(Warning: Major story spoilers for Destiny 2 ahead, obviously.)
Destiny 2 wraps up the story of Bungie’s sci-fi sequel pretty well, with the Guardians offing the big bad Red Legion leader Dominus Ghaul and once again basking in the Traveler’s Light, before setting up camp in an updated Tower hub world rather than the run-down Farm they were previously relegated to.
However, players will likely still have a few unanswered questions after they finish watching the game’s post-credit sequence, which points to a new enemy that the Guardians will presumably face off against in Destiny 3. With that being said, let’s take a look at these loose ends and tie them up a bit:
Destiny 2 ending explained: The Speaker’s death
Ghaul spends the vast majority of Destiny 2 interrogating the Speaker, who everyone believes is a conduit for the Traveler’s will because, well, he said he was. However, despite having managed to secure the safety of his own life by leading Ghaul to believe that he can help the Cabal leader become the Traveler’s chosen one, the Speaker eventually reveals that he’s been a false prophet this whole time, and that the Traveler doesn’t actually speak to him at all. At this point the Speaker is inevitably killed by Ghaul, despite the Guardians being on their way to prevent Ghaul’s master plan and him therefore being about an hour away from being rescued. Despite being so close to the Light, this Speaker ain’t so bright.
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If you inspect the area reserved for the Speaker with your Ghost in the tower, your little floating robot buddy explains that there were Speakers before him, and that there may be another Speaker after him. However, this seems kinda unlikely now that the Traveler is no longer dormant and appears to finally be showing off its sentience, which doesn’t really leave much room for a Speaker when every Guardian and his / her mother can see what that giant, floating ball of Light is up to. Basically, this probably means the end of the Speakers from here on out.
Destiny 2 ending explained: The future of the Traveler
Initially, it seems like things might not work out great for the Traveler. After Ghaul becomes a super-sized version of himself, the Traveler lashes out in a burst of Light and destroys the Red Legion leader in a mighty explosion. However, it is later revealed that this isn’t its final act, but rather it finally breaking free of its dormancy, destroying the outer shell it was encased in and revealing more of itself to humanity and its Guardians.
So, what does this mean for the future of the Destiny series? In Destiny lore, the Traveler’s appearance marked the start of the Golden Age, in which human civilization was given access to new technologies that made it possible to leave Earth and begin exploring the Solar System. This completely changed the way that humans looked at their universe, marking a period of great prosperity that concluded with the Collapse, an almost apocalyptic event that saw the Traveler somehow sacrificing itself to ostensibly protect humanity from the Darkness. While the Traveler still allowed humans to make use of the Light, hence the continued existence of the Guardians, it no longer continued to help them make huge technological advancements. With the Traveler now awakening from its dormancy, this will presumably mean that these advancements will continue into Destiny 3.
The end of Destiny 2 suggests that human civilization is on the cusp of entering into a second Golden Age, with its enemies having been defeated and the Traveler once again likely to share its knowledge and technologies with them for the first time since the Collapse. If this is the case, then chances are that in Destiny 3 the Traveller will have enabled humanity to achieve more, perhaps allowing them to travel farther than their Solar System and into the great unknown beyond it. This would effectively open up new planets, new vehicles, new loot to unlock and, above all else, new alien races to encounter. Perhaps this time humans may actually come into a contact with a race that doesn’t want to immediately kill them? Here’s hoping.
Destiny 2 ending explained: Post-credits scene and the Darkness
The Darkness is the Big Evil of the Destiny universe, and while it was frequently alluded to in the original game, in Destiny 2 it’s more-or-less completely overlooked… until the game’s post-credits scene.
After the Traveler destroys Ghaul and reawakens, everything looks to be hunky dory for human civilization. However, after the post-credits scene shows how far the Traveler’s Light has spread throughout the solar system, rectifying the devastating effects of the Red War, we’re shown a fleet of pyramid-shaped ships suddenly awakening. These ships almost certainly belong to the Darkness, prompted into action by the Traveler’s reappearance and presumably set to be the main threat in Destiny 3.
While Destiny 2 rarely mentions the Darkness, with this post-credits sequence in mind certain aspects of the game make a lot more sense. For instance, take the Hive and Taken rituals; if you were breezing through these sub-quests to simply gain more XP and get your hands on more loot, you probably didn’t stop to question exactly why they were holding rituals in the first place. According to Destiny lore, the Hive and the Taken are the two alien races most connected to the Darkness, with the former deriving their power directly from the mysterious entity, while the latter consist of other races possessed by the Darkness. This strongly suggests that both are making efforts to communicate with a leader, and given the post-credits sequence, it seems that this leader is the Darkness. For added evidence, remember the story recap that played at the start of the game? Yeah, that “ancient enemy” sure looked like a giant pyramid, huh?
Image via Eurogamer
Destiny 2 ending explained: What to expect from Destiny 3
While the endgame content in Destiny 2 may touch upon its post-credits scene to some degree, we don’t expect we’ll find out the truth behind the pyramid ships until Destiny 3, which will presumably see players tackling the Darkness for the first time. So taking Destiny 2‘s story into account, what can we expect from the series’ next instalment?
As previously mentioned, the Traveler’s initial journey to Earth prompted the start of the Golden Age, and with the floating city-sized sphere now regaining its sentience, it’s likely that this era for humanity will have been rekindled to some extent. It took human civilization centuries to travel as far into their solar system as they did, so unless Destiny 3 is set many years in the future (which is possible for Bungie to pull off, considering Guardians can live an infinite number of years as long as their Ghosts remain unharmed), it’s likely that some advancement will have been made though not enough to force the game to be dramatically different from its predecessors.
Human civilization has largely viewed the Traveler as an altruistic being, with it granting them such incredible powers simply because it liked the look of them, and not really questioning its motives on a grander scale. To be fair, their assumptions in this regard were partially confirmed by the Traveler seemingly sacrificing itself in order to save them, but judging from the end of Destiny 2 it seems that it is also very concerned about self-preservation, and the Guardians may actually be an extension of this concern.
The Traveler essentially burst free from its cocoon at the point where it seemed like all hope had been lost for it. Ghaul was threatening to consume its power, the Guardians were left hopeless, and all signs pointed to it being destroyed. Then, in a desperate burst of energy, it killed Ghaul and all was right again… y’know, except for this act alerting the Darkness (maybe) to its presence, and causing them to hunt for it once again. Even though the Traveler has granted humanity great power, its appearance has also marked great loss, and it has certainly got a lot out of the deal they share, too. Without the Guardians, who would serve as the Traveler’s personal army? When this new race eventually catch up with it, who will defend it? That’s right: the Guardians. It seems that the Traveler may not be that altruistic after all, and in a series that has thus far seen universal praise heaped upon the mysterious floating sphere with nary a suspicious glance, it’s possible that this will be explored in Destiny 3.
