Destiny 2 Forsaken’s original E3 2018 announcement revealed a terrifying truth, that fan-favorite Cayde-6’s death would serve as the catalyst for the story. Originally voiced by Firefly’s Nathan Fillion (and briefly Nolan North in Forsaken), the goofy rogue Cayde-6 had been a lovable scamp throughout the Destiny series, perfectly complimenting and contrasting the rest of the Vanguard. A number of other characters have come and gone in Destiny’s story, but none have had quite the high-stakes effect that Cayde’s did. It looks like Bungie could be upping the stakes once again for The Witch Queen, and may be getting ready to kill off another major character.
A few months prior to Forsaken, the smaller Warmind DLC brought a sidearm called Spoiler Alert, which had the flavor text “Someone is going to die.” Fast-forward to the E3 announcement and Forsaken’s release, and we realize that the weapon’s flavor text was rather prescient. And now the sidearm has returned. Returning as a reissued weapon in Season of the Lost, Spoiler Alert is back with the same flavor text: “Someone is going to die.” Players have been buzzing about what its return could mean for more than a month now.
But it’s not just speculation based on the return of the weapon. Bungie themselves have hinted at the potential death and the continuing prescient nature of Spoiler Alert. In an interview with senior narrative designer Nikko Stevens, GamesRadar’s Austin Wood asked about the return of Spoiler Alert and its ominous flavor text in Season of the Lost. Is this just a reissued weapon returning with new rolls, or is it the harbinger of the death of another beloved character? “It’s not a coincidence. That’s all I’ll say,” Stevens said.
The major speculation among Destiny fans is that this is foreshadowing Osiris’ death, after having been effectively replaced by Savathun, the witch queen herself, for the better part of the last year. Players are currently searching for the lost Osiris in Season of the Lost, hoping that perhaps if we rid Savathun of her worm, we can rescue him. Other theories include Zavala meeting his maker, or perhaps Saint-14 or Ikora.
I have a feeling that the foreshadowed death isn’t one that will go unnoticed, and will fundamentally change the world of Destiny in big ways going forward. Cayde’s death shattered the Vanguard, a void that still has yet to be filled in a meaningful way. Bungie is teeing things up for the end of the Light and Darkness saga via The Witch Queen in 2022, followed by 2023’s Lightfall and 2024’s The Final Shape. They’ve been persistently hammering home the point that the lines between light and dark, friend and foe, aren’t as clear cut as we once believed. The Vanguard, once a steely bastion of light against the forces of darkness, has been eroding, while friendly wielders of darkness have shown us other ways of doing things.
We know that Ikora has a major part to play in The Witch Queen. We’ve seen her in the trailers. And it’s also not clear if this prophesied death will occur at the beginning of The Witch Queen to kick off the events of the expansion, or later within its story. Unlike with Cayde-6, whose death was on display months before the expansion even launched, Bungie is holding its cards close to its chest for now. What we do know is that another character is headed for their doom, and much like the loss of Cayde, expect to feel the reverberations of this one for a long time yet to come.
Destiny 2 The Witch Queen releases on February 22, 2022.
[Source: GamesRadar]