I always love it when the heroes and villains are both trying their absolute hardest to win, but I gotta say it is mad interesting seeing us taking this fight seriously and Xivu just having a good time
Important to note that the three broken blades represent each of the Hive Gods. The first we collected from the Throne World was Strife (Xivu), Nessus gave us Ambition (Oryx), and EDZ gave us Cunning (Savathûn).
Which at this point you'd think they'd be used to. We go off script so often it surprises me they even still make plans for us that isn't just "Point at problem, cross fingers"
On one hand, Xivu Arath is the embodiment of War and has lead countless crusades across the Universe. On the other, big lady who likes punching things as much as I do who also gives me guns has me feeling things. The Witness is truly a fearsome villain.
I mean, in the ghost of the deep, Xivu explicitly said, "To win a war, you needn't raise a hand. Just let the ignorant fight in your name unknowingly, " (might be paraphrased a bit), which I like to think implies the events of Witch Queen and us. She basically knew we'd follow after and kill Savathun, so essentially, she's been using us to unknowingly fight in her name for a good bit.
@@DaReaIJesus Xivu, I think, were she not in any way bound to the Witness, is still a God of War. She gains power just by there being an outrageously large conflict even without picking a side. In Season of the Seraph she pulled, by the analysis, a rather good Xanatos Gambit. If we used the Warmind's Array, we would cause enough fundamental destruction of our enemies that she would be able to bring forth her waiting armies. If we destroy the Array, the Pyramid Fleet has a much easier invasion. And that's with her picking a side. She still gains power just by sitting down and watching and poking at either side as she desires to stir the pot to greater chaos.
Well said, and also Nezarec implies that as well, that our actions have caused suffering therefore we feed his purpose as well, with Xivu Arath makes more sense since we are soldiers in the middle of a war, we feed her worm with each confrontation.
@@Gaid152 I think there's a bit more to it than just picking a side and waiting things out. I'm guessing that in order to draw strength from conflict, she needs some kind of catalyst or anchor within proximity of where she intends conflict to be. Something that we're unaware of right now for narrative's sake. That ability just seems far too OP without some conditions, otherwise she'd have lead the hive, not Oryx.
If to the Hive love is war and war is love, that can only mean this entire season has just been Xivu Arath aggressively flirting with us and I will accept no other interpretation.
I mean, wouldn't it have been the other way around? To her, a being that sees war and death as an expression of love, our continuous genocide of her people, and specifically, her forces might seem like aggressive flirting. Like that hive knight who murdered a thousand (?) thralls to propose to a witch. She's all indifferent towards us until our kill count started rising. Now she has the hots for us.
Byf I just wanna say, you and myelin and evaze truly add so much context and understand to this game for many people. Bungie owes you guys big time for enhancing their story so well. Thanks for all you do
I agree for Byf and Myelin. Not to exclude Evaze, but I just wish his vids weren't 90% clickbait theory. If he could reel in the clickbait, he'd be a lot more enjoyable.
Evaze is more conspiracy theorist at this point. When he was still Evade, his content was much better. After he changed his name, he rebranded himself into the nonsense of now
@twiz66 I wholeheartedly agree. Before he rebranded and still called himself Evade, he did actual lore videos. Now alot of his videos are conspiracy theory and pure speculation to get people's hopes up
that's a little harsh on evaze. I like hearing people's theories as long as they're presented as such, even if they turn out to be wrong sometimes a theory is more interesting than canon
@midgetspinner5354 Nothing I said was harsh in the slightest. Evaze built his larger following on being a LORE page with MINIMAL speculative videos as EVADE. After he rebranded to Evaze, he has promoted more SPECULATIVE and Conspiracy Theorist related content. The reason he rebranded away from lore videos because he felt that Byf and Myelin had pretty much solidified their pages as lore pages. Whereas he feel a need to do something different. The unfortunate thing is with his more speculative driven videos, his new following are usually massively confused about the lore, because most people still reference him as a lore page. Alot of Evaze's content comes from leaks. I know that because I like to look up leaks for the hell of it, while also still keeping up with ACTUAL lore.
I gotta say, this was a really fun mission. It brought me back to the days of the Whisper and Zero Hour missions. And the lore bits you find in the boss room are the cherry on top of this secret mission.
We should 1000% fight her in the black terrace. The way it's described, the zone would probably look like a huge battlefield, riddled with billions of weapons from those who battled against her and lost.
I honestly hope and pray her final words are "Thank you.'" Because even though we beat her, she got the fight of her life and we just proved her right. She won't be angry at her defeat. She'll be happy
She won't be if we let her know that, much like with the mantle of the taken king, we won't continue her legacy and will instead stop warring wars, completely defying the sword logic and denying the final shape.
This mission was fun, reminds me of the Whisper mission. Also, shout out to my LFG team. We managed to kill him with only primaries on our third DPS phase, and we clutched hard because we finished with only 1 second.
the best way to get out of a trap is to intentionally spring it, on your own terms. that way you you know how to get out, or turn it upon the one who set it. Xivu failed the first lesson of destiny school: Never give a Guardian Loot.
There's so much I'm excited about for this build up to go head to head with Xivu. It's always interesting when the villain wants to have the hero at their strongest when they face off. The Hive have always been my favorite faction of enemies, from their design to their beliefs. The Hive pantheon has been more or less the most constant threat. Most of the major story beats stem from them. Crota, Oryx, Savathun, and now Xivu Arath; our story and theirs are intertwined. Our ultimate destiny is now linked to Xivu's.
It will kinda be amazing that if we do manage to defeat Xivu Arath... learning our mistake of not taking the mantle of the Taken King in the King's Fall raid, we take the mantle of the God of War and use it to defend humanity to once again show the folly of the sword logic.
It would be poetic if our final fight against Xivu is in Mars. The planet named after the God of War, that once housed humanity's very own God of War, Rasputin, who acomplished the same objective we would by defeating Xivu, ending war.
I think there's a good chance that the Pyramid architecture on Titan is fairly recent since there is also a Tormentor down there, which we know was only created after Calus joined the Witness
It's worth noting that Xivu's position as "WAR" is not infallible. The lore entry from The Manticore exotic where Mara and Xivu do psychic battle with truths proves this. Mara dismantles her claim to be a god of war and her point doesn't falter, it even forces Xivu to switch topic. This must mean there is truth here. Xivu might draw great strength from war, but she always does so running the risk that she might be overrun by the very wars she starts. Activating the warsats, pitting us against her champions, providing us powerful weapons. All these acts are gambles she plans on defeating us in spite of, all to further prove her own might. But it's always possible she misjudges our own strength or provides us too strong a boon and ends up digging her own grave.
Hey Byf I highly suggest checking out a recent interview pcgamer had with a senior narrative designer at Bungie, where he makes it clear Unveiling is a "parable" & "religious text", he also highly suggested that the Gardener, the Winnower, & the Garden are metaphorical, & that the Witness wrote Unveiling by saying "whatever the Witness says, maybe don't trust It" (Plus given the cover of the book & how we obtain it, i think it's obvious the Witness had Its hands all over it, the narrator even says "I'll come over to hear your answer", then the Pyramids show up in Arrivals)
I looked for that interview and cannot find it, do you know the name of the title of the article? Or maybe a name? I have this theory that Destiny take several elements from the Bible, most of it has elements based on Gnosticism, but also a little bit from Theology.
@@Popexify Title of the article is "Bungie weighs in on the current argument raging through the Destiny 2 lore community: Has the Witness been retconned?"
I wouldn't call it arrogance or hubris. It's faith and devotion. Like you said, the Sword Logic is proven either way. In a very real way, she wins even if she dies, for her devotion was answered and her faith fulfilled.Granted its not victory, and its not her preference, but she's proven right. I don't agree with it or share such faith for it, but god damn if I can't respect someone willing to die for their principles, rather than mouthing off and avoiding anything inconvenient or uncomfortable about those principles or their implications.
The problem with that outcome is that i'm pretty sure she knows we will stop after her death, and, much like we did with her brother Oryx and the mantle of the taken king, we'll reject her mantle to further the sword logic. Which i believe is why she's trying to win us over while she shapens us for our inevitable battle. She's trying to ensure that, in the event of her loss, there's still something left to continue her legacy, a.k.a, the gaping wound in reality she was talking about. I think she's trying to write the sword logic into a rule of the universe, much like the laws of physics.
@@voltus20 I'm fairly sure the Sword Logic already is an inherent part of the universe, even in real life (survival of the fittest / entropy). But I do agree that this seems to be her backup plan; if she loses, she wants to be sure we keep fighting. Also see the last lore tab for this season, Xivu briefly describes in a rather technical manner how the sword logic is inherent to the universe and that not even the Witness can subvert it.
Is wicked implement another weapon of sorrow? My guess is yes as it seems to fit the checklist that the thorn, osteo, nechrocasm and ToM all seem to fit. 4 of these are direct links to hive gods. Thorn is the only outlier but it’s story in itself is amazing.
Nah, defeat still empowers her. The true slap on the face would be to find a way to siphon *all* her power until she's completely unable to fight anything or anyone, and then let her live in a world where her very existance goes against the sword logic.
Oryx said And my present which is a weapon,a weapon that takes whatever is available, a weapon bound to malice and they will mantle me. They will become me and I become them each of us defeating the other correcting the other. They were siblings alright 😊❤
This weapon looks suspiciously like Savathun's ship. And the line at 12:12 seems to back that up: > A REMNANT OF GRIEF INSCRIPTED BY MY SISTER'S NEEDLE UPON THIS TEMPLE.
Xivu is so blood for the blood god i love it. Ive been patiently waiting for Xivu Arath since forever and I am so pleased how she's shaping out. My sword-loving Titan cant wait to meet her blade. He will honored.
I counter your statement of "those who understand the hive". I would claim Xivu Arath is using the Guardian as a final test of the Sword Logic. If she cant best us at our strongest the it was the sword logic that was weak. Then she (and by extension The Hive) can be defeated without complaint.
The things I love about the wicked implement and Xivu Arath this season: >Xivu’s voice is absolutely awesome and terrifying; perfect for a god of war. >She views us as one of her “champions” and wants us to become stronger so that she as a worthy opponent when we eventually clash. >The lore on the wicked implement are some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.
If to the Hive love is war, does that mean this whole quest is Xivu...flirting with us? We're not some upstart that needs snuffed out like with Oryx or a pawn that is now safe to remove from the board(Savathun). She treats us as a rival, something worthy of a war god's respect and attention.
We have waged war for our survival, and we've survived. While we may desecrate the sword logic, we have proven our right to exist through it. We have fought wars in all its forms. Hot and cold, open and shadow, direct and proxy. And we have won every time. To underestimate us is to court death.
Is it possible that the pyramid structure is titan's pyramid ship, it could have been sunk while titan was gone and perhaps know we know it belongs to xivu arath.
Kinda cool to see the parallels between would-be Disciples courting us for different reasons. We drew Calus's gaze due to our tenacity and gave us gifts to entrance us to his purpose, effectively to use us for his own gains. Xivu does the same, respecting our brutality instead. All towards her own purpose. It is neat, and we all know what befell Calus
Byf: The shards of the Broken Blade are less blades and more keys Caboose: Or maybe it's a key all the time and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death
So Xivu is getting stronger the more we kill. Good to know that Xivu will give us a fight. Our battle will be legendary n lore will be written on it. With all this power boost she is getting from us she better not be a disappointment 😤
It would be cool if Xivu didn’t want to kill us, but actively supported us against the witness and other enemies in the future. Much like Xol, she could aid and point us at her enemies while reaping all the benefits.
@@MstrJediKyle It's important to recognize that The Witness has the same influence over the hive as a hive god. I'm fairly certain that the majority are aligned with the witness.
Yeah, saw a redit post that suggested that Xivu is in love with us; this quest just adds to that theory since she gives us a powerful tool and keeps going on about us and our tribute to her...
I saw this idea on the comment of another video, and I want to expand upon it here: Xivu should be a raid boss, but her raid should simply be an arena. The Raid should be in a temple dedicated to us, with statues of all the enemies we have defeated, and in that sacred ground Xivu will challenge the Guardians to a battle. No puzzles, no long walks, no nothing. The simplest of raids, a 1-boss arena, the Guardians against Xivu. That would be a perfect representation of her Logic: A raid, reduced to its most simple form, where we do the most simple of battles, a 1v1 :P
@@TheRealPentigan We never complain when the Hive throws wave after wave of minions, it's time we have the numerical advantage xD Also, I don't think she would complain. The harder the challenge, the better in her logic if she succeeds :P
You could compensate the simplicity of the raid by giving her an absolute crapton of different attacks, abilities and mechanics. Make it both the simplest and the hardest raid at the same time. We're fighting War itself, after all.
I’m still convinced that the statue is the actual embodiment of darkness. Like the devil and how it’s depicted as a woman in many religious interpretations. The fact that it has a literal veil over it too is just way too coincidental. Have a feeling we’ll eventually meet it in final shape.
You'd think the goddess of war would give us something with a little more... "Umph" than a scout rifle. Surely, I would have guessed something like a rocket, grenade Launcher, or hell, even an LMG.
I’m dying to know now. Is wicked implement a weapon of sorrow? Judging off of the ornament being a guardian weapon and the fact that it’s now a hive one seems pretty on the dot. It also grows more powerful from fighting and killing. Anyone else agree?
It’s strange how little of the Witness’s named followers actually use Stasis. The only one so far is Eramis, but hopefully Xivu Arath will follow through with this quest and use it as well. Apart from them, the only ones to have known Stasis are the Brays and probably the Awoken. The Disciples of the Witness that appear in-game all use attacks that are elements of the Light. Nezarec obviously uses Void, but the luster attacks used by Rhulk and Calus are coded in-game as Solar (one can observe this by getting killed by a luster attack and looking at the top-right corner of the screen). It makes me wonder if the Witness never gave the power of Stasis to its Disciples but kept it a secret instead, and why things were different for its Emissaries, Eramis and Xivu Arath. It could just be that Bungie is hesitant to put Stasis enemies in a raid environment, especially one that has a countdown wipe mechanic. But still I think it would make the encounter feel more like a battle of Light vs Dark instead of a battle where the Dark uses the Light against us.
@@tromar5758currently the scorn are controlled by the witness. The fanatic has left the picture almost entirely now unfortunately, hopefully Bungie does something with poor old fikrul
@@tromar5758 true, the Scorn and the Taken are the other factions that use Stasis aside from the House of Salvation, but this is because they’re under Xivu Arath’s control now, including the House Salvation Fallen who either became Wrathborn or Scorn themselves. The Witness oversees all of them.
I love that one chapter in the book of sorrow that goes Oh, love me, mister! Oh, mister! Can you make me believe this is not a dream? Hey, mister! Come on, mister! Is it sad that my heart's beating frantically? Just my feelings alone make me lose my breath Then you give me that look, and I'm over the edge You and I, my, we play quite a dangerous game Love is war! Love is war! Love is war!
I know this is off topic. But I have a crazy theory. What if there will be two separate Vanguards? One that focus on the Light (Zavala, Ikora, and a new Hunter Vanguard). One that focus on the Darkness. Exo Stranger/Elsie Bray will be the Hunter Vanguard of the Darkness. Osiris the Warlock Vanguard of the Darkness. I’m thinking a Titan will teach or help us learn the third Darkness subclass. Thus, making this theory plausible.
I still truly believe bungie shape their lore around byf's speculations and breakdowns of how he interprets the lore. People things byf has a deep understanding of the lore that bungie crafted. I think it's the complete opposite. Byf is correct about everything because bungie crafts the lore around his analysis.
Imo, I feel that the Blade is in those places for the same reason the Reliquaries of Nezarec were around everywhere. The Fallen. I know that the Fallen aren't in the Throne World, but we dont know if a crew somehow got in and stole the pieces and they got lost around.
Kind of cool to think that shes an enemy with a strength so vastly stronger than our own that shes more or less training us so she can face a challenge
Hum... Well, we stopped the hive from resurrecting Oryx on titan, but Taken King is a title, not a specific and constant individual. What if Savathun (assuming this one is true in the game of true and false) didn't mean Oryx when saying "the Taken King will rise again"? judging by how Xivu raged at the fact that we didn't take the title for ourselves back on saturn, maybe she will become the new taken king by the time of Final Shape or beyond. Or even us judging by how she plays the blade logic during this quest. Idk. Just shower thoughts.
I think the reason for the blades being where they are has to do with those places being fonts of large scale conflict in system. How you interpret that is up to you but Nessus was where calus waged his war to regain his throne (for want of a better description) from. The EDZ has… well a long long history of conflict be that more ancient in the form of the great world wars that most likely spread blood and violence across the region, or our own conflict during the red war and beyond. Just my theory
Idk why but this lore sounds like it’s all late to the older lore like some of us would assumed that Xivu was already doing this using us as a source of power
My theory behind the origin of the "pyramid structure" located deep below Titan is that there was once a pyramid ship that arrived along with Season of the Arrivals. When you load up salvage on the rig, you can no longer see the pyramid that was there during Season of the Arrivals. Where did this pyramid ship go? Possibly it sunk into Titan? Maybe the Wicked Implement quest takes place inside that same pyramid ship from Season of the Arrivals. Thoughts on this theory?
You know, props for Oryx for not beating around the bush like his sisters. Man came into Sol and nuke Mara Sov and told the guardians to square up
We did murder his son, so it's kind of reasonable that he came in and wanted to square up with us
I always love it when the heroes and villains are both trying their absolute hardest to win, but I gotta say it is mad interesting seeing us taking this fight seriously and Xivu just having a good time
@@DarkDisc1 sword logic, there is no murder only survival of the fittest . he squared up and he went triangle and we rectangled him
I like to imagine that Xivû went around like an easter bunny and dropped off the broken blade pieces while giggling
This is such a cute image for such a brutal and twisted character. I utterly adore it.
@@Unsaeligsomeone needs to animate this make her tip toe as she does it.
@@jag9872we don't even know what she looks like
@@shaylazaman1882I think we got one long shot image that one time, idk for sure tho but I think we have an idea of what she looks like
@shaylazaman1882 we did actually in a Witch queen Cutscene I believe
Important to note that the three broken blades represent each of the Hive Gods. The first we collected from the Throne World was Strife (Xivu), Nessus gave us Ambition (Oryx), and EDZ gave us Cunning (Savathûn).
"Victory is not in the unmaking of an enemy, but in the re-making of an enemy into your blade.
-9th Understanding, 7th Revision of Sorrow
So I will make Xivu my waifu
Xivu gonna turn us into a gun?!?!
Funny how close that is to "destroy your enemy by making him your friend". Sort of...
I love the detail that the Vanguard lost us for a moment and panicked because we vanished off the radars.
I love it especially too when they made it for each character, like from Saint to drifter
Which at this point you'd think they'd be used to. We go off script so often it surprises me they even still make plans for us that isn't just "Point at problem, cross fingers"
Literally the titan submarine.
On one hand, Xivu Arath is the embodiment of War and has lead countless crusades across the Universe.
On the other, big lady who likes punching things as much as I do who also gives me guns has me feeling things.
The Witness is truly a fearsome villain.
I mean, in the ghost of the deep, Xivu explicitly said, "To win a war, you needn't raise a hand. Just let the ignorant fight in your name unknowingly, " (might be paraphrased a bit), which I like to think implies the events of Witch Queen and us. She basically knew we'd follow after and kill Savathun, so essentially, she's been using us to unknowingly fight in her name for a good bit.
So then by resurrecting Savathun potentially next season, does that mean we’re going against her original plan? Or did she also account for that?
@@DaReaIJesusthe Witness already knows about our plan to resurrect Savathûn, and has mentioned it to Xivu Arath already. She knows.
@@DaReaIJesus Xivu, I think, were she not in any way bound to the Witness, is still a God of War. She gains power just by there being an outrageously large conflict even without picking a side. In Season of the Seraph she pulled, by the analysis, a rather good Xanatos Gambit. If we used the Warmind's Array, we would cause enough fundamental destruction of our enemies that she would be able to bring forth her waiting armies. If we destroy the Array, the Pyramid Fleet has a much easier invasion. And that's with her picking a side.
She still gains power just by sitting down and watching and poking at either side as she desires to stir the pot to greater chaos.
Well said, and also Nezarec implies that as well, that our actions have caused suffering therefore we feed his purpose as well, with Xivu Arath makes more sense since we are soldiers in the middle of a war, we feed her worm with each confrontation.
@@Gaid152 I think there's a bit more to it than just picking a side and waiting things out.
I'm guessing that in order to draw strength from conflict, she needs some kind of catalyst or anchor within proximity of where she intends conflict to be. Something that we're unaware of right now for narrative's sake.
That ability just seems far too OP without some conditions, otherwise she'd have lead the hive, not Oryx.
If to the Hive love is war and war is love, that can only mean this entire season has just been Xivu Arath aggressively flirting with us and I will accept no other interpretation.
So much innuendo in her dialougue
And during the freeing of Asha from her ritual she seemed to be enjoying it a lot.
She's just Tsundere af
I mean, wouldn't it have been the other way around? To her, a being that sees war and death as an expression of love, our continuous genocide of her people, and specifically, her forces might seem like aggressive flirting. Like that hive knight who murdered a thousand (?) thralls to propose to a witch.
She's all indifferent towards us until our kill count started rising. Now she has the hots for us.
@@Hasediel sounds like whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a relationship with the hive God of War
@@epicwisp7450 You son of a bitch, I'm in
My friend keeps insisting that it's like a long drawn porno to her 😂
I mean if the trap is giving us a free gun then the trap can’t be that bad.
“Free” is a strong word, that quest is a grind
Sorta like a white van offering free candy. Sure, you got some candy, but now you're locked in someone's basement.
@@riskrunner4532 does the basement got wifi
@@riskrunner4532Joke’s on them. I still got my candy!
@@mauricegreen5321 eh probably not but it's got nice rusty chains.
Byf I just wanna say, you and myelin and evaze truly add so much context and understand to this game for many people. Bungie owes you guys big time for enhancing their story so well. Thanks for all you do
I agree for Byf and Myelin. Not to exclude Evaze, but I just wish his vids weren't 90% clickbait theory. If he could reel in the clickbait, he'd be a lot more enjoyable.
Evaze is more conspiracy theorist at this point. When he was still Evade, his content was much better. After he changed his name, he rebranded himself into the nonsense of now
@twiz66 I wholeheartedly agree. Before he rebranded and still called himself Evade, he did actual lore videos. Now alot of his videos are conspiracy theory and pure speculation to get people's hopes up
that's a little harsh on evaze. I like hearing people's theories as long as they're presented as such, even if they turn out to be wrong sometimes a theory is more interesting than canon
@midgetspinner5354 Nothing I said was harsh in the slightest. Evaze built his larger following on being a LORE page with MINIMAL speculative videos as EVADE. After he rebranded to Evaze, he has promoted more SPECULATIVE and Conspiracy Theorist related content. The reason he rebranded away from lore videos because he felt that Byf and Myelin had pretty much solidified their pages as lore pages. Whereas he feel a need to do something different. The unfortunate thing is with his more speculative driven videos, his new following are usually massively confused about the lore, because most people still reference him as a lore page. Alot of Evaze's content comes from leaks. I know that because I like to look up leaks for the hell of it, while also still keeping up with ACTUAL lore.
I gotta say, this was a really fun mission. It brought me back to the days of the Whisper and Zero Hour missions. And the lore bits you find in the boss room are the cherry on top of this secret mission.
I hope she’s a raid boss and her encounter is like Nezarec because a gladitorial arena would be awesome
We should 1000% fight her in the black terrace.
The way it's described, the zone would probably look like a huge battlefield, riddled with billions of weapons from those who battled against her and lost.
Imagine if she made it so that we could only do dps damage with just swords, that’d be nuts
I honestly hope and pray her final words are "Thank you.'" Because even though we beat her, she got the fight of her life and we just proved her right. She won't be angry at her defeat. She'll be happy
She won't be if we let her know that, much like with the mantle of the taken king, we won't continue her legacy and will instead stop warring wars, completely defying the sword logic and denying the final shape.
Yeah. She was more angry the throne was rejected rather than the fact we killed her brother.
This reads like a “Your not worth my time, yet, one day you will be, I want our fight to break reality.”
This mission was fun, reminds me of the Whisper mission.
Also, shout out to my LFG team. We managed to kill him with only primaries on our third DPS phase, and we clutched hard because we finished with only 1 second.
the best way to get out of a trap is to intentionally spring it, on your own terms.
that way you you know how to get out, or turn it upon the one who set it.
Xivu failed the first lesson of destiny school: Never give a Guardian Loot.
Saint hugs Xivu with no ulterior motive:
Xivu: just actually dies
There's so much I'm excited about for this build up to go head to head with Xivu. It's always interesting when the villain wants to have the hero at their strongest when they face off. The Hive have always been my favorite faction of enemies, from their design to their beliefs. The Hive pantheon has been more or less the most constant threat. Most of the major story beats stem from them. Crota, Oryx, Savathun, and now Xivu Arath; our story and theirs are intertwined. Our ultimate destiny is now linked to Xivu's.
Well it makes sense. The witness basically buffed the hive like crazy
It will kinda be amazing that if we do manage to defeat Xivu Arath... learning our mistake of not taking the mantle of the Taken King in the King's Fall raid, we take the mantle of the God of War and use it to defend humanity to once again show the folly of the sword logic.
Become Ares on Mars
It would be poetic if our final fight against Xivu is in Mars. The planet named after the God of War, that once housed humanity's very own God of War, Rasputin, who acomplished the same objective we would by defeating Xivu, ending war.
I’m just hoping Kratos shows up
I think there's a good chance that the Pyramid architecture on Titan is fairly recent since there is also a Tormentor down there, which we know was only created after Calus joined the Witness
It's worth noting that Xivu's position as "WAR" is not infallible. The lore entry from The Manticore exotic where Mara and Xivu do psychic battle with truths proves this.
Mara dismantles her claim to be a god of war and her point doesn't falter, it even forces Xivu to switch topic. This must mean there is truth here. Xivu might draw great strength from war, but she always does so running the risk that she might be overrun by the very wars she starts.
Activating the warsats, pitting us against her champions, providing us powerful weapons. All these acts are gambles she plans on defeating us in spite of, all to further prove her own might. But it's always possible she misjudges our own strength or provides us too strong a boon and ends up digging her own grave.
Xinû: Finally! A worthy opponent! This battle will be legendary!
Hey Byf I highly suggest checking out a recent interview pcgamer had with a senior narrative designer at Bungie, where he makes it clear Unveiling is a "parable" & "religious text", he also highly suggested that the Gardener, the Winnower, & the Garden are metaphorical, & that the Witness wrote Unveiling by saying "whatever the Witness says, maybe don't trust It"
(Plus given the cover of the book & how we obtain it, i think it's obvious the Witness had Its hands all over it, the narrator even says "I'll come over to hear your answer", then the Pyramids show up in Arrivals)
I looked for that interview and cannot find it, do you know the name of the title of the article? Or maybe a name?
I have this theory that Destiny take several elements from the Bible, most of it has elements based on Gnosticism, but also a little bit from Theology.
@@Popexify Title of the article is "Bungie weighs in on the current argument raging through the Destiny 2 lore community: Has the Witness been retconned?"
Xivu: you're walking right into my trap
The Guardian: I'm not the one with a plate mechanic
Xivü is like a boxing coach preparing us for the finale fight against the witness
😅 I legit had a spot on my glasses and inutially misread the title as 'Xur's Wicked Plan...' and gave an audible and genuine 'Nani?!'
This made me go back and reread Toland's message from Bad Juju. Soft whetstones make for dull blades.
Love that the soundtrack that plays during this encounter is "The Deserving" from Witch Queen
"Finally, a worthy opponent! Our battle will be LEGENDARY!" - Xivu Arath
I wouldn't call it arrogance or hubris. It's faith and devotion. Like you said, the Sword Logic is proven either way. In a very real way, she wins even if she dies, for her devotion was answered and her faith fulfilled.Granted its not victory, and its not her preference, but she's proven right. I don't agree with it or share such faith for it, but god damn if I can't respect someone willing to die for their principles, rather than mouthing off and avoiding anything inconvenient or uncomfortable about those principles or their implications.
The problem with that outcome is that i'm pretty sure she knows we will stop after her death, and, much like we did with her brother Oryx and the mantle of the taken king, we'll reject her mantle to further the sword logic. Which i believe is why she's trying to win us over while she shapens us for our inevitable battle. She's trying to ensure that, in the event of her loss, there's still something left to continue her legacy, a.k.a, the gaping wound in reality she was talking about. I think she's trying to write the sword logic into a rule of the universe, much like the laws of physics.
@@voltus20 I'm fairly sure the Sword Logic already is an inherent part of the universe, even in real life (survival of the fittest / entropy). But I do agree that this seems to be her backup plan; if she loses, she wants to be sure we keep fighting.
Also see the last lore tab for this season, Xivu briefly describes in a rather technical manner how the sword logic is inherent to the universe and that not even the Witness can subvert it.
Is wicked implement another weapon of sorrow? My guess is yes as it seems to fit the checklist that the thorn, osteo, nechrocasm and ToM all seem to fit. 4 of these are direct links to hive gods. Thorn is the only outlier but it’s story in itself is amazing.
Gotta test with ToM
I don't know throw on the necromancer gloves from the warlock and find out lol
Fun fact: thorn is actually related to Xivu, as the whispers Yor hears coming from the weapon demanding that he continues the killings are hers.
Did somebody say… “Love Is War”… 🔥🔥🔥show
Can’t believe they made power creep canon
Read the Bad Juju lore tab. The pyramid goes ever higher.
Also note how in the lore tab for Wicked Implement, it states that conquest using it directly feeds tribute to Xivu Arath
So would the greatest insult/rejection of the sword logic be beating down xivu to near death and simply taking our loot and leaving
Dayum. What a blue ball moment.
Nah, defeat still empowers her. The true slap on the face would be to find a way to siphon *all* her power until she's completely unable to fight anything or anyone, and then let her live in a world where her very existance goes against the sword logic.
I bet some people in the d2 community who would like xivu to use them
Hello :)
I am one of those “people”
Thank you Byf and Evaze!
Oryx said
And my present which is a weapon,a weapon that takes whatever is available, a weapon bound to malice and they will mantle me.
They will become me and I become them each of us defeating the other correcting the other.
They were siblings alright 😊❤
I haven't played for months, but I haven't missed a single lore beat. Thanks Byf
I think Xivû would enjoy watching trials matches
This weapon looks suspiciously like Savathun's ship. And the line at 12:12 seems to back that up:
> A REMNANT OF GRIEF INSCRIPTED BY MY SISTER'S NEEDLE UPON THIS TEMPLE.
I walked by that door and thought, that’s a pyramid door but nothing is happening when approached. Glad it’s being brought up
Xivu is so blood for the blood god i love it. Ive been patiently waiting for Xivu Arath since forever and I am so pleased how she's shaping out. My sword-loving Titan cant wait to meet her blade. He will honored.
The script for this video is flawless and matches the weight of the missions…great job
I counter your statement of "those who understand the hive".
I would claim Xivu Arath is using the Guardian as a final test of the Sword Logic. If she cant best us at our strongest the it was the sword logic that was weak. Then she (and by extension The Hive) can be defeated without complaint.
The things I love about the wicked implement and Xivu Arath this season:
>Xivu’s voice is absolutely awesome and terrifying; perfect for a god of war.
>She views us as one of her “champions” and wants us to become stronger so that she as a worthy opponent when we eventually clash.
>The lore on the wicked implement are some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.
If to the Hive love is war, does that mean this whole quest is Xivu...flirting with us? We're not some upstart that needs snuffed out like with Oryx or a pawn that is now safe to remove from the board(Savathun). She treats us as a rival, something worthy of a war god's respect and attention.
When a million deaths is not enough for Rahool, we've been even with Xivu for a fair while now,
We have waged war for our survival, and we've survived. While we may desecrate the sword logic, we have proven our right to exist through it.
We have fought wars in all its forms. Hot and cold, open and shadow, direct and proxy. And we have won every time.
To underestimate us is to court death.
Destiny 2 Community Try Not to sexualize/romanticize Female Villains Challenge (impossible)
@@halberd-3291 I haven't seen anyone try and sexualise Sloane, maybe that's just me
@@O-bearer-mineeh I betting there are thirsty Sloane simps we just haven't met them yet...
Byf ain't amused by the fishing, and I respect that.
Sometimes “because video game” is really all I need
I think this is one of your best scripts of all time. Tremendous job. Thank you for your continued amazing work
Awww
Xivu loves us! ❤
Is it possible that the pyramid structure is titan's pyramid ship, it could have been sunk while titan was gone and perhaps know we know it belongs to xivu arath.
That actually makes a lot of sense
I really missed these kinds of videos. It felt like the old raid lore readings.
Kinda cool to see the parallels between would-be Disciples courting us for different reasons. We drew Calus's gaze due to our tenacity and gave us gifts to entrance us to his purpose, effectively to use us for his own gains. Xivu does the same, respecting our brutality instead. All towards her own purpose. It is neat, and we all know what befell Calus
Hive hubris most definitely.
Xivu must learn the most important of lessons. Those destined for great honor will cause a great downfall of evil.
Byf: The shards of the Broken Blade are less blades and more keys
Caboose: Or maybe it's a key all the time and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death
So Xivu is getting stronger the more we kill. Good to know that Xivu will give us a fight. Our battle will be legendary n lore will be written on it. With all this power boost she is getting from us she better not be a disappointment 😤
One of the best videos you've done to date Byff.
Effortless delivery my friend.
This is an absolutely foolproof plan that will not end with her getting turned into paste.
It would be cool if Xivu didn’t want to kill us, but actively supported us against the witness and other enemies in the future. Much like Xol, she could aid and point us at her enemies while reaping all the benefits.
After decades of war with the Hive, we become the tip of their spear?
That would be kind of cool.
@@MstrJediKyle I wouldn't really say this applies to Hive outside of Xivu's influence.
@@Halofan-ey3ul Xivu is the only Hive God left. It won't be long before she commands them entirely.
@@MstrJediKyle It's important to recognize that The Witness has the same influence over the hive as a hive god. I'm fairly certain that the majority are aligned with the witness.
Thanks for making the absolute best "watching while i eat dinner content"
She is so like Calus. Can't wait to meet her in the arena.
Xivu is a villain after my heart, a battle to scar existence eternally sounds amazing to me.
The broken blades are found in places of relative peace (fishing). Its a reminder that even in peace, War is not far off.
looks like "savathink" will end up saving us from ourselves!
Yeah, saw a redit post that suggested that Xivu is in love with us; this quest just adds to that theory since she gives us a powerful tool and keeps going on about us and our tribute to her...
I saw this idea on the comment of another video, and I want to expand upon it here: Xivu should be a raid boss, but her raid should simply be an arena. The Raid should be in a temple dedicated to us, with statues of all the enemies we have defeated, and in that sacred ground Xivu will challenge the Guardians to a battle. No puzzles, no long walks, no nothing. The simplest of raids, a 1-boss arena, the Guardians against Xivu.
That would be a perfect representation of her Logic: A raid, reduced to its most simple form, where we do the most simple of battles, a 1v1 :P
Is it still a 1v1 if you bring five allies along to the raid?
@@TheRealPentigan We never complain when the Hive throws wave after wave of minions, it's time we have the numerical advantage xD
Also, I don't think she would complain. The harder the challenge, the better in her logic if she succeeds :P
You could compensate the simplicity of the raid by giving her an absolute crapton of different attacks, abilities and mechanics.
Make it both the simplest and the hardest raid at the same time. We're fighting War itself, after all.
I’m still convinced that the statue is the actual embodiment of darkness. Like the devil and how it’s depicted as a woman in many religious interpretations. The fact that it has a literal veil over it too is just way too coincidental. Have a feeling we’ll eventually meet it in final shape.
Ok, so I started playing back in the end of season 14, and this so far has been my favorite exotic quest / mission so far
We’ve been adhering to the sword logic for years, of course we could become her champion.
You'd think the goddess of war would give us something with a little more... "Umph" than a scout rifle. Surely, I would have guessed something like a rocket, grenade Launcher, or hell, even an LMG.
I’m dying to know now. Is wicked implement a weapon of sorrow? Judging off of the ornament being a guardian weapon and the fact that it’s now a hive one seems pretty on the dot. It also grows more powerful from fighting and killing. Anyone else agree?
We can see if it's buffed by ToM's blight.
I'll test with grips.
@@elijahford3696did it work?
Gameplay-wise pretty sure no
Lore-wise no idea lol
@@IIzanagii Still trying to get it solo.
A crazy step to a climatic fight!!!
It's not a trap if you know it's a trap. Now it's a face off
It’s strange how little of the Witness’s named followers actually use Stasis. The only one so far is Eramis, but hopefully Xivu Arath will follow through with this quest and use it as well. Apart from them, the only ones to have known Stasis are the Brays and probably the Awoken. The Disciples of the Witness that appear in-game all use attacks that are elements of the Light. Nezarec obviously uses Void, but the luster attacks used by Rhulk and Calus are coded in-game as Solar (one can observe this by getting killed by a luster attack and looking at the top-right corner of the screen). It makes me wonder if the Witness never gave the power of Stasis to its Disciples but kept it a secret instead, and why things were different for its Emissaries, Eramis and Xivu Arath.
It could just be that Bungie is hesitant to put Stasis enemies in a raid environment, especially one that has a countdown wipe mechanic. But still I think it would make the encounter feel more like a battle of Light vs Dark instead of a battle where the Dark uses the Light against us.
The scorn have stasis as well
@@tromar5758currently the scorn are controlled by the witness. The fanatic has left the picture almost entirely now unfortunately, hopefully Bungie does something with poor old fikrul
Savathun was supposed to use strand not void in with queen so maybe
@@tromar5758 true, the Scorn and the Taken are the other factions that use Stasis aside from the House of Salvation, but this is because they’re under Xivu Arath’s control now, including the House Salvation Fallen who either became Wrathborn or Scorn themselves. The Witness oversees all of them.
First is Oryx the Taken King
Second is Savathün the Witch Queen
Thirdly is Xivu Arath the God of War
I love how xivu doesnt wanna kill us she just wants a worthy opponent so that when we eventually fight her directly she will face a challenge
This video is great, just the way you describe the mission with a lore focus makes it very enjoyable!
I love that one chapter in the book of sorrow that goes
Oh, love me, mister!
Oh, mister!
Can you make me believe this is not a dream?
Hey, mister!
Come on, mister!
Is it sad that my heart's beating frantically?
Just my feelings alone make me lose my breath
Then you give me that look, and I'm over the edge
You and I, my, we play quite a dangerous game
Love is war!
Love is war!
Love is war!
New chat up line just dropped: "Sharpen yourself upon mine implement"
I know this is off topic. But I have a crazy theory. What if there will be two separate Vanguards? One that focus on the Light (Zavala, Ikora, and a new Hunter Vanguard). One that focus on the Darkness. Exo Stranger/Elsie Bray will be the Hunter Vanguard of the Darkness. Osiris the Warlock Vanguard of the Darkness. I’m thinking a Titan will teach or help us learn the third Darkness subclass. Thus, making this theory plausible.
Great now I have to go fish more. Thanks Byf! Great video as always.
She's literally using thr Anime Training Arc trope on us because she wants a good fight, I love it
Xivu-Sama: Love is War
With how Xivu talks, anyone else feel like she's the chuuni sister of the three?
"PUSH FORTH UNTIL THE TRIDES SHALL RETREAT AT MY NAME!"
I still truly believe bungie shape their lore around byf's speculations and breakdowns of how he interprets the lore. People things byf has a deep understanding of the lore that bungie crafted. I think it's the complete opposite. Byf is correct about everything because bungie crafts the lore around his analysis.
Imo, I feel that the Blade is in those places for the same reason the Reliquaries of Nezarec were around everywhere. The Fallen. I know that the Fallen aren't in the Throne World, but we dont know if a crew somehow got in and stole the pieces and they got lost around.
Kind of cool to think that shes an enemy with a strength so vastly stronger than our own that shes more or less training us so she can face a challenge
Hum... Well, we stopped the hive from resurrecting Oryx on titan, but Taken King is a title, not a specific and constant individual. What if Savathun (assuming this one is true in the game of true and false) didn't mean Oryx when saying "the Taken King will rise again"? judging by how Xivu raged at the fact that we didn't take the title for ourselves back on saturn, maybe she will become the new taken king by the time of Final Shape or beyond. Or even us judging by how she plays the blade logic during this quest.
Idk. Just shower thoughts.
Xivu reminds me of Azmodan from D3 with a hint of Cho'gall from World Of Warcraft.
I think the reason for the blades being where they are has to do with those places being fonts of large scale conflict in system.
How you interpret that is up to you but Nessus was where calus waged his war to regain his throne (for want of a better description) from. The EDZ has… well a long long history of conflict be that more ancient in the form of the great world wars that most likely spread blood and violence across the region, or our own conflict during the red war and beyond.
Just my theory
I can't imagine the Witness will be pleased pleased with Xivu. It's seemed weary of us for the first time in its last conversation with her.
Idk why but this lore sounds like it’s all late to the older lore like some of us would assumed that Xivu was already doing this using us as a source of power
Only Hive God we need a scout rifle now is from Savathun now lol
I wonder why we get so many scouts from them 🤔
I fucking love Xivu. She’s the most badass villain yet.
I like that xivu is canonically just perpetually angry
Finally, a worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!
My theory behind the origin of the "pyramid structure" located deep below Titan is that there was once a pyramid ship that arrived along with Season of the Arrivals. When you load up salvage on the rig, you can no longer see the pyramid that was there during Season of the Arrivals. Where did this pyramid ship go? Possibly it sunk into Titan? Maybe the Wicked Implement quest takes place inside that same pyramid ship from Season of the Arrivals. Thoughts on this theory?
You know who else praises us even as we work to take her down?
Riven~
So now that we know it’s happening it’s not a trap JUST ANOTHER BATTLE WHERE GLORY LAYS FOR THE TAKING!!