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Destiny 2’s conversations are incomplete without the raids. While raids have been a staple of MMOs for decades now, Destiny’s take on these ultra-difficult combat scenarios has always had a flair for grandeur. King’s Fall is considered one of the greatest raids in the Destiny franchise, and with good cause.
Delivered by The Taken King expansion, King’s Fall served as a storied end to a villainous character that quite literally transcended death, saving the game from financial disaster. Now with the biggest expansion in Destiny 2’s history on the horizon, whispers of a dead monarch and his raid returning are getting stronger.
Destiny of a monarch
To discuss King’s Fall and Oryx, we have to delve into some philosophical and metaphysical quandaries that Destiny’s universe deals with regularly for storytelling (heavy, I know). In true Bungie fashion, the Destiny universe deals with divinity, power, and evolution, just like Bungie’s other masterpiece, Halo.
In Destiny, beings ascend the totem pole of power through various means and fight in cosmic battles that define the literal shape of reality.
One such force was Oryx, The Taken King. Once a princess of a frail race, Aurash would struggle with her sisters Sathona and Xi Ro for survival. Through paracausal curiosity, deceit, and warfare, the three sisters would become Auryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath, the three gods of the Hive.
The emergence of the Hive put the galaxy on borrowed time as they encountered sentient life and put them to the sword. Such was the brutality of their ways that the three would often kill each other to become the sharpest edge in the universe.
This quest to become the final shape was the intrinsic religion of the Hive. Called the Sword-logic, this doctrine of constant warfare was merely a tool of evolution for them.
Their genocidal doctrine wasn’t some fanatical belief but an actual physical concept that manifested in reality. Through death, the Hive was able to forge worlds in different realities called Ascendant Realms where they could hide their true souls, thus becoming effectively immortal. Such were the powers granted by Oryx’s master, a primordial entity called The Darkness.
Oryx, however, took this paracausality to a whole new level, for he was able to subjugate the wills of lesser beings and essentially ‘take’ them for his army. Thus, the legend of The Taken King was born, though it was genuine.
To give a perspective of power, Oryx wiped out an entire fleet of highly advanced combatants and put a literal hole in one of Saturn’s rings with a single attack.
The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
As Guardians of The Light, the players had to fight tooth and nail to summon the wrath of Oryx. Most of the said fight took place against the god-prince of the Hive, Crota.
In Destiny’s second-ever raid, a Guardian team of six delved into Luna’s ravenous maw and slew the prince in his Oversoul Throne. In his dying breath, Crota reached out across the depths of space-time, and Oryx answered the call of his doomed son.
The Taken King expansion saw gamers face the threat of Oryx and landed them smack-dab in the middle of the Taken War. From the first mission on Phobos to the last one inside Oryx’s Dreadnaught, they were faced with the insurmountable task of facing The Taken King himself.
So powerful was The Taken King that Guardians had to beat him twice to put an end to his threat.
Oryx’s power was vast, and his command over the paracausal powers of The Darkness was second to none. The Taken King was the only adversary in the entire Destiny universe to subsume the innate Light of anyone in his presence.
So significant was the threat that another team of six Guardians would be needed to enact Regicide. At the end of the war, the champions of Light were victorious, and the shadow was finally lifted.
Though Oryx was finally dead, his presence would be felt for years to come. Members of his court and other would-be usurpers would rise to covet his throne, threats which the Guardians dealt with swiftly.
The Guardians bested Oryx in combat, thus proving their sword-edge to be sharper than The Taken King, and it would remain so for the time being.
The Witch Queen is here, long may she reign!
For years, no one in the Hive would question the Sword-logic, except Oryx’s sister. Savathûn, The Witch Queen, would be the first Hive god to outright defy the sword-logic openly.
Savathûn, through one of her countless schemes, led Oryx’s granddaughters to enact profane rituals to revive the dead king. She even recruited Oryx’s second son Nokris to learn the powers of necromancy, which is heretical to the Sword-logic.
Savathûn didn’t pull these strings for mere amusement. In her scheme, her parasitic worm forced her to embark on plans true to the nature of deceit. And this is where Destiny 2’s current story is.
Moving onto The Witch Queen expansion, it is confirmed that Savathûn will gain the Light. Considering the story and lore thus far, Savathun will become the ultimate heretic in the eyes of the Hive and The Darkness.
Yet, Savathûn’s goals have always been that of preservation of the Hive. It makes perfect sense for her to accept the gift of immortality through Light rather than struggle through Darkness. And true to the nature of deceit, she is the perfect candidate to revive Oryx through the necromancy of Light.
Bringing Oryx back will not only make her a formidable foe but also put her brother into a paracausal existential crisis. Oryx, who had lived by the sword-logic and exiled his son for practicing necromancy, will be none too pleased to be revived by said necromancy.
It’s even more humiliating for him to be revived using The Light, something he strove to destroy before dying.
On the other hand, reviving Oryx will give Savathûn a massive advantage in her war against the Guardians. Oryx was already a formidable opponent with the Darkness at his command.
The thought of fighting light-infused Hive and Oryx in the re-imagined King’s Fall will give any Guardian second or third thoughts.
Future of raids in Destiny is brighter than ever
The previous legacy raid to return to Destiny 2 was the fabled Vault of Glass. Interestingly, on its own, the re-imagined Vault of Glass featured a few tweaks and a few champion mobs to separate it from the Destiny 1 raid.
But more so, there were no explanations offered as to why Vault of Glass came back from the Time’s Conflux.
King’s Fall, however, has plenty of storyline connections to tie it into the actual narrative. The other candidates for legacy raids are not as strong as King’s Fall.
Crota’s End has been done to death in Destiny 2, just like Crota himself. And as much as users love Wrath of the Machine, the storyline won’t do it justice.
Interestingly enough, Bungie has provided enough lore and hints to signify that three Hive gods will be the pinnacle of this story about Light and Dark. Savathûn’s sister Xivu Arath is already on the hunt for her. And it’s safe to assume that one of Destiny 2’s future expansions will be dedicated to Xivu herself.
Bungie hasn’t provided any dates for the upcoming raids, but there’s still a month left to make that announcement. The developer makes sure to make any raid-related announcements as a spectacle, so it’s bound to be remarkable.
For now, we have to wait until February 22 to see where Destiny 2’s story ends after Savathûn takes The Light.
