Editing War against the Witness

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*The Witch Queen's curse weakens its hold on Rhulk's sunken Pyramid and threatens to free the First Disciple from within

**Vanguard thwarts the Sol Divisive Vex from attempting to extract extra-solar colonization data from a Seraph facility on Mars.  

*Operation Ahamkara is initiated as Ikora Rey, Zavala and The Guardian venture towards and enter the Pale Heart of the Traveler

**The Guardian is separated from Zavala and Ikora, and after reuniting with Cayde and finding Crow, is able to look for and find where Ikora and Zavala were

*Zavala is tempted by the Darkness and leaves on his own to commune with the Witness

**The Veiled Statues reveal to Zavala a way to "unmake" the Witness

**Targe steps in to save Zavala, at the cost of his life

*The Guardian manages to successfully wound the Witness after destroying dissenting statues with a sword granted by the Traveler

**The Witness manages to sever The Guardian’s link to Darkness, severely wounding them and The Ghost in the process

***Mara Sov safely transmats them aboard the H.E.L.M after crossing the portal into the Pale Heart

**The Witness retreats to its monolith, now transformed into a gigantic being as it roots itself into the Traveler and begins to start the Final Shape

***Vanguard forces fall back as they prepare for the final assault against the Witness atop of its monolith

*The Witness is uprooted from the Traveler and driven back from its monolith by a fireteam of Guardians

**Coalition forces launch one final attack against the Witness's forces

**A fireteam of 12 Guardians launch one final attack against a now wounded Witness, finally unmaking it with the Traveler's Light

*The Ghost briefly dies as a result of channeling the Traveler's Light into his body to destroy the Witness, before being brough back by Cayde, who uses his Light-based body to resurrect him

**As a result, Cayde dies a "final death" and returns to the Light of the Traveler

*An aurora of Light and Darkness seeps out of the Traveler after the Witness's defeat

**Coalition forces maintain a 100 kilometer "no-fly zone" around the aurora

**Several anomalous objects, later identified as Echoes, exit from the Traveler as a result of the memories from the collective conscious of the Witness

|casual1=*The Traveler {{c|responding to the Witness's invasion inside it}}

*Dozens of Tormentors

*Dozens of [[Axis Mind]]s  

The '''War against the Witness''' was a conflict being fought all across [[Sol System|Sol]] between the forces of [[The Coalition|the Coalition]] and the forces of [[The Witness|the Witness]], with [[Lucent Brood|other]] [[Vex|parties]] being involved as well. After dealing with the threat Savathûn and her brood posed on Sol, the [[Vanguard]] began to shift their attention to prepare for the Witness's arrival. The Vanguard and its allies would stop the influence of Rhulk and the Psions on their future, take on the threat imposed by Calus's connection to the Lunar Pyramid as he ascends into a [[Disciples of the Witness|Disciple of the Witness]], task the Guardian with securing the relics of Nezarec before Eramis can use it, and assist Ana Bray and Osiris with rebuilding Rasputin in order to both have a means of defense against the Witness and also help Osiris confirm his visions of Neptune were true.

Being the first civilization uplifted by the Traveler's [[Light]] in recorded history, the species that would eventually become the Witness lived in a Golden Age and would prosper under its influence. However, their people demanded purpose, so they discovered the Traveler shared a connection with the Veil, an enigma associated with [[Darkness]]. The species could not agree on how the Final Shape could be carried out, as it was recorded in a conversation between HNW047622 and RS6243199. HNW047622 followed the befilefs of the [[Nihilist]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape is the result of the species' self-destruction and that they should leave the universe alone while RS6243199 followed the beliefs of the [[Penitent]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape is the result of perfection through the intervention of the universe. Both of these individuals oppose the views of the [[Solipsist]]s: a faction who believed that the Final Shape can be achieved by the will of the species that believe them. These factions were ruled by the Consensus. They eventually learn that the Light affects the physical world and the Darkness affects the mental world. After recovering the Veil from the cosmos, they would link it to the Traveler to enact the Final Shape, but the Traveler refuses the connection and leaves their home planet. The species finally found purpose when the Consensus ruled in favor of the Penitent majority, who were undeterred in its pursuit of the Final Shape, so they waged war with the Nihilists and thd Solipsists. Onve the civil war of their species were over, the Consensus would use the power of the Darkness from the Veil to become one singular, unfathomable being. Thus, the Witness was born.

Over time, the Witness would use its philosophy of the Final Shape to recruit other species into its fold, cause suffering to various species that were uplififted by the Traveler, and spare any that weren't. It caused the extinction of the [[Noesis]], a friendly alien species that met its form first. It then uplifted the last [[Lubraean]] named [[Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness|Rhulk]], who became the first of its Disciples upon destroying his home planet of [[Lubrae]]. The next species to be influenced by the Witness were the proto-[[Worm|Worm God]]s living on [[Fundament]]. The proto-Worm Gods would become seduced by the power it offered and accepted it through their invention of the [[Sword Logic]], but one of their [[Ahsa|kin]] escaped Fundament through unknown means.

As the Traveler was busy terraforming [[Io]]'s surface, a period of great calamity known as the [[Collapse]] would begin. It would first be seen on [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], when the Black Fleet used its weapons to alter Titan's gravity and destroy the structures supporting the [[New Pacific Arcology]] domes. Ahsa, the same proto-Worm that escaped Fundament long ago and sought refuge on Titan's methane seas, was injured by an unknown entity. The Traveler would flee to Earth and defend humanity as a result. It would also affect the people aboard the [[Yang Liwei]], where the clash between the Traveler and its ancient enemy resulted in the existence of the [[Distributary]] and subsequently the birth of the [[Awoken]]. It would affect the people on Earth and the colonists aboard the [[Exodus Yellow]] as well.

The Red War begins as the Cabal [[Red Legion]] under the command of [[Dominus Ghaul]] would activate the [[Traveler Cage]], strip all Guardians of their Light, and invade the Last City. The Dominus aspired to claim the Light for his own, under the mad belief the he is more worthy of it. The Guardian leaves the Last City and reclaims their Light powers from the [[Shard of the Traveler]] after dealing with the Fallen from the [[House of Dusk]], a conglomerate of the Fallen as their continued losses against the Guardians forced the Houses to unite in desperation. After reclaiming their Light, they help the civilians of the [[Farm]] and [[European Dead Zone|EDZ]] before they discover a message from Zavala instructing them to travel to Titan. They do so and and discover a Hive presence as they work along with Zavala, Deputy Commander [[Sloane]], and [[Amanda Holliday]] to restore power to the New Pacific Arcology rig. They do and retrieve the Arcology CPU to decrypt Red Legion transmissions. The decryption reveals that the Red Legion has placed [[The Almighty|the Almighty]], Ghaul's prized warship, near Sol's to destabilize it and destroy the entire system, using [[Mercury]] as its fuel, leading Zavala to task the Guardian with reassembling the Vanguard since they are the only one with the Light. They retrieve Cayde-6 from the planetoid [[Nessus]] and Ikora Rey from Io, disrupting Vex and Red Legion operations in the former and encountering a Taken resurgence in the latter. The Vanguard and [[Suraya Hawthorne]] would formulate a plan to take back the Last City: the Guardian would board the Almighty and disable its star-killing weapon, but first they must break into the Red Legion base and defeat [[Thumos, the Unbroken|Thumos]]. After the Almighty is disabled, the counterattack begins, but the Vanguard are unable to continue the assault, forcing the Guardian to confront Ghaul themselves inside his flagship, [[The Immortal|the Immortal]]. They are able to defeat him despite his forced acquisition of the Light and reawaken the Traveler from its long-dormant slumber as it sends out a wave of Light across the Milky Way Galaxy. The wave would cause the Black Fleet to mobilize and begin making its way back to the Sol System.

Despite the death of Dominus Ghaul, the Red War would still carry on until the death of [[Val Ca'uor]]. Before they can confront Val Ca'uor, they first had to help an exiled Warlock named [[Osiris]] and his Ghost [[Sagira]] stop the Vex from taking advantage of the Traveler's reawakening, then confront Xol and his herald [[Nokris, Herald of Xol|Nokris]] near [[Hellas Basin]]. The death of Val Ca'uor would mark the end of the Red War, but another tragedy soon strikes. While containing the prison break in the [[Prison of Elders]], the Guardian discovers that Cayde-6 has been murdered by [[Uldren Sov]] and the [[Scorn]], a race of Fallen brought back to life through Dark Ether. The Guardian would seek vengeance for the death of Cayde-6 by traveling to the most lawless frontier within the Reef: the [[Tangled Shore]]. They would accept a deal with a shady Fallen mob boss named [[The Spider|the Spider]] to remove the Scorn's influence on the Tangled Shore and isolate Uldren. After defeating the Scorn [[Baron]]s, they would confront Uldren Sov at the Watchtower, a gateway into the [[Dreaming City]]. It is soon revealed that Uldren was corrupted by [[Riven]], the last living [[Ahamkara]] who was Taken by Oryx shortly before his defeat and now serves Savathûn, but the Guardian would kill him anyways. Petra eventually opens the Dreaming City to them and made contact with Mara, who orders them to slay Riven. Unbeknownst to the Guardian, Riven would grant one last wish before her death: the curse on the Dreaming City. They soon enter the throne world of Mara Sov, [[Eleusinia]] and confront [[Dûl Incaru, the Eternal Return|Dûl Incaru]], the daughter of Savathûn, but they discover that Dûl Incaru's death caused the curse to reset itself every 3 weeks. The Guardian would face more threats in the Sol System. They would first help a mysterious Exo named [[Ada-1]] recovery [[Black Armory]] technology stolen by the [[Kell's Scourge]] and its leader [[Siviks, Lost to None|Siviks]], then investigate [[Drifter]], the [[Gambit]] handler with a mysterious connection to the [[The Nine|IX]], and finally accept an invitation sent by former Cabal [[Emperor Calus]] to participate for glory through the Menagerie. They soon learn from an apparition of [[Toland, the Shattered|Toland]] that a dark secret is hiding under the Lunar surface and the Vanguard would soon return to the Moon.

After the Vanguard signed an armistice with Empress Caiatl, they discovered a Vex simulation threatening the Last City where Sol wouldn't rise. The people dubbed this Vex simulation the [[Endless Night]]. With no way to dispel the Endless Night on their own, Ikora asks the Guardian to seek out [[Mithrax, Kell of Light|Mithrax]], Kell of the Fallen [[House of Light]] and the last Sacred Splicer who was last seen helping Variks evacuate defectors of the House of Salvation on Europa. They clear the Skiff's crash site of the Vex and finally meet him in [[Asterion Abyss]]. He teaches the Guardian how to explore the [[Vex Network|Vex Domain]] through splicing and instructs them to slay the [[Subjugated Curator|curator]] of the domain and claim the [[Paradrome Cube|living code]] from its corpse. They do so and return to him. Ikora propose the integration of the House of Light into the Last City, with Mithrax agreeing to the proposal. After settling the House of Light into the Last City, the Guardian begins their mastery of splicing after retrieving a [[Splicer Gauntlet]] from the [[Splicer Servitor (House Light)|Splicer Servitor]]. As they continue their mastery of splicing, [[Lakshmi-2]] of the [[Future War Cult]] would begin spreading anti-Eliksni propaganda throughout the Last City, and they gain the ability to penetrate the deeper enclaves of the Vex Domain and defeat the Oppressive Minds occupying them. Mithrax discovers that [[Quria, Blade Transform]] is the Vex Mind responsible for the Endless Night, so they work together to pinpoint its location within the Vex Domain. After the Guardian finishes their mastery of splicing, they infiltrate Quria's lair within the domain and destroy it, finally dispelling the Endless Night. The House of Light celebrate their first [[Solstice]] as a reward for dispelling the Endless Night and enter an official alliance with the Vanguard. Despite the Endless Night ending, Lakshmi-2 continues spreading her propaganda and would attempt a coup, but the coup backfires on her as Vex gunfire kills her, forcing the people to defend the Last City. As the skirmish ends, Savathûn, who used the body of Osiris to divide the Vanguard from within and learn the secrets of the Light, flees to the Dreaming City.

The Guardian, along with Crow and Saint-14, pursues Savathûn throughout the Dreaming City, battling the forces of Xivu Arath along the way. They ambush her as she is conversing with Mara Sov, who has returned to the Dreaming City. Savathûn finally reveals her true form, but Mara contains her in a crystalline prison. After the Guardian acquires the [[Wayfinder's Compass]], Mara and Petra explain the plan: in order to conduct a ritual to remove Savathûn's worm, they must use the Wayfinder's Compass to navigate the [[Ley Line]]s, which are bridges between the material plane and the Ascendant Plane, and rescue the [[Techeun]]s lost within the Ley Lines from Xivu Arath's forces. The Guardian would also help Mara foil [[Kelgorath, Risen from Bones|Kelgorath]]'s plan to steal [[Ager's Scepter]]. Once enough Techeuns are rescued from the Ley Lines, Mara forbids all access to Savathûn until the ritual is ready for alignment. Months later, the ritual is ready, but it is under assault from Xivu Arath's forces who are desperate to stop the ritual separating Savathûn from her worm, so Mara requests the Guardian's assistance. They arrive to the ritual site along with Saint-14 and defend Mara, [[Ylaia]], [[Austyn]], and [[Sjari]] as they perform the exorcism ritual from Xivu Arath's forces led by Kelgorath. The ritual succeeds; however, Savathûn transports herself near the Traveler and eventually becomes the first Hive resurrected in the Traveler's Light. Meanwhile, [[The Coalition|the Coalition]] forms as result of signing an armistice with Empress Caiatl, integrating the House of Light into the Last City, and helping the Awoken rescue their lost Techeuns.

After Mars suddenly reappears in the Sol System, [[The Hidden|the Hidden]] immediately investigates the presence of the [[Relic (Mars)|Relic]], a structure of Pyramid origin and witness Catatl's Cabal set up a cannon to use to aim at Savathûn's ship, [[The Lure|the Lure]], as it lands above the Cradle on Mars. The Guardian arrives to the scene and comes under fire from Cabal troops loyal to the Empress despite the armistice. They would use themselves to launch into the Lure. Upon landing on the Lure, they follow traces of Void Light on the ship and manage to recover an artifact of the Black Fleet. Before they can follow Savathûn into [[Court of Savathûn|her throne world]], they are forced to defeat a [[Lightbearer Knight]] and crush its Ghost. They follow her and defeat her illusion before she ejects them from the throne world. They land at [[The Enclave|the Enclave]], a camp used by Hidden agents to investigate the Relic. With the artifact they recovered earlier used to interact with the Relic, they discover [[Deepsight]], an aspect of Darkness used to reveal echoes of past events and enables weapon crafting, by using the Relic to create their first weapon: [[The Enigma|the Enigma]]. After creating their first weapon, Ikora instructs them to return to the throne world to gain more clues on how Savathûn was able to acquire the Light. While exploring the throne world, they discover a Scorn presence and a mysterious Ghost named [[Fynch]] contacts them. After dealing with the Scorn and a [[Lightbearer Wizard]], they finally meet him, but they would first need to attend a meeting with Empress Caiatl. She arranges a meeting with Saladin Forge, Zavala, Crow, and the same Guardian responsible for killing her people on Mars in the Tower Hangar. As the argument continues, Zavala defuses the situation and asks for Caiatl's help in stopping the Lucent Hive on Earth. She agrees and in return, she supplies Light-suppressing tech in the form of a [[Synaptic Spear]].

While the Guardian was deployed on Luna, Crow attempts to shut down the Psisorium out of concern that the experiments on the Lucent Hive were unethical, but he inadvertently kills the [[Psisorium Optus|Psion]] running it. The Guardian and Saladin discover the destruction upon the Guardian returning from Luna. Saladin would inform Caiatl of Crow's actions there and they, along with Zavala, would meet back in the Tower Hangar to discuss Crow's life debt per Cabal tradition of a life for a life. Saladin repays the life debt on Crow's behalf by becoming a member on her War Council. Caiatl would name him "Bracus Forge" and they both depart from the Tower, although she would allow him permission to continue to run the Iron Banner in the Tower albeit with some new ideas of her own. Three days after this meeting, Caiatl gives Saladin a promotion to "Valus Forge" after he defeats another member of her War Council: Valus [[Guhrn Or'ohk]].

They warn Ikora of Savathûn's plan before they report to Fynch, who instructs to recover the next object of interest: a calcified Worm familiar, located in the [[Temple of the Cunning]], a temple dedicated to Savathûn's younger self Sathona. After they get past the security measures set by Savathûn and the Scorn invading the temple, they are forced to fight the illusion of an Ahamkara and escape upon recovering the Worm familiar. They are unable to take the Worm familiar into the Altar of Reflection, forcing Ikora to take a temporary leave before Eris reveals the final object of interest the Guardian must recover: a shard of the crystalline prison used to trap Savathûn, located in the [[Apothecary]], the site of Savathûn's experiments with the Light. They take the shard to the Altar of Reflection, where it plays the memory of Savathûn's final moments before her resurrection in the Traveler's Light. They inform the Vanguard of the terrifying revelation, questoining Zavala's faith in the Traveler, before Ikora rallies them. She and the Guardian leaves the Last City to stop Savathûn's plans from coming to pass, but first she uses the Relic to unlock the memory of the Worm familiar. The memory records the Witness's plan to trick the Krill into accepting the Darkness and stop them from being uplifted by the Traveler. She relays the memory recorded in the Worm familiar to the Guardian before they arrive at the throne world. The ritual to move the Traveler into Savathûn's throne world begins upon their arrival. To stop the ritual, they are forced to confront the Witch Queen by showing her the memory recorded in the Worm familiar. They defeat her, but she gives them one last warning before she faints: the Witness is coming.

After Savathûn's death at the hands of the Guardian, the Witness finally reveals itself and informs the Traveler that it has run out of pieces left to place and nowhere left to escape, beginning the first phase of the war. It reveals that the key to the Final Shape lies within the Traveler's Pale Heart. The Guardian convinces the Coalition to begin making preparations for the Witness's arrival in the Sol System. They meet Mara Sov at the Enclave. She forms a plan to gain information regarding the end of the Collapse from Savathûn's Worm she obtained after performing the exorcism ritual on Savathûn. They infiltrate [[Harvest]], a Worm distribution facility, to recover an incubator. Mara reveals that the Witness tried to recruit her as one of its Disciples, but she refused and allied with the Coalition forces instead. They finally get the information from Savathûn's Worm after Mara binds the Worm to a grenade launcher through a ritual. She instructs the Guardian to keep [[Parasite]] handy in the future as she parts ways with the Worm.

The Witness responds to Crow and Osiris's attempts to forge the bridge necessary to pass through the portal to the Pale Heart by sending in its forces to attack the Last City and other Coalition areas of interest. To combat the coming threat of the Final Shape as the Witness perceives it, the Vanguard gives Lord Shaxx permission to create weapons once deemed heretical to wield: the [[BRAVE Arsenal]]. He also opens up his personal Hall of Champions as a base of operations to coordinate the Last City's defenses against the forces of the Witness.

Before Crow can enter the Pale Heart, Osiris uncovers a plot by the Sol Divisive to replace the Veil with the recreated Black Heart, and instructs the Guardian to return to the Black Garden. They enter it using the passageway provided by Riven and learn the Witness has instructed the Sol Divisive to recreate the Black Heart as its final attempt to keep them out of the Pale Heart. After destroying the [[Withdrawn Mind]] along with the [[Transfer Gate]]s throughout the Black Garden, they returned to the site where they found the Black Heart and destroy it again by defeating the [[Established Mind]], [[Synchronal Mind]], and [[Inevitable Mind]]. Destroying the Black Heart allows Crow to enter the Pale Heart safely. He spots a mysterious structure in the horizon, then meets Cayde-6. Although they meet in a duel, it ends when Glint reveals himself to Cayde. He helps Crow up and they both see the Light pulsing from the mysterious structure. Osiris reveals that Crow has made it through safely, and the Vanguard plans to accompany the Guardian once he is able to replicate the Witness’s link to the Veil.

{{Hide|title=The Final Shape Spoilers|

Soon after, [[The Witness]] manages to temporarily invoke the [[Final Shape]], before the [[Traveler]] resists and reverts the Witness's actions. The [[Vanguard]] then starts [[Operation Ahamkara]] and sends in [[Zavala]], [[Ikora Rey]], and [[The Guardian]] into the Pale Heart. The Guardian crash-lands in the threshold between the outside world and the Pale Heart and discovers [[The Dread]], a new faction of Darkness creatures which are made up of various creatures that have had their DNA warped by The Witness. The Guardian eventually pushes their way out of the Threshold, with Mara Sov's connection severed by The Witness. Within the Pale Heart, the Guardian discovers a place that is made up of the amalgamation of memories of those within it but slightly changed into new and unfamiliar ways. They discover the "Lost City," a place built from the memory of the [[Tower]] and the [[Last City]]. It is here that they unlock [[Prismatic]], able to mix both Light and Dark abilities to transcend into newer forms. They find a Vanguard signal and are ambushed by The Witness but fight off its forces before being drawn in by harmonica music and meeting with Cayde-6. Cayde reveals that when Guardians and Ghosts die their final deaths, they return to the Traveler as beings of pure light and are integrated within it. He also reveals that Crow has gone missing doing patrols around the area and sends The Guardian to help find him. They discover [[Glint]] just outside the Lost City and discover that Crow had been called into a mysterious cave full of Darkness before being trapped inside. The Guardian helps punch a way through the cave entrance as Cayde orders Glint to stay outside. Within the cave, The Witness begins to speak to The Guardian, temporarily incapacitating them before Ghost can shut it out. The Witness then attempts to explain what is has offered to Crow and Uldren but he has rejected it all for what The Witness says is "suffering." The Guardian then finds Crow standing in front of a statue, listening to its whispers. Glint suddenly appears and convinces Crow to never leave without him ever again. Crow agrees and leaves the cave. The three of them then regroup to discuss what to do next. They decide to look for Ikora as her crashed ship can be seen in the distance. A radio message also comes through from Mara though it is heavily scrambled. The three embark to seek out Ikora and discover her crashed ship. Within it, Ikora says that she will be at the replica [[Tree of Silver Wings]] to meditate and hopefully commune with The Traveler. The Guardian finds Ikora but has to defend her as she's meditating from hordes of The Dread. Once the coast is clear, Ikora comes out of meditation and meets back at camp where she finds Cayde. The two have a fight before reconciling together.

The Guardian is then tasked with finding Zavala who is nearby. While looking for him, the Guardian must push through another cave of darkness in which The Witness talks of lifting the burdens of guilt from Zavala's shoulders as he still carries doubt and shame from his years of loss. Afterwards, the Guardian discovers a small home in a field, a replica of the one Zavala had with [[Safiyah]] and [[Hakim]]. [[Fallen]] attack the home and Zavala and the Guardian fight them off. Zavala then enters the house to say goodbye to Safiyah, having a vision of one of the statues saying "help me." The group of five then spend the night camping there, reconciling and reminiscing about those they had lost. The next day, Crow, Cayde, and The Guardian go to scout up ahead, bantering with each other as they enter a replica of Europa's icy landscape. It is there that Crow reveals to Cayde that it wasn't The Traveler that brought him back but a wish to an Ahamkara that he made subconsciously when wishing to enter the Pale Heart. Cayde tells Crow not to let the others know about this and the three press onwards. After fighting through the Vex, The Guardian encounters an area that is a replica of the Cosmodrome and Old Russia. It is there they discover the place that Ghost had originally resurrected them as well as a large fissure of Light. Standing within it, The Traveler bestows upon them a gift of new abilities which they use to dispatch the Taken that had ambushed the area. The group makes camp again and discuss what to do, with Zavala suggesting that they talk to the statues which is quickly shot down by Ikora. Later on, The Guardian is sent to scout for sources of Light, hoping have Cayde step in and have a vision from The Traveler. They search three locations before finding a light fissure in the third as well as [[Luzaku]], a friendly [[Lucent Brood]] [[Wizard]] who assists the Guardian in evicting the Taken in the area. Luzaku reveals that she had infiltrated the Black Fleet and snuck into the Traveler under orders from [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|Savathûn]]. She promises to guard the light fissure for the Guardians which they accept. Cayde then transmats in and steps within the fissure, receiving a vision from the Traveler. In that vision, [[Sundance]] speaks to him and says that Guardians, Ghosts, and the Traveler are all connected before being cut off by the Witness. Before the vision can be fully cut away, Sundance says "Devotion, bravery, sacrifice..." before the vision ends.

The group reconvenes and Zavala talks to his ghost, [[Targe]] about the vision. Targe urges Zavala to keep fighting and that the two of them would be together. The Guardian is once again called on to find a path forwards where they discover the remains of an Ahamkara deep within the caves beneath the surface, its bones and guts integrated within the architecture. They also find a city beneath the surface and realize that it is a manifestation of The Witness's memories of their home planet. It is here that another statue is found and it tries to speak, saying "Give yourself to Darkness, only there will you find the answers you seek." Zavala wants to follow through with this request but Ikora says not to, with the two of them getting into a verbal fight. The Guardian eventually defeats the powerful [[Tormentor]] lurking in the area. Regrouping, Zavala gets into another fight with Ikora and Crow about what to do next, his faith in the Traveler fully shattered. Frustrated, he goes off to seek answers himself, leaving even Targe behind. The Guardian is tasked with assisting Targe to find him. Targe gets the idea to speak to the statues to learn about Zavala's whereabouts. They push on and find more statues who reveal their true nature. They are "dissenters" of the Witness, parts of the Witness that disagree with its plans and who the Witness has trapped within the statues. The Guardian moves on and defeats a powerful [[Scorn]] but once that happens, the area becomes unstable and begins to crumble away. They run forwards and find Zavala standing in front of a cave of Darkness. Ikora, Crow, and Cayde are not too fare behind and the group urges Zavala not to walk in. Zavala ignores them and has a vision from The Witness and the Dissenters once he enters. Here, The Witness shows Zavala how it came into being, merging the collective consciousness of the race with Darkness to become The Witness. During the vision, a dissenter whispers into Zavala's ear "What was made can be unmade. Meet us where we destroyed ourselves." The Witness reaches out and offers Zavala to join its cause but Targe suddenly appears to prevent this and accuses the Witness of being afraid. The Witness denies this and kills Targe, the explosion sending Zavala out of the cave. Outside, the group mourns the loss but they now have a clear plan ahead.  

Zavala knows where to go and The Guardian is tasked with bringing him to the location where the Witness was created. Along the way, Ikora realizes what the Dissenters were talking about. They can use the Light to destroy the Witness and unmake it. The Guardian is also spoken to by the Witness, offering them freedom from The Traveler, freedom from the constant struggle to seek glory, and instead to become a god of the Final Shape. Ghost realizes that The Witness would not make this offer unless it is truly desperate after which The Witness lashes out in anger and disappointment and says to "come and be destroyed." The Gaurdian finally enters the memory of the place where The Witness was created. There, The Witness appears and begins to fight The Guardian as the rest of the group move in closer to assist. After some fighting with The Witness's forces, the Traveler manifests a sword made of Light which the Guardian takes into the realm of Darkness where the Dissenters reside. The Dissenters call on the Guardian to use the sword to kill them which will rip apart the collective consciousness of The Witness. The Guardian obliges and greatly wounds the Witness before being forced out of the realm. The Guardian does this sequence once more, after which Ikora, Zavala, Crow, and Cayde all arrive to deal with The Witness's forces. This allows The Guardian to enter the realm immediately and destroy more dissenters but not before The Witness attacks them and Ghost directly, gravely wounding them both. They are both teleported into an area where the Witness attempts to shred them apart with debris and Darkness but the Traveler manifests an aegis which The Guardian uses to escape the trap. However, Taken forces are still chasing the pair until Mara Sov appears with the [[H.E.L.M.]] and picks them up. Zavala, Ikora, Cayde, and Crow witness a wounded Witness before it transforms and attacks them. However, all four of them escape into the H.E.L.M. before anyone can be hurt. Mara reveals that the rest of [[The Coalition]] has made it through into the Pale Heart and are grouping up for one last major offensive against the Witness.}}

{{expand-section}}

*[[Six Coyotes]]

*[[Iron War Beast]]s

*[[Corsair]]s

*[[Techeun]]s

*[[Harbinger (Reef superweapon)|Harbinger]]s

*[[Disciples of the Witness]]

*[[The Dread]]

*[[Taken]]

*[[Hidden Swarm]]

*[[Wrathborn]]

*[[Shadow Legion]]

*[[Psion Conclave]]

**[[The Message, Part 1]]

**[[The Message, Part 2]]

**[[The Message, Part 3]]

***[[Queens, Part 1]]

***Home

****[[Home, Part 1]]

****[[Home, Part 2]]

***Hollow

****[[Hollow, Part 1]]

****[[Hollow, Part 2]]

***[[Queens, Part 2]]

***[[Wild Card]]

**''[[Into the Light (update)|Into the Light]]''