Now the Traveler is once again threatened by the Almighty’s impending collision, and it’s up to the Guardians to defend Earth and the Traveler once more. While players will likely take part in Earth’s epic defense in Season of the Worthy, several eyes look to the Traveler in a time where any kind of understanding or communication with it is gone entirely.
RELATED: Destiny 2: Story Lines We Need Answers To
Pre-Destiny: A Golden Age for Mankind
Gifting humanity with the power of Light and equipping Guardians with Ghosts, the Traveler has mostly remained dormant since its first arrival during the Golden Age. Humans originally discovered the Traveler during a very early expedition to Mars, where they made first contact with the mysterious sphere. The Traveler continued to terraform multiple planets in the solar system, making them habitable for human life. Gifting humanity with knowledge and technology far beyond humanity’s initial capabilities, humankind entered the Golden Age and used the Traveler’s gifts to expand and colonize the solar system. Though as fans would know by now, that all ended with the Collapse.
The Collapse was a near-cataclysmic event that occurred on Earth several hundred years before the events of Destiny. Humanity nearly went extinct as the Traveler’s similarly enigmatic enemy, the Darkness, nearly destroyed all of the colonization progress made prior to its attack. Human civilization was reduced to their almost-final resting place, the Last City, before the Traveler returned to Earth for a climactic final battle with the Darkness. The details of this catastrophic event are still very vague, as very few humans survived the Collapse, and those who did have long passed of old age. What is known is that the Traveler put on a last stand against the Darkness’ mysterious pyramid ship armada, gravely “injuring” itself in the process, to push away the Darkness and save humanity.
Now it remains in some kind of dormant stasis, continually hovering over the Last City. From there, the events of Destiny began and the rest is history. The only time humanity has seen the Traveler commit to any action after the Collapse was during Destiny 2’s finale, during another near-catastrophic occupation by the Cabal. Ghaul, the leader of the Red Legion, captured and artificially harnessed the Traveler’s Light and nearly defeated the Guardians again, just before the Traveler powered up and destroyed all of the Cabal occupying the Last City. Now, in the face of a new Cabal-orchestrated catastrophe in Season of the Worthy, all eyes are on the Traveler once more.
RELATED: Destiny 2’s Telesto Ornaments May Predict The Game’s Future
A Greater Calamity Approaches
Ever since the Shadowkeep expansion began for Destiny 2, the story of Destiny has been hinting at the Darkness making an ill-fated return to the solar system. Destiny 2’s current trajectory, from players meeting with the Darkness directly on the Moon to the Corridors of Time foreshadowing a dark fate for players’ Guardians, as well as the apocalyptic Almighty in Season of the Worthy, all of the events don’t bode well for humanity.
While many are beginning to believe the Warmind Rasputin is humanity’s only savior at this point, it’s moments like these were Guardians and the Vanguard seem to ignore the Traveler’s existence. Ever since the murder of the Speaker, there hasn’t been much in way of communication with the Traveler, so humanity’s trusted the Ghosts and Guardians with Earth’s defense. It’s understandable for the Vanguard to want to place their bets elsewhere, even if Rasputin’s assistance may be unpredictable. Nobody can expect the Traveler to take any significant action unless its existence is threatened beyond measure, though. Humans nearly lost the Last City during the Red War, twice, before the Traveler finally killed Dominus Ghaul and ended the Cabal occupation of the Last City.
Now as yet another threat approaches in Destiny 2’s Season of the Worthy, Guardians and Rasputin will likely do all that they can to stop the Almighty from colliding with Earth and/or the Traveler. Despite these efforts, there’s been a sense of foreboding portrayed in Season of the Worthy exemplified by the Vanguard’s attitude towards the Almighty’s crash-course with Earth. Zavala’s confidence in Rasputin is low, and the efforts of Guardians so far have been slow-going in terms of setting up Earth’s defenses. While we may not see any evidence of it early on, the Traveler may be awoken from its stasis much earlier than expected.
An Impending Darkness Looms
Even if Season of the Worthy doesn’t end with the proper return of the Darkness, all lore and evidence so far has pointed to an impending doom that’s been impossible to ignore. We still don’t know what’s in store for humanity, but all of these allusions to a great evil returning to Earth make it seem like humanity is not prepared for it. As Guardians prepare their contingency plan, it’s been too long since Destiny 2 has had anything to do with the Traveler since the end of the Red War. Though it may not be long before humanity’s savior rises again.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia and Xbox One.
MORE: Destiny 2: The 5 Best Things About Crucible (& 5 Things It Would Be Better Without)
