The Witness: Difference between revisions

Originating from the [[Precursors (Species)|first known civilization]] uplifted by [[The Traveler|the Traveler]], the Witness was the product of an entire species having merged into one entity using their mastery of the [[Darkness]], their minds bound together into a single gestalt consciousness. It spent eons chasing the Traveler as part of its pursuit to impose "salvation" upon all reality through its vision of the [[Final Shape]]; along the way, it was responsible for the destruction of countless civilizations across the universe, either by its own hand or through the actions of its [[Disciples of the Witness|Disciples]], its [[The Dread|Dread]] soldiers, and other servants such as the [[Hive]]. It is the overarching main antagonist of the first [[The Light and Darkness Saga|saga]] in the ''[[Destiny]]'' franchise.

[[File:Witness Species.png|thumb|330px|The Witness' Species]]

The Witness' origins lie with an [[Precursors (Race)|ancient humanoid species]] that lived billions of years ago on a desolate world. This species discovered the [[The Traveler|Traveler]] on their homeworld half-buried in the ground, where it had seemingly been laying inert for an unknown span of time. Upon discovery, the Traveler activated and transformed their planet into a paradise. With the the Traveler's aid, the species developed a massive spacefaring civilization, and in the process they learned to harness the Traveler's gifts, even using them to create entire worlds.<ref>'''[[Entelechy]]''', ''[[Entelechy#SCRIBE NOTES 2|12]]''</ref> The species worshipped the Traveler as a deity, calling it "the Gardener".<ref name="Origin"/>  

Billions of years ago, the Witness visited a dying world called [[Lubrae]], which had degenerated into a military dictatorship after the Traveler had blessed and left their civilization.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered Suns#Provoked|Provoked]]''</ref> There, it encountered a warrior named [[Rhulk, Disciple of the Witness|Rhulk]], who had fallen into a chasm after being betrayed by his family and clan.<ref name="Lamented">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered Suns#Lamented|Lamented]]''</ref> The Witness healed Rhulk's injuries, gifted him a remade and empowered version of his Glaive, and told him that his destiny was to bring ruin to Lubrae.<ref name="Lamented"/> Rhulk went on to massacre the people of the city above the chasm, and eventually destroyed his entire planet by using the [[The Upended|Upended]] to destroy Lubrae's [[Sapphiric Sun]]<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Lore:Shattered Suns|Shattered Suns]]: [[Lore:Shattered Suns#Liberated|Liberated]]''</ref>. As Rhulk fell into the chasm again, the Witness saved him again by bringing him aboard its [[Pyramid]]. There, it converted Rhulk to worship of the Darkness by showing how, from the perspective of the Darkness, the lives that had been lost on Lubrae were never worth anything to begin with, and that he had proven his worth by destroying them and surviving the extinction of his species by his own hand. This caused Rhulk to swear himself to the Witness as one of its Disciples.{{Citation needed}}

At an unknown point in time, The Witness's disciple Rhulk sought out the power of the Sword Logic for his master's behest by subjugating the six surviving Worm Gods; having evolved to master the Deep but were imprisoned within the gas giant's core by the [[Leviathan (Fundament)|Leviathan]]. To that end, Rhulk offered a deal to the mother worm [[Xita, the Nurturing Worm]], promising her offspring substance and safety in exchange for eternal servitude to him and his master.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Armor|Armor lore]]: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Helm|Resonant Fury Helm]]''</ref> Despite his earlier claims, however, it is later revealed that Rhulk only subjugated the worms out of his own desire to be recognized as an equal by the Witness; a sentiment that his master swiftly rejected after constantly stepping out of line.<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Armor|Armor lore]]: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Greaves|Resonant Fury Greaves]]''</ref>

The Witness would also discretely introduce the concept of winnowing to the progenitor race of [[Worms]] on the gas giant of [[Fundament]], offering a [[Sword Logic|means]] to channel the forbidden magics of the Deep into apotheosis by death-fueled killing logic. The proto-worms that were tempted by the Witness' gift gave way to self-inflicted genocide as they killed each other and took power from their deaths, leaving only Ahsa to have rejected the logic and fled the carnage on Fundament into space.<ref name="Síocháin's Scuba Shell">'''Bungie (2023/5/23)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Ghost shell]] Lore: [[Síocháin's Scuba Shell]]''</ref>

Desiring a host race for the subjugated Worms, the Witness and Rhulk both play key roles in the ascension of the [[Hive]] on Fundament, the latter creating parasitic larvae from Xita's body and distributed them across the oceans to reach the [[Krill]] of the [[Osmium Court|Osmium Kingdom]].<ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Armor lore: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Greaves|Resonant Fury Greaves]]''</ref> Eventually a dead white worm became the familiar of the [[Osmium King]] himself, the Witness fed through the worm whispers of an apocalyptic syzygy brought on by an unknown moon to the King. The king's mind proved too feeble to its whispers due to his age and senility, gradually driving him to madness in fear of the Traveler. His demented paranoia would escalate upon the actual sighting of the Traveler itself, which had reached a point that [[Taox]] and the other Krill conspired against his family for the sake of their kingdom. Taox brought the [[Helium Drinkers]] to invade the Osmium Court and usurp the throne, killing the king and leaving his three surviving heirs to flee for their lives. The Witness and Rhulk both watched the Traveler's movements as carnage unfolded from afar; the former having scouted the trio as potential candidates to be claimed by the Light. Instead, the Witness desired to claim the three and their young, unsullied minds to hear their whispers.<ref name="Resonant Fury Plate">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Armor lore: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Plate|Resonant Fury Plate]]''</ref> By telepathically communicating with the young [[Savathûn, the Witch Queen|Sathona]] via her father's Worm familiar, it guided the three daughters into seeking out the remaining Worm Gods and became reborn as the first Hive; exacting their revenge upon the Helium Drinkers and becoming sworn servants to the Sword Logic itself.<ref name="Resonant Fury Plate">'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - Armor lore: [[Resonant Fury Suit (Titan)#Resonant Fury Plate|Resonant Fury Plate]]''</ref> <ref>'''Bungie (2022/2/22)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Witch Queen]] - [[Quests (Destiny 2)|Quest]]: [[The Witch Queen (Quest)]]: [https://www.ishtar-collective.net/items/the-witch-queen-step-17 Step 17: Speak with Ikora on Mars]''</ref>

During his exile aboard the [[Leviathan (ship)|Leviathan]], the deposed [[Cabal]] [[Cabal Emperor|Emperor]] [[Emperor Calus|Calus]] and his [[Loyalists]] encountered an anomalous void in deep space, described as a total absence of "light, dark, life, death (...) anything, even of absence itself"<ref>'''Bungie (2019/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of Opulence]] - [[Lore:The Chronicon|The Chronicon]]: [[Lore:The Chronicon#DLXXIX.|DLXXIX.]]''</ref>. Donning a pressure gel suit, Calus went out to the exterior of the Leviathan to inspect his surroundings. He received a vision from the void, showing a fleet of unknown ships and a coming cataclysm that would annihilate all life in the universe<ref>'''Bungie (2017/12/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Curse of Osiris]] - [[I Am Alive]]''</ref>. The void then told Calus that he would be its herald, to spread the news of the coming end.

When [[Eris Morn]] awakened the [[The Lunar Pyramid|Pyramid]] beneath the [[Moon]], the Darkness emanating from it reached out to the [[The Guardian|Guardian]] investigating her whereabouts and began to invade their [[Ghost]]<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/11)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[A Mysterious Disturbance]]''</ref>. When they return equipped with [[Dreambane Armor]],  the Pyramid invites the Guardian inside where whispers of the Witness' presence could fully possess their Ghost. It is there the Voice in the Darkness coldly denounces the Light as a weakness which had brought only death to those it "blessed", citing the [[Great Disaster]], the [[Red War]], and the death of [[Cayde-6]] as examples of its numerous failures. Once the Guardian reached the [[Darkness#Veiled Figures|statue]] at the center of the Pyramid, they are offered the [[Unknown Artifact]] as "respite", granting them a vision of the [[Black Garden]]. There, the Witness reveals themselves to the Guardian having taken their form with the Black Fleet floating in the skies. The Witness addresses the Guardian having heard humanity's cries for help and that they would soon answer, claiming that they are neither friend nor enemy, but instead their "salvation".<ref name="Beyond">'''Bungie (2019/10/11)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]] - [[Beyond]]''</ref>

In the following weeks, Guardians were pulled into the Ascendant Realm, reminiscent of the [[Court of Oryx]] on the [[Dreadnaught]], this time encountering [[Nokris, Supplicant to Savathûn]], Savathun's supplicant. Upon defeating him, the Witness was able to begin cleanly communicating, while forcibly transporting the Guardians aboard a room within the Io Pyramid, telling Guardians there is an ancient power deep beneath the surface of Europa and that it must be embraced, displaying statues of each race approaching a central Pyramid, with a lone shadow lingering over the Fallen.

Following Calus becoming its latest Disciple, the Witness released Eramis from her [[Stasis]] prison. Whispering to the [[Fallen]] [[Kell]], the Witness demanded Eramis gather relics of Darkness that were lost during the [[Dark Age]]s, or be lost to oblivion in her frozen prison. Bitter, enraged, and casting aside her original calls for Eliksni unity, Eramis agreed, was set free, and began searching for the relics by rallying the Old Crews. In truth, the relics Eramis sought contained pieces of one of The Witness's Disciples, Nezarec, whose body was left calcified and rotting within the Lunar Pyramid before the first Fallen crews arrived in the Sol System.

With the link created between the Veil and the Traveler, the Witness was able to create a triangular incision upon the Traveler's surface, creating a triangular portal in front of the incision. The Pyramid ships surrounding the Traveler were then pulled into this portal, with the Witness following shortly afterwards.<ref name="DM">'''Bungie (2023/2/28)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]] - [[Desperate Measures]]''</ref> With this action, the Traveler appears to be completely inert, Ghosts unable to feel its presence, and no instruments or devices owned by the Coalition forces have been able to penetrate the portal successfully.<ref>'''Bungie (2023/5/23)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Season of the Deep]] - [[Jumpship]] lore: [[Akashic Revelation]]''</ref>

With the Witness almost fully in control of the [[The Pale Heart|Pale Heart]], it would begin to enact its [[Final Shape]]. For a moment, it briefly achieved this on Earth, but the Traveler would repeatedly fight back against its efforts and undo its work, stalling for time for the [[The Coalition|Coalition]] to interfere and stop the Witness. [[Mara Sov]] could sense that the Witness was getting closer to its end goal, prompting the Vanguard to initiate "Operation Ahamkara." As [[Zavala]], [[Ikora]], and [[The Guardian]] took their ships and began to cross the Threshold, the Witness took notice of this and attempted to sever Mara's connection. While it was successful in doing so, the Awoken Queen held the connection long enough for the Guardian and The Vanguard to make it across.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Transmigration]]''</ref> After every member arrived within the Pale Heart, The Witness repeatedly attempted to sway each of the forces against it to its side. Starting with [[Uldren Sov|Crow]], it offered him the Awoken throne and to erase his troubled past. To be adored and trusted by everyone, it even offered to bring [[Amanda Holliday|his sunrise]] back for him. But despite all these temptations, Crow rejected its offer.<ref>[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Promised Reign Cloak]][[https://www.light.gg/db/items/87946917/promised-reign-cloak/]]</ref> During the Guardian's journey to find Crow, The Witness used it's power's to once again take possession of the Guardian's [[The Ghost|Ghost]] and attempted to destroy him. This time, however, Ghost was able resist and fight off its influence, although doing so severaly damaged his shell.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''',''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Temptation]]''</ref> The Witness, then tried to tempt Ikora, by offering her an eternal moment of neverending victory. But the Warlock Vanguard also refused its offer.<ref>[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Promised Victoy Bond]][[https://www.light.gg/db/items/141134282/promised-victory-bond/]]</ref> The Witness then turned its attention towards Zavala and tormented him with memories of his past, offering an eternity of peace with his [[Safiyah|Wife]] and [[Hakim|Son]], but Zavala's [[Ghost]], [[Targe]] stood up for his Guardian and told it that Zavala said no. However, as the Commander said his final goodbyes to a statue of Safiyah, a dissenter within the Witness called out to Zavala for help.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Requiem]]''</ref> Later on, the Guardian was sent to clear a path to The Witness, where they would encounter a memory from its past; a small town built from the civilization that made up the Witness. There, another dissenter spoke with the Guardian through a Veiled Statue, asking them to "Give themselves to Darkness", giving Zavala a reckless idea. After the Guardian slayed [[Kataxiia, Tormentor of the Ahamkara|Kataxiia]], the Tormentor guarding the pass, Zavala was willing to heed the dissenter's words and give himself over to darkness for a chance to find the Witness's weakness.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Liminality]]''</ref> He left the camp and Targe behind as the commander made his way towards a monument where he could commune with darkness. As the Guardian and Targe searched for Zavala, Targe spoke with more of the Veiled Statues. The Dissenters within them warned the duo that the Witness would absorb Zavala into its collective without Targe's help, while also trying to convince them to give themselves over to darkness as well. But the Guardian, Crow, Cayde, Ikora and Targe were too late as they arrived in time to watch Zavala step through the monument to commune with darkness. During this time, the Witness spoke with Zavala in a vision of its origins, trying to sway him to join its collective. But as the Witness relayed its origins to Zavala, a dissenter within the collective whispered in secret, telling Zavala "What was made can be unmade" and to go to "The place where they destroyed themselves". At that moment, the Witness manifested itself before Zavala and tried to take him into its collective. However, Targe suddenly appeared out of nowhere, putting himself before his Guardian. He stated that he saw the Witness for what it truly was, afraid. Angered by the Ghost's claims, the Witness snatched Targe in its hand and claimed that it was not afraid and that it had done away with fear altogether. But Targe remained defiant, prompting the Witness to crush and destroy him releasing a surge of light, saving Zavala and ending his communion with darkness. Though he was rendered lightless, Zavala's communion with the darkness gave the Vanguard the edge they needed to fight back against the Witness - by going to where the Witness was created and finding out how to unmake it.<ref name="Dissent"/>

As the Coalition prepared themselves for the final battle, the Witness would retreat to its Monolith to try and speed up and enact the Final Shape, but would once again be repeatedly stalled by the Traveler. After the Coalition finished preparing their forces, a team of six Guardians infiltrated and stormed the Monolith. The Witness, having taken its true gargantuan form, would once again try to convince the Guardians to join its side but to no avail. As the Guardians climbed the monolith, the Witness was forced to send its most powerful remaining forces to destroy them. However, the Guardians persevered through all of its challenges, which even included slaying the Witness's most powerful Taken champion, the [[Herald of Finality]]. Eventually, the fireteam would end up confronting The Witness at the top of the monolith. It would fight viciously, using everything in its power to both rend the Guardians apart and enact the Final Shape, but would fail yet again. The Witness would be wounded even further and its connection to the Traveler and its [[Light]] would be severed entirely, leaving the Final Shape incompletable and causing it to retreat to an unknown location within the Pale Heart to lick its wounds and regather its strength.<ref>'''Bungie (2024/6/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[The Final Shape]] - [[Salvation's Edge]]''</ref> The Coalition quickly tracked it down, bringing all their might upon the Witness and its forces, with twelve Guardians, including the Guardian themselves, fighting their way through to the Witness, as Savathûn and Mara Sov briefly worked together to block off any chances of it escaping again.<ref name="Excision"/>

The death of The Witness would send shockwaves throughout the system and beyond as many of its forces would scatter at the loss of their master, with the Scorn and Taken becoming directionless. In addition, the [[House of Salvation]] would turn upon itself with Eramis nowhere to be found, having finally abandoned the Witness's cause and left for Riis. Some, however, would continue to endeavor to fulfil the Final Shape in the Witness's stead, such as Xivu Arath, albeit to her own interpretations. Adding onto this, the Darkness within the Witness fused with the Traveler's Light upon its death, which led to the creation of several paracausal artifacts known as [[Echo (object)|Echoes]], which also contained the memories of the Witness's past victims. These Echoes would break off from the Traveler and travel through the solar system with each one landing in different locations, leading to the emergence of powerful new threats. As Crow would summarize, the Witness's death left a power vacuum, one that various forces are looking to fill. Though the Coalition celebrated the fall of their greatest enemy, the Guardians nonetheless knew that there was still a lot of work to be done.{{Citation needed}}

The Witness was shown to be a very pragmatic entity, willing to make use of any resources at its disposal to achieve its goals. When it detected that the Traveler was planning to uplift the Krill on Fundament, it saw an opportunity to use them to its advantage and whispered a lie to Sathona through her Worm familiar that led her and her siblings to discover the Worm Gods and eventually become the Hive. It also seemingly freed Eramis from her Stasis prison after her defeat at the hands of the Guardian to make use of her talents in plundering artifacts (which Eramis used to retrieve Nezarec's corpse's parts), and later on, her skills upon infiltrating bases and hijacking other species technology (as seen with Rasputin's Warsats). At the end of ''Lightfall'', the Witness possessed the Guardian's Ghost to form a link between the Veil and the Traveler after Calus failed to acquire it himself yet provided a large enough distraction for it to complete the deed itself.

Another aspect of the Witness was its cunning in keeping its true goal close to its chest. An unnamed and long-dead potential Disciple bemoans the Witness never revealing its true goal in the Final Shape, giving each of its Disciples a different interpretation of what that might be.<ref>'''Bungie (2023/2/28)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]] - [[Lore:Inspiral|Inspiral]]: [[Lore:Inspiral#The Cave|The Cave]]''</ref> As a standard, the Witness has explained to most of its Disciples and minions that there is meaning to be had in paring down the Universe to only the strongest, that some form of relief or salvation awaits at the end of this process. Meanwhile, given that the Final Shape is a stop to all life existing, this may have caused Disciples and minions to rebel if they knew the truth about this.

{{Quote|We may think of it as crude butchery now, but there are still times when a bone sets improperly and must be broken again to heal. This is as true for the universe as it is for a body, and the suppuration of the Gardener's Light has spread unchecked for far too long.<br> <br>You needn't be afraid. The creation of the final shape will not hurt at all.<br> <br>And then you'll be all better.|The Witness}}

The Witness appeared to be single-mindedly devoted to bringing about its vision of the [[Final Shape]]. This mission was born out of a desire to find meaning in a meaningless universe; the species that became the Witness desired a guiding purpose for their existence, and when the Traveler refused to give them one, they decided to come up with their own. After much debate as to what this "Final Shape" should entail, the faction known as the Penitent became ascendant, which sought to eliminate all suffering from the universe. After the Penitent merged themselves into the Witness using the Darkness of the Veil, the Witness sought to achieve this goal by converting the entire universe into a perfected, eternal, timeless state, within with no beings could suffer and nothing could exist without its consent.

In seeming conflict with this goal, the Witness inflicted immeasurable suffering on countless civilizations in the course of its crusade to find and subdue the Traveler, especially those that had previously been blessed by the Traveler; the Witness justified these acts as being akin to re-breaking a broken bone that has set improperly, so that it may heal correctly the second time around.<ref name="Rubicon"/> As indicated in its lessons to Rhulk during the latter's induction as the First Disciple, the Witness also seemed to regard morality as subjective and therefore irrelevant, and claimed that Rhulk's love for his family was a source of weakness. Despite this, its desire to impose the Final Shape appeared to be driven by a twisted, warped form of compassion for the suffering experienced by beings throughout time and space.

Despite being considered both by others and itself as being essentially one with the Darkness, there were still things about the Darkness that the Witness apparently did not understand; notably, it seemed to be ignorant of Strand, as its Shadow Legion forces were unprepared for the Guardians' use of Strand against them. Additionally, while the Witness was dismissive of the Hive's Sword Logic, referring to it as a "childish game" born of a shallow and crude understanding of the Darkness<ref name="Iconoclasm"/> (despite the Witness being the reason that the Worms and Hive were introduced to the Sword Logic in the first place)<ref name="Síocháin's Scuba Shell"/> the Winnower (which appears to be the personification of the Darkness itself) actually upholds the Sword Logic as part of its core philosophy. The Witness' stated motivations of compassion and mercy are also notably at odds with the philosophy of the Darkness/Winnower, which prioritizes self-interest above all else.<ref>'''Bungie (2015/9/15)''', ''[[Destiny]]: [[The Taken King]], [[Grimoire]]:[[Grimoire:Enemies/Books of Sorrow#XXXII: Majestic. Majestic.|XXXII: Majestic. Majestic.]]''</ref>