In Destiny 2, the story of Season 14 revolves around an impending civil war. Last week, Saint-14 was unmasked as a monster, this week he deeply regrets it. Oh, and the threat to banish someone to a cold ice moon is also here.
Last week, Destiny 2 surprised us with the best story in a long time. Now the thrilling story of Season 14 continues, albeit more subtly. Nevertheless, someone wants to say “sorry” and feels very guilty due to the alien children.
But other protagonists are also positioning themselves for the looming civil war. MeinMMO explains why remorse and politics suddenly matter so much in the action MMO and why the bad guys believe they are actually the good ones.
Who feels guilty? Saint-14 is described in Destiny as “the greatest Titan who ever lived”. The warrior has already killed countless Fallen with just his battered helmet. He is celebrated as a great hero who ensured the survival of humanity.
Small spoiler warning: All content of this article can be found in the game, but if you don’t want to spoil the surprise, log into Destiny 2 first and experience it yourself.
Now Saint-14 tells us, dejected, that the alien children “look at him trembling and mourn what I have taken from them”. By the end of the conversation, he transforms from a great alien mass murderer into an advocate for the aliens.
From Hero to Monster and Back
You can see this: Anyone who diligently plays the weekly quest around Override and Decimation should pay the Titan a visit. Listen carefully, it’s worth it.
- After Saint learned last week how his victims – or rather their descendants – view his “heroic deeds”, Saint-14 has become quite remorseful. Seeing how the Fallen, especially their “spawns”, see him and tremble has significantly changed his worldview.
- We remember: Our Fallen ally Mithrax told a horrifying story in an impressive cutscene, showing how Saint is seen as a monster by the Fallen, who even targeted children.
- This different perspective has now purified Saint. He now appeals to humanity. If the Fallen can forgive, we must too.
- However, Saint-14 also says that he will not forget the atrocities of the Fallen. But Mithrax made it clear to him that the Fallen now in the city are not the enemies of the past. He simply fought back then to see the next day.
- Then comes a big moment hidden in a small word: Saint calls the Fallen “Eliksni”. He uses their own name and not the description humans gave their enemies.
Here you can watch the cutscene in German that gave Saint such a guilty conscience:
What does this mean? After it seemed in the first weeks of Season 14 that Saint would side with the extremist Lakshmi-2, he has now become an advocate for the Eliksni seeking refuge within the walls of the Last City.
The Titan also says, “Attacking defenseless people is the act of a coward.” Here it is unclear whether he speaks of his past self, who allegedly also murdered innocent babies, or if he is talking about Lakshmi, who wants to drive the Fallen out of the city now and conducts sabotage attacks and vile propaganda.
The Bad Ones in Destiny 2 Have a Reason (or at Least They Believe So)
Why is the Robo-lady instigating? This week, we also learn a bit more about Lakshmi, who currently acts more like a damn robot Nazi, hating others just for being different.
- The leader of the “Future War Cult”, Lakshmi, is behind the attacks on the refugee camp and is inciting the inhabitants of the Last City against each other.
- For now, the Vanguard – that is, Ikora and Zavala (and probably us players) – stand in her way. Lakshmi has lost a powerful ally with Saint-14.
- She has been trying for weeks to undermine the role of the Vanguard and create chaos. Since the Fallen arrived, she has mutated into an extremist.
In the lore entry “Under the Endless Night VI”, only the usually calm Warlock Ikora pays Lakshmi a visit. Ikora threatens there: if further incidents occur due to incitement, she will send Lakshmi to an icy moon and generally assert her authority.
Lakshmi then explains a bit why she is acting this way: she looked into the future with a machine and saw that the Last City falls. That Saint-14 is under attack, Ikora is shouting for help, and humanity is being overrun. In her eyes, the Fallen are to blame, and she just wants to help.
Ikora doesn’t want to hear any of it and forces Lakshmi to say, “Understood, I will stop.”
This gives the otherwise one-dimensional villain Lakshmi some depth. One wonders, what can a few Fallen actually do? With us Guardians, we have literally notorious god-slayers for defense.
What’s next? Now it’s highly questionable whether Lakshmi is really intimidated after the “I will send you to a moon” threat and will back down. Sure, Ikora is the only Guardian that even the big shot Lord Shaxx fears – but from a story perspective, that would be pretty dull, and Season 14 is still far from over.
Guardians are now speculating (via Forbes.com) that Lakshmi will let “evil” Fallen into the city and trigger a massacre there. She would then pin the blame on the “good” Fallen refugees from the House of Light. This would reinforce her prophecy and radicalize more inhabitants.
This way, we would also have something to shoot at gameplay-wise, as we Guardians must of course stop the assault. A possible combat area could be the old parts of the city that we visited in the live event shortly before the darkness attacked.
What do you think about this? Did you expect Saint-14 to suddenly have such a guilty conscience? Does this rehabilitate the Titan, who has seen a significant drop in popularity since last week? Are you also curious about how the political machinations of Season 14 will continue and do you like this way of storytelling? Let us know in the comments.
