The background story of the Drifter is perhaps one of the most exciting lore aspects in the entire Destiny universe. What does the Gambit rogue have to do with the Darkness, the Thorn, and the Guardians?
What is the role of the Drifter in Destiny 2? Allright, Allright, Allright. The Drifter was introduced with the new Destiny 2 expansion Forsaken and serves as a vendor and quest giver for the new Gambit mode – a mix of PvE and PvP where you need to collect particles and eliminate enemies.
The Drifter always appears cheerful, but his lines and background story reveal some extremely dark aspects that can only be discovered by diving deep into the lore.
The story of the Drifter – face to face with the Darkness
The Drifter and an icy planet: The Drifter vividly describes his own history in the lore, at least a small excerpt. According to his account, he may be the only one to have encountered the force we call “Darkness” and survived.
An icy planet and monoliths of Darkness: According to the Drifter, he was stranded on a frosty planet with his best friends in tow. On this iceberg, the companions discovered strange formations that must have been left behind by an unknown alien race long ago.
What did the friends find in the formations? There, the friends discovered cages containing something imprisoned, surrounded by ice. These cages were scattered all over the planet. Their identity or purpose for being there could never be deciphered.
The Drifter describes the creatures imprisoned in the cages as “Hive-like,” but with one major difference: The beings seemed to be able to generate a field in which light is suppressed (similar to a darkness zone in challenging activities of Destiny).
That these creatures were not only imprisoned in cages, the companions had to realize in a tragic way. It often happened that friends froze to death on the icy planet during the night, but their ghosts could always revive them. One morning, however, this didn’t work. One of the comrades could not be revived; his light was gone.
The creatures roamed freely across the planet, killing in their sleep. The Drifter lost more and more friends this way. Ultimately, the remaining companions went mad and turned on each other. Since the Traveler had by then been captured by Dominus Ghaul, none of the remaining had their light.
How did the Drifter escape? Only one managed to leave the planet with great difficulty – the Drifter. In a ViDoc, Bungie also showcased scenes from cutscenes that capture the Drifter’s arrival at the Tower.
What the Gambit vendor has on board is extremely exciting. It is a gigantic sphere. Could it be one of the prisons that the Drifter found on the ice planet? The circumstances of his escape raise questions:
- How did the Drifter manage to assert himself against his friends?
- Why was he spared by the creatures of darkness?
- How did he manage to acquire and bring back the mysterious object?
The answers to these questions are currently not possible, as the lore texts do not provide them. It may be insignificant or contain numerous answers.
The Drifter – friend or foe?
What are the true intentions of the Drifter? Currently, no one knows. There are currently dozens of theories in the Destiny community about who the Drifter really is and whether his intentions towards us Guardians are friendly or suspicious.
Particularly popular are the theories surrounding the legend of Shin Malphur and Dredgen Yor. It is believed that the Drifter is a follower of Dredgen Yor’s teachings. A group calling themselves the Shadows of Yor revered their idol and tried to modify the hand cannon Thorn so that its use would not drag the mind of its bearer into darkness.
The story of Dredgen Yor
Dredgen Yor was once Rezyl Azzir and a respected Guardian of the Last City. He was considered a hero and protector of humanity – until he held the hand cannon Thorn in his hand, which pulled him further into darkness and caused Rezyl Azzir to vanish. In his place came Dredgen Yor.
Dredgen Yor became increasingly evil and eventually turned away from his Ghost, knowing that this would make him mortal. His end came in a battle against Shin Malphur, who ended his life with the first Golden Gun.
Yet there were still followers of Dredgen Yor – the Shadows of Yor. They were considered bloodthirsty and ruthless in the Crucible and did everything to create copies of the Thorn that would not drag their bearer into darkness.
While they were successful, the influence of the Drifter remains unproven. It is considered certain that the Drifter was somehow entangled with the Shadows of Yor – exactly how remains hidden. His passion for the Thorn is unmistakably present in the infraction.
All signs point to a great catastrophe
Is Bungie working on a story master plan? Signs are increasing that a great catastrophe is imminent, a new collapse:
- The Drifter has appeared, presumably fascinated by the Darkness (or possessed?), and has brought an object that could contain the Darkness
- The tetrahedral-shaped ships have only recently reappeared – the all-encompassing threat we will likely have to face soon
- Our Guardian shows early signs of a change in mindset. The murder of Uldren Sov indicates this. How will the development continue? Will we renounce the Light?
So far, the Destiny stories have often only been individual excerpts:
- The Red War
- Cayde-6 and Uldren
- The Prison of Elders
Now it seems that Bungie will focus more on the canon and the bigger picture in the future. In any case, it could get incredibly exciting in the coming months!
What do you think? Will we soon experience a drama of historical proportions?
