly Quria, a powerful Taken Vex Hydra under the control of Savathun. Because the lore book “From Truth to Power” is full of stories that cannot be trusted and are based on hallucinations.
It is particularly suspicious that one is supposed to defeat Dul Incaru solo. This almost screams “trap”, into which one is supposed to venture alone, away from other Guardians.
Whether we are lured into a trap or heroically break the curse – the story should advance either way.
