Editing Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness

Rhulk was born to his father [[Rhelik]] and mother [[Vrhuna]] on the planet [[Lubrae]], a civilization that had been blessed by the [[The Traveler|Traveler]] but fell into a military dictatorship after it left. Rhulk lived with his clan of [[Wanderers]] in the [[Wildlands]] outside of the sole city on the planet, which was controlled by [[The Regime]]. The Wanderer clans were subject to frequent dangers, including monstrous wildlife that emerged under the [[Umbral Sun]] at night and the [[Stalkers]] sent by the Regime to hunt and kill the Wanderers who rejected the city's ways. When he was young, Rhulk witnessed his father kill Stalkers who threatened the clan with a brutality fueled by a bloodlust that Rhulk also felt. He confided in his father about their shared rage and was taught to hate the Regime by him, but when the rest of their clan began to shun Rhelik for his brutality he softened, much to Rhulk's disappointment.<ref name="Tainted">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Tainted|Tainted]]''</ref> His father attempted to teach him patience by making Rhulk watch as other Wanderers were killed by a hunting party of Stalkers and holding him back when Rhulk attempted to intervene. Rhulk was enraged and confused by his father's inaction and believed he was betraying his principles, and vowed to bring down the Regime.<ref name="Untamed">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Untamed|Untamed]]''</ref>

Although the clan sought only to help others in need of assistance and to care for the land, the Stalkers continued to pursue them. During one battle several members of the clan were killed, including [[Fhent]] and one of Rhulk's clan-uncles. Rhulk fought back against the Stalkers and killed several of them, claiming their supplies and equipment as his own, including a [[Glaive]] and [[Sapphiric Converter]]. However, Rhelik was captured during the raid by the Stalkers and the rest of the clan, including Rhulk's mother Vrhuna, looked upon him with only concern and fear due to his brutality during the fight. Frustrated by what he perceived as their weakness, that night as the clan danced and sang in tribute to their survival and in honor of the dead, Rhulk ripped apart a pet [[Yhadt]] that belonged to some of the clan's children. The clan was horrified, and though Rhulk felt powerful in that moment he feared that made him a monster.<ref name="Endangered">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Endangered|Endangered]]''</ref>

A year later, Rhulk was forced to live as an exile from his clan due to his bloodlust being viewed as a liability. While the clan had not been attacked again since that night, Rhulk stalked the area around the artificial [[Abyss]] which separated the Wildlands from the Regime's city. He hunted the Stalkers with his new weapon and tools seeking any sign of his father in the hopes of rescuing him and bringing him back alive to the clan. He named his glaive [[Lubrae's Ruin|Rheliksward]] in honor of his mission. Although he killed many Stalkers over that year, he found no sign of his father and felt lost without Rhelik's guidance. His search came to an end when he encountered Rhelik dressed in a Stalker's uniform and was captured by other Stalkers under his command. Infuriated at his father's defection to the Regime, Rhulk believed him to be a coward who sought only survival instead of sticking by his principles.<ref name="Nepotistic">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Nepotistic|Nepotistic]]''</ref>

Rhulk was put on trial in the city for his alleged crimes against the Regime but was spared when Rhelik testified on his behalf and requested that he instead be made to serve as one of the city's Stalkers. This only served to further infuriate Rhulk as he wondered if his father truly cared about their clan and family or if he was only an opportunist who would do or say anything he needed to survive. He swore to himself that he would ensure that Rhelik would die by his hand.<ref name="Nepotistic"/> However, despite his hatred for his father, Rhulk began to learn more about the city Lubreans and their philosophies. Although he found the government strict in its laws and with power concentrated in the hands of a few, the overcrowded city still had a higher standard of living and comfort than the Wanderers who faced terrible dangers aside from the Stalkers in the Wildlands. He found that the Regime was also honest in its intentions, unlike his father, and his bloodlust was encouraged amongst the Stalkers. They returned his glaive to Rhulk as well, which he renamed to Rheliksbane and took pleasure in how that unnerved his father.<ref name="Defiant">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Defiant|Defiant]]''</ref>

Rhulk found his former clan hiding near the Abyss, with Rhelik seemingly planning on smuggling the surviving Wanderers into the city through nearby tunnels. Emerging from the forest to confront them, Rhulk noticed that many familiar faces were no longer amongst the clan, although his father, mother Vrhuna, and clan-mother [[Kheesa]] remained alive. His father claimed that they had been expecting Rhulk to join them, and the Stalker was torn between killing them and helping them find a new home. Rhelik and Vrhuna both apologized for their wrongs against Rhulk and expressed their love for him. Vrhuna apologized for exiling him, while Rhelik expressed his regret for indoctrinating him into hating the Regime and claimed that all he wanted now was for their clan to live in peace and safety. Rhulk believed he could see the honesty in his eyes and thought that perhaps that was the path to follow, allowing his parents to embrace and comfort him. However, they took that opportunity to shove Rhulk backward into the Abyss. As he fell, Rhulk cursed his naiveté and looked at the faces of his clan, which no longer held regret but only relief at Rhulk's presumed end.<ref name="Assaulted">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Assaulted|Assaulted]]''</ref>

Rhulk survived his fall into the depths of the Abyss, although he was badly wounded by the drop. Surprised by his own survival and by the fact the supposedly endless Abyss had a bottom, Rhulk took in his surroundings and found himself in a swampy ruin filled with darkness. He heard creatures approaching, but as they closed in on him Rhulk heard a voice declaring him unbroken. His wounds healed and he watched a [[The Witness|being filled with dark luster]] approach, melting the encroaching beasts away with its very presence. The being declared that it saw Rhulk's own dark luster and the Lubraean questioned what the being was and how it granted him life. The being declared itself an opportunity and told Rhulk that he was to be and cause ruin. As the voice faded Rhulk saw its dark luster remain behind and noted how similar it was to that of the Umbral Sun. Rheliksbane, which had been sundered in his fall, was repaired as well by the being and enhanced with its energy. Glancing upward, Rhulk saw the Abyssal Bridge that connected the city to the Wildlands and knew his clan had likely made its way into the city by then. Taking with him the dark luster that remained, Rhulk used his glaive to begin climbing the walls of the Abyss back to the surface, determined that this time he would not show weakness and waver from his desires.<ref name="Lamented">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Lamented|Lamented]]''</ref>

Upon reaching the city, Rhulk hunted down his clan and slaughtered them all, including his mother and father, whom he decapitated. He spared not even the children as the citizens of the city watched in horror of his butchery. The forces of the Regime were horrified by the slaughter in the streets of the city and imprisoned Rhulk, stripping him of his glaive and calling for his execution. However, the dark being assisted Rhulk once more in being freed of his chains and he recovered his glaive, now calling it Lubrae's Ruin, and set out to end his people entirely for their abandonment of him. To do so, he utilized the gifts of the Traveler against his people by harnessing the dark luster to reverse the mechanisms of a machine that drew energy from the Sapphiric Sun to power the city. Doing so destroyed the star and began cracking Lubrae apart. Rhulk was the last one alive, and as he stared into the Abyss he reflected in horror upon what he had done. Dropping the glaive and dark luster he had harnessed, Rhulk dropped himself into the now truly endless Abyss to finish the extinction of his species.<ref name="Liberated">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Liberated|Liberated]]''</ref>

However, Rhulk once again did not perish by his fall into the Abyss. Instead, he awoke in a state of confusion as the dark being from before spoke to him. Rhulk despaired in his actions and lamented the destruction of Lubrae, torn between blaming himself and the dark being for driving him to his actions. He declared he had been loved and cared for, but the voice questioned who cared for him now. Rhulk answered that there were none left to do so. The voice asked if he still desired to be cared for, but Rhulk could only say he once did. Then the being questioned if he had returned that care, which Rhulk had no answer to. The being then began showing him visions from his past, including when he had first felt disappointment in his father for not fighting the Stalkers and claimed that he had never been able to return them. Rhulk told the being it had its answer then, but it told him that the answer was not for it, but for Rhulk to embrace.<ref name="Untamed"/>

The being continued to question Rhulk about his past, and Rhulk told it of his parents and clan, whom he dismissed as traitors whom he should have known would betray him as well. As more scenes from his past played out before him, the being claimed it saw a child seeking validation while suffering great loss. It then asked about the shimmering orb that had visited his people, but Rhulk told it that had been long before his time and had left the Lubrae with a divided society in its wake. The being showed him an image of the Traveler, which Rhulk recognized as the shimmering orb from the stories, and he blamed it for providing hope but leaving behind power in the hands of those who desired it but lacked an understanding of what to do with the gifts given. The being forced Rhulk to see once more what he had done to those with that power, and he again lamented his destruction of Lubrae, but the being reassured him he had only done what was needed.<ref name="Provoked">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Provoked|Provoked]]''</ref>

Rhulk was next shown when his clan became fearful of his brutality. The being accused his clan of being disrespectful of his power, while Rhulk thought them weak, although the being noted that he had protected them anyway. As they viewed the rituals around surviving attacks and remembering the dead, Rhulk claimed that loss meant little to the Wanderers due to how often clan members died. The being questioned if he was sure it was not just him who did not feel loss, causing Rhulk to lash out and claim the being did not know what it was talking about. As he watched his younger self rip apart the Yhadt, Rhulk wondered why the being was showing him all this. It claimed that having already experienced it he should have no issue seeing it once more before claiming that Rhulk had always known what he was. Rhulk declared he had known he was a monster than just as he knew it now, however, the being corrected him and claimed he was not a monster but a savior.<ref name="Endangered"/>

After viewing Rhulk being captured by the Regime and his father's betrayal, he was questioned by the being about why he blamed his father instead of the Regime. Rhulk explained that he thought the Regime brutal but honest in its goals in comparison is his lying and cowardly father. The being was fascinated by his answer and how honesty meant everything to Rhulk. It questioned why even then he would still follow the Regime that had killed so many Wanderers and enslaved him, but Rhulk corrected the entity and claimed that the Regime had freed him to be who he always wanted to be.<ref name="Defiant"/> As they grew closer to his family betraying him, Rhulk asked the entity to stop making him relive his past. The entity asked why he would not want to relive his greatest moments. Rhulk protested that great moments usually ended in triumph and not genocide before noting none of this mattered in the end. The being told him this was not the end and that Rhulk was undergoing a metamorphosis that required him to understand and cut away all the things that made him weak and leave behind only what was strong. It explained that it had recreated his world around them to see those weaknesses, like love and regret, and to understand that Rhulk needed now to look back with pride on what he had done as it had led him to them. Rhulk questioned at last what the entity was, and it answered that it was his salvation, his judgment, and soon his Witness.<ref name="Isolated">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered_Suns#Isolated|Isolated]]''</ref>

Reborn as the First Disciple, Rhulk became the Witness' chosen enforcer and executioner, bringing destruction through fire and [[glaive]] and leading the [[Pyramids]] of the [[Black Fleet]] to wipe out the civilizations uplifted by the [[Traveler]]. He would also utilize the [[Upended]] to burn all traces of their passing, much as he did with his home Lubrae. He would also overseer the induction of new Disciples, such as [[Nezarec]], whom he gifted with a [[Nezarec's Whisper|Glaive]].<ref name="Nezarec's Whisper">'''Bungie (2022/5/24)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Haunted]] - Item Description: [[Nezarec's Whisper#Lore|Nezarec's Whisper]]''</ref> After eons of supplication, however, Rhulk would find himself bereft of purpose and fulfillment in his duty, and would unrelentingly challenge the Witness to be recognized as an equal. He would constantly debate with his god about his repeated attempts to rise above his station, much to his own sense of self-loathing and inadequacy.

At one point, the Witness endowed him with the task of subjugating the insectoid race known as the [[Ahslid]]. The Witness stated to Rhulk that this opportunity would test his worth, and tasked him with enlightening the Ahslid with the same lessons Rhulk had learned from his master. As a condition, however, Rhulk was requested to do so without revealing his presence to the Ahslid. Rhulk thus changed his warmongering approach to one of unseen guidance and subterfuge.<ref name="Resonant Fury Mask">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Hunter)#Resonant Fury Mask|Resonant Fury Mask]]''</ref>  

At first, Rhulk stalked the race of Ahslid for fourteen local years and offered every warrior he met the opportunity to prove their worth, only for them to cower in fear and die by his glaive. The Disciple would eventually comprehend his master's commandment, and began to cull key members of the race in secrecy and spread fear and paranoia amongst the Ahslid, creating a generation that would follow Rhulk's philosophies.<ref name="Resonant Fury Grips">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Hunter)#Resonant Fury Grips|Resonant Fury Grips]]''</ref>  

In the span of years, the Lubrean fostered this new generation by acting as their unseen guide, presenting opportunities to families lacking it and inducing suffering to those unsullied of it. Amongst the new brood was a foundling Rhulk named [[Uun]], whom the Disciple took a particular interest in after his first kill. The Subjugator, seeing himself in the young Ahslid, would uncharacteristically spare him from being ostracized from his peers and leave him to grow as a warrior. This experience would cause Rhulk to question the Witness' hand in shaping his own destiny.<ref name="Resonant Fury Vest">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Hunter)#Resonant Fury Vest|Resonant Fury Vest]]''</ref>

Over time, the Ahslid became a race divided amongst themselves and gripped by paranoia thanks to the Disciple's machinations. Influenced by Rhulk's guidance and teachings, they built weapons of mass destruction that could destroy their world. Only Uun, now doubting himself, remained a disappointment to Rhulk, who cast him from his graces into obscurity. At the same time, Rhulk had withheld teaching the insectoid race of irrelevance: the same lesson he himself learned from Lubrae's destruction. Rhulk is left to brood over his inability to teach the Ahslid the most challenging lesson he knew, and thus finds himself unworthy of emulating his idol.<ref name="Resonant Fury Strides">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Hunter)#Resonant Fury Strides|Resonant Fury Strides]]''</ref>

Rhulk ultimately failed in his task, underestimating the Ahslid's capability for destruction, which led them to wipe out all life on their world in atomic fire. Only Uun, whom he once shunned for his weakness, would be left alive to face the Disciple. The Ahslid's attempt to challenge Rhulk was ultimately futile, leaving Uun prostrate on the floor near death and begging simply to know Rhulk's name. In a moment of weakness, Rhulk whispered his name to the dying Uun moments before his passing. Despite having failed his task of uplifting the Ahslid, Rhulk would only further appreciate his master's lessons.<ref name="Resonant Fury Cloak">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Hunter)#Resonant Fury Cloak|Resonant Fury Cloak]]''</ref>

After his previous failure with the Ahslid, Rhulk instead sought the [[Worm]]s of [[Fundament]]; its progenitors had been previously uplifted by the Witness with the [[Sword Logic]] eons ago and the surviving Worm Gods now lived imprisoned far beneath the seas of the gas giant. Serving as its herald, Rhulk swam deep into the depths of the planet's ocean, where he was met with the [[Leviathan (creature)|Leviathan]] acting as the warden of their prison. Despite its repeated warnings to the disciple to turn from Darkness, Rhulk defiantly rebuked the massive creature before proclaiming that he would "''rise''" instead of "drown" with the Deep. Rhulk then grievously injured it in an instant as he held the Leviathan's rib in one hand and pushed aside its maimed body with the other. <ref name="Leviathan">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Rhulk]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uy37eDdZdI "I do not drown," I spoke with a defiant tongue. "In a mere infinitesimal measure of time, I held a rib of this beast in one hand and pushed aside its maimed vessel with the other. "I rise."]''</ref> The wounded Leviathan could not meet Rhulk's gaze as the disciple placed the rib beneath the beast's skull and raised its head to meet his eyes, proclaiming that the Worms it imprisoned in the depths belonged to neither it nor the Traveler, but to the Witness only. He dropped the discarded rib into the Worm Gods' dwelling before announcing his presence, uplifting the sediment of the seabed into a dense cloud from which he emerged before his captive audience.<ref name="Resonant Fury Gauntlets">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Gauntlets|Resonant Fury Gauntlets]]''</ref>

Upon finding the Worm Gods at the deepest trenches of the planet, [[Xita, the Nurturing Worm]] greeted the Lubrean disciple only for him to callously scold her for attempting to manipulate him. As he fully knew of the Worms' plight and hunger from eons of their imprisonment, Rhulk offered the Worm mother a trade: the survival of her children in exchange for their eternal servitude to the Witness. He also promised sustenance for them in the form of the primitive ancestors of the [[Hive|Krill]] on Fundament's surface, to be given new purpose as fodder for her spawn to feed upon. Holding the rib out for her to grasp with her jaws, they both swam upward from their underwater prison, Rhulk dragging Xita in tow towards the surface and into her new prison aboard his [[The Sunken Pyramid|Pyramid]]. Rhulk would therefore become respectfully known as the Subjugator to the Worms for his indomitable might and strength.<ref name="Resonant Fury Helm">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Helm|Resonant Fury Helm]]''</ref>     

Despite Rhulk's prior claim of the Worms' power for the Witness' behalf, Xita knew well enough that Rhulk sought the Sword Logic out of his own personal desire for domination as they offered to elevate himself as his master's equal despite its earlier objections. From her body, Rhulk created a parasitic strain of miniature Worms made of the Worm mother's living segments, small enough to be implanted into a host. He would set these so-called "larvae" adrift on Fundament's ocean, knowing full well they would reach the shores of the [[Osmium Court]] to find their respective sustenance.<ref name="Resonant Fury Greaves">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Greaves|Resonant Fury Greaves]]''</ref> Soon as the Witness and Rhulk predicted, one of these larvae reached its intended target: the [[Osmium King|King]] of the Osmium Court. The dead white larvae spoke to the king of a cataclysm that would result from a Syzygy of Fundament's fifty-two moons (though no such danger actually existed). However, the King's mind would prove to be too feeble for the Witness' whispers, which drove him to insanity.<ref name="Syzygy">'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]] - [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow|Books of Sorrow]]: [[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#IV: Syzygy|IV: Syzygy]]''</ref>

From above, Rhulk and the Witness both gazed upon the Osmium Kingdom's fall to the [[Helium Drinkers]] as they observed the escape of the king's surviving heirs: [[Oryx, the Taken King|Aurash]], [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|Sathona]], and [[Xivu Arath, God of War|Xi Ro]]. Knowing that the Traveler hidden amongst Fundament's numerous moons was ready to claim the trio for the [[Light]], the Witness chose to claim them first, identifying Sathona as the most promising of the three. Feeding into her fear and pride, the Witness manipulated her desperation into seeking out the remaining Worm Gods in the depths of Fundament, setting the events which led to the creation of the Hive and the rise of Savathûn and her Hive siblings into apotheosis. Rhulk could only wince in envy at his master's suggestion that the future Witch Queen could one day stand alongside him as a fellow disciple.<ref name="Resonant Fury Plate">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Plate|Resonant Fury Plate]]''</ref>

Having majorly influenced the creation of the Hive species and the Hive Gods themselves, Rhulk was ordered by the Witness to oversee the production of Worm larvae for the rest of the Hive in Savathûn's newly constructed [[Savathûn's Throne World|Throne World]]. At first, Rhulk was displeased with this assignment, taking an immediate dislike to Savathûn and wondered whether he was being punished for his prior failure with the Ahslid. The first time Rhulk stepped foot into her realm, the Witch Queen kept her face twisted to betray restrained delight at the Lubrean's arrival. In his messages to the Witness, Rhulk would only scoff at her willfulness to turn a blind eye from the precarity of her current situation: being that she was now living within a prison formed from her own ego and the First Disciple was to be her jailer.<ref name="Resonant Fury Cowl">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Warlock)#Resonant Fury Cowl|Resonant Fury Cowl]]''</ref>  

Over time, Rhulk and Savathûn would form an impertinent rivalry in the eons they spend in each other's company; the latter always deriding Rhulk's simplicity as a tactician and his brute force approach to every engagement.<ref name="TWID"/> Rhulk would occasionally relay reports to his master voicing his concerns with Savathûn, one of which being that of her peeved reaction to his continued presence in her throne world. The disciple, who was initially elated much to the delight of her indignation, had his suspicions of any ulterior motives that she possessed given her conniving and opportunistic nature but remained hopeful nonetheless of her growing conviction to their cause. Regardless of her unwilling cooperation, construction of the larvae breeding chambers had commenced with the armies of Oryx, the Taken King and Xivu Arath, God of War expected to grow exponentially in short order. Should Savathûn do anything to cross their interests, however, Rhulk would not hesitate to threaten the destruction of her throne world with the Upended.<ref name="Resonant Fury Gloves">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Warlock)#Resonant Fury Gloves|Resonant Fury Gloves]]''</ref> To that end, the Subjugator had the imprisoned Worm mother Xita as a battery to power the Upended with paracausal Sword Logic.<ref name="Resonant Fury Mark">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Mark|Resonant Fury Mark]]''</ref>   

In a rare moment of reprieve from his duty overseeing the Witch Queen, Rhulk had stepped out of the throne world for the first time in an unknown while. Ever driven to conquer an empire once more, Rhulk chose the ringed world of [[Kalarahnda]], with its yellow haze streaking ruby clouds, as his intended target. The vaulted ring surrounding Kalarahnda was immediately shattered at the Lubrean's hands into a shimmer-like, windblown sand much to his exhilarating glory. His destructive revelry would only be short-lived, however, as an apocalyptic cult called the [[Polyps of the Longshadow]] emerged from the shadows in jubilation at the breaking of the vaulted ring. Having divined Rhulk's coming to be the final sign of their ascension, they unleashed their doomsday armaments upon Kalarahnda and scrubbed all life on the planet; stealing the former the purity of their extinction. In a report to the Witness, Rhulk would deduce Kalarahnda's destruction to be the guileful work of Savathûn herself, undermining him of his involvement.<ref name="Resonant Fury Robes">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Warlock)#Resonant Fury Robes|Resonant Fury Robes]]''</ref>     

When word of Oryx's death in the [[Taken War]] reached Rhulk, the Subjugator observed Savathûn building a palace within her domain as he relayed word of her brother's immediate [[King's Fall|demise]]. Having immediately suspected her of playing a role in the Taken King's permanent death, Rhulk nonetheless offers condescending commendation for having outlived Oryx and seizing his secrets of [[Taken|Taking]] as spoils. Savathûn smugly denies Rhulk any straight answers but the latter warns her that Oryx's death now placed a target on her by the god-slaying [[Guardians]], without the presence of her brother to shelter her in the shadows. She instantly rebukes Rhulk's words having nothing to fear from her exposure, showing no restraint in her expression.<ref name="Resonant Fury Boots">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Warlock)#Resonant Fury Boots|Resonant Fury Boots]]''</ref>   

Savathûn's true allegiance is revealed as she betrays the Witness and Rhulk attempting to [[Interference|interfere]] with the former's [[Lore:The Singular Exegete|transmissions]] to the Guardians on [[Io]], triggered by the [[arrival of the Black Fleet]]. After she hid within the [[Last City]] for a year and her subsequent rebirth in the Light, Rhulk would retaliate with the destruction of her throne world, only to have his attempt with the Upended thwarted. He was then trapped within his Pyramid, now sunken in the swamps of [[Miasma]] and blocked off from the rest of the realm thanks to her usage of the [[Wellspring]].<ref name="Resonant Fury Bond">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Warlock)#Resonant Fury Bond|Resonant Fury Bond]]''</ref> During his imprisonment, Rhulk had summoned the [[Scorn]] to the throne world as his army to fight the Witch Queen's new [[Lucent Brood|Lucent Hive]]. This resulted in an ongoing attrition war for the throne world itself, which was further complicated by the addition of the Guardians of the Last City. Rhulk also began conducting experiments with the undead Scorn, making them more powerful with Worm larvae in combination with Hive resonant runes. The cumulation of his work would be [[The Caretaker]], a massive [[Abomination]] successfully fused with a worm larva and armed with [[Pyramid]] resonant technology.<ref name="Report: PYRAMID-INSPECT">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/interactions/evidence-board-report-pyramid-inspect-2 Evidence Board — Report: PYRAMID-INSPECT]''</ref>  

During Rhulk's detainment, countless Hive [[Ghost]]s had gone missing and were killed within his Pyramid, as the intrigued disciple held them captive and routinely experimented with their design and function; tormenting them into accepting the Witness' ideology.<ref name="Collective Obligation">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Collective Obligation#Lore|Collective Obligation]]''</ref> At one point, the disciple spoke with one of them plotting to pry its shell for secrets of the Traveler, only for the Ghost to be possessed by someone Rhulk identified as the Adversary (presumably the Traveler itself). The Ghost was destroyed in a blinding explosion of Light and reduced to scrap, denying Rhulk its secrets.<ref name="Imperious Sun Shell">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Imperious Sun Shell#Lore|Imperious Sun Shell]]''</ref>

{{Quote|The Witness sees you. Grants you opportunity. And you squander it!|Rhulk's taunt to the Guardians.}}

After Savathûn's death at the hands of [[The Guardian]], the Scorn began to invade her fortress ''en masse'' and threatened to destroy the Wellspring, the main source of Light distribution across the throne world and of the curse which had kept Rhulk trapped.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[The Wellspring]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfixEake1QQ First Defense]''</ref> Instead the Guardians would repeatedly quash their attempts and keep the Wellspring secured from both Scorn and Lucent Hive parties. [[Fynch]] would also inform [[Ikora Rey]] and the [[Vanguard]] of the curse surrounding the Sunken Pyramid, albeit unaware of the disciple inside it kept from escaping.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Fynch]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE2QCYmKWSI "That big old Pyramid hanging out nearby — Savathûn put a pretty hefty Light curse on it. And she used the Wellspring to make it happen. Whatever's inside there, she didn't want it escaping, I know that much."]''</ref>  

Eventually, The Guardian would lead a [[raid]] fireteam to investigate the sunken Pyramid. [[Mara Sov]] would warn them of the threat posed by Rhulk only to be cut off by his own whispers greeting the Light bearers and inviting them to enter; cryptically warning them to either "drown in the Deep" or "rise from it".<ref name="VOTD">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Vow of the Disciple]]''</ref>  

The Guardians would first approach [[Acquisition]], a vast repository of artifacts from Rhulk's past conquests, including a rib he took from the Leviathan of Fundament. The Disciple would then explain that the Witness would see the Light fall and a glimpse of the potential Guardians would possess freed of its chains. Despite opposition by both Scorn and Taken forces, the Guardians journeyed deeper into the Pyramid. They then looked upon the Upended in the distance, which Rhulk described as a "triumvirate" of the three core tenets of the Witness: opportunity, preservation, and salvation.<ref name="VOTD"/>

After the Guardians killed The Caretaker, Rhulk remarked that those "defiant" of the Witness’ campaign would be subjugated in service of the [[Final Shape]], which he described as an "ailing, endless, void". As they approached the Upended, Rhulk further compliments the Guardians as resilient yet credulous. In blindly killing scores of Scorn and Taken, however, the fireteam had aided Rhulk by powering the Upended with their bloodshed. With the machine reaching full power, Rhulk was prepared to seal the throne world permanently off from the Light, leaving both the Guardians and the Lucent Hive to suffer. As a final rebuke, the disciple told the Guardians they were not fit to serve the Witness nor its goals, instead deserving to drown in Darkness.<ref name="VOTD"/>    

With the Guardians having reached the Upended, Rhulk emerged from a sarcophagus to personally greet them. Stating that he had no use in them anymore, the Disciple commenced a climactic battle with his interlopers by dropping his glaive and unleashing a massive resonant barrier of Darkness to push them back. The fireteam retaliated in turn by exploiting the resonance from his attacks to push back the barrier, all while Rhulk taunts the fireteam as they fight Scorn and Taken reinforcements. With the barrier having pushed inward and reached the disciple, Rhulk disables it before inviting the Guardians to the inner sanctum of the Upended. There Rhulk would challenge his opponents in person, to which he toys with the fireteam and even kicks them to death on occasion. His composure was only short-lived as they found and then took advantage of four gaps in Rhulk's impervious defense, enraging the disciple as he became vulnerable to their attacks. In his final moments, Rhulk cried out to the Witness for forgiveness as his body was overwhelmed by his own chimeric-fused powers going berserk, transforming his corpse into what appeared to be a petrified, lifeless tree with gnarled vein-like roots of Darkness growing from it.<ref name="VOTD"/>  

Samples of Rhulk's remains were secured by the Guardians in boxed containers and transported by a [[Human]] agent named [[Marco (Mars)|Marco]] across [[Mars]]. However, a motor accident caused Marco's [[Gouging Light|Sparrow]] to crash, grievously injuring him with a broken leg and a punctured lung. One of the containers storing the samples was cracked against a spar of basalt, and Marco could hear whispers of Rhulk's thoughts echoing from it; suggesting that his consciousness may persist in some form. Black veins emerged from the container to approach Marco's position, infecting his wounds and beginning to heal them, while Marco began to hear the Disciple's voice in his mind. With the last of his willpower, Marco turned his [[Sidearm]] towards the cracked reactor shielding of his broken Sparrow and fired, detonating it in a small nuclear blast which killed Marco and destroyed what remained of the First Disciple for good.<ref name="Gouging Light">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Item Description: [[Gouging Light]]''</ref>