In Destiny 2, a lore book entry led to a poor soul working hard, even seeking the help of the best PvE player in Destiny – and all of that was in vain. In the end, the Wrong one, a foe, laughs.
This was the situation: Since January 2019, there has been a legend in Destiny 2: A player must reach light level 999 and conquer the hardest dungeon in the game alone, then they would break the “Curse of the Dreaming City in Destiny”.
In the community, this legend was understood as a “quest” to hardcore grind and secure a place in the history books of Destiny 2.
Now, a player has completed this impossible task, but it didn’t go as planned.
The Legend is a Lie
How did this legend come about? With Forsaken, a “lore book” came to Destiny 2, revealing a new chapter every 3 weeks, if one was diligent enough. The book “Truth to Power” is linked to visits to the queen and touches upon fascinating concepts of science fiction: These are in-game texts that a Guardian must read in an old-fashioned way.
As lore expert My Name is Byf points out, this book is full of lies:
- It begins with the narrator introducing herself as Eris Morn, an old acquaintance of the Guardians
- But this turns out to be a ruse, as the Guardian’s ghost reveals the narrator to be “Medusa”, an AI
- But even that is questioned. It is suspected that the true narrator is Savathûn, a Hive goddess, the sister of Oryx, a truly dark figure
The entire book is labeled as “untrustworthy” – it is clear that the narrator is an unreliable narrator and aims to confuse the Guardian.
A passage stood out from this lore book. It is found in the 5th section act|choose|react (via ishtar-collective.net).
This passage was unlocked by the most diligent players in early 2019: 15 weeks after the launch of Forsaken.
The passage stated that one must reach light level 999 and defeat Dûl Incarnu, the boss in Shattered Throne, alone to achieve the “true ending” of the Dreaming City.
This one specific passage in a sea of text was discussed in the Destiny 2 community and understood as a form of “story recommendation”.
Guardians grind to 999
This was the problem: At the time this passage went live and became known, it was early 2019. Guardians were obsessed with finding the “15th Wish” and breaking the curse of the Dreaming City. But the max level was far from 999 at that time – it was impossible to reach.
However, with the new expansion “Shadowkeep” and Year 3 for Destiny 2, starting in September 2019, it became theoretically possible to achieve this power level.
With the new artifact, one can essentially grind infinitely in Destiny 2 and level up.
The player Bagel4k relentlessly grinded to light level 999 and went into the “Shattered Throne” dungeon in early November.
He was not familiar with it. But with the mental support of Destiny 2 super-raider, Gladd, he managed to conquer the dungeon solo. 20,000 watched him on Twitch.
Then, however, nothing happened.
At first, the disappointment was great. It seemed that Bungie had not anticipated that something like this could happen and that someone would take the lore text seriously.
PvP chief Lars Bakken retweeted a post that made it clear: This is all a lie – don’t expect anything to happen here. You fell for it.
Bungie Turns the Tables
This is how Bungie reacts: Bungie’s community manager, dmg04, wrote a blog post 16 hours later, congratulating the Guardian. However, in the blog post, another voice shines through, Savathûn, the hive goddess, from whom the “Truth to Power” book likely originates, spoke up in square brackets:
- [I am Savathûn, hungry!]
- [I have set a trap and lured my prey.]
- [Does victory come so easily to you, hero?]
- [I am the finality, the reward—I am the true ending.]
- [Another gift.]
- [Your strength is my strength.]
- [Your victory is my victory.]
- [My jaw is wide open and I wait.]
- [The wait is long, but I am relentless.]
She made it clear that the Guardian fell into her trap. She is pleased when Guardians grow stronger – that is apparently her goal.
The Foe Rejoices in the Guardian’s Achievement
Why does “evil” triumph? There are two theories as to why the goddess is so pleased that someone fell into her trap:
- First, it is believed that she wants the strongest Guardians so that her fight against these Guardians is particularly glorious
- the other theory is even stranger. It suggests that Savathûn knows she is merely a character in a video game. But if enough people talk about her and believe in her, she will become powerful enough to break into the players’ world – that is her true goal.
In any case, the actions of the Guardian, who wanted to break the curse, seem to have only made the situation worse.
