Xivu Arath, God of War

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Xivu Arath, God of War
Logic Torobatl God of War Xi Ro
Biographical information
Other name(s):	Xi Ro Avatar of War War Dominant She Whose Victory Is Idempotent Aspect of War WGX-003 Blade Breaker War Drinker Conquerer Immortal Eater of Weakness God of the Rotting Slain God of Strife God of Love God of Battlefield Filth Agitator Fomenter
Homeworld:	Fundament
Species:	Hive
Gender:	Female
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Xivu Arath's Horde Wrathborn
Rank:	God of War
Class:	Knight
Notable info:	Hive God of War One of the three founding members of the Hive race alongside Oryx and Savathûn Master of the Wrathborn Conquered the Cabal homeworld Rendered mortal and separated from her throne world because of Eris Morn

"Xivu Arath, knight morph of Xi Ro. You love to conquer, don't you? We love to see you work. Nearly two percent of Fundament's surface is now our dominion. Your species embraces the worm. [...] Overwhelm the Kaharn bastion. Slaughter everyone there. From your acts we shall obtain the logic we require to cut space open and migrate to orbit. Reality is a fine flesh, oh general ours. Let us feast of it."

— Worm Gods

Xivu Arath, God of War, formerly known as Xi Ro, is a Hive god and youngest sister to Savathûn, the Witch Queen and Oryx, the Taken King. Together with her two siblings, she was a progenitor of the contemporary Hive species and one of its chief gods, having made a pact with the Worms of Fundament. She is driven to become the mightiest warrior in the universe, and her influence is present wherever armed conflict takes place.

Biography

Origins

"I am Xi Ro, youngest daughter of the dead king. I will take back my Osmium Court and kill the traitor Taox. On my left eye I swear vengeance."

— Xi Ro

Xivu Arath was born Xi Ro on the gas giant Fundament with her sisters Aurash and Sathona; her father was the Osmium King, ruler of the Osmium Court. She was a member of a short-lived, proto-Hive species called "the Krill" whose original homeworld had crashed into the gas giant millions of years ago. As a young Krill she was fascinated by her surroundings, attempting daring feats that would have killed lesser beings; she took six of the stormjoys' bait-stars because of this. Above all, she wanted to be a warrior, a Knight like her father's warriors.

When her father became mad and raved about the Syzygy, and the Helium Drinkers invaded at the urging of Taox, Xi Ro used her bait-stars to help her sisters escape and comforted Aurash as they fled their home. Together with her sisters, she swore a blood-oath on the mast of their ship, upon her left eye, to avenge their father and kill Taox. When they salvaged an ancient, high-tech ship from the Shvubi Maelstrom, Xi Ro wanted to sell it to raise an army and kill Taox immediately but was convinced by Sathona that it was worthless.

During their aimless journey at the behest of Sathona (who was guided by their father's worm-familiar), Xi Ro cleaned up the ship and attempted to take her sisters' minds off their task. Eventually, when Sathona fretted they would not be able to avenge their father, and Aurash concluded they would have to dive, Xi Ro was initially afraid but understood. Xi Ro warned them, however, that this was how the crew had died, but Sathona, urged on by the Worm, agreed with Aurash. The sisters took the needle into the deep. They finally reached a point where they could use the ship's sensors on the oceans. To their horror, they discovered that the Syzygy was real and that Fundament's moons had already aligned. Just then, they were encountered by the Leviathan, a creature long spoken of in Krill myth. The Leviathan warned the sisters that they needed to turn back, or else would unleash disaster upon the universe, saying that they faced a choice between the Light, which offered civilization, and the Darkness, which offered only violence. However, the Leviathan offered no hope to the sisters to avoid the Syzygy. Sathona then revealed the Worm's help to her sisters, and how it urged them to go down. Rejecting the Leviathan's entreaties, the sisters dove into the core.

Reaching the very center of Fundament, the three sisters found the Worm Gods: Akka, Eir, Ur, Xol, and Yul. The Worm Gods offered the three sisters a chance for the Krill to escape Fundament as well as achieve immortality. All they had to do was take the Worms larvae into them as symbiotes and spread them among the Krill. The Worms posed the caveat that the sisters must never cease their natures: Xi Ro must always test her strength, Sathona must always be cunning, and Aurash must always try to understand. The sisters accepted the pact and became the first Hive: Xi Ro took the Knight morph and became Xivu Arath, Sathona took the Mother morph and became Savathûn, and Aurash took the King morph, transforming into a male and became Auryx, the King of the Hive.

Campaign of Destruction

"We have marooned Oryx within the Deep. This is our obligation as lords of the Hive, to make war upon each other, to eradicate weakness and make ourselves sharp."

— Xivu Arath

As Auryx and his sisters forced an ultimatum on the remaining Krill to accept the worms or perish, turning them into the Hive, Auryx turned his attention to Fundament's moons, and the Ammonites there who had allied with the Traveler and gave asylum to Taox. Initially, he was willing to negotiate with the Ammonites, but his sister Savathûn, under pressure from the Worms, killed Auryx as punishment. Rather than dying, Auryx's soul instead passed to his Ascendant Realm, or throne world, where his soul resided until he returned to the mortal realm. Rebuked, Auryx purged what sympathy and goodwill he had left, becoming a merciless tyrant. He and his sisters warred with and killed one another on a regular basis after the defeat of the Ammonites, as part of their worship of the Sword-Logic and their attempt to become the sharpest blades in the universe, heading to their Ascendant realms when defeated. Their war of revenge against Taox had transformed into a campaign of genocide when they slew the Ammonites and other interstellar civilizations to feed their worms. While Auryx and Savathûn established courts to practice and study the sword logic, Xivu Arath declined, declaring that her court would be everywhere war was found.

During the war with the Ecumene, Auryx came to realize that the Worm had deceived him and his sisters: their Worms appetites were growing past their ability to feed with death. Meeting with his sisters in his ascendant realm, surrounded by their servants (some of which despised them for showing weakness) they despaired over their dilemma. When his sisters offered their power to help Auryx find a way to save them, Auryx killed them, then used that power to confront his patron god Akka, the Worm of Secrets. He killed Akka so that he may steal its ability to call upon the Deep and created the Tablets of Ruin, which gave him the power to Take. His transformation complete, Auryx was now Oryx, the Taken King. During the subsequent war with the Ecumene, Oryx revived Xivu Arath in an act of war and revived Savathûn in an act of cunning. He then decreed the tithe system: each Hive would kill their enemies, take some to feed their own worm and tithe the rest to their superior. Thralls would tithe to Acolytes, Acolytes would tithe to Knights or Wizards, the Knights and Wizards would tithe to the Ascendant Hive, those who commanded legions of warriors and earned the right to enter the Hive gods' Ascendant realms. All of this violence would eventually reach Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath, allowing their worms to feed on violence while continuing to invoke their inner natures.

Following the Golden Amputation, Oryx declared to his sisters that the Hive had conquered its way to the edge of the Deep and that it had granted him a personal audience. As Oryx retreated into his throne world to commune with it, Savathûn conspired with Xivu Arath to strand him there and steal his Tablets of Ruin by cutting off the tribute flowing through his tithe system. They were ultimately unsuccessful. On returning, Oryx deceived Xivu Arath and poisoned her own flow of tribute so that she could never try to steal his Tablets again.

In the aftermath of this attempted betrayal, one of Oryx's daughters, Ir Halak, visited Xivu Arath's throne world and tested her Deathsong there. All who heard it were irreversibly killed. Xivu Arath complained about Ir Halak's behavior to Oryx, who was greatly amused.

After the Vex invaded Oryx's throne world, Savathûn tipped Xivu Arath off as to its location. Xivu Arath planned an ambush, but Oryx, aware of his own vulnerability, evaded her by moving his throne into the Dreadnaught.

Following the war with the Harmony, Savathûn decided that her fleets would enter the black hole that the Harmony lived around, claiming that they would become stronger for it, while Xivu Arath took her fleets away from Oryx's as she felt he constrained her too much.

War in Sol

A year following the Red War, Xivu Arath began committing some of her forces to the Solar System, possibly in aid of her sister Savathûn or for her own schemes. An Ogre, Megor, Spawn of Xivu, was imprisoned in the Prison of Elders and broke free during the Scorn's jailbreak. A substantial force of Hive and Taken apparently obedient to Xivu Arath also invaded the Dreaming City after its unsealing, pillaging it for Awoken relics towards an unknown purpose. These forces were destroyed by The Guardian and the relics returned to the Awoken.

Fall of Torobatl

"MY HOME IS WAR. MY VOICE IS A BATTLE SONG. FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE WORSHIPPED WAR, YOU HAVE WORSHIPPED ME. I AM HERE TO CLAIM MY TRIBUTE. IT IS OVERDUE."

— Xivu Arath to the Cabal of Torobatl

At some point, her sister Savathûn had been secretly working in her name to undermine the Cabal homeworld of Torobatl, corrupting Evocate-General Umun'arath into becoming a worshipper of Xivu Arath. Driven by obsession over war, Umun'arath undertook a Hive ritual in the capital city to summon the God of War to their planet, which was accidentally completed when Caiatl, the Princess-Imperial slew Umun'arath, providing the blood and sacrifice needed to open a portal for Xivu Arath to cross through with her armada of War moons and armies of Hive. As she invaded Torobatl, Xivu Arath declared that the Cabal had been worshipping her for as long as they venerated war and that she had finally come to claim her "overdue" tribute. Her forces overwhelmed the Cabal's defenses and drove Empress Caiatl to evacuate the remaining population to the remnants of her fleet and retreat to the Sol System.

Rise of the Wrathborn

"I AM THE WAR YOU CRAVE. PURPOSE ETERNAL. A LEGACY IN BLOOD.
WHEN YOU DRAW BLADES, YOU DRAW ME.
YOU CANNOT RESIST WITHOUT INVOKING MY BANNER.
EMBRACE ME, LIGHTBEARER, AND BE A GOD OF DEATH.
CONSUME OR BE CONSUMED."

— Xivu Arath to Osiris

Following the second arrival of the Black Fleet in the Sol System and the sudden disappearance of Savathûn from her Court, Xivu Arath began marshaling her forces into the system and making her influence more overt. Her High Celebrant began spawning Cryptoliths throughout the system, corrupting Hive, Fallen and Cabal alike that came under within range of them into Wrathborn subjects. Though Xivu Arath's High Celebrant would be hunted down and killed by the Guardians, it was later on revealed that her Wrathborn were not only attacking the Solar System but also spread out across the galaxy. Most notably, the Cabal themselves had been under siege since the fall of their world, prompting the newly coronated Empress Caiatl to propose an alliance with the Last City to stand against the Hive God of War.

Hunting her Sister

"Xivu Arath will never relent, as long as you possess her sister."
"What does she want with Savathûn?"
"The Witch Queen's importance stretches beyond the Hive's politics. There are greater forces at play."

— Ikora Rey, Crow and Mara Sov

Despite the "gift" Savathûn had given her, Xivu Arath has begun to actively hunt her sister, apparently at the behest of another, forcing the Witch Queen to go into hiding. Following Osiris' loss of his Light, Savathûn "saved" him from Xivu Arath and began to adopt his form, knowing that Xivu Arath would never expect to find her sister within the Last City. Xivu Arath would continue to hunt her sister regardless but her efforts would distort the Ascendant Plane, which ultimately led her to corner the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, who was being escorted by her Techeun Coven. Though Mara Sov managed to escape, Xivu Arath captured her coven, Taking them into her service.

To save her people, the Dreaming City and combat the Black Fleet, Mara Sov strikes a bargain with Savathûn; in exchange for excising her worm from her being, she would release Osiris. In addition, Mara Sov wishes to stabilize the Ascendant Plane with her rescued Techeuns using the Ley Lines, which would prevent Xivu Arath from corrupting it to her advantage.

Later on, she would task Kelgorath, Risen from Bones to steal an Awoken artifact. Kelgorath would attempt to do so but the Guardian would get there first taking the relic and using it to kill Kelgorath and the pillagers accompanying him.

Despite the efforts of Xivu Arath's Horde, they failed to prevent the Guardians from saving Mara Sov's Coven as well as securing the Ley Lines back into the Awoken's hands. On the day of the ritual to exorcise Savathûn's worm, Xivu Arath, in a last ditch effort to capture her sister, had her horde launch a massive assault on the Dreaming City and attempted to overwhelm the Blind Well. Despite being unsuccessful in preventing the realignment of the Ley Lines, this would allow the Hive army to travel through the Ascendant Plane and begin swarming the Ritual Spire, in which the exorcism was taking place, until they were once again pushed back by the Guardians.

Desperate to capture Savathûn, Xivu Arath sent Kruutiks, Kholks, and finally her champion, Kelgorath, to stop the ritual, forcing their way into the Spire. Regardless of her Horde's forces and her champion's efforts, they ultimately failed and were defeated at the hands of the Lightbearers, allowing Mara Sov to successfully remove the Witch Queen's worm.

Attacking the Subminds

Following her failure to prevent the exorcism and being unable to capture her sister, Xivu Arath would have her forces lay low and gather their strength as the Guardians would handle the Witch Queen themselves after she had resurfaced as a Lightbearer along with some of her followers in the Lucent Brood. Her forces would engage the Lucent Hive in defending the Scarlet Keep from being taken from them for a ritual to invade Earth but would engage the Guardians and the Imperial Cabal who sought to prevent the Lucent ritual.

However, after the Guardians defeated Savathûn, learned the existence of Xivu Arath's master The Witness, forced back the Lucent Brood, dealt with a resurgence of Nightmares on a returned Leviathan and bested Eramis from claiming the relics of Nezarec as ordered by the Witness, Xivu Arath and her forces would reemerge and consolidate their power in preparation for the The Witness's return. In addition, Xivu Arath would be ordered by her master to punish Eramis for her failure by subsuming the majority of the House of Salvation into her Wrathborn. Some of the House's leaders were even slain and then raised as Scorn. To prepare for the Black Fleet's return and weaken the denizens of the Sol System, Xivu Arath and her Wrathborn sought to corrupt the Warsat Network, which remained vulnerable ever since the Warmind Rasputin was left incapacitated by the Black Fleet's earlier arrival. With the aid of House Salvation's Splicers, the Wrathborn and Xivu Arath's Horde managed to gain access to some of Rasputin's defense systems, even gain entry onto Seraph Station, the main hub of the Network, but the whole Warsat Network remained out of reach.

To gain full control over the Warmind's arsenal, Xivu Arath directed her forces to seek out and subjugate one of the Warmind's creators, Clovis Bray I, who existed as an AI within the Exoscience Labs on Europa. Her combined force of Wrathborn Fallen and Hive gained entry into the labs and nearly claimed Clovis but the scientist would be rescued by the Guardians as they sought him out to restore the Warmind. The Guardians would reluctantly work with the Bray patriarch, who would direct them to seek out the Subminds, pieces of the Warmind that were separated from Rasputin in the event of damage. Xivu Arath would have her forces guard these vaults from assaults but the Guardians would instead infiltrate the vaults, slay their defenders and claim the data they need. One defender was her most loyal and devoted warrior, Kelgorath, returned once more despite his past failures, now made a Darkblade.

After the Guardians gathered enough submind data for Rasputin to speak directly, and reveal Clovis's deception, leading to him being cast out by his granddaughters, Mara Sov would begin to have suspicions on Xivu Arath's motives. Noting that the War God's armies are legion, yet using only her Wrathborn as a token-level force and she is more tactician than brute than originally believed, the Awoken Queen suspected that corrupting the Warmind's Network may not be the end goal Xivu Arath is seeking. Remembering that Xivu Arath's Worm feeds off of destruction and conflict, just as Savathûn's Worm fed off of guile and deceit, Mara would come to the conclusion that Xivu Arath's true plan is her wanting the Guardians to restore Rasputin and have him use his vast arsenal to smite her Wrathborn to not only feed her worm from the destruction that would follow but also fuel a powerful ritual. A spell to open a portal over Earth large enough to send her armies through and overwhelm humanity, just as she had accomplished on the Cabal's homeworld of Torobatl. Mara would bring this conclusion to the Vanguard Coalition, stating that to prevent Xivu Arath from achieving her goal, they must not restore the Warmind. Ana Bray, however, voices her objections, stating that Rasputin is more than a weapon and that humanity needs him as an ally if they are to survive the Witness's coming. Mara then suggests that instead of a complete victory, they restore Rasputin as Ana wants but he refrain from smiting the Wrathborn, denying Xivu Arath the requirements she needs for her ritual. The rest of the Coalition's leaders agree to the plan.

Unfortunately for Xivu Arath, her aspirations for invading Earth would be for naught. Though Eramis finally managed to gain access to the Warsat network, activating the Warmind's ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE, a protocol where the network would target the Traveler should the entity leave humanity, Rasputin sacrificed himself with his AURORA SACRIFICE order to destroy the entire Warsat Network. With her aspirations for her ritual ruined, Xivu Arath ordered her Wrathborn and Hive forces to pull back from the inner system, though her forces would continue to cling to Europa, forcing the Guardians to continue operations there.

Hunting Ahsa

"I AM THE MOUNTAIN UPON WHICH ALL SWORDS SHATTER! HONE YOUR EDGE AGAINST ME!"

— Xivu Arath, announcing herself to the Young Wolf on Titan

Following Titan's reappearance after having previously been Taken by the Witness, a team of Guardians consisting of the Young Wolf, Commander Zavala, Saint-14, and Lord Saladin landed on the Rig in an attempt to reach Deputy Commander Sloane, who had broadcast a distress signal shortly after the moon reappeared. The team encountered Hive and Taken forces belonging to Xivu Arath, who directly addressed the Guardians telepathically through her battlesong. She taunted Saint-14 in particular, remarking that Sagira had been a foe worthy of death while Osiris had not, driving the Titan into a rage.

The Guardians succeeded in locating Sloane and learned of her predicament. The Deputy Commander was partially Taken after Titan was claimed by the Witness which allowed her to "tune into the enemy's radio" but was afflicted by demanding whispers which almost led her to be claimed by Xivu Arath but thanks to the creature Ahsa, Sloane was saved and established a connection with her. Understanding that they share a foe in the Witness, the Guardians work with Sloane in helping her in strengthening her connection to Ahsa, thereby allowing her to decipher her messages. As the Guardians worked this, they clashed with Xivu Arath's Wrathborn, with the War God taunting them. However, as the Guardians learned about a Lucent Hive attempting to conduct a ritual to resurrect Oryx with the Light, they found Calcified fragments that recorded Xivu Arath's personal thoughts regarding the Hive's purpose in enacting the Final Shape and her potent grief at the loss of her brother.

Despite the efforts of her Hive and Taken, including Kelgorath and those who once served the Witch Queen, the Guardians managed to gain enough egregore coral to help Sloane interpret Ahsa's messages, including one where she spoke of the Witness's origins. However, during one of the Guardian's deep dive missions, Xivu Arath sensed an opportunity to strike at Ahsa while the Guardian was distracted, conducting a ritual that struck Ahsa, forcing the worm to leave the safety of the Arcologies to the ritual site in a vain attempt to disrupt the ritual but ended up captured. Xivu Arath ordered her the orchestrators of the ritual, three Screams of Xivu Arath, to begin the ritual where she will Take Ahsa. The Coalition caught wind of this and the combined efforts of Sloane, Saint-14, Saladin and Zavala occupied her forces enough to allow the Guardian to reach the ritual site. Taking out each wizard and using the Drifter's machine to purify the egregore coral not only disrupted the ritual but each one wounded Xivu Arath herself but the Hive War God would laugh following each wounding. Yet, regardless of her Hive and Taken forces, Xivu Arath's ritual failed, allowing Ahsa to return to safety and deliver the last piece of her message, while her forces initiated a full retreat. The worm attempted to speak it through Sloane but the Deputy Commander nearly became possessed by the Hive War God who once again taunted her but thanks to Zavala, Sloane was able to regain control over herself. With her connection clear, Ahsa spoke through Sloane and informed the Vanguard that while the path to the Witness is obscured, one individual may know a way to follow. One Ahsa speaks as "she who hides truth in deception", Savathûn herself. If the Vanguard wishes to follow and stop the Witness, then they will have no other choice but to allow the Witch Queen to be revived.

Following her failure to Take Ahsa, Xivu Arath communed with the Witness upon the Dreadnaught, who expressed its doubts as to Xivu's abilities, but nonetheless commanded her to prepare to fight against Savathûn in the event the Vanguard chose to allow her resurrection. She would allow the Guardian an audience inside her temple underneath Kraken Mare. With this invitation, she issued a challenge to them, to defeat a Taken Knight named Khull, Executioner Knight, then a powerful Tormentor in her service: Omen, Blade of the Black Terrace. After defeating the Tormentor, she deems them worthy, awarding them the Wicked Implement, the use of which would allow them not only to tithe to her, but become strong enough to face her directly.

A Challenger Rises

After weighing their options, Ikora and Eris believed that there was no other way to follow The Witness but to allow the Witch Queen to be revived and gain the information she possessed. Reaching out to Savathûn's Ghost, Immaru, offering him the Witch Queen's body to be revived in exchange for the knowledge they seek. Immaru instead offers a bargain of his own, citing that Savathûn anticipated that the Vanguard would need her. He will revive Savathûn but only after killing her sister, Xivu Arath, for good and will provide the aid necessary for it. Despite the terms, Ikora and Eris agree but after journeying through Savathûn's Spire and hearing a recording from her stating that they cannot confront Xivu Arath directly for the Hive God of War cannot be defeated conventionally for she feeds off of all conflict. Therefore, only a Hive God of equal strength can defeat Xivu Arath using the Hive's own Sword Logic. Understanding that the task now falls to her, Eris Morn volunteers herself to become a Hive and with the Guardian as her "acolyte" she would feed from their kills until she grows strong enough to challenge the Hive God of War. Though Ikora objects to this plan, fearing for Eris's well-being, she is convinced that there is no other way, for simply maintaining their current stalemate with Xivu Arath is not feasible nor can they outright battle with her, for in either case, they will lose.

After performing a ritual that turns Eris Morn into the Hive God of Vengeance, the Guardians begin slaying Hive and other creatures found with the Witch Queen's oubliette found beneath Savathûn's Spire as tithes to her which allows Eris to grow in strength. However, Xivu Arath became aware of Eris's "ascension" and welcomed it, even calling Eris her new sister, which Eris adamantly denies. Nonetheless, Xivu Arath sends her forces to claim Savathûn's Spire, once viewing the sanctum as heresy but came to the conclusion that even the Light can adhere to the Sword Logic, but the Guardians managed to clear the Spire of Xivu Arath's forces. Further, the Guardians prevented the War God's forces from slaying the prisoners found in the Altars of Summoning, slaying them themselves as tithes to Eris. During all this, Xivu Arath continued to taunt Eris, goading her to give in to her new Hive nature and accept the Sword Logic as truth, even welcoming the upcoming challenge the two will have but Eris remains steadfast against her words. With her hand forced, Xivu Arath summons one of her most powerful warriors, the Leviathan-Eater, Bane of the Ammonites to face the Guardians but the entity withdraws as it merely tested their capabilities and it will be back once Xivu Arath's brood had been organized.

After Eris prepared herself for the Guardian's final tithe, she opened the way to the Altar of the Sword, where Xivu Arath had her Leviathan-Eater waiting. Though the God of War welcomed the challenge greatly, her favored champion ultimately fell to the Guardians, their tithes strengthening Eris. However, what Xivu Arath didn't expect was Eris Morn slaying a revived Savathûn, gaining millennia worth of power as the Witch Queen hadn't been killed since the separation of her worm. Combining that power with the tithes the Guardians had collected, Eris Morn had become the most powerful Hive God, surpassing even Xivu Arath. However, instead of challenging the Hive God of War directly, Eris Morn weaves a spell that banishes Xivu Arath from her own Throne World, rendering her mortal and vulnerable. With her spell finished, Eris collapses and eventually returns to her human form but confirms to the Guardian that Xivu Arath is furious at her defeat and, being severed from her Throne World, she can't grow in strength from her tithes which Ikora believes will make her more open to being challenged should Xivu Arath appear. Savathûn meanwhile, found great amusement in her sister's predicament, enough to send Xivu Arath a message taunting her, though the War God would not respond.

In Hiding

Following her banishment from her own Throne World, Xivu Arath would go into hiding, not taking part in the final battle between the Coalition and the Witness. Her Hive forces, however, would still serve the Witness in combating the Guardians as they found a path to enter the Traveler's Pale Heart.

After the Guardians found the weakness of the Witness, they would continue their efforts to heal the Traveler and locate any remaining lost Ghosts. One of these missions involved finding and saving Akasha, a Ghost that had been systemically scanning Awoken territory for years and whose last known location was the Dreaming City. After finding Akasha, Mara Sov, Micah and Crow would deduce from the movements across the Ley Lines, that, as Xivu Arath didn't join the Witness in its invasion of the Pale Heart, she was playing to turn the forces of the Black Fleet and the Coalition against each other to gain an advantage. Xivu Arath would continue to move the Hive forces from her brood through the Ascendant Plane en masse, while Mara was focused on holding back the Final Shape and couldn't keep an eye on her city's Ley Lines, cutting her losses from her previous master and gathering her strength for the war that would follow the War against the Witness.

Another of these missions involved finding and saving Citrine, a Ghost obsessed with Warmind hardware and whose last known location was Mars. Here, the Guardian would traverse the unpredictable, rifts that cursed the planet. Micah would detect Xivu Arath's Hive forces were sent back to the planet to investigate the time anomalies and the team would confront and kill Kelgorath, Risen from Bones, manifested from when he was trying to conquer the location, to prevent Xivu Arath from retrieving any functional Warmind tech while Mara would dispatch her Techeuns to seal the rift even if temporarily.

Though the Coalition rejoiced in the Witness's fall, they nonetheless understood that its death left a power vacuum that some of its former servants are seeking to fill and continue to enact the Final Shape. They also hadn't forgotten that Xivu Arath remained at large, for though she was mortal, the Hive God of War remained a threat that the Guardians would have to contend with in the future. Eris Morn inquired as to where Xivu and Savathûn had fled after the Final Shape was prevented.

Personality and Traits

"I AM WAR."

— Xivu Arath.

Compared to her siblings, Xivu Arath is the least subtle but the most bloodthirsty, boisterous and wrathful of the three. Nearly every time she speaks it is in booming roars, ferocious growls and screams of bloodlust, and as the embodiment of war she relishes conflict and strife in all its forms. She is a master of siege warfare and an expert strategist, with her brood being far better organized and battle-hardened than even Oryx's Hive. Even Savathûn's Ghost, Immaru, has admitted that Xivu Arath is The Witness' best general.

While her tactical abilities are exceptional, Xivu Arath has often been shown to be simpler, easier to fool, and generally less intelligent than her siblings. While she was disguised as Osiris, Savathûn stated that her sister lacked a sense of creativity and ambitions of her own, after observing that she was merely pushing through the cracks within the Dreaming City that the Witch Queen had previously left behind.

However, it would be gravely foolish to underestimate Xivu Arath, for what she lacks in subtlety she makes up for in determination, cruelty and ferocity. She has also proven very adept at emotional manipulation, most notably with Sloane after Titan was Taken, mocking her and tempting her to give into violence. In Xivu Arath's own words, she targets her enemies' weakness and "infects" them. Doing so leaves her opponents doubting themselves or giving into rage which would fuel the conflict that feeds her and her worm.

Xivu Arath values persistence as much as she does strength, as she is empowered by the willingness of others to remain fighting. This is best exemplified by her continued support of Kelgorath, Risen from Bones, whom she continued to resurrect and prop up as a steady source of tithe, despite his repeated defeats and deaths.

Xivu Arath continues to be a fanatical believer in the Hive's Sword Logic, even as her sister and various other, lesser Hive have abandoned their beliefs and turned to heresy. When learning of Oryx's death and his slayer's refusal to assume his mantle as the Taken King, Xivu Arath became utterly furious and hysterical, calling it "blasphemy." She likewise felt utter betrayal when she learned that Savathûn had turned her back on the Darkness and converted to the Light.

Eris Morn derisively stated that Xivu Arath is desperate to prove the Sword Logic, in order to vindicate the Hive's efforts and prove the Traveler's path is a lie. Eris further described Xivu Arath's desire for the Sword Logic's truth, of a world without doubt, pity or grief as being akin to a child's cry. Following her brother's death, Xivu Arath outright asked herself whether or not her decision to take up the Sword Logic and side with the Witness was all for nothing.

Relationships

To Xivu Arath, as they are to virtually all Hive, love and hate are essentially equivalent concepts. Though she killed Oryx many times in the past, Xivu Arath has nothing but glowing praise and affection for her brother, as seen in the memories found in the "Ghosts of the Deep" mission. Xivu Arath sees him as a source of inspiration and guidance throughout their lives as both Krill and Hive, calling him the "Navigator of her life." She was utterly furious after learning of his death and laments the doubt it left behind, audibly wailing when recounting his death, showing herself to be a sister in mourning. Her grief was such that she did not oppose the Lucent Hive as they sought to resurrect her brother with the Light - a heretical violation of the Sword Logic, as it would bring her brother back after suffering a true death.

Xivu Arath's relationship with her sister Savathûn is more complicated, as while the Witch Queen "gifted" her with the conquest of Torobatl, Xivu Arath later relentlessly hunted her sister after learning of her intention to abandon the Sword Logic and betray the Witness for the Light, something that the war god found both heretical and infuriating. Savathûn claimed that Xivu Arath was actually hunting her out of fear of losing her, because separating herself from her worm would also render Savathûn separated from her sister. Somewhat sadly, the Witch Queen admitted that however deeply she cared for Xivu Arath, it wasn't enough to deter her from her chosen path. Nonetheless, despite the love that the sisters may have once had, Xivu Arath remains angry with the Witch Queen's abandonment of their ways, leading the War God to deface what Savathûn once possessed and twist her former lieutenants into her servants.

Family

Hive Pantheon

Gen 1	Gen 2	Gen 3	Gen 4	Gen 5
Osmium King (M)	Oryx (M)	Nokris (M)
		Crota (M) (Consort: Omnigul (F))	Hashladûn (F)
			Besurith (F)
			Voshyr (F)	Yishra (F)
				Ayriax (F)
			Kinox (F)	Ulg'Urin (M)
		Ir Halak (F) Ir Anûk (F)
		Alak-Hul (M) (fostered) (Consort: Verok (F))
	Savathûn (F)	Balwûr (F)
		Malok (M)
		Dûl Incaru (F)
	Xivu Arath (F)	Xavan (F)
		Tir Balok (F)
		An Ragaar (M)
		Scoroboth (M)

Other potential members of the Pantheon include Mysik, Zyrak, Thyshik and Urrox. However their names may be honorary titles, as their is no further mention of a relationship to the Pantheon.

Xavan, Tir Balok, and An Ragaar are also potential members of the Pantheon; apart from their names, there is no other reference, so their inclusion is for the sake of completion.

Trivia

• Xivu Arath is voiced by Kimberly Brooks.
• Umun'arath, Evocate-General and Primus of All Legions of the Cabal Empire, was named after Xivu Arath by her parents, who like many Cabal were aware of the Hive pantheon through secondhand myths and legends.
• Xivu Arath is the second confirmed female knight. The first is her Daughter, Tir Balok.
  • However, Xivu Arath could be considered the first of the Hive Knights.
• Though Xivu Arath has been mentioned throughout the Destiny series and her forces didn't appear until Forsaken, she wasn't mentioned by name until Shadowkeep.
• Similar to her sister, Xivu Arath has likely discerned her own path through the Sword Logic. She is described by one of her knights as a master of 'operontological warfare' whereby she can directly attack an enemy's very being through mere strategic prowess, essentially winning a battle before it is fought simply through insurmountable tactics.
• Since Season of the Chosen, Xivu Arath's speech has been consistently transcribed entirely in uppercase, without quotes where it would otherwise be applicable.
• During The Witch Queen's reveal trailer, the image used for Xivu Arath on Ikora Rey's evidence board was that of a fanmade render. After substantial attention, Bungie would publicly apologize for the mistake and state the creator of the artwork has since given permission to use it.

Gallery

• 

  Xi Ro depicted in the Destiny Grimoire Anthology

• 

  Xivu Arath as seen in the end cutscene of Excision.

List of appearances

• Destiny: The Taken King (First mentioned)
• Destiny 2: Forsaken (Mentioned only)
  • Shadowkeep (Mentioned only)
  • Beyond Light (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Hunt (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Chosen (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Splicer (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Lost (Mentioned only)
  • The Witch Queen (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Risen (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Haunted (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Seraph (Mentioned only)
  • Lightfall (Mentioned only)
  • Season of the Deep (First appearance)
  • Season of the Witch (Voice only)
  • Season of the Wish (Mentioned only)
  • Into the Light (Mentioned only)
  • The Final Shape (Mentioned only)
  • Episode: Echoes (Mentioned only)
• Breakdown (Mentioned only)