Destiny 2 just dropped a cutscene in the middle of Season of the Deep which provides an answer to the three big questions that all Destiny 2 fans have had for some time now. Who is The Witness? What is the Veil? What is the Final Shape?
The Final Shape, as we already knew, is the name of the next Destiny 2 expansion, but we’ve now become privy to information via said cutscene which explains exactly what it means, and we are more prepared, and excited, than ever to face what comes next for the beloved franchise.
If you’ve been playing Destiny 2 during Season of the Deep, you’ll be aware that Commander Sloane and a giant sea creature named Ahsa share an inexplicable bond. Ahsa speaks via Commander Sloane to narrate this cutscene, which opens on a shot of multiple people, presumably of the same race as The Witness.
It transpires that the Traveler, the giant spherical host of the Light, was once upon a time buried on that alien race’s home planet. Eventually, it blessed the people of the planet with a Golden Age. Those same people called the Traveler, the Gardener. This has been a reference for many years within Destiny 2 but until now it was unclear whether or not they were the same source of the Light.
During the Golden Age the alien race set to work creating the now infamous black pyramid ships that the likes of The Witness, Rhulk, and Nezarec commandeer. After a period of time, the people demanded more structure and more purpose from the Traveler, and asked for guidance. When the Traveler remained silent the people searched for the Winnower – which we know as the Veil – due to its connection with the Gardener.
After finding the Veil it taught the people how Light and Darkness work together and apart and they discovered that, just as the Light is able to give life, it is also capable of horrific destruction. The people decided, in the face of this news, that the Light must be tamed as it was the epitome of chaos. They believed the answer to this was the Darkness as it was the antithesis of everything the Light stood for, and they believed it was shaped by consciousness.
The people thought that if they used the Darkness to tame and shape the Light they could create the perfect universe – The Final Shape. When the people attempted to tame the Traveler it abandoned them, but instead of accepting this the people merged themselves into one form – The Witness. The name came about because they believed that they had “witnessed the truth in the darkness”.
The Witness has continued to seek out the Traveler throughout time and space, and as we now know, has succeeded in creating a portal of sorts on its surface. The Traveler and the Veil have now been merged, as per the ending of Lightfall, and this is how the cutscene ends.
After facing criticism for the way it handled the Lightfall campaign, Bungie has just info-dumped every answer we needed prior to The Final Shape. When the Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date rolls around, we’re now more prepared than ever to take on The Witness, lore and all.